29th Shot: Dawn of a Photo Journal
Note: This the last chapter occurred before the Christmas Shot
Kohaku had super eyes for many purposes–and in many events passed, it's proven to be incredibly useful and gave her more advantages than she hoped for.
In the dawn of Stone Wars, she took it as her job to keep an eye on Homura who's constantly scouting the village per Hyoga's order. Even though the gymnast watched from afar and blended into the canopy, Kohaku's 20/1.8 vision successfully sniffed her out more ways to count. During their seemingly endless journey in finding Sagara Oil Field with Ukyo and Chrome, her eyes lead them towards the line of huge waterfalls after the sonarman heard it through his ears. Both she and Shinko confirmed the tiny black smudge on in their aerial photograph as the said field, spiking up their chances in finding it more than a notch.
Of course, it included observing her surroundings down to the smallest thing, catching concrete details on site. There's always something new she found, new information to store inside her head in hope it could become useful in the future. Although some of that information wasn't something truly needed for survival nor attaining a secure spot as a victor in combat. Still, Kohaku absorbed everything she could.
One of them was, as she once mentioned before, Ukyo and Shinko's peculiar unnamed relationship.
There's an apparent difference between them and soon-to-be significant-others swimming their way to the real deal existed in their kingdom. Taiju and Yuzuriha would immediately jump into a more serious level if one of them successfully broke through the boundary. Kohaku definitely handed her bet on Taiju, especially after hearing Senku explained how the brunette always been awake inside his stone prison based on only sheer will of wishing to confess to his high school sweetheart.
Tsukasa dan Minami didn't have any visible progress whatsoever, however it was as clear as day that the reporter held something more than companionship for their Strongest High School Primate. She's also who's the most heartbroken when Tsukasa succumbed to his cold sleep next to Mirai.
Meanwhile, Chrome and Ruri were the main source of frustration that threaten to dye Kohaku's hair white before she reaches her mid-ages. Particularly Chrome–it was beyond Kohaku on how someone could have skull so thick any sorts of affection from both sides just flew by, not even a speck registered through his mind. Although, his obliviousness drove Kohaku towards insanity, she knew all of Chrome's feelings were pure and straightforward–could be seen on how he dedicated his life to research and do everything he could to heal Ruri from her illness.
Kohaku approved Chrome that much, even though she's itching to smack some sense to him every day. Her dearest, sweetest sister was a shy being since day one, but on some days she managed to gather all her courage to deliver her feelings through words–only to have it interrupted at every chance.
Basically, the world was cruel.
Kohaku didn't even have any comment on Hyoga and Homura's side. The pink haired girl crazily respected and admired said white haired man–that's all about it, previous circumstances already announced it loud and clear. She mostly did her work per Hyoga's order even as far as on her way to end both Senku and Tsukasa once and for all. Shuddering, Kohaku decided to not mull about those two along with their bizarre, one-sided 'relationship' even further.
If that thing between them could be considered as a relationship.
Then there's another source of her mixed feelings of confusion and admiration–which was Ukyo and Shinko. So far, both were the closest thing near the term 'significant others'. Extremely near, maybe only at an arm's length at best yet they refused to take a step forward. Stagnant for maybe various unspeakable reasons. As much as Kohaku wished they went passed whatever phase they're currently in, she had no rights to pressure nor force them.
She did try to get a clear answer from Ukyo himself, leading him to contemplate his existence in the end and left her in grey areas. No certainty, and yet somehow, it's incredibly easy for Kohaku to accept it rather than suffering from conflicted feelings. Probably because Ukyo has been treating Shinko, her dear friend, with utmost care and respect–he treasured her more than anything, Kohaku was much content with that. And Shinko was anything but unhappy whenever Ukyo's around–always having this particular glow reserved for the sonarman alone.
She witnessed Shinko went straight to greet Ukyo the moment the team returned to the shore and bringing the biggest haul ever seen by her (Kohaku swore she would've jumped into his arms if they didn't have spectators). Ukyo held her hands the gentlest way possible accompanied by teal eyes glimmered with happiness and relief. He even refilled Shinko's empty plate as she feed Suika, not even batting an eye whilst doing so–extremely domestic it sent Kohaku's stomach churning. In a positive way, of course.
Little gestures which spoke thousands of words.
"There they go again, acting all lovey-dovey with each other." Then, she could hear a certain someone protesting and grumbling under his breath like a child he was.
Instinctively, Kohaku's fist raining down series of hits towards Chrome's head–making the brunette yelped in pain. After a few seconds withering on the ground while holding his bruised head, he snapped his gaze up and directed a glare towards the blonde.
