So after that shaky reunion, while the craft team worked of the ship's makeover, you all gathered around to discuss your next move and to try and predict what Xeno's will be. Hyouga suggested that he'd try a pirate-like approach which made you very happy that he made it go full circle. But Ryu's pilot instinct told him otherwise.
"As a pilot myself, I could tell from the way that plane was flying that it was a big show for us." he explained. "If Dr. Xeno is a sharp tactician...Maybe he wants us glued to this spot."
"Kukuku! Then where are our manners?" Senku smiled. "Let's not make our host do all the work when we can take the fight to them instead."
And so, an elite group, composed of Tsukasa, Hyouga, Ukyo and Suika, was instructed to join Chrome and Kohaku to get in Xeno's HQ and capture him. Oh and also bring Gen back.

Before they left, you went to talk to Tsukasa.
"(Y/n)..." he said, a bit worried.
"Don't worry," you smiled. "I'm not gonna ask to go with you guys. Just," your smile faded. "please make sure to bring Xeno here. I need to talk to him. I..." you looked down. "I want to understand why he's doing this."
He smiled and patted your head.
"I will, trust me."
And then he left, you noticed Hyouga was looking at you.
"...You've matured."
"I better have, you kidding me?" you chuckled, you didn't expect him to say that.
He kept his gaze on you for a brief moment before leaving with the others.
'He's changed too.' you thought, smiling.

You helped with the ship's makeover as much as you could. Thankfully, Mozu didn't try anything now that he had open field, though you would feel him staring at you and you didn't want to know what he was thinking when he did. The reason why he kept his distance was because, before they left, Tsukasa and Hyouga had a private conversation with him. It surprised you that Hyouga would agree to do this but nevertheless, when they came back, Tsukasa assured you that Mozu won't try anything.
So here you were, taking your break, sitting in your corner with your water. You were looking at the sky in a moment of absentmindedness. At one point you let out a long sigh.

"Still thinking about Xeno?"
You looked back and saw Senku walking over.
"Mostly about the synth he made for me." you smiled.
"Figured." he smiled, sitting beside you.
"Like, I know he made it as a bait and all but-" you stopped yourself, embarrassed to admit it. "I really do wanna go to his place now!" you wheezed.
"Heh, understandable." he leaned back. "But don't worry, once we capture him and take over, you'll have all the instruments you want."
"I wonder what else he made. Probably a much better electric guitar, a stylophone-" you gasped. "Do you think he made a working turntable?!"
"It's probable, the primitive version anyway, their technology is more advanced."
"Oh man..." you looked back at the sky with a dreamy look.

"Speaking of him," Senku said. "are we gonna talk about the fact that you were penpals with my mentor and never told me about it?"
"What? Are you jealous?" you laughed.
"Honestly, I just don't understand why you didn't tell me. I wouldn't have cared."
You took a moment to think.
"Maybe it was so I could have that reaction from you." you glanced at him with a little smirk, he frowned, knowing it wasn't the real answer. "I don't really know. At the time, you seemed to always know everything. Maybe child-me wanted to keep it a secret so that it'd be the one thing you didn't know about... And by the time we went to high-school, my relationship with Xeno became its own thing, something unrelated to you." you shrugged. "It was just a nice friendly penpal relationship, it was a good way to take a break from everyday life. At least that's how I saw it, and I thought it was how he saw it too but now..." you looked down.
"You can ask him when you meet face-to-face."
You smiled at each-other.

"Help me please!" someone suddenly shouted in Engligh.
The two of you rushed to the ship's entrance where a crowd gathered, a girl around your age ran towards you and tripped over. She looked up at you all, covered in dirt.
"I'm..." she spoke in Japanese now, tears in her eyes. "I'm desperate to run away from that horrid Dr. Xeno and his kingdom!"
You exchange a look with Senku, it was clear he didn't believe her either. He briefly glanced at her then at you. You could tell he was waiting for permission for something, and although you didn't know what or why, you trusted him and nodded. He walked over to the girl and kneeled before her.
"Are you hurt miss?" he softly asked, making you tense up. "Have no fear, you're safe now. Please, come unto our ship."
"...Th-thanks." she blushed.
Well, he sure caught you off guard. But thankfully, you managed to keep calm as Kirisame picked her up bridal style and escorted her on the ship.
"Let's get you some first-aid bellow deck!" Taiju said, leading the way.

"Turning up the charms huh?" Yuzuriha mumbled, before looking at you, worried. "(Y/n)-chan, are you-?"
"Uuuuurh!!!" you cried as soon as the new girl was out of sight, holding yourself in pain. "That was so cringe~!"
"Oh, I thought you'd be jealous."
"Are you kidding me?!" you turned to Senku. "If you ever talk to me like that I will punch you in the face!"
"Kukuku, I'd hope you would." he smiled, and then he smirked as a dark aura emanated from him. "We'll extract all the info we can outta this girl and send a coded message to Tsukasa and the special forces! It's spy versus spy! Black-hearted schemers trying to outfox each-other! Now that's exciting!" he cackled.
"Yeah~ that's more like it!" you cheerfully smiled and placed a peck on his cheek.
"Of course she'd prefer him like that..." Yuzuriha sighed.

