42. Exchanges
11-18-2023
A/N: Sorry that I posted this a week late! To make up for it, I made this chapter twice as long!
School is a bitch! ( ;ï½Ð')
Q: Since Christmas is next month, what are you guys planning to do?
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"Kohaku!"
With adrenaline rushing through your veins, the pain of the arrow subsided, giving you enough energy to cut down any arrows fired at the group. She and the other villagers were surrounding the two men.
"(Y/N)! You're hurt! You can't be doing this!" Kohaku cried out as she glanced down at your leg.
"I can handle it for a little! Just keep them surrounded, but keep your distance!" You told them. "I'll handle all the arrows until there's none left!"
She nodded as she led the warriors to battle. But soon enough, Hyoga and Tsukasa had teamed up to push the villagers back, breaking their spears and weapons. You would circle them to slice any arrows being shot at them.
You heard Nikki's voice calling out, "Tsukasa is a target while he's jumping around! Taiju, use the shock cannon--"
Soon enough, the primate had thrown a spear at the woman, knocking her into Magma and piercing through the dome used for the sound bombs. She and Magma ended up squishing Mantle underneath them, but they luckily did not get stabbed by the spear.
"Nikki!" You called out with Taiju. He then guarded you from incoming Tsukasa warriors from your blind spot. In the corner of your eye, you notice a little brat starting to sneak their way over to the cave of miracles. Furrowing your eyebrows, you turned to the brute. "Taiju, I'm going back to Senku and the others! Haru is going to attack them!"
"Will you be okay? What about your leg?!" He cried out as he noticed your injury beginning to get dirtied up as it slowly bled out.
"I'll be fine!" You told him as you ran towards the cave, leaving him to fight the rest of the army with the others.
As you ran, you sped up as fast as you could, positioning your sword at the hip. Before the child could even enter the cave, you immediately swung the sword using the dull side of it. As you expected, Haru blocked it using the katana that they had stolen a while ago. While you knew they'd block it, you could see that their senses were sharper just by the quick movements they made to create a distance between the both of you. Now you need to take them down a notch.
"I knew you'd be coming after me, senpai," said Haru as a pompous smile curled on their face. "After all, you'd do whatever it takes to keep your science guy safe."
You sighed. "Well, why wouldn't I? He's the reason we're going to win this war, after all."
"Not if I take you out first!"
"Sure, go ahead! I can still win, even with a handicap. After all, I am still your mother's best student," you chuckled with a mischievous smirk growing on your visage. With that, Haru glowered before you, which is precisely what you wanted. "Now, are you ready?"
Gritting their teeth, they replied, "Always have been."
The child then rushed forward with both hands on their blade, slashing and thrashing with speed and strength. You could tell that they'd been training the entire time, as their movements were swifter and more powerful than the last time you saw them. You would take the chance to hastily parry and block each of the strikes, feeling their blazing anger through the blade. However, you could feel that the slashes were pitiful--there was no form to them. It was a wild fury of desperation.
"How amusing! You may be your mom's second best, but you aren't using what she taught you!" You told them as you studied their every move. "Why is that?"
"This is the best way to win! Abandon morals and become the strongest!" They answered you with every slash. "No empathy and no hesitation!"
"Oh? So, you abandon your humanity for the sake of strength? That's an inferior way of thinking," you said.
They retorted, "I'm not inferior! Hyoga-san said that's how the strongest survive!"
As you blocked their attacks, you put up a playful expression. "I don't know about that..."
They seemed to get more angry with every remark you've made. "Grr, why are you acting like this?! You've never been so cocky!"
You laughed. "Sure, I have! I'm only acting this way because I know I'm going to win against you."
Haru shouted at you, "How can you be so sure I'm gonna lose?!"
"Because..." you started, then slashed your sword up as you parried, making the weapon fly out of their hands and onto the ground, "...I didn't succumb to such weak thoughts and let others control me."
Before they could try going after the weapon, you stopped them by placing your now-chipped katana in front of them. They put their hands up in defense and had the look of disappointment plastered on their face.
