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Tsukasa eyed the treeline anxiously.
It had been Senku’s turn to go out and gather as much wood as he could to keep the stoves and furnaces going through the night. Ginrou had gone with him to both get out of his other duties and to assist with some of the heavy lifting. The guard had already returned, bringing news that Senku had sent him back once his basket was full and continued on his own, promising to not be long.
That had been half an hour ago.
He forced himself to be patient, and not launch Ginrou into the nearest tree for leaving Senku undefended. The scientist probably got distracted by finding some plant or rock that everyone else overlooked…right? No, that was something Chrome would do.
Something in his gut told him that something was very wrong. It started snowing a few minutes ago, adding to the accumulation and erasing any trail that could lead them to Senku if he’d gotten lost. Deciding he couldn’t risk waiting anymore, he grabbed an extra fur from inside the hut and wrapped it around himself before setting out. Senku was pretty skinny and got cold easily. A pre-warmed fur may be helpful.
Just a precaution , he told himself, Not something I’m actually going to need .
“Chrome! Kohaku!” Tsukasa called, injecting as much authority and urgency in his voice as he could.
The two quickly hurried over. They had rarely ever heard their chief use that tone before and were understandably concerned.
“Senku should be back by now,” he said, “We need to go find him.”
“Ah! You’re right!” Chrome suddenly realized, “We should split up!”
Tsukasa nodded. “Chrome, you know the terrain well and Kohaku, your eyes should be able to spot anything amiss if you get a vantage point. Yell if you find anything.”
“Don’t worry,” Kohaku nodded seriously, “We’ll find him.”
Tsukasa hurried off in the direction Senku left, hoping that there were some clear tracks or indications about where Senku went. Chrome headed to some of the places he knew held things that might pique Senku’s interest. Kohaku took to the trees, leaping branch to branch with grace while her sharp eyes missed nothing.
“Tsukasa!” Kohaku called from above him. “I see two sets of footprints. It must be where Senku and Ginrou split up because they go in two separate directions. I can’t tell which set belongs to Senku anymore with the new snowfall.”
“We split up as well,” Tsukasa decided quickly. “Good luck.”
Tsukasa quickly found the tracks Kohaku had spotted and followed the set that went left. He must have walked at least half a mile before he found something disturbing.
The footprints stopped next to a steep ditch. Crouching down to examine what could have happened, he noticed a patch of ice that had been covered by a thin layer of snow. Next to it, was a rock with suspicious red speckles. The brush seemed disturbed as well, like something heavy ran through them.
His heart clenched as the scene painted a picture of the worst case scenario. He quickly followed the new trail of evidence and his fear was confirmed.
Senku was at the bottom of the ditch, unconscious, with a light dusting of snow on top of him and blood sluggishly trickling down the side of his face. The wood he'd been collecting was scattered around him.
“Senku!” Tsukasa lurched forward, clumsily falling to his knees and searching for a pulse.
He flinched when his fingers came in contact with cold skin. For one heart stopping moment, he didn’t feel anything, but just as he was about to pull away in a desperate attempt to try CPR, there was a single thrum…and then another. It was slow, but it was strong.
“Senku! Can you hear me?” Tsukasa tried again. There was still no response. Tsukasa yelled for the other two searchers before returning his attention to the man in front of him. “OVER HERE!!”
Senku gave no response and his head lolled around as Tsukasa tried to shake him awake. His lips and fingertips were already tinged blue. He was alive, but that was about all he had going for him right now. A quick examination told Tsukasa that Senku had a shallow cut on his hairline surrounded by a rather impressive bruise. This was clearly the reason Senku was unconscious and subsequently hypothermic.
He quickly wrapped Senku in the spar fur he brought. It wasn’t too warm, but it would be enough to get Senku back to the lab, and hopefully keep his hypothermia from getting worse. As he scooped up the smaller man, he noticed that one of his knees was significantly swollen. He must have slipped, fallen, and hit his head on the way down.
Tsukasa raced back to the village, keeping Senku pressed close against his body. He tried not to think of the last time Senku had been so still…or so cold.
Kohaku met up with him halfway back. She took one look at Senku and gasped in shock.
