22. For Better, For Worse
Apr. 15, 2023
A/N: Obligatory authors note to say HELLO!
ANYWAYS, did you guys watch the new episodes of Dr. Stone Season 3?! The first two episodes were so GOOD.
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An intense wind had come down the mountain. The time has come to protect the village from the citizens of Tsukasa's empire. Senku stood on the bridge, preparing for the the revived group to come and get him as you all hid away. Like a predator, you waited for your prey to take the bait. Then you heard the sound of leaves being crunched with every step, coming closer and heavier.
As all of you noticed Senku taking out the small flare, the wind blew out the flame that he had lit. That was the signal.
From under the bridge, all of you--you, Kohaku, Kokuyo, Chrome, Kinro, Ginro, and Magma--revealed yourselves from all directions. You stood in front of Senku as everybody else pushed forward.
"K-Katanas!" A revived member exclaimed in fear.
The citizens of Ishigami Village had cut down all of their stone weapons before their eyes, causing distress to the enemy.
"Exquisite... You've done right here, Kingdom of Science..." you heard Hyoga express amazement from the behind the warriors.
"The finishing touches might be a little off on some, but in this stone world of ours, they're far and beyond...they're the ultimate blades of science!" Senku declared.
He was right. With all the blades, they were crafted carefully. The shine of some of them were dull, but their sharpness was enough to cut a person down. In the corner of your eye, you saw an arrow being fired towards Senku. You quickly drew your sword to reveal a shiny, silver blade with engravings on it, and cut the arrow down before it touch even a hair on your friend's head. You looked in the direction of where the arrow came from, but couldn't see any anyone holding a bow.
You turned to the scientist. "You alright, Senku? I couldn't see where Haru shot the arrow from."
He nodded. "Yeah. That kid is smart. Even though the wind is strong, the they're calculating where the arrow will go when they fire it."
"Argh! Bad news, boss! They got us beat thanks to their weapons!"
"Ours is breaking apart!"
You heard panic in their voices, which caused you to smirk.
"It's not just your weapons," Hyoga said, holding his spear as though he was going to attack. "Your minds are also broken, it seems. Though I daresay that is Senku-kun and (Y/N)-kun's intention...putting on a show and flaunting their katanas. However, the Kan Ryu Style of my Kudayari spear will not lose to any sword!"
He started using his spear, spinning it around on the rig against Magma, Kohaku, and the two brothers. Unfortunately, Magma lost his katana over the bridge and stole one of Ginro's blades after Hyoga pushed them back. They stood a good distance away just to not get hurt.
"Other than (Y/N)-chan, the village's three strongest are Magma-chan, Kohaku-chan, and Kinro-chan! Take them down now, and it's our win, Hyoga-chan!" You saw Gen pop out of a bush from behind the masked man.
"I appreciate the tip, Gen-kun. Though that much is plenty obvious," said Hyoga.
This left the three strongest shocked. At first, they believed that Gen had triple-crossed them. However, Kinro believed it was a message from the mentalist, saying they should all attack at once. You would help them, but Haru was shooting arrows from what seemed like different directions at you and Senku. You kept a sharp eye out, all while protecting the scientist.
"When will this barage end?" You groaned.
Senku replied, "They're gonna run out of arrows eventually."
"It's going to be a other problem if they come down and charge us, you know, " you added.
"True, but you could handle it."
You glanced over to the village fighters and saw that Kohaku was about to be impaled by Hyoga's spear. However, the attack was stopped when the spear fell spart on its own, leaving the warrior with just a stick. The lioness backed away, and the Hyoga was just looking at the broken weapon in his hand.
"A stone tool could never make that clean of a cut through the strap. It was made especially hard to detect so that the spear would fall apart when force was applied..." The white-haired man explained.
"Seriously?! Who would do such a thing?!" Gen was shocked.
Hyoga turned his head towards the mentalist. He growled, "Not bad at all, little Gen-kun. You've really done right, you dirty, traitorous turncoat!"
"Whatever do you mean, Hyoga-chan! Why would you say such hurtful things?!" Gen cried out with tears in his eyes. The warrior was silent as he stared at the man quietly, not falling for his crocodile tears. The liar's tears cleared up, and he had a devious smile on his face. "I guess the jig is up. Can't get anything past you, Hyoga-chan."
