Petrified | Dr. Stone

14.

"Is it really true!?" Taiju loudly asked, beaming and shining as he held back tears, feeling proud of what his friend did. "Senku reall-"

"Shhhh!" Inoko shush, holding a finger in front of her mouth before he reveal anything further, warily glancing around them. Taiju slapped a hand on his mouth as he realized what he was about to casually say. Inoko sighed.

As soon as Inoko told Yuzuriha that Senku already had a telephone implanted on his grave, she immediately went ahead to get Taiju. Inoko can't really blame them for being excited and impatient to talk to their friend since she knew that they were separated for more than a year now.

"Listen, since Senku-san implanted it on his 'grave', I assume that the two of you knew that that place is going to be the meeting spot or some sort?" Yuzuriha and Taiju nodded. "Then we'll go there casually. Pretend like nothing has changed. Well... it's just common sense but Tsukasa-san didn't know that yet. Thankfully, Tsukasa-san didn't assigned anyone else to monitor the two of you even after confirming that Senku-san is still alive."

The three of them were on their way to the graveyard. To keep their act still, Inoko asked Yuzuriha and Taiju to continue bringing some gifts for Senku while she brought the mango she intended to put there when she caught the three outsiders.

"Wait-? Monitor!?" Taiju asked, surprised. "And Tsukasa knew that Senku is still alive!?"

Inoko just looked at him, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "You mean you really did not noticed?" He still had his innocent surprise look on his face. "I am indeed sent to spy on the two of you. Also, Hyouga-san had an encounter with Senku-san back on the village raid."

"Then that would mean that Senku is on the village!"

Inoko only nodded and Taiju almost shouted in glee but managed to stop himself. Inoko looked at Yuzuriha who was surprisingly quiet the whole time.

"I kind of thought of it at first..." Yuzuriha said "...but nothing happened since the first day so I thought that you're not a spy."

"Oh I see..." Inoko said, remembering the events on their first meeting. "I must say that you were really clumsy back there, Yuzuriha-san. If it were somebody else... I don't even want to think about it..."

"But Ukyo-san was there with us..." she thought. "I want to think of him like that but I don't have enough information to prove it aside from his kind persona." She sighed. "But then again, I already gambled with him the moment I told him about the three people on the graveyard."

Inoko likes to think that she knew Ukyo already. Their relationship may not be as close as what she has with her friend, Yuzuriha, but he is definitely the second person that she could depend on. They talk with each other every other time and that was almost everyday, although it would normally last for only a few minutes.

"You're really sent by Tsukasa to spy on us, Inoko?" Taiju asked. Inoko nodded. "And now you're on our side!" Inoko nodded again. "Whoah!"

"Yes, yes. But can you please lower your voice or just not talk about it? We can't risk anyone else to hear on us."

They eventually reached the graveyard without being seen by anyone. The place was the same as ever, as if nothing happened. Right before Inoko left the place to go to Yuzuriha, she did her best to expunge all the evidence the three outsiders left.

In front of the cross was an upside-down basket. Inoko secretly grimaced at this.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, ashamed. "I can't dig deep enough to bury it whole so I ended up covering it with just a basket."