Amber and Oxygen
AN:
A figure comes in from the darkness. Eyes covered in sunglasses. Adding that mysterious flare…
Twirling into the room before this person strikes a pose in the middle of the room. Then…
In that meme fashion concerning sodium, sprinkles from her hand shiny little thingies, very suavely…
The sprinkly thingies, soon, form words, sentences, paragraphs!
Once the last thingy falls, this person soon twirls away out into the dark corner that says, "Some sort of mental crisis is ongoing… Beware…" "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
AND CUT! Ahem…
Is this being discontinued? Nope, it lives rent free in my head. Currently, still ongoing…. In a loop, might I add. Not gonna spoil you guys anything. But it is in the middle of various character developments in the far future.
Thank you all for your extreme patience!
Anyway, onto the storyyyy!
"Oi, enough. We've got work to do, now that Kuuki's finally here." Senku calls out to the rambunctious members of the Kingdom of Science.
Kuuki breathes out a sigh of relief having been saved from what looked like a hard session of Kohaku's cheek grabbing hands.
"Yosh, now that's Kuuki-chan's here, I'll be off now!" Gen shouts rather happily from beside Kuuki. The mentalist soon takes off to who knows where. He managed to wave a little at the group then totally disappeared from sight before anyone made any effort to stop him.
Following his lead, from the black haired girl's other side, Ginrou dashes after the modern timer's trail with excuses of being a contributing member as the one of the village guards of their Ishigami village. Totally a huge fabrication… A brief look at the sky would tell anyone that it wasn't even close to the time in the day of the blonde's guard daily shift.
Kinrou himself could only facepalm at his younger brother's antics. "That Ginrou…" The bespectacled spearman mumbles embarrassingly.
Surprisingly, no one from the Kingdom stops any of the clear runaways. Not even the two craftsmen who roped in the help of those two who were so eager to get out of the hard work. Not that they were of any help, now that…
The newly arrived Kuuki merely blinks at the smooth and quick exit of the two. She could only wonder why no one even attempted to stop them. Ehh…
"Let them be." Senku answers the questioning glance the black haired girl had at the literal dust the two had left behind.
This was the cue that pushed everyone to go about their own duties. The crafts team led by Senku
Before leaving for their own duties, the two little girls, Suika and Namari waved goodbye to the two older girls. Then off they went running along to their circle of golden wire twirling.
"Oh-ho, come on now, Kuuki. We've got some important things to make." Kaseki calls out to the girl, making his way over to the furnace. In his path, the old craftsman picks up an iron tube they used for glassblowing.
"Yosh! We can finally make better progress with Kuuki!" Chrome supplies from right beside the old man, picking up the dozen glasses they made earlier that weren't worth keeping.
"Kukuku, there's no rush, we're ahead of schedule anyway." Senku quips in.
Finally? Ahead? She blinks momentarily upon realizing the implication of the words that were exchanged between the crafts team. Or was she just overthinking it? Did they not do any work earlier?
The girl glances up at her best friend, only to see Kohaku's green orbs pierce her with a glare that tells her.
You and I are gonna talk. Later.
Her blonde friend soon turns away to attend to her own duties.
Kuuki could only shiver in her warm blanket slash cocoon. She silently prays, against all odds, that she misunderstood Kohaku's meaning. She doubts it but one can hope, right…?
Not long after, the black haired girl soon got distracted by the messy work area as she shed the warm blanket that kept her from the cold air. She concludes after looking around that they had done work. However, for some reason, there were quite a lot of rejects being picked up by Chrome.
Did they play around all morning…?
Senku then handed her a piece of leather. Kuuki tucks some stray hair to her left ear as she studies the sketch.
In the leather was some sort of sketch vastly different from the hundred light bulbs they had made. Comparing the image to the glass lying around they weren't up to par.
Was this what made Gen and Ginrou run away? The girl wonders. A frown shows up on her brows while her eyes scan the piece.
It looked like a delicate set up of vertical glasswork. But very simple in design. She had a feeling Chrome and Kaseki could very well make this on their own without her. Were they waiting for her? She wonders. A warm feeling bubbles up in her chest, firing up her spirit to make this with the team!
The glass work they needed was certainly intended for some sort of use, right? Kuuki had every intention of asking the modern scientist about it when they finished that evening. She fully focused on the task at hand that whole afternoon. Her dilemma from last night and that morning soon were fading at the back of her mind.
Alas, our selectively mute heroine had to return to reality at some point. A reality wherein she had fully forgotten to share certain information with her dearest and bestest friend. A fact she was not even aware of at this point in time.
When the sun had set, all science operations had to stop. Visibility was always a problem at this point. Not everyone was willing to continue any further. Not only that but also, it had become too cold to continue any further.
Even when they could only finish one part of the glasswork, they had to pause. Despite all that, Kuuki had wanted to stay a bit more in order to admire the simple but arduous to do transparent structure. However, was not given a chance to fully take it in or even question its use, as Kohaku drags her away from the Kingdom of Science without a word.
"So, I heard you…"
A female voice starts speaking inside a certain tiny hut in the Ishigami village.
