13th Shot: Do or Die
Finally, it's the time they're back to the village–for the villagers at least, it was time to go home after they've been away for quite some time because of the war. According to Kohaku, they only brought the young ones capable in fighting while the elders were left behind. It was their own decision, since they didn't want to be additional burden when they fight.
The immense trust they put in Senku was astounding.
"Senku-san is really charismatic in your village, huh, Kohaku-san." Shinko commented after listening to the blonde's story about Senku's influence and his inventions being a great help for her home.
Kohaku snorted harmlessly. "You have to witness the girls fawning over him. It is strange knowing how scummy he can be."
It only took a while for the two to became familiar with each other, even as comfortable as calling themselves friends. Kohaku found Shinko's presence rather calming and knowing they're both women of combat made her relate to her even more. Currently, the two were gathering the supplies to be hauled back onto the steam gorilla–sharing stories to pass time as they did so.
"Mirai-kun, you still have a great many stone fragments stuck to you. Their doing disservice to your beauty." Shinko heard Hyoga commented to the little girl sitting. "You ought to wash your face over that stream."
The man referred to a stream not far away from where they stood, running between lush green grasses–the water was crystal clear. Shinko perked up at the idea, she immediately placed the things she brought to the required place and approached Mirai–kneeling in front of her.
She didn't forget to give her a smile, which the little girl instantly returned with a shyer one. "Let me help you, Mirai-san. I have my spare towel with me. You can use it to dry your face after."
"Thank you…" helping her stand up, the two then walked towards the said stream with Tsukasa and Hyoga in tow. Along the way, Shinko tried to sparked up some simple conversation to make the younger girl comfortable. Mirai's wide chocolate eyes sometimes sparkled at the things she said, especially when it's about fairy tales. Seeing her bright smile brought warmth to engulf her chest.
As Mirai washed her face with water by the stream, Shinko kneeled close to watch over her in case if she loses her balance. It was quiet at first with only sound of splashes from how Mirai scooped up some water to wash her face and calm trickling from the small waterfall not far–before the ground rumbled underneath them, followed by sounds of huge explosion several times. It went on for a few more seconds before the silence was back engulfing them.
Shinko snapped her head towards the direction of the sound, watching as clouds of dust went up in the air on an extremely familiar site.
"Is it from the Miracle Cave…?" she muttered breathlessly, feeling something ominous nagging the back of her mind.
"An explosion!? Why!?" Mirai panicked. However, Tsukasa was quick to calmed her down by kneeling beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll go check it out." he said, turning to face Shinko. "I leave Mirai to you."
Shinko nodded firmly, watching as the taller man turned his back towards them to check on the situation. She then averted her gaze towards the little girl, giving her an assuring smile. "It's okay, Mirai-san. It's really far away from here. We're safe." she then offered a clean cloth to her. "Here, dry your face with this."
"If you say so, Nee-san." the fond call made her chest warm somehow.
Mirai was busy drying her face while she looked around for something suspicious. When Shinko wanted to look at Hyoga, she instantly froze on her spot– the man already faced them with his menacing glare turning her veins to ice.
Something's definitely not right.
"GET AWAY FROM THERE MIRAI, SHINKO, TSUKASA!" She could hear Senku screamed from the distance–he along with Ukyo and the others were racing towards their place as fast as they could.
That's when the back of her neck prickled, sending signals of danger for her. In reflex, Shinko pulled Mirai close to her chest–shielding her body with hers. The young woman clenched her eyes shut, bracing herself for the incoming pain brought by Hyoga's spear.
However, it never came. Instead, warm droplets of liquid spraying on her exposed arms.
"Whether I came for him from the shadows or attacked him in his sleep, taking out the 'strongest primate high schooler', Shishio Tsukasa, was an impossible feat."
Shinko opened her eyes and slowly looked over her shoulder.
"So as long as there was nothing for you to protect, that is."
Her breathing stopped, air refused to enter her lungs, the sound of her roaring heartbeat could she hear pounding against her eardrums until she heard ringing.
"The one who as waited long is me. I've waited forever for this one moment."
The spear went through Tsukasa's chest–the tip was drenched in blood, still dripping heavily from the amount alone. He was shielding the two of them with his own body, arms stretched widely. And for a moment, Shinko forgot how to breathe–not even noticing how Mirai shifted in her hold, gasping in horror. Her body seemed to rooted in sport, refusing to budge even when her mind screamed for her to move.
She could only witness as Hyoga moved and pulled the spear without hesitation, the force sending Tsukasa stumbling–slowly falling to the river below. Until blurs of green and white flashed upon her eyes, snapping her back to reality–getting the whole control of her body fully. Senku was preventing Tsukasa from crashing to the water, holding his hand in both of his. Even with all his might, Senku was having a difficult time trying to pull the bigger man from the edge.
