"Aniki, look out!" Kamina didn't know what was happening. All he felt was his Gurren slamming onto the deck of the Dai-Ganzan. What he heard made him freeze up. A scream, so loud and familiar that it was concerning. He didn't bother getting Gurren back on it's feet, he opened the hatch and stumbled out of the gunman in a rush.
He saw Thymilph's gunman stabbing into the Lagann his dear brother piloted, his screams ringing out and cutting through the air like a knife. Kamina, now full of rage, climbed back into Gurren and got it back out it's feet, moving it to the Byakou in front of him. "You bastard! Get the hell away from my brother!" He swiftly attacked the giant gunman and let out a furious scream. Simon's screams had died down, and the world was silent.
"Simon?!" Yoko's voice pierced the air. "Kamina, I'm not sure how to say this, but Simon is-" Leeron was swiftly cut off by Kamina. "Simon's not dead!" He yelled, most likely to convince himself rather than convince his team. "Simon wouldn't die like this! I won't let him die like this!" He yelled.
"Simon! Simon! Can you hear me?!" Kamina yelled, with something in his voice that no one in team Dai-Gurren had heard. Panic. Fear. Tears. He was so close to losing his cool that everyone assumed he already had. Then Simon's soft, strained voice entered his ears. "A-Aniki?" Kamina let out a shaky breath, one he wasn't aware he was holding. "You're gonna be alright, Simon! I'm not letting my blood brother die like this!" Kamina opened the hatch and leaped out of Gurren and rushed to Simon's aid.
He pried open the destroyed cockpit, looking in with fearful eyes. Simon had his eyes closed, a hand resting limply on the long gash that ran down his chest, his coat stained with blood and his head leaned to the side. He looked dead, something Kamina refused to believe. He grabbed him under his arms and pulled him out from Lagann, resting him in his lap and shaking him gently. "Simon! Wake up, Simon! I'm not letting you die like this! Please! Simon!" Kamina was desperate. He didn't want to even acknowledge the fact the one he called a brother would die before him, but now he was staring that fact right in the face.
"Simon! SIMON!" He yelled louder, his voice beginning to grow strained. He shut his eyes tightly, the dam he had made to contain his tears collapsing. Tears began to flow freely down his face, dripping onto Simon's blood stained cheeks. "Simon..." He screamed into the sky, violent sobs shaking his body.
Yoko, who had been watching from a distance with a pair of binoculars, pulled them away from her face and sobbed.
Kamina paused for a moment when he felt movement in his arms. He quickly looked down and saw Simon's eyes cracked open, staring at Kamina with an unreadable expression. "Simon! You're alive, Simon!" He cried, not caring for the tears still running down his cheeks. "Aniki? Are you...c-crying?" Simon asked weakly as more of Kamina's tears dripped onto his face. "Don't scare me like that, Simon! I thought you were dead!" Simon seemed to grow visibly worried. "You were...scared?"
"Of course I was! You almost died! I thought I was gonna lose you too!" Kamina yelled. Simon's expression saddened. "Oh...I-I'm sorry..." Simon weakly reached up and grabbed Kamina's shoulders, pulling himself up and hugging him to the best of his ability. Kamina hugged him back, trying not to hurt him. "It's alright, Simon. It's not your fault."
"Actually...I saw that he was about to attack you, s-so I..." Simon left the sentence unfinished, knowing that the other knew what he meant. "So...they weren't targeting you?" Kamina had assumed they had decided to go after Simon since he could control their ship with Lagann. "They tried to kill you. I don't want...to lose anyone else."
Simon was finding it harder to stay awake and the warmth Kamina gave him wasn't helping to make it easier. "Aniki..?" Kamina hummed a yes to signal he was listening. "I'm getting...tired."
"Well, try not to pass out, alright?" I'll finish this fight. You stay here. Alright?"
"I wanna...help...too..!" Simon's voice began to strain. "I'm not letting you put yourself in danger with that cut, buddy."
"P-Please, Kamina!" Simon cried. Kamina's heart wrenched. His little brother was in his arms, bleeding out, begging him to let him fight. It hurt. It hurt him so much more than any physical pain would. "I'll...alright."
-[After the Final Blow]-
Simon had pushed himself over his limit. He looked over all of his friends happy faces and smiled weakly. "Everyone's so...happy...and...we won...does this mean...it's over..?" He went limp in the seat, glancing down and the large gash in his chest. He was still spilling blood, and he was already seeing black dots in his vision. "Aniki...I'm sorry...for leaving like this...I love you..." With those words said, he closed his eyes, breathed in, then let out his final breath.
Kamina leapt out of Gurren pumped up and full of energy. "They bastard's not gonna be botherin' us ever again, ain't that right, Simon?!" He exclaimed, only to realize a few seconds later that his valued younger brother wasn't standing by his side. "Simon?" He glanced at Lagann, the cockpit still busted open. He ran to the mini gunman and pulled Simon out. "Simon! Are you alright?! Can you hear me?! Say something! Please!" He shook the boy's limp body roughly. His head fell back to the side, his goggles slipping and falling off his head and into the mud below.
Kamina couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. The boy laying in his arms, his valued younger brother who was only fourteen, had his life cut short by the hands of the Beastmen. He had so much potential. Kamina saw someone amazing in this kid. He looked at him and went "that kid's gonna grow up to be an amazing man one day". Kamina bit his lip, trying to keep his tears back, but it ultimately backfired, as he let out a sob. Then another. Then one after that. He just sobbed as he collapsed to his knees, holding Simon's dead body close, hugging him. "C'mon. Say 'aniki' again. Please. S-Simon..."
They buried Simon not long after, leaving Kamina to grieve. "I'm sorry you couldn't live a full life, Simon. I'll live twice as much, for me and you. I promise." With that said, Kamina took his sword and stabbed it into the ground marking Simon's grave. "Hey, Kamina, you comin' or what?!" Kittan called from their new ship, dubbed Dai-Gurren. "I'll be there in a sec, now relax, dumbass!" Kamina yelled. He turned back to Simon's grave, slipping something over the sword and letting it rest there, watching it sway with the wind. "Later, buddy." He walked away, turning back one last time as the sun set, before running to the Dai-Gurren.
And in that empty plain was a sword with a pair of digging goggles resting against it, marking the grave of a dear friend and brother Kamina vowed to never, ever forget.