Binary Star

Pathogenesis

Senku had been terrifying. He'd probably thought the same thing about Tsukasa for all it never showed on his face. But Tsukasa couldn't rebuild civilization from scratch like he knew Senku could if given enough time. And if that didn't terrify a person, then that person feared nothing in the known world or the universe. Senku had the entire timeline of human history and progress somewhere in his head with plans to surpass it. Senku had woken up alone in the world, civilization long annihilated, humanity long extinct, and instead of being discouraged was ready to build the world entirely anew with his own hands if he had to; like a long-slumbering god ready to breathe life back into the universe.

Senku had been brilliant, probably a genius, but it wasn't his intelligence that had frightened Tsukasa. No, it had been his ambition and resolve to work tirelessly and diligently that made him feel that if it was Senku, then he really could do exactly what he said he would. Tsukasa had never put too much faith into any one person or any one thing, but he had certainly felt it thrumming in his chest in his short time with Senku. And that kind of faith was dangerous to hold onto.

The things that burn the brightest are also the first to unravel into ash.

Senku having all that knowledge and ability wouldn't normally be a problem, because very few people could actualize their goals no matter how they tried. But Senku could. Tsukasa knew it in the deepest part of him. In a matter of days, somehow his belief had grown, solidified, and sat strangely heavy upon his heart. He had been a truly remarkable man even if he didn't care to hear it.

And Tsukasa had felt all that brilliant life in him go out from under his fingertips like the collapse of a galaxy. And with it, Senku had taken a part of Tsukasa with him. There had been something between them, some kind of complex connection. He'd only truly realized it right before he killed him, right when Senku had said, with an incomprehensible smile and breathy laugh, he couldn't give up science. This, despite knowing that answer would lead to his death. It hadn't been a sacrifice for Yuzuriha. It hadn't been a capitulation, or surrender, or even a denial of reality.

He had merely spoken aloud a law of this world. It was no different than naming gravity as one of the four fundamental forces. Gravity had something to do with physics, creating stars from fantastic pressure and gaseous particles... that was an undeniable, enduring truth of the world. Another truth: Senku would never give up science.

He couldn't help but feel as though some profound part of Senku had reached out to him, woken him up, and that maybe Tsukasa had done something similar for him. Whatever had been there, whatever potential friendship that could have grown from that was now gone forever.

He didn't regret it. He really didn't. For the sake of the world he wanted to build, he'd had to do it. Still...

He remembered the sickening crunch when he severed Senku's cervical plexus. He had to kill him because of what he represented, because of what he could do. Because of what he was. He still remembered Senku's face as he boldly stared down Tsukasa on that shoreline, hand on his shoulder, preventing him from striking down another petrified adult. He could have easily overwhelmed Senku in that moment, because the only thing that had really halted his force and momentum was his interest in what Senku might say.

This strange girl back in the present, a time without ghosts and galaxies swirling in Tsukasa's mind, however...

She seemed just as wary of him as he was of her, for her hand slowly crept towards something sheathed by her hip. Probably a knife. That wouldn't be a problem, however. He could easily overpower her. She must have come to the same conclusion, seeing that her expression grew minutely more troubled the longer she locked eyes with him. Her attention then flickered over towards Hyoga by his side, noting his position before Tsukasa saw her survey possible avenues of escape. Her alarmed and suspicious gaze showed no sign of recognition, however, so her reaction was based purely because he was a large man with a group of people happening upon her alone and not because she was some secret player acting against Tsukasa's interests.