Shinko immediately stood up and approached the two–skidding to a stop and reaching out to hold on Tsukasa's hand in order to help Senku. Getting a solid grip on Tsukasa's hand, she grunted–trying to pull the man back to the cliff. Senku gave her a brief glance before focusing back on the problem they faced.
"My business is with the both of them Shinko-kun. You keep interfering for the past day." hearing the murderous intent underneath the calm and composed voice sent ice trailing down Senku's neck. For a moment, he forgot Hyoga was still there. The scientist looked over his shoulder, watching as the towering man lifted his spear high.
"Like I mentioned before, Shinko-kun, you're in the way."
Senku's eyes widened in horror. "STOP, HYOGA!"
The man swung his spear so fast Senku's eyes couldn't keep up, however he witnessed the outcome from the merciless attack. Drops of warm liquid splashed onto his hand, decorating his skin and sleeve with sickening red hue, assaulting his sense of smell with scent of metallic.
The last thing Senku heard was the young woman's scream of pain before Hyoga knocked his back, sending him and Tsukasa towards the river below with a splash.
.
.
"NII-SAN!"
"SENKU!"
"TSUKASA!"
"SHINKO!"
If Kohaku closed the gap earlier, if she pushed herself to run faster, she could land a grip on Hyoga's black cloak and gave the man a good beating he wouldn't forget until the end of his life. After knocking Senku with his weapon down to the waterway, he jumped right in instantly–successfully avoiding his pursuers.
Tsukasa was just reunited with his newly-healed sister–it's supposed to be a moment of happiness, everything supposed to go well only filled with smiles and tears of longing. However, fate seemed to be mocking at them. The moment they've waited forever escalated into a nightmare in mere minutes.
The blonde young woman wanted to jumped in and followed wherever the river led her to in order to find Senku, Tsukasa, and the treacherous man. But her father stopped her, securing her arms and preventing her from taking a step forward. Kohaku could only clench her teeth in fury and frustration.
"Shinko! Hang on!" Ukyo's screams of panic seemed to slap reality into her. Kohaku instantly turned her head towards it, witnessing a horrifying view feasted upon her eyes.
"Nee-san!" Mirai sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Shinko was lying limply on the ground on her back, pool of blood forming underneath her and growing larger each second passed. The once lush greenery tainted with terrifying red. Kohaku immediately ran shrugged his father and dropped to her knees right beside the archer's body–noticing how her previously healthy flush becoming sickly pale in a matter of seconds, her normal breathing turned into harsh pants. Her hand never once leaving the left side of her waist, the place where Hyoga struck her.
"S-shit, there's too much blood!" Chrome hissed in panicked, rummaging through the satchel he brought along in search for anything useful to stop the red from spreading even further.
"Rope or bandages!" Kohaku screamed towards the people behind them, who's still froze from shock. "Anything! We have to help her!"
Suika seemed to be the only one who could grasp on quickly even in the state of panic. The little girl instantly turned her back to ran towards their tent. Her action became a trigger almost immediately–people began running back to look for something.
"You have to control your breathing!" Ukyo cried–his voice frantic. Both of his hands pressed on top of the wound, putting pressure in order to slow down the trickling of fluid. It made the young woman hissed in pain. "Come on, Shinko, you can do it!"
If Shinko could steady her breathing pace, it could help to reduce the speed of her bleeding. Her heart rate could slow down so it wouldn't dry her from her lifeline fluid. Even amongst the excruciating pain attacking her, Shinko nodded weakly and began inhaling slowly–soon followed by her breath exhaling the same pace.
"I got bandages!" Yuzuriha yelled, running towards them. She kneeled on the ground and unruffling the rolled cloth.
"Suika found a few cloths!" Suika followed right behind, thrusting the folded clean materials onto Ukyo's red stained hands–who quickly removed his hand to press the cloth onto the wound. Kohaku couldn't help but feel shivers crawling on her skin as she observed how the once clean material instantly drenched.
"Kohaku, press on it firmly, okay? I'm going to shift her body so Yuzuriha can wrap the bandage." Ukyo ordered and Kohaku quickly moved to his place without uttering anything else. Once she put pressure on Shinko's wound, she instantly winced in pain. The blonde could only uttered apologies for the sudden action.
Ukyo swiftly sneaked his arm behind her neck and her back, carefully lifting her upper body from the ground–letting it leaned heavily on him, not even once giving his attention to the blood that began seeping onto his shirt. Yuzuriha immediately scuffled closer, circling the bandage around Shinko's waist as fast as she could.
