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"And here we go! New pillows for everyone!" Yuzuriha announced as she and Taiju walked up to Senku who was standing around a table with the other generals, as well as Kohaku, Kaseki and Suika, Taiju pulling a cart behind himself.
"Oh already? That what quick, even by your standards. Thanks, Yuzuriha." Senku told her.
"No problem! This was actually a fun little project on the side! I even stitched some designs and patterns in a few!" the girl shook her head, just happy to help, especially if it involved sewing.
"You asked her to make new pillows? But we've got more than enough, don't we?" Kohaku asked.
"Yeah, we totally have enough, but some people have been complaining about them not being as comfortable as those from our time." Senku answered, digging in his ear with his pinky before shooting a pointed look towards Gen and Ryusui.
At least Gen had the decensy to appear a bit sheepish while Ryusui just kept his usual big smile.
"Anyway, let's have a look and- JUST HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU MAKING PILLOWS FOR?!" Senku looked over at the cart and only then fully registered the huge mountain of pillows.
With a quick calculation he estimated what at if spread out evenly, everyone in the Kingdom of Science could at least have a dozen.
"I... may have gotten a little carried away." Yuzuriha giggled, blushing and rubbing the back of her head.
"You think? You could swim in that pile." Chrome muttered.
"Or make a pillow fort!" Taiju pipped up, earning looks.
"What's a pillow fort?" Suika asked innocently.
"It's something we used to make all the time when we were kids!" Taiju happily answered, gesturing to himself, Senku and Yuzuriha.
"A pillow fort is pretty much just as what it sounds like. It's a hut made from pillows that was typically build by children from out time." Ukyo explained patiently.
"Oho~ A hut made from pillows? That doesn't sound like it would protect anyone like a regular hut from wood and earth." Kaseki stated.
"Yeah, but they were never meant as actually houses. Just places to play in that could also easy be torn town again. Also, people would sometimes use blankets, chairs and tables too to make things more stabble."
"Huh. That actually sounds kinda fun! Let's make one right now!" Chrome cheered.
"Ha! Sure, I could actually take a break all the science-talk that was going on." Kohaku agreed and more of the group voices their shared opinions.
"It honestly hadn't come up to me to make a pillow fort but now I'm so excited!" Yuzuriha clapped her hands together.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Hang on a moment, people!" Senku tried to drag them back on track only for Gen to pop up in front of him with a smirk.
"Now, now, Senku-chan~ Everyone, needs a break from the usual work and don't you think at least our dear Yuzuriha-chan should be rewarded for doing such a onderfull-way job at making all these pillows?" he asked, knowing just how to abuse that fact that while Senku wanted everyone to be efficient, he more so wanted them happy, along with making a grand gesture to Yuzuriha who fluttered her eyes, beaming up at him.
"Please, Senku? I really wanna try making a pillow fort." Suika then tugged his Senku's hand and with that the scientist's resolve crumbled to dust.
He, just like everyone else, had always had a soft spot for their youngest friend and couldn't deny her.
"Alright, fine." he gave in, rubbing the top of her melon-helmet, earning cheers.
He sighed and shook his head but even he couldn't stop the found smile forming on his lips.
"HA HA! I used to make the best pillow forts there were! I'm sure mine will be the best!" Ryusui bragged.
"Does it have to be a contest?" Ukyo frowned at him.
"Maybe not a contest but how about we split in groups and then only thing being won is maybe bragging-rights?" Gen offered, earning nods.
"I actually also made a few new blankets too! We can use those too!" Yuzuriha rushed to the cart and pulled out a couple blankets too.
After that they all agreed that the only rules were that everyone in the groups needed to be able to fit inside and the forts needed to be made for the majurity of pillows.
Then they split up in three groups with one consisting of Gen, Ryusui and Ukyo, another of the Ishigami Villagers and finally Senku, Taiju and Yuzuriha.
"On your mark... Get set... BUILD!" Ryusui bellowed and everyone raced to grab pillows and get to work.
