Overcoming Fear of Death with Friends
Sango is seen looking at the mask she just finished making and held it onto Senku's face to make sure she got the measurements right, and Kaseki putting some brown paint thing on a tube with Chrome holding some bamboo in his arms.
"The only way to fight a chemical enemy is by using some chemistry of our own." Senku said.
"It's a good thing I was already making masks before, so this isn't new to me." Sango mentioned while putting in the tubes and strings.
"I really these gas masks will work." Kagome is concerned for the who have to go back to get sulfuric acid.
"Now, there's no telling how effective this gonna be. And with this experiment, we can't simply rely on trial and error." Senku said as he looks at the mask.
"Because it's one try only, death is one error we can't mess up, right?" Inuyasha asked, knowing what Senku is going to say.
"Oh yeah, you get ten billion points for that." Senku said, then looks over to Chrome who was about to get the crafters to make another mask for him.
"All right, we gotta make my mask next." Chrome said.
"You won't be needing one of these." Senku said, this caught Chrome by surprise and Inuyasha being curious.
The scene changes to night time, Senku and Chrome are having a private meeting behind a corner of the lab because Senku needs to tell him something.
"Sorry, Chrome, but you won't be going on this mission anymore. You'll be staying here." Senku declared.
"What? Where's this coming fr-?"
"Just shut up and listen to me!" Senku cut off Chrome to explain what he has to say and the reason why Chrome can't come.
"There's no gurarantee these things will work. And if all our scientists bite the big one, then who's gonna be left to save Ruri?" Senku pointed out why it's important for Chrome to stay and make sure the mission to save Ruri is done, leaving Chrome silent.
"Every human die eventually, but their knowledge can go on live. It can even be passed down for millions of years." Senku stated, knowing what he has to do for the big chance in case he doesn't come back.
"I hope you're ready, Chrome. Because I'm gonna pass all the science I know down to you—all two million years of it." Senku revealed what they're gonna do at this very moment.
Chrome was shocked to hear that Senku is going to pass down all that big science knowledge down to him like he's been entrusted with the bad important things, but this feels strange to him.
"Whoa, wait, wait, wait, hang on, would ya? It's too soon! Quit talking like I'm replacing you or something! That's just asking for trouble!" Chrome commented, not liking where this is going.
"Heh. Well, isn't that sweet? You really care about me. What are you, my girlfriend?" Senku chuckled with a little joke of calling Chrome a girl.
"Dying doesn't interest me one millimeter, so calm down." Senku assured Chrome that he has no intention of dying, not when he still has the importance of reviving humanity.
"But if we don't want Ruri to die, we gotta go through that cloud of poison gas and get us some sulfuric acid. Now, if both of us end up kicking the bucket together, then in a flash, all knowledge of science will disappear from the face of the Earth." Senku explained the worse possible way.
"So, you want me to stay behind 'cause you might die." Chrome started to get the jest of it.
"Yeah, but first I gotta fill your head with science." Senku answered, better being prepared for anything to make sure science is carried out, and to fight against Tsukasa in the near future.
However, Chrome did NOT like this contingency plan Senku came up with, this just feels wrong to assume that he's going to die alone while trying to get that poison gas liquid to help save Ruri, all the while he stays back in life to feel worse that he couldn't help his new friend.
No, he wouldn't let that happen.
"If that's the case, I'm not gonna listen to you!" Chrome said, causing Senku to gasp in shock.
Unknown to any of them, Kohaku is seeing this conversation from a top of a branch of a tree while Inuyasha is also watching this from another tree behind some leaves.
"Stop acting like a kid. Don't get fussy 'cause you gotta stay home." Senku scolded him a little.
"You're missing the point. I won't be helping you with your crappy plan. Especially not if it means that it's just okay for my friend to die!" Chrome pointed out what he's saying.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Senku, but I'm not taking your knowledge. So, if you happen to croak out there, it's just gonna be game over for science!" Chrome stated with a punch to the tree right next to Senku's head.
"You're coming back alive! There's a ten billion percent chance! You have to, Senku!" Chrome refused to let Senku die when he still has so much to give to the world.
"I mean, the plan doesn't make sense anyway. Why's the guy who knows everything about science the one risking his life with that poison gas? Send me or somebody else! After all, I thought you always went with what's the most "logical". Well, making me stay back here isn't logical at all." Chrome proclaimed.
"Are you just trying to protect me? Like I'm your kid or something?" Chrome asked.
Senku looks at his face again and sees Chrome is very serious with those eyes, the eyes of someone who refuses to let any of his friends die for any reason.
"Don't you dare patronize me, asshole." Chrome said.
"I'm not patronizing anyone, idiot. Also, I'm being completely logical." Senku sighed.
