Chapter Text
With the last of the sweet potatoes pulled from the earth, Umeka sat back on her heels. She wiped her dirty hands on her pant legs enjoying the cool breeze. It was a good harvest, important as potatoes tended to last nice and long. They tasted different than she remembered, a little firmer and less sweet but they were still as filling and in the late winter. Their subtle sweetness was a great treat.
She turned her head just in time to see Sueno, the glutton of the dogs, opening his big mouth over the basket of tubers, “No! No!”
But he grabbed one and ran off, waving his fluffy tail as he went. Umeka jumped to her feet and chased him. She wouldn’t be eating the saliva-cover thing now but it was a matter of principle. Sueno noticed her chasing him and picked up speed. There was no way she’d catch him, even though she’d long been accustomed to running in her buckskin shoes and he was a very big boned dog he still had two legs on her. He bounded and played, Saiyan looked on disapprovingly and began to get up, surely about to come and check Sueno back into place.
“Sueno!” Umeka screamed, “You’re the worst! It’s not like I don’t share you can’t just grab things!”
She growled in frustration and tried to speed up as Sueno disappeared into the woods and then he yelped. Umeka felt a chill shoot up her spine but before she could reach the trees none other than Tsukasa walked out holding Sueno by his scruff. Sueno large as he was, was wobbling in the air like a puppy, kicking his legs with the spud still in his mouth. “Why were you yelling at him?” Tsukasa asked, lowering Sueno to the ground but not letting go.
It had been a few weeks since Tsukasa had visited. For a while, he’d come by very regularly, and while she had wondered what was keeping him she wasn’t upset about it. She’d thought maybe he’d given up on bringing her into the fold. “He grabbed that potato. He knows he’s not supposed to steal food,” Umeka frowned at Sueno but at the same time, she didn’t like Tsukasa’s hold on him. Even if it was for her benefit, Sueno wasn’t some wild beast he was her trained pet. “Let him go, it’s not a big deal.”
Tsukasa’s eyebrow quirked slightly at the demand, but he released him. Sure enough, Sueno tried to dart off with his prize, “Hey!” Umeka yelled.
The dog stopped and looked at her and upon seeing her stern expression let the slimy treasure drop to the ground before running off to the other dogs. Umeka sighed and kicked the potato into the treeline for some forest creature to find and enjoy later.
Tsukasa looked surprised, “You aren’t going to keep it? Why not let him have it then?”
Umeka smirked, “You wanna eat a slobber covered sweet potato?”
“Well...no. But if it’s food and if you won’t eat it-”
“You didn’t have many pets growing up did you, Tsukasa?”
He frowned and stayed quiet for a moment. Umeka regretted bringing up his past. Since that strange look had come over his face when she mentioned her grandparents they hadn't talked about either of their histories. Umeka actually didn't know a single thing about his childhood or his life before the stone, “No,” He finally spoke in a hushed tone, “I didn’t.”
“When I was young I’d help with the chickens and ducks. One duck was very brave and insistent for his food in the morning and I thought it was funny when he put his head in the bag and started eating so I didn’t stop him. Then that duck always did that. And then the others started doing it too. But the chickens were too short, so they’d start pecking at the ducks. Eventually, every morning I’d go out to feed them they’d start fighting and pulling at me to get to the food.”
Tsukasa blinked, “That...sounds really awful. And your grandparents didn’t do anything?”
“They did when I asked for help. But they’d seen and they knew it was my own dumb behavior that brought it on, they just wanted me to learn,” she felt a prickle at her neck, defensiveness again, “my point is, food is a training tool to animals. They have to see you as the one in charge of who gets fed when and how and that they may need to do certain things to get it. I don’t mean like a ton of work but, more like, you know, waiting patiently or going to a certain spot. If they think it’s on them to get the food however they can, things will go sideways for you really quick,” she smiles suddenly, an awkward laugh bubbling out as she spoke, “after all most people can't bare-knuckle fight wild animals.”
Tsukasa huffed and looked away and for a moment Umeka thought she saw a warmth pass over his face, but she pushed that thought aside as Tsukasa settled his eyes back on her garden.
⛮⛮⛮
“Umeka,” Tsukasa spoke, still trying to suppress the sudden rush her near-compliment had given him, “I wanted to ask...if you have any vegetables or fruit to spare?”
He avoided her gaze for a moment, he wasn’t proud of asking. He’d failed to visit for the past few weeks because he’d been looking all around the forest, trying to find anything left growing wild but he hadn’t had much success. When he finally looked at her she was staring at her garden, eyebrows knit in concentration. She was biting her lip and fidgeting her hands but her gaze seemed to wander over the baskets of potatoes and the scant few things left on the vine.