Now, as easy as building a pillow fort normally was, no fort was finished as quickly as expected.
While Senku and Yuzuriha both easily knew how to build a decent stable fort, they had Taiju on their team who, bless his heart, was so enthusiastic he kept accidentally knocking stacks over. A little bit away Ryusui kept insisting on grand structures, trying to build them himself when the other two tried to talk him down and constantly failing and raining pillows (and himself) on top of them. And the Ishigami Villagers? Kaseki really was a master craftsman, Suika was quick to follow instructions, Chrome had good ideas and Kohaku was fast and strong, but all together they were a mess with Chrome and Kohaku bickering for a good part and Kaseki getting too hyped up and sending everything and everyone flying with his aura.
After a lot of time, effort, arguing and laughter three forts stood in a circle, the openings facing the middle so everyone could see each other.
"Well then! I must say this has been a uccesfull-say project, if I say so myself!" Gen announced from where he, Ryusui and Ukyo lay in that order on their stomachs in their fort.
"Not gonna lie, I think still think we could have spend the time better, but we could have also spend it a lot worse." Senku admitted from where he lay sandwiched between his childhood friends in his own fort.
"Ha! Coming from you that means you had fun but just don't want to admit it you're happy we did this instead!" Kohaku said.
"I just did!"
"Ohoho, I really enjoyed myself. It was both easy with how light the pillows are but also challenging to keep everything standing." Kaseki chuckled.
"Say, do you think we can also make one where we'd all fit into?" Suika then asked from next to Kaseki.
"We can try if it'll make you happy, Suika." Chrome told her from Kaseki's other side, trying to look cool, but it was ruined by the fact he had several steaming bumps on his head and Kohaku sitting on his back after having called her a gorilla one to many times again.
"I'm not even gonna bother arguing..." Senku sighed, knowing it was pointless either way.
"WHOOOAAAHHH! RIGHT, LET'S MAKE A HUGE FORT WE CAN ALL FIT IN!" Taiju cheered, shooting uo to stand and promptly making his own fort collapse in himself and his fort-mates who cried out as they got burried.
After dragging them out and making sure they were alright beside the small scare, the other teams also took down their own forts and they gathered those pillows and blankets, along with those that were still in the cart.
While the last fort was a lot bigger and harder to keep standing, this time the ones causing errors had so to say buffers who could either calm them down better than others, or just get them to listen better and larger fort was standing in an even shorter amount of time as the earlier three.
"And now the final touch!" Senku grinned and nodded at Suika who beamed and forward, holding a smaller version of the Kingdom of Science's flag and carefully stuck it between some pillows, aming it a part of the fort.
"Now this is what I call a pillow fort!" Ryusui laughed as they all lay inside the fort together, some on more pillows, others on each other.
"Agreed. This is now the greatest structure of the Kingdom of Science." Senku stated, having completely abandoned the earlier act about being there against his will.
"I think that's something we can all agree to. It's a shame we'll have to tear it down later." Gen smiled apologetically as the Ishigami Villagers as well as Taiju slumped in disappointment.
"We really can't sleep here? Not even for tonight?" Suika asked sadly.
"You know, it is summer right now." Ukyo then said, earning looks before it clicked with the others.
"It really doesn't get that cold at night right now and I still have some extra blankets left." Yuzuriha offered.
"How about it, Senku? Wanna hav a slumber party?" Taiju asked his best friend who snorted.
"Alright, alright, we can camp out in here tonight but only tonight." he agreed, earning more cheers.
After that half the group went to get everyone dinner and to report where they were before they all went inside and made themselves comfortable again.
Later the moon and stars stood high, inside the greatest structure of the Kingdom of Science lay a diverse group of people, resting on both the pillows as well as each other as they slept what was some of the best sleep they had in a long time.
At least, until a squirrel came and tried to jump on one of the pillow walls, accidentally managing to knock fragile build-up off balance and collapsing the whole fort on top of those inside.