59. The Warrior
05-25-2024
A/N: I've been having thoughts about ending this fic right after this arc because burnout is bitch... But we'll see when we get there. (^_^;)
Q: This randomly came up in my head, but if Senku were to have a child, how do you think he'd act?
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"Who the hell are you?"
Once the sailor had said that, Ukyo came aboard the deck and looked up in the same direction he was facing. Suddenly, something was thrown into the air with a rope attached to it. A million different scenarios were popping into your head, from escaping the ship, to fighting back what that object was. Whatever it was, you needed to do something.
However, without a second thought, Ryusui instantly kicked Suika off board and scooped you up into his well-toned arms.
"Ryusui-san?!" You cried out with perplexity. Then, you saw a horrifying, green light spreading above the ship--the same one that petrified the human race from before.
The man started running toward the edge of the ship, holding you firmly to make sure you didn't fall before then. Furrowing his eyebrows and focusing his honey-colored spheres toward the water, he instructed you, "You need to survive. Find Senku and tell him what happened here!"
"Wha--what about you?!" You replied with fear growing in the pits of your gut. The light was getting ever so close to the both of you, and you watched bodies behind you turning to stone. Suddenly, you felt his hands adjust on your body as he stood on the end of the boat. You looked down to see the water below. Whipping your head back at him with a pleading gaze, you insisted as you tightly grabbed his shoulder, "No, you have to run too! We can work together!"
The man then looked into your (E/C) eyes with sincerity in his. In a soft tone, he conceded, "I told you once that the only time I'd hold you in my arms again was if I were to save your life."
Ryusui lifted you up over his head, and you shouted, "Wait, Ryusui!"
He threw you overboard. Before you hit the water, you could see the man saluting you with a satisfied smile. Then, he turned around and you heard the impact of stone hitting wood. That was your immediate reason to swim as fast as you could away from the vessel.
You dived deep into the water and headed straight for the shore, hiding underneath a shady tree. At the same time, you spotted Suika right by you, sopping wet from the water.
"Suika!" You lightly called out to get her attention.
The girl noticed you and headed in your direction. Upon meeting you, she tightly embraced you, and you could feel her shaking with fear. "(Y/N), you're safe!"
"Thanks to Ryusui..." you muttered as your head tilted downward to see her. "I'm glad you're safe too..."
Your eyes then wandered toward the ship to see that the green light was gone, and that everyone on board was solid stone. Your heart ached for your friends, especially Haru, considering you didn't want them on board in the first place. Guilt had immediately settled in as you realized that they were put in danger. Then you had hoped that Senku didn't meet the same fate as the others. You realized that you needed to do what Ryusui had entrusted to you.
"Suika, you need to listen to me very carefully, okay?" you started as you kneeled before her. She watched you carefully as you spoke in a calm, steady voice, "We are in real danger, especially if Senku has been turned to stone like the others. But if not, they need to be warned. After we dry ourselves off, I will go look for them on the island while you hide--"
"B-But you can't! What if you get caught?!" She interjected, her hands shook with unease. "Suika can come with you!"
You swayed your head side-to-side and responded, "No, you can't. I have to go by myself. I promise I will return and that I won't get caught. Otherwise, you will be in danger, too."
The young girl looked back at then ship with a wistful look on her face, not denying your statement. You let out a sigh and stood up. "Remember: Hide well. Don't make it obvious. We're in enemy territory, so we don't know what's going to happen. If I find them, we'll send some sort of message or signal."
Suika nodded, prompting you that she had understood you and her assignment. You took your clothes off and piece by piece to wring the water out one at a time, and made sure your hair was dry as well. You helped the young girl dry her poncho off at the same time. When the two of you were mostly dried off, Suika then watched you turn heel to delve deep into the island without looking back.
I hope you're safe, Senku.
