Special Shot: Day and Night
Day
"Shinko, I know this would be rather peculiar to bring up," Kohaku suddenly said–it surely gained the owner of the name's attention, who's sitting on her left side and immediately directed her gaze towards the blonde. "But what made you became an archer?"
As if being struck by realization, pairs of eyes instantly had their line of sight zeroed on Shinko–it was definitely a domino effect, kind of. Every one of them were busy with their own conversation to one another or even just being there and listened to whatever juicy things stirred up recently–the topic could be anything, yet Kohaku's simple question stole the spotlight magically.
Currently, it was lunch–the sun was high in the sky, hanging above their head and shined brightly being hindered by nothing. Clouds were moving slower than usual and the sky was brilliant blue–absolutely a great, bright, and sunny day loved by all. If Kingdom of Science was busy with on-going projects before, they were taking their well-deserved lunch break now.
If engines were running by fuels, then food would be the fuels for human power–they needed to recharged it by eating and resting for a few moments before continuing their grueling work which would last until evening.
And since it was break time, they could do as they pleased–in the core members' case, sitting side by side until they formed a circle where they could face each other clearly. Hands holding a clay plate each and munching down on grilled meats in skewers, lunch became an entertainment on its own with various topics being thrown around to create an endless conversation–the lack of modern device or whatsoever did wonders for their relationship.
"Now that you mentioned it, I am getting curious too," Nikki remarked, not wasting time to encourage the topic. "Ukyo learned to become an archer. On the other hand, Shinko is already an archer."
Yuzuriha nodded excitedly, her attention was fully invested. "You even made your own bow, right? That's amazing!"
"Absolutely!" Taiju exclaimed with his mouth full–making the meat he's currently chewing raining down to the ground. "She even chose her own tree! I thought any tree can make bows!"
Senku narrowed his eyes in pure disgust from his friend's antics. Slamming his foot down to Taiju's side (in which the brunette hardly reacted to), the scientist hissed, "Swallow first before you talk, you big oaf!"
It's probably wasn't something Taiju would ever forget–he is a simpleton, but he's also an extremely respectful person especially when understanding people's capabilities. He put them in high regards without looking at anything, like Senku for an example.
"You don't want to tell, Minami-chan?" Instead of immediately answering the question, Shinko shrugged her shoulder to the reporter–it would be impossible for young woman to not know, especially when she's in charge of recruiting capable people for previous Tsukasa Empire. That and she did interview Shinko once 3,700 years ago.
"I object!" grinning playfully, Minami didn't even hesitate to reject the idea of holding the reigns in this story-telling session. "It will be more interesting if the person's the one to tell! Though, I do know, but I sense you're not telling me everything."
"Then, start the prologue, author," Ukyo bumped his shoulder lightly against Shinko–which the young woman immediately did the same in return. Maybe shoulder-bumping could be classified as their own way of being playful to each other now.
"I don't want to be rude, but this will be an extremely boring and plain story," she jokingly warned, not wanting to ruin their high expectation because it's true that her past didn't have any breathtaking thrill or astounding adventure–completely different from Senku, who successfully built a rocket in his middle school years.
"We'll be the judge to this so-called 'extremely boring and plain story' you mentioned," Gen chuckled, hand holding a bamboo glass filled with water.
"Alright, alright," at this point, it would be impossible to refuse the idea of being the story-teller of the day with the expectant looks she got. Putting down her plate to Ukyo's awaiting hand, she reached for her bow which was lying on the ground just behind her. "To sum it up, it's because of this."
Senku rose an eyebrow at her suggestion on showing them to keep everything simple–however, he soon realized the need to take back his words almost immediately. Sure, he's seen her shoot her shot many times and in various ways or form, but those were completely different than what he experienced now.
Shinko started with a footing before raising her bow high and then drawing the arrow along with the string slowly, but firmly. She's not quickly releasing, choosing to let her form stayed until her arm stopped shaking–a firm and beautiful draw. The scientist didn't miss the gasps resounding around him because his own breath did hitch upon the view. Senku wasn't the one who ever watched kyudo intently, however he finally got a bit of hint on how the sports was like.
