gravity | dr. stone

gravity 8: the death of me

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Ishibashi Tenma was one odd girl. Whether it was a good weird or a bad weird, no one really knew so it became a default good weird since she never did anything to harm anyone.

The peach-eyed girl didn't make any friends in her or in any other class. In fact, the only person she interacted with was someone from a lower grade who was a bit of a black sheep in his class like her. Her teachers often talked about her, some worried that she wouldn't get along with her peers that year and in the future if she didn't at least try to interact with others.

Her classmates did try, at first, to include her in games and group talks. However, Ishibashi Tenma kept spouting things that none of her classmates knew the meaning of.

When she realized this, she just... stopped talking. Stopped interacting with them. If they couldn't understand what she was saying, then what was the point of her trying and make friends with them? She would rather stick with her Sen-chan than those kids who didn't even try to listen to what she said.

Out of everyone, she chose Sen-chan because he could keep up with her. Tenma wanted to be his friend even though she didn't like the idea of making friends at all. But that notion of hers changed the more she spent time with him. She thought that he was just like her, someone who no one could understand and would rather be in the company of someone who could.

However, the more time they spent together, the more she understood that they were different despite their similarities. Sen-chan was the kind of person who may act cold and say words that might hurt others but deep inside, he cared for everyone and chose decisions that would not only benefit him but the rest as well.

"Humans are complicated creatures," Ishigami Senku started as he soldered a resistor to the breadboard attached to a stand on his desk. "We can't entertain every single one of them but we can take the best possible outcome that could help the majority, peaches. Sometimes, we have to take in account what a lot of people want instead of what few people prefer if it means bettering something."

"... I don't like humans, Sen-chan."

"Then, you must be a plant or something."

And she observed him through the years. What made him different? It took her a while but she finally found the answer to her question.

He was different from her because he knew how to trust others.

But her? She only ever trusted her Auntie Atari and the Ishigami's. After all, what was the point of letting others into her world when they would just leave her alone after making her feel loved?

Ishibashi Tenma hated and was terrified of others yet Sen-chan helped her broaden the world she lived in.

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The third friend Ishibashi Tenma made was a senior from her school. Apparently, he was a well-known MMA Fighter and had been lagging behind his studies because of his matches. When the teachers, even the principal, asked whether or not she was up for tutoring him, Tenma wondered why they think that it was a good idea. A second year tutoring a third year? They must have been out of their minds.

Yet Tenma agreed, only because she was curious of this person. He was only a second year in high school but he already had a job that risked both his health and life. That fact puzzled her. Why would someone as young as him endanger himself like that? What did he gain? Did he do it for personal gains? Reasons? Or was it because he had no other choice?