Petrified | Dr. Stone

19.

Inoko doesn't like being clueless - scratch that. She hated it. It makes her feel more vulnerable than she already is. She's completely aware of how incompetent she is when it comes to anything that involves physical work by looking at her marks on her P.E. classes.

She always believed in the phrase "Knowledge is Power" and she will always cling to that phrase right to the very end. She may not have much experience to other things and only knew stuff through reading books and haven't had the chance to try those new knowledge in real life, at least she knew about it. At the very least, she has some kind of idea on what those things are and not running around, completely ignorant

That is why she is currently sitting on her hammock alone with a deep frown on her face. The dimmed room didn't helped improve her mood at all, in fact, it only made things worse. The silence kept on eating her, and she swore that if someone didn't talk to her soon, she will go crazy.

She kept on clicking her tongue every second or so. Her hands kept on clenching and her leg kept on bouncing up and down as she sat crossed legged, showing her impatience.

"Nothing makes sense!"

First, Yuzuriha and Taiju asked her to cover for them out of nowhere. They didn't tell her how long they will be gone, just saying that they won't take long. Then before they left, Yuzuriha asked her to deliver the bundle of clothes to Nikki and the rest of the labor team. Wasn't she supposed to cover for them? What if someone got curious on why she was the one doing the job of the tailor?

Then she was informed just recently that Ukyo is already with them. Since when? When did he become their ally? The last time she checked- which is earlier that day- Ukyo and Senku has not talked yet. So when?

After she and Ukyo delivered the clothes to Nikki, the girl refused to say anything when she asked what's going to happen next! Nikki just told her exactly what Ukyo had just said.

"Stay in your room, or wherever, just out of the way, no matter what."

Inoko gritted her teeth. "What do they take me for, a stupid kid!? Well, I am neither stupid nor a kid!" She huffed, getting angrier the more she thought of it.

"Think, Inoko! Think! You've survived and figured things out on your own because you can think!" She let herself fall backwards, her hammock swinging harshly from the impact. She glared at the ceiling.

"What is happening right now? All I know is that Senku-san, Gen-san, and Nikki-san will try to convince the others with the use of Ms. Lillian's song. What happened after that? I don't know... I have zero idea... " she huffed, getting more frustrated as more seconds passed.

"Well... Let's say that they did succeeded, then that's a good thing right? Wait - of course they would succeed!" she slammed the back of her hand to her forehead, hard. "I am so stupid! Of course they succeeded! Nikki-san and the others wouldn't be running around freely if they failed! The others would have already reported them to Tsukasa-san about their actions if they did failed! Stupid Inoko! That's just common sense!"

She took a deep breath. That's one mystery solved for her. Now to the next problem.

"That night when Ukyo-san and I went to give the battery to the prisoner... I am sure that Ukyo-san is still not on our side back then. When did he and Senku-san talked?" she paused, thinking hard. "Did he accidentally discovered the telephone? Or maybe... does he actually knew about the telephone this whole time? It is possible... he must have seen it when he was catching the three people who place that telephone in there!"

Sadly, Inoko can't think of anything else since she's not seeing Ukyo all the time. She only see him occasionally and he is always either on a patrol or he is resting. Never did she saw him with Taiju, Yuzuriha, or even Nikki.

She frowned. As much as she wants to know the thing about when Ukyo involved himself with them, she can't unless she personally ask them.

"Taiju-san and Yuzuriha-san must have been aware about Ukyo-san. I was wondering where did they get the confidence to go out, it seems like having one of the three leaders side with us brought them courage..."

The sudden choice of her two friends is currently the biggest mystery to her; aside from the cause of their petrification of course. "Why now? What are they planning? What are they doing now? What is going to happen now?I don't know... I really don't know... I can't think of anything else... "

She jumped off of her hammock. "Just sitting around here won't get me anywhere!"

She grabbed her shoes and wore it as fast as she could. If she's not wrong, the others should still be on their assigned posts. "I am dying of curiosity here! I'm not allowing myself to be left out!"

She quickly opened the door only to lose her footing by the sudden shaking of the ground.

BOOM!

"What was that!?" She yelled, massaging her back to soothe it from pain. She quickly ran to the nearest table and hid below, covering her head by her arms while waiting for the shaking of the ground to stop.

"An earthquake?" she thought. "No... something exploded before the ground shook. Then, an explosion!? What exploded!?"

She can still feel the swaying, but it's not that strong, unlike the first few minutes. She crawled out slowly, maintaining her balance as she stood up.

"OAAAAAAAAA!"

She gasped, covering her ears from the sudden voice. Who was that? That was loud! Inoko feared for her eardrums. Seriously, what is happening outside?

The swaying of the ground continued, making a creaking noise everytime it swayed to left and right. Strangely, the swaying lasted for about a few seconds before turning to the other side... as if...

Inoko went still as she realized something. She grabbed the nearest thing that she could get a hold of - which was the edge of her hammock.

"Wait... wait... This hut is built at a high place... I don't know much about how strong the foundation is but... but I did see a few ropes supporting it... " the creaking intensifies and she tightened her grip on her hammock, squealing in fear as the whole place tilted to the right. "Don't tell me - !"

The ropes attached to the hut snapped because of the weight of the small shelter tilting and the rock it was built on created a crack. The hut is now only being supported by the rock that is slowly breaking apart. Inoko is frozen inside, afraid to move a single muscle as things started to register on her mind.

"Oh my gosh."

Then the rock completely broke and the hut she's in fell down.