You walked cautiously as you took your weapons out and flicked the water off of it to make sure it didn't rust. The island was unfamiliar to you, so you would stop every once in awhile to get a good look at your surroundings. The deeper you went, the darker it got with the sun beginning to set. And the darker it got, the tighter your gut felt. You haven't felt this way in such a long time.
"What are you doing here?" You suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice call out. Immediately turning your head to the voice, you saw that it belonged to an island dweller with weapons and torches. But they weren't talking to you--nor have they noticed you. You hid behind a few trees as you listened in on the conversation, hoping to get information about Senku's whereabouts.
"There has been an incident at the end of the island. The master had sent us to investigate."
You peeked your head out to see a young, tall man with long dreadlocks hung in a low ponytail. With his muscular body, there were pauldrons on his shoulders to accompany the large spear he carried.
"Ah, I see! Kirisame will be back, too, I assume!" The villager exclaimed.
They have a master...Kirisame is probably a high-ranking person too.
"Yep. Seen anyone suspicious passing through?" The man asked as he began to look around as the light from the sky was fading from yellow to orange.
"No. The nearby village has been making a ruckus about the upcoming selection. They sounded angry, but it has calmed down."
Selection? You thought as you continued to listen. I wonder what kinda selection it is...
"I see. Well, I hope there are some real cuties at the selection. Now, I'll be heading back soon enough, but..." the tall man's eyes suddenly met with yours, causing you to retreat once more. "...I think I have one more thing to do before I go."
"Alright. We'll see you, Moz!"
You heard the warriors scurry and leave as you laid completely still behind the tree. When there was no sound or movement; you turned back to peek once again. But the muscular man, "Moz," wasn't there. Suddenly, you felt immense pressure emitting from behind you--your gaze widened as you held your breath. Sweat started dripping from your temples when you stayed still for a few seconds. You couldn't make out whether or not it was intended to harm, but you knew one thing for sure: one wrong move and you were possibly dead.
"My, my, I've never seen anyone as cute as you." The man stared you down--you could feel his gaze boring holes into the back of your head. "Turn around. I want to get a better look at you."
Doing as he said, you took a hasty breath and carefully turned around to see those dark eyes of his. You watched as he furrowed his eyebrows--a provocative smirk forming on his face as his eyes seemed to be studying your every move. You couldn't reach for the weapons hidden within your overcoat, as you were at a huge disadvantage with him looming over you.
He asked, "And what are you doing here, hiding away such beauty in such a quick manner?"
You had to think of something quickly. As naturally as possible, you gave him a non-threatening smile as you spoke, "I was just passing through to reach my village. I didn't want to disturb your work, Moz..."
"Huh...is that so?" He replied. You felt unease as you saw that he kept analyzing you. There was no way you could fight him in this state.
"Yes," you stated. "I'm sure you've heard the commotion they were making nearby."
The man stared at you and answered, "So I've heard. They're quite wild, aren't they?"
You slowly started as you turned to take a step. "Yes, of course. Now if you excuse me, I need to return to my people--"
"Hold it."
He used his spear to block your way out, causing your heart rate to speed up in panic. Moz began creeping his face closer to you as his eyes narrowed; you backed up against the tree as he was leaning within an inch of your personal space. As his spear arm blocked your path, his other arm was against the tree trunk above both of your heads.
You felt his hot breath as he continued speaking, causing you to shiver in discomfort, "You haven't seen anyone suspicious around here...have you?"
You gulped, knowing he was onto you. You were the most out-of-place person in the area, after all. Knowing that you needed to get out of there, you took a gamble and responded, "No, not at all! I was just passing through to prepare for the selection... That's all."
Moz stared at you for a few seconds until he straightened himself out, pulling back from your space. But your gut told you to stay put as sweat rolled down your head down to your chin.
"Heh, you're right. As someone as beautiful as you are, you should do your best to look as good, or even better, for the harem selection," he told you with a close-eyed grin.
Putting up another fake smile, you nodded. "Thank you for understanding."
