[ WEEK SIX – KILL LOG (SHINNOSUKE) ]

[sheriffexe]

[ When Shinnosuke wakes, he will be unable to see anything.

(Wait.)

But he'll find himself lying in the dirt and to his right he will feel the heat of the bonfire -- not terribly close but not too far either. To his left drifts the smell of forest from the homestead which means the hotel must be there.

If he was able to see, he would notice that he's lying in the dirt between the clinic and the mortician. Instead, he will only be able to helplessly lie there in the dirt.

That's unfortunate. ]

Comments

[insincerely]

[Well, he definitely wasn't lying in the dirt or by a fire before this, because Percy is a better host than that, so this is concerning.]

Percy? Jason?

[Even as he calls out, though, he knows they're not here. His brain catches up quickly—he understands his situation very well in a matter of moments. It's his turn, huh...? (Damn it.)

After standing up as swiftly as he can while trying to discard any grogginess, he moves to reach inside his coat—not a pocket, but from the top, where he's left it partially unbuttoned.

It's a long shot, and his heart is thudding rapidly in his chest, but he has to fight back.]

[moraled]

[Barnham knows full well that Shinnosuke's a survivor. He's known this from the moment Shinnosuke took a situation that would've broken anyone weaker than him and became stronger for it.

But this... is something that nonetheless needs to be done.

He thinks of what the Sheriff told him, when he'd questioned him about Shinnosuke's sight, and grimaces. But he won't hesitate. He's business-like in the worst of ways, entirely set on his plan of action.

Shinnosuke moves to sit up, and Barnham lifts the gun given to him by the Sheriff (he doesn't even realize that it's different from the pistols they were given, that it's meant to be silenced and quick, doesn't even understand guns still, but he can shoot them), takes aim and fires, immediately.

He can't let Shinnosuke gather himself enough to be a problem. There's still more he has to accomplish before the end.]

[insincerely]

[The sound registers first, though it's not familiar when he comes from a world where actual guns, let alone silencers, have been outdated for years.

But it's clear what happened, when next is shock and then pain, spreading through his arm.

He lets out a cry, but even so, he won't let that distract him. If it's just pain, if it's just this—that's fine. He's used to pain. (Eliot said he looked like he couldn't take a hit, but he was oh so very wrong.) Like Barnham—even though he has no idea who it is that's trying to kill him—there's something he has to do, no matter what.

He's not naive enough to believe this is a battle of convictions or of willpower. Whoever his assailant is, they've already decided to go the low route. They have the upper hand here.

That doesn't mean, however, he won't strike back with everything he has.

He withdraws his knife from his coat and throws it towards the source the sound. Without waiting for the outcome, he then lunges in the same direction, unsheathing Sei's sword.]

[moraled]

[If he hadn't been prepared for Shinnosuke to fight back (if he hadn't spoken to him before like a backstabbing bastard, a snide voice says in his head, and he knows it's true) then Barnham probably would've been hit by that knife. He's lucky for all of the factors of this situation--Shinnosuke's blindness, the fact that his position was never made entirely clear, the fact that Shinnosuke is still somewhat disoriented and now injured--and quickly throws himself to the side.

The knife his the dirt with a muffled thud, harmlessly, and Barnham immediately is back up again, gun up. The weapon is unfamiliar to him, yes, but battle is not. He couldn't call himself a knight if he couldn't handle an "enemy" rushing him (he can't call himself a knight. He's killing someone innocent right now, and Shinnosuke isn't the enemy, he is). He doesn't hesitate to bring the gun up again, and then he fires.

And again.

And once more.

He can't afford, after all, to be killed here. It would undermine everything he's done thus far, all of the crimes and the treachery. What he knows...can't die with him.

Not now. This time, Shinnosuke has to be the one to die.]

[insincerely]

[As far as he knows, none of the intended victims ever managed to turn the tables on their attacker. He's aware of that, but damn it, he won't stop trying.

— For his sister, whom he's sworn to rescue.

— For the morons who consider him a part of the 『Hero Team』.

— For the people in this place who trust him with saving everyone.

Pain blossoms again—in his leg, and he almost collapses, before slamming Sei's sword down as a crutch as she used it for after losing her leg—and again, and again. He stops keeping track of where, just aware that everything hurts, but he's been through worse. He didn't go through hell and back just to give up now.

With his good leg, and using a final burst of adrenaline, he makes another lunge towards his unseen assailant.]

Screw you—!

[moraled]

[It's almost calculated coldness, the way he keeps backing away. He fires, and Shinnosuke continues. He steps back again, and again, and fires again, and still Shinnosuke comes.

This isn't how he wanted Shinnosuke to have to die.

This isn't right.

(He knows it isn't. It's too late for that, isn't it?)

Shinnosuke lunges, driven by the need to live, driven by the desire to keep going, and Barnham has to admire his courage in a time when he has no more honor or courage to live by himself, but it's not enough to stop him. (Really, the only mercy now is ending it).

Shinnosuke lunges, and Barnham aims for his head and he fires, aim improved (though still far from perfect) by the practice Shinnosuke is so willingly giving him, coldly unwavering. Later, he can pay for this, for all of this. Later, later, later.

(There has to be a later so he can pay for this.)]

[insincerely]

[Barnham's shot misses, but Shinnosuke can feel (hear? he doesn't know) it whizz by, his heart beating even quicker at his brush with death. Though he knows already that he won't make it—his lunge fails, and he falls.

As much as he struggles to get back up, he can't, but he can still crawl, smearing blood across the ground as he does. Even now, though... somehow, he manages a dark smile.]

Coward.

[His murderer won't even speak, huh?]

I-If you're hoping to end the game... [if you're working with him] ... then screw you...

[A broken laugh, lasting only for a moment, bubbles out of him.]

Ha... but he'll probably do it to you first...

[Whoever it is that stands before him, unwilling to speak, isn't one of his friends. They, at least, would have the decency to let him know who's ending his life.]

[moraled]

[Nothing Shinnosuke is saying is wrong--aside from his assumptions about Barnham's intentions, of course. Barnham has no interest in the game.

His only interest is in getting everyone home, alive.

... But he is a coward. He is a shameful person who deserves nothing less than the comeuppance he will undoubtedly get. All that Barnham hopes for...is that that comeuppance comes when his task is done.

That's all.

He lifts the gun again. This close, there's no way he can miss. He won't make a mistake here--he lifts the gun, and he fires.

And without a word, he turns and he walks away. He has to return the gun to the Sheriff, and return to his room. There will be hell to pay in the trial, and hell to pay in the upcoming days, because now, everything is coming to a head. And Barnham will keep going, step by step, until he's unable to walk any further, or until his task is done.

All he can hope for is that Shinnosuke is able to rest until they are finally able to come back to life. He doesn't have the right to hope for anything more.]

[insincerely]

[The seconds that tick before his killer fires their last shot—it's agony.

Sorry, Saki. Sorry, everyone.

He's failed.

... But hopefully, in spite of that, they'll find a way. They have to.

One more shot, and it's over. He's played his part; it's up to them now.]