He was snapped out of his thought when Shinko finally released her arrow–unlike the usual silence she maintained considering in this era she used it to hunt, the snap of the string and the arrow's cutting through the air with whistling sound before hitting the tree trunk right in the middle resounding so clearly. It didn't even have any sort of mark but still earned a bullseye.
Maybe this was the moment others describe as 'when the time stops'–all Senku heard was silence, it was quite a process in gathering back his attention as it was still stolen by the short but imprinting performance. Despite not explaining it in form of words, the scientist could comprehend and related on why Shinko's heart harbored on the sports in the first place.
Similar to science, kyudo was filled with its own dedication, diligence, patience, and resilience–gravitating towards years of practice, constant improvements accumulating into a visible result, never-ending cycle with only one goal; to have something you called as yours. Also, the most important thing is that the world seemed so perfect–just you and the source of your happiness.
"That is bad. What the hell was that…" being the first one to break free from the haze of the performance, undoubtedly Chrome would have his trademark line as a start.
"Such a beautiful display right before my eyes…" Kohaku added breathlessly, eyes still widened in amazement.
"When I was 6, I watched my grandfather did the same thing," Shinko started explaining as she lowered her bow. "His draw was the most mesmerizing thing I've ever seen in my life at that time, but the sound he managed to made when he released his arrow was on a different level. I asked my mom what sound it was and she answered tsurune. That's the start of my obsession with archery, or kyudo, in our modern time. I want to make the same sound, I want to have a kind of draw that could stole people's attention so they could feel the same thing I feel towards kyudo."
The way her eyes glimmered as she talked about her favorite thing wasn't enough to draw words out of Senku's mouth. It was different from everything he ever witnessed–he interacted with Shinko before; one of the archers of the Kingdom of Science and his unofficial project assistant, then currently he listened to Ogasawara Shinko; the prodigy in kyudo who won countless of competitions, a star that shines so brightly and overshadowing people in the same department.
"It's amazing to know that you did this in every time you draw," Yuzuriha commented with the biggest smile present. "It's breathtaking!"
"And extremely intimidating," Ukyo remarked–even though he's quite calm with his own comment, his teal eyes spoke another thing. Ones who didn't notice pure admiration, pure delight, and the utmost proud shining from those eyes could be considered blind or having pure ignorance of a fool. That's why people called eyes the windows of your soul–almost impossible to conceal everything if your gaze was involved. "You just stole everyone's attention and making it your own stage. It's quite mean, you know?"
Shinko snorted harmlessly and retorted. "I don't know if I should feel honored or pissed from your comment, Ukyo-san."
"Ogasawara Shinko-chan, emerged so suddenly and caused quite a havoc in the world of kyudo." Minami announced, her reporter spirit began taking over. "At the age of 12, you swipe clean all the junior competitions at that time, after that you won the nationals almost every time it being held. A genius, unbeatable and unrivaled by her peers until they dubbed her as a monster because once she aimed, she would never miss."
"I leave it to Minami-chan if you have questions," Shinko laughed merrily while the said reporter puffed her chest pridefully. "She probably knows more than I did at this point."
"Amazing!" Taiju exclaimed, fist pumping firmly. "Your amazingness just amazed me!"
"And your vocabulary also amazed me because it became even weirder." Senku deadpanned, not amused the slightest by his friend's lack of words to express his mind. "But I agree with the big oaf for once."
Despite having an enormous pride to uphold, Senku isn't a fool who would dismiss others' achievements. Acknowledging that there are numerous people who could be worlds above you in terms of talent and other things is categorized as being rational–being astoundingly petty is irrational and Senku despised it.
"I actually heard your name from the news once or twice but never paid attention to it," Nikki held out her hand and grinned. "So, I could vouch that Shinko was famous."
"I actually watched your competition once, [Nickname]-chan. There's an uproar about it, so it's hard to missed." Gen piped up. "And I have to say, your performance is out-worldly."
"You were born for kyudo." Ukyo concluded, scooting over to make room so Shinko could sit back by his side. "Sounds strange, but it described you pretty well. It won't be strange if you breathe kyudo somehow."
"Just like Senku-san being a scientist, right?" His brow rose–Senku never expected to be brought up into this conversation because it's Shinko's time to shine. "Senku-san was born for it. I don't think anyone could be any greater scientist than he does. If it's not for him, humanity is over for good."