The warrior seemed to be satisfied as he started walking off, putting his spear over his shoulder. "I guess I'll let you go... But I'll be sure to see you at the selection. See ya, cutie."
"...Goodbye, Moz," you mentioned as you watched him leave.
"One more thing..." you saw him stop, causing you to raise your guard. He took his head and looked back at you. Your heart seemed to stop as the man smirked devilishly before he walked away and continued, "...you're strong, aren't you? I would've liked to see you pull out that weapon you're hiding."
You froze in place until he was out of sight. Knowing he was gone, you dropped to the floor. Your legs grew weak as you needed to catch your breath, as your lungs needed to keep up with your heart. You knew that he really was no average fighter, but he was someone more dangerous than you originally thought. You haven't felt this much fear since you've fought with Tsukasa. You were lucky enough to be alive.
But there is no time to lose. Every minute that passed was a minute wasted. Something could've happened to Senku while I was dealing with Moz, you thought.
You picked yourself off of the ground and calmed yourself down. Swiftly running into the forest once more, you were hoping to find any clues that could've been left by the others. So, the first thing you did was look for the village making the ruckus.
And this resulted in you look for it. You passed through different paths, trying to listen for any sign of human life. You ended up finding it by the amount of, what sounded like, yelling and anger they let out. From a little distance away, you watched them argue in a group.
"Those damn sorcerers!" One cried out.
Another shouted, "If it weren't for them, we could've been heading to the so-called honorable master!"
"We could probably take him before he could do that to us!" A third joined in.
Then, you saw an elder approach them. "Now, now, you should be lucky that they had used that cloud on you from doing anything stupid. You all need to settle down, especially since the selection is tomorrow."
That was the clue that you needed to hear. You immediately walked up from your hiding spot to head toward the elder. Others had spotted you and you saw that they had their guard up the moment you came into view.
"May I ask questions about these sorcerers?" You questioned them.
"Who are you? Are you from the palace?"Â One of them asked.
You could tell that they thought you looked completely out of place from these people. Using that to your advantage, you spoke, "I am...acquainted...with the warrior, Moz. He was going to come investigate the village's loud behavior, but I volunteered in his stead."
The men widened their eyes in fear upon hearing Moz's name. However, the elder calmly replied to you, "The situation we had has been solved. As for these sorcerers, they only quieted these fools down. Nothing else."
"I see." You placed a hand under your chin. "Do you know where they are? Don't worry, I don't plan on harming them."
He gave you a single nod and pointed at a certain direction. "They went down this path with one of our own."
With a grateful smile, you told him, "Alright. I'll he heading over there. Thank you for your help, elder."
"You're welcome."
You ran off in the direction that the man had shown you. All you saw were huts and homes structured around stilts and trees, making it clear that this village completely contrasted the one in Japan. Upon reaching the end of the village, there was one more house that lay below the slope you were standing on.
It was already dark and your own source of light was the large, white celestial being above you. The sky was bright and were sprinkled with tiny dots along its bed. But both the moon and stars were enough for you to see who was at the bottom of the slope. There, you saw five different people--one you didn't know. However, four of which were familiar to you, including one you loved so dearly. Oh, how relieved you felt seeing them all alive.
Taking your hands, you cupped them into a microphone to make sure they could hear you. Loudly, with all your heart, you yelled out,
"Senku!"
The wind carried your voice through the trees, down the path that your friends had taken. The sound had reached his ears first, and the feeling of disbelief had filled the boy's body. You watched as he slowly turned around to find the source of your cry. His wine-colored eyes shimmered under the moonlight with what looked like reassurance.
"...slowpoke?" He seemed to mutter out as he took one step forward. The others followed his actions to see who had called out to him.
Kohaku, who had the widest grin on her face, as well as a completely different outfit, shouted, "(Y/N), you're okay!"
"(Y/N)-chan! How are you here?!" Gen asked you. Soyuz was behind him and he looked as though he was going to cry with joy, while the unknown woman looked a bit confused with what was going on.
