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The rope tugged at his wrists
The wood put splinters into his shoulders.
The smell of gasoline below brought forth the realization that yes, this was happening.
Yuuri started to mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen.
The town judge had declared him guilty of crimes against humanity, and he wasn't wrong to do so.
Yuuri had done so much to deserve that verdict.
But he never expected what his sentence would be.
"I hereby sentence Yuuri, age 15, to death by fire."
Death by fire.
Burned at the stake.
He felt like an accused witch from Europe in the Middle Ages.
The sound of a cheering crowd brought him out of his daydream.
He looked down to see several citizens, that he remembered as the jury from his trial, holding torches to the soaked wood beneath him.
The fire had started. There was no stopping it. There was no saving him, now.
He heard a pained cry of his name.
A quick sweep over the crowd brought his eyes to bright blue hair, and beautiful emerald eyes filled with tears.
Serena. She was crying.
Yuuri wanted so desperately to break out of this rope and go to her, to hold her and tell her it was ok. To tell her not to worry about him. He wanted to thank her for everything she had done for him since the war ended. To tell her how much she meant to him.
Another quick sweep of the crowd brought him to a messy mop of ginger hair, turquoise eyes also full of tears.
Yuuri felt tears come to his own eyes as he watched Dennis weep for him.
Dennis. His first real friend.
Dennis. The only one who had understood him during their time at Academia.
Dennis. Dennis. Dennis.
Yuuri let out a pained moan as the flames made their way up his body, scorching his flesh along the way.
He was in pain. But his face wouldn't show it.
Yuuri closed his eyes as the fire crawled upward.
His body screamed at him as it was burned.
He would be dead soon.
And then the crowd would leave.
Serena would insist on scooping up some of his ashes and keeping them on an alter.
Dennis would arrange his funeral, and probably invite Yuuya, Yuzu, and all the others.
And then....
Life would go on without him.
Yuuri didn't want to die.