“Get back to the village,” Tsukasa ordered as he ran. She was lighter and faster than he was, so she should make it back before him, “Start preparing the stove in the lab and some furs. Hurry!”
“Right!”
Chrome was waiting for Tsukasa back in the clearing. He hadn’t traveled too far in his search and made it back quickly.
“You found him!” He greeted enthusiastically. It was quickly dampened when he registered that Senku was not at all okay.
“With me,” Tsukasa barked, rushing past him into the backroom of the lab. Kohaku was already there, throwing wood into the furnace. There were already some thick furs laid out on the ground; furs that Tsukasa wasted no time setting Senku down on and starting to strip off the scientist’s cold, wet clothes.
Senku barely shivered at the sudden exposure to the cold air. Not good at all.
“I assume the villagers are familiar with how to treat hypothermia?” Tsukasa asked, removing his own top.
“Skin contact, right?” Chrome checked, “I’m pretty sure that was somewhere in the Hundred Tales. Does it really work?”
“Yes, and it’s the safest option right now. Senku’s hypothermic right now, and sharing body heat provides a controlled way of raising the core temperature. If we panic and try to do it too quickly, we could very well kill him with the shock to his system.”
Tsukasa laid down next to Senku, not even flinching at how cold he was, and covered them both with the lion pelt.
“Is there anything I can do?” Kohaku asked, brushing the wood dust from her hands. “I’d offer to help with the body heat thing, but I don’t think Senku would appreciate it if he learned that he had to sleep basically naked next to several people.”
“Keep the villagers calm and out of the lab,” Tsukasa instructed. “Let them know that Senku will be fine, but he must rest. Maybe get someone to have some soup ready for when he wakes up. We’ll also need some medical supplies. His knee needs to be treated.”
“Got it! I’ll be back soon!”
“Anything else I can do?” Chrome asked anxiously.
“See what projects you can keep going in Senku’s absence. It will be easier to convince him to rest if we can tell him that progress is still being made.”
Chrome nodded firmly and went to take charge of the current science projects. Most of them were in the menial labor stage, so it shouldn’t be too hard to keep them going until Senku woke up.
When Senku finally had enough energy to open his eyes, he found himself staring at the ceiling of the backroom of the lab. He felt like he was next to a furnace, and yet, not close enough. He was cold. How’d he get here? The last thing he remembered was slipping on ice in the forest. Before he could freak out, about how much time he missed, a familiar voice stopped him.
“Are you finally awake?”
Turning his head, he found Tsukasa staring at him intently.
“Wha-?”
Something hot landed on his forehead. It was so hot that Senku flinched away, worried it would burn him.
The thing withdrew, allowing Senku to realize it was a hand. Tsukasa’s hand to be exact.
“You’re still cold, but at least you’re awake.”
“Oh?” Senku’s brain was uncharacteristically sluggish. It didn’t seem to want to do much of anything except scramble for numbers to count and it was failing to do even that.
“You fell while you were out collecting wood,” Tsukasa filled in the blanks, “Hit your head on your way down. You were unconscious and hypothermic when I found you.”
“Oh…”
“Think you can sit up and we can get some warm fluids in you? I think they’ve got some soup ready. It’ll help you warm up. Come on.”
Slowly, Tsukasa coaxed Senku into a sitting position against him, taking great care to keep the furs readjusted so he wasn’t exposed to the cold air. He quietly called for Chrome, who he knew was waiting anxiously in the lab for news, to bring in a bowl of soup. Senku hissed when his leg moved.
“We’ll take care of your knee soon,” Tsukasa promised quietly, “I didn’t want to move you any more than necessary while you were unconscious.”
“Could lead to shock,” Senku muttered in agreement. His brain could provide that much information at least.
Chrome entered just then, carefully carrying a bowl of something steaming. “Senku!” he greeted brightly, kneeling next to the two of them, “Good to see you awake!”
He should probably say something. A greeting, right? Something to put their minds at ease? It wasn’t until Chrome’s face fell that Senku realized he’d been silent too long. Fortunately, Tsukasa took over for him.
“He’s lethargic,” Tsukasa explained, “Still hypothermic, but getting better; he’s shivering now. I figured we should get some warm fluids in him to speed up the process while he’s awake. If he’s still awake at the end of it, we can try to bandage his knee.”