While everyone went back to work, you joined Nanami in the communication room. She said she wanted to make an hourly broadcast as an invitation to discussion, and you had some words to add.
"And that's the gist of it! We're out to revive all of humanity!" she said. "We were hoping to have your cooperation of course. Obviously we won't serve under you but-"
"Damn right we won't! Are you kidding me?!"
"...But, we're always open to a civilized conversation!"
"Xeno! I swear to god call me back!"
"Can the enemy even hear what you're saying?" Ginrou asked.
"If he does that means he's ignoring us!" you looked at him before turning back to the mic. "And that's a dick move you hear me?!"
"I figured it's worth putting out there at least." Minami glanced at you. "Though we don't know what sort of person Dr. Xeno really is..."
You pursued your lips.
"You know," you said. "I'm starting to think I don't know myself."

After that, you helped the craft team on the deck before you and Senku went to interrogate that girl, Luna.
"I can totally tell she's into you." you dusted his shoulders standing in the hallway in front of the door to her room. "So make sure you up the charms and talk all prince-ish, and keep doing that sparkle thing with your eyes." you glanced to the side. "Although I have no idea how you do that."
"Oh it's a thing I picked up, I used to seduce that girl in elementary school just so I could get invited in her house and get access to her dad's lab." he chuckled at those precious childhood memories.
"Senku!" you smiled and placed your hands on your hips. "You were a player?!"
"I guess," he shrugged. "but I stopped when Byakuya scolded me about it and I learned that it was a wrong thing to do." he turned towards the door. "You're coming?"
"Nah," you waved your hands. "I don't think I could handle the prince act. Plus it'll be more intimate with just the two of you."
"Alright."
He glanced back at you and you gave each-other a thumb up before he walked in, closing the door behind him.

"It's nice to see the trust you place in him my dear (Y/n)." you turned to see Ryu and François walking up to you. "You know, if it was me," he placed a hand on his chest. "I would make sure you were comfortable with such a situation at any opportunity possible."
You chuckled.
"We're talking about Senku here. As long as Luna doesn't spend the next three years or so building a very strong bond with him, I'm not worried."
"Speaking of Senku." Ryu opened the door and called for him.
He came out and Luna noticed the three of you. Trying to listen in on you guys, she tried to get a bit closer, so you decided to change location.

"What?" Senku folded his arms, pouting. "The interrogation was going well."
"Yeah Ryu, why'd you stop him?" you asked.
"Knowing him, he had no tact and just asked questions right away."
"I thought it'd be fine since she's into him."
"(Y/n)," Senku said. "did you split the beans when you met Tsukasa for the very first time."
"Mmh~," you joined your hands and placed the tips of your indexes on your mouth before pointing at him. "you have a point."
"Did you think Senku's natural charisma would suffice?" Ryu chuckled.
"Uh-maybe?!" you blushed.
"Your feelings are clouding your brain (Y/n)!" he nudged you. "Stop it, that's the one thing we don't want in this relationship."
"Right, you're right!" you gave yourself little slaps on the cheeks.

"Anyway," Ryu looked at his butler. "François should be the one to make our guest feel welcome!"
They nodded.
"As we need the young lady to open her heart to us, please make use of Bar François."
"The trick to winning someone over is fulfilling their desires!" he snapped his fingers.
"I do not know what Lady Luna desires, but we can venture a guess."
"How about...the last thing anyone would say they hate?"
You tilted your head, trying to figure out what he was talking about. He noticed your look of confusion and smiled.
"Ice cream!"

You gasped widely. Covering your mouth with both your hands, you looked at Senku. Seeing your expression, he chuckled and nodded.
"It's doable."
"Yes~!!!" you jumped from joy. "Ice cream! Let's go~!!!"
"You got the data to back that up?" he asked Ryu.
"Sure, my research as a desire specialist!"
"Don't be stupid Senku!" you exclaimed. "Fuckin' everybody loves ice cream! Don't even say to my face that there is an anti-ice-cream committee!"
"The A.I.C committee?" he smiled.
"The-!" you wheezed and laughed, then went back to cheering. "We're having ice-cream for dinner!"

Using what was available, Senku made a substitute for vanilla essence then you all made enough ice-cream for everyone. Although you did discreetly told him to hand over the first cone to Luna. He said "Bon appétit" as he handed it to her, but it was in a horrible accent and you weren't even sure he said it correctly. But Luna bought it and blushed as she took her ice-cream, you had to restrain a laugh in front of such a scene.
You finally got your cone and took a bite. With just the taste, memories of the modern world flowed though your mind: hanging out with your friends after school, the hot summers at the beach, having snacks while watching a movie at a slumber party. You leaned your hand back, blinking rapidly so as to not cry.
"Oh boy..." you said. "It's really, really good."
Yuzuriha, standing next to you, patted your shoulder.
"Thanks dude." you smiled.
"(Y/n)-chan, it's spilling on the side."
"Ow shit!" you said before quickly eating again.
She chuckled.

