Incalculable | S.Ishigami x Fem OC

A Flimsy Cola Alliance

The group had stayed up taking care of Gen, while Suika went out to find the culprit...discovering it was Magma (due to his blatant conversation about it). He had thought he was getting rid of the sorcerer Kohaku brought, giving him the most power as a result. He had wanted to kill Kohaku as well, due to the Grand Bout, a martial arts tournament held once every generation. Several months ago, the winner was supposed to become elder and wed Ruri, Kohaku's sister, but her sickness worsened. Due to this, the Grand Bout is to be repeated in a month's time. This made Senku come up with an idea, to win, so they could get Ruri's medicine easily...without the trouble of Magma becoming elder if he won. Kohaku decided to gain more allies, Ginro and Kinro. Ginro was sold because of Ruri's outer appearance, and Kinro knew Amelie and Senku weren't bad people...but what was their objective, he wanted to know. They agreed to help Kohaku due to her desperate determination of saving her sister's life.

"Let's take a break!" Ginro cried.

"No!" Kinro scolded, despite him internally agreeing due to the stamina of the blonde, "Finish three more sets first!"

Kohaku called out to Chrome who looked distant as he leaned on a wall, "Hold it—Chrome. I'd really prefer to train you more than anyone. But Kinro and Ginro are the only ones who have a chance at defeating Magma. I'm sorry."

Senku, Suika, and Amelie returned from collecting firewood.

The leek-haired boy figured it was the perfect time to tease, smirking, "Yo, Chrome, she's being all 'sorry, sorry' about our plan to get Kinro or Ginro to marry Ruri because you're in love with her."

"You're as brutal as ever," Kohaku sweat dropped.

"See, that's why romance is illogical, leaves you all mopey when things don't go right," Amelie added.

Yet, despite her words, a few minutes later, she was checking up on him.

"Hey, kid, what's going through your head?"

"Nothing. Just science things."

"Well, that's a lie. Science doesn't make you sad," she raised a brow.

He finally looked at her, "Did you know that I spent most of my childhood days with Ruri?"

She blinked, "I wasn't expecting a backstory, but go ahead, I suppose."

A wistful smile stretched from his lips, "We would spend our days frolicking and chasing each other through meadows filled with beautiful white flowers that seemed to go on forever...and those days would always be the highlight of my week. I knew Ruri was sick, but I didn't know the extent of it. Yet, it didn't matter because I was a kid and all I cared about was being free without a single worry for anything else. Then..."

She watched as his widening smile dropped into a glower.

He laughed a little, "Sorry, I just—I've never told someone this before...so..."

"It's fine, there's no rush to tell me," Amelie assured.

He took a breath and told her the rest of the story, the story that started his determination for science, to save Ruri.

His fists clenched, "All I can ask for is to help Ruri."

"I understand," her eyes were a rarity, they looked kind, "I feel that way about Senku."

"You...love Senku?"

She snorted, "I've never felt love for any human being before, I'm sure I don't feel it now—But, don't feel so helpless Chrome. When it comes to anything in life—not just science, it can't be mastered overnight. Even the masters weren't born masters."

"What do you mean?"

Amelie crossed her arms, "Senku and I. Geniuses like us aren't born, no genius is truly born that way. We just like learning and worked hard to get where we are. But it wasn't overnight. There was trial and error. There were incorrect answers. But we bounced back from them and learned. That's all a genius truly is," she awkwardly pats his shoulder, "You worked hard for her, and you still can save her without battling in the Grand Bout. You know why? The best source to protect and save her isn't a gun, or a sword, or a spear," she gently poked a finger at his head, "It's your brain. Don't forget that."

"..."

"And you could be using that brain of yours to help my nerd of a friend make a cure. Because the brains are the heart of the team, we need your heads to let everything else fall into place. My brain will be right behind you as support."

"Amelie..."

"Hm?"

"You're pretty wise."

She blinked, "Am I? All I did was answer you."

"You may act like you don't care, but you're really nice."

She cringed at the word, "Ew, I'm not nice."

"Okay, you're not nice," he chuckled.

"Get it right," she nodded.

"Hey...You said you feel the same way about Senku...I'm curious, how did the two of you meet and become friends? How did you get to where you are now?"

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

"Gen's vanished!"

"Yeah, he went back to Tsukasa," Senku assumed, picking from his ear.

"But why would he sneak out like that?" Chrome wondered, pausing his descent from the ladder.

"That rat bastard better not intend to tell Tsukasa that Senku and Amelie are alive," growled Kohaku.

"This is bad! Senku, Amelie! We have to go after him," Chrome frowned.

"We have to catch the rat bastard, quick!" Kohaku started to run.

"Wait a sec," Kohaku crashed into Senku who stepped in front of her.

"Why are you stopping me? We have to catch him!"

"We should leave him be."

They turned to Amelie, who started to sharpen her dagger, "He wouldn't have cooperated with us if he had no interest in science. Once Senku made electricity, Gen made up his mind. As a superficial man, he has superficial ways of saving face."

Kohaku shrugged, "Men are such a pain in the ass, in any era."

"Agreed," Amelie chuckled.

A memory flashed in Amelie's head.

The promise of cola for Gen and the wide smile that lit up his face.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

"Amelie," Senku glanced at his friend.

"I already know. We got to make a bottle of Cola," she lifted a fist, bumping it against Senku's.

She smiled, "...Science Buddies."

"Don't ruin it with that."

"Fine, Science Squad?" she suggested.

"Better," he rolled his eyes, "Let's get to work."