"...my dearest and bestest friend in this whole village, no, in this whole and wide world, has not been telling me something of great importance, hm?" Kohaku inquires quite cheerfully with a smile on her face. That doesn't reach her eyes…
Totally, not threatening, at all. Kuuki thought, sitting before the blonde in a very formal way. Her back straight, legs folded under her thighs, buttocks on her heels , her hands on her lap. In short, she was sitting in a seiza-style with her head hung. (AN: Seiza is the traditional Japanese formal sitting style!)
In the face of this very formal way of sitting before the black haired girl, Kohaku was lying on her stomach in her dearest and bestest friend's bedding. Her strong arms propped up to support her head. Her feet were up in the air, swaying back and forth.
Kuuki feels sweat run by her temple.
Her friend was the very image of nonchalance… If not for a pulsing vein on the blonde's temple. Not to mention, that very threatening aura oozing out behind Kohaku's back. Hiie…
The black haired girl knew this was going to happen when Kohaku dragged her off this evening. As soon as the work was done in the Kingdom of Science, one look at her blonde friend was all it took to remind her of the other's message that they needed to talk. Even if she was unaware of the reason, at the time…
Not even Suika, nor Namari, could save Kuuki. She was led by the hand away from the group by what was clearly a fuming blond female warrior. There was just no stopping Kohaku.
Not even Chrome had a chance to comment…
The black haired girl could only shift in her uncomfortable sitting position as her legs were beginning to cramp. But still she persisted on, knowing full well, she did something wrong. She had already prepared herself to receive a scolding from her friend.
"I've heard that you, a very delicate and very shy maiden, have been going somewhere where wolves lurk." Kohaku quips quite cheerily at her.
Ahh… Her eyes widened in realization at her friend's words.
Kuuki could only look down at her hands on her cramping lap and mumble out an apology. Trying to force her voice to come out of her throat. "G-gomen, Kohaku. I–"
Her companion interrupts her.
"Hm? I believe I've heard that so many times now, I'm beginning to not believe it…" Kohaku props her hands on the ground to lift herself up just to stare at her friend. Immediately the smile disappears as her green orbs pierced Kuuki's face very menacingly.
Having nothing to say and knowing full well that she was in the wrong, Kuuki can only further hang her head in shame. She doesn't blame anyone but herself for forgetting honestly. She never thought a day would ever come when she would pray that Kohaku just squish her cheeks…
Silence hangs between the two of them. Ahh.. This was even worse off. Kuuki could feel herself tearing up, she's using all her willpower not to let the waterworks fall. She just couldn't look her friend in the eye. The black haired girl hears her friend sigh.
Kohaku mumbles into the silence. "Why didn't you tell me…"
The sight of her friend folding into herself, caused the anger Kohaku felt to finally dissipate. An anger that had burned all day when she had found out about Kuuki's nightly adventure. Not wanting to cause a scene in front of everyone, she kept herself in check.
Also, this was Kuuki she was angry at… Kohaku had to think of a way to thread this delicately. There were a lot of things going on that they had never dealt with before.
The blonde can barely explain where the indignation at her friend came from.
.
.
.
Who was she angry at again?
Kohaku knew that beforehand the implication of introducing her friend to the Kingdom of Science. Heck, it was clear to her that Kuuki had joined in on the gang, the black haired girl's friend group would grow!
.
.
.
Even if she had to share her friend with others.
She knew that!
She wanted her friend to come out of her shell. She had wanted more people to know how great of a person Kuuki was. How nice it was to have the black haired girl as a friend!
.
.
.
Even if they barely had time for each other. Still…
She knew all that!
And Kuuki was already getting along so well with everyone else, especially the Crafts Team. She even made friends with Namari, all on her own!
.
.
.
She should be beaming with pride…
…right?
.
.
.
So…
where was all this negativity coming from?
.
.
.
An image of Kuuki with Namari and Suika flashes across her vision. It was a sight that greeted her a few nights back.
A sight that seems to burn her chest
right now.
That night, on the floor of a tiny hut, her black haired friend sat on the floor, drawing cute little things to communicate with the two little girls, sitting beside her. Her friend's way to talk to the other without a modern timer to read aloud. She could hear giggling from girls on both sides of her friend.
This should have been a sight to be happy and celebrated about!
Just an hour before Kohaku had declared she was coming over. Wanting to join, the two little girls speak up, asking to tag along. Heck, even Ruri had been able to tag along for an overnight stay once in a while.
The more the merrier…
…right?
So, why was there this nagging, negative feeling that she had trouble keeping at the back of her mind. It continues to pester her. An ugly thing she had managed to keep by the bay. Now threatening to consume her.
Everything has been going so well.
"...Kuuki's been coming over at night…"
The thing that threw her off.
Something snapped as she remembered those words… Words that were so carelessly uttered by Chrome. Now, it all came to the forefront when Kohaku found out that her friend had been hiding something from her.
Like a tree branch she was standing so securely on suddenly wasn't so sturdy, afterall.
A thought suddenly came up…
Maybe, she was just feeling left out from her friend's life.
A thought that never once landed on her mind.
Her place in Kuuki's heart was changing.
.
.
.
She didn't think it would ever happen. They've been together for so long.