"You should've just let me win. I worked so hard for them to acknowledge me! And it worked! Hyoga-san sees that I'm useful!" Haru started blurting out as they faced their head toward you.
Now that you got a better look at them, you saw bags under their tired eyes. The calluses on their hands were thicker, and their hair was all tangled and frizzy, as if they'd been training every day, non-stop. You pitied them. They were only a kid, after all.
"Haru... You don't need to sacrifice your safety, your sanity, and your self-worth for Tsukasa or Hyoga," you started slowly.
"I wasn't doing it just for them! I did it for you! So you can finally notice me and acknowledge that I'm strong like you! If you could acknowledge me, then maybe my mom would too!" They tearfully admitted.
Mommy issues, much? You sighed. You didn't realize how much they looked up to you. Hell, you always thought they hated you by how they treated you all these years. You slapped their head. Before they could do anything back, you spoke, "You really are an idiot. You don't need to do all this for me to acknowledge you. All you need to do is be safe, be free, and be you, all for yourself. Be an independent, for starters."
The child stared at you with unfurled eyebrows. They lowered their small hands onto the ground as they listened to you.
"Can I really do everything myself? Can I really be free? Independent?" They questioned you.
You gently replied, "Of course you can. Your story is your own to live and tell."
Not even a second later, pain from your leg had shot up to your brain. You immediately fell to the ground, kneeling on one leg as you used your sword to prop you up. It was like a burning fire spreading throughout your body. Senku did say that you were only going to have a few minutes.
"Goddammit!" You cursed. "The moment I relax--"
"Senpai! Are you okay?!" They asked as they stood up.
Soon enough, Hyoga appeared behind the child with his spear, as if he had come from thin air. The man quickly looked around to see that your weapon was cracked and you were completely defenseless as you were kneeling on the ground. Afraid of what had happened to your friends, you looked in the direction of where Tsukasa was. He was brawling with them all by himself, and they were struggling to put up a fight.
"This is your chance, Miyamoto-kun. Pick up your sword and live up to your family name," he said as he looked on. Haru didn't move an inch as their eyes were filled with fear. "Remember. Empathy is for the weak, and it starts with hesitation."
The kid replied, "R-Right..."
You watched as Haru slowly walked over to the weapon. As they leaned down to grab it, you saw them gripping it tightly, as though they had already made up their mind. Your heart rate was getting higher as you watched every movement. You suddenly flashed sunlight into the cave using your ring, hoping Senku would hurry the hell up with whatever he was doing in there.
"Do it in one blow," Hyoga ordered.
With a hitched breath, Haru asked, "It's my choice to make, isn't it?"
"If you want to make your mom and us proud, then do as I say," the man replied. The kid was silent for a few seconds before they looked directly into your (E/C) eyes.
"Everyone was telling me what to do for my mom, for Tsukasa-san, or for you, Hyoga-san... I have my own choices and story... So, I'm gonna do my own thing!" Haru declared as they pointed their katana at the man.
Why does that sound familiar..? You swayed your head. Doesn't matter now...
"So, you chose to be a traitorous brat, just like Gen-kun, huh?" Hyoga scoffed. In the blink of an eye, he threw his spear at the kid and pinned their clothes to a nearby tree, getting them stuck.
"S-Senpai!" Haru cried out, trying to pull the spear out of the bark. "You didn't even give me a chance to fight you!"
You spoke out between breaths, keeping it steady because of the pain, "Not killing a kid...? That's pretty proper of you...Hyoga."
"Despite having a few proper qualities, they can be fixed. As for you, Tsukasa-kun was unfortunately right about you," said the white-haired man. "You've told him before how children can gain such independence, straying far from those above them. You weren't wrong, but a little manipulation can do the trick."
"And so you've used my master as a way to control Haru. Lemme guess: you haven't found her statue yet, have you?" You questioned him.
"Oh, we have. Tsukasa-kun had punched her into pieces, though. You'll be in pieces soon enough."
