"HEY HOMURA, are you perhaps in love with my brother" [Name] asked the now captured pink haired female. After a raucous goose chase, Kohaku had managed to apprehend her.
There was no answer from her side and [Name] decided not to push it. It was obvious though, her undying loyalty to a prick like Hyoga.
She wondered what in the world she saw in that man. [Name] had been living with him for years yet all she received from him was neglect.
"They must have made it to my grave" Senku glanced at the sky which was a vibrant orange.
[Name] engulfed her head with her hood as she felt the breeze of winter. "I can't wait to hear their voices again" she walked up the stairs to the hut.
Senku grasped the yellow-green cone in his hands, waiting for their voice.
"SENKUUU"
There it was, the unmistakable voice of Taiju, fighting his already pouring tears. Emotions were heard in the form of trembling voices. The villagers also got emotional just looking at the scene, even though they had never met them.
"I AM SENKU" Taiju suddenly stated.
"No you idiot, I am Senku," Senku replied.
After exchanging greetings with the pair, Senku rehearsed the plan to them. Along with the scheme to recruit more members to the Kingdom of Science.
"I wonder if those three met Ukyo yet" [Name] wondered as she crossed her hands, mind in thought. Before he had dropped her, she had made sure to subconsciously insert the idea of changing teams to him.
"Wasn't he your personal bodyguard?" he shrugged, recalling her faintly mentioning it before. Saionji Ukyo, he was 173 cm and 20 years of age. Had slight allergies to pollen and dust, otherwise pretty healthy.
"More like a stalker, dude's got dog-range ears." she laughed. After they had the whole conversation of the potential candidates to turn over the Tsukasa kingdom, [Name] moved to other work at hand.
Today's task was to create some painkillers or paracetamol, it was tedious and extensive but extremely versatile.
Ever since her petrification, [Name] had not had her period, leading her to believe that in order to adapt, women's bodies have stopped menstruating.
How did she figure that out? If you remember, in chapter seven, [Name] performed a thorough vagina inspection. Among the various questions she asked Ruri, she also asked about her cycle.
Ruri revealed that most villagers only menstruate 5-6 times a year. They had to time it perfectly so that it was 14 days before their cycle started if they wanted kids.
Well [Name] could feel her's coming now. Abdominal pains usually signalled that she has about 1-2 days before it starts. Day 1 and 2 were the worst, the pains were terribly excruciating.
She usually had her maids prepare her either a hot pack or a cold one depending on her mood. She didn't have that luxury now, maybe rich people are lazy.
Pads were another problem.
Sure she could manufacture them if she wanted to but it would take time. Her only option was to use layered clothes and wash them regularly. That's what Ruri told her at least.
"Stupid uterus, I DON'T EVEN WANT CHILDREN" she scolded her lower half as if it could hear.
"Well" she sat in the lab, thinking of the synthesis of the product. "I could use the classic method of nitrating but that requires nitric acid, which we don't have"
"We do actually" a cup containing a greenish liquid was passed to her as it hissed into the air. She looked up from the table to see Senku smiling at her.
"I saw your notes for the synthesis, and thought i would share my secret stash of HNO3" he smirked and made creepy gestures with his hand.
"Pfft are you a drug dealer or something" she grabbed the cup to make sure it was the real deal.
"Isn't ibuprofen more efficient when dealing with conditions?" he asked her and stuck a pinky into his ear. In return she gave him a beaming smile that made his heart skip a beat.
"It's easier to do this"
"Right, I forgot how lazy you were," he sighed.
"Shut up leeky boy, not everything has to be hard. Besides, ibuprofen requires other compounds which we haven't acquired yet." she pouted and started the nitration to form 4-aminophenol.
The measurements had to be perfect so she grabbed a Pipette and slowly dropped the HNO3 onto the phenol.
"You have to add it slowly idiot" Senku creeped up behind her and used his hand to guide her. He snaked his palm on top of hers as he taught her how to nitrate properly.
His breath was right next to her ear, making it tingle. Her mind was hazed as she tried to focus. His voice was impossible to hear as her ears were filled with the rapid beating of her heart.
Senku was so engrossed in teaching her that he didn't notice what he was doing until he didn't see her respond. He then realised the position they were in.
As soon as he took notice, he jumped to the side, scratching the back of his neck.
"Well I think you'll be able to handle the rest of it" he pointed towards the door with his thumbs and took his exit. It was faint but he did have a tint of red on his cheeks.
"OH MY GOD" [Name] let out the breath she was holding. She fell to her knees, trying to calm herself down. Her eyes were spinning, repeating the same moment over and over again.
"He's so oblivious to my feelings that it's irritating. He should be careful with how she handles me" she patted her chest one last time and got up.
"Right...catalyst time" she restored herself and started working again.
****
"Man, finally this thing is over" she laid on the floor, exhausted from all the tiring work. [Name] does not cut corners but she's extremely lazy. Someone has to force her to start working and only then will she comply, otherwise she'll stay in bed.
