39. Paper Promises
10-21-2023
A/N: The newest Dr. Stone episodes are giving me ideas for future chapters >:)
Q: I don't have one right now because I can't think of one!
~~~
"Finally, we made it!"
After two days, your group had arrived in the early morn at a cliff that was right across where Tsukasa's Empire had rested. It was topped with large rocks that served as a ridge and a very good cover for the entire Kingdom of Science.
"Set up behind this ridge! This simple protection makes for a perfect, natural camp," Kokuyo instructed everybody.
Senku, struggling with all his strength as he held a pot of materials, added, "W-We'll start up production facilities down here! The woods will hide the smoke!"
You and Suika, who were holding the same size pots, followed him with ease. You spoke up, "Senku, if you need help, you could just ask."
"I'm not struggling..." he grunted.
As you walked toward him, you kneeled down and swiped the pottery from his arms with no hesitation. The boy widened his eyes with surprise, and you told him with a small smile, "Just tell us where to go and drop everything off so we could do this quickly. After all, we still need to find a way to rescue Chrome."
He looked at you with twitching eyebrows, then got an idea with a smirk forming on his face. "Okay, while you put those away, I'll be whistling letters in Morse code for directions. L for left, R for right, F for forward, B for backward. Got it?"
"Aw, come on!" You whined.
You then noticed Gen, who had a close-eyed smile plastered on his face. "Don't worry, (Y/N)-chan~! It'll all be worth it in the end. Besides, different ways of communication is an important skill to have..."
"You're just relishing in the fact that I gotta drill something into my brain, like what Nikki is doing to you," you retorted.
"I sure am~!" He laughed evilly, his tongue waving around outside of his mouth.
You sighed and rolled your eyes as you turned away, then a thought appeared in your head. Looking back at the mentalist, you asked, "Who's more devilish? Senku or Nikki?"
"Senku-chan," the mentalist instantly replied with a serious expression on his face.
Nodding, you lifted your hand up, which he took, and the both of you agreed in solidarity that he was more "strict" than anybody else you knew. Meanwhile, the boy watched your little exchange with the man and had a tick mark on his head. "Oi, don't just agree to something like that when I'm right here. This is for your own good."
~~~
After a few hours of work later, everybody had finished setting up camp beneath the ridge. Suika had ended up leaving in the middle to infiltrate the Tsukasa Empire, using her melon to hide from the army. She eventually came back after finding out where Chrome was located and gathering enough information with just a scan around the area.
"There were so many guards..." Suika fretted as she finished sharing information.
"Bwahaha, can't we just attack from the front and slaughter them all?!" Magma laughed, amused by the fact that the little girl went over by herself without getting caught.
You replied, shaking your head, "We can't. We already said that this'll be a bloodless war."
"But a full-frontal attack might not be so bad!" said Senku, leaving everyone shocked. He added, "With an extreme overhaul power up, the Steam Gorilla will be made into a tank!"
"YOU'RE GOING TO OVERHAUL MY CUTE STEAM GORILLA?!" Kaseki cried out in despair, jumping on the wheels as tears spilled from his eyes. All your friends watched in disbelief as you believed the same thing: it wasn't cute.
The scientist corrected the old man, which lifted his spirits, "No, were going to power it up."
"Power it up? But it's not like we could take a bunch of iron right now and stick it to the car to make this 'tank,'" Kohaku told him.
He then said, "That's why we're going with the lightweight route. Speed matters, after all."
Gen came up to the both of you with sweat dripping down his temples. "Then what are we going to make this time?"
With a silly smile, Senku answered, "Paper."
"Oh, I see. That will make it nice and light--wait, huh?!" The man was so surprised with his answer, his brain short-circuited.
In that moment, Senku let the children volunteer to get large piles of grass for collection. Once gathered, he'd boil it with sodium hydroxide to loosen it up. Washing it, pressing it, then sun drying it for another few hours would create paper.
You held the finished product. "I didn't realize how easy it was to make paper."
"This'll also make it easier to write blueprints and stuff!" Senku exclaimed.
Kaseki was overjoyed by the usefulness of paper, while others didn't understand it. Children came around to see it, but didn't know what to do with it. Then you had an idea.
"Look guys! With paper, you can make all sorts of stuff if you just fold it!" You happily explained to the kids as you began to move it in different directions. Using your eyes to fold and crease it precisely how you wanted it, you ended up creating a few paper airplanes out of it. As the kids saw it, you lightly tossed them and it began to glide away.
"Whoa! That's so cool!" The kids cried as they followed it, giggling and shouting all together. They would gather each and every one of them, throwing them in different directions. Even some of the adults joined in on their children's joy.
Senku looked at you as you watched the kids play with the planes. He eyes softened seeing how much you cared about their well-being, his heart filling up once more as you continued to fold the paper into different things.
"I even made a paper crane, some frogs, and dogs," you added with a grin, handing them the folded animals.
"My, my, (Y/N)-chan, getting creative, are we? You're not the only one with some origami skills too~" said Gen as he revealed a few of his own creations: butterflies, flowers, and stars.
You grinned as you also saw him make a few accessories, such as hats, rings, and bands. He gave a few to the children, as well as some of the villagers as well.
