Yuko's chest had felt tight for days. In the moment, she was ready and eager to plan a way forward. Make the world a better place. To put her money where her mouth is and take real action in making things better both for herself and the people around her.
Wakane's words rang in her ears.
To murder someone.
Yuko had never killed anyone. She'd never even seen a dead body. Yet if their plan was going to have any chance at succeeding, she would have to be taking the shot. To end a life like that… the only lives Yuko had ended before that point was that of pests, and half the time that was for food.
Could she do it?
She had to, if she actually wanted things to change. She wanted to be able to do it.
She wished she could be as confident as she needed. The least she wanted was to chicken out at the last moment and get everyone hurt, or worse.
Instead she'd been practicing. Over and over again at the makeshift shooting range that had been set up with Shizumi. The least she could do was make sure her aim was good and her hands weren't shaking like her breath was.
“You’re getting worked up again. Take a deep breath,” Shizumi instructed, putting a hand on the pistol to take Yuko's attention.
Yuko sighed as she dropped her stance and relaxed. The inhale that followed was deep, and exhaled even shakier than before.
“Have you ever shot someone?” Yuko asked as she dropped herself on a nearby chair.
The woman shook her head. “No.”
“Could you?”
Shizumi looked at the target. It was filled with holes. “I don't think I could execute someone.”
Yuko tilted her head to the side. “Then why did you learn how to shoot? If you're not gonna be able to when it matters?”
“Other than for fun?” Shizumi retorted with a small chuckle, “If my life is on the line, I'll be able to take the shot, and the only reason I will hit my target is because I know how to.”
Yuko looked at the target as well. She still felt unsettled, but at the same time, she was okay with that.
When she took another breath, it was steady.
“Can we continue?”
The journey to Niku was slow. Despite it only taking a few days to get there, every minute felt like it crawled, as if it was competing with paint drying and losing.
Yuko's chest hadn't stopped feeling tight, and the extra heavy protective clothes she'd been put in didn't help. At this point, she couldn't wait for the week to be over, one way or another. Every time she thought her anticipation reached a new cap, it went ahead and exceeded it.
The discussion of the plan had been entirely silenced. The plan was known, and not to be revised, lest less than helpful ears or eyes ruin everything. They'd fill their time with other activities instead.
Yuko was mostly keeping herself busy with foraging. She did genuinely enjoy exploring the world around her and seeing what she found of fruits, nuts and flowers. She'd ask the siblings which she should be able to eat and how to prepare them. They in turn showed her a few edible roots. Anything she could eat that wasn't a nutrient bar was a blessing.
Satoru and Shizumi on the other hand were a lot more occupied with learning about the thirioids. They were becoming more and more common as they traveled north, it was almost uncanny, and absolutely increased the feeling of being watched.
“What are they made of?” Satoru asked as they studied a bird type of avian sitting in a tree they were walking by.
“Their hides are made of a polymer resembling rubber. It's extremely flexible and stretchable, but really difficult to tear. The machinery on the other hand is a mixture of plastics and aluminum,” Wakane explained.
“I thought so when I dissected the rat,” he muttered in response, “but I couldn't believe it then. Plastics in Shini were almost impossible to reuse, nor make more of, so nearly everything had been phased out before we were even born.”
“How is it so easy to destroy them with the energy rifles?” Shizumi then asked, frowning as she thought about it.
Kosuke took out one of the pistols and removed the battery. “They run on the radiation, turning all the latent energy stored in the land into power. By hitting them with a concentrated blast of that energy…”
“... You short-circuit their systems. Fascinating,” Shizumi finished.
Yuko hummed. The idea of these nightmarish robots running on kegare felt appropriate. “What does he intend to do when all the kegare is cleaned?”
The siblings frowned. They didn't have an answer right away.
Yuko pushed the issue. “The kegare has to run out at some point right? If it was put in the ground by the explosions. It's not something that's actually natural.”
“I… don't know,” Wakane answered.
Kosuke put a hand to his chin, only to flinch. He was still getting used to the amputations. “Maybe that's part of what he's waiting for to reach out to the rest of the world,” he mused, wanting to finish his thought as a way of distracting himself.
“Kosuke…” Wakane mumbled, clearly worried by her brother's pain.
Shizumi paused her walk to dive into her backpack. “Anything other than medicine?”
“Some more local anaesthetic might also help,” he confessed sheepishly.
“A change of bandages, understood.”
The last morning was quiet. It wasn't just Yuko that was tense anymore, at this point everyone was feeling it. The air was heavy and tension palpable. Every green eye in the trees and foliage unnerved her, and the thirioids had become so common that, unlike early on in their journey, taking them out proved to be more trouble than it was worth.