While Yuzuriha was occupied with her work, Ukyo busied himself by wiping trickles of cold sweat running on Shinko's temple–his face tensed with overwhelming worry.
It was supposed the day where everything went well, but why must this happen?
Kohaku couldn't help but cursed at fate for being such an unfair being.
.
.
Senku thought he might die.
Handling an extremely skillful yet menacing Hyoga along with severely injured Tsukasa was the worst condition he could be involved with. The man more so resembled a monster in the aspect of strength–being alive with only minor scratches and bruises considered as extremely lucky for him. If Tsukasa's not here, he would ten billion percent bit the dust.
Tag-teamed of raw strength and science brought them to victory after threading a thin line between life and death situation. Tsukasa managed to give him enough time and distraction to assembled manganese batteries and wire from their ruined phone into a 100,000-volt stun gun–even if they were up against the strongest person, they wouldn't last even a minute after being shocked by high-voltage electricity.
However, he let his guard down too early–Senku didn't even notice Homura hidden underneath the shadows of rows of bushes surrounding them. Even until now, the young woman still held so much respect for Hyoga to the point she could kill in order to live up his name.
She could've thrusted her knife deep into his stomach and ended his life right there. But Kohaku, Ukyo, and the battle team finally came to his aid with weapons ready. Knowing they were threats for everyone, they wouldn't hesitate to get rough just to subdue the pair.
Kohaku didn't even think twice to tackle the pink-haired young woman straight to the ground–followed by Taiju and the others proceed to tie them up securely. Having them roam free would only bring another series of disaster–other people could get injured or even killed at worst.
They didn't want another victim to fall–Senku sighed. Because they already had two. In this world without advance medical technology, having severe injuries that needed serious treatment such as surgeries could only mean near-death situation. So far, Senku only produced sulfa-drugs–he hasn't taken a step forward for another medical purposes nor remedies.
He should think about it further–the more people they finally gathered, the more necessities they would have to fulfill.
That's why having Hyoga and Homura in custody for as long as they take in restoring civilization is a must. Once they have more advanced technology in hand, Hyoga's strength would be laughable. He wouldn't have a chance of laying a finger on them next.
"At last," Kohaku muttered, smiling in relief as they walked back towards the campsite. "It's really over."
Senku chuckled. "What, are you sleep-talking or something? Actually, you should be saying 'at last, it begins'!"
"This is bad!"
The scientist froze as he heard the desperate scream. Not only him, the others who were with him tensed from it as well. When Senku turned, he watched Suika running frantically towards them, tear tracks decorating her cheeks. She wasted no time to threw herself to him, and Senku didn't even think to avoid the incoming hug–knowing the little girl needed the comfort it provided.
"What is it Suika-"
"S-Shinko-nee!" she sobbed heavily, clutching onto his clothes. "It's Shinko-nee! Yuzuriha said she can't stop the bleeding!"
Fate didn't even let him to take a breath easily.
.
.
It's bad enough that Tsukasa's been stabbed through and cleanly with Hyoga's spear, he couldn't forget about how the man slashed Shinko in order for her to let go of Tsukasa's hand at that time. He wasn't worry at first, knowing many people would help her–at least giving her enough time until he's back to patch her up more professionally. Between all of the modern citizen, Senku was the only one who had the knowledge par to a doctor.
He never expected it to get worst.
Senku barged straight into the tent Suika led him to. Inside, Yuzuriha's figure were trembling greatly as she tried to keep pressure on Shinko's wound–surrounding her were used cloths drenched completely in red. With only one look, Senku knew it was serious. The scientist wasted no time to dropped onto his knees beside the young woman's lying body.
"S-Senku-kun, this is bad!" the brunette sobbed in panic with tears streaming down her cheeks. However, she didn't wipe them–Senku noted how she's too terrified of what happened if she ever moved her hand away from the wound. "S-Shinko-chan w-won't stop bleeding! If this keeps up, she will- she will-!"
"Shinko!" Soon after, Ukyo barged inside as well–kneeling down, placing his hands on Shinko's shoulders and began shaking her lightly. "Hey, open your eyes! Don't do this to me!"
His voice was marred with pure fright, borderline towards hysterical. This was the first time Senku ever seen him lose his composure–even when he's severely injured from Hyoga's spear didn't even drive him to this condition. No, Senku didn't have time to study the others' expression–the longer time he took, the closer Shinko's to death itself.
Without hesitation, he pushed her shirt upward to reveal bandages soaked in red. He clicked his tongue, feeling cold sweat began to form.
"Hyoga struck her previous gash, it reopened and got deeper." He hissed, inspecting the severe injury.
"W-what should we do!?" Kohaku asked, eyes darting here and there to assess the situation.
"I have to stitch her here and now," Senku stated, gritting his teeth. "If her gash is stitched up, the bleeding will stop."
