Sweeter than Cola [Dr. Stone]

|Ten|

"That's the only thing we could never do."

Tsukasa let out an audible sigh. "Right, I knew that would be your answer."

"Don't give me that crap," Senku chuckled. "No matter what I said, you would have killed me someday. Just in case." 

"Perhaps."

"YUZURIHA!! SENKU!! I'M COMING!!!" The group heard Taiju's voice from a distance, but all ignored it.

"Try to finish me in one hit, 'kay?" Senku said, cracking his neck slightly. "It wouldn't be logical to have blood gushing everywhere. Plus, Hana will puke at the sight of it."

"I will not," Hanako huffed, trying to mask the fear in her voice. "You're the one who always got dizzy when you looked as blood as a kid."

"That was you, Hana."

"Oh."

"Don't worry. I'll snap your cervical plexus in one blow. You'll lose consciousness and die instantly," Tsukasa explained. "I won't make you suffer. And I won't miss."

He walked over to the leek-blonde, and Yuzuriha had to restrain Hanako from trying to run in between them. She'd only get hurt in the process. "Senku, if only we'd met 3,700 years sooner," the brunette spoke with remorse etched in his tone. "If we'd met before this planet became a stone world... You and Hanako might have been... my first real friends ever."

"Maybe."

Hanako covered her eyes, she couldn't look. All she heard was a cracking sound and Taiju's loud footsteps, approaching them. "SENKUUU!!!!" he yelled, catching the body just before it fell. The emeraldette dashed to them, taking Senku in her own arms. She checked his pulse, his eyes, looking for any sign that somehow he was still alive. Maybe Tsukasa had missed after all?

But no. There was no trace of life left in the scientist. She'd double-checked four times before finally bursting into tears. "Senku! You idiot! Wake up!! Say something, please!!" she tried to wipe her tears but more only fell. "You can't die, not here!! You can't seriously die on me like this, Senku!!"

"He felt no pain," Tsukasa said as though it would help the situation somehow. "And I trust that as his friends, you will give him a proper burial." He turned to leave but froze when he heard Taiju scream. Turning back around, he saw the oaf carrying a large rock. Taiju... If Senku's death throws you into a blind rage, he thought. Then I'll have no choice but to kill you too.

Readying for attack, he watched as Taiju launched the rock into the air. An over head attack? Or a diversion? He kept his eyes on the rock while not moving them from Taiju as well. The only thing he didn't think to take into account was. Yuzuriha. His mistake. The girl threw the entire pot of black powder before him without him noticing. 

Confused, he tried to find the purpose of it but the rock dropped before he could. The last words he heard we're "Goodbye, Tsukasa," from Taiju before there was a loud explosion, setting his clothes on fire. He quickly removed them. not minding the burn and waited for the smoke to clear, only to find that all four of them had disappeared. 

*-*-*-*-*-*

The odd couple bolted through the forest even as rain began to pour, Taiju carrying the body of Senku and Yuzuriha dragging a broken looking Hanako along with her. They settled near a large tree where the first thing Taiju did was try to perform CPR. "Hana-Chan! Am I doing it right? I have no clue, but it's all I can do now!! WAIT!! What about mouth-to-mouth!?"

"Stop! His neck!" Yuzuriha stopped him. "It's probably best if we don't move him like that!" She knelt down beside him, tears threatening to fall. "Tsukasa hit him there... Senku sacrificed himself, in exchange for my and Hana's lives."