Work Text:
senku being down on his luck is nothing new. but this feels unfair, even by his standards.
senku hates hypotheticals, the "what-ifs". they drag down the mind and dull the mood, no matter what. relying on luck or chance for anything but a game is bullshit.
there's a logical, scientific explanation and solution to every problem that's ever existed, as well as every problem that will ever exist. that's how the world keeps turning, on a literal level.
feeling like his skin is being suffocated by rock isn't a new experience. he'd had 3,700 years to get used to it, after all. 3,700 years to feel rock and count seconds. so, naturally, the first thing he does is begin counting, his conscious thoughts forcing themselves to be louder than the fear and the pain.
*one. two. three. four.*
but this time, he only got to count to sixteen when he was interrupted by a shrill, panicky voice, calling for him over and over again.
"SENKU!" shouts chrome, splitting his nails down to the quick tossing rocks off of him and into the walls. "HEY, SENKU, YOU HAVE TO GET UP! THIS IS BAD!"
"fine, alright," mumbles senku, swatting his hand away once he's clear enough to get to his knees and knock the rest of the debris off him. his ears ring - in all likelihood he'd been struck in the head, but that's a problem for future senku. the current one is this predicament they're in.
"nothin' to worry about." senku blandly reassures chrome, a firm pat on the shoulder accompanying his factual tone. "i'm sure somebody would've heard, with a cave-in that big. they'll clear it for us." he brushes off his tunic, stepping past chrome. "c'mon. let's see how far in this goes." a gentle whack to his head lamp gets it to flicker back to life, so a rock couldn't have hit him THAT hard.
chrome is visibly nervous, his fingertips burying themselves into his palms, but he sucks it up and follows behind. he's not a fan of the dark, and he'd rather not be the one venturing into it.
but it's a twenty-second walk.
'down on his luck' is an understatement - senku's head lamp up and dies. he clicks his tongue, drops a hand on his hip and turns. "you up for going first, or are you gonna give me yours?" he pulls the useless thing off his head, gives it a glare and shoves it into the backpack he's wearing.
chrome's not happy to point it out, but he does anyway. he directs a finger to the light on his head, taps the glass. it's thoroughly cracked, but senku can't exactly see that, so he just gives an impatient 'hmm' when chrome takes too long.
"mine's.. busted," he says sheepishly, "like, the glass is all cracked and it won't turn on. i'd try to fix it if i could see anything..."
senku breathes through his nose. okay. they're not spelunking without a light in a cave that's already -in'd on them. this goes unsaid, and they follow the damp, cold wall back to where the rocks had fallen. not far from the entrance, but not close enough that pushing them would work out. so senku sits down against the wall a few meters from the smaller rocks while chrome paces.
the senior scientist allows his junior to pace for about one minute, taps his foot and calls him out. "you're gonna trip on something. sit down."
"awe, i'm gonna panic if i sit down..." chrome replies, audibly anxious.
senku furrows his brow. this could be trouble. who knows how many hours of air they have - they brought bottles of water, so that wouldn't be an issue for a few days, but suffocation by lack of oxygen is a nasty way to go, and he lacks the resources to tell how much of it they've got. he's about ready to do the mental math when chrome lets out a little sad whimper, like a puppy. math can come when his new roommate isn't wasting all their air hyperventilating.
"hey." senku barks. "come here." he loudly pats the rock next to him, loud enough that it echoes down the cave.
"what?" replies chrome.
"just.. follow the sound of my voice. come to me." senku insists, reaching up and holding his hand in the air until it grazes an arm, which he grabs. "sit."
he practically wrestles chrome to the ground. he'd rather keep pacing, but senku isn't going to allow that.
carefully, awkwardly, senku grabs him by the opposite shoulder and tugs him into a side-hug. chrome stammers for a minute, scrambling for his dignity before he resigns similar to a child, finding senku's further shoulder and pulling himself snugly against him. the high schooler isn't one for affection, but it's a proven fact that physical touch is grounding during a panic attack, which he's guessing chrome was having based on the breathing and the uncontrolled anxiety.
"listen." senku says, patting his back a bit like a distant relative. "you need to calm down. you're not gonna pass out and we're gonna be fine." chrome listens. "panicking isn't doing either of us any favors." how can he tell him about the idea of limited oxygen without freaking him out more? he thinks on it. "you're gonna start freaking ME out if you get too scared." it comes out a little more seriously than he meant for it to, but chrome takes a long, long breath and shoves it out of his lungs.