Despite the sudden of it, he didn't have any intention to deny–both of them were similar in terms of passion borderline obsession. Senku is a young man who breathes and lives of science while Shinko had her life carved around archery. Still, she was exaggerating her words a little.
"That's right!" Taiju agreed with the sentence whole-heartedly–exclaiming with pure delight similar to a toddler. He was always extremely honest with his feelings since day one along with emphasizing it by being extremely loud. "Both of them are amazing! Super cool!"
Gen chuckled nervously. "Your outward honesty never ceased to amazed me, Taiju-chan."
"I still think Senku-san is more amazing, though," Shinko grinned sheepishly. "And everyone!"
She was correct–Taiju and the rest of the Gorilla Team is the backbone of their intense human labor, Yuzuriha holds the fort of meticulous crafting which produced only the best, Gen mastered the art of human psychology and takes everything he learned to support the Kingdom of Science, Chrome is still a rookie scientist but his knowledge of his surroundings and ideas coming from his mind is on another level, Ukyo is their strategy chief from his previous experience in military, Ryusui leads of their reigning economy and all things involving sails along with relation they could possibly build.
If Senku listed them all one by one it would be an endless explanation–each and every one of completed each other, losing one means crumbling the foundation they have built. No one is considered useless or worthless, everyone has their role in life and utilizing it to the best is also why the Kingdom of Science exist in the first place.
The scientist chuckled in amusement–look at how far they've gotten to.
Sounded sappy, but it was no worries because he kept it to himself.
"Well, that's enough lazing around," grunting as he pushed himself to a stood, Senku announced that their break time is over–his internal clock struck to an accurate two hours. "Let's get things moving."
The scientist ignored Gen's whining something about not enough break for grueling duties, Taiju was already geared up like a well-oiled machine and just straight up sprinting to God-knows-where–however, it didn't need a genius to guess that he'd probably tackled everything involving human labor. Nikki walked after him to lend a hand and also watch over him in case he did something reckless.
Yuzuriha and Minami bid him goodbye–the two went separate way and without a doubt both would tend their own work. Yuzuriha probably approached Kaseki to consult about their crafts while Minami monitored Ryusui to make frequent report for him. Chrome, Suika, and Kohaku skipped their way merrily while Ruri chose to trailed over them in a more relaxed pace.
At first, that leaves Ukyo–although not a minute later he excused himself because he wanted to meet the material quota by the end of the day. Of course, not forgetting to give the girl a pat on the head–the display of affection was even more frequent these days.
"Senku-san, I forgot to tell you that the road maps for several projects are already done," Shinko informed–although the results couldn't yet be seen by him, he understood that they were ready to used and he would find them in the Science Lab. "And according to everyone's in charge, everything's finished by 50%."
"Everything's going to be settled around two days tops," he remarked, pleased with the fast progress they managed to achieve.
Chuckling in amusement, Shinko added. "After that, we will have new projects, right?"
Senku snorted in reply. "Kingdom of Science won't live up its name if we just stay still."
Then, he craned his neck up, letting the joints loosened a bit in faint crackle–a secondary habit he developed rooted from the moment he's been revived. Tsukasa definitely broke it that time and Taiju along with Yuzuriha successfully brought him back to the living with the miracle fluid. The strategy he used to subtly inform the two resulted to something he found himself doing occasionally.
Not that he complained.
Senku decided it was enough reminiscence for today–he refused to waste anymore time and being sentimental where there's mountains of work awaited him. Taking a step forward, the direction he chose was towards the Science Lab.
"What are you standing around for?" it's not hard to notice how Shinko stood still on her spot. The scientist gave her a brief glance. "Let's get to work."
And it's not hard to notice how she perked up from his cue, immediately jogged to walk on the same pace as he was. Her smile was too bright and too eager for someone who would be burdened with another round of tasks.
"Does this mean I've been officially appointed as your assistant?"
"Take it as you like."
All of her work was decent, she finished things efficiently knowing time is precious, she took care of little aspects which didn't require much of his attention but still had it done well. Her adaptation made his work lighter–denying that would crown him as a hypocrite or just plain liar.
And Senku didn't mind her sticking around his side for a little longer.
.
.