“What do you have?” She asked suddenly, turning to look at him.
“You mean to trade? We-”
“No, I mean...to eat. So I can know what might help you the most,” she spoke with a matter of fact tone as though sacrificing food she’d worked for didn’t bother her at all but then she sighed, “You know I can’t provide enough for a whole group though, right?”
Tsukasa couldn’t help but smile. She truly was pure of heart, there wasn’t a moment of hesitation in her decision only a concern of not having enough, “No I wouldn’t expect you to.”
Her eyes met his for a moment, washed with a confusing emotion Tsukasa couldn’t peg. A look that made his chest feel tight, and then she turned and headed off toward the storage under her house. Tsukasa followed, watching the way her braid swayed after her. She reached the garden and bent down, cutting a pumpkin's vine with a knife she drew from her belt, “I think pumpkins would be the best. They’ll keep for a while as long as you don’t cut them open, you can eat pretty much everything and you could use the rind for bowls...or...I dunno something. Plus you can roast the seeds for a snack.”
Tsukasa watched as she hacked a good portion of the remaining pumpkins free, “That seems like a lot…” he said, feeling sudden guilt.
“Hmm? Oh well,” she laughed, blushing again and smiling awkwardly, “I don’t really like them that much I just eat them cause they’re good for you.” Suddenly she switched to a sing-song voice, “I just like making snacks outta the seeds.”
Tsukasa’s eyes softened as he watched her work, “Thank you, Umeka, I really appreciate it. We all do.”
This seemed to embarrass her more because once again her mouth twisted into an awkward wobbling smile and her ears turned red, “Really. It’s nothing. You can take some honey too. For the seeds. I mean...you can use it for whatever, I just use it on the seeds. For the...snacks.” Her voice tapered off slowly an even more embarrassed look coming over her face.
“Where did you get the honey?” Tsukasa asked, surprised she’d found something so difficult to collect.
She paused seeming to suddenly recover from her embarrassment. She turned towards the jars and stayed there pretending to agonize over which one to give him. Pretending poorly, Tsukasa thought, by the way she hemmed-and-hawed.
“Umeka?” He asked, moving to stand behind her.
She snatched up a jar of honey quickly and turned, pushing it up into his chest, “it’s not as hard as you’d think to get honey, you’ve just gotta know where to look and be patient. But it’s good for you, right? So you’ll want it?”
“...sure? If...are you certain you want to give it to me?” Tsukasa asked, frowning slightly. Something about this was making him uneasy. Despite her laugher and gentle blush moments ago she suddenly felt far off, well out of his reach.
“Yes, it’s fine,” She said pushing it once more into his chest until his hands surfed up brushing over hers as he took a hold of the jar.
He watched her circle back to the garden, rolling the pumpkins she’d harvested together, she hummed thoughtfully, “I don’t know how you can carry all this though...hmm…”
“Umeka,” Tsukasa suddenly spoke, his voice low and earnest causing her to turn around immediately, “Let’s go hunting together, I want to help you bring something in. To thank you for all this.”
⛮⛮⛮
Umeka shifted the bow on her shoulder. When Tsukasa had asked her to go hunting she couldn’t think of a good excuse not to, it’s not like she couldn’t use the meat. If nothing else at least hunting necessitated quiet. It gave her time to think. Why did she hide the hives from him? Was she subconsciously afraid he would take them? Though he’d forced her to share the deer from when they met, he hadn’t taken anything since. In fact, his first few visits after, he’d brought her game fowl and fish. And why had he brought her grandparents up with such an air of judgment? She couldn’t figure out if it was intentional or not, or maybe she was just reading into it.
Lost in her thoughts, she’d stopped paying full attention to the forest around her. So much so that she didn’t notice the rumbling noise of a creature not far ahead. Tsukasa’s arm suddenly shot out in front of her shoulders stopping her short, “Umeka?”
“Sorry,” she spoke softly, pulling an arrow from her quiver as she leaned around him to look. Despite herself, she gasped. Not far ahead, rubbing its thick furry body against a tree, was a bear. It was huge, probably well over six hundred kilograms. The bear's head was a bright golden color and then the fur faded to brown around its shoulders and black towards its rump. The fur around its neck was long and thick, somewhat like a lion's mane, and the bear was clearly putting on weight for hibernation. Umeka frowned, that meant it was more likely to be grumpy, she thought. Or maybe that was if you woke them. She couldn’t remember but she did remember, “An Ussuri bear…”
Tsukasa looked back at her, tilting his head, “You think? I thought they lived in Hokkaido.”
