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“Just click on the black light anddddd,” Senkuu sang before the purple light illuminated. “Fingerprints,”
Kohaku craned her neck to see what Senkuu and Gen were so eagerly looking at. Kinda looked like the patterns on her fingers. “So…. That’s our suspect's finger pattern?” Kohaku questioned. “Yup, you can guess a few things about a person just based on their fingerprints,” Senkuu stood up. “Like how I can whoever this is female, average weight, average height,” Senkuu clicked off the light.
“And you really got all of that just from those prints? Impressive Senkuu chan,” Gen hummed.
Kohaku didn't have the smile that pulled at Senkuu’s lips. “Save it. This is where you come in mentalist,” Senkuu urged.
“Ah yes,” Gen sighed. “Keep in mind, being a mentalist doesn't give me superpowers. This is all purely theoretical but I believe our suspect is a young woman. An experienced elder wouldn't waste precious energy picking up worthless shelves. Going through all the effort of collecting and then sorting seems far too inefficient for any older woman,” Gen started to push past the brush. “Looks like around here she realized how heavy her basket was and decided to discard a few,” Kohaku noticed the shells Gen was talking about by her feet. “Also looks like she had difficulty ducking past the foliage. Going off what Senkuu chan said…,” Gen brought his hand around his shoulder. “160 centimeters tall- and right there,” Gen’s hand meet a small broken branch. “And voila, a young woman's hair,” Gen felt up a tightly coiled black hair.
“So We're looking for someone with curly black hair at 160 centimeters tall carrying shells?” Kohaku asked.
“10 billion points to you,” Senkuu replied. His eyes shifted up to the canopy of trees.
“On it,” Kohaku launched herself off a nearby rock to reach a branch to swing off of. Repeat that a few times and she reached the densest part of the trees.
Whoever this is- they’re bringing what they collected back to a village. Only village I can see is further up on the mountain.
Kohaku jumped from branch to branch as the others below her followed. (Followed behind her may add)
As she swung by she heard plenty. From birds flocking away, the resting of leaves, and flowing water. Nothing she hadn’t heard before. What she hadn’t heard was humming.
Kohaku perched herself up on a branch as she listened. Kohaku crept in closer to listen more. Also to make sure she wasn’t following a moving flower.
Her dress so effortlessly followed behind her. Gold accents caught in some of the sun’s rays.
Kohaku put her finger up to her mouth as quickly as she could hearing the guy's approach.
Not quickly enough though. The woman with the basket spun around to look in the direction the sound had come from. Kohaku got a better look at their suspect.
Both Senkuu and Gen’s investigations had given pretty basic info. Height, build, hair type. What it didn’t account for was just how pretty the suspect was.
She was definitely not a flower but looked just as graceful as one. A berry-painted smile and eyes the same color as one of Chrome’s gems.
Wait what’s that sound?
Kohaku glanced back at the guys to scold them for moving but they looked right back up from the same spots they had been in.
“Please marry me!” Kohaku whipped her head so quick when she heard the pleas.
Now kneeling in front of the woman, offering flowers to her, were three men.
Kohaku dropped down from the trees to join the other 3 just as shocked as her.
“The hell?” Senkuu whispered.
“Kohaku chan, is this normal?” Gen whispered. “Granted I have no idea how proposals work but,”
“Ya this isn’t normal,” Kohaku murmured.
“Oh… Oh dear me. I’m sorry, you all caught me so off guard. Forgive me if I say anything silly, but this is oh so sweet. All of you’ve made me so happy,” She paused. “But alas they’re coming for me tomorrow,” A single tear impressively streamed down from her pretty dry eyes. “It’s my fate to join the master's harem. You have to understand… It’s not that I’m not honored but you know what happens to those to defy the master right?”
That definitely caught her attention. Though from the looks of it- “We know,” - It did not surprise the suitors.
“Forgive us Amaryllis. We knew it was an impossible ask,”
“We just had to say something before tomorrow,” The men's voices broke.
“I see. Your efforts haven’t gone unappreciated,” Amaryllis gave a small smile.
“Forgive us Amaryllis!” The three ran off crying, dropping their bouquets at Amaryllis's feet.
Amaryllis shifted her basket to her hip as she knelt down to pick up one of the flowers. Her eyes were just as dry but the solemn she looked at the flower with was hard to replicate.