He then used his magic to create a puff cloud of flower petals and jumped over to the bridge post. He then handed a small metal blade to Senku, who caught it with ease.
"I even set the stage right. You see, black nightshade is my favorite flower, for in flower symbolism, it means 'liar'," Gen told him with a smirk.
You then remembered where the blade had come from. Senku created a small tool for Suika to stealthily deliver to the mentalist. You assumed that Gen left a sign for her to follow and handed the tool to him, using it to tamper with the spear.
"Nice cut there, mentalist. It's almost as sharp as your wit. This is all thanks to our blades of science!" The scientist chuckled.
The spearman looked on and pointed at the three of you. "Well done, denizens of the Kingdom of Science. And yet, if only you'd noticed that our little battle was a mere diversion... you might've done even better..."
You suddenly heard screaming from behind you. All of you turned around to see that the village was on fire, their houses beginning to burn to the ground. The children were running away to safety. You then saw two figures by the second bridge. The first was a short and thin young woman. She had long pink hair, worn in a high ponytail, sharp, red eyes, full lips, and a pink paneled dress with thigh-high boots of the same color. In her hand, she was holding a newly lit torch.
The second person was Haru. It seemed they had run out of arrows as you looked at their small quiver on their hip. However, something about them looked different as they were grabbing her arm.
"Hah! Meet my right hand, Homura-kun. Unlike these mush-brained macho men, both her and Miyamoto-kun gets things done!" The white-haired man exclaimed.
"(Y/N), go help the kids! The fire is spreading like hell because of the winds!" Senku ordered, and you did it with no hesitation.
"You get to safety, too!" You cried out.
You used your clothing to cover your face so that your wouldn't breathe in the smoke. Then, checked each house, one-by-one, to make sure that nobody was in them. Luckily, all the children were smart enough to get to safety, meeting up with the adults and your friends ahead of you.
"Haru!" You called out, looking for the child. You heard footsteps approaching you quickly, and you turned around to see Haru jumping at you with a katana. You immediately blocked the assault with your weapon, and the sounds of metal clashing cut through the fires.
"Thanks for the katana, senpai! Your friends were foolish enough to drop it in the water," they stated, and tried slashing at you.
You blocked each of their attacks, and asked, "How could you do this?! You could've killed someone!"
Haru snapped, "This is so that we can continue on with our new world! A world where the strong lives! Where honor can live on!"
You furrowed your eyebrows and retorted, "This is not honorable! Hurting the innocent is shameful! Your mother would think so too!"
"Shut up!" They roared. "You think I don't know that?! But she doesn't have to know! Once Tsukasa-san takes over your Kingdom of Science, he promised that we can revive her and that she will be proud of me!"
You widened your eyes as your heard those words leave their mouth. You grit your teeth and started attacking with full force as you walked forward. Your eyebrows has furrowed and your (E/C) eyes were set ablaze, full of undying anger in the moment. Haru noticed this, and had instantly gotten on the defensive, trying to shove all your attacks back. They ended up tripping over some rubble as they tried to block every strike you pushed all your strength onto them. You pointed the blade at them, and they covered their head instinctively, thinking that you were going to hurt them.
"He is only using you to move forward with his ideal world, where only the young and pure can live, you idiot!" You reprimanded.
"But Hyoga-san says it's the strong that'll stay--"
"Hyoga and Tsukasa are liars! Both of them together are not going to revive your mom! They're just gonna choke the energy out of you until you aren't useful anymore!" You spat. "You really think you can live like this?! Hurting others just to get your mom back?!"
Then you saw it. Guilt, anger, and fear was riddled all over their face as they looked away from you. You then remembered why they looked so different earlier. It was because they had the same facial expressions when they were with Homura. They spoke up, "...It's not like I wanted to hurt those kids, y'know! I wasn't the one that started it! It was Homura-nee! I tried getting her to wait till the kids came out, but she said it was more effective this way!"
You were about to yell at them once more until you heard someone calling out to you. You turned to see Chrome running at you with a gas mask and the purifier. "(Y/N)! We got some bad news!"
You looked at Haru with a side eye, then immediately started running over to the brunette without looking back. "Wait, senpai! Come back!"