"That electric stuff...How did you use it to make vanilla?" Luna asked Senku.
"There's always a workaround for whatever we're lacking." he said. "Humans have been persevering like that for two million years. Getting to the root of the raw elements that make up this world of ours helps us create stuff we've got no business having. That's the sweet side of organic chemistry."
You smiled as he spoke. You glanced over at Luna, who looked swayed by his words but snapped out of it and put on a confident facade.
"J-Job well done with this!" she said. "To borrow Xeno's favorite word, it's really elegant."
"Ha! So it really is his catchphrase!" you laughed.
"Huh?" she looked at you confused.
"Yeah, we were penpals back in the modern days, he was also Senku's mentor." you pointed at you then at him.
"Wha-what?! Wait! It's you!" she pointed at you with a shocked expression. "That penpal friend from Japan?! You're a kid?!"
'I thought it was like his Japanese long-lost lover!!!' she thought, all of her romantic scenarios of a tearful reunion now down the drain.
"Huh?" you pointed at yourself, equally surprised. "He...talked about me?"

She pursued her lips, realizing she got carried away and just nodded. Figuring she won't say more, you decided to turn the subject.
"By the way, I have to ask:" you turned to face her. "Xeno told us about his little side project, what do you know about it?"
"'Little'?! Are you kidding?! He always talks about how it's-" she cut herself and coughed. "I'm...not really sure."
'Smooth.' you forced yourself not to roll your eyes and acted as if you didn't notice that.
"I don't know what this side project is," she kept going. "he just shuts himself in his lab to work on it from time to time. But it does seem important," she nodded to herself. "must be some kind of super weapon or a super car."
You covered your mouth as you thought for a moment. You weren't sure if she was lying or not, but you could tell she didn't know it had anything do to with music instruments. It'd surprise you if she had a high rank on Xeno's side, given her skills. So either only Xeno knew about this project, or only very few people. Figuring you won't find the answer by yourself, you looked at her again.
"And how is...how is he? Like as a person." you asked, your eyebrows a bit furrowed, hoping she'd give you some answers to that question, which to you was the most important.
"I...I don't know." she seemed taken aback. "W-well you were penpals weren't you? Shouldn't you know?"
"Yeah, I should." you looked down.

"(Y/n)." Ryusui said, hearing your conversation. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious about your story with him."
"Yeah, tell us," Yuzuriha said. "maybe remembering in details will clear up some things for you."
You sighed. Maybe a flashback would be in order right now.
"Maybe, you're right." you finished your ice-cream, "but it might take a while."
Everyone turned towards you to listen, even Senku listened shifted in his seat.
"So, it all started in middle school, when I was hanging out with just Senku and Taiju..."

"Senku~!" you excitedly ran into his classroom when the bell rang for the end of the day (you were in different classes). "I got that new theremin I told you about yesterday, wanna go to my house and study it?!"
"Change of plan for me (Y/n)," he walked passed you, staring at his phone. "we'll do it tomorrow."
"Oh...okay." you said in a little voice.
He turned back and pointed at you.
"Don't even touch it without me. The first sound of an instrument is essential and I wanna hear it." he quickly said before turning back and walking away.
"Y-yeah sure!" you smiled, though you were clearly disappointed.
"Don't be sad (Y/n)!" Taiju put a hand on your shoulder, smiling widely.
"I got extra money so we'd buy some crepes on the way..." you looked down.
"Oh! Well, we could buy some together! Oh no wait!" he smacked his forehead. "I have baseball practice today!"
You smiled, happy to see him trying to cheer you up.

"That's okay, good luck with practice today." you waved at him and started to walk away.
"And please don't be mad at Senku! He always gets like this when he gets an email from that American."
"Wait." you quickly went back to him and looked at him with a grave expression. "What American?"
"Uh, well-"
"Taiju! We gotta go!" one of his teammates called.
"I'll wait for you after practice." you said.
"But, it'll be late-"
"That's fine, my parents are business traveling."

While he was on the sport court outside, you were standing on the side and blew on some blades of grass, or using your pencils to hit your backpack like a drums. After that you both walked home and bought some crepes on the way.
"A NASA scientist?!" you exclaimed after he explained the situation to you.
"I don't understand a thing they're talking about but Dr. X helps Senku a lot with his rocket building." he casually said as he ate his crepe. "They write each-other emails a lot."
'What do you mean Senku has a cooler friend than me?!' you scoffed in shock.
Sometimes, he'd ask you to translate certain words in English and you thought it was for his homework, until now.
And your child brain thought it would be a great idea to also get a cool American NASA scientist friend, preferably the exact same one he had. So once you were home, you checked google and learn that you could just email NASA just like that, so you did.

'Dear NASA scientists,...'