Chapter Text
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Chapter Three: First Meeting
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A/N: Fun fact: ALL six of my Dr. Stone fanfics will get a new chapter this week. This is the sixth fanfic... get excited! :D
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"My name is Kohaku. And I'm very interested in knowing who you are, long-haired man."
It was true. She wanted more information on him, because that would make it easier to know what to do.
She noticed that her response made him blink in surprise. While the man didn't lower his guard enough to similarly lower his weapon, the tension in his fingers did loosen slightly, showing Kohaku that he was slightly open to conversation. Perhaps killing one of his siblings, and losing the companionship of two others, had made him lonely?
"Kohaku," he repeated evenly, as if testing her name out. "You've chosen a noteworthy moment to approach me. Were you also recently set free?"
He spoke in a languid, confident tone, befitting a warrior who saw no threat before him. While it worked for Kohaku's current purpose, it nevertheless rankled at her that her significant battle prowess could be so easily disregarded. But it wasn't just his tone...
What does this man mean by "recently set free?" Are there others out there who are... imprisoned or trapped in some way? That can't be. Ruri-nee or Father would know if that were so.
"I don't know what you mean. I've always been free."
That garnered a stronger reaction from him - a widening of the eyes, followed by a very obvious inspection of her person. His eyes roamed up and down, and while he stopped in the middle of her torso, the disgust Kohaku felt made the hair on the back of her hair stand on end... until Kohaku realized that she had been mistaken in the subject of his interest. There was no leering glint in his eyes as he gazed at her chest - instead, his look seemed speculative, gauging the material of her dress as the fingers of his non-fighting hand absently fingered the edges of his own clothing.
The slight movement shifted the arms of his dangerous animal pelt, the golden color reminding Kohaku of Ginro's hair - and giving her the idea to ease the heavy air of the conversation in the same humorous way that he would.
"I would be happy to trade clothing," she added a bit teasingly, "if my dress interests you as much as it seems to."
Her joke looked like it startled the long-haired man, who gave a quick, minute shake of his head as he glanced away. That action was rapidly followed by a slump of his shoulders, his eyes filling with regret - before those, too, were gone in favor of a renewed firm stance in his legs and the rest of his body, his gaze regaining its former suspicion.
His emotions chase each other away so quickly. I understand the embarrassment, and the suspicion... but why the regret?
The man shook his head, his long tresses shifting as he did so.
"I'm not interested in your dress," he said slowly, "but you seem interested in me, Kohaku. Yes. Interested enough to follow me; and bring me flowers; and converse with me. Why is that?"
That's a good question...
Obviously, Kohaku couldn't tell the murderer in front of her about her own murderous intentions, so she was at a loss.
She also wanted to give herself a whack on the head. If she had approached with just her weapons and shield, perhaps she could have given some sort of excuse about coming across him by accident.
Unfortunately, the problem was the flowers.
The quantity indicated time; the arrangement indicated care; their very presence indicated a purpose of some sort.
There were four reasons why people would have a bundle of flowers with them, but three of those reasons were disqualified due to the circumstances of their meeting. The artful way Kohaku had weaved them together showed that they were not being brought to a cooking pit for consumption, and the fact that she had been carrying them while heading towards the long-haired man meant that she had definitely not been bringing them home to use as decoration, or as a present for a loved one who was encumbered by illness.
Which just left... Well, the notion was ridiculous, considering Kohaku would never seek such a connection with a murderer, but even she could see how an unmarried woman bringing such a thing to a presumably unmarried, not unattractive man roughly in her age range would perceive it as a gift of courtship.
A drop of sweat trickled down the side of her face.
This is why Father always says I should think before I act, isn't it...?
Distantly, she knew that was a sort of deception that might even be plausible. From Kohaku's experience, the more strength and muscles a man possessed, the prouder he was of himself and the more sure he was of his appeal. It was a reason for approaching that Kohaku could give the man that he would likely not question... but the idea of maintaining such a pretense towards a man who had taken an innocent life was too distasteful to contemplate further.
Not only that, but Kohaku's own straightforward nature meant that wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, anyway.
She could see his mild suspicion continue to increase as the seconds passed, prompting Kohaku to think faster. How could she explain her curiosity-
Wait, that's it!
Chrome's focus on discovering new things outside the village, as opposed to practicing his fighting skills inside the village, made him one of the least suspicious, least threatening people in Kohaku's generation. Acting like Chrome would surely get her out of this predicament.
"I'd like to learn who you are," she said with a shrug. "You're not from where I am; I've never seen that sort of animal pelt before; and I'm curious about your weapon. I want to know more-"
Kohaku cut herself off when his jaw clenched at her words. It was such a tiny motion that to others, it would look like his cheek had barely moved at all - only somebody with her special eyesight would have noticed. Her hands itched to go to her daggers, and it was only through a great force of will that she refrained from giving in to her impulse to fight, knowing that drawing her weapons at this crucial point would end all chances of negotiation.
I thought that was a pretty harmless, Chrome-like response... so why...?
"Curious? Want to know more?" The long-haired man eyed her closely. "That's where it starts..."
His voice was mild - deceptively so. Despite his minimal movements, Kohaku's battle instincts told her that her words had been ill-chosen, to the point that she was in more danger right at this moment than at any other point in their conversation-
The shrill cry of a bird startled them both, and caused him to look in the direction where it came from - the very direction he had been heading in earlier. It seemed to remind him of something.
"Time is of the essence," he murmured, turning his back on her. Another move that irritated Kohaku, even as it likely saved her from grievous harm. She didn't like being underestimated. The man shifted his weapon arm to the side, bent his knees, and placed his right foot in front of his left, clearly entering a pre-running crouch. Tilting his head to the side, he made deliberate eye contact with her.
"Kohaku. Nice to meet you." At his bizarre politeness, Kohaku barely had time to feel incredulous before he continued, "Curiosity about weapons leads to unpleasant things. I would advise against it."
Before she could reply, he broke their eye contact, looked straight ahead, and started to run.
Within seconds, the long-haired man was gone from the area.
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A/N: Fun fact: ALL six of my Dr. Stone fanfics will get a new chapter this week. This is the sixth fanfic... get excited! :D
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(End of Chapter Three.) (01/March/2025.)
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