A Good Hug

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Disclaimer - (Cause fanfiction is tricky ground and I hope not to offend the creator of the original story and get sued)

This is a fanfiction, a work of fiction. It is an unofficial, non-canon alternate story based on Riichiro Inagaki's story "Dr. Stone". Most of the media - such as the images and video's used in this fanfiction - are from the web. Thus, most of them aren't mine (because I really, really can't draw) unless mentioned. To fit the story, images are also edited by the photo editor. So they aren't mine, just edited.

Have you ever written something from the back of your head, and then realize oh sh** these were someone else's words. Yeah, that just happened to me, my disclaimer no less. Anyway, like 40% of this disclaimer belongs to KairuSui from quotev

Also if you own a picture or Video that I found online, and you either want your name added, or me to take it down. Please contact me and we can talk it out.

P.s. I also ask that you do not copy my work and publish it onto any other website (I jump around on a lot of fanfiction websites...) If you're gonna use my idea, please ask me (I'll 99.99% say yes unless you're super duper rude). If I don't contact you within a week, then just assume I'm giving you the all clear and go for it. Just remember to credit me.

I will be writing out scenes even if my Oc isn't in them. As long as she's mentioned, or influencing the characters in some way. This may seem a bit annoying. But that's just how I write. I like to embed my characters into the story line.

Warnings: Spoilers for episode 8, Slow burn

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Today's Special

I like hugs.

The really long hugs,

The ones where you just don't want to let go.

~ Hplyrikz.com

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{Third P.O.V.}

The next day, Senku, Rika, Chrome and Kohaku gathered in front of the shed.

"Tell me, Senku. How do we make the cure-all medicine?" asked Chrome. "We're gonna to defeat Ruri's sickness!"

"We'll do whatever you need us to. No matter how hard it'll be. If it means we can save her!" Nodded Rika.

"I'll help in any way I can, if it means Ruri-new will get better!" says Kohaku, all fired up.

Senku smirks as a scenario plays out in his mind.

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"Ruri-sama!" A villager shouts.

"I'm so worried." Another cries bowing down next to her.

And swopes Senku, cutting her sickness.

"She's not sick anymore!" The villagers rejoice.

"Harry for science!" A villager shouts.

"I'm going to join the kingdom of science!" One of the declares.

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"I see what he's thinking. He's planning to save Ruri as part of some sleazy scheme." Chrome says.

"It isn't that hard with that stupid grin on his face. But I honestly don't care. So long as he can cure Ruri, he can think of whatever he wants." Rika says, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I can't decide if he's a gentleman or a slimeball." Kohaku says from beside them, copying Rika's pose. . "I guess he's just logical, but..."

"The kingdom of science is going to be making an antibiotic." Senku says, drawing the image of a cylinder with hemispherical ends, the most common shape of an antibiotic, on the ground with a stick. "It's the scientific wonder drug that kills bacteria infecting a person. It's saved hundreds of millions of lives ever since it was discovered in the early twentieth century. We can't do blood tests. We have no idea what her disease even is. But it's worth trying it anyway." Senku expected the last part of his little speech to demotivate the three of them...

... But it has the exact office effect and fired them up even more instead.

"All right, let's get on it right away!" shouted Chrome.

"What do we need?"

"What do we need to do?"

Kohaku and Rika asked at the same time.

"We're missing all kinds of stuff. Pay attention when I talk." said Senku, annoyed.

He then began exposing their options. "There are two routes to making antibiotics. We can take the biological route and make penicillin from living things, or we can take the stone route and make slugs drugs from rocks."

"Han on, Senku." Kohaku says, stopping him. "Living things? Rocks? How would you make medicine from those?"

"Penicillin, made from green mold, is the more famous one. But making penicillin in this stone world would be a crazy game of chance, where we'd be going, 'Hey, we managed to stumble upon this super green mild that's ten billion times more powerful, woo!' We'll just have to pray, 'Please, Lord, give us some of the nice green mole, thanks!' Meanwhile, the sone route, making slugs drugs, will take insane amounts of diligence and manpower, but even in this stone world, well labs on the drug, ten billion percent."

