Chapter Text
From inside the lab, Xeno narrowed his eyes, tongue sticking out slightly as he carefully poured sodium carbonate into a bubbling beaker. After the task was done, he set both glass beakers down, reaching up and swiping a few beads of sweat from his forehead and removing his goggles.
He and the other students in the lab flinched as the door slammed open with a loud bang and three people burst into the lab.
Two of them, Carlos and Max, looked ready to explode, both of them beet red and dressed up in… suits? Xeno shot them a deadpan look. “Explain.” He ordered, staring at the lone figure trailing half-heartedly after the two overeager boys.
Stanley, Xeno’s longtime crush and oldest friend, let out a sigh. “Sorry, Xeno,” he apologized, although the apology had almost no real tones of regret in it. “I tried to stop them.”
He knew that Stanley was lying of course, it would have been very easy for the other teen to stop the two lovesick boys. Xeno let out a defeated breath. Ah well, nothing to be done. I can always finish later.
Straightening up and placing the beakers in a fridge, he threw his plastic gloves in a corner. “Yes, well, what was it you wanted to tell me?” His voice was full of weariness, long since used to Carlos and Max’s antics.
He predicted the answer even before it came out of their mouths. In unison, the two declared loudly, “I’m going to confess to Luna today!”
Xeno shot an incredulous look at Stanley as if to say, you let them come over for this?
Now, if this was the first time this occurred, he would have offered words of encouragement, perhaps may have even given them a fake love potion, but they had promised to confess their love so many times in the past five years that he was beyond surprised they hadn’t given up yet.
As usual, immediately after saying it at the same time, the two glared at each other, death promised in their eyes. As they dissolved into bickering, Xeno took the chance to walk over to Stanley’s side, leaning next to him and sighing dramatically.
“Where is she?” He asked, not bothering to look at the other.
“Outside, waiting for us to join,” Stanley responded, aggressively chewing on a piece of gum. There had been a period of time where the son of the military officer was addicted to smoking, but Xeno had quickly put a stop to that, much to his displeasure. “That’s the whole reason those dumbasses and I came up here in the first place.”
“Alright, I’ll be right down.”
Stanely nodded briskly, and then barked at the two squabbling boys. “Time to go!”
They broke apart sheepishly, both covered in bruises from when they had gotten physical, and trudged out the stairs. As he watched them go, Xeno couldn’t resist muttering to his friend, “They’ll be single forever, won’t they?”
Stanley snorted. “Yeah, they most definitely will–”
He cut himself off, eyes widening, staring in shock outside the window. Xeno shot a worried look, and followed the other’s gaze to the window. He couldn’t stop the small gasp that left his mouth.
Outside, covering the sky, was a sickly green light. It seemed to spread across the sky, heading closer to them with each passing second.
Stanley reacted immediately, pushing Xeno behind him, and bracing himself as the light appeared in the room they were in. They watched, scared, as it passed over the other students in the lab, stone crackling up the bodies of those it touched.
With a blink of an eye, the very same stone crept along Stanley’s body. The half-petrified boy shot him a startled glance.
“Stanley,” Xeno said desperately, racking his brain for any ideas. This was just like the swallows. “Stay awake, please–”
There was nothing to be done. He was stone.
As the light washed over Xeno, bringing with it a dooming numbness that crawled rapidly over his body, he silently cursed the heavens.
Stay awake, Stanley. I will too, I swear.
And with that, everything went black.
At the same time, a continent away…
“This is unreasonable,” Senku scowled, an annoyed look on his normally indifferent face. “I can’t believe that they won’t allow us to do anything about the stone swallows!”
He let out a huff, continuing to pace in circles as he had been doing for the last half hour. Near him, sitting on one of the tables in the bright white lab they were in, Yuzuriha spoke up, a sympathetic look on her face. “It’s ok, Senku,” she assured him, sending a small smile his way.
They had been dealing with the stone swallows for the past week or two, and it was clear it was driving the leek-haired scientist insane. Despite heavy cautions and Twitter posts, the government refused to allow Senku to gather a specialized team to help him cure the birds. He had gone to them with the warning that the stone disease could spread to humans, but his effort was ignored.
Frustrated, he had sent a request for his two best friends, Taiju and Yuzuriha, to come over to help him. Working hard, they had spent many sleepless days experimenting different types of cures for the swallows, but to no avail. At the moment, Senku had launched into yet another coffee-fueled rant about the injustice he had received with the latest project.
“Yeah, just think about it!” Taiju, Yuzuriha’s husband, yelled enthusiastically from his seat next to his wife, punching a fist in the air. “You’ve got me, Yuzuriha, and Gen! Together, the Science Squad can accomplish anything!” He beamed, lighting up the room.
From across the room, Gen was sitting criss-cross with a half full bottle of cola in hand, leaning against the door, and looking like he was ready to fall asleep at any moment. When his name was mentioned, he cracked open a lazy eye. “You got this, darling!” He called, only half-conscious, shooting a weak smile to his husband. Gen had been with Senku since he first stepped foot in America, ever the loving partner, and was well used to the rants by now.
Senku finally slowed to a stop, shoulders slumping. He looked gratefully at his lover, and lowered himself beside the other man. He placed his head in the other’s lap, and mumbled, “I suppose you’re correct, mentalist.”
He would have stayed there for at least a couple of hours if not for the loud “Awwwww” coming from Taiju a couple of minutes later. Letting out a grumble, he kissed his husband on the forehead, one of the few affections he showed in public, and rose back to his feet.
“Alright,” he declared, stretching and pulling out a test tube. He headed over to the table in the room, which was covered in stone swallows and many, many test tubes, most of which were filled with suspicious looking substances. As he launched back into his work, Yuzuriha began to converse with her husband over some interaction she had at the park.
Suddenly, she broke off. Confused, Senku put the beaker down and turned his head in her direction. What he saw almost made him drop the glass. Outside the window was a green light on the horizon.
Yuzuriha gaped, putting a hand to her mouth. “Wha–” she began, but Taiju interrupted. He leapt in front of his wife, arms out, clearly ready to protect her at any cost. “Stay back,” he shouted, brow furrowing. Gen scrambled to his feet, scrambling to cover his husband, similar to Taiju.
Screams rose in the air from outside the building, and within seconds the light was upon them.
Senku’s best friends were hit first. He watched in horror as they turned to stone – the same stone as the swallows – with a sickening crackle. In front of him, Gen braced himself.
Just as the light touched him, ash grey creeping over his skin, Gen turned his head to face his partner. “Senku,” he whispered, eyes shimmering with tears, “I love you.”
And with that, he was gone.
Gone, turned to stone.
Senku let out a soft cry, reaching out to cup the statue's cheek. As soon as his hand came into contact with the other man’s cold cheek, stone started to spread across his fingers, going up, up, up until it almost consumed the scientist.
Senku’s last thought before everything went black, was one of determination. I have to survive.
Then, everything went dark.
Sound and sight no longer existed, only a muffling silence.
And so, deep in his mind, Senku began to do the only thing he could: count.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.