"What's your problem, Kohaku gorilla!?"
"Repeat that again and suffer the consequences."
Her famous smirk added with thick ominous aura was more than enough to render said scientist to shut his loud mouth. Chrome could whine all he wanted if he's not around Kohaku's vicinity. He interrupted Ukyo and Shinko's rather intimate moment of saying goodbye to each other before Sagara Oil Field's initial exploration once and Kohaku would make sure he didn't repeat it again in the future.
"Why can't they just get married already?" Chrome complained with a huff.
Kohaku's eye twitched in annoyance. Even though half of her mind kind of agree, she disagreed with the source of the statement. "I don't want to hear something like that coming from someone like you."
"What did I do wrong!?"
Sighing, the blonde deliberately ignored Chrome who's definitely back to his own world of commenting about public display of affection the two always shown (to be honest, there's no display of affection's going on. The two were just so comfortable with each other until everyone basically felt like interrupting something intimate). That was probably the main reason the two didn't move forward–because Ukyo and Shinko felt too comfortable with what they had to do more.
It was both good and bad, having two different sides of balance. But somehow, Kohaku's instinct was leaning into the bad side. Time kept ticking and of course, some things would change whether you'd hope for it or not. She hoped one of them finally broke the boundaries because if they insisted on going like this;
One of them would surely be hurt.
.
.
Knocking upon the wooden threshold, Shinko announced her arrival. "Pardon for intruding."
"Welcome, my dear!" Ryusui greeted her with brimming energy. She could practically see a certain glow surrounding the peculiar captain even after he worked numerous hours for their model ship. Minami mentioned once that he's an avid collector of bottled ship and Francois told her he spent countless days building ship models with traditional touch in the past.
Without a doubt Ryusui relished the same thrill he once felt as he's given a chance to do the same thing. And maybe the adrenaline pumping in his veins doubled because finally he gained the opportunity to had it built for real. With Senku's accurate and meticulous calculation, they're in for a bigger challenge than their original plan.
"Ohoho, you came, Shinko-chan!" Uncle Kaseki was also there–as their esteemed craftsman with long years of experience, his help was a must.
"I brought refreshments." She gestured towards the tray filled with drinks and some snacks to nibble on her hands. "And Francois-san said I will be needed here."
"Correct indeed!" Ryusui didn't seem to be surprised by her statement, his butler always had knacks for foreseeing certain things. Snapping his fingers, he continued. "We need you to look at this model, right here, and look for abnormalities. We can't have a single flaw."
That's right, they poured it all on this grand project. A future voyage to solve the mystery of humanity's petrification demanded a perfect preparation, they would sail across the ocean into an unknown territory. Gambling on the crew's life wasn't a choice, that's why every aspect was bumped at least ten notches to avoid various risks. A flaw in vehicle and engines must be fixed at all costs.
Placing the tray on a free space upon one of the tables, Shinko stepped closer to the mentioned object. Bewitched could be a better term because she couldn't remove her gaze from the extremely detailed model upon her. The small holes as windows on the body, a whole deck, two big masts with additional ropes and its mapping, a square shaped opening in the middle showcasing the hull inside. Ryusui and Kaseki really outdid themselves with such splendid model.
"This is incredible, Ryusui-san, Kaseki-jii-san." Shinko breathed, drinking every detail it provided. Undoubtedly, they would be set for sail with a ship like this–the first vessel of the new world.
"Thank you, dear! Models are all about tiniest detail and perfection, after all." Kaseki smiled, the endless burning passion for crafts in his aged years never ceased to amazed her. "With Shinko-chan's super sight, we can find any errors a lot faster then we can fix it in no time."
"Of course." She didn't hesitate to accept, if she had any chance to help then she would take it. "Is there a blueprint or sketch for this model? It will be easier to mark and give notes."
"Absolutely!" Ryusui agreed almost instantly. Snatching a certain scroll amongst the others, he unraveled it on an empty table. A thorough drawing of the ship was on it, completed with markings of each part. On the corner, there's the mangaka's signature–it wasn't hard to guess that this thorough piece was made by him. At this point, all the resources Kingdom of Science had connected to one another.
Picking up a charcoal pencil from the stationary set lying around, Shinko unconsciously folded her sleeve for easier movement. "Alright, let's start!"
Laughing boisterously, Ryusui gave her a thumbs-up. "I'll leave it to you, milady!"
