Archive of Our Own ^beta

The Perseus swayed and rocked in the nighttime's gentle tides, therapeutic in its motions. As much as it calmed the others' minds, however; Kohaku was struggling to adjust.

Her eyes flickered between the familiar fractals of the night sky and the inky black of the sea - Senku had explained it earlier, how the moon controls the tides and currents, keeps the oceans moving - it went over her head in favour of watching Chrome positively lose it as he hounded the scientist with further, increasingly ridiculous questions.

The blonde snorted, before picking her head up at the sound of her name. She straightened from her position of leaning against the rail, spine practically freezing in place as her eyes fell on the source of voice.

"..Tsukasa?"

"Should you not be resting?"

Kohaku steeled herself, shoulders square as he remained unmoving, patient for her response. She looked him up and down - despite him and Senku agreeing to team up and becoming quite unlikely friends as a result, her own experiences with the man were..difficult, to say the least.

The sight of his hand striking the back of a scientist's neck, body falling limp to the dust. The heavy feeling of her face going pale upon hearing that her childhood friend had been taken hostage; her stomach ties knots as the memories bury themselves a little deeper each time.

She closes her eyes and sees a haggard, shaking boy fall to his knees as he meets the eyes of his once-dead sister. She remembers how she felt his tears cloud her own vision, hears how his voice cracks when he says her name - it's too much. Her heart aches.

"I.. I'm a little restless," she began. It wasn't a lie, per se - "I'm not used to being on a boat just yet."

The brunet hummed in agreement, approaching the railing in turn to gaze out at the horizon.

He turned his attention to the blonde, shuffling just half an inch closer as he watched her eyebrows knit in concern.

"Are you worried about someone?"

She blinked.

"I–"  She cleared her throat. "Just my sister."

She couldn't bring herself to mention the glimpse of recognition in his eyes as his shoulders stiffened. A taut frown - almost a grimace, formed on his face.

"...Ah."

Something about the way he turned his attention back to the moonlit skies, shifting restlessly from one foot to the other despite looking so tired was uncomfortably familiar to her. 

Kohaku almost didn't want to acknowledge it, but she'd be restless for days if she left it untouched. She could never leave something unspoken, no matter how blunt it made her look; virtually the opposite to soft-spoken Ruri, treating the way she delivered her words as a well-practiced art. The priestess was more familiar with social cues than her little sister, though it never really hindered her much. 

Something about his reaction was bugging her.

She bit her lip, mulling over the words a few times before speaking.

"I- I don't know how much you know about the village, but.."

He seemed to gather the words too shy to leave the confines of her too-loud thoughts. 

"Would you tell me about her?"

"Well, she-" She swallowed, nervous laughter bubbling up in her throat as she spoke. "It's funny, actually – we're kind of similar, in this regard."

The brunet tilted his head.

"You see, with the whole- um. Science stuff," She breathed, voice hushed to just above a mumble. "Ruri wouldn't be alive without it."

She looked up for a moment, meeting crimson brown eyes with her own. Her grip tightened on the railing, hands shaking from the pressure.

"I'll be honest with you, seeing you and Mirai.."

"..It reminded me of her."

Tsukasa's eyes softened along with every line; every scar that marred the face of a warrior practically disappearing in that rare moment to leave a nineteen year old in its place - he almost looked vulnerable , the way his guard dropped so carefully.

"You've done a lot for her, haven't you?"

She looked down, turning her attention to the hem of her dress - a distraction, for a particularly difficult subject; unsure as to why it was so hard to talk about, the blonde never felt willing to ponder such a subject. She nodded once, twice before looking up again - the man had a small grin on his face - or was it a grimace? She couldn't quite tell - before nodding softly himself.

"I'm the same," he sighed. "I worked myself into the ground to keep Mirai on life support."

He bit his lip.

"I didn't want to lose her."

The vice like feeling on her chest was back, and it twisted.

Waves lapped at the hull of the Perseus, and Kohaku's knuckles were white in their grip. 

He spared her a glance.

"You get it," He says, not quite in the form of a question, but more of an afterthought - hers, to be exact. It felt like her mind was an open book, the way Tsukasa just knew .