Yuko fidgeted with her hands. They kept reaching for her pistol, but she didn't want it to be out whenever Yoshinaga hopefully appeared.
Ultimately they couldn't even be sure he would. At the same time though, he has to have been watching them, and the way that the robotic creatures kept an eye on them. They hadn't been intercepted yet, and she knew they were in a pretty vulnerable position now.
Reaching about mid day, the group decided to take a break and eat. They were little over an hour away from Niku now.
When the bushes rustled, food was dropped immediately in favor of weaponry, but they were too late. Guns were held to their heads, and instead the group was forced to stand with hands behind their heads.
Then the man on everyone's minds emerged.
Yuko couldn't help but sneer. She'd pushed so much of her hatred for the world onto that man.
“I suppose this is the moment that I ask what has brought you so close to home,” he said, amusement clear in his tone. “Did you change your minds? Or is there maybe someone you're seeking to visit?”
“My mother,” Yuko snapped, tempted to move her hands only to feel the barrel of the rifle poke her in the ribs. She growled.
Don't fake your feelings, just your reasons. Get him to let his guard down.
“Oh? Did she not join you all the way to your village?” he asked, sceptical yet entertained. He was mocking her.
Yuko attempted to move, and Yoshinaga gestured to allow her to step forward. “We were separated. We… haven't been on good terms for a while now. I want to see her.”
The less you speak outright lies, the more convincing you'll be.
“How odd though, that I don't remember any relatives of Miss Yuko entering Niku.”
“Of course she wouldn't say,” Yuko argued, “she was probably worried you'd treat her differently.”
Don't give him any power over you.
He chuckled. “Well, little miss, if you don't want to come in in cuffs, you'll have to disarm yourself.”
“Yeah yeah…” Yuko muttered, slowly lowering her arms and throwing her energy pistol away.
Distract him, make him think you're showing your entire hand.
“And the other one?”
With a sigh, Yuko took out Fukui's gun. Removing the magazine, she threw it to the side.
Yoshinaga chuckled, walking over and unclasping the buckle that held her spare rounds.
As soon as it too was deposited out of reach into the grass, Yuko allowed the gun to fall near her feet.
As soon as the pistol hit the floor, Yoshinaga made another gesture. Yoshinaga’s vanguard lowered their weapons, even if they still held on to them, and unwinded just a little.
Let him think he is in control.
Yuko felt uncomfortable staring up at the masked man. He'd never been so close and something about his presence made her feel sick. “You know, I've always wondered about something.”
She didn't wait for permission to continue.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Yoshinaga didn't move. “Excuse me?”
Yuko took a step forward, glaring up at him. “What is wrong with you to treat everyone around you like they're less than you? That you hide from everything and everyone behind your robots and your walls and your mask?”
Catch him completely off guard.
She heard the clicking of rifles, but the man calmed his goons. He seemed unphased, were it not for the step back he'd taken.
“I would say that someone so isolated wouldn't under-”
“No, no, I don't understand,” Yuko cut him off.
Don't let him regain his footing.
“What with the trying to recreate a country that doesn't exist anymore. Then there's the imaginary war you've got going on with people who don't even know you exist. Do you even know they still exist? For all we know life outside of this island has gone extinct and we've all just been forgotten about. Not to mention trying to imitate people that don't exist anymore, mutilating yourself-”
Slap!
Yuko's eyes widened as she put a hand to her cheek. Not a moment later she was picked up by the collar and only a few inches away from the mask. Peering through the glass she found a hint of his looks. He truly looked like his children, from what she could tell.
“I do not need to be lectured by an ignorant and stubborn child,” he growled.
Her hands reached for the one holding her. She noticed he was holding her with just his thumb, index and middle finger. “And I don't need to be deceived and manipulated by a close-minded, paranoid old man,” she hissed back.
Punching her in the stomach, he shook her to attempt to disorient her.
Yuko coughed, but didn't allow herself to lose any more ground. Kicking him in the groin, she felt resistance. He didn't seem to care, but it served as a perfect distraction. Not moments later, she grabbed hold of his pinkie and ring fingers and yanked, causing him to grunt in pain and release her. Rather than just landing straight on her feet, she allowed the momentum to carry her close to the ground, where she picked up the pistol.
Yoshinaga was less than pleased, groaning as he reached for something in his sleeve, only for a blade to extend from a device by his palm.
He hadn't called for his guards to step in. She had to act now, and fast. She had to stay close. Stay close and make shooting her too much of a risk, yet not too close to make sure she doesn't get hit by the blade.
When Yuko tried to get up again, Yoshinaga tried another grab, but she ducked to the side, pushing away the blade that was swiftly heading her way in the form of a second jab. She was then intercepted with a knee to the jaw, though, sending her the other way with a pained cry.
