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"Hey, check it out! We finished making the next dose of medicine for Ruri," Chrome announced happily to the rest of the team. They had rushed right back to work after checking on her condition as soon as Senku realized that she could absolutely be healed with their antibiotics.
Senku was impressed to see how quickly his pupil had grown comfortable with all the procedures as they retraced the steps to make the drug, considering how this was all new to him. His natural curiosity, adaptive nature, and willingness to learn truly embodied the spirit of a great scientist.
They decided it was time to call it a day and said goodbye to the team that returned to the village to rest for the night. Suika seemed almost sad to go back but Kohaku assured her that they'll be needing her help tomorrow as well. Kaseki somehow looked even more sad than the child as he was dragged away.
Late into the night—as the moonlight shone into their makeshift storage room, Senku found that he couldn't quite fall asleep yet.
"Father, this is not the sorcery that you know of. This is science. And I believe in science. I believe in Senku."
"Yeah, all of us too!"
He was never really a sentimental person but those words had moved him. Had he been more of an animated personality like Taiju, he supposed he would've cried on the spot after hearing the loud outcry of support. But that wasn't the type of person he was.
Either way, he was still thankful. He wouldn't have been able to make any of his creations without the help of the people currently in his Kingdom of Science. And he will certainly need the whole village's support if he was ever going to have a fighting chance against Tsukasa's very own civilization.
Healing Ruri would be the first big step towards achieving that.
He shuffled into a more comfortable position in his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, falling into a quiet slumber underneath a bed of stars.
❂❂❂
"Senku."
The teen looked up in the middle of cleaning his lab to see a familiar blonde walk in. She had returned with two flasks in each hand, after a short trip to the nearby river to wash them. Since Kohaku was the fastest one out of the group, he had dismissed the others and figured she would be enough for the menial tasks that were left. He would talk more to her sister the following day after she had enough rest.
He approached her with his hands out, "Oh, here. I'll take those."
"I wanted to say thanks again," she said as she handed over the fragile glassware. "For healing Ruri-ne with your medicine. For saving her life."
"Heh, well it's—" Senku had wanted to make a sarcastic response but stopped after noticing the tremble in her voice towards the end of her sentence.
When he looked at her, she was crying again.
"O-Oi," he panicked, putting down the bottles on the table. "Just how long are you going to keep crying, lioness? You're going to ruin your eyes."
Earlier today when they had been out, enough tears were shed by the whole village after seeing Ruri healthy again. He was hoping that his use of a nickname for her would agitate and distract her somehow but it was all too late as more tears started to come out.
She used both her hands to wipe them away as she sobbed, "I thought I'd really lose her. Before I met you."
The voices of all the adult villagers came back to her at once. Telling her that her older sister did not have much time left in this world and that she needed to step up. That there was no cure to the illness as she watched helplessly, the numerous times Ruri collapsed from a fit of coughs. Her father scolding her for misbehaving and the whispered rumors saying that she would soon be disowned. All because she refused to comply with their plan in replacing the village's priestess after she had passed.
In the midst of her thoughts, she had found herself crouched down near the floor. But what was more surprising was when she opened her eyes to see red staring back at her, on the same eye level.
"You know I didn't do it out of the goodness of my heart. I have a village to take over, after all," he murmured, scratching his cheeks awkwardly.
"I know," she sniffled, smiling a bit now from his comment. It was just like him to say that. "But still."
Senku reached his arms out to give her a small pat on the head before he stood back up. He then pulled out a clean rag from one of the cabinets and grabbed the jar that stored clean water. After quickly rinsing the cloth, he handed it over to her. "Here, wipe your face with this. The cold water will help reduce the blood flow and prevent swelling."
"Geez," he sighed as he sat back down next to her on the floor as she blew her nose, "You were crying before we even gave her the medicine. Now you've cried during and after."
“Shut up,” Kohaku mumbled. She gave him a small punch to his shoulders.
"Hey.” He nudged her shoulder with his own to get her attention.
She answered with an annoyed huff, thinking he was going to tease her again. “What?”
“It's the same for me,” Senku told her with a grin, “I also have you to thank for getting this far. So consider us even, okay?”
She frowned at his comment. “What are you talking about?”
“For starters, you were the one that sent the smoke signal for us to see. Without it, we wouldn't have known there would be anyone else here.”
Senku then continued, “And then you led me to the village to help me out, recruited more people, and even defended me so passionately too.”
“It could've all gone differently. Small communities have a tendency to be wary of outsiders. Look what happened to Gen with Magma.”
She had never really thought of it that way before. Kohaku had offered to take him in because he seemed like he needed help and he gave off a good impression after getting her out from the tree.
“Plus, none of this would've been possible if it weren't for those ridiculous number of trips you took to get the hot spring water.” Senku chuckled, “It was your diligence that kept her alive all these years. Give yourself some credit, Kohaku.”
While what he said was true, Kohaku had wanted to argue that it wasn't the same. But she knew it would be a fruitless conversation if she had tried to keep going. He had recognized her efforts, something she didn't expect anyone to do, and acknowledged her part in helping her sister. Knowing that her trips everyday weren't for nothing… A sudden rush of emotion overwhelmed her and she could feel her eyes getting wet again.
She shook her head, giving herself a quick slap on the cheeks with her hands. Senku looked over in shock, but his concerns disappeared when he realized what she was trying to do.
Deep breaths, she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut. She took a moment for herself to calm down and pull herself together.
“Heh,” she nudged back at him with her elbows and changed the topic, “Looks like we have a lot to do from now on.”
“That goes without saying,” Senku replied.
“I'll help you clean up the rest of the lab,” Kohaku smiled and offered her hand to him after she got up.
“Ho~? Is that a genuine offer from Kohaku-sama? How rare.” Senku grinned as he took her hand and let himself be pulled along.
“Don't be rude,” she pouted, crossing her arms.
“As much as I'd like the help, I don't have much here I need to do anymore. Go home and get some rest. I'll probably knock myself out in about half an hour tops.”
“Ha! You might've fooled someone like Chrome with those words but not me,” Kohaku said as she went ahead and washed the cloth she was given earlier. “If I help out, then you'll be able to go to sleep in 15 minutes. It's what you call a ‘win-win’, right? So let's quickly get this over with.”
Senku himself would never admit it, but Kohaku knew when to read between the lines. After she had cried almost the entire day, Kohaku became tired a lot earlier than usual—something Senku had caught on when she was training. He had wanted her to rest early for the night, rejecting her offer so she would go back to the village.
“Well, it's not like I could stop you if I wanted to,” he mused as he also worked to put away the rest of the glasses Kohaku had returned with.
“You know, I'd leave right away if you were honest with me.”
“Tch. I have no idea what you're talking about.”
But she could see the corners of his mouth curl up, just a little, before he turned around to finish the rest of his work.