"okay." he strengthens his resolve. "i've got you and i've got science. that's enough. i'll be fine." he says this while still clinging to senku like a frightened toddler, but given the circumstances and how cold the air is anyways, senku decides to tolerate it.
the physical touch is grounding, after all, and he's gotta have SOMETHING keeping his brain in line.
*two hundred twenty. one. two. three. four.*
he can still hear the timer he'd engraved into his mind counting up. starting from the moment he'd felt the world go dark.
senku bites his tongue. don't count, *just* think. cut out the numbers. he doesn't need them anymore.
exactly how many hours of air do they have? he recalls the view they'd had of the tunnel before it lost its entrance. if the picture in his mind is right, as it usually is; it's about eleven foot wall-to-wall, twelve tall floor-to-ceiling. with some variation - caves aren't perfect, and there could be numerous cracks allowing miniscule amounts of air in along the walls and ceiling, not to mention he has no idea how deep it is so length is out of the question. height and width is all he's got. there's moss around, he'd spied some earlier, and moss uses carbon dioxide, but the difference it makes would be in the hundredths. they'd walked about 28 meters in a space with little to no ventilation - the average adult, resting, produces between 0.2 and 0.3 cubic feet of carbon dioxide per hour. assuming they have somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 cubic square feet to drain oxygen from, the lack of it wouldn't be a problem for some time, but the carbon dioxide...
senku taps his finger impatiently against the side of his head, just in front of his temple. if their breathing is erratic, it would significantly increase the co2 produced, so relaxing is a must. in the worst-case scenario, things shouldn't get really serious for about 4 hours. that's not long. not long enough.
he rubs his index finger into his temple, grumbling under his breath. how long would it take for someone to notice, if they hadn't heard or felt the cave-in? longer than an hour, definitely, given that they were supposed to be gone at least that.
senku grabs a handful of hair close to his scalp, tugging on it. how can they get out of this? yelling would make everything worse. digging, while effective, would likely just cause a bigger collapse. already, senku has a headache. probably from the head trauma, but there's an annoying voice that wonders if it could be from the carbon dioxide already. no, they've hardly been here ten minutes, symptoms shouldn't even begin to set in for a half hour.
"senku." says chrome, concerned. "are you alright?"
he grits his teeth. "i'm fine." he drops his hand from his hair, placing it over one eye instead. "i'm thinking about how much time we've got before things get bad."
"bad..? how long IS that?"
senku doesn't know how honest to be, here; he's blunt, but not blunt enough to tell someone already on the verge of panicking that they have hours to live and he has no solution. he thinks. "well.. in about an hour, you might feel sick." he starts. "it won't kill you, or do any serious damage, but the air in here can make you nauseous."
he lies. if chrome could see his face, he could probably tell. but he can't. "oh... it's not like that poisonous gas, is it?"
senku tilts his head back enough to bump against the rock. "nope."
it won't kill him, he's right. it would, but senku won't let that happen. that's absolutely not an option.
but it seems like the only real one, that won't get them in a worse situation.. or, actually, it might, but it'll definitely help their mental states, is to wait for rescue. if senku acts as if it isn't a huge deal, chrome won't think it is.
"sorry for my whole- outburst, thing, by the way." says chrome, scooting away from him. senku's almost relieved, but he replaces the touch with his own hand on his arm. "it's fine. i'm guessing you've had something like this happen before?"
"yeah. got stuck in a cave, once. ruri was better, then, and i think she must've heard me crying- embarrassing, but she did get me out. it's just kind of a scary thought, that if she hadn't.."
"you'da been fine." senku remarks. "you're smarter than to sit around and let death take you before you've exhausted every option."
chrome smiles. "yeah..." he mumbles, but gains confidence. "yeah. we'll try everything. that's what science is, right?"
senku smiles, too. "damn right. don't you forget it."
ah, so chrome has been here before; alone, no less, and with no knowledge of what could happen to him. no wonder he'd been scared. senku almost feels bad, almost, for the way he's been rapidly blinking and looking wide-eyed around for something, anything to *look at.*
as he'd found, senku's not a fan of the dark, either. it's suffocating, like his chest is still constricted even if he can't breathe through his lungs. the damp air pinches what little skin is visible on his arms, the tinnitus (a D6, always the same pitch) puts a sheet over his brain and wrings it like a wet rag. quietly, he plants both callused hands tightly over his ears. he's thankful chrome can't see him or the pitiful position he's settled into, and decides not to say anything when chrome starts to whistle a tune. it'd scare both of them if he were to ask him to stop for their safety.