The two continued their quiet conversation while Tsukasa helped Senku sip at the broth. While Senku ate, he was able to process snippets of the quiet conversation between Chrome and Tsukasa, and caught something about how Ginrou and Kinrou had assigned themselves temporarily to guard the entrance to the lab. Kinrou out of an astounding sense of duty, and Ginrou out of guilt. They were only allowing Chrome and Kohaku through, not even Gen could charm his way past.
Senku ended up falling back asleep half-way through the soup, but it was clear it was working. Already he felt warmer than he did when he first woke up. Tsukasa carefully laid him back down and tucked himself up against him. He was sure that once Senku was more cognizant, he’d be flustered at what was happening, but better the future embarrassment than the alternative.
When Senku woke again, he had more awareness of his surroundings. For a moment, he wondered what he was doing asleep in the lab at this time of day, but the previous events came flooding back, vague as they were. He’d been out collecting wood and he remembered hitting his head, having only enough time to realize how bad that was, and then some fuzzy memories of Chrome and soup.
Hypothermia.
His brain seemed to be functioning better than his last recollection of being awake, much to his relief. Somebody had found him in time to prevent as much damage from the cold as possible. He tried to curl further into the warmth of the furs, and instantly regretted it with a hiss as his knee hit something solid.
“Sorry. You’re moving on your own though, so that’s an improvement. We can probably get a good look at your leg now and bandage it up without risking making things worse.”
The solid thing shifted and pulled some of the furs with it. Senku looked over to see Tsukasa sitting up and noticed he wasn’t wearing his shirt. His brain came to a screeching halt as it processed what that meant: Senku, being hypothermic, would have to be warmed up slowly, and Tsukasa was using skin-to-skin contact to do that. It was smart, and probably the best option in this stone world…but that also meant that Senku was also undressed. Blood rushed to his face at the realization. Thank god the large man had at least kept his pants on.
Tsukasa, who was watching him closely, couldn’t help but smirk as he saw Senku’s thoughts catch up to the situation.
“Don’t worry,” he assured, “I didn’t see anything I haven’t seen before. Cared a little more about keeping you alive than anything else.”
“Obviously,” Senku agreed, though he wouldn’t quite look at Tsukasa. “Besides, who cares in this stone world?”
It was an old line from a year ago, but Tsukasa let it slide to help Senku preserve what little dignity he had left right now.
“Come on, sit up.”
Senku suffered the embarrassment of being practically naked, though still wrapped in furs, while Tsukasa properly examined and wrapped his swollen knee. As an MMA fighter, Tsukasa was familiar with all types of soft tissue injuries, and so Senku trusted his judgment when he reported that it was just a bad sprain and nothing had torn.
“Of course you realize you can’t walk on it for a little while yet.”
“I can’t just sit here!” Senku argued, “There’s too much to do and my little accident put us behind schedule.”
“We’re not actually behind,” Tsukasa said calmly, “Chrome did a good job of getting things done while you were out. I’m pretty sure he recruited Kasaki to help keep things moving the way they should. It’s only been a couple of days anyway. Here,” he handed over a stack of clothes, “They’ve dried out by now. You can get dressed.”
Tsukasa was kind enough to turn his back while Senku quickly got his clothes back on. Small mercies. While his back was turned, Senku noticed something. There were marks on Tsukasa’s skin from the folds in the furs. A testament to how long Tsukasa was lying down and how still he’d been.
“You said it’s been a couple of days?” Senku asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Tsukasa pulled on his own clothes, “You woke up for a bit yesterday, but you were really out of it. Could barely string together more than a couple words. Drank about half a bowl of soup before you passed out again. According to Kohaku, you had the villagers really worried. They’ve been frantically trying to think of ways to help, but Ginrou and Kinrou were able to keep them out of here.”
“You haven’t left, to stretch your legs or get food, during that time.”
Other people might mistake Senku’s statement for a question, but Tsukasa was now accustomed to Senku’s bluntness. He simply stated facts as he saw them and waited for anybody to contradict him.
