Chapter 5 - The Dilemma
The water was frigid and had Senku chilled to the bone. He needed to get back on dry land, and quickly, before he was sapped of all his body heat and suffered from hypothermia. Despite being a mess of shivers and chattering teeth, Senku was able to swim back to shore in a matter of minutes.
He pulled himself out of the water and circled back to the dock to retrieve his cell phone before heading back to the guesthouse for a hot bath. With any luck, he could avoid catching pneumonia, although he wasn't holding out even a millimeter of hope for such a miracle.
As he made his way back, he crossed paths with Byakuya and Lillian, who had finally decided to join the party.
"Senku? What happened to..."
"Don't ask," he warned irritably, stomping up to the two of them.
"Oh, my... Senku, yer soakin' wet!" Lillian cried upon noticing how Senku's hair was down, sticking to his face, and dripping water like crazy. Her expression was riddled with genuine concern for his well-being.
"C'mere, let's get ya inside and warm ya up before ya catch yer death of cold out here."
Taking Senku by the arm, Lillian led him inside and immediately helped him out of his coat, which was drenched and left puddles of seawater at the entrance. Once she hung his coat out to dry, she directed him to the bathroom.
"Alright, now. You go ahead and take a nice hot bath, and I'll go ask the hostess to make ya some hot tea. That should warm ya right up," she stated, before scurrying off.
It was odd having someone cater to him in this way, but he didn't argue with her. And even though he already had every intention of taking a hot bath and didn't need to be told to do so, it was still somehow comforting to hear. It was a strange feeling, for sure, but he chose to shrug it off and put his health first. So, he disappeared into the bathroom and got the hot water running as he changed out of his wet clothes.
While Lillian was running around looking for the hostess, Byakuya had come back inside and made the unfortunate mistake of not watching where he was going.
"Wha-wa- whoa!" Byakuya cried as he came crashing down onto the floor, face-first.
"OOF!" He landed with a loud thud.
In response to his groan of pain, he heard a high-pitched meow that caught his attention and made him lift his face off the floor. In doing so, he was welcomed by Lillian's kitten, who had witnessed his fall and came over to investigate. The kitten got up close and personal with him and began licking him on the cheek.
At that very moment, Lillian walked past the entrance corridor to find Byakuya together with the kitten.
"Oh, for the love a... Would ya quit messin' around? Yer son needs to be taken care of, and here ya are playin'. Would ya grow up?" Lillian reproached before marching off.
"Who's playing? I just slipped and fell by accident," he tried to defend himself, getting onto all fours. "AND I'M FINE, THANKS FOR ASKING!" he shouted after her, rubbing his achy nose.
Then, he heard another meow and looked down at the kitten, who was now circling his arm and nuzzling up against him. He got into a seated position and brought the kitten into his lap.
"Well, at least someone cares enough to check on me. You're a thoughtful little one, aren't you?" The kitten answered with another meow, earning a petting from Byakuya.
After a few seconds of this, he finally rose to his feet and went back up to their guest room to get Senku a dry change of clothes. He popped his head inside and found Kohaku curled up in the corner of the room looking rather dejected. It seems she hadn't moved from there since he and Lillian decided to go outside and check up on Senku.
As he watched her sitting there, hugging her knees, he had to wonder what could've possibly taken place in the brief time that she and Senku were alone together to make her so dispirited. Unfortunately, when asked, Kohaku hadn't been very forthcoming about what had happened. So, all he could surmise was that one of their experiments must've backfired, resulting in Senku falling into the water and Kohaku magically teleporting back inside—which was a whole other mystery on its own.
It had been the strangest thing. He and Lillian had just gotten done eating when all of a sudden, Kohaku appeared before them, out of thin air. Needless to say, they were both startled by her sudden appearance. They had asked her if this was one of her abilities, but she denied it and claimed that this had never happened to her before. One moment she was outside, and the next she was inside, clueless as to how she had gotten there. When asked what she was doing just before then, she became visibly anxious and clammed up. This only raised even more questions, but after noting how uncomfortable she was, Lillian had insisted that they leave her in peace for the time being.
Now, here they were again, face-to-face, and Byakuya still wanted answers. So, he thought he'd try his luck once more.
