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He stood atop the tall tower, having climbed all the way up, something he often did during the night as he felt peace being alone up here. No one to interrupt him, and now, no one to stop him.
He gazed down, wondering if he should truly do this. After all, she had told him that he could talk to her if he ever needed to. And surely this was a reason to talk to her, right? But no. It was too late. He had so many chances and opportunities to open up, and he never did.
This was it.
He took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, leaned forwards, and took a step into the void.
oO0Oo
Slingshot hummed a tune as he walked towards Shuriken's room, tasked by Vine Staff to wake him up so he could eat supper. He hadn't shown up all day, claiming he was busy. At first, both his roommates had let him be, Slingshot delivering food to his door for when it was lunch.
But now it was 10:34 PM and Shuriken still hasn't come out of his room. Vine Staff had started to get worried, and asked Slingshot if he could go get Shuriken so the three roommates (plus Katana) could all eat supper together, something they did every night.
Slingshot knocked on the door first, something he didn't often do, but assumed since Shuriken was apparently "busy", that he'd at least make his presence known before entering the room.
When he didn't get an answer or a sound from Shuriken, he frowned before twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open, squinting his eyes at seeing the dark room, except for some light coming out of an open window.
Wind made the curtains flow slightly, and Slingshot tore his eyes away from the window. "No way... did he sneak out?" Muttered Slingshot, putting his right arm up and searching the wall for the light switch. When he found it, he flicked on the light and blinked a few times because of the sudden brightness.
He looked around the room, before heading towards the window, pulling it down and closing it. When Shuriken eventually came back home, he'd have to go in through the front door. That way, Vine Staff would know her brother got home safely and wouldn't get stressed.
Slingshot then turned around, about to exit Shuriken's room and go tell Katana and Vine Staff that Shuriken wouldn't be joining them for supper, when he noticed something shine on the desk in Shuriken's room out of the corner of his eye. And Slingshot, liking shiny things, turned around to find out what it was.
He hurried over to the desk and noticed it was just a shuriken standing upright on one of its spikes, because it was stabbed into the wooden table, right above a paper note. Slingshot huffed in disapproval at seeing the shuriken piercing the wood, knowing this would lead to Vine Staff scolding Shuriken for damaging furniture.
Wanting to hide the evidence so Shuriken wouldn't get in trouble, Slingshot carefully grabbed the shuriken and pulled at it until it wasn't in the wood anymore. He took off the paper that was on the spike and discarded the shuriken onto Shuriken's bed.
Once he hid the dent in the wood with a cup he found on Shuriken's nightstand, he took the paper note in both his hands, slowly starting to make his way out of the room as he read.
Though, instead of finding a note apologising for sneaking out or explaining why he snuck out, he found something much worse. "...What?" He let out, stopping his advances and standing still as he read a suicide note. That's right. It was simultaneously an apology and an explanation, but about something Slingshot was not expecting.
"I'll be at Crossroads. Farewell, Thieves’ Den. Love you, Shuriken." Were the final words on the note that was soon discarded to slowly fall down to the ground as Slingshot started running towards the living room, making a sharp turn towards the coat rack as he grabbed his sweater, slipped it on, and shoved on his precious shoes.
"Slingshot? Where are you going?" Asked Vine Staff, coming out of the kitchen with a worried expression. "Shuriken needs help!" Exclaimed Slingshot as he quickly unlocked the door and rushed as fast as he could towards Crossroads, ignoring Vine Staff's shouts of confusion.
He had to stop Shuriken. He felt anxious at the thought that he might be too late and he'll lose one of the people he loves the most in his life. "Please, don't be dead. Please." Muttered Slingshot as he ran and occasionally bolted forwards when his shoes had recharged their ability.
When he finally made it to Crossroads, he noticed a few people walking around here and there. None of them had horns even similar to Shuriken's. He frantically looked around, making his way towards the circle underneath the tower to try and get a better look around.
He could faintly hear Vine Staff — and even Katana — yell his name out from afar, but ignored both of them as he tried to find his friend that he sees as a brother.
Finally, he spotted someone with horns like Shuriken's. But to Slingshot's dismay and horror, they were lying down on the ground, and he could distinguish, from the light of a nearby lamppost, red liquid around their body.
He hurried over, falling on his knees and turning the person to face upwards, his stomach twisting in pain when he found Shuriken's face, his eyes closed. "Shuriken?" Whispered Slingshot, slightly shaking his roommate to try and wake him up even though he knew it was too late.
"Wake up, Shuri." Whispered Slingshot, with a small huff of laughter. "Vine Staff will be worried." He added, continuing to shake him. "SLINGSHOT?!" He heard being yelled, seems like Vine Staff and Katana finally caught up to him.
Slingshot sniffled, tears falling down his cheeks as he turned around to look at Vine Staff, who had spotted him and was running towards him. "Slingshot are you oka-" She suddenly cut herself off. She probably saw him. She stood there in shock as Slingshot hiccuped and said. "You have to help him Vine. He's hurt."
Vine Staff raised her hands to her mouth as Katana walked and stood beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She slowly shook her head from side-to-side, tears brimming in her eyes. "Please Vine." Begged Slingshot. "You can heal him, right?" He added, fully in denial.
"Slingshot." Simply said Katana, and that was enough for the younger male to launch himself into Katana's arms, feeling them wrap around him. Katana didn't say anything else, but his tight hug was comfort enough.
Vine Staff also joined the hug, wrapping her arms around both Katana and Slingshot. And the small found family stood there, mourning one of their own.