With Senku in your sights, you immediately ran down to scientist, nearly stumbling without a care in the world. He took a few steps forward and had his arms slightly opened for you. Seeing the opportunity, you instantly jumped toward him, wrapping your arms around his neck with a tight grip. He embraced you with no sign of letting go as he fell on his bottom--you made sure he wouldn't get hurt when the two of you had fallen. Senku began burying his face into your shoulder as he sat up, feeling your warmth to prove it was reality. "Relief" was an understatement for what he was really feeling in that moment.
Kohaku, Gen, and Soyuz looked on with a smile on their faces, understanding that the two of you were each other's priority. But as the unknown woman had watched, she could immediately tell that there was something going on between the both of you; something so strong, it was unbreakable at first sight.
"I'm so glad you're alright... I'm so glad you're okay, Senku..." you breathed out as you squeezed him, running your fingers through his soft, spiky hair.
"I'm glad you're alright too, (Y/N)," he replied softly as he ran his hands down your back to comfort you. He felt your heart beating twice as fast, and spoke up, "You need to calm down now, slowpoke. I need you to tell me how you got here and what happened."
"Okay..." You started to stand slowly and pulled him up as you turned toward your friends. But then you realized something. "You're asking me how I got here? You're not asking me why I am here?"
"I want to know how you survived the petrification. We saw what happened with everyone on board," said Senku with a serious look on his face. Your eyes widened as a frown spread downward. Your slightly tightened your grip on his hands, which he didn't mind.
"It was awful! We were going to contact you guys, but Soyuz-chan saw everyone as statues when he looked through the telescope!" Gen explained. "How did you even escape?!"
"Yeah...I'm here because of Ryusui. He threw me off the ship. I couldn't see whatever turned everyone to stone properly though..." you said with a sad expression. Senku raised a single eyebrow upon hearing his name informally, but guessed it was because of how grateful you were to be safe and sound.
"We're just happy you're not a statue, (Y/N)!" Soyuz said. His eyes were glazed over with tears as a smile was plastered on.
"I'm so happy you guys aren't statues, too," you stated, then turned to the unknown woman. With a gentle expression, you introduced yourself in a kind tone, "I'm sorry for popping up unannounced. My name is (Y/N), and I'm a part of their crew."
Before the woman could say anything, you saw that she seemed to be studying you, causing beads to roll around your temples. Then she spoke with amazement in her chocolate-colored eyes, "No wonder my technique didn't work on Senku...he already has an extremely beautiful woman by his side!"
You were instantly caught off guard by her statement, while Senku had an annoyed expression on his face. "Uh...what?"
"Ahhh, don't worry about it, (Y/N)-chan!" Gen spoke as he placed his hands on your shoulders. "This is Amaryllis-chan, a villager who is helping us get the petrification device through the selection."
"Hold on, I need you guys to explain everything I've missed. You guys are participating in the harem selection?" You questioned with a raised brow.
"Yes, I am! Wait, how do you know about that?" Kohaku asked you with a confused look.
You explained nervously, "I ran into a man named Moz on the way here..."
The five of them stared in shock as they all shouted, "YOU RAN INTO MOZ?!"
"He mostly cornered me and said he'll be sure to see me participate in the selection tomorrow!" You blurted out with your hands up in defense.
"He cornered you?" Senku's eyebrows furrowed as he carefully asked, "Did he do anything to you?"
You reassured him gently, "He was a creep but he didn't do anything, thankfully. But I couldn't pull out or use my weapon, or else I'd be dead on the spot."
The island girl's head then perked her head up. "You use a weapon... Moz also wants to see you in the selection tomorrow... you're also a never-before-seen beauty... You have to join us during the selection tomorrow! You're strong and guaranteed to be picked by Ibara-sama if Moz likes you!"
"WHAT?!"
-To be Continued-
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter!