Doctor In The House (Dr. STONE Fanfiction)

Buddies Back to Back

"I take it didn't go as well as we thought." stated Rikona. Even so, she could easily get her answer by interpreting the overwhelmed Ginro trembling in front of his silver spear that had now turned black.

Senku placed the bag of glass jars on the ground before turning around to face her. After momentarily recalling what happened back at the lake, he'd never felt so glad to listen to her before going on their expedition. With the young guard being distracted by the green lake itself, and then having Kohaku drag him back just seconds away from his own demise; everything that concerned her really happened as she'd expected. "I'm starting to think you're a fortune-teller disguised as a doctor." he remarked with a smirk. "You're ten billion percent right. We need those gas masks before we can even get a drip of it."

"Senku, what was that lake just now?" asked Chrome, who was still shaken by what happened back then.

"There is a type of drug that was created in an alchemy lab in the eighth century that became the cornerstone of the chemical industry in our era." explained the said man austerely. "It's sulphuric acid."

"So we have to get this sulphuric acid to make Ruri's cure-all drug?" questioned Chrome, who found it preposterous to collect such a dangerous substance for the antibiotics.

"I'm afraid so." answered Senku. "Besides, we need to secure a source of sulphuric acid, or chemistry won't develop any further."

Kohaku was silent at first, staring at the direction that led them to the sulphuric acid lake. She knelt down and strapped the bag of glass jars on one shoulder before getting up, saying, "It looks like we can only force our way to obtain it. I'm ready to give up my life to save Ruri-nee's life. I think I'm fast enough-" But she was cut off by a firm grip on her shoulder.

"This was something my Pharmacology professor shared with us back in our time." began Rikona, keeping her grip on the blond woman to prevent her from making any irrational moves. "There was a team of researchers who visited a sulphuric acid zone like the one earlier. The man who led them knelt down just to tighten his shoelace. He died. There was hydrogen sulphide at his head's height when he knelt. Past researches highlighted that the gas causes respiratory paralysis and then death in less than six minutes. Which means that nature can kill humans even within seconds if it wants to. Kohaku, you can't just overcome it by moving faster."

"Then what should we do, Rikona?" she asked. "I want to save Ruri-nee no matter what!"

"I'm just about to get there." sighed the said woman. "I swear, you people sure are an impatient bunch. I was about to suggest making gas masks right now. That way, at least you're protected from the poisonous gas." The sentence alone was enough to bring back that shed of hope, as evident by the gleam in Chrome, Suika and Kohaku's eyes when they looked at her.

Senku's lips stretched into a smirk. "Nice one, Doc." he praised. "In order to defeat our chemical foe, we must fight it with chemistry. Alright, then. Let's go make those gas masks."

The group soon began making the gas masks. With Chrome bringing in a bundle of bamboos, Rikona busied herself cutting out the hide and sewing them to make the masks and pipes, while Kaseki helped to cut the bamboos and then connect all the pieces with glue and thread. By the time it was dusk, they had a gas mask ready. But Senku had one concern - just how much poison could they breathe through this mask? With no room for trial and error, there was no way he could find out.

"Next is my mask-"

"Ah, no need for that." intervened Senku, causing Chrome to look up from the blueprint Rikona drew for Kaseki's reference. The latter was very puzzled; why would Senku nonchalantly say that there's no need for a second mask? He eventually got his answer later that night, when he was standing outside with Senku, who began, "Chrome, I don't need you to collect sulphuric acid. Stay here and assist Doc."