"At least this stupid Panadol is done." She glanced at the compact paracetamol in her hands. With all the resources she had, 50 pieces were produced.
It will last the entire village for the next two years unless someone goes on a drug rampage.
Her thoughts were cut short as Gen had finally arrived back in one piece. He was bawling his eyes out when told of his encounter with Ukyo.
"So who do I need to win over first?" Was his first question after ranting to them.
****
"Well you're looking at a Lillian super fan" [Name] pointed her thumb at herself. She did get into the fandom late but quickly caught up to even the oldest ones.
Her favourite song was All too well (Lillian's version). It reminded her of Ryusui, but only partially. The way Lillian sang it, it evoked numerous emotions that she never knew she had.
Experiences she never had.
"Could you answer some questions so I could know if you're real" the recruit, Nikki's voice trembled. [Name] could feel that Lillian had a huge sentimental value to her.
"How many CD's have you sold in total?" She asked from the cell phone. This made Gen and Senku visibly panic, how the hell were they supposed to know this.
Senku had already started waging in every income and tallying it before [Name] stopped him.
"Well, coincidentally as a super fan, I used to run those Twitter fan accounts which informed everyone of their sales. And wouldn't you know it, before I went to school on the day of the petrification, I had posted her updated sales." She clicked her fingers in pride.
"The exact answer is 53.45 million copies, plus 10 million in digital streaming" she shared to the hopeful duo.
"Leave it to me [Name] Chan" Gen nodded and started impersonating again.
"Since when were you Lilian's super fan?" Senku asked.
"Well, if you saw the sheer excitement I had when the record was being played you would know. Don't you remember that me and Yuzuriha went to her concert when she toured Japan?" She asked.
The thing is, Senku really doesn't pay attention to unimportant things or something outside his sphere of focus.
"Yeah" was only said as he faced back to Gen.
"WHAT ARE YOUR MEASUREMENTS?" She screamed, making all of them recoil.
"Don't even think about it" she glared at Senku who gulped, erasing the forming image in his mind. She then whispered to Gen.
"Well darling, my real measurements are a secret" Gen replied with a kiss in the end. This had sealed the deal in Nikki's heart.
For further confirmation, Gen started singing one of her songs. [Name] could help but do the fan chants in the head as he sang.
"Lillian doesn't exist in this world anymore" her voice trembled as she started weeping.
Impressive, she noticed the slight difference in the song. Gen did an amazing job in singing, but he lacked the raw emotions Lillian had when she sang. It would go unnoticed by everyone except her fans.
"Could you use your power to bring back her songs?" She asked. Excitement bubbles through everyone as all Senku had to say was yes.
"Yes!!" Gen and [Name] clapped their hands together in unison.
"No way in hell" Senku destroyed their hopes in just one sentence.
"But I promise to preserve this last one so protect it to the best of your power" he uttered.
"Alright, I'll cooperate with you" her voice grew faint as she shuffled away from the cell phone.
After planning the future endeavours, the conversation switched to the obstacles. One of them being Ukyo.
He was a sonar operator, as noted by Gen, so his abilities would be really helpful when setting out to sea. Along with cell tower communication, he would be a great asset.
"Don't worry about Ukyo, he'll be the least of our problems" she assured them. He wasn't evil by any means, in fact he was just doing what a normal human would do, trying to survive.
"CHROMES BEEN CAPTURED" the unmistakable burly voice of Magma resonated as everyone rushed down.
"See I told you Ukyo is not bad" [Name]watched as Magma was handed water.
"But he took Chrome" Kohaku protested as she was held back from rushing to the empire.
"Not exactly, he let Magma free, unscathed with only a few slight scratches. If he wanted to, he could've gotten them both, but he didn't because he's doubting Tsukasa now" she assured Kohaku who seemed to calm down a bit.
"What's our next plan, genius?" She snuggled into her clothes and looked over at Senku.
He returned from the hut with a weird expression. Everyone's shoulders slumped, knowing Senku, there was probably going to be a work-heavy task coming up.
"We're making an automobile" he smirked
"Gen" [Name] cried.
"[Name]" he weeped back at her.
Both of them hugged as they watched Senku lay down the basic plans.
"He's insane" Gen whispered to her and she nodded. Her hug was rudely stopped when Senku called her over to design the interior of the automobile.
She sighed and gave Gen a pat before grabbing a paintbrush.
Gen smirked and gazed back at Senku, giving him a 'jealous~' expression. That's what Senku interpreted from him at least. Shaking his thoughts from the mentalists' corruption, he focused back to the task.
"And no, I'm not jealous," he muttered to himself.
A/N
I think this my longest chapter. Also this is the first time I actually did the chemistry part myself. My chem teacher would be so proud of me.
THANK YOU FOR 11K READS and I hope y'all enjoy, have a great day/night.