Chapter Text
“The finest and most desirable chef is none other than François!” Ryuusui snaps his fingers with a large grin spread across his face.
“You want to revive your butler, eh?” Senku smirks, “we don't have any revival fluid, not since Homura destroyed the miracle cave.”
“Well then,” the greediest man paused, “500,000 drago to whoever can find me some revival fluid!” Ryuusui declares, in a loud booming voice.
Senku, Gen, Ukyo and Chrome's attention was piqued, they needed Drago for oil so they could set sail in the spring, it was an irresistible deal.
“If you say so, let's get the expedition team,” Senku chuckled. Chrome nodded ferociously.
That probably means me as well then, Ukyo smiled to himself. It would be nice to get out of the camp for a bit, and if they could find the miracle fluid, it would be a temporary solution until they find a way to efficiently gather nitric acid.
The sun had just reached its peak in the sky, “Chrome, Ukyo and Kohaku, you’re up!” Senku flashed a toothy grin. Next to the leek haired man stood 3 adventuring backpacks with what looks to be enough resources to last the three a handful of days if necessary. They carefully slipped the leather bags over their shoulders and prepared for their journey.
Gen waved them ta ta as the three strided towards the leafy forest.
“Ha! We'll find this miracle cave before you know it, Senku!” Kohaku called over her shoulder.
And just like that, they were off.
The lush, green foliage filled Ukyo's field of view as the three made their way through the forest. The birds sang sweet melodies above them, rustling the branches and sending dancing shadows on the forest floor.
“If we're looking for caves with bats, we're gonna wanna try up ahead.” Chrome mused as he led them further up the makeshift path.
Shortly, they found themself at the rocky start to some hill and sure enough there were plenty of caves to examine.
“Ha! Good work Chrome,” Kohaku beamed, “Now we just need to check for bats.”
“It might be best to wait until dusk, bats tend to come out around them and we can watch which caves they exit from.” Ukyo suggested.
Chrome nodded, “Okay, I'll set up a camp over here.”
The sky was slowly turning various shades of oranges and pinks, streaking the sky in an array of colours. Dusk was arriving.
They had just eaten some of the dried fruit Senku had packed for them and were ready to start the search.
“We should stick together,” Chrome decided as they closed in on the first cave. It had a small crooked entrance, enough for someone to enter if they crouched.
Kohaku peered in and shone her headlight to examine the insides. A few seconds pass.
“Clear,” she decided and moved on.
The next cave was larger.
Kohaku led them in, head torch still shining ahead. She looked around, moving the beam until a flurry of dark wings and screeching hit them.
The sound was piercing for Ukyo, who had sensitive hearing. His hands snapped up to his ears.
Chrome and Kohaku flailed their arms about, trying to get through the bats.
Bats.
They found it!
The miracle cave!
The startled bats died down and victory washed over the three, they did it!
A stabbing pain shot through Ukyo's arm and he cried out, what the hell?!
His gaze snapped to his right arm which still extended to his ear and saw a bat latching on with its fangs.
“Get off!” He cried as he used his other arm to shoo it away.
“Ukyo!” Kohaku called out.
“Are you okay?!” The young scientist, Chrome, rushed to his side.
“Looks nasty, we should get you back to Senku,” Ukyo nodded, sucking air through his teeth. Crimson oozed from the bite, dripping down his arm.
“Just a bit spooked, sorry.” He apologised.
The bat had gone but his entire arm felt like it was on fire. It hurt like hell.
Chrome wrapped some cloth around it to stop the bleeding.
“Let's go, we found the miracle cave anyway,” Kohaku said, working the bag off Ukyo's back to ease some weight. They started for the mouth of the cave, towards the night outside.
It felt like his legs were sandbags. It was hard to walk, what was in that bite? Not rabies I hope. He shuddered at the thought.
The sounds of nature blurred into one sharp ringing, he couldn't focus.
It's so warm. Was it always this warm?
Muffled voices tried calling out to him, what were they saying?
He couldn't make it out. It sounded like he was underwater.
Blurry shapes filled his vision until there was nothing but the sweet abyss of rest.
“He got bitten by a bat,” he swears he could make out Chrome's voice.
It's hard to tell, his eyes felt too heavy to open.
Who's he talking to? Senku? Are they back already?
Too dazed to think straight he just let himself fall back into slumber. Letting the abyss take him.
He could faintly feel the sensation of him being laid down on something. A bed most likely.
He was safe.
At least he hoped so.
–
His eyes fluttered open to the harsh light shining through the doorway. It hurt his eyes more than it should've.
“Ukyo?” Nikki's voice sounded surprised. He squinted, making out the shape of his friend sitting on the side of his bed. He was in the medicine hut, most likely. Nikki was one of his friends, he was okay. Still in the Kingdom of Science.
“Nikki?” His voice was laced thickly with sleep.
Something sharp pierced his tongue, he winced.
“Ukyo!” Her voice was filled with relief as strong arms embraced him. It took a second before he hugged her back, processing the current situation.
During his time in the empire, he and Nikki had become close friends, maybe even best friends.
“Wow your cold,” Nikki gasped as she hugged him.
“What happened?” he asked, groggily rubbing his eyes.
“You got mauled by a bat! You've been asleep for 2 days straight and it turns out Minami still had a dose of fluid so François has been taking care of you,” Nikki briefed, pulling back from the hug.
“Indeed,” an even toned voice came from his left. He didn't hear their presence but this must be François, given he had never seen them around the Kingdom before. They had a warm welcoming smile framed by blonde curls and a professional outfit.
“Dear Ryusui was quite worried about you,” They continued as they set down a mug of tea.
Ryusui was worried about him?
He felt a twist in his chest.