Night
Shinko abruptly awaken in the dead of night.
Eyes shot open when her consciousness crashed into her dream–breaking it with a heavy swing and dragged her into reality harshly. There's no trace of scream or anything that could indicate a ruckus–only the pounding of her heart against her chest being extremely loud and painful until she could hear it barraging against her eardrums.
The girl held her gaze upon the straw covered ceiling, staring blankly at nothing as she tried to get her mind into whole–everything felt unreal at the moment, the diminishing blurs between the reality and her dream was a dangerous one. Shinko swallowed heavily, feeling extremely parched even though she made sure to be well-dehydrated at all costs.
Shrugging the blanket made from deer skin silently, she shifted until she could sit down on the make shift bed–trying to be as stealthy as possible in order to not let anyone stir awake.
Not even a soundless sigh yet, steady drips trailing down her cheeks, gathering beneath her chin before staining the material below in spots of darker shade. Shinko's hand rose up, slowly reaching out to her face–her fingers noticed wetness upon her skin.
She was crying.
And it was rather inconsolable even though she didn't feel any ache in her chest–no grief attempting to suffocate her slowly but sure, no terrified feeling clenching like a vice grip and sinking its claws painfully.
There were no sobs, no soft sniffles, no muffled hiccups. She tried her best to wipe it all away but more only came, rendered her attempts to vain. Everything seemed like a fever dream, the haze of sleep still lingering and made her brain numb.
What was she crying for? It couldn't be possibly a nightmare because she was sure she's not awake from the extreme rush of adrenaline pumping in her bloodstream, free of shivering in fright or goosebumps crawled on every inch of her skin. She just dreamt of her family–oh. Oh.
Undoubtedly, that could be the trigger–a quite heavy one at that.
Accompanied with the haze of sleep persistent in clouding, her emotions went haywire–slipped through her control and composure altogether, turning her into a mess of tears. And it seemed like it wouldn't end soon.
Shinko decided that some fresh air was something she desperately needed at the moment. Draping the blanket around her shoulders, she made her way towards the exit as silent as possible–maneuvering over Yuzuriha, Nikki, Minami, and Mirai who were still enjoying their rest for the day.
She didn't expect anyone to be up at this hour–probably around 2 to 3am, with the air bristling cold and without the warmth from the blanket she would shivered violently. However, she couldn't help but to ignore its existence–her attention was fully focused upon the sky above her. Milky Way Galaxy flaunted her beauty every single night of the day and she deserved it–nothing could possibly go against her magnificence as she ruled the night sky, decorating it with millions of twinkling diamonds.
With just a few steps, it led her towards the circle of charcoal and blackened ground surrounded by sitting logs–the place they usually gathered around to cook and eat together. Sitting down sounds good rather than staring off to space while standing.
Inhaling, Shinko could feel the night air and its unwavering coldness helping her in clearing her mind. She stopped crying and found the stickiness from the tear tracks quite uncomfortable–a plan of looking for the nearest spring to wash her face already been settled, she's going to go straight in the morning.
Despite being alone, Shinko couldn't exactly called the night as silent–hundreds of wildlife dwelled in the forest were playing cacophony of nature's symphony. They were crowding in their own way, much like humans in daylight.
And she found solace in it.
Then her ears caught muffled crunching sound of the ground. Shinko found herself stiffened automatically, a dangerous scenario automatically rushed up into her mind–a wild animal? Or animals? If so, she's definitely a screwed one–there's nothing to defend herself as her bow was left behind in the tent-
"What are you doing here?"
Unenthusiastic voice drawled and breaking through the haze of her head. Shinko's shoulders instantly loosened, her mind was immediately at ease because there's no danger to begin with.
Looking over her shoulder, she gave their ultimate scientist a simple smile. "I could ask the same about you, Senku-san."
"Don't dodge the question." Senku deadpanned, clearly not amused with how she's not being straight-forward with her answer. Shinko snorted as a reply–the scientist's displeased for beating around the bush was extremely apparent and he let others knew for clear.
"I just need some fresh air. The tent's became rather too stuffy for my liking." The lie went smoothly rolled off her tongue–for once, she expected Senku to see through it as he was the smartest and sharpest person around.