“Well...it’s been a long time. Maybe they migrated back down. Or this one did alone,” she said watching the bear meander away from them, “I’ve never seen a bear out here before.”
Tsukasa nodded, and looked after the bear, “I think it’s worth it but...we’ll have to approach carefully.”
Umeka’s jaw dropped, “A bear! We can’t handle a bear like that!”
Tsukasa smiled at her dismissively, “I can but it’ll help if I get around in front of it and you come up behind, okay?”
Umeka thought for a moment, she wasn’t keen on the idea it was dangerous, after all, to take on a bear. In all her time hunting and feeding herself she rarely chose to go after predators almost always sticking to big game herbivores. Not that deer couldn’t be dangerous in their own right, but a bear was on another level. Still, if Tsukasa said he could handle it she was inclined to believe him and the pelt of a bear coupled with the meat could practically keep her through the winter on its own. “Okay,” she finally said, nodding him on.
Tsukasa smiled at her once more, “Don’t let your mind wander again, okay? I won’t be far off.”
She nodded again, a little embarrassed, and Tsukasa was gone.
She walked for a while following the trail of the bear at a distance. Like always Saiyan was following her not far off, he never seemed willing to stay back these days. Maybe it was him that made her unable to trust Tsukasa fully. After all, dogs are supposed to have better senses. Maybe Saiyan knew something he couldn’t communicate so, instead, he always stayed near her to protect her. But then she heard a twig, out of time with her own feet, too far to her left to be Saiyan. She glanced at him, his ears twitching in the direction of the sound, a confirmation that something was approaching. She nocked an arrow, worried the bear was closer than the tracks implied, or worse, that it wasn’t alone. She approached slowly, keeping her knees bent in case she needed to jump into a tree or make a run for it. But the steps didn’t seem heavy enough, and the cadence of them seemed like a two-legged creature. It sounded like a human, but Tsukasa wasn’t so loud, in fact, he barely made any noise when he walked. Creeping closer, Umeka peered around a tree and spotted him.
The young man couldn’t be much older than she was now. He was skinny, with strange spikey hair, the cracks that ran from his forehead to the inside of his eyebrows and down past the inner corners of his eyes made it clear he was yet another person awoken from the stone. He was dressed in a crude deerskin robe, bags hung all around his waist, but it was the writing on his chest that drew her eye. It was messy and a dark rust color. She immediately recognized it as dried blood, and it wrote out some sort of strange math problem, one she must not have gotten to in school yet. She couldn’t think of anyone that would do something so strange except for, “Senku…?”
The man turned to her, one eyebrow raised, and a weird tense smile on his face. He stuck his pinky in his ear and twisted it, “heh, I knew it was a risk to come out here but I didn’t realize Tsukasa’s group was camped so close.”
Umeka blinked. He was being very nonchalant for a man wandering alone in the forest faced with an armed stranger, “They aren’t.”
He blinked at her, “Oh yeah? Then who are you?”
“Yamaguchi Umeka,” she blurted out, shocked with herself and her immediate answer, “You’re Senku, right?”
By the patchy light breaking through the treetops it looked like he was sweating nervously, “How would you know a name like that if you weren’t in Tsukasa’s Empire of Might?”
It was a horribly inappropriate moment but, she snorted. Tsukasa had never called it that to her. And hearing the name now it just sounded so silly. Especially for someone who always seemed so reserved and serious. It seemed to surprise the young man who finally pulled his hand from his head, joining her in a brief comically-malicious laugh, “Hey, I didn’t name it but that doesn’t answer my question.”
She took a deep breath and looked at him squarely. She thought she heard him gulp slightly shifting a foot back, but he kept his face turned to hers staring back at her silently. There was nothing. No sense of danger. No intimidation. Beyond not really saying his name, though to be fair he’d never said he wasn’t Senku, she felt he would tell her anything she asked.
“Why are you out here?” She said, testing her theory.
“I’m looking for nitic acid, we need it in the fluid Tsukasa used to wake you up. He’s blocking us from the only source we had so...I guess I’m taking a chance looking out here alone.” Again he forced a laugh, which made her give a tiny smile though she tried to hold it back, “Pretty bad idea, huh?”
“So you are Senku.”
“Yeah,” his voice deepened, suddenly serious, “I’m Senku, the guy Tsukasa wants to catch more than anything else.”
“...he’s nearby,” she said, “Tsukasa, we’re hunting together.”
Senku’s eyes widened, “Shit! Are you serious?” he looked around cautiously, a stressed smile breaking on his face. His eyebrows pulled together clearly deep in thought about how he would make out of here.
