Back to the Stone Age - Senkū

1

Jyakugai

I'm barely alive.

Dinner is my only meal because that blonde guy - Ginro - sneaks me fish and things of the like whenever Kinro, his brother, isn't looking. I can't bring myself to leave my home unless I have to - that's for bathing only.

It's been a week.

I only know because I'm afraid I'll lose track of time. If I do that, what if I miss my birthday? Or some important holiday?

I don't know the exact date, but still. It's good to be able to figure out when I broke free of the stone.

I'm only awake because I just endured an incredibly scary encounter. It was one that involved a lot of yelling.

Knock knock.

That's what started it.

"Hm?" I had asked, peeping through a freshly made peephole. "Is that you, Ginro?"

"Huh? I'm no Ginro," an arrogant foreign voice spoke, scaring me. "Which one of the guards is that?"

I didn't respond, but fled to the center of my build. The stranger didn't seem to pleased, and I could tell he was looking in, because there was suddenly no light inside.

"Man, what a crappy place to stay," the stranger commented. "How are you supposed to do anything in here? Or is this a storage place? Actually, that wouldn't explain the peephole."

"Go away!" I shouted. "I have weapons! I'll fight you if I have to!" It was all a bluff of course - if I had real weapons, I could get really hurt, but if this guy goes away-

"Sure, sure." Then, the door was pulled open, revealing a roughly high-schooled age guy with tall hair and an outfit that read in the corner (in red) E=mc2. "So this is a living space?"

I screamed immediately. "This is trespassing! I'll call the guards! I don't want to have to hurt you, but you're-"

"- leaving you no choice? Isn't it a bit petty to be getting mad at me for trespassing in this stone world? Also, the guards are already on me," he deadpanned, picking his ear with his pinky at the same time. "This place is drearier than I expected. When you claimed to have weapons, I knew you were lying, but this-" He waved towards the emptiness. "- is a bit much. Or rather, very little." That's when he looked right me, for the first time the whole encounter. "You look different. Tell me, are you from the world of 3,700 years ago?"

3,700 years ago?

"N-no!" I exclaimed. "I mean, what does it matter to you?!" He's totally a criminal! What'd he do to get the guards onto him? I've never even seen him before!

"I'm looking for other millennials like me," he calmly answered. "The name is Senkū. Don't bother with family names. In this stone world, there's no point."

"I'm not telling you my name," I replied. "Just go away."

"What if I ended up killing you?"

I could feel the color drain from my face. Senkū just laughed mercilessly.

"Oh man! You should see your face!" he exclaimed maniacally. "It's just too funny how you went pale so fast!" Huh?

"So, you're not gonna kill me?" I mumbled. He calmed his laughter.

"Of course not! Citizens of the Kingdom of Science are worthless dead. Besides, I'm not a murderer like Tsukasa."

Tsukasa? Kingdom of Science?