"I do," she sighed. "I really do."

A pause held the delicate atmosphere in silence. Tsukasa shifted, sparing Kohaku another glance.

"You said you were worried about her?"

"Hm?"

"Ruri."

"..Ah."

The moon, ever observant, sat behind the drifting clouds; beams of light dancing across the sky in paper thin strips. Its eerie glow was a guarding presence, feeling like a set of eyes as it loomed over the ship.

"I guess I've never been, you know.." she gestured vaguely, trying to will the words into her head as she spoke. "Away. From the village. At least, not for this long. I feel a little.."

"Lost?" he suggested, receiving a resigned nod in response.

"Yeah.. it's exciting, don't get me wrong- but. You know. I've never really left her for long periods of time like this, and I know she's fine and there's nothing to worry about but Senku even mentioned something about her immune system still being weak and I didn’t really understand what that meant but I knew it was bad, a-and it still terrifies me that something could just- HAPPEN to her, and I could’ve- I should’ve been there to- "

The blonde's words caught up with her, and she snapped her mouth shut in surprise. Brown eyes cast a worried stare, unblinking.

"Ah, I-" She stuttered, avoiding his gaze. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to spill like that."

“Kohaku,” the man breathed, level and easy. A hand reached out - when she didn’t flinch, he swiped a thumb below her eye, wiping a tear she didn’t notice rolling down her cheek. “Breathe.”

The blonde froze, sniffling as she bit her lip. “I-I don’t know where that came from-”

“It’s alright,” he insisted. “Don’t worry about it.” A breath. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Sapphire blue eyes averted their gaze to the floor, briefly flicking between her sandals and the man before her. She grinned a little, grateful for the comfortable distance between them. She needed her space, and he seemed to understand that all too well.

“I appreciate it. I’m not one to- well,” She began, hesitating on her words - about to claim that she doesn’t cry in front of people, even though she knew that wasn’t true. As much as she’d like it to be.

“I’m not one to.. to talk about this stuff, really. Not unless I have to.”

“I understand.”

"You do?"

"Mm," he hummed. "I don't talk about Mirai much for similar reasons. Still stings a bit."

Tsukasa tilted his head to the sky, observing how the clouds circled the moon in spindles and wisps. He sighed, synchronous with a gust of wind that both rocked the Perseus and coaxed the moon out of its concealing haze, revealing a beacon of soothing light. It painted the inky black of the night's waters like brushstrokes, stained a gentle white.

"It calms me to know she's alright. That I didn't fight for nothing, in the end."

"Yeah?"

He shot the girl one of his rare, tranquil smiles.

"Yeah."

They talk for a good hour after that; Tsukasa telling the tale of the Little Mermaid, how Mirai loved- loves it still, how he taught himself to make necklaces out of shells for her and scoffed in response to Kohaku's idea of making himself one to match - seemed to mull over that thought for a good while, before muttering something about finding the right shells once the Perseus meets shore. 

"Oh- it's late, already."

Tsukasa blinked at her.

"It was late when I found you."

Kohaku rolled her eyes, grinning at the brunet. "You know what I mean."

He simply nodded in response, pushing to stand up from his place leaning against the railing, offering the other a hand to stand up from the sitting position she had found herself in at some point.

"You'd best get some rest, Kohaku. You'll need your energy."

She accepted the hand, standing up onto the platforms of her sandals.

"Yeah, I guess so."

The wander back from the starboard to the cabins was silent, save from the gentle, low creaking of floorboards. The blonde turned to face the man, clearing her throat.

"Thank you, by the way." She began, voice lowered to a whisper as to not wake the others in their respective quarters. "I didn't know how much I needed to talk about.." She gestured vaguely. "Stuff."

"Stuff," He repeated, huffing in amusement. "Likewise."

The two exchanged a nod, a soft smile on Kohaku's face as she bid him goodnight.

She slept easy, the weight of everything she shouldered having been lifted from her chest. Moon guided waves gently rocked the ship, lulling the girl into a sleep that would wake her up a little late in the morning - and if anybody noticed that she wasn't the first one awake, they didn't mention it.