My Carnation - Dr.Stone FanFiction - 1215

r e d t u l i p

𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒

-

It was merely a few days after setting up camp close to Tsukasa's empire, in the midst of working on making our automobile a tank using paper, that Chrome managed to break out of prison and escape the empire grounds himself. Kohaku saw him coming and left to help guide him back in case he was injured, and the village gathered quickly to greet him.
He was grinning and telling everyone about how he used the science he'd learned to melt the string tying his bamboo prison bars together.
"Chrome?" Ruri suddenly asked, "Are you bleeding?"
He smiled lightly for a second, and then covered his mouth with his hand. I furrowed my eye brows, jumping lightly when a spray of what looked to be blood came out of his mouth from a cough, covering his hand.
Gen grabbed my wrist as Ruri and Suika cried out that he was sick. The village was whispering and Gen gently tugged me away from Chrome, his eyes were narrowed with concern, despite his usual calm manner.
Chrome stopped, and shot his head up with a grin, "Just kidding!"
Senku giggled from the side, spreading some of the liquid on his fingers from what had dropped to the ground beneath Chrome, "You used this to fool your pursuers?"
"Yeah! I knew Senku-sensei would get it. Chew up sorrel, dried shiso together, and it turns into red water!"
Gen's grip on my wrist loosened, and then fell altogether, and he raised a hand to his face as he sighed. Of course, Chrome much like Senku, had to go and scare everyone before revealing their trick as if their own dirty way of showing off. But I wasn't having it from Gen.
"You did this once too." I began, nudging him.
He turned to me and blinked, "What are you- that was- I literally actually almost died!"
"I know. But you still gave us all the same scare."
"Well, I apologize then." He rose his hand and pet my head, which made my body freeze in place. His hand left after a few seconds, but if it had stayed on any longer, then I probably would have broke, and rose my own hands to keep his hand in place. It felt nice, really nice, to have him touch me like that.

-

Almost every night, unless the day was particularly busy, Gen would meet me in my tent and talk about the things he experienced during the day. Tonight, he seemed more desperate to talk than usual, and when he started talking about Ukyo, it made sense. I wondered as he spoke if maybe he felt inclined to talk to me, especially about Tsukasa and the empire's people, because I was the only other one here that actually had a taste of what it was like there. But, I guess I didn't mind it.
"He said he'd help us under one condition, that no one would die. Senku agreed immediately, but I'm still worried. There's no guarantee for things like that, you know? But then, Ukyo claimed he viewed himself as a coward... I thought that was interesting."
I blinked, "Why?" I asked, even though I knew Gen probably didn't have an answer, "Why would he say he felt like a coward?"
"Could be a few different things. Past experiences... he's probably terrified of Tsukasa and what he can do, too."
Gen eyed me as I moved to doze off staring at the far corner, but he interrupted quickly, "Rina. Did something happen with you and Ukyo-san?"
I pursed my lips, but I felt like I wanted to tell someone. So, I told him. I told him about the thirty second encounter we had, and he pondered for only a second. Then, he started asking questions,
"Where did he shoot the arrow?"
"What are you talking about? Why does that matter?"
"Just trust me for a moment. You left the empire in the direction of two things - one, is the giant cliff, and the second is travelling down that cliff safely in the direction of the village. So, did he shoot the arrow, possibly to change the direction you were going in?"
I shut my eyes for a moment, this was too much to think about now, "There's no way he knew about the village."
"Of course not. But he knew that if he let you keep walking in the direction of the cliff, you might have jumped. Leading you down a path he knew was safer, was the only thing he could do at the time."
Thinking about that moment as hard as I was right now, made my eyes well almost immediately. All I could think about was how much I hated Ukyo, but now I know he just thought of himself as a coward. I even hated Yuzuriha, but now I know she was scared and worried constantly, doing her own private mission work. I hated all of them... and now I just felt like a fool.
Gen shushed me as I wiped my eyes, sobbing lightly, "It's okay, it's okay. I'm sorry I pushed you."
He grabbed the closest blanket and laid it over my shoulders, wrapping it tight around me, "It's alright now, whatever you're thinking about, don't let it get to you too much. I'm sure that when the others see you, they'll be happy."
But I didn't really care if the others saw me or not. All I cared about was Gen.