New Beginnings and A New Stone World(Dr. Stone Fanfic)

The Kingdom of Science

Within my three predicted hours, I arrived at the edge of the clearing where they had been digging for the past few days. So far, there were two large craters and a bunch of smaller holes filling the clearing and, to my luck and surprise, Tsukasa was in the hole closest to me. With a final deep breath, I took quick small steps toward him with a smile plastering my face.

"Any luck, Tsu?" I asked as I crouched at the edge of the pit.

His head, with his body following, turned to me so fast it looked like it could have broken his neck with the force alone. "I- Kaisho..." he trailed off with wide eyes.

"Aww, come on, I thought we were past the whole surname thing," I pouted. It almost physically hurt just acting how I used to be. I know one thing for sure: if we end up joining groups, I am dropping this facade faster than a hot pan.

The cool touch of metal came to my neck along with a new presence. Careful not to move too much, I looked behind my left shoulder to see the "lioness" of the Kingdom of Science, Kohaku. "Answer me. Who are you and why are you here," she demanded in a stern voice. She sounded almost exactly as she did when Gen first appeared. Untrusting and ready to make heads roll if it came to it.

"This isn't necessary, Kohaku," Tsu cut in. "She's an old friend of mine."

With a bit of a surprised look, she sheathed her sword. "Sorry about that," she said with a small apologetic smile.

"No worries," I waved off as I stood up, brushing my pants off a little. "I'm Ichika Kaisho, but you can just call me Ichika or Ichi," I introduced myself with a small bow. Just kill me now. It hurts too much.

"And I'm Kohaku," she replied with a curt nod and a bit of a smile. After a few more exchanged words, she walked off, leaving me with Tsu.

"It's nice to see you haven't changed," he sighed with a small smile.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "So, are you looking for Mirai? This is the area where the hospital was, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Senku said... that the revival fluid may be able to heal her."

The revival fluid? Of course! Some sort of chemical must have aided in the depetrification. I can't believe I didn't consider that possibility... "That's great to hear," I replied with a bit of a bigger smile before I hopped down into the hole. Opposed to some of the other smiles I've been giving, this one was genuine. Mirai was just a kid, she didn't deserve anything that happened to her. "I'll help you look. If you don't mind, that is," I said as I grabbed one of the stray shovels.

"Not at all," he smiled. "It'll be nice to catch up with you too."

With that, we got to work. It was quiet aside from the surrounding sounds of people digging and chatting with an explosion added in. It almost felt like the 21st century with all the sounds of people working. 

"So, you woke up on your own?" Tsu asked after a few moments.

"Yep. And let me tell you, it hasn't been an easy two years," I replied with a chuckle at the end. "You've only been up for about a year, right?" 

"Yeah, how did you know?" he asked, pausing his actions.

"Well, I heard the explosions at the hot springs and went to investigate. From what I could tell, it didn't look like you were up for too long."

"I see," he said before going back to digging. I actually knew because of some stuff I heard Senku say, but he doesn't need to know that I've essentially been stalking all of them for almost a whole year. That would prove difficult to explain in character.

After a few more minutes of us chatting and catching up, with me leaving out a good chunk of what has gone on and him obviously doing the same, some shouts came from the edge of the clearing. Curious and with a bad feeling, I clumb out of the hole to investigate. 

"Oh, no," I muttered when I saw what the commotion was about. Just as Tsu got out of the hole, I sprinted to the semi-circle of five very buff men. "Hey, hey, HEY! He's FRIENDLY!" I shouted as I jumped over one of the crouched men, also making sure to keep my cloak from billowing out too much. I landed directly to Judas's left and placed my hand on his head to prove a point.

"Who the hell are you?!" the one I jumped over exclaimed with anger.

"Enough," Tsu said as he calmly came up behind the men. "If it was wild, it would have already attacked." In response, the men just nodded and quietly grumbled as they left.

"Thank you," I sighed as I scratched Judas's mane, gaining a low purr. "You gotta be more careful, Judas," I lightly scolded with a shake of my finger, which stopped his purring immediately as his ears flopped down. 

"Seems more like a house cat than a ferocious beast," Tsu lightly chuckled as he reached his hand out for Judas to smell.

"That's what happens when you nurse one from near infancy," I replied as Judas snuggled his head into Tsu's hand.

"I thought I recognized that voice."  Looking off to my right, I saw Gen approaching. "Ichika, right? We met backstage after my show with Tsu-chan?"

"Yeah, I remember. How's showbiz treating you these days?" I asked with a slight smirk.

"Ha. Funny. So, when did he revive you? I don't remember you being here last time I was."

"Oh, no, I revived myself around Ninomiya about two years ago," I replied with a shake of my head.

"Ninomiya? Wasn't your school in Hiratsuka?" Tsu asked.

"Yeah, but with all the floods Japan definitely had, I was washed down closer to the coast."

"Huh, I didn't even think of that," Gen commented. 

So you just forgot that Japan had Tsunami's and God only knows how many floods a year?

"What was all the commotion about?" From behind Gen came the man I stalked the most over the past year. "Oh, nevermind," he said as he saw Judas.

"Senku, you're just in time~" Gen said as he dragged me by the hand toward Senku. 

Let go, or I'll bite your fingers off...

"This is Ichika, an old friend of mine and Tsukasa's. I think she'd be a good addition to the science team."

Oh, no I won't. "Um, I was actually majoring in law before everything. I'm pretty good with physical work though, and building stuff." I had to figure it out from afar anyway, so how hard could it be with blueprints?

"Really? You give off more o f a scientist vibe though," Gen said with a raised brow.

"Yeah," I chuckled as I got my hand back. "I was really into crime shows and was working to become an investigator." Though my parents wanted me to be a lawyer. "I do know plenty of forensics stuff though, so I do know what some chemicals do."

"Just do whatever you like. As long as you contribute something," Senku said as he picked his ear. "We should probably try you out in a few spots if you're not sure though."

"Sounds good," I nodded. 

I'm actually surprised I got this done as soon as I did. And, yay! We're in the main story finally! Listening to the soundtrack as well as Azari on youtube has made it easier for me to focus on my writing. Well, I'm off to the next chapter! :)~