"Then the answer is obvious!" Chrome shouted.

"You get it, don't you?" Senku questions. "We're neither gods or geniuses. We crawl around on the ground, making everything step by step." He says, as he begins drawing a map of the procedures of making the antibiotic.

"We're taking the stone route. We'll get each of these things one by one and warp right through two million years of science history. This is the roadmap to the cure-all sulfa drugs." Senku says. His eyes narrowed as he said, "though it would be helpful if we knew exactly how long she has."

"1 and a half years." Rika answers. "Ruri has 1 year and about 6 months. If her health continues on the track it is on now. Then that's all the time she has."

Senku smirks, "I guess that's our time limit."

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"Oh, damn, man!" Chrome said nervously, looking at the finished road map to the antibiotic.

"That's a lot of steps. Can we really do this in time?" Rika asks, sweating buckets along with Kohaku.

Chrome had surprisingly already moved on from his shock at the number of steps and materials needed. "Let's start with this "iron" stuff, then." He paused, realizing he had no idea what iron was. "Wait, what is iron, anyway? Teach me everything."

"Iron isn't going to be that easy." Senku said.

"I don't think any of them is gonna be easy." Rika said, bending down to look at all the images. "I've never even heard of most of these things, let alone seen them."

"Senku-sensei's sorcery science class, huh?" Kohaku asked, testing the concept on her tongue. "I don't think I could even keep up."

"Kinda sounds unreal. Yesterday I had no idea that something like science even existed. And now to find out there was a world completely different from ours only a couple thousand years ago. That's a lot to take in." Rika says, tilting her head as she draws random shapes on the ground.

Soon, the day turned to night. Senku spent the entire time explaining things to Chrome and Rika, answering their questions as they went. Kohaku mostly listened from a distance, though she did leave for a bit to go collect water for Ruri from the hot spring.

"Are you serious?! Damn!" Chrome exclaimed, amazed at the new piece of information Senku just revealed. "The planet's the one that's moving?! Dude!"

"Yeah, that's right." Senku said laying on his back, exhausted from all the hours of explaining things. Rika was fine, but Chrome's constant barrage of questions had tired him out.

"That doesn't make sense." Kohaku said from up on a branch of a tree near the other three. "Why am I not being flung off this branch, then?"

"Because there's gravity." Senku answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It would have sounded a long more arrogant, if both he and his voice weren't shaky from hours of explaining.

"I always thought it was weird." Chrome said, looking up at the night sky. "Some of the stars don't move at all."

Senku pointed his finger at a bright shining star. "That's the North Star. It's a ridiculously useful star that's ten billion percent true North. Remember that."

"Oh, is it?" Chrome asks, following his gaze.

"It seems slightly off from the true North." Kohaku says, as she gets a good look at where the star really is.

"Yeah. Isn't true North, more of that way." Rika asks, pointing her finger a little bit away from the star.

"It can't be." Senku says, getting up and scratching his ear with a finger. "It's working the margin of error-" Senku stops talking as realization hits him like a ton of bricks.

"Earth's axis is shifting!" He exclaims, eyes siding as he figures out why the star wasn't true North anymore. "The whole planet has tilted slightly over the past 3,700 years. It's currently AD 5,379. The North Star's moved! No wonder my CPS screwed up and got me lost on my way to Hakone." Senku starts laughing at himself. "A true scientist would laugh at me. How could I have not seen that? You guys are way more observant because you have no preconceived notions. I'm such a loser."

Senku then stiffened up as he felt warm arms wrap around him. He turns around to see Rika hugging him. "What-"

He goes to ask her what is she doing, only to be cut off by her saying, "Hush. You should give yourself a little more credit than that. As for the hug you looked like you needed one. In my short years as a medic, I've come to learn that not all injuries are physical. And the best cure for those types is a good hug." Senku eventually loosen ups against her, and let's her hug him.

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