There were perks of having super sight, one of them where little things couldn't be seen by normal vision could be easily spotted and just a slight difference became noticeable. Looking for errors was the easiest thing Shinko had done. In a few minutes, circles and short notes began to appear here and there upon the drawing. She tried to make them as short and as clear as possible. Fortunately, they weren't that many and stopped showing until Shinko finished with her insight with a light huff. In the end, Ryusui and Kaseki only needed to correct a few parts from the whole vessel–the work was probably nothing to them.
"If we're done fixing this," The captain eyed the marks with a grin as they didn't need a whole day to finish, maybe just a few hours top. "We can finally start building the ship!"
"Ohoho! Then let's get started!" Kaseki was ready with necessary tools in hand, chest puffing in excitement.
"We shall!" Ryusui agreed wholeheartedly. But before he began, he pulled down his hat, held it close to his chest, and bowed down–a grand gesture reminded Shinko of nobles in western dramas frequently seen in television during modern times. "Excellent job, milady! We're beyond grateful!"
Knowing she contributed a little bit and made their job easier, it's supposed to be her honor instead. Taking the hat from Ryusui's grip, which incurred a confused look being given to her, she placed it back on his head. No one was more suitable of being their captain other than Nanami Ryusui. Giving the him a smile, she remarked, "I'm glad I could be of any help to our captain."
Grinning widely, Ryusui snapped his fingers–probably sounding a bit louder than usual as he glowed in enthusiasm and spirit. Just looking at his personality that of waves crashing and current swirling, the young woman feeling herself being recharged with a newfound passion. "And you 'll always be! After this, we'll disassemble everything and give it to Senku so he can enlarge it!"
"WHAT!? Why would you do that to our precious model!?"
The craftsman was close to tears at the fact they'd have to tear everything apart piece by piece after having it completed.
.
.
"Oooh! You're here, Shinko!" Moving on from Ryusui's heartful yet boisterous greetings, now it was Taiju's–not that she mind though, they're both sweet people born with extra strong vocal cords that could last a lifetime.
Giving the brunette a simple wave and a smile, she greeted back. "Thank you for your hard work, Taiju-san!"
"Bringing all of this is nothing!" He referred to large pieces of wood on the ground–the size and length wasn't a laughing matter if someone else were to brought it, Taiju's bottomless stamina was always incredible. "Do you need to bring something else? I'll do it for you!"
"Thankfully, all the things we need are already here." Ukyo answered, pace aligning with hers as they both approach the little group formed on the other side of the field. Unexpectedly, she bumped onto the sonarman on her journey there to her utmost delight. For this particular test, Senku mentioned they needed a big open space. Fortunately, they didn't need to chop down sets of trees in order to have it as there's still a good amount of empty space on their agriculture field.
"Look at this, Shinko-nee!" Suika's cheerful call could always made someone's day, and Shinko found herself smiling at the call. The little girl was kneeling on the ground, hand holding a pencil connected to some kind of mechanism made out of wood. "This tool is so strange. Whatever I draw, gets replicated over there but waaaaay bigger!"
She's referring to the half-finished drawing doubled in size drawn on the other paper. Whilst Suika traced on the existed simple drawing, the pen attached to the other end followed her movement in precise–in just one go, they had another completed drawing but twice as bigger than the original one. This must be the enlargement device Senku mentioned.
"Yeah… It looks like it got about twice as big!" Chrome commented, watching intently on how the device worked. There was wonder, curiosity, and confusion apparent in his chocolate eyes. "But hardly on the scale we'd need for out actual ship."
Shinko kneeled down near the two and hummed. "I guess this is just the prototype."
"We're getting on the actual one after we know the prototype worked well." Ukyo remarked, placing a hand on her shoulder as he also took a short look.
"We're going to temporarily dissemble Ryusui's model ship, then copy and enlarge it piece by piece." Senku quipped not far away. He's in the middle of tinkering with numerous scattered wooden pieces accompanied by said captain–which were undoubtedly the mentioned pieces of Ryusui's initial model.
"HAHAA! Making a copy machine would be a mere child's play for you Senku, right!?" Ryusui cackled, watching as the scientist sort the pieces into certain groups.
Chuckling in amusement, Senku replied, "Sure, though this one is just a manual one. For the real thing, we'll use a forty-eight times pantograph magnifier. It's gonna need a killer amount of power!"
"Power…?" Gen repeated, face marred with unsure. "Errr, does drawing things need power?"
"It definitely does knowing we have to make it in that size." Shinko laughed nervously, pointing to the large and long wooden planks in the middle of being arranged by Taiju. Standing up, she followed Ukyo to gave the strong brunette some hand. In just a few minutes, Taiju finished assembling the real deal under both Ukyo and Shinko's simplified instruction.