"I know everything about how the gas mask works and about the materials we're going to get, so our odds of success are best if I handle this. End of story." Senku pointed out how he sees this.
"You want to increase our odds? That's not how you do it! We'll have a better chance for success if you and I tag team. To save each other if we run into trouble. Am I wrong?" Chrome countered with his own idea.
Senku was shocked to hear this kind of idea, something like that might actually work.
"If we "run into trouble", we'll be dead from the poison gas. It'll be too late to save each other." Senku chuckled.
"Whoa, I mean something like, "Shit, I'm getting a killer leg cramp" type situation, not the worst-case scenario!" Chrome clarified while sweating a bit.
"Heh. Guess you do have a point. It might be by a microscopic percent, but it would raise my chance of survival." Senku smiled.
"Taiju and Yuzuriha, your friends… They're spies in the Tsukasa Empire, right?" Chrome asked, remembering how Senku mentioned his two friends being spies on Tsukasa and his growing army.
"(Hmm, they must be from our old modern era.)" Inuyasha thought guessed.
"They're putting everything on the line, you know? Your lives are in each other's hands." Chrome pointed out how much those two are putting out for Senku.
"If I'm your friend, it means I'm not higher or lower than you. So, I don't need you to protect me… 'cause I've got your back, and you've got mine, right?" Chrome asked as he held out his fist to Senku.
Senku look at the fist for a second and just grin from how dramatic Chrome is being right now.
"Man, this means more work for us 'cause now we've gotta make another gas mask. I hope you're happy." Senku gently pushed the fist to the side and walked past him.
"Okay, I've got your back, Chrome. Your life is in my hands." Senku accepted Chrome's help.
"That's right. And your life's in my hands." Chrome said.
Hearing how Chrome refuses to let Senku die because of his logical reason made her think back on the last talk she had with both her father and Ruri.
"Kohaku, now that Mother's no longer with us, we need to have a crucial talk."
(Over Several Months Ago)
The scene shows Kohaku standing inside the leader hut with her father on the throne and her older sister on her left side of the hut, having that crucial talk.
"The priestess's most important duty. Do you know what that is?" Ruri asked.
Ruri is a young woman with a delicate face, long blonde hair, and blue-green eyes. Her hair reaches her waist, and is cut in choppy layers at her shoulders, chin, and eyebrows. Her eyebrows and lips are thin, while her eyes are large with a slight point towards the upper outer edge, giving her a calming, mature expression. She shares similar facial features with her younger sister, Kohaku, but has longer, squarer hair that she wears down rather than up in a ponytail. She wears a primitively made blue sundress that reaches her ankles, with a split along her left leg, going up to her waist. It is clasped in three places along her thigh for modesty. High on her waist, she wears a thin rope tied into the shape of the village's star-shaped symbol and wears the village rope around her neck. She also wears the same sort of heeled shoes as the rest of the village. Breasts size: I-cup.
"The Hundred Tales. The knowledge contained within those stories must be passed down from generation to generation. Our way of life would not survive without them." Ruri stated strongly.
Kohaku knew that already, but she's getting a bit scared from how Ruri puts it for some reason.
"Understand, Kohaku? Ruri's days on this earth are dwindling rapidly." Kokuyo pointed out this because of the illness that has taken over his oldest daughter.
Kokuyo is a large, muscular middle-aged man with blond hair tied into a ponytail. He has gruff, hardened facial features with thick eyebrows, a large nose, and intense brown eyes. His long brown beard and goatee notably do not match his blond hair, and for clothes, he wears a blue robe with a white undercloth with a rope tied around his neck.
Kohaku gasp upon hearing this, starting to realize what this is about.
"We cannot afford to let the "Hundred Tales" be lost forever. You're in perfect health. When Ruri dies, you must take her place!" Kokuyo planned, knowing that Ruri does not have long for this world.
"I refuse to accept that! I won't be taking over anything!" Kohaku immediately turned down the position, shocking her father.
"I have no intention of being a part of this. Not if it means that afterwards, it's just okay for my sister to die!" Kohaku was angered and then ran away.
"Where are you going, Kohaku!" Kokuyo shouted, but Kohaku ignores him.
Later, Kohaku is scooping up lots of the spring water into the large pot and carrying it over her shoulder as she runs back to the village.
"If I'm in a position to take over the role of priestess, Ruri will have no reason to keep living." Kohaku knew that Ruri is better suited and that she loves the position.
"I know what to do! I'll just have to make Father hate me. I'll be the wild daughter. Someone utterly unfit to become the priestess." Kohaku decided with tears coming down.
"But I won't stop carrying this healing water, even if I have to do it thousands of times. If that's what it's gonna take to cure Ruri, I'll do it!" Kohaku was determined to keep caring for her big sister.
