Perfectly Balanced [ON-GOING]

Chapter Forty Seven: Man of Greed

47. Man of Greed

02-17-2024

A/N: This is the chapter you've all been waiting for (;;  ￣▽￣).

Q: How was your Valentine's day?

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"We're going to get a captain, right? Does any modern-day sailor know how to control a sailing ship instead of the modern models?" Nikki questioned Minami as your group of excavators road a boat to one of the nearby islands. Other than those two, the group consisted of you, Senku, Kohaku, Magma, and Taiju.

The reporter replied, "Well, they would've learned a bit for training. But as you'd expect, no matter how much you searched across the world, you wouldn't find someone that knows how to normally captain a sailing ve--"

Suddenly, she stopped, causing you to tilt your head in confusion. You froze up when you heard the girl mention a name.

"Ryusui--" the girl shut her mouth with her hands.

You stood up from the boat with wide eyes as your group reached the shore. "Minami, don't tell me--"

"Ahh, it's nothing, nothing! I'd better be on my way!" She cried as she ran off after scrambling out of the boat.

"Wait, Minami!" You called out, but she was out of earshot. You bit your lip in disbelief as you watched her go off on her own before deciding to go after the woman.

"You look tense, slowpoke. Better let it out now before we reach her," Senku told you as you walked side-by-side with him.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." you told him softly.

He raised an eyebrow. "Is it because of the reporter? Other than trying to ask you ten billion questions, you don't like that she's hiding information?"

Your gaze drifted toward his own. "So, you noticed too?"

"Of course, I did! She's all up in arms in the dramatics. Not that hard to tell with her, compared to you," he said with a smirk. You lightly nudged his arm with your fist as he jested with you.

The two of you had met up with Minami as she was on the ground, clearing some of the statues that stuck out. Meanwhile, Senku had pulled his sextant out from his bag to examine the area.

"What's around here?" You asked the reporter.

"Nanami Academy. This ocean-based school included sailing in its core curriculum. If we revive one of the instructors, we can operate a sailing vessel," she informed you.

I hope he's not here... you silently told yourself as you heard the academy name.

"Statue excavation time! Time for you guys to dig, Gorilla Team!" Senku exclaimed with a smirk on his face.

You, Kohaku, Taiju, Nikki, and Magma got to work, digging every stone body out of the ground. It took a bit, but each of you carried a statue to the beach, one by one so that Minami could choose who to revive. Sooner or later, you'd have to take a break.

"Since we don't have much revival formula left, we gotta pick one of these guys," said Senku as he looked at all the statues that the others were bringing in.

You walked to the end of the line of statues and stopped in recognition of the very last one. Squinting your eyes with your lips curled down as you stared at the figure, you were hoping that you wouldn't see that face in person again. Minami came up from behind you and yelped as she saw the statue of the man before you.

"Ryusui!" She cried as she gripped your shoulders. "You're not gonna choose him, are you, (Y/N)?"

You shook your head. "I don't want to. Just by your reaction, I'm guessing you know how he is, too..."