Kohaku kept an eye out for Matsukaze. He'd gotten a lead, but he'd also been wounded, so it was just a matter of time. It was foggy, though, and rainy. What a dreary little planet.

Then she saw smoke and told the helmsman to veer towards it, then sent down the message that she saw an object of interest—in this case, a recently crashed ship. Looks like Matsukaze hadn't made it far after all.

Sure enough, it was his ship they found. Tsukasa searched the ship and didn't find anything, emerging with a scowl. "Find him," he commanded, then muttered to himself, "no one steals from me."

Kohaku scampered off rather than listen to the captain of their crew start waxing about the state of the galaxy, how no one was reliable these days.

As if they weren't pirates. As if most of the crew wasn't with Tsukasa because they were scared of him and he held something over them, as if most of them wouldn't flee if they could.

Maybe some people liked the havoc and mayhem being a pirate involved. Kohaku had no other way to get the kind of money her sister needed for medicine…although they hadn't exactly been making bank these past few weeks.

If they found Matsukaze, though, that would change. Maybe they'd actually have a chance.

Magma and Yo were the ones to track the escaped man to a local building and sent a message back for the others to join them. Kohaku tried to hurry once she saw who the message was from—those two goons always managed to ruin everything.

Sure enough, the building was on fire once they got to it. She slowed and rolled her eyes. Again? It was the third time with month! How did they even manage this?

There was a creak and a sign fell off the front. '—- -amily Inn,' the sign read, half-burnt, and Kohaku frowned. An inn. Maybe it had been a safehouse or disguised waypoint.

But it sure seemed like a normal inn, now burnt. She could see one woman absolutely distraught as she watched the fire burn the building and Kohaku felt something cold and heavy settle in her gut.

It was for her sister. Her sister needed support, and these people could always rebuild.

A man her age wrapped his arms around the older woman, the similarities between the two obvious. A son, maybe. They watched the fire together, both of them not seeming to know what to do.

A carriage drove up and a white-haired man called over the two, then drove them away from the fire before any more members of Kohaku's crew could show up.

She didn't tell Tsukasa that she'd seen the people. He was in a foul mood and those people had suffered enough.

It was only after he'd gotten angry at all their incompetence in general that she remembered they were supposed to be looking for a map. Surely those people didn't have it, though. Why would Matsukaze give it away?

But Matsukaze's body didn't have the map.

Tsukasa paced around. "Whoever has the map would never miss out on a chance to travel there. So we'll advertise ourselves as a cheap crew. Anyone with brains wouldn't hire us…but some poor desperate fool will."

Kohaku was supposed to keep an eye on Senku. Tsukasa said he was a corrupt inventor, someone who made whatever people with money told him to make. Kohaku was supposed to see if there was a way to convince him to be part of the crew—he was smart, at least when it came to science.

He was also incredibly annoying.

"Lioness," he called, "come here."

She growled. If it weren't for the treasure map, she would have nothing to do with this infuriating man. But Tsukasa was convinced that the two men that had hired them as a crew had the map. And so was she. These were the men she'd seen that night. Coincidence? No. But maybe it would have been kinder to give them up then.

With a push of her legs, she flipped up and over to land in front of him. He just smirked that stupid smirk and said, "Yes, yes, very impressive. But get excited! You're going to help me invent something!"

Ah, finally! Tsukasa wanted her to see who Senku was working for. Maybe this would be the clue she needed. But why had he waited so long to start his work? Had they been too close to civilization? How shady was this project?!

He had her grab some rope and extra brackets, which he carried while he told her to grab some beams of wood. Then he trekked down to the engine room. She was extremely sceptical—was he going to boost the engine somehow?

The engine room was hot, as always, and there was Kaseki, working with Chrome, the other man who had commissioned the boat and crew.

"Oh ho, Senku!" Kaseki called, wiping his forehead. "What're you up to now?"

Senku cackled. "You're ten billion percent going to love it, old man!" Then he told Kohaku to grab some mechanical parts from the room he shared with Chrome while he started working in the engine room.

She was a bit surprised he trusted her to go to his room, but off she went. Would she get to snoop a little bit? She doubted the map would just be sitting out and about, but she might get lucky.