You ignored them and talked to Chrome as you were running together, "What's wrong?! What happened?!"
"It's Suika! She ran off to lead some of the attackers away from the village! She's heading towards the hot springs mountain! What's also bad is that Hyoga and that lady followed her too!" He frantically replied, then started handing you the gas mask and filter for you to put on.
You widened your eyes and put the gas mask on. "She's leading them to the sulfuric lake?!"
You ran as fast as you could, leaving Chrome behind as well. It took a long while, but you eventually caught up to them, seeing Senku on the ground with the gas mask as well. You felt a heavy wind blowing as you approached him. You could tell it was dangerous the moment you stepped foot in the area.
"Senku! What's going on?!" You asked him.
"Kukuku, you caught up just in time, slowpoke. Suika and Kohaku are safe now, seeing as they're in a tree like the Tsukasa Empire," he replied to you as he stuck a pinky in his ear.
You looked ahead of you to see Hyoga, Homura, and the revived brawns stuck in a single tree. Kohaku and Suika were wearing the gas masks, trying to get down from another.
"It looks like you didn't need me then, huh?" You wondered.
"(Y/N), you're safe!" Suika called out to you happily. "Suika was so scared something would happen to you when you walked into the fire!"
You started walking over to them, "Chrome told me you guys needed help--"
"Look out!"
You didn't hesitate to pull your sword out and block the on coming attacks from, once again, Haru, who was trying to go after Senku this time. It appeared they had followed you all the way up to the hot spring area, and had stolen someone's gas mask. They were lucky enough to put it on correctly.
Senku cried out, "You two idiots can't fight here!"
"I know that! And where the hell did you get that gas mask?!" You questioned them.
"I stole it from that stupid headband guy! He was so weak, I didn't have the heart to kill him!" Haru said.
You groaned, "You just don't know how to quit! That's what's so annoying about you!"
"You're annoying!"
"You are! It's literally your worst trait!"
"Miyamoto-kun!" You heard Hyoga call out to them from the tree, and they looked at the man. He did a motion where he stuck his thumb up and ran it across his neck. The child immediately nodded, sweat dripping down their temples.
You had calmed your breathing as you moved slowly in front of Senku to make sure he didn't get hit, while Kohaku had taken Suika away to safety. There was no need to get angry now, as all of you were in a dangerous area. You noticed that with every strike, Haru's breathing was picking up the pace.
"Haru, I know how much you want to fight me, but you need to stop and breathe slowly," you declared as you held the blade in front of you during an opening.
The kid gripped the handle of the katana tightly. "Why don't you stop--"
"She's right, you know. If you keep breathing fast, the filter in your mask won't keep up, and you'll die to this toxic gas," Senku nervously chuckled.
"What?!" They were surprised.
The moment they faltered, you instantly rushed forward and nicked the tube that connected the mask to the filter with the sword. Haru immediately held their breath when they noticed and climbed the closest tree to the three of you. They took the mask off to breathe in the clear air, and threw the equipment, which you graciously caught. It would be a waste for you to leave it.
"You cheater!" Haru cried angrily as they turned their katana towards you.
You scoffed, "Cheating?! How was that cheating?!"
They pointed at Senku. "Because your science guy caught me off guard and made you cut the line! Both of you cheated!"
"His name is Senku!"
"I don't care. He's your boyfriend, not mine!"
"He's not my boyfriend either!" You put a hand to your head with a peaved expression on your face. "God damn it."
"Kukuku, they act as though they're your little sibling..." Senku snickered.
"Yeah, a sibling that I wanna beat the shit out of!" You rolled your eyes, then called out, "You have no way to get down and fight me now. This is our win."
"Yeah, better run home and ask Mama Tsukasa for some milk, kid!" The scientist added. "Until that deadly gas gets blown away, you're gonna have to hang out in that tree for ten billion seconds!"
As the both of you started walking away, Haru stared at you with blazing anger in their eyes. Their face was red as a tomato, especially since they basically embarrassed themselves in front of Hyoga and Homura, who were in a tree across from them.
"I'm sorry, Hyoga-san, Homura-nee. I'll do better next time," Haru dejectedly apologized as they sat down on the branches.
