𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑪𝒀𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑩𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑵 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

Fault ~ Age 12

The light slowly drained away, leaving barely anything left for the shadows.

The darkness came, and under it everything in the forest got hidden.

The stars and the moon cowered behind a dense layer of a cloud.

It seemed as if a storm was brewing, but he paid it no mind.

There was already a storm inside of him.

_

He held him in his arms, applying pressure onto his still-bleeding wound. His heart was still beating, albeit its beats were growing weary. He knew that if Asao didn't arrive soon, Hikaru would be long gone.

So he waited.

He waited in the freezing snow. He didn't give up, he couldn't.

It was his fault things ended the way they did. Why must Hikaru suffer for his actions? Why must Hikaru be the one on the verge of death, relentlessly bleeding in Aizen's arms?

"Please hold on..." he whispered into the darkness, "Asao will find us... We'll go back to Konoha together." He gripped onto Hikaru and pulled him closer, resting his chin on his dark hair.

Will he find them?

They were half-covered by snow and there was little chance that they could be spotted within normal means. As far as Aizen knew, neither Asao nor Hanae had any sort of tracking abilities.

Hikaru gave no reply as shallow breaths left his lips.

_

The sound of crunching snow snapped Aizen out of his thoughts and he froze in place. There was no way he could fight an enemy at the moment. Hikaru was barely holding on and that was because Aizen didn't dare move his hands off the wound on his chest.

Fear curled up inside him and clung onto his ribs, settling uncomfortably in his chest. There was no doubt the feeling was there to stay, merciless in its wake, leaving nothing behind but his harsh breaths in the freezing air.

"Aizen! Hikaru!"

There were no words that could describe how Aizen felt when he heard the familiar voice, "Asao-sensei! Hurry!" He hastily yelled, voice sounding harsh from how much he struggled to utter such loud words.

A moment or so passed and the man landed next to them, hands immediately reaching towards them, "What happened?!" Asao demanded, glancing between the two boys.

"Help him, he's hurt!" Aizen looked up at the man, feeling himself tremble. He had managed to ignore the cold until then, but Hikaru's blood had seeped into his own clothes, allowing the cold air to freeze his bones.

Asao nodded, gently taking Aizen's hand and moving it out of the way, "Move his shirt, I need access to the wound." He said and Aizen did as told.

The shirt was pulled up, revealing the paleness of Hikaru's skin. The boy was on the fairly pale side, but the sight of him being even paler, than Aizen himself, was horrifying. The wound wasn't large, but it had certainly managed to pierce a vital organ, hence the amount of blood that escaped it. Asao immediately got to work, glowing hands lighting up the darkness around them.

Another crunch of snow made Aizen glance to the side, finding no one other than Hanae, "Aizen!" The girl exclaimed, running to his side and dropping to her knees. Her cerulean eyes were wide in panic as she trailed them over the bloodied marks on the boys's bodies.

Aizen looked away from her, not wanting to see the grief in her eyes. The wound on Hikaru's chest was slowly closing... but Asao didn't look like he was relieved about that, "What's wrong?" Aizen dared ask.