“No,” Tsukasa admitted, still facing away, “I was worried if I left, you’d get cold again. I figured you’d be mortified enough that I had to share my body heat with you, you wouldn’t want other people to do it.”
“I appreciate that,” Senku said softly. Even in a life or death situation, Tsukasa was still considerate. “I’m decent.”
Tsukasa turned back around, his eyes raking over Senku as worried he’d somehow disappeared or became hypothermic again in the two minutes it took him to dress.
“It was terrifying,” he finally whispered, “Finding you in the forest, covered in snow. You were so cold…”
“I’m sorry,” Senku answered just as quietly, “I wasn’t watching where I was going and I guess there was a patch of ice. Heh, I’ve survived lions, Hyoga, and the worst ramen I’ve ever had, but ice is what almost gets me.”
“You’re relegated to the Buddy System, either Kohaku or another responsible villager, from here on out any time I can’t accompany you. You’re not allowed to send them away either,” Tsukasa said seriously.
“What am I? A wandering grade-schooler?”
“No. Somehow, you’re worse than that.”
“Rude.”
Tsukasa just shrugged. Rude or not, it would keep Senku alive and that was all he cared about.
“Now I just need to figure out what can be done from here,” Senku mused, tapping on his good knee and looking around the small room, “Can’t go very far thanks to my leg.”
“Just tell me where you want to go, I will carry you,” Tsukasa said simply. “Or perhaps Ginrou should do it as penance for leaving you alone. If he’d still been with you, we would have found you sooner and you might have avoided hypothermia.”
“...Or we can ask Kaseki to make some crutches. I’ve been carried more since I woke up in this world than I have in my entire life.”
Tsukasa shot him a dubious look. “I highly doubt you were walking for at least the first year of your life.”
“How do you know that I didn’t peak in athleticism as an infant?”
Tsukasa rolled his eyes, “You have more muscles on those scrawny arms now than you ever did before. If anything, now is when you’ve peaked athletically.”
“Yeah, it’s a bit sad that this is my peak physical condition isn’t it?” Senku chuckled, “At least now I’m justified in spending all my time in the lab.”
“You survived months on your own, and continue to thrive in this new world,” Tsukasa reminded him, helping Senku to his feet… foot . “You’ve said it yourself, the world needs all types of people.”
“Heh, I’m not looking down on myself,” Senku assured, “I know where my strengths lie.”
“Hmm,” Tsukasa hummed noncommittally, “Either way, you need to eat, and so do I. Are you okay to lean on me for balance, or do you want me to carry you?”
Both of them knew the answer to that question.
With Tsukasa’s help, Senku was able to slowly hobble his way to fresh air, fortunately, the villagers seemed to be busy at that moment which allowed for the two of them to slowly make their way over to where the food was being prepped.
As if waiting for that exact cue, the moment Senku was situated, with his leg propped out, he was immediately swarmed with worried villagers, all expressing how glad they were that he was alright and eager to share updates. They just barely missed Tsukasa who was retrieving food for the two of them.
“SENKU!” Ginrou wailed at the front of the mob, “You’re alright! I’m so sorry I left you! You got hurt because I wasn’t there and almost died!”
“Senku! Should you be moving around? You’re still injured,” Kohaku asked.
“Are you hungry? We just made Ramen!”
“You’ll be impressed with how much gold wire we were able to get done. I think we’ve almost finished!”
“Hoho! I was able to finish more vacuum tubes!”
“Sounds like you guys were busy,” Senku grinned at them, “Glad to hear that you didn’t just sit around on your asses waiting for me to die.”
His statement, though morbid, helped put everyone at ease. If he could crack jokes like that, then clearly he was going to be just fine.
“Back off,” Tsukasa glowered at them, “Let him have space to breathe.” Tsukasa handed Senku a hot bowl of ramen and sat down next to him.
“Why did we even waste our energy worrying about you? You’re like a cockroach, Senku- chan ,” Gen teased mischievously, “No matter what tries to kill you, death never seems to stick. Perhaps your luck isn’t all bad afterall, hm?”
“Luck has nothing to do with it, mentalist,” Senku rolled his eyes. “In any case, I think it’s about time to start working towards the final stages of our cell phone. Get excited!”