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A tiny light shimmered in the distance, so tiny and so bright Tsukasa nearly mistook it for a star at first. It meant only one thing—he was about to die. It had been guaranteed by the hole in his lung for a long while, but this was where his fate was to be made certain.
The smell of burnt wood was still strong in the night air, so strong it brought him back to the very first night he spent by a campfire alongside the man now on the brink of death in his arms. The memory was so warm that it almost brought Tsukasa’s constant shivering to a halt.
Some semblance of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips when he heard the inevitable shouts of at least a dozen villagers. Soon, Tsukasa was surrounded, and he didn’t make an attempt to fight as countless new stab wounds joined the pre-existing one. He remained on his feet regardless, careful not to let the beaten scientist fall from his arms, and the other stared up at him with a bloody smile and a strange emotion Tsukasa couldn’t quite identify in his remaining eye.
When Senku was then forcefully torn from him, Tsukasa attempted to speak something along the lines of “I mean your people no harm”, but all he managed was a gurgle which sounded nothing like his own and a cough of scarlet. It was alright—it was all done and over nevertheless.
As if it made a difference, someone pointed a weapon at him and demanded, “On the ground! Now!”
Tsukasa fell to the ground.