dark horse [rewritten]

❝ four : why didn't you tell me ❞

music recommended - final fantasy's x ost: to zanarkland

valt's eyes widened in horror standing behind a disraught shu. it was far too late, he'd seen too much of his secret, and valt's self-hatred began once again over the fact he couldn't hide one measly knife, nor clean up the blood.

after standing in silence for quite a while, shu hitched a breath and fell onto his knees, burying his hands in his face. "valt, why?!" he looked up at the sink and at the silver knife, refusing to believe the crimson liquid was valt's own blood. "just.. please tell me what's all this?"

valt's mind, processing his thoughts, only managed to hear the soft mumble of shu's question. shu wiped his eyes with his hands and stood up, reaching for valt's forearms before he himself could back away. he pulled up the fabric of valt's sleeve to find that his porcelain skin was cluttered with various little red slits, some faded to indicate they were caused ages ago and some a deep red that showed they were made recently.

shu's eyes stung as tears kept forming over and over. he bit his lip to stop a sob from coming out and settled for rubbing valt's scars. "valt, answer me.. what are these for?" valt finally managed to hear his friend clearly and yanked his arm back. he turned his back to shu and replied, "i can't tell you."

this is it, it's all over.

"valt aoi, why the hell would you do this to yourself? to me? i care about you, your family cares, your friends too! this breaks my heart valt, just talk to me!" out of a mixture of anger and fustration he hugged a surprised valt. "can you just answer one question, please..? like when did you start?"

i don't want to.. it hurts too much already..

clenching his fists, valt kept his mouth shut and refused to speak nor let his tears fall. he hoped shu would just forget about it and let it fade away into the past, but alas, not everything works out the way he'd want it to. shu let him go and placed a hand on his shoudler. "look, go lay down and clear your mind, i have to make a call." valt sighed and nodded, leaving the taller male standing before he walked downstairs, retrieved his phone and scrolled through his contacts before finally clicking on his desired one.

he impatiently tapped his to the soft hum of the phone's ringing, looking up the stairs to see if valt tries anything before he heard a, "hello?"

shu was glad he picked up and said, "hey, sorry to bother you. i know we don't as often as you do with valt, but he actually needs your help right now."

the voice, now laced with concern, replied, "what's wrong? is he okay?" shu hummed no through the phone. "no, not really.. could you come ove-"

"i'm coming over."

the call ended. shu set his phone down and leaned against the wall. he'd only realized he was slightly shaking, the situation was so dire it could do that to a person. he tried his best to get his thoughts back on track as he walked up to valt's room to see the male with a broken expression.

"valt, i need you to tell me what exactly is going on. i called someone who can help, they'll be here in a while."

the blue haired male looked away in discontentment, preparing to make a decision that could either help or hurt him.

『 later 』

shu couldn't help it.

he sat beside valt on his bed, his hands behind his head as he leaned foward and listened to all the comments, all the stories.

all the reasons.

shu never knew emotions can cause physical pain, but he felt as if his heart was pierced through with a sharp, long needle. his heart stung as he realized he himself was part of the reason. i've never called him a loser.. have i?

before he could apologize properly to valt, there was a knock on the front door. he left valt alonge again as he stood up to go get it. he reached for the doorknob, but the door opened itself and in came a familiar red head sporting a frown.

shu's lips let out a breathe of relief. "xander-"

xander went past him and asked, "where is he?"