{Did the world freeze, or did it not?}
It was getting colder—and hotter, it was weird a humid hot environment. Yuruki began to sweat a little as she came to a stop.
Yoku halted in his tracks, smirking. "What? Is the Sheltered Girl getting tired?" he teased, clearly joking.
Yuruki simply stared at him blankly. She didn't find it funny at all.
Yoku coughed awkwardly. "Okay, okay… I was just trying to lighten the mood. Sorry…"
He scratched his face, feeling the tension. He hadn't realized how suddenly Yuruki had caught up with them. The words didn't come to him.
It had been a few hours since then. Yoku now carried Mino on his back as she continued to cough. The silence around them was eerie. No automatons. No distant hum of machinery. Nothing. It would've been dangerous if any robots had been nearby—but somehow, their absence was even worse.
There was something unnatural about how silent it was.
Then, Yoku's eyes widened.
There—across the ground—automatons of all shapes and sizes lay collapsed. Moss leaked from their joints, devouring and disintegrating the metal into nothing.
He coughed. Intrigued, he pulled out his spare notebook—most of his journaling had been stored in Adam's bag—and began sketching, cartographing the scene, recording the structure of it all.
The surface was smooth, but jagged rocks jutted from within the wreckage. Yuruki had already begun to draw beside him.
Yoku looked at her with a deadpan stare. "What are you doing?"
Yuruki glanced back. "Can't you see? I'm recording," she said, then smirked. "I'm a bit of a Generalist—you know, jack of all trades. Ahem."
Yoku sighed, clearly tired. "Well... wow."
Yuruki exhaled deeply, clenched her fists, and muttered, "If only I could take a sample of this stuff… But let's carry on. If only I had my tools from the lab."
Mino coughed again. "Can you guys keep it down? It's bothering me."
Yoku: "Great… Generalist."
Yuruki: "Shut up…"
Realizing how serious Mino's condition had become, they hurried off as quickly as they could.
They made their way toward the outskirts of the city, descending into a hole. The automatons had all been disintegrated. Spores, mushroom heads, and strange white worms floated in the air and drifted from the walls.
Yuruki was shocked.
A eukaryotic fungus… hosting worm-like creatures? Was this some kind of termite system? Or something worse?
Meanwhile, Yoku nearly vomited. He'd seen plenty of disgusting things in his life, but this—worms bursting from fungus and moss—was beyond what he could bear. Yuruki quickly took out breathing masks, putting one on Mino and offering one to Yoku. He blinked in surprise, but eventually accepted it.
Yoku: "What are you doing?"
Yuruki: "Helping you, of course."
Mino: "You don't have a mask…"
Yuruki tied a long handkerchief around her mouth. "Trust me. I'll be fine." She had taken those fungal pills before. That was probably why she could resist it. Though now, she was starting to regret it…
They moved deeper, down to the lower levels beneath the city.
Yoku: "Are you sure this is the right way?"
Yuruki: "Don't worry. I mapped out all the sewers of the city. We can at least take a shortcut."
Yuruki glanced at Mino with concern and slid her notebook and tools back into her bag.
"Are you sure this is a fungal infection?" she asked, exhaling heavily. "I mean, I doubt you know the difference between bacteria, viruses, or fungal pathogens... but still." Her voice softened—she was worried.
Yoku and Adam had tried everything. They even scavenged that old rocket spaceport… but nothing worked. No medicine. No remedy. Just… nothing.
"I think so," Yoku said, though his doubt lingered.
Yuruki doubted herself, too. What if it was cancer? What if it was something else entirely and she didn't know? But it had to be okay—she was Yuruki. Doubting meant she still cared. It meant she was human.
Mino was coughing up blood on her mouth, the weight of having a person on your shoulder is just something else, Yoku gaved her some wipes to cover it up...
"Well, no matter," she whispered, gently caressing Mino's hair. "With me here, I won't let you die. I promised Adam. I will keep that promise."
She was appointed for this. She would do everything she could.
[Oneshot Scene]
Yoku smirked at Yuruki with a teasing, with a brotherly grin. "Hehh… why'd you promise Adam, huh?"
Yuruki's face flushed red. She looked down, eyes closed and looking away.
;p
"Shut up…"