"He fell into the ocean, you know," he announced out of the blue, setting the kitten onto the floor.
He studied her reaction carefully, wondering whether she already knew this fact or not. He noticed how her eyes shot in his direction, her expression growing curious. Knowing he had gotten her attention, he decided to pile on.
"That's right. He was soaked from head to toe. Any idea how that could've happened?" he asked, hoping that'd be enough to get her to start talking.
She was quiet for a moment before finally speaking up. "He must've fallen out of the boat after..." she paused for a second, too ashamed to admit that he had pushed her away, her expression becoming somber and her gaze turning downcast as a result. "... after I vanished," she opted to say instead.
Byakuya noted her reluctance and discerned that the events leading up to her little vanishing act were a sensitive topic. That being the case, he decided to take the conversation in a different direction and then circle back to this later.
"A boat, ay? I take it that means you two made it onto the water? That's good news, isn't it? It means your experiment was a success. So, why the long face?" he inquired. "You don't look very happy for someone who just had their wish fulfilled after a hundred years."
Kohaku knew he was right, but she was currently too conflicted to relish in the significant progress they had made.
"While it's true that I was able to leave the island for the very first time, we only managed to advance the boat a few meters. Senku didn't have enough strength to truly test the limits of this new range. So, I..." she hesitated once again, but only for an instant. "I offered to take over rowing, but the boat flipped over after we tried to switch places."
"I see. But, wait... I thought you weren't there when the boat turned over." Byakuya commented, immediately catching the flaw in the story she was trying to spin. "If what you're saying were true, then you should've also gotten wet."
Kohaku blushed, embarrassed that she'd been caught in a lie. "Well... it's related to switching places. Who cares about the details? The point is, we didn't get far enough to confirm, without a doubt, that I really can leave the island."
"Well, who's to say you can't? You left the island, didn't you? Isn't that proof enough?" he proposed, trying his best to be encouraging.
"That's wishful thinking. What if I can only travel out a full kilometer? I'd be stranded in the ocean with no choice but to turn back. Not to mention the fact that I suddenly ended up back on dry land without any explanation. What if I keep trying and the result is the same? What would be the point in that case? I might as well just give in to my fate."
Byakuya found her reaction rather interesting and couldn't help but question her drastic change in demeanor.
"What kind of attitude is that? You were so gung-ho before all this. Now, you're not even willing to give it another try? I thought you were determined to get out of here at any cost."
His declaration hit her hard. He had a point. It wasn't like her to give up so easily, but she was simply feeling far too beaten down and broken to remain hopeful. It felt as if all her drive and motivation had been sapped away, and she wasn't sure why. Unable to justify herself, she wallowed silently in self-pity, casting her gaze to the floor once more.
Byakuya could tell instantly that she was on the verge of shutting down. Knowing he needed to act fast, he resorted to playing dirty.
"Kohaku, I know there's something you're not telling me. And if you don't spit it out, I'll just get the whole story out of Senku, so you might as well tell me yourself."
Kohaku knew she was cornered. She sighed in resignation before looking Byakuya in the eyes.
"Alright, fine. Just before I disappeared, our boat was hit by a wave, and Senku and I were forced to hold onto one another for support. It was incredibly awkward, but when I read Senku's mind..."
"YOU CAN READ MINDS?!" He shouted in surprise.
"...yes, but..."
"Can you read my mind?" he interrupted again.
"...no, I can only..."
"Quick, tell me what number I'm thinking of," he ordered, intrigued by this newfound revelation.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT NUMBER YOU'RE THINKING OF!" she yelled in response, growing tired of the constant interruptions. "Like I've been trying to tell you, I can only read the minds of those who offer a prayer or make a wish at my shrine. YOU did neither. Now, do you want to know the whole story, or don't you?"
"Of course I do! Tell me everything."
"Well... Senku made it painfully obvious that he hates me. He agonized over how horrible it was to have to be so close to me, and he pushed me away the first chance he got. It was downright humiliating. Then, the next thing I knew, I was back here with you and Lillian."
"Hmm... well, that just sounds like typical behavior from Senku," Byakuya stated matter-of-factly. "I'm sure you've noticed by now, but he's not exactly the touchy-feely type. He can't stand being touched by other people. And he especially hates hugs. I wouldn't take it personally."
