[Y/n] and Senku sat in [Y/n]'s room working on a new project. They were building a Mecha-Senku robot.

"It seems to be able to move slightly, and I suppose we'll need more power." [Y/n] muttered while pushing her glasses up and examining the wires in the robot's abdomen.

Senku took a screwdriver and tried to fix the motherboard in the back of the robot's head. It short-circuited and exploded, knocking out the power. [Y/n] screamed and crouched into a ball on the floor, covering her head.

"[Y/n]? Are you okay?! Did the explosion hit you?" Senku asked in a panic while joining her on the floor.

She was trembling.

"[Y/n], what's wrong?" He asked again a bit calmer.

[Y/n] slowly looked up at him and smiled, nervously. "I'm sorry. It's not that." [Y/n] said and grabbed Senku's hand, "Look at me, a 14-year-old still afraid of the dark. I'm pathetic."

"You're scared of the dark?" Senku questioned while [Y/n] nodded.

Senku reached in his pocket and grabbed his phone. He turned on his flashlight and helped [Y/n] up. He held her hand while leading her behind their robot.

"The motherboard is ten billion percent trashed. We'll have to make another one." Senku said, and [Y/n]'s widened a bit. Senku didn't laugh or sneer at her. He was acting as if nothing happened. [Y/n] squeezed Senku's hand.

"It seems like you'll be making another one." [Y/n] said with a small smile while Senku sighed. Senku glanced at [Y/n]. She was calmer now. He squeezed her hand back. Nonetheless, the two friends walked hand-in-hand until the power came back.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Senku slowly connected the wires to the bamboo string. The sting began to glow and shine through the night. Everyone was shocked while [Y/n]'s eyes sparkled in the night as she stared up Senku. He looked down and smiled, softly, at her.

'You don't have to be afraid of the dark anymore. We'll conquer everything together with a power of science, [Y/n].'

[Y/n] joined Senku on the roof of the shed.

"One year and four months..." Senku muttered and had a big grin, "We're off to a good start."

[Y/n] smiled as well. She loved seeing Senku this happy. "Yes, we are." She said. 

Soon, it was time to have a meeting about Gen's relation to Tsukasa.

"So you see, Suika, this man called Tsukasa is the one behind Senku's murder." Kohaku explained the situation to Suika.

"Though, I'm not dead." Senku added.

"He's seriously bad news. He wanted to stop scientific progress, and he didn't think twice about killing Senku to do it." Chrome ranted.

"I told you, I'm not dead." Senku said.

"Tsukasa is looking for me. I have no clue as to what he wants, but I'm sure he thinks I'm dead as well." [Y/n] said in simple terms for Suika.

"I'm ten billion percent sure he wants to marry you." Senku teased, but that hurt him a bit.

[Y/n] blushed. "I am not marrying that...that...deceitful sociopath! I'd rather die!" She shouted, and, for some reason, it made Senku happy that she said that.

"So that Tsukasa person is a bad man, and Gen is with him?! Then Gen's a bad person. Wait... But, Gen saved us from Magma. He's a good person." Suika ranted.

Senku chuckled. "He's neither a good nor a bad person." He said.

"He's just a thoroughly shallow bat of a man." Kohaku added.

"It doesn't matter whether Asagiri Gen is a good guy or bad guy. We need him to be on the side of the kingdom of science. We'll have him make a bogus report to Tsukasa, saying 'Senku and [Y/n] are definitely dead.' That's the only way we can win." Senku said, and Chrome stood up.

"Hear that, Gen?" Chrome called, "You saw it, didn't you? The electricity? The insane light of science. Who cares about who wins? Who gives a damn about whether Tsukasa or Senku has the edge? The kingdom of science is just way more fun!"

"Gosh, you're so passionate, young man. Too bad, though. I don't have want you do, Chrome-chan. I'm just the most superficial man on earth. All I care about is whether or not something will benefit me." Gen said with a shrug and walked away. 

Senku was holding Kohaku back from attacking Gen. [Y/n] thought for a moment. Then had an idea.

"I'll be right back. Watch Inosuke for me." [Y/n] said and climbed out of the shed. [Y/n] caught up with Gen, who was staring at the generator.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" [Y/n] said while walking closer to him.

"Oh, [Y/n]-chan, I thought you weren't going to beg me?" Gen questioned.

"I'm not here to beg." [Y/n] said and crossed her arms, "When it comes to a superficial, shallow man like yourself, they always want something. Whether it's food or money, there's always something. What is it that you want, Asagiri Gen?" She asked. 

Gen smirked. He walked closer to her and stroked his thumb over the cracks on her cheeks. 

"If I said..." Gen kissed [Y/n]'s hand, "I wanted you, [Y/n]-chan."

"You're lying." [Y/n] said with a deadpanned look.

