Yuko was relieved that she was the most injured after the thirioid attack. Sure, bruising a rib sucked a lot. Taking deep breaths hurt, and she was gonna have a bad time exerting herself for the next little while.
Getting stitches in your cheek sucked just as much. Apparently she was lucky it didn't poke a hole into her mouth, but it was a small comfort. It never fully stopped stinging, at best it was a dull throb she had to try and ignore. Chewing any kind of food as well as speaking hurt as the threads protested against the movements of the muscle.
At least she was still plenty capable of keeping up with the group. Someone else might not have been able to. She still preferred her getting hurt over another citizen, even if she was also frustrated that she'd be less useful now. More of a liability.
She tried not to let it show. Often she grit her teeth through the pain to try and continue being useful where she could, and taking the rare painkiller where she couldn't.
The third day Yuko was becoming anxious and it showed. Usually she would be in the front of the group, talking with the people around her. Sometimes she'd keep herself busy with something for later, whether it was trying to repair something small or make plans for the next camp.
It was overcast, grey but not wet clouds lining the sky like a ceiling. They stretched as far as the eye could see. Depending on the wind, they'd be stuck with this weather for a few hours or maybe even days. Something like that.
She couldn't help it. She was unnecessarily on edge and her guard was up. She was spending the day ahead of the group, minding the sky and the horizon while fidgeting with her tools. Fukui's pistol in particular kept leaving its pocket. She'd work the action, catch the ejected round, remove the magazine, insert the round, insert the magazine, repeat.
They'd be passing that camping spot today.
Pull action.
The night it rained.
Catch round.
Fukui turned out to be sick.
Remove magazine.
The place the gun was shot.
Insert round.
This thing.
Insert magazine.
It's so heavy.
Repeat.
It didn't take long for Shizumi and Satoru to notice Yuko's distress, taking up a spot next to her. They stayed quiet, but offered a smile when she looked at them. Yuko appreciated their company.
Eventually, Shizumi broke the silence. “Look. One o’clock.”
Yuko followed her gaze. She had to squint for a moment to notice it. A dust cloud peeked over the horizon. Just within a few moments of noticing it, it started to look a little bigger.
“Odd,” Satoru commented, “Let's not worry yet.”
It could be more thirioids. Yuko hoped not, or that they wouldn't bother attacking, at least.
Over the time span of a few minutes, the cloud had become significantly bigger. It was pretty obvious at this point that it was headed their way.
Yuko sneered, only to flinch as her cheek ached in protest.
This could not be good news. She surveyed the surrounding area.
Fields of grass with some trees. This was not a defensible location. There were no tunnels known nearby that they could hide three hundred people in. That wouldn't do anything for the next group behind them, anyway.
Curious talking could be heard from the other people who'd noticed by then.
They decided to hold. There was nothing to gain by pushing onward with a possible threat. The siblings quickly came to join them when the order was given.
“Horses,” Shizumi muttered as she pulled away from her scope. She looked concerned.
“Oh no…” Wakane said.
“Father.”
It only took 15 minutes for him to get there. He wasn't alone, either. Two horses pulled a string of three carts, and there were multiple of those. One was headed straight to them, while the rest continued onward further south. They had to be headed to the other groups.
In those minutes, Shizumi had disappeared into the crowd to line up a shot, and the rest of the group was standing ahead of the group, hoping to intercept the carriage. It drove right past them in such a way that it was near the group of civilians just as much as the party. Yoshinaga stood up from his position in the front to instead stand on top of the carriage.
Despite his mask, it was clear he was looking at the party right now, who moved to be closer as soon as the carriage had come to a stop. The carriages were empty.
Yuko glared at the man. “We're not interested in joining your army!” she called out. How did he even know they were here, doing this?
“How disappointing that you had no faith in me,” Yoshinaga noted almost plainly, before looking at his children, “but I must say that you disappointed even more. Truly, you value your ideals so much? You would rather inflict poverty and misery on these people, rather than to offer them the luxury they would need to overcome their hardships in such a distressing time?”
“No one is obligated to help you, father. Neither are they obligated to obey your orders,” Kosuke responded.
“You need to allow people to think for themselves,” Wakane added.
Yoshinaga tilted his head and gestured to the group. He had all their attention. “And what of them?”
A press of a button caused the carriages to open. “Dear citizens of Yonni, has this harrowing experience truly been what you wanted? A fight for survival day in, day out, maybe even before you set foot in this new world. And what for..? Nothing? The sake of living? In Niku, we live with a sense of purpose! We are driven to make life ours! To live the life we truly deserve, one that requires work but is rewarded truly and equally!”
Yuko snatched her megaphone. “This man will use you to serve his purposes and doesn't care otherwise! He rejects his own children for disagreeing with him, what makes you think he won't cast you aside when you're no longer useful to him?”
“I never rejected them. They left. Didn't you?” Yoshinaga argued without a hint of emotion in his voice.
Wakane shook her head, clearly frustrated. “When we were heard but not listened to, we didn't have many options left. Neither did the people of Sanroku when they could not fit in.”
Yuko tried to bite her tongue, but couldn't help herself. “Why are you even here? Why do this?”
Yoshinaga chuckled. “Because the people deserve a choice, little Yuko, and they deserve to know what their options are, lest they pick without even knowing about the best one! If you place your trust in me for just a moment, I will bring you to your new home in four hours, rather than two days! You will be clothed, fed, and homed as each and every one of you deserves.”
Murmurs spread within the crowd.
“He's paranoid,” Kosuke explains in a softer tone, “we aren't allowed to become a threat.”
Yuko growled, taking her energy pistol in hand and glaring. Her cheek ached and she ignored it. The man looked back silently.
He was goading her. Was he really taking that risk? Or was he so confident it wouldn't do anything?
“Are you truly so afraid you must have two guns pointing at me?” Yoshinaga asked unbothered.
Did he find Shizumi?
Satoru put both hands on Yuko's shoulder. “Don't. We'd only prove ourselves as the worst option in their minds.”
A person stepped forward, and everything fell silent.
Yoshinaga extended a hand to them, clearly only a figurative gesture considering his position. “A brave soul steps forward. Very admirable,” he said with a welcoming warmth in his voice, “What are you lacking?”
The person, a young woman, froze like a thief caught red handed. She took a few moments to turn around. “I've been promised things will get better someday, gods know when, but will they really? It's always this or that first. Always something. I'm tired of waiting.”
She stepped into the carriage without another word.
Others followed.
“No-” Yuko yelled as she tried to move into the way to hold them back, only to be stopped by the siblings and dragged away. Her rib protested in pain and her pistol fell.
“We can't help them.”
She was failing again.
She was failing people again .
She ripped herself out of their grasps and pulled out Fukui's pistol.
That got a response. Yoshinaga took a few steps backwards and instinctively raised his hands. “Think about what you're doing, little miss.”
She stared. Her heart throbbed in her ears as much as her cheek did.
People still continued to walk.
There was nothing she could do.
With a choked sob, Yuko fell to her knees.
Yoshinaga was gone a few minutes later. So was nearly half the group.