“Umeka…!” Tsukasa’s voice suddenly echoed from ahead, just far enough to be out of sight and unable to see them.
Umeka looked in Tsukasa’s direction and then back to Senku who’s red eyes met hers. He didn’t speak but there was a pleading in them, maybe he was too afraid to speak or too proud. His hands were clenched but shaking, his jaw was tight behind the smile he still had, though it wasn’t a pleasant one, it was interesting that a smile was his response to tension. That didn’t seem like the trait of a fighter or someone with bad intentions. In fact, though she could probably take him down, the thought of taking her as a hostage didn’t seem to occur to him. Maybe he just knew it wouldn’t work but her instincts told her that just wasn’t the way he operated and if she was trusting them about Tsukasa then it was only right to treat Senku the same. At least until she could actually make up her mind. She pulled her dog whistle out of her shirt again and blew a sharp not calling Saiyan over, she leaned to the dog's ear, but held eye contact with Senku, “Take him home. Go quick.”
Saiyan’s eyes shifted between here and Senku, and then he turned and waited. Umeka looked at Senku, who now looked more confused than anything else, “Follow him to my home. Climb the ladder, leave it down, and stay quiet. Okay?”
She couldn’t fully read his expression, his smile didn’t so much fade as soften. His eyes stayed set on hers for a moment before he looked to the dog and nodded.
“Go,” Umeka said shortly and Saiyan shot off, Senku following as best he could. Umeka watched them run through the trees, the sound of twigs snapping making her heart beat faster and faster. The sound was on all sides now, Tsukasa approaching from behind her, and Senku running off toward her home. She couldn’t believe herself. A man Tsukasa had told her was dangerous, moreover, a man Tsukasa clearly didn’t want to trust and she just sent him to her home. She told him to climb into her safe space; the only place she’d managed to keep just for herself since she learned she wasn’t truly alone. It felt like her heart was in her throat, and when Tsukasa’s large hand took hold of her shoulder she jolted and turned around breathing hard.
“...what’s going on?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. There was a harshness, a coldness to his stare that felt like a threat.
“I,” her voice cracked, “Sorry you just scared me, I was watching Saiyan.”
“Why is he leaving?” Of course, Tsukasa knew Saiyan had been with them.
“He hurt his foot, I’m not sure how but he was walking funny and trying to hide it so I sent him back. I don’t think it’ll be a big deal, he’s just getting older,” she surprised herself with the evenness of her tone, the speed of her answer.
It seemed to be working, Tsukasa nodded though his eyes stayed a little more narrow than was natural, his voice was still slow and edged, “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve seemed jumpy today…”
“No I’m…” she didn’t know what to say. There was no half-truth to say there. She couldn’t tell him about Senku, or how nervous Tsukasa himself made her, “I think I’m just nervous.”
It wasn’t a lie, so she didn’t know why it made her feel so bad. Maybe she felt bad from how his head tilted at her, his eyes softening, “why are you nervous?”
“I’m...I’ve,” she swallowed hard, “I think I’ve just been alone for a long time so...you and your group make me nervous maybe more than I thought at first. I must have just been thinking about that.”
Umeka was shocked. It was certainly a kind of truth. Maybe one she wasn’t fully ready to say. Certainly, one that left out major information but still more true than she'd expected.
The truth of her statement must have satisfied any lingering suspicious Tsukasa had because he reached out his hand and placed it on top of Umeka’s head, gently smoothing her hair. When she looked up his eyes had softened completely, “I understand, Umeka. But I’m on your side, the world I want to make would be perfect for you. I just want you to meet my group so you can see that. Maybe you can come soon?”
“Yeah,” she breathed, knowing resistance now would be a big back step, “maybe...ah...the bear?”
Tsukasa nodded, “Let’s go get the bear.”
⛮⛮⛮
For the rest of their hunt, Umeka was quiet and focused. None of the confused drifting and thoughtless movements from earlier. Though Tsukasa couldn’t shake the sense that something was very wrong, he felt maybe he’d finally gotten her to believe that he wanted the best for her. He knew it would take a long time to build trust with someone who’d been so self-sufficient for so long. Tsukasa hadn’t gotten a number from her yet, but he thought she must have been young when she was turned to stone. Then she'd broken free, only a child left alone in the stone world and had grown into a young woman by herself. It would explain her occasional pouty behaviors and the words she hadn’t known when he spoke to her.
He led her to where the bear had stopped, a cave. That’s where he’d called out to her from, earlier when she hadn’t responded. It still felt strange that she didn’t call back, even if she was dealing with Saiyan. She had been in a daze earlier but could it have been that intense that she didn’t hear him? Maybe she would be better off coming to stay with his group if her mind would wander in such a serious situation. He’d have to bring it up to her later.
