Chapter Text
As the crickets chirped among the grass, the local scientist sparked a roaring fire to prepare food for the kingdom of science. Kinro and Ginro took the liberty of hunting quite a handful of rabbits (it was spring after all), giving the citizens of Ishigami village plenty of food to last for the next few days.
As Senku sat alone rotating his share of the meat, a familiar sight began rolling towards him.
“Are you ok?” Suika asked as she popped out of her helmet. “Everyone else is gathering in the main plaza, do you want to join us?”
“Nah,” Senku said in his classic dismissive tone of voice. “It’s far too noisy, besides I still need to finish some stuff before we head over to Tsukasa”
“Oh ok.”
Suika knew Senku could handle himself alone, she’s seen him be up till the sun rises more times than she could count, often finding him at the brink of crashing just as she’s waking up. Still, something in her decided it would be best to keep him company.
“Is there anything I can do to help you? I’m not that great when it comes to cooking but I can warn you if it’s about to burn!”
“If you wanna stay with me so badly, by all means take a seat.” Senku would never admit it, but he did have a soft spot for her. She’s so young yet so headstrong and intelligent, far more than people like to admit. Suika plopped down next to Senku on the log bench and kicked her feet. They sat like this listening to the sounds of the forest for a short while, before Suika became curious about Senku’s past.
“Did you ever eat rabbit back before you turned to stone?”
“Are you kidding me, we had wagyu beef and ramen that was actually palatable and you think we’re gonna cook the class pet?” Senku chuckled at the girl’s ridiculous question. “Nah, but you gotta eat whatever you can find out here otherwise it’s game over. Plus the fact that it’s in season means we should take advantage of it.”
“Do you think Tsukasa would kill a rabbit?”
“I’ve seen him damn near decapitate a lion, you think a rabbit’s out of the question?”
“How come you’re not afraid of him?” An innocent question, but this caught Senku off guard. Had he really put up that front for her? She knew Senku’s not a fighter, the grand bout was the only exception, and even then Senku only won because Chrome had gone unconscious. The gears in his head were turning, should he continue with this facade, or…
“Suika, I’m terrified of him. He killed me. He very well could do it again and there would be no way to bring me back.” Senku grew a solemn look on his face, and Suika realized that this was the first time she had ever seen an ounce of fear in him.
“But we’re gonna win, right? We have to! We can’t let him kill anyone else and I don’t want him to kill you again! I’d miss you too much!” There was a tremor in her voice, Senku could pick up on that instantaneously. He surprisingly had a millimeter of guilt for scaring her.
“Yeah. Once we get the tank, it’s game over for Tsukasa and his army. We’re gonna be ok.”
Things were quiet for a little longer, before Suika felt the need to ask one more question.
“What was he like back in your time?”
“To be completely honest, we didn’t know each other. I knew of him, but we were strangers. It’s not like Taiju and Yuzuriha,” he explained.
“What about your other friends?” She got him yet again.
“Really it was just the two of them. And Byakuya, but he was ancient so he doesn’t count.” He had mastered the art of playing it cool.
“Do you miss him?”
Goddammit. What kind of game was she playing at, trying to get him to be vulnerable? Two problems: she wasn’t playing a game, and she’s winning. Senku took a deep breath, forcing any tear that could possibly emerge to take a back seat.
“Every day. He may be a senile old man. But he was my senile old man. He was the only family I had. I wish I could turn back time and give him one last goodbye.”
Suika noticed the glossy look in Senku’s eyes. Was he really about to cry? The only other time she had seen him shed a tear was when they had all listened to the record Byakuya had made for him. She didn’t realize how important his found family was to him. He let out a shaky breath and she knew she made him upset. So in typical Suika fashion, trying to figure out how to be useful:
“Can I call you my big brother?”
‘Oh,’ Senku thought. ‘That was 10 billion percent not what I was expecting her to say.’ He was taken aback, is this kid serious? “Um. Sure, if you want to. Truth be told I don’t get why you want to. But if that’ll make ya happy, knock yourself out.”
“Ok!!” Suika exclaimed. She wrapped her little arms around his neck, almost knocking him off the log and knocking the wind out of him.
“Suika, you’re gonna make me burn the rabbit if you do that, you gotta be more careful!” He tried so hard to bring back his apathetic persona, but he couldn’t help but smile and she laughed her way through her apology. The two got back to watching the rabbit, before Suika started swaying to the side. Senku realized that she was tired and eased her into his lap. He took off her helmet (it’s not a good idea to sleep with glasses on, watermelon helmet or not), and stroked her hair as her eyes fluttered shut. Back to the peaceful silence until:
“I love you big brother.”
Senku had to do a double take before really noticing what she had said. This girl was full of surprises tonight, huh.
“Love you too, kiddo.”