Gen let go of her hand and shrugged. "It's the truth. You're graceful and intelligent. And your long hair gives you a sense of elegance." Gen praised, "Any man, including myself, would be lucky to have you in their lives. Every man should be bending to your will and sweeping you off your feet..."

[Y/n]'s mind wondered to Senku. Then, she glared slightly. This is exactly what Gen wants her to do. "Especially, Senku-chan." He finished, and [Y/n]'s eyes widened a bit.

"What does Senku have to do with this?" [Y/n] questioned, and Gen smirked.

Suddenly, Gen grabbed [Y/n] and pulled her out of the way from the fist that was flying at him.

"G-"

Someone grabbed [Y/n] and covered her mouth. [Y/n] widened in fear as flashbacks started running through her head. [Y/n] bit the hand that was covering her mouth. She started thrashing around and kicking her feet.

"N-No! I'm sorry! I'll be good, I promise!" [Y/n] yelled with tears in her eyes, "P-Please!" 

"What is she talking about?"

"She's a witch. She's just trying to get in your head."

[Y/n] opened her eyes to see Magma stab Gen with a spear. [Y/n] took the knife that was on the man's belt and cut him.

He grunted in pain that let her go. [Y/n] ran in front of Gen's body and glared at Magma. She held the knife in her trembling hands.

"Go...away..." [Y/n] growled trying to regain her composure. Magma grunted and walked away.

'It's alright. You're okay now, [Y/n]' [Y/n] thought to herself, but it wasn't helping much.

"What was that noise?" Kohaku, Senku, Chrome, and Suika came running.

"[Y/n]!" Senku called, and [Y/n] covered her ears as she crouched on the ground.

"I can be good... I can get adopted..." [Y/n] muttered to herself.

'Oh no, she's having one of her episodes.' Senku thought while Chrome and Kohaku check on Gen.

"He obviously died instantly." Kohaku said.

"This is terrible." Suika said.

'Hang in there, [Y/n].' Senku thought and turned toward Gen's body.

"Hang on." Senku muttered and pulled the spear out of Gen, "He guarded himself with bags of fake blood." He said.

"They're all over him." Suika announced.

"This is nuts." Chrome commented, "He covered himself with these things, just in case!"

Senku chuckled. "Not bad. You're a magician through and through. Let's take him back to the shed." Senku muttered, and Chrome helped Gen up. Senku walked over to [Y/n] and carefully placed his hand on her head.

[Y/n] looked up at him as Senku smiled at her. "It's okay, [Y/n]. You're safe now." Senku said, gently. Tears filled [Y/n]'s eyes as she buried her face into Senku's chest and sobbed. Senku stroked [Y/n]'s hair to calm her down.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"He may have blocked it with those bags, but he's severely injured." Kohaku explained after treating Gen's wounds.

"Damn it! We have to catch the attacker!" Chrome growled.

"The only one who could have seen what happened is [Y/n], but she's..." Senku muttered while looking at the girl that cried herself to sleep in his lap.

"But who could have done such a terrible?" Kohaku questioned.

Suika look up with a determined look, and she jumped out of the shed then tucked herself into her watermelon. "I'm going to investigate!" She announced and rolled away.

"Senku, will she be alright?" Chrome asked, referring to [Y/n] while Inosuke rubbed his little brown snout against [Y/n]'s tear-stained cheek.

"Yeah." Senku said while stroking [Y/n] head, "She's just been through a lot."

{Trigger Warning!! You have been warned!}

"What do you mean?" Kohaku questioned.

"[Y/n]...was abandoned as an infant." Senku began in a soft tone, "In our time, 3,700 years old ago, if a parent didn't want or couldn't take care of their child, they would give them to a foster home, so someone more suitable could adopt them. But, after failing to get adopted multiple times because of her social anxiety, the foster parent, that took care of [Y/n], would lock her in a dark room for days with no food or even....beat her."

It pained Senku to imagine the amount of pain [Y/n] had gone through.

"Thankfully, [Y/n]'s mother adopted her a few weeks before we met in elementary, and she tries her best to make friends, but the events she's experienced still impacted her, even now. [Y/n] doesn't like to be held down, she hates the dark, she doesn't like to be alone with strangers, she needs constant comforting and reassurance, she needs love-"

Senku glared slightly and gritted his teeth. 'But, I can't give her that love...not now.' Senku thought and noticed Chrome crying.

"You say that as if...you love her, Senku." Kohaku said, and Senku just chuckled then leaned back on his hands.

"She is my best friend, after all. Nothing more." Senku said and closed his eyes. 'I do love her...so damn much.'

The next morning, Senku woke up with [Y/n] still curled up next to him. Senku moved a few strands of hair out of [Y/n]'s face before getting up to brush his teeth outside.