You furrowed your eyebrows in anger, "You--"
Hyoga kneeled down to your level, and, as if it were in slow motion, his hand was reaching for your neck. All those memories of Tsukasa choking you returned, as did your fear. You couldn't even move due to your leg, so all you could do was close your eyes and hope for Senku to save you just like he promised he would.
"What the..." You heard Hyoga mutter to himself.
You opened your eyes to see something floating above you against the bright sun. Realizing it was a paper airplane, you watched it float to a nearby tree. The moment it touched nature, it suddenly exploded into a fiery ball of light.
"The hell!?" You wondered. Next thing you knew, you felt a pair of arms around you as you saw someone kicking the crap out of Hyoga.
"RAHHH, GET YOUR BAD HANDS OFF (Y/N), YOU SLIT-EYED BASTARD!"
The one who held you spoke next, "Kukuku, you might wanna listen to Chrome here, or we'll blow your brains out."
"Senku, Chrome!" You happily exclaimed. Gen was there too, supporting the both of them.
The scientist looked at you with a paper airplane in his hand, then back at your opponents. "It looks like the winner was neither power nor science. Rather, it was both. Oi Tsukasa, do you know what the Greek word for power is?"
You watched as the Tsukasa Empire looked in fear and awe at the explosion. But they couldn't answer.
"It's dynamite. And with dynamite paper planes, I'll save everyone!" Senku explained as he threw another plane. It exploded upon impact to another tree, and the villagers were shocked by its power. "We barely made it just in time, though. It's all thanks to the battle team holding out!"
You let out a little laugh. "Took you guys long enough. I almost died!"
"But I protected you, didn't I? You also saved us with the idea of paper airplanes." Your boyfriend looked at you with gratitude and confidence. "Your life is in my hands, as mine in yours."
You widened your eyes, then looked away as your face darkened with bashfulness. "Y-Yeah...and I did, didn't I..."
"Ew," Chrome muttered as he rolled his eyes.
"Now that the Kingdom of Science completed dynamite, we have a force at roughly ten billion megaton joules!" Gen announced with a crazed look on his face.
"What the hell are you talking about, ten billion megatons?" Senku snickered.
"Shh! Don't worry about the numbers, Senku!" You told him, understanding that the mentalist was trying to trick them once more.
Gen answered, "You're really crappy at negotiating, Senku-chan...only because you tell the truth..."
You immediately heard the panic in the voices of the Tsukasa Empire.
"There's no way a paper airplane can hit us!"
"Ahaha...We've got something a liiittle bit more accurate than a paper airplane..." You heard Ukyo's voice speaking. You looked over in his direction to see him all bloodied up, supported by Haru, who had escaped the spear's grasp. Both of them were holding bows with dynamite-tipped arrows, pointing them at the Tsukasa Empire.
"Ukyo! And the brat, too!" Chrome called out.
"Don't call me that, stupid headband guy! I will shoot you!" Haru insulted him with annoyance.
"Yeah, go ahead and blow everyone up, you little shit!"
Gen began clapping loudly for everyone to stop talking. Then he announced, "The tables have been turned, and the battle is over. The end! Finito! Done and over with! That is unless you want to be blown to bits~!"
With that, the Tsukasa Empire surrendered. Their hands were in the air, and the Kingdom of Science had claimed the miracle cave water. Joyous shouts were heard from some of your friends.
"Even if we try to stop them or swat them down, they'll explode," Tsukasa suddenly started. "However, everyone would definitely get caught up in the blast, and vast numbers would die. Considering that you used your life to save (Y/N), then that means you aren't capable of abandoning others. Though you won't sacrifice yourself."
"I guess neither of us can make a move, huh? It's a stalemate," Senku replied with a pinky in his ear.
The primate responded, "You intentionally created this situation. So, in other words, your objective is an exchange."
"Yep. Now, (Y/N), Gen, if you listen to me and think about it," the green-haired boy looked at you and the mentalist with a smirk on his face, "Even though Tsukasa here can have everything in the world, he went on about purging all the corrupted people with mutual, selfish, vested interests, striving for his noble ideals. Now, he'd fight to win a boatload of money on TV. Does that make sense to you?"