“Well, we were spot on. She knows where the big bad boss is. We just got to ask,” Senkuu whispered.
“The important part is how we approach it though,” Gen added. “Find a common foe perhaps? Or offer a lie so good to turn down. Something along those lines. But the important part is the first impression. It’s 90% of everything,”
While Kohaku didn’t agree with Gen’s methods she knew he was right.
“Nah,” Senkuu blurted. “Yo!” He shouted as he came out of the bushes. The woman grabbed a shell in her basket and held it in defense. “Woah!” Senkuu put his hand up. (What did he expect?).
Her stance is in no way that of a fighter. Her weight was not firmly in her feet. Nor was the way she held the shell practical unless she was going to try and stab Senkuu with the blunt end. “Who are you?” She asked.
“Just people that sailed over here,” Senkuu slowly dropped his hands.
“Like from off this island?” Amaryllis was hesitant with her words.
“Yeah, not all too far,” Senkuu glanced at the shell Amaryllis still held.
“So there are places beyond our reach…?” The realization hit her more with each word. “I was right,” She mumbled. “You made it across,” Her eyes lit up.
“Yes, now the Soyuz capsule,” Senkuu tried to redirect the conversation.
“You made it!” Amaryllis threw her arms around Soyuz. “And you must be the master! Just at a glance, I can tell,” Once again she looked near tears but not a tear formed in her eye.
This girl was full of it.
“Someone so strong and-,” She tried to go on but stopped when a sudden weight in her arms dragged her down. “Oh woah!” Even her voice lowered a bit as Soyuz passed out. “Is he okay?”
“Oh yeah, probably just spooked him,” Gen replied. “He’ll be up in a second,”
“Oh I see…,” Amaryllis let out a sigh of relief. “Forgive me, he just seems like he would the master of you all,”
“Master?” Kohaku raised a brow. “Is that what you all call your chief?”
“Chi- ef?” Amaryllis sounded out just like Kohaku does when Senkuu would say a word that’s foreign to her.
“Basically like a leader,” Kohaku explained.
“Then I guess so ya,” Amaryllis answered.
“Well if you’ve done with that act,” Senkuu said, “What did you mean when you said they were coming for you tomorrow?”
“Well it’s hard to explain but-,”
RAHHHHHHHHHHH
A cry broke out over the mountain. One that was distinctly human. Kohaku quickly glanced at the three next to her to make sure nothing happened.
“Oh no. No no no!” Amaryllis got to her feet and ran up to where the screams came from.
Oh crap!
“Where are you-” Before Kohaku had a chance to stop her, Amaryllis had run straight to the cry.
“To my village!” Amaryllis shouted in response. “I knew this would happen,” She scolded herself.
The sound of footsteps could be heard in the distance getting louder and louder as Amaryllis got closer. The voices that once mumbled together started to become more distinct.
Amaryllis looked in horror as some men from the village walked with torches and weapons.
“Will you cut it out!” The rest of the men tried to stop the rioters. “You know what will happen if you do this!”
“We have no choice,” One of the suitors passed through. “We’re through listen to that man,”
“Think of the children, man,” An elder cried.
Kohaku reached for her sword almost out of instinct.
“Please no!” Amaryllis grabbed Kohaku’s hand. “They don’t know what they’re doing,”
“Looks like they do,” Kohaku glared at two men fighting. One’s torch was eerily close to the straw roof.
“No, they don’t!” Amaryllis repeated. “They’re scared and not thinking clearly. I just need to talk to them,” Amaryllis tried to bolt again.
Kohaku grabbed Amaryllis’s wrist. “Amaryllis, please. They’re too riled up” Kohaku begged. “Too dangerous,”
“But my village,” Amaryllis looked out in horror.
“What will happen if they don’t stop?” The Soyuz asked.
“We’ll all be turned to stone,” Amaryllis explained, her voice shaking.
“Well can’t have that,” Senkuu clicked his tongue. “Mentalist your backpack!”
“What are you going to do?!” Amaryllis questioned.
“You want to stop them without hurting them right? Can’t guarantee it wouldn’t hurt but only for a bit” Senkuu grinned. “A scientific way to stop a riot. Chloroacetone, or better known as tear gas,”
Senkuu led as he, Gen, and Kohaku descended down. The villagers still in their huts looking at them as if they were demons. Guess the gas mask Kohaku was fixing to her face wasn’t helping either.