Now's not the time.
“I… was asleep for 2 days?” he asked slowly, recounting that part of information. Nikki nodded.
“Drink, you must be starving, I'll get some stollen.” François hurried out.
“You're going to love their cooking! Ryusui revived like a genuine 5 star chef,” Nikki beamed.
5 star chef...? Asleep for 2 days...? He was too tired to be focusing on all this. But wait…
The bite!
“What about the bite?” he asked as he raised the mug of tea to his lips.
“Senku says you passed out from stress or something,” Nikki shrugged.
What? Stress?
No, that didn't sit right. Ukyo was good in stressful situations. He used to be part of the military, keeping a calm front was part of his job. He didn't bother prying, Senku probably knew more than he did, science guy. He might just be overthinking it, so he pushed the gut feeling down.
He sipped the tea François left him. It was disgusting.
But Nikki seemed so eager for him to try it so he put on a polite smile and set the mug down, “That's some good tea,”.
“I know, right?” She laughed. A knot twisted in his stomach. He hated lying, especially to Nikki.
François soon returned with a plate of stollen and Ukyo realised how hungry he was.
“Is that… actual bread?” he felt his eyes go wet, he never thought he'd see actual bread in the stone world. He examined the plate with pure awe, “Stollen, bon apetit.” François bowed their head slightly as they gestured for Ukyo to try some.
He took a bite, his mouth went dry.
It tasted like dust. He forced it down with a polite smile and tried not to grimace.
Was something wrong?
First the tea and now stollen?
There's no way you mess something up that badly twice as a ‘5 star chef’ right?
François eyes him carefully, seeming to know something was up.
“It's good right?” Nikki grinned. He tried to nod but found himself gagging. Nikki froze.
“Bucket!” She cried quickly.
He found himself throwing up the little stollen he had and tea into the bucket François had quickly provided.
“Still not feeling great?” Nikki frowned.
“It might be best for master Ukyo to have some rest,” François replied. Nikki nodded.
“I'll tell Senku you're not feeling good, he'll probably come check on you later.” Nikki waved him off as she left.
“Great, he's going to shove some who-knows-what medication into me,” Ukyo mumbled.
“Please, get some rest, Ukyo.” François bowed before leaving the room soon after.
He found himself back in slumber as soon as his head hit the pillow, back into tumbling dreams.
--
“Rise and shine, Ukyo.” Senku woke him up, as he marched into the medicine hut. The scientist grinned as he carried a bag of all sorts in with him.
“What's that?” Ukyo asked.
“Just basic medical stuff, it's important that our sonar man is healthy.” Senku grinned as he pulled out a stethoscope.
He pressed the cold metal to his chest and listened to his heartbeat.
He shook his head before mumbling something along the lines of, “no.. that can't be right.” before readjusting and trying again.
“Stethoscope's a bust,” Senku settled on, clearly annoyed as he pushed it back into his leather bag. Ukyo raised an eyebrow.
“Didn't hear your heartbeat.” Senku sighed.
It's not like Senku to make faulty equipment.
The scientist then checked his temperature that came out to 35°C which is alarmingly low.
“Ukyo we need to warm you up,” Senku murmured, his tone becoming more serious.
“Do you think it's an infection?” Ukyo asked.
“I'm not sure.” Senku replied quietly.
Senku put a hand above his heart, to feel for a heartbeat. A few seconds pass.
The scientist's eyes widened with horror.
“That’s not possible.” He breathed. Dread crawled up his spine.
Ukyo was starting to get worried, what was wrong with him? Why did Senku seem so scared?
“What's wrong?” panic laced his voice.
“I can't detect a heartbeat.” Senku murmured. What did that mean? Why didn't he have-
His train of thought was broken as a loud captain burst in. A breath of fresh air. It felt like his thoughts had been whisked away at the sight of him.
“Ukyo!” Ryusui called as he saw he was awake. What was he thinking again?
Senku shot him a look before getting up to leave, “I'll come back later.” something undetectable, thick in his voice.
Heartbeat, right!
Why didn't he have a heartbeat?
What did that mean for him?
“Ukyo? You okay?” Ryuusui's voice softened. He met the blonde's dark brown eyes that were staring at him. He nodded, “yeah just a little out of it,” he smiled as his face flushed a bit. Relief pooled Ryuusui's eyes.
“Heard it was a nasty bite, I sent François to take care of you whilst you were asleep.” Ryuusui grinned.
“You think you're going to be the new batman or something?” Ryuusui laughed, trying to lightenthe mood.
“Batman..? Did his origin story change?” Ukyo frowned, he knew a lot of his time was spent on sonar in the military but he didn't think it was enough to miss the importance of internet culture. Especially something like Batman's story altering.
“No no, just messing with you.” Ryuusui beamed. Ukyo nodded and found himself mirroring Ryuusui's grin.
“If I was the new batman, I'd have a lot of work with this one guy that proclaims himself ‘greediest man in the world’” Ukyo teased.
“Oh yeah? What kind of business?” Ryuusui laughed.
Thrumming filled his ears.
What's that noise?
It's so distracting.
So... tempting.
Ryuusui's saying something, focus on that. He couldn't, that sweet sound filled his ears. Whatever it was he really wanted to… bite..?
“Ukyo? Ukyo??” Ryuusui snapped his attention back. He found his gaze boring holes into Ryuusui's neck. Was that where the noise was coming from?
“Mn?” Ukyo dragged his eyes up to meet Ryuusui.
“You do seem a little out of it,” Ryuusui sighed, “I'll let you rest.” He smiled, a more genuine smile than the ones he'd been using to joke around with earlier and left.
The thrumming sound ebbed away as Ryuusui left to hut.
What the..?