Stay By My Side

Running For You

Never had Valt run faster than this in his entire life! He and Shu were sprinting away from the apartment complex at such a speed that dust clouds were kicking up behind them.

Just minutes ago everything had been going so well and now everything felt like it was shattering again... literally! Like seriously the glass in the apartment shattered due to someone outside trying to find the two.

"Shu!" Valt shouted at his friend. "How much further are we going to keep going?"

Without turning to look at Valt, Shu hollered over his shoulder.

"As far as I think we need to be in order to stay safe."

"Why not go back to my house then? I'm sure mom and the twins are back by now. Mom would know what to do and how to keep us safe."

"It'd be too dangerous if we went to your house. We could end up leading him there and the situation would just worsen."

After saying that the two continued to run in silence. The sun was beginning to set by the time they began to slow down their running. Their feet ached with all the time they had waisted on running.

Valt was thrilled to bits when Shu had allowed him to rest by a telephone booth. While he rested Shu was busy phoning Mrs. Aoi to tell her that her son would be spending the night at his apartment. The truth wasn't told for it would only make matters worse on both sides.

As Valt waited for the silvery white haired male to wrap up the call, he sat in thought.

Although he didn't know who was chasing them, Valt remained vigilante. The only thing he knew was that they were male so almost anyone walking around could be his attacker, making everyone a suspect. Plus whoever this person was ruined what might've been his first-

"Valt, let's get going. We're going to stay at Rantaro's place for the night. I called him up and he said we could use the guest room."

Normally Valt would've been excited to spend the night at a friends house, but at the moment he was feeling extremely tired, hungary, and just plain confused.

Whatever expression he had suddenly caused his latter friend's face to change into a worried one.

"Shu I know you're just as tired as I am but... Could you please carry me?"

A light blush dusted both bladers cheeks at the question.

Well this is much more awkward then I thought it'd be. Valt sighed, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Forget it, I'll just tough it out and walk myself."

Before the bluenette could get up to stand, Shu knelt down with his back facing Valt.

"Hurry up and climb on. I'll carry you this once." Was all that was said before Valt climbed on, holding his friends neck.

"Thanks... I owe you one, again."

Once more the two continued on through the darkening day with Valt snuggling his head into Shu's shoulder.

"Hey Shu? Can I ask you who we're running from exactly?" The tiredness in the shorters voice caused Shu to pick up the pace slightly. Everything he was doing just ended up hurting Valt both physically and possibly mentally in a sense. Why couldn't he protect Valt without hurting him more?

"I knew you'd ask eventually... I just didn't think you'd be so clueless as to who it is... The person whose after us is the same opponent we were supposed to battle yesterday. They were the one who used their bey to cause all the destruction in the WBBA faculty, Lui Shirasagijo."

Valt was taken aback upon hearing Lui's name. He felt a sudden rush of energy that caused him to forget his hunger and tiredness.

"You mean that jerk who called me an awful blader? The one who gave you you're scar and re injured your shoulder?! I should've known he'd do something like this! But why is he attacking us again? We haven't done a single thing to him!"

"I don't know but we need to be careful of our surroundings from now on. If it's not too much to ask." Shu stopped his walking, turning to face Valt as best as he could. The tone in his voice and seriousness in his eyes pierced through the bluenette.

"I want you to stay by my side from now on. Meaning we don't go anywhere without the other until this whole thing blows over."

Shu could feel Valt's grip on his neck loosen considerably as he finished. Hopefully Valt didn't feel too uncomfortable with what was said.

"I mean I guess that's okay. I know that as long as I stay by your side then everything will turn out just fine."

A sigh of relief escaped the latter's lips. Knowing Valt was going to stay with him made everything feel better.

______________________________________

By the time Shu had made it to Rantaro's home, Valt had long since fallen asleep. The day had really tired him out.

Rantaro had offered to help Shu in removing Valt from his back but was declined. Instead of just placing Valt anywhere, Shu layed the bluenette down on one of the two seperate beds in a guest room of the home.

After doing so the Spryzen blader joined Rantaro in the kitchen to talk.

"So you think you're being attacked by Lui because of something you told him several years ago in defense of Valt? That sounds a little strange to me seeing as that was a long time ago." The blonde took his red and orange colored lolipop out of his mouth as he talked. Normally he wouldn't remove the candy, but the situation his friends were in was an exception to remove it.

"Yeah and I'm really concerned for Valt's safety. He's already been through so much because of me. I don't need him getting mixed up in my battles."

The room fell silent for several moments before the blonde stood up from his chair. His eyes fixated on his lolipop.

"You know you really shouldn't blame yourself for something someone else is doing. I'm pretty sure Valt's going to be fine with you around. And no matter how you look at it, Valt's going to find a way to get himself into your battles no matter what you do."

Looking back to the silvery white haired male, Rantaro smiled. He returned his lolipop to it's rightful place, in his mouth, before leaving the kitchen.

"Try not to stay up too late? Night."

Shu remained in his seat thinking over what was just said.

Shaking his head, Shu exited the kitchen to the guest room. A soft smile appeared on his lips as he looked over to his sleeping friends form.

Valt had his face burried into a pillow, arms and legs curled snuggly into his chest. The sight made him look so fragile which was ironic compared to his normal self.

Taking a few steps towards the bed, Shu stared in silence.

Something willed him to reach down and touch the bluenette's cheek, rubbing his thumb lightly up and down. The skin was so soft that it reminded Shu of the promise he had made earlier.

I promised to stay by your side from now on.

Gently Shu pulled the covers out from under Valt before climbing into the bed himself. He then pulled the covers on top of the both of them. For his final movement of the night, Shu pulled Valt in as close as he possibly to himself could before falling asleep.