(Present)
"Ya know, you and I are more alike than you'd think." Kohaku said, surprising Chrome that she's here.
"And to be honest, if my sister were to marry a man like you, it would make everyone in the village really happy." Kohaku believed Chrome would be the right man for Ruri. Remembering how those two would hang out a lot as kids.
"But unfortunately, you weren't blessed with the ability to fight. I suppose the gods aren't very considerable, huh?" Kohaku chuckled a bit.
"That's not how my mom sees it." Inuyasha jumped down, right next to Chrome.
"Whoa! Dude!" Chrome got spooked.
"My mom would tell me from time to time that when the Gods created humanity, they wanted to see how things would turn out including how each generation would become than the previous ones, some with different traits like interest and strength. She believes they continue watching us to see how we're all doing with the things we're born with as we walk toward the future." Inuyasha remembered the words his late mom said to him.
"Wow, that feels really deep." Chrome commented.
"That's how my mom said it, I didn't understand most of it, but what I do understand is that we have our own things that gives us strength, not just physical strength. Like Senku for example, his biggest strength is his mind, the brain of all the science humanity made for the past 2 million years." Inuyasha pointed out.
"Meaning you already got your own big strength." Inuyasha believed as he looks at Chrome.
"I really do?" Chrome asked.
"Yeah, you just need to figure that out for yourself." Inuyasha said.
"But are you sure about letting Kinro and Ginro get in on the Grand Bout, it's not that I don't trust Kinro. It's Ginro I'm more worried about getting his perverted hands on Ruri since you seems close to her." Inuyasha asked.
"Yeah, Ginro wouldn't be a good man for Ruri, and Kinro doesn't exactly have romantic feelings for her." Chrome agreed.
"But as long as we can save Ruri from the illness, then I'm fine with whoever she's with so I can see her smiling again." Chrome smiled.
"Well, then I better make sure you and Senku get back in one piece once Sango finish making that third mask, I requested her." Inuyasha smiled as he walks away.
"Hold up, you're coming with us?!" Chrome asked.
"Sure, me being with you guys should raise the chances even higher. And we'll be done with that medicine for both you and Kohaku to see Ruri smiling." Inuyasha said.
"(Inuyasha, you are something else. My heart… it won't shut up about you.)" Kohaku thought smiled.
(Morning)
"This is a lot like when we made Edison's lightbulb. First, we steam-roast some bamboo." Senku held a big glass lens for the sunlight to hit through.
"Whoa, you can really use glass to start a fire?" Chrome was surprised.
"Add potassium carbonate, extracted from ash. We also used this in our ramen-making." Senku said, then Sango and Kohaku grind them into powder after a moment.
"This black powder is activated charcoal mixed with potassium carbonate. It'll trap the poison gas and neutralize it." Senku poured the powder in the tube.
"Now, we have our own chemical barrier to keep out poison gas." Chrome said, wearing his mask.
"Time for us scientists to return for a tag team rematch! With Inuyasha making us stronger!" Chrome declared.
"I'm ready when you guys are!" Inuyasha pounded his fist into his hand.
"We're gonna get over the greatest hurdle together. We'll come home victorious carrying jars of sulfuric acid." Senku grinned.
"Quick question: Ginro isn't coming with us, right?" Inuyasha asked.
"Of course not?! The fairy of the spring put a curse on me! My silver spear turned black! And that bird melted! So, there's no way that I'm ever going back there again!" Ginro freaked out.
"Yeah, I've been wondering how that happened." Inuyasha was puzzled.
"Silver reacts to hydrogen sulfide, turning black is a sign that we're near the area. Meaning it's not curse, it's science." Senku said.
"Rub the black sulfuric acid sludge with an alkaline base and it'll turn silver again. Even some warm ashes will do the trick." Senku cleaned the spear making it silver again.
"Ah! The poison gas sensor's back!" Chrome smiled.
"Now we can head back to the sulfuric acid spring." Senku grinned.
Before they leave, Inuyasha decided to give Ginro a little talk about fear.
"You know, it's okay to be afraid. Including me." Inuyasha said, making Ginro look up in confusion.
"Everyone is afraid of something, no matter how strong and brave they may seem on the outside. I'm sure your brother is afraid of something too, and I have my own fears. But the thing is that without fear, how are we going to get stronger?" Inuyasha explained before running off to Senku and Chrome.
"(So, fear is… okay?)" Ginro thought was confused.
KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!
Senku and Chrome are off to get sulfuric acid with gas masks to help them breathe a little easy, and Inuyasha is coming with them to help get that stuff in any way he can help. Let's hope it's enough to succeed in their mission or else it'll be game over for all three of them.
KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!