The man came up to you, handing you a paper ring. "So what's the reason for all this origami, (Y/N)-chan~?"
"Even though there's going to be a war, kids need to have fun. Their innocence needs to be protected," you mentioned as you playfully slipped the finger on your ring. You looked over to Senku with a small smile. "Look, I finally got that ring I mentioned before."
He looked at your hand, then let out a small chuckle. "You won't be needing it anytime soon."
You replied, returning the laughter. Yeah, I know, I know. I'll have to remove it for battle."
"I get this shit is important, but how is this flimsy stuff gonna be useful?!" You heard Magma blurting out as he punched a hoke through the thin material.
Kohaku looked back with sweat dripping down her temples. "Paper is fun and all... but you guys are planning to use this weak stuff to protect a tank...?"
"Nope, you got it right!" He exclaimed, pulling out a wooden frame from the items he had. He started to layer it with paper, making it look like a paper screen door, then plastering some sticky material on it. After heating it with an iron, he held it up for everybody to see it. "This is a paper shield. Kinro, I need you here to stab this!"
Upon hearing that, the brunette approached the shield to inspect it. Once he saw it, he used his spear to break down a tree, showing off the strength he had.
"Senku, you might not know this, but spear users can pierce wooden shields in one blow. Do you really think you can deflect Tsukasa's army with that paper shield?" Kinro questioned him.
"Oh, sure. Perfect time for a test, isn't it? Besides, if it were to go wrong, I got (Y/N) as a precaution," Senku confidently stated as he glanced over you.
Confused, you asked, "What am I gonna do...?"
The scientist led all of you to an open space to test Kinro's strength against the paper shield. All the villagers surrounded your group, and the scientist instructed you to stand behind him with your arms wide open.
The golden wolf warned, "This is dangerous, Senku! For me to--"
"If you don't strike with all your strength, then it's not a real test. Thats the rule, and 'rules are rules,' right? Get ready, (Y/N)!" The boy instructed.
"Alright!" You nodded.
The warrior knew he couldn't convince the scientist at that point, then immediately got into a fighting stance. "Understood. Then, I definitely won't miss!"
Senku braced himself the moment Kinro struck the spear forward. From behind, you saw him hit the shield dead center, and the green-haired boy flew back as the shield absorbed the impact. You caught him and held tightly, pushing the spear back with the shield. As you did that, you watched as the spear broke and fell apart into pieces.
"WHOAAAAA!" The crowd roared.
"The paper shield is unyielding!" Kohaku cried with an impressed expression on her face.
Gen shouted, "EHHH?! How did that paper screen door--"
"Hold it! The one who can answer those questions is out of commission right now..." you awkwardly laughed, dragging him toward the nearest tree and gently laying your boyfriend's head on your lap. You used the tree to support your back. Looking at him again, you noticed that he was shaking; the physical energy exerted from the spear was bouncing around his body.
"He's gone numb..." Suika mumbled.
"Even if you block the blade, you've still gotta deal with the shock..." Ginro added.
You heard Senku utter out, "The plaster I used wasn't just plain glue...if that's what you were thinking...it's plastic. With that, I've created carbon fiber..."
"Carbon fiber...? Oh! That's used on F1 cars, rockets, and other stuff!" You exclaimed, then widened your eyes. Calling out to everyone, you announced to them with your hands cupped as a microphone, "Everyone, continue to make paper! Once it's all dried up, paste it together into wooden frames with the stuff Senku used, and stick it onto the car. Kaseki and Gen should be able to guide you on where to put it with the blueprints that were left on the car!"
"Got it! We can do this! If we have a rank armored with those shields, breaking into the cell with a frontal assault and rescuing Chrome without bloodshed is possible!" Kohaku quipped She then looked at the scientist with a deadpanned expression. "Seems like Senku passed out..."
You then looked down at the boy, whose eyes were closed and was breathing evenly. Looking up at the sky, you also saw that it was beginning to turn orange. "It seems he has...he must've been so tired after everything we've done today. I'll watch over him while you guys keep making the carbon fiber shields. But if you guys need anything, feel free to ask."
"You should rest too, (Y/N). You and Senku have been working hard for our sakes," the lioness said softly.
With a grateful smile, you responded, "Alright. Thank you for your concern, Kohaku."
With that, she left you and Senku alone by the trees. You let out a sigh and started moving the hair out of Senku's face as you silently cooed at how cute he was when he was sleeping. He needed his rest.
~~~
"Hey. Hey, slowpoke... (Y/N)."
Eyes fluttering open, you saw Senku sitting up with what little light you had from the stars above. It seemed like you fell asleep as you were watching over your scientist, and hours had passed, seeing how dark it was outside. A blanket was over you as you used your arms to feel around the ground. You assumed Gen and the others helped you out as you rested with Senku.
You then slowly sat up and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. You asked him gently with a whisper, "What's wrong, Senku? Are you feeling okay? What time is it?"
He replied softly, "Yeah. I ended up waking up before you did. Come on, I have something to give you. It's nearly sunrise."