Umeka was frowning, “A cave is not a fair fighting ground, maybe we should-”
Tsukasa shook his head, “Shoot some arrows into the cave if it feels attacked it should come out and I can handle it from there.”
Her eyebrow shot up suspiciously, “Really?”
He smiled, laughing slightly, “Yes, Umeka. I’ll get you the bear. I owe you.”
“That’s not a good reason-”
“You need it, and you deserve it, for your help,” Tsukasa said, looking into her eyes before turning back to the cave, “Go ahead, I’ll stay by the mouth of the cave.” And with that, he walked forward drawing his stone sword.
He could hear Umeka take a breath and then quickly arrows flew to the left middle and right of the cave. One drew a great roar and the bear rushed out wildly. Before fear could even pass over Umeka’s face, Tsukasa launched himself at the powerful animals and it fell to the forest floor, heavy and lifeless.
Umeka came up and stood at his elbow looking at the large still-open eyes of the bear. The soft, “wow,” she emitted filled him with a slight pride he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Tsukasa easily pulled the creature to his shoulders, “Let’s get this to your home.”
⛮⛮⛮
Umeka almost wondered if Senku was even up there. He was dead quiet. There had been no footprints when they came up, even the dogs were all acting calm. A concern she hadn’t even considered until Suit rushed up to greet her.
It took much longer to break the bear down than a deer. Perhaps just because she’d never broken one down before. It had so much to give she found herself tossing meat to the dogs as a thank you for their silence. Tsukasa seemed happy, though she felt he was looking at her more but she brushed it off as a figment of her imagination. A product of her fear that he knew about her secret in the house above them. In the distance the sky rumbled, light flashing as it came down to earth. Umeka stepped out into the field looking at the sky, “it looks like a storm is coming.”
Tsukasa walked up behind her, “And fast.”
He stayed close so she turned to look up at him but before she could make a suggestion Tsukasa spoke again.
“Can I stay here,” he asked, the tone of his voice was innocent. He didn’t look away from her but his eyes surfed over her face rather than staying focused on her own, “just to stay out of the storm, I don’t mean…” his voice trailed off.
It felt like a lightning bolt had rushed over and shot down through her. Of all the days he’d visited he’d never pressed to go into the house. It had seemed like he understood she’d never want to share that space and that made her fear that he knew. She had no clue how he would, but, why else would he want to go up? She supposed it could just be the storm but if that was the case how bad could her luck suddenly be.
“I’m not…” she spoke, her voice hitching when he furrowed his eyebrows at her sadly, “comfortable…”
“Umeka…” Tsukasa spoke, turning to look at the quickly coming storm before looking at her again, he seemed like he wanted to say something else but he stopped himself. He turned suddenly and looked at the rope and the up to the hatch into the house. Would he run and force his way up? No, that didn’t seem like him but if he did there’s no way she could stop him.
“I’m sorry…” she mumbled, “I know it’s late and there’s a storm but I just…” she thought of Senku, his tense smile and weirdly comical responses to fear.
Tsukasa sighed, it was a deep sad sigh. Then he pulled his cloak back on as the rain began to trickle down, “I’ll come back for the pumpkins and honey soon, I’ll be faster without them.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, feeling more guilty than she wanted to.
“It’s all right,” he turned again, placing his hand on her head once more drifting it down to just above her ear and pulling it away just before it touched her cheek, “I hope you’ll be more comfortable with me soon, next time...next time come with me and see my group, okay?”
Once again Tsukasa’s question didn’t feel like it was asking. She nodded. His large brown eyes stayed on her face for a while, so long she felt it growing hot on instinct. He smiled slightly, and then he turned and rushed off undeterred by the rain.
Umeka stood under her house, listening to the rain, that was now pouring, falling all around her. The dogs walked in and circled her, curling up by the fire pit. She bent down and lit it for them and sat by it looking into the flames. But despite the fire, she felt cold deep in her body. Slowly her eyes drifted to the hatch that led into her house. She stood, holding the rope, but she didn’t climb for a while. Instead, she thought about Senku. Maybe he was up there hiding and waiting for her. Maybe she’d climb up and find he’s raided the place and her things would be scattered and broken on the floor. Maybe he never made it at all and the dogs just couldn’t inform her of that. All of these thoughts passed through her head but she wouldn’t know until she climbed. The choice was already made, she couldn’t go back now but she could stay for a moment longer listening to the rain and the crackle of the fire.