He did approach her, and then sitting on one of the empty logs–there's no blanket to shield him from the night's biting cold. Maybe he built some sort of immunity towards it.
"…You're crying."
Ah, that's new–especially when it came from him.
"Did you just state the obvious, Senku-san? That's fresh coming from you."
Of course he would take a notice–the sky was bright enough for both of them to study each other even without fire or artificial light from the bulbs, the Milky Way and Moon already done it for them.
He didn't reply this time–no snarky comment or smart comeback for her words. His silence was a tantalizing cue for her to say anything–an open-ended entry for whatever's in her mind.
"…I dreamt about my family." I missed them so much, Shinko wanted to continue but she held her tongue. She didn't have any rights to whine or being fussy about it like a toddler because it wasn't fair for everyone who felt the same. "It's not sad or anything. I don't know why I cried in the first place. Maybe it's because I felt overwhelmed for a moment."
Even if he's in constant nonchalant-looking for this certain topic, no doubt Senku was one of the most empathetic person. There's Byakuya who-
Oh.
If heart could stop the moment something horrifying dawned in a person, then her current situation could be considered as one. It stopped and then dropped into the pit of her stomach.
Oh.
What kind of heartless being she is for reminding him of such sensitive topic?
Shinko didn't need to look in order to know how tight her clutch was around her blanket–her nails probably tear through fabric from how she handled it crudely, her knuckles shifted into pale white from the lack of blood circulating.
"I'm sorry, Senku-san." She whispered, hoping it would somehow reach the said scientist despite being extremely quiet–it probably being drowned in the night's orchestra. "I'm truly sorry, I… I'm sorry that my rant makes your feelings aren't valid–"
"Are you really going to apologize for being honest with your feelings now?" the mentioned young man demanded, ruby eyes boring into her soul with a hint of annoyance in it. "Who in the right mind would do the damn thing?"
She would, undoubtedly. Inconsiderate, the fitting word to describe her being at the moment. Where her and other people lost the modern world and technologies, their families remained frozen in time somewhere in any part of Japan–could be whole or separated to pieces, but if they successfully managed to assemble them in the correct way the rate of survival would sky-rocketed.
It definitely would take up their entire life of search but still have hope in the process.
Unlike them, Senku couldn't afford such luxury. Byakuya and the rest of modern humanity was gone as they built a new civilization from scratch, the last bastion of humanity in a form of last astronauts who managed to return back on earth.
While their heaviest burden was an unsure reunion, Senku's heaviest burden would be eternal separation.
Byakuya and the rest of his team passed away 3,700 years go in old age–leaving them with their descendants which survived the long way through time for one purpose only, to help Senku rebuilt and compressed 2 million years of modernity if he was to revived someday.
Byakuya gave his only son the most important gift, but also the last one.
Yet, here Shinko was–sobbing over a stupid feeling of missing them where she had everyone. The audacity for her to be ungrateful with what she earned.
She gritted her teeth in frustration, fire burning on the corner of her eyes. It stung as she tried to withheld another round of tears threatened to broke. "But–"
"You've been acting like a robot since they one and it pissed me off. Same smile, same attitude, same 'I'm fine'. Copy, paste, and then repeat." Cutting her off, watched in caution as Senku stomped towards her. It didn't even need a minute for his figure tower over her sitting one.
Then his hand reached out, whereas Shinko could only froze on her spot–she might as well as looked dumb, eyes widening as she tried to comprehend Senku's unpredictable action. The scientist snatched her blanket from her shoulders, draping it over her head and tugged in downwards–completely shielding her head from the outside world.
She heard another crunch–her eyes moved slowly to the stare at the ground, noticing a foot and a knee on it. Her sight was blocked, however it wasn't difficult to understand how Senku kneeled down in front of her.
"Stop acting like the world's fine when it's not, Huntress." He stated firmly.
Simple sentence without mercy–straight to the point.
But it successfully tore down anything she had built and maintained for a year long.
Her palms instantly pressed to her face, endless stream of tears now pouring after her dam broke down. Unlike before, she could feel now–anguish, pain, longing, everything. Unlike before, she didn't hold back–pouring everything in torrents in order to gain relief.
And through all the wailings, sobs, and whimpers slicing through the night, Senku never left her side.