the lack of things to look at feels like it'll drive him crazy. he fumbles for the head lamp in his backpack, grabbing hold of the strap and pulling it out. he feels around it, taps on different spots, knocks it against the rocks, shakes it in frustration a few times. it flickers for half a second and then dies again. senku hangs his head and chrome physically jumps back when it flashes.
senku makes a face. "let me see yours," he says, patting his palm on the ground so chrome knows where to put it. he complies, and senku wastes no time doing the same thing.
he winces. the glass covering the bulb had indeed cracked, and he feels the skin on his thumb cut when he touches it. if the crack has caused the portions to shift, it's likely beyond saving with what they have. he sets it on the ground and puts his thumb to his lips for a few seconds, then rakes his hands back through his hair and lets them rest on his scalp. he's so upset, and there's not a logical reason why if not for the carbon dioxide that hasn't kicked in yet. to be this irritable so early will be a problem if they need to get out of here themselves.
chrome, sensing his guarded temper threatening to surface, swallows and speaks up. "hey, are you sure you're okay? you're kinda quiet."
senku scrunches his hair in his hands. "stop asking me that. if something was wrong i'd fix it." he defends. "i'm just tired. hit my head pretty hard, you know."
"oh, right... can i help?"
"with what." senku's voice is grating. "we're stuck in a cave with no air, no phone and no light. there's not much we can do until things get dire. focus on yourself, chrome."
he stops. the atmosphere is uncomfortable. "..sorry." senku forces out. "i'm a little ticked that i hadn't thought of this."
"well, it's not your fault... we'll get out, right? we've got nothing but time!"
"..don't." mumbles senku. chrome opens his mouth to ask for a repeat, but it falls into place soon enough. all he ends up saying is "oh".
if they're short on time, shouldn't they do something, find some way out of here? a crazy risk is better than a doomed guarantee, chrome thinks. surely senku has an idea of what to do next. he always does, but it's hard not to consider the vague danger he's now aware they're in. a ticking time bomb. if he's right, it has to do with gas in the same way that pool of sulfuric acid did. only this time there's no gas masks. his heart does a little squeeze, so he bunches his hand into his shirt over his chest.
think. what do they do? what can they do? faster. they need a solution. he's not smart enough to come up with one - senku is, right? but senku hasn't suggested anything. is this hopelessly beyond either of their control? are they going to die here? is he going to die here, in one of his favorite places, and drag the smartest man alive down with him? that's horrible, chrome. terrible.
"chrome."
his thoughts burst like an overfilled tire, flailing and scattering around his brain to re-gather later.
"yeAh?" his voice cracks. he digs his boots into the ground.
"stop overthinking. give them a chance." senku insists, voice suggesting he's calmed down, too.
"..okay.. i'll try." says chrome, even as the air feels like it's hardly reaching the beginning of his lungs. he's alive, so he's breathing. must be.
senku's mind, on the other hand, is nowhere near as composed as his voice. his conscience tells the rest of him to shut up, again and again, and stubbornly his fears dig their claws into his throat so forcefully he feels like he really could choke.
but he doesn't. he's trained himself too vigorously for phantom feelings to control his breathing. it's steady and slow and even. it's dark. he hates it. there's few things he can assuredly hates. total, untouched darkness is definitely one of them.
how long can he hold on like this? carbon dioxide poisoning is sure to lead to delirium. he has a plan that he'll execute after three hours, regardless of how he feels, and he drills it into his head and into his uncertain hands. but until then, can he keep himself calm? his confidence says yes, but his insatiable anxiety is persistent. all he needs is a light, just a spot of it where he can turn his hand and see his skin and comprehend that his eyes have dilated and exactly how long they take to do so. but he doesn't have that. until they're out of here, he won't have that. as much as he'd gotten used to endless blackness wherever he looked, senku finds the idea of returning to it, or ever experiencing it again, horrid. he'd rather die (again). but if he dies here, so does chrome, and so do all of his stocked plans for the future. so he won't die, as selfish as he is.
he figuratively kicks himself. stop freaking out, here, you have to stay calm. chrome won't be able to handle this if you're not here, especially since he's done it before.
his trauma of being trapped in the dark is more severe. give him more slack than you give yourself. he deserves it, and to get out of here safe in body and mind.
... senku doesn't know how long it's been. he lost count of time. he doesn't know when, or how to estimate how long ago it was, since they hadn't exchanged words for some minutes now. he doubts chrome is keeping track of seconds, given that he's always the one doing that - when he figures out the exact time upon their return, he'll resume his mental stopwatch that's well into the billions by now. but for now, he's without it. that's somehow just as chill-inducing as the dark itself. like he's back to square one- no, before that. square zero. the confusion and fear and grief he'd initially felt.
he screws his eyes shut. don't think *or* count. neither will do any good, right now.
