dark horse [rewritten]

❝ five : red stained dream ❞

music recommended - castle's bloody tears (piano synthesia)

shu was instantly relieved to see xander had shown up, and in such a short time frame no less. he was one of shu's few friends since childhood, and if he couldn't help then it'd be improbable no one else could do the same.

with just one simple glance at his eyes, shu led xander up to valt's bedroom. "i've already talked to him and heard everything. xander.. it broke my heart to see him like this, he needs help, and i'm not sure if i'm enough. that's why i called you, of course."

the red haired male nodded as he surged foward into valt's room to see him. in xander's eyes valt appeared like a hollowed skeleton, cheeks sunken, eyes darkened, and a sickingly pale complexion.

in other words, he was the living definition of an anorexic.

xander began to comprehend what shu spoke about earlier. valt slowly raised his head to look at xander and said, "oh, hey xander. did shu call you over?" he was taken aback, in his mind valt was expecting shu to call a beyclub member, but now that he saw that it was xander, his anxiety kicked into overdrive.

"valt.. how are you, dude?"

instinct kicked in as valt plastered a feign smile. he added to the act by replying, "i'm great-"

shu cut him mid-sentence, knowing well valt wouldn't speak about the truth just yet. "valt, you need help. it's pretty obvious and we both want to help. xander, this is going to be difficult but," he sighed and just pointed towards the restroom, "take a look in there."

xander raised an eyebrow and went to the restroom, an odd feeling building up inside the pit of his stomach. he went in but stopped immediately upon seeing a silver knife on the sink with now drying blood. he'd seen enough and turned back at valt and shu, feeling a sting in his eyes.

"is that valt's..? no, it can't be.."

valt and shu flinched as xander growled and punched the wall, an action he regretted but felt was necessary. the albino motioned for the taller male to sit down as he recounted the reasons for their friend's ways.

it's funny, really.

xander rarely cries. even the spiciest of buffalo wings couldn't bring out his tears, but this.. he couldn't bear it. he wanted to punch the wall again but that was out of the question. i've already done enough damagr by not doing anything for him.

"i'm sorry."

"no, i'm sorry valt." xander shakily replied, roughly rubbing his eyes and kneeling in front of him. "i know this is hard, and it's definitely going to be, but please.. let us help you. we.. i..," he sighed, unable to find the right words to say. "you've helped us countless times, it's about time the favor was repaid."

he stood up abruptly. "shu, can i borrow your phone? i wanna ask chiharu if i can stay over as well." the snowy haired male just nodded before standing up and going downstairs as well.

valt still sat on his bed, slightly fazed about what had just happened. he looked up at where xander had punched his bedroom wall. with a still strained arm, he reached out to trace the outline of it, as if the sheer image of it served a sense of purpose or reminder.

i caused this.

『 later 』

xander had gone off somewhere after confirming for permission to stay over the night, so shu set out to make something for valt to eat. the gloomy atmosphere was utterly unbearable and he knew valt wouldn't get better with this kind of enviroment.

chiharu had always let him cook in her kitchen if he pleased to do so, as she trusted him with it. now that she was away with the twins to see their father, he felt it was the appropiate time to take a look around to see what he would make.

he looked for all the ingrediants for a simple oyakodon, but none were in sight. in fact, he looked through both the fridge and cupboards and there was barely any food. that's strange, how lonh has it been since valt's eaten? his mom and siblings have only been gone a few days..

"hey guys, i brought some gyudon from yoshinoya, valt's favorite!" xander entered carrying two, very large and warm plastic boxes that were securely shut. he set them down on the counter and waited for valt to come down.

shu felt a bit offended at a missed oppurtunity to show off his culinary skills that rivaled those of gordon ramsey's, but nonetheless he knew better than to argue. valt needed to eat in the end, and he was their top priority at the moment.

xander set out to fix everything on the table. "go keep valt company, will ya?" shu nodded and went to valt's room. he sat at his desk with an emotionless expression, his finger twiddling with valtryek and making it slightly spin.

shu coughed to get the other males attention and suggested, "wanna play hide and seek while xander sets up the food for us?" valt smiled, genuingly smiled. that made shu's heart skip a beat as the two began reminiscing of their favorite childhood game.

『 later 』

valt laughed silently to himself in his bed as he remembered their previous activities. shu had fallen asleep out of exhaustion, and xander was stuffed to the core with beef soup. the hide and seek game had ended in shu finding valt twenty three times, but he didn't care.

his smile went away quickly, and he looked over at his friends to see if they were completely asleep. now that he thought about it, the urges were starting to reappear again.

valt threw the covers off of his legs and stood up, carefully tiptoeing past the two males on the ground. they were too focused on him when they were all aeake that they hadn't cleaned up the blood or confiscated the knife. he picked up the silver blade and leaned his arm right above the sink.

he hadn't even thought or planned it when suddenly a sting erupted from his forearm. a strange sensation of relief washed over him, causing him to smile once again. valt turned on the faucet and washed off the blood, immediately reaching for a gauze after sliding the knife into his pocket.

"valt!"

he flinched, looking back at a horrified xander, who carefully slid his hand into valt's pocket and got the knife.

shu walked in rubbing his eyes. "what's going on-" his eyes widened and his hands flew to his mouth in fear of letting out a cry. the sink still had blood draining. valt's arm was already beginning to form red beads across the deeply red thin line. shu let out a muffled scream.

and valt woke up.