.
.
.
This was her best friend!
.
.
.
Was?
She didn't like that thought.
.
.
.
No, she loathes it…. Soon, a familiar feeling of helplessness consumes her.
"Kohaku, it's not like that!"
Suddenly, Kohaku was back into a familiar hut. She didn't realize that she had said everything out loud. Not until she felt hands on her shoulders and she could hear Kuuki's desperate voice pleading. She didn't even realize she had wrapped her arms around her, folding into herself…
"I'm sorry, Kohaku! I didn't mean to not tell you. I, I forgot to mention, We've been so busy lately, I, I…"
Kuuki was losing the words that would, could explain. Struggling with her words. What started as a loud voice by her friend's standard started losing volume.
That shouldn't have to happen, her best friend should
have no problem talking to her.
"I, I'm sorry I hurt you. I made you think that way. I'm sorry."
Her friend was clearly trying her best to explain. Unnecessarily, trying to find the words to tell in the best way possible. There was such an honesty that the blonde could recognize from her friend's eyes.
She didn't even have to understand the words.
Kohaku knew her best after all.
But…There was something different. She wanted to believe in her friend.
She really did.
A lot of things had started changing.
Wasn't she always happy to embrace changes?
"It won't happen again, I promise!"
She was trying to believe… she was starting to believe her friend's rumbling.
"Kohaku, Kuuki. Please don't fight." Suika's voice stops her in her tracks.
.
.
.
The gravity of the situation fully sinks in her mind, pushing her to remember. She yelled at Kuuki. Something comes crashing down, the idea of pushing away her dearest friend frightens her.
The fear of losing Kuuki.
.
.
.
That familiar fear consumes her once again.
.
.
.
That was it, wasn't it.
.
.
.
She was losing her childhood best friend…
…all over…
…again.
Kohaku abruptly stands up, surprising the other two. The blonde started rambling, making excuses to Suika. One thought now consumes her. "I-it's nothing Suika. We were just playing around."
Then, to Kuuki who she couldn't look at. Not right now. "S-sorry Kuuki, I might not be able to stay the night. I-i gotta go somewhere."
Guilt
Shame
Anxiety
Those feelings soon build up inside of her right now.
The blonde wanted to get away. She had come on too strong, spouting nonsense, insulting their friendship.
.
.
.
Anymore and she could be losing Kuuki. Anything but that.
.
.
.
Kohaku just had to get away…. And she did.
"Kohaku…" Kuuki whispers after the blonde, drowned out by the noise of her stumbling. In trying to run after Kohaku, the girl almost face planted on the ground because of the tingling on her legs. Of all the…
She saved herself, just barely, with one hand on the ground while her other hand was trying to reach out after her friend who just left.
The black haired girl hears Suika asking her "Kuuki, are you okay?" Inquiring after her stumble. Too shocked to say anything else.
The older girl could only comfort the little girl with a sigh.
"It's okay, Suika."
Kohaku's hurt, because of me.
"Nee, did something happen after I left yesterday?" A dual haired modern timer helplessly asks his fellow modern timer.
"Saa…" The modern scientist answers, truly having no real idea. His red orbs reading his plans for the future on his leather blueprints. A frown was present on his face.
Gen could only eye the two best of friends with Suika in between the two, with a sweat drop on his temple.
Right in front of the Kingdom of Science, was a sight no one had ever thought to witness. Not in ten billion years, to be honest. Kuuki leading their little group as they came in, a sight that had already caught everyone's eye.
Kohaku was looking everywhere but at anyone, content to just hang at the back of the group. At any time when the black haired girl moved, the blonde jumps in surprise before taking obvious measures to move or step back.
The mentalist could only conclude that indeed something had occurred.
AN: Winter? What is Winter? Who is Winter? Why is Winter? Let's all just give up on Winter at this point
The struggle was real. I don't know what came over me, but I wanted to write an intense scene… I don't… even know why this came up but yeah this was planned. I had an outline of this and everything. I still wasn't prepared to write it…
Also I lost my momentum back in May. Didn't realize how weekly writing helped me write faster and be less of a perfectionist. Words couldn't come out right so I was avoiding adding anything, procrastinating basically. Until months had passed and real life got in the way. A lot happened aside from what was mentioned in the last chapter. I had some things going on. A few things didn't not quite go so well. Coping much better now. So, all good now!
Anyway!
Thank you all for your reviews and comments on this fic even though it wasn't updated. I could see them and get guilty that I wasn't updating. But I had to take a rest. Very thankful to everyone for their patience! Hopefully, I'll get back on track again and will update again sooner.
Thank you all for reading!
Let me know if you hate the formatting I was going for something dramatic. If it causes a headache, let me know so I can fix it!
wiki/Seiza
wiki/Sprengel_pump
blogs/fear-of-losing-someone-you-love
.edu/amber-quality-factor
/usgs/amber/
Sneak peak:
The color of amber darkens through oxidation over time. Yellow or orange amber can gradually darken to reddish brown and eventually turn to black.
Quality of air during ancient times has been studied through the air bubbles trapped in fossilized tree resins – amber.
Next chapter - Kohaku and Kuuki