"Big news! I found out who it was!" Suika announced while rolling towards the shed.

"Good going, Great Detective Suika." Senku said with a primitive toothbrush in his mouth.

"I know who's behind the murder of Asagiri Gen!" Suika shouted.

"He's not dead, you know." Kohaku commented.

"So who was it?" Senku asked.

"It was...Magma!" And Suika told the story as to how she found out.

"Magma did it? That bastard!" Chrome growled.

By this time, [Y/n]'s eyes had slowly opened, and she took a look around. She heard the talking that was coming from outside of the shed.

"I see... Asagiri Gen made those flowers disappear before their eyes. From Magma's perspective, Gen is the rumored outsider sorcerer that I brought with me." Kohaku explained.

"So Magma stabbed Gen because he mistook him for Senku?" Chrome asked.

[Y/n]'s eyes widened a bit. 'It makes sense...he was coming for Senku.' [Y/n] thought to herself.

"It's a real insult that Magma believes my strength is due to sorcery, though." Kohaku said.

"Well, you have the raw power of an actual gorilla." Chrome said, and Kohaku glared, causing Chrome to grovel at her feet.

"So why is Magma looking for an opportunity to kill you, Kohaku?" Senku asked.

"Probably....no," Kohaku corrected herself and turned to Senku, "...definitely because of...the Great Bout. Once every generation, the village holds a large martial arts battle called the Great Bout."

"So that's what the arena-looking thing on the far island is for." Senku commented.

"Several months ago, on the day that the village priestess, Ruri-nee, came of age...The winner of the Grand Bout was to wed her and become the village elder. That's how my father became the village current elder. Magma didn't plan to take care of Ruri-nee but wanted to let her die. So, I defeated him in the Grand Bout." Kohaku continued to explain, and Senku laughed.

"Is that why your old man, the elder, disowned you?" Senku questioned.

"No...well, that was the last straw, but..." Kohaku muttered.

"Kohaku has caused a lot of trouble since she was little." Chrome said and rubbed his head. "Of course, the Grand Bout is set to be redone. It's going to be held next month." Kohaku added.

"Are you saying Magma Kill Gen to win the Grand Bout?" Chrome asked.

"Huh?! So Gen really is dead?!" Suika yelled.

"No, he's not dead."' Kohaku muttered.

"Wouldn't it be really bad news if a guy like him became the elder?" Chrome asked.

"Yeah." Senku said, "If Magma were to become the elder, it might be hard to even get the medicine to Ruri." 

Kohaku huffed. "It's also an opportunity. If a man from the kingdom of science defeats Magma and wins the Grand Bout, marries Ruri-nee, and becomes the elder, it'll solve everything. Rounding up citizens for the kingdom of science and giving Ruri-nee the cure-all medicine would be easy." She said.

[Y/n] sat curled up near the entrance of the shed. She heard footsteps getting further and further away; they're probably going to talk to Kinro and Ginro about entering the Grand Bout.

The thought of Magma aiming to kill Senku still ran through [Y/n]'s head. If that had happened... if Magma actually did kill the right sorcerer, [Y/n] wouldn't know what to do with herself. She was grateful to Gen for taking the hit for her, but to think it could have been Senku.

He was rock that has kept her ground in this crazy situation of being frozen in stone for 3,700 years and to lose him was unthinkable, unbearable. [Y/n] may be oblivious to social cues, but she wasn't dumb. She knew she had the "L" word, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. This is not the time or place for that.

[Y/n] blinked when she heard Inosuke oinked in concerned for her. She smiled and patted his head. She shook the thoughts that were conflicting her away and focused on the task at hand.

She crawled over to Gen's body and began to treat his wounds. Soon, [Y/n] heard footsteps coming clear to the shed. She looked out to see Chrome, Senku, Kinro, Ginro, and Kohaku were returning. 

Senku was the first one to notice her. But... there was something different. 

A change has shifted in her...

[Y/n]'s gaze didn't immediately go to Senku like it usually does. [Y/n] looked directly at Kohaku then [Y/n] took a deep breath through her nose.

"Kohaku, please teach me how to fight!" [Y/n] called from the top of the shed. This shocked the group.

Although he was shocked, Senku didn't ask questions. He knew she'll tell him when she was ready. Kohaku stared at [Y/n] for a moment and saw the determination in her eyes. She smiled. "Yeah." She agreed.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

The training was exhausting for [Y/n], but she battled through it. Even if she chose to learn to defend herself, [Y/n] still couldn't forget her responsibility as Senku's partner.

"I plan to participate in the Grand Bout." Kohaku said while sitting inside the shed with everyone.

