Sweeter than Cola [Dr. Stone]

|7|

"Would you look at that!?" Taiju exclaimed. "The Great Buddha Statue stood here for 3700 years, never corroding!! Thank God!!.... or... Buddha? Anyway, he showed us the way, isn't that awesome!!"

"No, actually it's still standing because it's made of bronze," Senku explained. "Its chemical make-up is more resistant to corrosion."

"But look!!" Taiju was determined to make the situation look like it was fate. "There's no flowers or trees around it! The clearing was meant for us to find it!!"

"Actually," It was Hanako who shut him down this time. "The copper ions just seeped into the soil. And that's toxic for most plants. But Senku," she pointed at the statue. "Bronze, that could be perfect for making a mirror."

"And that would improve your trashy sextant's accuracy by billions!" the scientist chuckled. "Thank you for this bountiful blessing!" Hanako was going to help him tear down the statue, despite Taiju's yells of protest, when he noticed her yawn. "That's the forth time you've yawned in the past ten minutes," he pointed out.

"I'm a little sleepy," Hanako chuckled sheepishly. "But I'm alright, don't worry." The blonde gave her a look before he shrugged. 

"If you fall asleep on the way, maybe a lion will come for you and we won't have to deal with a moron anymore."

"I am not a moron!" she retorted and stuck her tongue out. "And if I fell asleep on the way, there's no way you'd ever leave me," she said, matter of faculty. "Who will do the math for you then?"

"Eh, I bet Yuzuriha is good enough with numbers," Senku shrugged and walked ahead, leaving a speechless Hanako is his wake. "Come on, let's move."

The group, now knowing they were going in the right direction, travelled quickly and made a good distance by the time it was nightfall. When they settled down for the night, Hanako was the first to fall asleep, instinctively snuggling up to the person closest to her, who- unfortunately for him- just so happened to be Senku. He sighed, "You'd better not drool."

Yuzuriha chuckled at the scene. "Hana-chan really does seem to be attached to you. Even in her sleep she won't leave you alone, I find it kind of cute."

"I guess you already know Hana doesn't like being around people," Senku said. "So when she does find someone she's comfortable around, she'll never want to let them go. Not that I mind," he shrugged. "But say, something happened to me, she wouldn't be able to function properly at all. She'll be an inconvenience to herself."

"Knowing Hana-chan, I doubt she'd let anything happen to you if she could help it," the girl replied with a smile. Just then, Senku felt his shoulder- that just so happened to be where Hanako placed her head- get slightly wet. He glanced at the girl and exclaimed.

"Oi! You're drooling on me, get off!" He pushed her off him, but she showed no signs of waking up in the least. 

"Out like a light," Taiju pointed out. "Hey Senku, was Hana-chan always so tired back in the modern world? I don't remember her almost falling asleep everywhere like she does now."

"All the times she refused to take any breaks because there was apparently so much to do in life have finally caught up with her. At least she's not sick or anything," the blonde shrugged. "Now get to sleep, resting is part of the job, ya big oaf!"

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The next morning, the group found themselves at a river, where they were quick to build a raft and paddle down the stream. Well... Senku, Hanako and Yuzuriha were paddling. Taiju, on the other hand, was swimming in the stream, pulling the raft along. Soon enough though, he started to slow down.

"That big old body of yours finally breaking down?" Senku asked, chuckling.

"Just barely have my head above water, literally!!" Taiju gasped for air. "Still got a lot left in the tank, don't worry!!"

They were going down the stream at a steady pace and Hanako was just about to doze off when she noticed something. "Yuzu-chan, part of your toe is still petrified," she pointed out. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"Yeah, I didn't wanna bother anyone about it," Yuzuriha chuckled like it was nothing. "I mean, it's my own problem so... who cares?"

"No!" Hanako was suddenly fully awake again. "You shouldn't hide things that make you uncomfortable, Yuzuriha!" she exclaimed.

"You should take your own advice," Senku said to no one in particular but the emeraldette knew he was talking to her. 

She ignored him and took out a vial of revival fluid. When they reached dry land again, she was quick to pour it on her stone toes.

"It's cold," Yuzuriha said. "But it feels like even the pain is washing away."

"Oh! Does the revival fluid have some kinda healing thing, Senku?" Taiju asked, enthusiastically.

"Don't be ridiculous," Senku scoffed. "Haven't you noticed, when we were unpetrified we sustained a bit of damage here," he said, pointing at the cracks on his face.

"Even with these cracks on our bodies though," Hanako pointed to her own cracks that ran across her right arm and ended at the back of her hand. "We're still alive. Anyway, once we reach our destination, we can take a dip in some real recovery fluid."

Taiju and Yuzuriha's eyes lit up at her words. "You mean, our next goal in Hakone is..."

"The Hot springs!?"

"We'll get there faster if you all quit yapping," Senku called, already ahead of the group. "Hana?"

"We should still be about 5 kilometers away," Hanako yawed. She'd dozed off for a moment while the brunette couple was gushing over the fact that they were going to hot springs. "We should get there before the day is over."

"Not with you half-asleep we won't," the scientist sighed. "Get up already, you can drool all you want when we get there."

"I do not drool!" she huffed and sped past him. "I'm gonna get there first because I'm not half-asleep! Watch me!"  She puffed her chest out and was walking tall for a good ten minutes before she yawned again and slouched, soon falling behind again. 

Yuzuriha fell into step with her and smiled, "You're tired again, aren't you?" she asked. "You're so cute when you try to prove someone wrong, Hana-chan."

"I'm not cute," the emeraldette yawned.

 She was right. She wasn't cute, Hanako was awe-strikingly beautiful! She was the belle of the school back in the modern world and had heads turning every time she walked into a room. Countless guys had tried with everything in their power to try and court her, but all attempts were in vain as she'd always shy away and get Senku to scare them away. 

Because of this, most people thought the duo were actually a couple. When Yuzuriha asked them once, both burst out in laughter like it was the most hilarious thing they'd ever heard. "Me? Date this moron!? I'd rather drink a gallon of sulphuric acid!!"  "Senku and I? Please, all I do is make sure his experiments don't blow up in his face." "Because they blow up in yours instead."

But of course, that's not what the girl meant when she said she wasn't cute. She actually thought she wasn't that attractive at all. "At least, not in the stone world where there's not such thing as shampoo and lip-gloss and backing tracks for music."

Yuzuriha didn't try and protest, she knew Hanako would only deny again anyway. "Right, I'm sure Senku would make you an instrument or somethin gif you asked, Hana-chan."

"Like I'd waste one millimeter of my energy making something so impractical," Senku scoffed, glancing back at them. But before Hanako could retort, he cut her off. "We've reached our destination."

"The Hakone Hot Springs!!"

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~✨Blu<3✨