With Tragic Eyes and Bloodshot Dreams

Chapter 12: Part Two

The next few floors are cleared in the same manner. But then, after Terasaka helps take down one of the guards, they find something in their pockets.

Guns.

Real guns.

Gakushu's father has a box of them kept locked in his office. He lets Gakushu practice with them on the weekends. It's rather smart of him to keep them locked up though. Gakushu doesn't think he'd be able to handle the temptation of putting one against his temple and pulling the trigger.

He's considered it. He hates to admit that he's considered it, but during his darkest moments, he's thought about it extensively.

And then Koro-sensei tells Chiba, Hayami, and Gakushu to take them.

Holding one in his hand feels heavier than it should be. The weight of what this gun means is overwhelming.

"You're the best shooters we've got. Karasuma-sensei isn't well enough to shoot yet."

He sees Chiba and Hayami looking just as overwhelmed as he is, for different reasons.

He sees fear of failure reflected in their eyes.

Gakushu recognizes the look he sees in the own mirror. But unlike them, he's confident he can stay on target. He's been practicing for a few years.

As long as he's above water, he can keep his hands steady enough to shoot straight ahead.

Or at least he thinks he can. He doesn't want to find out.

But he has a feeling he'll have to, soon enough.

————-
He's right.

The next assassin—Gastro— is fucking insane.

They hide behind the seats, but the psycho with the gun can name exactly how many of them there are. It makes all of them sweat.

Gakushu steadies his breath, and presses himself against the back of the seat. He glances over at Chiba and Hayami, who nod.

Gakushu peeks through the gap between the seat, and then fires.

The bullet knocks the gun right out of the man's hands.

He looks shocked.

But he quickly picks the gun right out of the air.

"You brats are more dangerous than I thought, it seems. Trained as assassins, hmm."

Then he threatens to kill them, and then Gakushu feels his heart race. He knows this man will go through with them.

Gakushu feels more than hears the gunshot that comes whizzing through the gap between the seats.

It whizzes past his ear, clipping off a strand of his hair.

Gakushu feels terror grip him.

His breathing goes shallow.

A gunshot.

Close enough to touch his hair.

He almost died.

Gakushu feels the panic rise to the point where he completely shuts down.

None of this is happening to him. It feels like it's happening to someone else entirely. Eventually, he'll have to face these emotions, but for now, he'll embrace the dissociation. He can't have a panic attack in the middle of a life or death battle, so he lets himself shut down.

Disconnect from his body.

"I never forget the location of an enemy who has fired a shot at me." Gastro says. "You won't be able to take a single step from where you are."