"Really?"
"Absolutely. In fact, that brat wouldn't even welcome me home after we spent an entire six months without seeing each other. And I'm his father!"
This admission helped to quell her feelings somewhat. However, a bit of sorrow still lingered on. But regardless of her feelings, she still wanted to continue pursuing her goal. If it was just in his nature to be a detestable scumbag, then she could try to overlook this if it meant receiving his help.
"So... how is Senku?" she finally allowed herself to ask now that she'd decided to forgive him.
"He's back inside now, but chances are he'll get a nasty cold after that. Or maybe worse."
Kohaku looked genuinely alarmed by this. Byakuya took notice of her concern and smiled to himself, hatching a scheme.
"Yep, I wouldn't want to be him right now," he added. He stayed quiet after that and waited to see what she'd do next.
Kohaku's eyes followed him and watched as he turned his back to her and began rummaging through Senku's backpack. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to say anything further, Kohaku prodded him for more information.
"Will... will he be okay?"
Byakuya smiled triumphantly when she took the bait. It was becoming increasingly obvious that in the short time that she'd known him, Kohaku had grown quite attached to Senku and was genuinely worried about him. So, he decided to toy with her a little bit and play up the situation to get her to act on her emotions.
"Well, Senku wasn't looking too good, and he's always been susceptible to the cold. I wouldn't be surprised if he came down with pneumonia. And if that happens, it'll be bad news for him. After all, we're on this tiny island, hours away from the nearest hospital. We'll have to catch the next ferry out of here, and that'll mean the end of any more experiments."
"Then again, that could be exactly what he's after. Maybe this is all just part of some grand scheme to cut this trip short. After all, when we first arrived, he was looking for any excuse to get out of here as soon as possible. Now it seems he may have just found the answer. In which case, you better hope he doesn't get sick."
Kohaku's eyes widened in shock. She didn't like what he was suggesting one bit. In a sudden bout of anxiety, Kohaku rose to her feet, grabbed the clothes right out of Byakuya's hands, and charged out of the room with a great deal of urgency.
There was no way in hell that she would let this opportunity slip away so easily. She had come too far to quit now.
...
Back in the bathroom, Senku sat in the tub, reflecting on all the events that had taken place, trying to determine where things went wrong.
—Alright, so everything was going fine until we decided to switch places. We were...— The memory of Kohaku stumbling into his grasp flashed in his mind, interrupting his train of thought. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
—We were hit by a wave and...— This time the memory of them holding each other popped into his head. He grunted at this, clapped his hands over his eyes, and ran his hands down his face.
Despite his efforts to get to the bottom of Kohaku's sudden disappearance, he found himself continually fixating on trivial things, which made him grow increasingly frustrated.
—Ugh... why did that damn wave have to come along and set us off balance? If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have been put in such an awkward situation.—
He then recalled the look of anguish on Kohaku's face after he pushed her away and grimaced to himself. It was as if he had committed a heinous betrayal, and no matter how much he tried to rationalize to himself that he had done nothing wrong, something about the whole situation rubbed him the wrong way.
—Dammit all. Why do I feel so uneasy? Who cares if the lioness heard what I was thinking? I've ALWAYS been averse to physical contact, so why should this time have been any different? It's ten billion percent guaranteed that I would've reacted the same way if it were anyone else. So, if the fact that I rejected her touch and pushed her away upset her, that's HER problem. There's no reason for her to believe that I WOULDN'T reject her, so there's no reason for me to feel guilty.— he argued mentally, trying a little too hard to convince himself.
And that's when it hit him... that unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach was guilt. The more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him that he had been needlessly harsh in his line of thinking when they were forced to hold one another for support. He could rationalize that that was simply his nature, but deep down, he knew the true reason for it. He just didn't want to admit it.
But the fact of the matter is that instead of wanting to cringe away from her touch, his body had the exact opposite response. And to avoid being found out, he opted to act as if he were revolted by her in order to disguise the truth—that he was not only unbothered by her touch, but that he actually took pleasure in having her body against his own.