As part of her momentum, she tumbled further to the side. She didn't let the distance linger, however quickly making her way behind him and managing to leap onto his back. Hands held on to his shoulders like her life depended on it. At this point it most definitely did.
Yoshinaga bent forward to not get pulled to the ground onto his back, only to let out an airy chuckle. “It's going to take a while to break through the helm,” he said as took her empty hand and yanked it forward, pulling her against his back.
She groaned as he held her in place, before fighting the grip on Fukui's pistol and pressing the barrel against his neck. “It's a good thing… I don't need to.”
He froze when he felt the cold steel against his skin.
At this point there was no way she wasn't going to hurt herself.
She didn't care.
The moment she let go of the opportunity, she was a goner.
Her eyes traveled to her companions.
Everyone had paused everything they were doing to watch the fight, whether it was her friends or the guards. Some were mortified, others shocked. She stopped at Wakane. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she watched the scene unfold, before giving a single, tiny, nod.
Bang!
The sound of the gunshot rang in Yuko's ear, deafening every other sound. She felt Yoshinaga fall to his knees, and she just barely had the reflexes left to land on her own two feet, before falling backwards and landing on the ground. The collapse came with a pained scream as the agony of the bullet stuck in her shoulder took over the forefront of her mind.
People started to move sporadically, even if Yuko could barely register any of it.
Shizumi rushed to her side, nearly throwing her back onto the floor next to her and diving into it to retrieve materials to care for Yuko. Shizumi's lips moved, but if it was meant for Yuko it was in vain. The sound couldn't reach her ears, and her vision was too blurry to read.
Kosuke took the lead in talking to the others of Niku. He looked calm, if surly. The guards appeared to be in shock, and he was making the most of that confusion to take control of the situation.
Wakane had started weeping. She was kneeling by Yoshinaga's side, having taken off his helmet and holding his hand. She arguably looked to be in as much pain as Yuko was.
Satoru had been hovering between the three of them, offering Kosuke some helpful words, before holding Yuko down to extract the bullet- it was excruciating, and then putting his hands on Wakane's shoulders in quiet support.
Yuko wanted to see him. It. She wanted to see the face of the man she killed properly. She couldn't move, though. Not without a pang of pain opening the floodgates for a new stream of tears.
Eventually, not long after Yuko's hearing had returned to her, Satoru came to her other side to comfort her.
“That's gotta hurt, doesn't it?”
“Like a bitch,” Yuko groaned, cheeks still wet. “Is he…?” The pain in her jaw from being kicked was starting to set in, and she flinched. That had to be an awful bruise on the way.
“He's gone,” he confirmed, “he… didn't get to say any last words. Wakane is struggling, but she promised she'll get there.”
Probably having heard her name, the young woman in question also shuffled over to kneel by Yuko's side. She struggled to make eye contact, however.
“I'm sorry, Wakane. You don't deserve this,” Yuko mumbled quietly, her uninjured arm reaching up.
She took hold of the hand with both of hers, starting to cry once more. “Just make sure you'll be okay,” she demanded between sniffles.
“These wounds will heal,” Yuko responded with a small but cheeky smile in an attempt to shrug it off, “at this point I'm wondering how often I'm gonna keep making you cry. A broken heart can have more trouble healing than a broken bone.”
Shizumi chuckled softly before interjecting, “Then I suppose I should let you know that while you haven't broken any bones, but your brachial plexus does appear to have been injured and that will be a slow and painful recovery if you don't want to lose the motor function of your arm.”
Yuko couldn't help but roll her eyes and groan, which earned her a small chuckle from Wakane.
Saying goodbye to Kosuke was a slow endeavor, with Wakane being forced to say goodbye to both her family in one afternoon.
At least the siblings could stay in touch, and did so with the help of the thirioids that Kosuke seized control of. The amount of the terrible robotic creatures declined heavily over the course of the next few months, particularly of anything aggressive or dangerous, while the mostly harmless creatures were left to roam as they continued to absorb the radiation in the land.
Animals of flesh started showing themselves over time, first starting with fish in the water, followed by birds in the sky. They'd even spotted kyusu, likely appearing from the earth.
Niku stabilised slowly over time, and after it had been disarmed almost entirely over the course of a few years, Kosuke buried the mask and allowed Yoshinaga Ejiro to die properly. The city's advancement and efficiency definitely gave it its advantages in living there, but the fortress city was no longer something to fear. People flourished, both inside and outside of the city.
And just like the kyusu, two more towns emerged. They were ready to support the people in need that came with it.
More so than ever before, people were ready to look outside. To show themselves to the world, and see what had become of it in their absence.