You replied as you shook your head, "No, it doesn't."
"You're right... wanting to win a huge sum of money seemed like such a matter-of-fact thing to me that I hadn't even considered it," said Gen with surprise.
"So then what was the money for? Who was it for?" Senku then turned to the man, who instantly paled the moment he spoke, "She's alive, isn't she? Your little sister."
"He has a sister?" You mumbled.
Taking the jar and pouring the contents of the miracle water out, Senku continued, "We may be able to heal her with the restorative power that happens when being revived from petrification. It may be a slim chance, but the possibility most certainly exists."
Taiju then came up with a huge grin on his face to back his beat friend up, "Yeah, that's right! Even Senku's neck that you broke was healed with the revival formula!"
Senku then started hugging the cave and put up a smug-looking face. Everyone seemed to think he looked like a scumbag as he spoke, "Speaking of which, about that formula, it seems that I'm the one that has it right now, HAHA!"
After hearing those words, the primate asked him, "What's the exchange you're proposing?"
You spoke up, realizing what Senku was trying to explain, "Senku is offering a chance to revive your sister in exchange for a ceasefire."
"Do you have any basis on which I should trust something as hard to believe as that?" Tsukasa asked.
For a few seconds, Senku thought about it. But he replied sincerely, "Only my word. Science does not lie. Is that not enough?"
"...no. It's more than enough. Get yourselves treated. I'll lead you to the location of where the hospital was when you are ready," the man said before walking away. His followers trailed behind him with the expressions of defeat on their faces. Hyoga eyed the both of you until he, too, followed Tsukasa.
With them leaving, there was a moment of silence and relief. You leaned over and lied your head on Senku, who lightly patted your head with a small smile. The villagers would pick each other up and celebrate once more, but now with their newfound comrades.
"I'm tired...I'm glad we won, but I've got no energy..." you muttered.
"No, no! Stay awake, (Y/N)! We don't want you to die!" Taiju loudly weeped.
"She's not gonna die. We have to remove the damn wood from her leg," Senku said. He motioned Taiju to come pick you up and prop you on a rock. "Once this thing's removed, we're gonna have to dunk some alcohol on it, then shove some sulfomanides in there before we cauterize it."
"Cauterize...?" Chrome wondered.
"YOU'RE GONNA BURN ME?!" You cried, which caused the others to widen their eyes. Your fear took over, waking you up instantly. "I don't want that!"
"You're gonna burn her?! What's the reason for burning the wound?" You heard Kohaku come up to all of you.
"This is the safest way to stop the bleeding immediately. You need to trust me despite it being painful," he told you as he picked up some leftover materials from the fallen tank.
"I-I do trust you! But I really don't want to do this--!" You stammered fearfully as you watched your boyfriend mix a few materials together.
"Hold her down. I'm gonna pull the wood out, then start applying the silver nitrate for cauterization."
Taiju and Kohaku held your arms and legs down as you shrieked, "Wait--!"
Gen cut you off, "Just think of it as a small prick, (Y/N)-chan, please!"
"THIS IS NOT GONNA BE A PRICK, YOU PRICKS!"
-Days Later-
You were weeping with embarrassment as Kohaku held you bridal style up the mountain, where Tsukasa was leading everybody. Your leg was wrapped in clean cloth after the procedure Senku had done to it, but you still couldn't walk properly. He ended up helping everyone else get better as well, which lasted just a few days. Nightfall was approaching as the group walked together.
"Honestly, Senku, you could be more gentle to your woman," Kohaku chided the boy as she walked beside him.
Senku sighed. "That was the best way to treat a hole in her leg immediately."
"I know I could treat her with more care. Look, you're not even carrying her."
"Don't think you can try to win her over, lioness."
"Can you guys not argue while I'm right here...?" You tearfully told them. Both Senku and Kohaku stared at each other with annoyance before they faced forward.
Chrome blurted out, "Honestly, this wouldn't have happened if Haru wasn't a little piece of shit."
