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Luna took a deep breath. She was done hesitating. She had been sent to complete a mission. It was too late to back down now.
She pointed. She couldn’t hold back her yelp when she heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot, and the next thing she knew, Taiju was down on the deck, covered in lacerations all over his chest from bullet shrapnel, the biggest wound being close to his heart.
She was surprised that Stan hadn’t gone for a head shot.
She didn’t have much time to do anything else, as she was tackled by the blonde one that always wore that Captain hat. She groaned as her head hit the deck.
She passed out at the hard impact.
~~~~~~
Everyone tensed as soon as the sound of a gunshot rang out.
Senku grimaced before locating where the trajectory had likely sent the shot. His eyes widened as he saw his best friend, his brother in all but blood, laid out on the deck, bleeding out.
He released an agonized scream, almost as simultaneously as Yuzuriha. By the time he made it over to Taiju, she was already knelt at his side trying to put pressure on the largest of the wounds now covering Taiju’s chest.
He quickly joined her at Taiju’s side. He grabbed Taiju’s wrist and checked his pulse. It was rapidly fading. Blood was slowly leaking from the corner of Taiju’s mouth. He looked between the two of them and barely stuttered out, “I love you both.”
He then closed his eyes, and his chest stopped rising and falling.
Yuzuriha wailed.
He first tried denying, "No no no. After all that we've been through, you can't die now."
He rested his hand on Taiju's jugular. No pulse whatsoever.
He observed the wound the Yuzuriha had tried putting pressure on.
They had taken Taiju's heart.
Senku’s breath stuttered, and silent tears poured from him as his hearing was filled with the sound of his blood rushing to his head as his anger and anguish peaked.
He gnashed his teeth and looked into the trees, directly towards where he knew the bullet had come from. His hands were shaking as his eyes met those of the man who had just killed one of his most cherished people.
The man’s eyes widened slightly before narrowing in confusion.
Senku screamed in English, “I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS, XENO! TAKE THAT MESSAGE BACK TO YOUR MASTER, DOG!”
He watched as the sniper tilted his head while still staring at him. Senku saw his lips move briefly before he jumped away and into another tree.
Senku looked away, back towards Taiju’s lifeless body.
Xeno had crossed a line. He was going to pay.
Xeno’d made a horrible mistake though. Senku may have strong morals, but Taiju was the one that kept him on a more pacifistic path.
This could have been a bloodless encounter. A meeting of minds that had reawakened in this hellish world. He wanted to preserve life as best as he could. His refusal to kill had been a core value.
Senku no longer cared about that.
The time to be a pacifist was over.
His brother was dead.
Xeno wouldn’t know what was about to be coming for him.
They took Taiju's heart.
He was going to pay them back by taking their hearts.