The parts were laid out on one of the beds, the one that belonged to Senku going by the mess around it. There was a letter-playing device on the nightstand/dresser She quickly turned it on.

She was expecting orders from a business partner or something, with instructions and requests. She didn't expect the small video clip of an older man scooping up a little girl and kissing her cheek, nor the cycle of images of a big family from what seemed to be a very old home on a planet Kohaku didn't know. There was also a beautiful blonde woman, laugh lines creasing the skin around her eyes and mouth, and what looked to be an army of children, some of them obviously not biologically related to the adults. They were happy. Certainly not well-off, but happy.

Then a recorded message. The older man sat in an old armchair and smiled. "Hi, Senku! Good to hear from you as always!"

"Good job, big brother!" cried a little voice.

A tiny child tried to clamber onto the old man's lap. "Yeah, yeah! Do lotsa science! Love you!"

The old man laughed and lifted the child to kiss their cheek. "As you can see, we're all cheering for you! Everyone loves all the equipment you sent!"

"It's so cool!" called another voice. "Do you really work with that stuff all the time?"

"Of course he does, don't ask stupid questions!" said another voice and then there were sounds of a scuffle.

"Children," scolded the old man, and the two perpetrators stopped and grumbled apologies. The old man shook his head. "As you can see, everything is business as usual here."

"Take lotsa pictures!" called the little child on the old man's lap, now wiggling in excitement. "You're finding a planet, right? Take pictures! Show us!"

"Byakuya!" sang a woman's voice. "Help, please!"

The old man—Byakuya, maybe—stood. "Duty calls. Good luck, Senku! We're all so proud of you!"

"Love you, big brother!" said the child, waving frantically.

Another kid ran into view, grabbing Byakuya's arm. "He hates being called that!"

"No! He loves it! He told me!"

"Liar!"

"Am not!"

Byakuya smiled and shook his head, and the video cut off.

Kohaku swallowed. That had been a recent letter. She quickly grabbed the items on the bed and hurried down to the engine room.

"Ah, lioness, get lost?" Senku said with a smirk.

"I…bumped the letter-player on your nightstand," she said, not wanting to deceive him. (Why did she care?)

He paused for only a moment. "Ah, saw my old man, huh?"

"Yes. And…lots of kids."

He snorted. "Yeah. Byakuya runs a school and orphanage, although he adopts every orphan, so I'm not sure it counts." He gestured for one of the devices and Kohaku handed it over. "Such a hassle."

But those kids had obviously adored Senku. Their big brother, a doting brother. He sent letters often. He sent gifts.

Based on Tsukasa's description, Senku should've been some kind of recluse or snob, uncaring of people. The best clothes and materials. Only working on profitable things.

Senku's coat was practically rags. So were his boots, scuffed and worn. His tools were worn down and well-used and could reasonably be replaced. Nothing in the room he shared with Chrome has seemed fancy or snobby. He wasn't afraid of work, even if he physically wasn't that strong.

If he was so rich, where was that money going?

To equipment sent to a struggling school, maybe? To his family back home?

She didn't know what he was building and just held things in place for him, watching him work.

Then he stepped back and flipped a switch—and she realized he'd made an open, cooled shelter.

"There you go, old man," Senku said. "You don't need to leave your post and you can stay cool." Then he cackled. "We'd be in trouble if you kicked the bucket and we were left with Chrome to keep this engine running!"

Chrome immediately protested his usefulness, which Senku mocked.

Kohaku saw a tear disappear into Kaseki's beard.

Of course, she knew something Senku didn't. Tsukasa kept Kaseki in the engine room to sap his strength with the heat—the old man had a manacle that alerted their crew leader if Kaseki left the room or tried to remove the device.

She trembled. Why was she okay with that kind of treatment? She wasn't, so why had she turned a blind eye for so long? She saw the cot Kaseki used and grabbed it, hauling it over to the cooled space. The old man settled on it gratefully, just sitting and breathing in the regulated temperature.

And Senku laughed and teased Chrome, and then he was leaving. "Coming, lioness?" He was smirking. It was so annoying.

Kohaku felt her heart skip a beat. "Yeah. And I'm not a lioness!"

She'd been tasked to convince Senku to join Tsukasa, but it seemed he'd convinced her instead.

And he hadn't even been trying.