"It's done, Senku!" He announced.
"After all of this, he didn't even break a sweat." The young woman commented, laughing nervously for the second time–watching the two best friends chatted animatedly for further steps. Well, Taiju's the one who's into asking things while Senku answered them all short and simple. She couldn't hear what they're talking about from the distance, but without a doubt Ukyo could.
"This is Taiju we're talking about." Ukyo reminded with a chuckle, patting her back gently–the gesture was something Shinko learned to enjoy. In rather difficult situations, it gave her a little bit of comfort and on usual days like this without any particular moment, it's a nice sign knowing Ukyo was there. "He lifted a log by himself during the first days of construction."
No one could ever forget that–the brunette was basically energy on legs, he already done countless of inhuman things needing of manpower. The main brawn Kingdom of Science had, nobody stood on the same level as Ooki Taiju. Did Shinko forget to mention that he also brought their hot air balloon from the construction site all the way to the field? The wooden pieces he brought after were his second trip.
"Now that the balloon's up, let's get this working." Senku announced. Craning their neck up, their hot air balloon steadily climbing up in the air. With Ryusui's expertise in piloting the vehicle, it stopped at a certain height and floating still.
Everyone immediately went into position; Taiju on the end of the enlargement device while everyone else stood on the sidelines. Senku placed a paper with big sketch upon the wooden pedestal. A firm grip on the lever and flexed of his arm, Taiju began tracing the drawing. Creaking and long grunting of wood could be heard as it moved mirroring the brunette's movement. Digging into the ground, the other end created grooves and formed a clean outline of the drawing. Knowing the device worked perfectly, everybody gasped in awe.
"IT'S HUUUUUGE!" Chrome yelled, amazed by the whole process and its halfway finished product–sparkles of excitement dancing in his eyes.
"What does this pen weight? About 50 kilograms?" Taiju questioned–it was amusing hearing how he called the device as pen in overall. "No problem at all!"
"Looks like we got our power, alright!" Gen chimed, finally understanding Senku's vague explanation about how drawing would need power. If people with normal human power were to did this, it would at least need three or more hands to actually made the device move.
Laughing, Ukyo remarked. "The geoglyphs at Nazca were actually drawn like this, weren't they?"
"So that's how they managed to get a clean straight line and a clear drawing." Shinko commented, eyes studying the device and its results in amazement. "They basically copied the original one! A manual copying indeed!"
Even with civilization not fully developed yet, somehow their ancestors were already a hundred steps ahead in completing and creating the unimaginable things. In certain aspects, they were much more advanced than modern people. That's how civilization worked; perfecting the existing ones, developing similar ones in a more efficient way, and creating new ones to assist many things in life.
"With the blueprints that we've enlarged to actual size, we'll begin to adjust and tweak the ship piece by piece." Senku informed, folding his arms on his chest–looking pleased with the test's success. "This was also an ancient ship-making technique."
With them already tackling two main components for this project, it's only a matter of time for them to actually start building the ship.
.
.
"What are you guys looking at? It seems fun."
Ukyo could hear her before her appearance slowly closing the distance between them. Currently, all of them were huddling around Minami's established work place–a simple structure near the official meeting room with a sign read 'Photo' hanging above the entrance. The place was full with documentary equipment; boxes filled with films lining on the shelves, batteries both sulfur and manganese ones on a different shelve, chemicals for the dark room, and of course several cameras.
The sonarman made a room for her to stand beside him as she took a peek–it's quite a tight space with Ukyo needed to stood sideways, with just a bum they would be pressed onto each other. However, none of them were fazed by the proximity as they're used to it. There's a burst of fondness made itself known in his chest when he saw curiosity alight in her purple eyes. "Minami's showing us the photographs she took."
"A grand adventure in the primitive era to the other side of the earth!" The said reporter announced. If feelings could be projected, there would be bright sparkles floating around the young woman as a result for her excitement. "With this camera Senku made for me, as a reporter, I will make it my duty to record everything along the way to our goal of completing our ship!"
"You're really in your zone, aren't you, Minami-chan." Shinko looked happy seeing her best friend holding her camera in pure delight while doing a little happy dance.
"This is the birth of Kingdom of Science's Photo Journal!" She declared. Soon enough, she placed several freshly printed photos on the table. It held different kinds of occasions in different perspectives. Although all of them were in monochrome scene, having photographs to capture different moments in this stone world were already a luxury.
"Ohohohoo! It's so awesome!" Kaseki praised. The photo that came on the spotlight currently was Ryusui and Kaseki's model building moment, the object itself present in the background big enough to fit into the frame.