Your boyfriend stood up and started walking off toward the edge of the ridge. Wondering what he was going to give you, you hastily got up from your spot and tip-toed around all of your friends, careful enough to not wake them. As you trailed the boy, you saw him sitting on the other side of the ridge, where you could see that the sun was going to come up soon. You sat down next to him to see the base of Tsukasa's Empire, as well as the great plain that lay before you.
"Glad that you're here to join me." You heard him say.
You replied as your head turned to him, "How long have you been awake?"
"Few hours now. We made some exhilarating progress on the tank, so we're ready to go with that," he told you. "The lioness wanted you to rest for dealing with me, so I just threw a blanket on you."
"Ah. So that's why," you muttered in a hushed tone.
"Now, as for the reason I brought you here...take this, slowpoke. This'll help us talk to each other from somewhat long distances without the phone," said Senku.
He grabbed your hand and you felt him gently slip something on your ring finger. When he pulled his hand away, you saw that it was a shiny, silver-like ring with a flat top. It was polished to perfection with what looked like a puny, emerald-cut mirror embedded into it. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a distinct pattern of dots and lines carved into the skinny part of the band. It was your name in Morse code.
"A mirror ring?" Your eyes sparkled gently as you slightly lifted your hand up to see how well it looked. Even upon the hours of dusk, star's light was able to show off the band's sheen smoothness.
"Yeah. I took some iron and experimented with temperature to make it into steel. It worked out perfectly, so I was able to mold it into something small. I also took some silver, ammonia, and a some other junk to make some mirrors with what we had left. I could only make three different rings for us to reflect light off of," he explained to you, then held up a matching ring that was already on his digit. You noticed that the dots and lines on his ring spelled out his name too.
Smiling, you told him, "Ah, so that's what this is for and why you and Gen have been teaching me as of late...wouldn't this only work in the day though?"
"It can work under direct moonlight, but we're mainly on the move in the day. It's just there to help us when we need it," he informed you.
You nodded your head. "I see...and how'd you get my ring size? I never told you."
"I've held your hand enough times to know," he replied, his crimson-colored eyes showed endearment.
You giggled, which caused his lips to curl upward upon seeing your reaction. Looking down at the ring, you ran your fingers along the engravings on the band, speaking with a hushed laugh, "And here I thought this was just a gift for me and me alone..."
"Well, we need some practical use for the rings! I don't make things just for display!" The boy joked with a smirk on his face. With those words, you realized he was right. Every time he made you something, there'd always be an excuse to follow up with it. "But there's another thing that I put into yours."
"What is it?" You tilted your head as you wondered.
Just then, you saw the sun beginning to rise along the horizon. In the corner of your eye, you noticed your ring beginning to glow. You hastily took the accessory off and looked to see that the engravings on the ring were dusted by what seemed to be scheelite under a UV light. Looking back at your boyfriend, you saw that his ring was also glowing the same way.
"It's beautiful..." your head inclined in awe, mesmerized by its gorgeous light as you held it up high.
"I embedded some tungsten into your ring to make it glow under ultraviolet light. You should be able to see the words on the inner part of the ring now," the scientist explained to you.
You then held the ring up to your eyeballs and squinted to read the words on the inside. The words had said, "My life, my love, my home."
"That is my gift to you and you alone; a promise for the future," said Senku, his red spheres softening before you.
As you heard those words leave his lips, your (E/C) eyes started shimmering with the sunrise. "Wait...does that mean this is what I think it is? Is this why you mentioned earlier that I wouldn't need this paper ring?"
"Yep. It doubles as a promise ring," he declared as he ripped the ring Gen had given you off of your finger with a sassy smirk on his face.
Your mouth agape a small "o" shape; you clasped the band in your hand and nearly tackled the boy with your arms around his neck. He was lucky enough that you knew how to control yourself because if it weren't for you, he would've fallen over.
"Thank you. I love you, Senku," you muttered in his ear, burying your head in the crook of his neck.
He wrapped his arms around you and completed the tight, warm embrace. "Yeah, yeah, I love you too, (Y/N)."
You then lifted your head after a few seconds, then looked straight into his very soul before giving him a kiss on his lips. When you pulled back, you noticed that his eyes were wide open from shock. A tinge of pink was plastered on his cheeks; your face then mirroring his when your emotions settled a little.
You spoke as you started averting your eyesight and letting go of him, "I mean it. I really love you. I love you so much that it shouldn't be hard to tell..."
"I know, slowpoke. It's obvious to everyone else," he lightly jested, then planted a small peck on your forehead, causing your gaze to return to him.
You stared at him for a few seconds before you looked at the ring again. "How amusing...I sometimes can't believe that you're mine... Even my fantasies couldn't make-believe you being like this to me."
"That's why I'm spoiling you," he mentioned as he placed a hand on your head. "Just so you know that you've got my heart, and my everything is you."
You placed your hand over your beating heart. "Ack, my heart. You're going to kill me with your words too if you keep going."
With a roguish smile on his face, he replied, "Want me to kill you with action instead?"
Steam blowing out if your ears and your face burning with warmth, you replied,
"N-Not here!"
-To be Continued-
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The pacing may be a little off but I did my best to make this wholesome and romantic!