[Y/n] sat next to Senku while stirring the medicine with Inosuke in her lap. "The kingdom of science team, with Kinro, Ginro, and me, will do whatever it takes to stop Magma's victory." Kohaku continued. Gen started panting which worried them.

"Hey, Gen, are you alright?" Chrome asked.

"His recovery is going to take some time." [Y/n] muttered, "Which means..."

"Yeah." Senku agreed, "We have a short time limit before Tsukasa comes and kills me." [Y/n] clutched the stick that she was holding.

Later that night, [Y/n] and Senku stayed up to make more medicine when they heard Gen speak. They leaned closer to hear him.

"Can you both make it in this stone world, [Y/n]-chan, Senku-chan?" Gen said, weakly, "Could you make me a bottle of cola?"

"Yeah, we can." Senku said, softly, and turned to [Y/n], "Even if no one else can." [Y/n]'s heart fluttered while Gen smiled, weakly.

"Yes, we can." [Y/n] muttered and grabbed Kohaku's knife. Senku's eyes widened as he witnessed [Y/n] begin to cut her long hair into a short bob cut. Then she cut a piece of her dress off. [Y/n] gathered the hair that was on the floor and tied it together then placed it on top of the piece of cloth.

"This will make Tsukasa believe that I'm dead. The story will be that I was living with the villagers until you approached me and asked about Senku." [Y/n] explained to Gen, "I broke down crying and when you mentioned Tsukasa, it drove me to commit suicide. You tried to stop from jumping off the cliff by grabbing me by the hair and my dress. I cut off my hair and my dress tore, leading me to fall in the ocean and drown."

"You've really given this a lot of thought." Senku said, and [Y/n] glared at the floor. She clutched her trembling fists.

"It's been haunting me for days on end. Tsukasa... is willing to kill any and every one in his way, and I don't plan on dying yet. So... Will you this for us, Asagiri Gen, in exchange for a bottle of cola?"

Gen slowly reached out from under the blanket and grabbed the bundle of hair and the fabric. [Y/n] smiled softly at him. "Thank you, Gen." She said, gently.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

When Senku woke up the next morning, he saw that Gen was gone. Not only him, but [Y/n] was gone as well. Senku grew a bit panicked. He went outside to see Kohaku, Kinro and Ginro, but no [Y/n]. Senku felt the heavy weight of worry in his chest.

Where could she have gone?

"I'm silly sleepy." Ginro said with a yawn.

"Wake up, Ginro! You just agreed to do morning training until we rotate on our guard duty." Kinro scolded.

"Oh, no!" Chrome yelled from inside the shed.

"Gen's vanished!"

"Yeah, I'm sure he went back to Tsukasa." Senku said.

"But why would he sneak out like that?" Chrome questioned.

"That rat bastard better not intend to tell Tsukasa that's Senku and [Y/n] are alive." Kohaku said.

"This is bad, Senku. We have to go after him." Chrome said.

Kohaku got ready to run. "We have to catch the rat bastard, quick." She said and began to run.

"Hold it." Senku said while stepping in front of Kohaku. She trampled him and landed on top of him.

"Why are you stopping me, Senku? We have to catch that bastard!" Kohaku yelled.

"It's best to leave him be."

Everyone's head turned towards the owner of the voice. [Y/n] walked closer to the group with the fishes she caught on a spear and a dead bird on her arrow. Inosuke held a little fish in his mouth while following [Y/n], proudly. 

They were a bit more shocked by her appearance. [Y/n]'s now short [h/c] hair fell down to the nape of her neck and curled around her face and under her chin. She fixed up her dress to make it easier to move around in.

It was a little looser with a large slit up her thigh on her dominant leg. Instead of the floral ribbon that tied her dress together, it was tied together with a lime green ribbon and a ribbon of the same color was tied around her waist to hold her knives and arrows. And, her bow hung on her back to complete her primitive look.

"If Gen had no interest in science, he never would have cooperated with us in the beginning. He'd already made his choice when Senku created electricity." [Y/n] explained and sighed, "But as a superficial man, he has superficial ways of saving his face."

Kohaku got off of Senku and sighed, "Men are a pain in the ass, in any era." 

[Y/n] smiled a little. "Yes, they really are." She agreed.

"So Gen's joining the kingdom of science?" Chrome asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure he'll wander back like nothing happened." Senku said.

Kohaku huffed then smiled. "Looks like the first battle between the Tsukasa Empire and the kingdom of science, the fight for Asagiri Gen, ends in victory for the kingdom of science." Kohaku added.

"Gen is a good person after all!" Suika cheered. 'A flimsy allegiance made by a single bottle of cola...' Senku thought and looked over at [Y/n].

She was chatting happily with Kohaku while blushing slightly at the compliments she was getting, obviously not used the attention.

A wave of relief washed over him. Senku smiled a little. 'Why does she have such an effect on me?'