“Oi over here!” Senkuu called. Gen got on all fours as Senkuu manned the machine itself. Kohaku cranked the wheel as fast as it would go. It kinda looked as if they had blown a bunch of salt at them. All the men dropped their weapons as they wheezed. All their anger melted and streamed down their swollen eyes.
“That should be good,” Senkuu let up,”
“So that’s what you were making in the lab?” Kohaku questioned as she took off her gas mask.
“Pretty much,” Senkuu answered.
“I still don’t get why I had to carry it,” Gen stood up.
“What was that?”
“Was the smoke?”
“What village are you from?”
The village folk started to come out of their huts. A little less scared seeing their actual faces but the 3 still definitely stood out.
“Everyone!” Amaryllis called. “These.. uh - are the sorcerers we prayed for!” Amaryllis scrambled for a lie. “They god have answered us,” Amaryllis’s words eased the skeptical look in the villager’s eyes. “Now, please help get these men to the apothecary as I talk to them?”
Amaryllis took them aside as her village helped the coughing men up. “Okay I got the village off your back but there is something I need to know. When I said we’d get turned to stone, you didn’t seem surprised at all. Why?”
“We sort of already had a run-in with petrifaction,” Gen explained.
“And now our friends are petrified on a ship right by your shore so if you know anything about that,”
“Yes, I know about the petrifying rock,” Amaryllis’s eyes meet the ground.
“Rock?” Soyuz asked.
“Yes, It’s like a small rock that follows the will of the gods as said by minister Ibara. And if your friends were caught, no way they aren’t looking for anyone else who may have snuck on the island”
“You mentioned this Ibara before. Who is he exactly?” Senkuu asked.
“Our minster. He carries out the master's will and supposedly talks to the gods,” Amaryllis’s fist clenched. “But that can't be true. No way the gods would want this,” Amaryllis looked out to the sea as if people were there.
“You have a plan don’t you Amaryllis?” Gen looked pitifully.
“Yes,” She tore her gaze away. “I’ve become the island’s greatest beauty for everyone’s sake. Doll myself up and sneak into the master’s harem and take him down,” Amaryllis' determination was infectious, but as determined as she was- Kohaku didn’t hear a how in that explanation.
“You’re doing all this for your village?” Kohaku asked.
“I’ve made up my mind so don’t try and talk me out of it,” Amaryllis's brow furrowed.
“I wasn’t going to,” Kohaku replied.
“Doesn’t even sound like a bad plan,” Senkuu added.
“I see… In that case, I have an offer,”
.
.
.
Kohaku watched the little bit of morning sunlight coming from the opening of the cave glistened on the water. It painted the whole thing shades of orange and pink.
Pretty.
Kohaku took the stick she had been fiddling with and started poking at the sand in front of her. The little dots turned into dots, and from dots to lines. When Kohaku spaced back in she realized she had doodled a little Amaryllis into the sand. “Hmmh,” Kohaku groaned in frustration. Her doodle wasn’t even close to being as pretty as Amaryllis.
Should I just try again?
“What are you doing?” Kohaku almost jumped when she heard Senku.
“Geeez, don't sneak up on me like that,” Kohaku heaved.
“I didn’t,” Senkuu argued. “Is that a drawing?” He raised a brow.
“It’s not good is it?” She sighed.
“Well, what were you trying to draw?” Senkuu craned his neck like a different angle would reveal what it was supposed to be.
Kohaku’s blood chilled before running straight to her face. “Promise not to make fun of me?”
“I guess so,” Senkuu hesitated.
“It’s supposed to be Amaryllis,” Kohaku mumbled just loud enough for Senkuu to hear.
“Pftt,” Senkuu looked away to cover his mouth. “Ya that’s bad,”
Kohaku would’ve normally elbowed him but- “I knowww,”
“Never seen you try and draw someone before,” Senkuu tried to change the topic to stop himself.
“Never wanted to,” Kohaku replied.
“Ohhh you’re a lesbian” Senkuu uttered. “That makes sense,”
“A les- be- in?”
The already running gears in Senkuu’s head ran just a bit more. “Okay basically, it's a modern term for somebody who doesn’t like men,” Senkuu explained.
“Okay so are you like the opposite of a lesbian?” Kohaku smirked.
“I mean no. I’m a guy so…,” And the realization set it. “Ughhh. Is it that bad?”
