Petrified | Dr. Stone

08.

This story will follow the manga and will contain spoilers.

I do not own anything except for my oc. Enjoy! :)

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Inoko stayed on her hammock. She refuses to go out. Not with how tense the atmosphere on the entire place felt. She furrowed her eyebrows as she remembered what Tsukasa had announced earlier this morning, letting out a few huffs in frustration.

They are going to attack the village that Asagiri Gen mentioned. She rolled to her side, uneasy on how things are going to the kingdom. "Why?" was her only thought. Those people did not do anything wrong. Even Gen himself said that he got in an argument with them, meaning that the inhabitants of the village did not beat him up without a good reason. Why would they attack them now?

Her gaze wandered to the apple that is on the table not too far away from her. As if realizing that she have not eaten anything since morning, her stomach let out a rumble. She laid her hand on top of it, silently begging for it to stop. She just doesn't want to leave her only safe haven.

"That's right. I'm only wasting my time moping over something that I have no control over."

Begrudgingly, she slowly left her comfortable hammock. Sadly, she still have a mission to do.

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Inoko likes to think that she's well-hidden. Her back was pressed against the cold stone as she tries to see what her female friend is up to. After a long while of following Yuzuriha and she's still not getting caught, she concluded that she might be good at spying after all.

Her gaze remained on Yuzuriha even after she let out all of the stones that she's been holding. It was kind of fascinating, Inoko admits. It was only natural to think of those broken human stones as dead since their were literally into pieces. Yuzuriha, however, seems to think differently. Around the brunette were neatly glued human stones, all of them a product of Yuzuriha's combined determination and talent.

Inoko frowned. "No matter how accurate or how neat Yuzuriha-san's work is, that doesn't change the fact that those humans are already broken. I can even see the previous cracks even from afar. Also, where did she get that kind of adhesive? Why is she doing this, anyways? Why secretly? Why does she need to be alone to do this? Why this many people?" her questions grew more and more as she continued to notice things. "I already knew that Tsukasa-san has been smashing stones of people who he deemed "tainted" but why is Yuzuriha-san piecing them back together? Is Tsukasa-san aware of this? Did he order her and told her to do this in secret to avoid the people in the kingdom from knowing that Tsukasa is-- no, what am I thinking? That's too unlikely."

She sighed. She did not inform Tsukasa anything. She just told him the usual and said that there was nothing suspicious about them at all. She just hoped that Tsukasa won't discover her little lies. "Yuzuriha-san, look what I did for you. It's hard to lie, you know? Especially to someone that could easily kill me. See, Yuzuriha-san? I'm putting my faith in you. That's why please..."

Inoko immediately ducked when she saw Yuzuriha stood up. It seems that she already finished putting all the stones back together. Inoko saw her smile triumphantly and raised her fist into the air. "Senku-kun... everything's fine here. I hope you're doing well..." she whispered.

Oh how Inoko wished that she did not hear that. Then, something inside her switched the lightbulb on. "Oh I see... "

The secret method of their revival that only a few members know, Tsukasa-san's drive to create Utopia, her mission, the grave, and Asagiri Gen. "Everything makes sense now... "

"If my deductions were correct, that would mean that this 'Senku' is most likely still alive. Tsukasa-san said that Yuzuriha-san and Taiju-san were already there when he was just starting, I just foolishly assumed that they were the first to be un petrified by him. Most likely that this Senku person were a close friend of the two since it is only the two of them who regularly visit his supposedly grave. Tsukasa-san often go there, but only for a short while, not even lasting five minutes. I don't want to think of it but could it be that Tsukasa-san is the one who "killed" Senku-san?" she placed her hand on her mouth.

She watched as Yuzuriha walked away. As soon as she could see the other female on sight, she immediately went out from her hiding spot and observed Yuzuriha's hard work.

"For some reason, Senku-san survived. The answer to "how" is going to be a huge mystery if ever my theory is true. Tsukasa-san is not sure if he really did kill him or not but Yuzuriha-san and Taiju-san, being Senku-san's friend, probably cover it up and told him that Senku-san is really dead. Now that Senku-san is "dead", the two of them needed to join Tsukasa-san in his growing kingdom in order to survive. I mean, they could probably survive without the help of Tsukasa-san but they can't take the risk of being targeted by the strongest man existing in this time. That would also explain why there was a grave, probably to make it more believable. Although I think it would really be believable if Taiju-san is really grieving. Does he not notice how inconsistent his choice of words are? Sometimes it's on past tense, sometimes it's on future tense. It's like he's talking to a living person, not a dead person."

She walked out, not before checking if there is someone close her vicinity. She can't risk being seen here.

"Tsukasa-san, the ever so cautious person he is, gave a mission to Asagiri-san to investigate if Senku-san is really dead while he gave me the mission to observe Yuzuriha-san and Taiju-san. Senku-san is probably on the village and Asagiri-san met him there. Then something happened that made Asagiri-san side with Senku-san."

Inoko forced out a smile as she walked past the people who are readying themselves to the upcoming village raid. Some ignored her, some whistled at her, and some greeted her. The smile remained on her face until she was out of the view. The small room-- or a small hut-- she is staying at was at the top, meaning that she needed to climb the long rope in order to get to her beloved hammock.

"Now to the question on why Tsukasa-san "killed" Senku-san. Why indeed? A quarrel, perhaps? What could people fight over that would lead to killing? It's obviously not about love. Disagreement? That is very likely. He even threatened to kill me if I didn't join him. Wow. So Senku-san expressed his disagreement despite knowing that Tsukasa-san will kill him? Now I'm starting to gain respect for this man."

Her thoughts were interrupted when amounts of cheers echoed throughout the entire area. She just reached her room and immediately waited inside. She did not dare look down. One, the place she's in is too high; she's afraid of heights, and two, she did not wish to see the others shout excitedly as they leave to attack a village who has done nothing.

She ran to her hammock, removing her haori and used it as a blanket. She screwed her eyes shut, silently wishing for them to shut up.