"You were able to gain a weapon that put you at a full advantage, and helped Homura-kun burn the village down. But (Y/N)-kun was wrong. You don't know how to quit, and that's your best trait," Hyoga said, Homura nodding.
"That kid couldn't even beat her, even without quitting! How could we even rely on a kid?!" One of the brawns had blurted out.
"Shut up! You brainless idiots couldn't even touch those villagers! Your weapons broke!" Haru argued.
Another brawn added, "And that green string bean thinks we're stupid! Ten billion seconds? Really? How do we even know for sure if the gas is toxic?!"
Hyoga turned his head towards them. "Both are fair points. It's understandable why Miyamoto-kun cannot finish off (Y/N)-kun, but it is possible if they don't hesitate. With the gas... let's do this right. No sense in returning before a thorough testing of this gas. How lucky for you morons. This is the first job you've done right."
"Huh?"
The white-haired man then took the end of his spear and pushed off the group of brawns that were with them. They fell to the ground and the gas had taken their lives with the snap of a finger. The raven-haired child had to cover their mouth with their hands to hide the amount of shock they felt. Their bright eyes were wide open in horror at the fact that they were mercilessly sent to their deaths. But what surprised them more was that Hyoga and Homura had no reaction what happened to them, which struck the kid with immense fear.
"T-They died..." Haru muttered.
"At the very least, we learned those gas masks are for real, which is good for you, Miyamoto-kun," said Hyoga with a close-eyed smile. His eyes had sharpened as he continued, "This means that Senku-kun has a mastery over a variety of metals and chemicals. This kingdom is fearsome indeed."
"W-What are we going to do now?" The child questioned him.
With a chuckle, he replied, "We will crush them with our sheer numbers, led by Tsukasa-kun and myself, along with a mighty battalion of our empire's elites! Every last warrior!"
~~~
You and Senku were walking towards the village together after removing the masks from your faces. You were already exhausted, letting out a sigh as you were taking your time to get to the village.
"The kid's more feral than I thought," said Senku, starting a conversation with you on the way back.
You sighed. "Ugh, I know. But I was able to learn a few things from today."
"Like?"
"Like how much I want to beat the shit out of Haru. They know that what they're doing is wrong, but they're incredibly stubborn. They're also incapable of killing someone," you told the scientist as you stretched your arms out.
The boy replied, "You sure about that? They tried to kill me, your 'boyfriend'. What's up with everyone saying that, anyways? Do they assume every girl-boy relationship is romantic? So illogical."
Ouch. You thought. But you looked down at the ground and stood a little closer to him. "Just because love and romance is illogical, doesn't mean that it's not nice to have."
"You're not wrong. People get adrenaline rushes trying to do whatever it takes for the person they love. Useful if you want the percentage of living to go up," he stated with a pinky in his ear.
You widened your eyes then looked at him. Did he mean that what you are doing is all based on love? But you didn't like Senku like that. Right?
"Of course, you could do that platonically, as well. Like you and me. We'll get through this stuff together, for better and for worse," he smirked as he continued.
You let out an exasperated sigh. "For better, for worse, huh...? This is one of the worst things we went through, despite winning. I don't know how much I can keep up... Fighting against time and me needing to save Haru from that God forsaken place...it's so stressful."
"I understand that. But we'll make our own preemptive strike of our own with a particular science invention," Senku told you with a grin. "Since we're in the present now, with all of our inventions and progress, this is the time to get exhilarated!"
"Yeah...okay..." you trailed off as you stopped walking for a bit to relax.
The scientist noticed that you stopped and had a uncertain expression on your face. He then held his pinky up for you to see in front of you. "Look, I promise that we will win with the power of science. But you gotta promise that you will do your best too. Don't think about the future too much. Stick to the present."
You had a small smile on your face. You held your pinky up and wrapped it around his. "Fine. I believe you."
"Good. Now let's keep going, slowpoke."
The two of you began walking again, pinkies intertwined the whole way back. But the smile you had on your face had slowly faded away, and thoughts continued to fill your mind with unease.
Will it really be okay?
-To be Continued-
A/N: Honestly not satisfied with how I ended this chapter but the next few are actually better, I promise ( ';ï¾;â;ï¾;)