“Yup,” Kohaku sang. “
“Chances of him knowing?”
“Let me put it in a way you’d understand, ten billion percent yes,”
“Damn it,” Senkuu grumbled.
“There you are Amaryllis!” Suika shouted.
“Hi Suika!” Amaryllis and her canoe drifted through the opening of the cave. “I got some of the fruits you all asked for Though a lot of it is just coconuts,” She stepped out the boat once it reached the shore.
“Nah this is perfect Amaryllis,” Senkuu marveled at the different fruits brought in. “Just mix these simple fruits with stuff from the lab and we’ll have everything we need,” Senkuu got that look again like he wasn’t just staring at a coconut.
“Is that normal?” Amaryllis whispered to Kohaku.
“Oh ya, he’s just got an idea,” Kohakuu replied. “This is actually one of his more normal looks,”
“Oi Kohaku!” Senkuu called coconuts almost spilling out of his and Gen’s arms.
“Give me a sec and I’ll tell you more,” Kohaku hummed before joining the guys carrying the fruits.
That canoe held a lot more fruit than she expected. Didn’t help that the “lemons” were hard to carry without one slipping out.
“Anything else?” Kohaku dropped the rest of the fruit on the lab table.
“Nah,” Senkuu replied. “We’ll get you when everythings done,”
“Alright then,” The blonde said as she stretched out her arms.
She didn’t really see what “shampoo” and “conditioner” would do for her hair. She washed it in seawater all the time. Kohaku stepped away from the mobile lab and looked where Amaryllis had gone.
“Oh there you are,” Kohaku noted when she saw Amaryllis further down the beach.
“Oh yea sorry, got curious what this was,” Amaryllis looked up from the sand she was staring at.
Kohaku squatted next to Amaryllis. “Hmh? What is it-?” It was the doodle Kohaku had made earlier.
“You know what it is?” Amaryllis looked up at her.
“Oh yeah that- I was doodling earlier,” Kohaku wondered why she didn’t scratch it out.
“Is that me?” Amaryllis’s smile grew as she tried to hide her laugh.
“Kinda- I swear It was just a quick doodle,” Kohaku scrambled.
“No, it’s cute,” Amaryllis must’ve been looking at something else. “But why did you draw me?” Kohaku wanted to sink into herself. “Just thought you were pretty so- why not?” It was true. It was just a coincidence she left out the part of Amaryllis being gorgeous.
“So because you think I’m pretty, you doodle me into the sand?” Amaryllis’s smile didn’t let up. “That’s a new one. Is that a thing where you’re from?”
“Yes..?”
“Hmmh,” Amaryllis sang. “Hand me that stick over there?” Amaryllis pointed to the stick by Kohaku.
“Uhh sure,” Kohaku handed Amaryllis the stick.
Amaryllis thanked her before putting the stick in the sand next to Kohaku’s doodling and adding her own. Only thing this one had a star behind its head. “Well if we’re drawing pretty people,” Amaryllis finished up the familiar bangs. “There we go,”
Kohaku must have had the goofiest smile. “That’s not fair. Yours is so much better” She lightly nudged Amaryllis.
“Aww but you drew me with such a bow,” Amaryllis’s voice cracked.
“What bow?”
“That one right there,” Amaryllis pointed to the top of the drawing.
“That was supposed to be the feathers,” Kohaku laughs, cutting through her words.
“Well there,” Amaryllis ran over the lines a bit. “Now it’s a bow,”
“It’s not even on your head,”
“Then I’ll move my head up,” Amaryllis scratched some new lines.
“That- That’s not how it works,” Kohaku protested but ended up just leaning on Amaryllis as she tried to catch her breath.
“I think- I think it looks great,” Amaryllis also tried to get her voice under control.
“You know what? Sure,” Kohaku could barely see it through the tears in her eyes. “It’s great,”
“Told ya,” Amaryllis' smile softened. “And hey, thanks,”
“Huh? Do you mean for helping you cause Senkuu-,”
“No- well yes that too. But when I told you my plan, You didn't try and talk me out of it,” Amaryllis explained. “It means a lot,”
Kohaku didn’t even realize she had done that, but she too remembered that feeling. “Course,”
“Amaryllis! Kohaku!” A voice called. Both the girls almost jumped. “We got that shampoo and conditioner stuff ready!” Suika shouted.