"It's got incredible detail to it…!" Kohaku commented, eyes widened in amazement.
"I've moved the cargo hatch to where it belongs, directly beneath the mast!" Ryusui pointed out.
"Aaah, I see!" Senku nodded in understanding, impressed by the captain's thoughts.
"I get it," Ukyo hummed, also caught on with the two's mind. "By using the arm of the mast and attaching a pulley or something of the sort to it, it will make it easy to load and unload cargo!"
"That's brilliant!" Shinko remarked. "I don't know we can use mast for things like that. It's really useful!"
"As expected of out king of sailing, Ryusui-chan." Gen said, glancing at the said young man. "Having him on-site for his opinion is really great~"
"And with the space we save as a result, we'll replace it with what belongs there too." Ryusui snapped his fingers in delight. "A shipdeck Casino!"
"NEVERMIND!" Gen took his words back quickly. As usual, there's always a room for Ryusui's never-ending desire.
"Ooh, look Shinko!" Kohaku's eagerness was hard to miss by Ukyo and the others, immediately stole their attention. Holding a certain photograph in hand and studying it in interest, she soon flipped it so everyone had their chance to see. "You're in the photo!"
And she was right. Shinko became the highlight for it with Ryusui and Kaseki stood by the sidelines as they watched her. Bending on the table while holding a charcoal pencil, a full concentrated look marred her face as she wrote down whatever she had in mind. Ukyo found himself staring at the picture rather intently.
"I am," The mentioned young woman laughed lightly. "I didn't even realize when the photo was taken."
"That was during our model-building!" Ryusui pointed out. "We asked our dear lady over here to look for abnormalities and flaws on the model! With her super sight, everything is done in a flash!"
Chuckling in amusement, Ukyo couldn't help but bumped their shoulders playfully. "I guess you're concentrating so much you don't realize."
In return, Shinko bumped her head lightly onto his shoulder and smiled sheepishly. Ukyo's chest filled with warmth. "Ryusui-san's model has a lot of detail to it, I found myself lost for a moment. In a good way, of course."
"And this is the enlargement device one!" Chrome exclaimed, hand hovering on the said picture he mentioned. It was the short test for the 48x pantograph magnifier a few days ago. Upon the photo, they were seen more as miniatures with comical size against the enormous wooden mechanism. The half-done picture could be seen clearly as it was taken from the hot air balloon–the bird-eye's view was definitely impressive to look at.
"With the model and magnifier on hand, Kingdom of Science can finally move on to the next step!" Senku declared as he dropped a paper scroll onto the table. Unraveling it, the familiar sight of a roadmap for this grand project was present as there was none before.
Clenching his fists in excitement, Chrome breathed in awe. "OOOH! Our roadmap to completing the ship! We've already cleared over half of the panels!"
"The finish line is in sight!" Kohaku remarked, noticing that indeed there were only a few things left to work on and then they're all complete. "What's left that we need!?"
"We need time." Senku answered quickly. Both Chrome and Kohaku immediately jolted upon the statement and it was understandable. Usually, the scientist would list every material they're lacking–that if it's still manageable to human capabilities. However, for this special circumstance, the thing they needed direly was something thoroughly impossible to get. Essentially, time didn't wait for anyone as it was a fickle being having its own separate rules–which they had no choice but to obey. "Not only for the ship hull, but stupidly gigantic steel engine is a slow and straightforward death road."
Ukyo sighed dejectedly. "And once winter hits, our pace will slow."
Shinko blinked in realization after hearing the timeline. "That's right. In just a week or so, winter will be here."
Ryusui harrumphed. "We'll just have to be patient then. And while the pace is slowed, we can get everyone into some winter sports!"
"Eeergh… How many months will this take?" Ginro complained.
"This is our biggest project." Ukyo remarked, his finger thrumming against the wooden surface. "Without a doubt, it will take more than months probably."
"But with our number of people, it will probably be faster." Shinko added, there's confidence in her tone. "At this moment, everyone in Kingdom of Science is working together. We have sufficient manpower."
"We're gonna go where the process takes us." Senku stated, already start fiddling with their new roadmap–adding a few notes here and there. Cackling in amusement, the scientist continued. "With this roadmap of hell, Kingdom of Science will take its first voyage to the other side of the earth! Isn't this exhilarating!?"
"And this is could be my masterpiece journal…!" Minami muttered. The reporter spirit inside her was burning bright and Ukyo could already imagine the series of documentation she would make in the future months. This would be the real birth of stone world's first photo journal.