*BOOM.*
both boys jump, and the cave they're in seems to shudder around them. a cave-in? no, too abrupt for that. something falling? nothing in the area would make such a clear explos
oh. an explosion.
senku drags his eyes wearily to maybe the direction they'd come in, maybe not, it's hard to tell. "seems our savior has arrived." he comments. chrome takes in a long, long breath of not-quite fresh air. senku reaches out to flick him in the shoulder. "don't, we're still with the co2."
"co2?"
"...carbon dioxide."
"ohhh... oops."
two minutes and fifty three seconds after the explosion, the sound of rocks being splintered apart becomes clear. seven minutes and eighteen seconds after *that,* some rocks fall. senku stands, sidesteps, grabs the back of chrome's collar and pulls him back several feet in preparation for another, chain reaction sinkhole.
it doesn't come, though. a draft can be heard, so senku is the first to speak up. "yo." his voice echoes a little, and somewhere a girl's voice startles.
"don't just randomly say 'yo', i thought for sure you'd be further inside by now!" hisses kohaku, shining a primitive flashlight through the gap she'd made in the rock. somewhere in his brain, senku relaxes at the sight.
"nope. our lights gave out on us. a metal detector doesn't let you know about random dropoffs."
"kohaku! you're here to save us!" chrome wails, safe enough to spend his time doing less thinking and more crying.
"yup." she mumbles, still carefully tapping rocks until they split. and then she gets sick of that, rears back and roundhouse kicks the wall of dirt and stone. conveniently enough, a person-sized hole forms, and only a few smaller bits fall from the disturbance. senku doesn't let the sigh of relief come out.
"you're both alright, i'd hope?" she shines her light at them. both of them cringe so she points it at the ceiling instead - the reflection provides enough to see each other.
"we're fine. aren't we, chrome?" senku elbows him. he's still crying. "yeah.. yeah, we're fine."
kohaku takes note of a certain look on senku's face. "chrome," she calls out, "go outside and figure out how to get home. i ran so fast, i'm lost."
chrome, thankfully, doesn't question it, making a salute with his hand before he gladly jogs to the little entrance and bolts.
senku and kohaku are quiet.
she looks over his body language. his arms are crossed, his wraps loosened and fingertips digging white-knuckled into his elbows. she frowns. "fine, you say."
"don't give me that." he growls. "carbon dioxide is a fatal thing, but it should be fine now that there's a draft."
"i'm not talking about that," kohaku scolds, crossing her own arms, "you look like you've turned into a ghost."
senku clicks his tongue, unlocking his knees and stepping forward to move past her. "i said i'm alright, didn't i? stop worrying."
kohaku throws an arm out as he does and conveniently catches his hand. he halts, blinking. "what?"
"as i thought. you're shaking." she mutters, just as he pulls away from her grip. naturally, she grabs the leather belt on his waist, yanks on it and loops her arms around his waist. it's tentative at first, but then she squeezes. hard. he comically wheezes in response. "you're killing me." he croaks. she doesn't even think about letting him go.
after a few seconds, he stares down at her. "can you be done now? chrome's waiting."
"nope." there's a hint of mischief to her voice, but the majority is concern. "i'm not letting you leave 'til i'm convinced you don't need comforted."
"i'm not a child." he sneers, pushing at her shoulder. she clings to his waist like he's a lion's prey. not exactly comfortable, he makes a face, but doesn't keep pushing her away. just awkwardly stands.
it takes three minutes of silence before senku says anything, voice low. disturbed. "i did some thinking." and that's all he says. kohaku gives him time, but he doesn't use it, so she sighs. "about what?"
"the dark, mostly. i thought i didn't mind it, but i guess i've changed some." the faithless cat in her brain thinks to tease him, but she thinks better of it. "why's that?"
senku bites his cheek. "i don't know."
"i'll make you bring extra lights next time." kohaku expects him to retort, to say he doesn't need that and to stop this childish 'comfort'. but he places a hand, rough and cooler than normal, on her back. "sure. thanks."
she gives him a final hard squeeze and then lets go, backing up a few steps immediately. he stretches his back as soon as she leaves. "anytime. let's go."
kohaku extends a hand in his direction, if he wants it. senku looks at it for a moment. he steps toward her, lifts his hand and gives her a high-five. "yeah."
she fist-bumps him afterward, and they leave.
man, gorillas are intense, some way or another.