It was all so incredibly sickening. He was utterly disgusted. Not with Kohaku, but with himself. He refused to believe that he could ever have the hots for her. Although he could argue that he found her very existence fascinating and was eager to know everything about her, that shouldn't be enough to sway him into viewing her as anything more than a research subject—especially not as an object of affection. After all, at the end of the day, she was still a cat—a supernatural, shape-shifting cat, but a cat nonetheless.
—It must've just been a purely natural, physiological response and nothing more— he tried to reason with himself.
However, no matter how much he tried to justify it, he couldn't push past his conflicted feelings. He was basically at war with himself. The mere memory of the heat radiation from her body as she was pressed up against him was so sinfully tantalizing that it got him all kinds of worked up. In fact, he was getting a little too excited and consequently, more and more frustrated. Meanwhile, the fact that he was sitting naked in the tub wasn't doing him any favors, either.
Gazing downward, into his lap, he was half tempted to relieve himself in the hopes that that might get his mind back on track. Giving it a little more thought, he came to a decision. He steadily raised his hand and prepared to do the unthinkable. Then... just as he reached forward, the bathroom door slid open, and none other than Kohaku, herself, burst into the room.
"Senku, you degenerate scumbag!" she shrieked at him.
He practically jumped out of his skin at her sudden entry and shielded himself from her view. "The hell, Lioness! What do you think you're doing barging in here like that? Ever heard of a little thing called privacy?" he demanded.
"Shut your mouth! I know what you're planning."
He instantly froze as his eyes widened in horror, thinking he'd been found out.
—Oh, shit!— was all that came to mind.
"That's right. I'm onto you. Don't think that you can exclude me," she warned.
"Look, it's not what you..." he paused for a moment, processing what she had just said.
—Is she insane? Does she just expect me to invite her to watch?— he wondered to himself. —She really MUST be some kind of sexual deviant, after all.—
"Who are you calling a sexual deviant?" she accused.
"For your information, I'm not here to watch you bathe, you pervert," she declared, misinterpreting Senku's thoughts. "I'm here to make sure you won't just leave without fulfilling your promise."
Senku simply gave her a blank stare. He had no idea where she got that notion from, but he was relieved that her intrusion had nothing to do with his compromised state.
"What the hell are you talking about? What would make you think that I'd just up and leave? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm sitting here stark naked. I'm not in a position to go anywhere. Not in this weather, anyway."
"Don't play dumb. Your father told me everything."
"The old man? Oh great, what ideas has that old fart been putting in your head?"
"He told me how you'd do anything to get off this island as quickly as possible. And I even remember reading it in your mind before. You want to get off this island too. Maybe even enough to make yourself sick on purpose, just so you have an excuse to leave early."
Senku could only stare at her in complete and utter disbelief. Surely she must be kidding. She couldn't possibly be stupid enough to buy that crap. Right?
"Is that supposed to be a joke? You'd have to be a complete moron to believe I'd do something so ridiculous. Either that, or gullible as hell." He paused, realizing she was just naïve enough to believe the geezer's baseless claims.
"So, you're saying you wouldn't leave the island if you got sick?" she questioned, catching him off guard.
"If it were a serious illness, of course I'd leave. There aren't any hospitals here."
"So, you admit it!"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'd intentionally make myself sick. That's incredibly irresponsible, not to mention illogical. Being sick in bed is the last way I'd want to spend my winter break. I fell into the ocean completely by accident."
"Hah! Even if that's the case, what's done is done, and you're still liable to get sick. But you made me a promise, and I'm not letting you take the easy way out."
Senku became confused by her declaration. —What does she mean by that?— he wondered.
Then, his eyes widened in shock as she approached him with determination in her eyes. Step by step, she came closer and closer. He expected her to stop at some point, but when she just kept coming, he backed away as much as the confined space of the bathtub would allow, eventually backing into the wall.
It was at that very moment that he became hyperaware of the fact that he was still completely nude. However, that fact didn't seem to faze Kohaku in the slightest. She kneeled down beside the tub and reached her hands out to him and cupped his face.
"Hold still," she ordered, looking him dead in the eyes.
Senku was in so much shock that he could only sit in stunned silence, waiting to see what she had planned. When he felt her pulling his head forward and saw her lean in closer, his jaw dropped open.
—Is she about to...— Before he could complete that thought, Kohaku brought their mouths together.
