n-3^07-! (I love you)

Chapter twelve

Senku took a moment to recollect himself. Now that he had some time to think, he needed to return to the village and speak with Ruri. However, there was now another issue at hand involving Yae. Why did I kiss her? Not even he had the answer to that. She's cute and nice, yeah, but what the hell. Now she probably thinks I'm some massive pervert. Senku groaned, standing on his feet again. Just great. Way to go, Senku.

On his return, everyone was still celebrating. They had barely noticed that he'd left. Unfortunately, Kohaku was waiting for him near Ruri's hut, and Yae was walking passed her quickly and up the steps. No matter how much Senku tried to avoid Kohaku's faze, he could feel her giving him the stink-eye. Did Yae tell Kohaku? No, she wouldn't have, but she definitely knew something was up.

The young lioness followed her spiky-haired friend up the steps and into the hut where they would finally get some things sorted out.
Senku gave Ruri a good long look. "Thanks," he told her, "everything finally makes sense now. If everyone was petrified, then who was the first to make this village? You and Kohaku clearly have foreign blood in you. All the mysteries are solved."
Yae cocked her head to the side. Just what was he getting at?
And the Kohaku said, "No, sorry. None of that makes sense to me."
"Yeah, and how does Senku have the same name as the village?" Chrome pointed out.
"Perhaps a descendant of Senku's was around to help form this village," Yae spoke up. "It's the only logical explanation."
Senku snickered. "I probably come up in your priestess mythology, don't I?" He looked over at Ruri.
"Yes," Ruri said simply.
"Mythology?" said Chrome. "Like Momotaro With the gorilla and all that?"
Senku grinned. "No wonder you people know about folktales, and giant animals you've never seen before."
"Yeah," said Kohaku. "Ruri taught us about all kinds of things. The stories the Priestess uses passes them down to the next generation...The Hundred Tales."
Ruri closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "Yes, the one hundredth tale title is...Ishigami Senku."
Everyone was silent as they waited for Ruri to share with them the knowledge of the Hundred Tales.

By the time Ruri had finished, night had fallen. The Hundred Tales was amazing, yet it was sad at the same time. To think that knowledge had been passed down for the last 3700 was exhilarating.
"It's such a weird story that I have no idea what it means." Suika finally said.
"Yeah," said Chrome. "Humanity turned to stone thousands of years ago. Those statues we see all over the place are real people."
Hearing those words made those statues that more real to Yae. Underneath that hard surface was a real, living person. She thought back to the crying woman, and her chest tightened somewhat. Like Senku, she wanted to bring everyone back too.
Chrome's voice pulled Yae out of her thoughts. "Six people, including Senku's dad, survived because they were above the sky. That means, everyone in the village is a descendant of theirs, thousands of years later."
This brought hope to Yae. Perhaps she wasn't as alone as she thought. Maybe she had family here too, or maybe even somewhere else.
"Does that mean we're all related to Senku?" Kohaku's face flushed with shock.
Senku raised a brow and then gave her a small, reassuring smile. "Byakuya and I aren't related by blood. Only legally. And besides, we're hundreds of generations apart, so you can't really call us relatives."
"In other words..." Yae let the answer hang in the air. But before Senku to say more, the party outside called to them to come join. Even though the sun had set a while ago, the villagers were still as lively as ever. Apparently, having a new village chief was a huge thing.
A sweet smile appeared on Ruri's face as she looked at everyone. "Shall we go join the feast?" Now that sounded like a great idea.

The smell of smoke and food wafted through the air, and occasionally the stench of alcohol on someone's breath passed by. There were music and dancing, and even Magma and his group followers had seemed to let things go, at least for the time being. This was no time to be starting fights. Everyone just wanted to have a good time and enjoy themselves.
"It hasn't been this lively in a while." Kohaku smiled gently. She glanced over at Yae who was dancing with Suika and her smile grew.
"Everyone is having so much fun!" Genro was excited to join in on the dancing, but Kinro pulled his by the back of the shirt.
"Hey, we have to guard the bridge."
"No fair!" Geno was dragged away flailing his arms as he tried to escape his brother's grasp, but it was no use. The rules were the rules. However, with everyone having a grand time and getting drunk, there was one person in particular who had yet to join the fun.
"No way, I'm an outsider!" Asagiri Gen yelled as some of the villagers dragged him across the bridge.
"Who gives a damn? Come drink with us!" They demanded.
Yae had stopped dancing with Suika to take a rest and giggled as Asagiri Gen was forced to join. She had to admit that seeing him inside the village and conversing with others was a positive sight to her. At that moment, she sensed someone looking at her and looked over her shoulder. Senku's gaze was on her, and even when they locked eyes he didn't bother looking away. They stared at one another for a moment until Ruri walked up to Senku and whispered in his ear. Senku gave her a nod, and soon they walked away from the village, across the bridge and into the woods. Whatever it was that Ruri had to tell him must have been too important to let prying ears overhear.