Work Text:
As the strongest warrior in Ishigami Village, the daughter of the chief, and protector of Ruri-nee, Kohaku never had the luxury of being protected or pampered.
Kohaku is 10 years old. It is autumn in Ishigami Village, an especially cold one where the whole village is on high alert, saving every scrap of food possible for a winter that will surely be harsh. No one speaks of it, but the adults are setting aside some especially straight and well dried boards for coffins that will need to be created in this kind of cold. They won’t have time for a funeral in Winter. The unlucky villager will be placed into the coffin, placed in a side tent, until spring when the ground thaws. There will be time to mourn later. For now, each person in Ishigami Village must ignore sentimentality and get busy getting things done.
A child is crying. He’s Kohaku’s age, but without her nimbleness and good eye for fine handiwork. His hands are red, throbbing with pain, from weaving baskets in the cold air all morning. The kids all feel exhausted from the work, in their weary little limbs and in their little hands. But they need all hands on deck, and the adults are even busier. An adult walks by, pats the child on the head, and gives him a little snack: a grilled fish cheek, the most delicious part of the animal, reserved usually for the elders. The child sniffles, wiping snot on his sleeves, and resumes working, with a new smile.
Little Kohaku has no time for tears, and no time waiting to be coddled.
“One day at a time, one step at a time,” Kohaku tells herself, “Weave the baskets; put on the jar; bring the water, get Ruri better. One step at a time: weave the baskets…”
She quickly finishes the last of her allotment of baskets for the day, stacks them, and gets ready for her next job. Each day, she must finish the kids’ chores of the day as early as possible, to free up as much time as possible to carry hot spring water to Ruri. She can’t pause, she can’t dawdle. Winter’s cold dry air will be especially hard on Ruri: without hot spring water, what if….
“Stop. Focus on the journey. The sky is clear today. Not much wind. If I hurry I can make two more trips before night falls. One day at a time.” The jar she is carrying is almost as big as her, and would be heavy for a child her age even when empty. Kohaku is happy to carry this weight on her tiny shoulders. As long as she is carrying this jar, and carrying hot spring water, she will not have to shoulder the weight of the 100 Tales and the unimaginable sadness of a world where Ruri is reduced to a memory.
At the last downward slope before the village comes into view, a large buck suddenly saunters across Kohaku’s path. She is running full speed down hill, and with the large jar behind her adding to her inertia, she instantly knows it was too late to avoid collision gracefully. Should she slam into the buck and risk angering the beast? Bucks have poor temper around mating season, she can’t risk it. Should she save herself by unstrapping the water jar and back flipping away? The jar will not only spill all of its precious content, but might even break. If this jar breaks, Kohaku would have to give up on hauling water for Ruri until spring, when they can fire more pottery. NO! That is not an option! Ruri will---!
Kohaku extends her left arm towards the ground, simultaneously unhooks the large jar from her back with her right hand, and twists her body mid air like a cat until the large jar swings forwards into her arms. She grips the jar with both arms, tucks her knees in, and rolls down the slope protecting the jar all the way down. Hot water spills onto her shoulders and into her face as she rolls, but her thoughts are entirely focused on keeping the jar in one piece.
Her back crashes into a young tree at the bottom of the slope, and she finally comes to a stop. Panting, she checks her limbs: nothing broken, maybe left ankle a little sprained. She checks the water jar: it’s safe. Pain and relief wash over Kohaku, as her adrenaline subsides. Her heart is pounding, not sure if it’s from the pain, from frustration of losing a full jar of precious water, from fear for Ruri, or….some new feeling. Will someone come? Will someone find her, and scoop her up in their arms, and shush her soothingly, and tell her everything is going to be okay? No one is going to come: the adults are busy. No one even knows she’s here. If she had broken her leg, she would likely freeze here overnight before being found. And then Ruri, her precious Ruri-nee, what will happen to her after Kohaku dies alone in the woods? Whenever Kohaku asks about Ruri’s health, the elders say “one step at a time, one day at a time.” She’s been working so hard, every step, every day, until now. What if there are no more possible steps…?
For the first time in her life, Kohaku feels the full brunt of fear and loneliness that she had thus far denied herself from feeling, and she wept out loud.
-----
Kohaku is 16 years old, and she has just lost her first round of one on one combat. The enormous man with the long hair did not kill her, but he certainly had the strength to, casually. She sees clearly that he is a villain: someone who hurts women, and someone who killed the gentleman sorcerer without hesitation. And now she is pinned under this monster tree that the man had cut down in two strokes. Will he come back to finish her off? Why had he kept her alive if he is a murderer? What if he has villainous companions who want a young woman alive…?
A long forgotten feeling rushes into her mind: fear. This is just like the time when she was young, alone and hurt in the woods. But that time, she only had a slightly sprained ankle and a few cuts. She was able to dry her tears and limp home alone. She had even gone out for one last water run that same day.
But now she is stuck, completely helpless under this tree, with a villain nearby and other predators in the forest. Is this where her luck finally runs out? Ruri-nee had relapsed recently after a few years of decent health. If only she had been stronger…if only she had someone… Kohaku knows she isn’t the delicate flower type who others take care of, who others will want to save. She’s not someone like that slender girl the gentleman sorcerer died trying to protect. Kohaku doesn’t want to be weak; she wants to be the one to protect, but...perhaps it would be nice to be protected as well. If only she had someone to watch her back.
“Stop it Kohaku. No one is there to protect you. No one is there to pamper your childish tears. You are all they’ve got. You’ve got to protect Ruri-nee, and Chrome, and everyone in Ishigami Village. You can feel scared and lonely and sad all you want when you’re dead.”
!!
Something is crashing through the forest. It’s not the enormous man: his strides were sure footed and wide. This is someone much smaller, on two legs. Who--
“You! You’re the gentleman sorcerer who protected that woman….You survived!” Kohaku shouted in surprise.
He survived. How on earth did he survive? The enormous man who downed a tree casually had struck him with full force. How is it that--
“If you can hold out until nightfall, even if I have to spend so much time I’d die, I will save you, 10 Billion Percent!”
---
The sorcerer gentleman wasn’t joking: he’s taking so long they’re both going to die. He mutters to himself while he works away at his mysterious contraptions. He’s sweating, and his hands are shaking a little. He’s not a fool: he understands this is an enormous tree that will take several men to push away. He is also glancing into the forest every time there’s a noise. He’s scared too, of the enormous man who had already slain him once. He understands that Kohaku is trapped here because of that fearsome man who might return at any point.
But his face, while he is working, is one of concentration and determination, and a quiet confidence that he is doing something important and worthwhile, even if it’s hard, even if it’s scary, and even if he’s alone.
For the first time in her life, Kohaku realises she is looking into the face of someone else who marches bravely into the future, one step at a time, even when he is scared and powerless and alone.
The sorcerer gentleman stops his muttering, and jumps down, pulling a cord down with his full weight. The round contraptions turn one by one, and Kohaku feels an enormous weight lift off of her, physically, and emotionally.
“It’s incredible...this wasn’t the wisdom of that achi-whoever,” Kohaku’s strength is unparalleled in their village, but this is some new kind of strength, and it’s brilliant and captivating. “It was you...taking one step at a time, solving one problem after the next, and weaving the answers together….what’s incredible is your unwavering inner strength!”
The first man capable of protecting her, the first man coming to her rescue for a change: Kohaku will remember this moment for the rest of her life.
“It seems I’ve somehow...completely fallen for you.”
----
the moment, from Kohaku's perspective, and Senku's response:
