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Kohaku hummed softly to herself as she sat guard outside of the base camp established for their building Math City, the music of Lillian Weinberg's final song playing in her head. She knew she was missing notes and not understanding what exactly she was doing, mocking the way she's heard Nikki hum, but there was still something comforting in what she was doing that brought her a strange sense of peace.
She could hear some of the yelling and screaming back in the camp, although she wasn't making out exactly what the reasons were. It sounded happy, however, so she could only assume it was over something Francois was making. The scents coming from the makeshift kitchen smelled heavenly, although she wasn't too hungry at the moment. She would be, of course, but not now.
Her eyes darted to the starry skies above, another night of unobstructed views above them. It's been nice, this string of good days, she complimented inwardly. They needed it. They needed this. And it's been absolutely delightful, despite the pressures upon them and what they still had left to do, to have some of these smaller and calming moments to break up the stress and worries of what was still to come. She leaned forward onto her lap, arms wrapped around each other and over her torso, continuing to hum away as best as she could, her thoughts trailing off into far off memories.
“Ah, Kohaku! So this is where you wandered off to!”
The boisterous voice broke her from her little reverie, and her head snapped back to see her visitor approaching her with confident steps. “I did say that I was going on watch for a bit, but you all probably didn't hear me with all of the excitement going on,” she replied with a shrug, “Surprised you aren't trying to play catch up with your brother, Ryusui.”
The dragon captain laughed heartily, “There's all the time in the world for such things. However, it seemed that he and Senku had gotten themselves into a battle of numbers, and he's far more engaged in his equations than desiring to hear some old tales at the moment.”
Kohaku let out a loud “ha!” of her own, rolling her eyes classically, “That sounds about right. It was only a matter of time before those two started at it. But this means that Sai's getting comfortable in our little group.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
Ryusui took a seat next to the warrior, Kohaku already having her attention turned back towards the night sky. A light warm breeze floated past them, and the male sighed deeply with contentment over the nice feeling of the wind blowing through. He lifted one leg in order to rest a bent arm upon it, leaning back on the grass in opposite to Kohaku's leaned stance. They sat in a comfortable silence, not really needing to fill the air with mindless chatter. They weren't particularly close, at least not in comparison to some of their other relationships within the Kingdom of Science, but they had an understanding of one another that was familiar enough.
“I'm quite grateful to you, you know.”
Kohaku raised a brow and turned her head towards her companion, lips in a half-pout. “Grateful to me? For what?” she asked, confused by the sudden confession.
He chuckled, glancing up at the sky himself with a small tilt of his hat, pushing it upward upon his head with the press of a calloused thumb. “We may be separated by land and see, but siblings understand each other,” he replied, quoting the words she spoke the night before, “Truer words have never been spoken, and surely I knew of that before you even said them aloud. But admittedly, hearing them lifted a rather big weight off of my shoulders.”
He turned his attention towards the huntress, a flash of fangs coming through a pure smirk, “To be frank, I was feeling quite uneasy inside over reuniting with Sai. As you saw, he's not quite the typical “lovable big brother” type, and given our history, there was a piece of me that was not confident in how things may go. However, your words gave me strong courage to face him without a single ounce of unease.”
He motioned towards the camp, “We have a long way to go, obviously, but I think we've already made the first steps. And I feel more than confident that we'll develop a stronger bond from this than we had before. I have you to thank for that.”
Kohaku blinked, not exactly sure what he meant by “lovable big brother” type, but she didn't focus on that line for long. Instead she grinned, gaze softening, a laugh in her voice, “Glad to be of help, I guess. But honestly, I didn't think you needed me to say anything.”
She turned to face him more directly, tucking her legs over to one side, bending an elbow and placing it atop her legs, burying her chin into her flattened palm, “I never would've thought you'd have any sort of hesitancy towards anything. You approach everything with confidence, so it's kinda funny to hear you saying you worried about this. Did getting turned to stone mess with your head this time?”
Ryusui didn't take offense to her little jab, turning to face her himself with a shortened chuckle. “Ha, not at all! I'm still the same man you've always known,” he replied, removing his hat from his head and placing it in his lap, “But I suppose I had more time to reflect.”
He brought his once blemished hand to his chest, where years ago prior to being petrified he was shot through with a round of bullets. “We'll succeed in our mission to the Moon, but there is still what comes next. I don't wish to leave a single thing unfinished in this world. Every step we take now will lead to that. Repairing the relationship between Sai and I was always a desire, but I have the chance to start upon that now instead of later,” he spoke sincerely and candidly, something he had always done but there was a specific air about this speech that struck Kohaku in an odd way as she listened.
She never heard the man speak in such an honest manner before, not without a drop of his usual arrogance. He was being more forthright in his feelings than she was sure he ever had been. Perhaps with Francois at times, but definitely never with her. She was truly surprised by his admission, with how freely he was sharing this with her. She felt strangely honored by now knowing this side of the captain, and she smiled largely with a soft hum.
“I'm happy for you. I truly am, Ryusui. I hope that Sai feels the same way,” she replied, although she did have to laugh a bit as she continued, “Well... maybe eventually. Pretty sure if Senku wasn't keeping him busy, he'd be trying to run away like earlier.”
“You're not wrong!”
They laughed in unison, the comfortable quiet being restored as the sounds died, the duo smiling at one another for a few brief seconds. Ryusui broke the contact with a loud “Ah!”, turning to and reaching for a pouch that was held by his belt, opening the flap and digging in it. Kohaku watched with curious attention, wondering what it was that had him suddenly in a flurry, leaning back an inch as he pulled out another pouch – this one being a cloth wrapped with a single string – and pushed it towards the huntress with earnest.
“As a token of my thanks,” Ryusui explained as he placed the pouch into Kohaku's hesitant hands, “I asked Francois to assist in creating a sweet treat for both Suika and yourself.”
It took a wee bit more self-control to keep herself from instantly drooling over the idea of a new sweet edible. Every one of the sugary treats that Senku and Francois had brought back to life from the modern world has been simply delightful, and she loved it when she got to enjoy all of the brand new foods. She tugged at the string to undo the loose knot, the fabric falling enough to reveal four small cookies, golden brown round biscuit-looking objects topped with caramelized sugar. Lapis eyes widened at the sight of the new treat, never having such a thing before.
“Wow, they look so yummy!” she exclaimed, ignoring the little bit of drool that trickled from the corner of her mouth, “Thank you, Ryusui. You didn't have to do this, though.”
“Nonsense!” he said with a snap of his fingers, “It wouldn't be proper not to offer such a token when you have been so kind.”
Kohaku awkwardly laughed, not really thinking what she did was anything special, but she didn't linger on it for long. He had always been an odd sort of guy in her mind, not entirely understanding his former place of privilege and prestige, so she wrote this off as another one of his quirks. Her attention turned back towards the cookies, picking up one with careful fingers in order to not accidentally break the semi-precious pastry, taking a bite out of it. Instantly her taste buds came alive with the new tastes and she animatedly squealed. “Mmm, they're so good!” she exclaimed, finishing the cookie with a satisfying lick of her lips afterwards, and the captain grinned with happiness over seeing her reaction.
“Aren't they? They are a cookie created with olive oil. Francois said that such cookies are usually created in small batches in order to even distribute the flavors. They are truly a delight!” he agreed, “I had a taste of one before I had them wrapped up. Suika seemed to have enjoyed them as well.”
He placed his hat back upon his head, adjusting it over his unruly locks. “Well, I suppose I'll leave you to your watch. I'll see you back at camp,” he replied, standing up and brushing out the wrinkles in his clothes, turning away and beginning the short walk back to camp.
Kohaku kept her eyes on his back, her hands falling down to rest limping on her folded knees. Her gaze dropped to the treats, her mind replaying his words in an echo, and her lips curled into a faint smile as she took one of the cookies out and closed up the other two within the fabric with a careful grasp.
“Hey, wait a minute, Ryusui,” she called out to him, standing up herself and taking the steps to catch up to him, the man stopping in his tracks.
He raised a brow as she reached out for one of his hands, placing the pouch in his awaiting palm and shifting the cookie she took out for herself into a better grip, smiling brightly as he tried to figure out what this was for. “Thank you. For talking to me about all of this, I mean,” she replied simply, “You gave me a lot to think about. About not wanting to leave anything unfinished.”
He blinked, then laughed loudly as he began to understand what she was doing. A token of thanks. It was a bit unorthodox, given that she was essentially gifting him half of what he had made for her for the same reason, but the meaning was still the same. He grabbed one of the cookies out from the cloth, tapping it lightly against the one she held in an effort similar to clinging glasses for a toast, then brought it up to his lips to take a nibble.
“Glad to have been of help,” he replied after he swallowed the bit, tipping his head in both appreciation and farewell, turning away and starting his walk again, this time with Kohaku turning away herself, going back and sitting down in the same place she was before.
Her gaze went back out to the evening sky, but this time with a wider grin stretched across her pale lips. She took three small bites of the cookie, savoring the flavor even more so than she did with the first. She brushed the crumbs from her dress before she leaned forward as she did before, taking up humming again as she tapped her foot contently against the ground below.
“One small step from zero...” her off-key tone echoed on the breeze as she attempted to sing the lyrics from her memories, thoughts now drifting to a vision of when they finally made it back to Japan, when they were finally back home, thinking of the very first thing she'll do once everyone in the village was revived.
That first thing being to tell Ruri that she loves her.
- end -