"I already said I was sorry!" They cried out from the back.
"'Sorry' is for when you spill water on me! 'Sorry' doesn't fix a hole in her damn leg! 'Sorry' also doesn't fix you beating me up and stealing the gas mask either!" Chrome shot at them.
"That was months ago! Get over it, you stupid headband guy!"
"That doesn't mean jack shit, you brat!"
Haru started punching Chrome, to which the young scientist returned. You just sighed as you watched them fight like children. You couldn't believe that an eighteen-year-old was beefing with a now thirteen-year-old.
"You should probably stop your kids from fighting~" Gen chuckled as he caught up with all of you.
"They aren't our kids," you and Senku replied simultaneously.
Yuzuriha added with a gentle giggle, "Oh, it makes me wonder what your kids would actually look like!"
"Yuzuriha!" You whined.
"We're here!" Tsukasa called out from the front of the group.
All of you made it to the top of a barren mountain. You looked around but saw a bunch of buried statues and their body parts sticking out.
"Everyone got washed down and buried pretty deep..." said Gen.
"We're gonna excavate it with dynamite!" Senku exclaimed as he held up a stick of dynamite that he made.
"That's frickin' insanity!" Chrome said with wide eyes. He was in the middle of shoving Haru off of him, who was trying to pull on his ears.
You questioned, "Wouldn't the statues get caught in the blast too...?"
"No problem. We're just blowing up the super hard bedrock," the scientist replied. He then had a goofy grin on his face. "And if by some chance a statue does get caught in it, we'll just glue it back together!"
"And just who exactly are you planning to have do that hellish craft work, Senku-kun?" Yuzuriha asked him as she had sweat dripping down her temples.
Everyone started working together to dig up bodies as the dynamite had blown the dirt up. All you did was help move the dirt around since you couldn't walk properly. You didn't want to be useless, after all. It took so many hours to find his sister, but Tsukasa eventually found her after digging through the dirt so many times. Many people had already left to rest, but some of you stayed. They laid her on the ground, and Senku prepared to pour the revival formula onto her.
"WAIT, SENKU, MIRAI-CHAN IS NAKED!" Taiju cried out as he stuck his fingers in your boyfriend's eyes.
"Taiju...again...there's no reason to stick your fingers in his eyes," you told him as you looked at Senku with concern.
Yuzuriha took the initiative to immediately make some clothes for the young girl, making sure she wasn't naked. The liquid was finally poured onto her body as she lay still for everybody to see. The moment it touched her, the stone began breaking apart.
"Holy crap!" Chrome exclaimed.
"No way!" Ginro cried out. "It's turning into a real person!"
"That's right...the villagers haven't seen this yet," Gen stated.
Senku added, "The problem is what happens next."
Your brunette friend started kneeling and praying for her to be healed the same way Senku was. All of you were watching with hope as the stone cracked open.
And then it happened. A young blonde girl broke free and stood up on her own, slightly wobbling as she took a few steps forward. Tsukasa quickly took hold of her hands to make sure she didn't topple over. She looked around in confusion, wondering where she was.
"Where...am I?" She asked quietly.
"Mirai!" Tsukasa softly called her name.
She looked directly at the primate. "Nii-san...? Hehehe... You've gotten old! But you look good, though! How many years have I been asleep?"
Just those words had Tsukasa all teary-eyed, soon embracing the young girl in his arms. The sun began to rise as he replied to her, "Six years...no...several thousand years."
Everybody had watched the heartwarming reunion with Tsukasa crying. The emotion was spreading through almost everybody. Senku wrapped an arm around your neck as you were resting on the ground, while Kohaku silently separated herself from the group. You then remembered that her story was in line with Tsukasa's, waiting for the moment their beloved siblings got better with the power of science.
-To be Continued-
A/N: Ahhhhhh, I finally completed this long chapter. Despite not having too much romance, I hope you enjoyed it regardless!
I tried to incorporate character development for the reader and Haru this time. It wasn't so bad, was it?