Senku was stunned. He couldn't believe that Kohaku would take this opportunity to kiss him out of nowhere. What the hell was she thinking?
He knew the correct response was to pull away and put an end to this insanity, but his body wouldn't comply. He was totally at her mercy, unable to move a single muscle, almost as if she had him bewitched.
They remained this way for quite a while, both perfectly still and unmoving. Other than the lip-to-lip contact, you could hardly even call it a kiss. Then, as quickly as it began, it was suddenly over.
Kohaku slowly pulled away, and trailing from her mouth to his was a wispy-looking stream of 'who knows what'. He watched as she sucked up the rest of that eerie-looking stuff and ingested it whole with an audible gulp. Needless to say, he was both weirded out and intrigued. Just what had she done to him?
"What was that? What did you just do?"
"That was one of my abilities in action. Remember how I told you I could eat just about anything without being poisoned? Well, that includes illnesses," she said with a proud smile.
"And sorry for invading your personal space. Your father also told me how much you hate to be touched, but I needed access to your internal systems to purge all the toxins from your body. Now, you don't have to worry about getting sick. You're welcome!"
Kohaku then got up to leave, much to Senku's relief. With everything he had been dealing with right before she arrived, on top of that weird-ass kiss that wasn't actually a kiss, he was well past the point of no return and needed to deal with it immediately.
"Oh, and one more thing," she added, looking over her shoulder. "You might want to take care of the situation you've got happening down there," she added with a giggle, pointing downward.
"And can you make it quick? I'd like to get back to work once you're done with your bath," she said before shutting the door, leaving him alone again.
"Damn... she noticed," he grumbled to himself, looking utterly stupefied.
After finishing up in the bathroom and changing into the clothes that Kohaku had left for him, he went out into the hall and came face-to-face with the old man who was giving him a shameless grin.
"So... Kohaku paid you a little visit, it seems. She was in there for quite a while. What exactly were you two up to in there? Hmm?"
"Put a sock in it, old man. You've already caused enough trouble for one day. What the hell were you trying to pull by convincing the lioness that I was going to bail out on our deal?"
"It was just a thought. Who knew she'd take it so seriously?" he feigned innocence.
"Whatever. Now that I've taken my bath, it's time for some more experimentation. I still haven't figured out why Kohaku disappeared. We need to get back out there and do some further investigation."
"Not yet, ya don't," Lillian intervened, waltzing up to them and handing Senku a cup of hot tea. "Drink this first."
Even though Kohaku had already taken measures to assure he wouldn't get sick, he wasn't about to explain what she did or how she did it and just drank the tea without protest. Shortly thereafter, they all gathered at the dock, ready for round two.
Kohaku started by testing the current limits of her range. Unsurprisingly, she was only able to go as far as the dock.
"Alright, Lioness. Keep going," he ordered, fully expecting that would be enough to allow her to advance.
She took a step toward the edge but was met with the same resistance from before. She couldn't get any closer.
"Uh, Senku? It didn't work."
"What? That should've worked," he affirmed. "I'll try changing up the wording. Kohaku, walk to the edge of the dock."
Once again, she tried to step forward but met with the same result.
"Kohaku, go get in one of those boats," he changed up the command once more. However, that didn't work either.
"What's the matter? Why ain't it workin'?" asked Lillian.
"I don't know," Senku admitted. "Looks like we've stumbled upon a whole new issue."
Kohaku couldn't help but become disheartened. Suddenly, all the progress they had made was non-existent, and they were forced back to square one.
To be continued...
A/N: Surprise! I'm back with a new chapter. I know I said I'd be taking a break from this fanfic for a while, but I decided to update as part of my contribution for the SenHaku Trick or Treat Event.
This chapter is brought to you by the theme: Haunted Town. I know the theme doesn't fit the chapter all that well, but I couldn't come up with an original idea. Plus, you could argue that it fits the fanfic as a whole, since Kohaku is technically a spirit. X3
I know this chapter got a little weird, but I hope it at least made you laugh. And if you'd like to see more, you'll be happy to know that you can expect additional updates in the coming weeks. My goal is to complete this fanfic by December. I've got about three more chapters to go. So, be on the lookout for those.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll catch you in the next chapter. Bye for now!