"Then, what are you waiting for Senku!?" Chrome exclaimed in panic. "Do it now!"
"Don't you understand!?" the scientist shouted in both desperation and fury, which made everybody in the room flinched from his booming voice. "We don't have time to make anesthetic! I have to stitch her up without it! It's ten billion percent going to be hellish painful!"
He never even wanted to imagine what sort of grueling pain it would be–it could drive people insane. The scientist didn't even have time to comprehend before he felt forceful tug upon his shirt collar. His crimson eyes instantly clashed with glistening teal ones filled with agony.
"Do it, Senku!" Ukyo screamed in desperation–tears began dripping down his chin. "Or she won't make it!"
The young man then moved his hand to clenched on his shoulders, head bowing deeply. It stung–how his nails buried on his skin even through the layers of clothing he had, but it helped Senku to think more clearly than before. "Please, Senku. I can't-I can't live without her!"
"…Do it, Senku-san…" Senku averted his gaze almost automatically towards the source of the croaked voice. Even with death looming over real close, Shinko still managed to give him a tight smile–purple eyes staring at him wearily, glazed over with pain. "It's do or die, right…? And I don't want to die at the moment, so…"
The scientist chuckled breathlessly. "Save your energy for the pain brought by hell itself. It's ten billion percent painful. Think you can handle it?"
"Like I have any choice in this situation…" she sighed in defeat, only to hiss in pain–making Ukyo reached for her hand to hold, trying to give her a little relief. His hand moved to removed stray hairs close to her eyes. She gave him a smile, which he returned with a watery one. "It's better than death anyway… We still have to save humanity, right…?"
It was enough for Senku to start barking orders. "Kohaku, Taiju, I need you two to keep her still. Ukyo, you're holding her shoulders. Here bite this so your tongue won't hurt."
Just as he ordered, Shinko bit onto the piece of cloth to prevent her from hurting her tongue. Both Kohaku and Taiju quickly moved, holding each of her leg in their grip while Ukyo hovered over her, placing his hands on both of her shoulders. He smiled painfully. "Just hold on to me if it's hurting, okay? I'm here."
Senku prepared everything he needed–needles, a bottle of alcohol, and threads. Yuzuriha already fetched him new set of clean cloths to wipe the blood away and a bowl of warm water to clean. He already washed his hands and dipped the needles in alcohol to sterilized it.
"No matter what happened, no matter how she's gonna trash, never let her go. Keep her still." he ordered, which received as firm nod from the three. Senku faced her next. "You're ready?"
Shinko nodded, exhaling shakily and clenching her eyes shut to brace the incoming pain–a clear signal that she's ready. When Senku started, he was greeted with chilling screams of pain instantly it almost broke his concentration. It was raw with agony. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Kohaku trembled slightly. Even though Shinko's body jerked in respond of the maddening pain, she held firmly to keep her still.
Ukyo pinned her upper body as best as he could, wrapping his arms around her neck–trying to soothe her pain by carding his fingers through her hair and whispering encouraging words even with his shaking voice. He let her fingers dig into his back to anchored herself.
Thankfully, both Yuzuriha and Suika already outside–this would be a traumatizing experience from them. The painful screams alone would drive anyone into a grueling nightmare.
Senku tried to do his work as fast as he could. When he reached halfway of the wound, Shinko stop jerking abruptly and became completely still–her hands fell limply to her sides from Ukyo's back.
The young man felt his stomach dropped as he witnessed how those purple eyes glazed over before slipping shut, her head rolling to the side.
"S-Shinko…?" Ukyo stuttered, placing a hand on her cheek–noticing how cold it was. "Shinko!"
"She's fine!" Senku shouted, hands and eyes never leaving the work crucial work upon him. "She's only passed out. It's better this way."
Kohaku and Taiju slowly withdrew their hands before slumping to the ground, panting in both panic and fright. The blonde exhaled slowly, trying to calm her palpitating heartbeat–when she looked at her hands, she noticed it's still trembling. The adrenaline was still there and it will take a while for it to go away. Ukyo pulled back to sit down, reaching for a clean damp cloth to wiped Shinko's face–wiping the tear tracks and beads of sweat.
Once Senku finished, he cut the thread and placed clean cloth upon the wound. After that he began wrapping new bandage around her waist with Ukyo's help who gently shifted her body slightly. The scientist sighed shakily, wiping the cold sweat dripping from his forehead away.
"I'll check on her every thirty minutes." he said, cleaning his hand in the bowl of water. "Her bandages need to be change every six hours and she'll need transfusion. If she's not awake for at least a day or two, it's fine. She'll need time to recover."
Finally, they managed to past another hurdle.