music recommended - donkey kong 2's bayou boogie (piano tutorial)

valt bolted upward breathing heavily. sweat adorned his face as he thought about the vivid nightmare he'd just experienced. calm down it was just a dream, you'll be alright.

but then again, when was valt ever alright?

he threw the covers off of his legs and looked over at shu and xander. the two had just layed down some blankets on the geound to sleep on, but somehow ended up in weird positions. shu was face down with his and xander had his leg over shu's back, which valt noticed was causing him a bit of a breathing problem, as his chest rose up and down rapidly.

he laughed quietly to himself and weaved his way through the mess of tangled blankets. valt attempted to pick up his giant friend's leg, but unfortunately both shu and xander chose that moment to move.

shu flipped around onto his back and xander picked up his leg and accidentally knocked valt.. right on top of the albino.

valt's face immediately grew warm. shu stirred in his sleep, fluttering his eyes open as the blue haired male opted for playing mannequin. "valt..?" shu muttered, rubbing his eyes as he continued, "why are you on top of me in the middle of the night?"

ah crap, i'm screwed. his mind raced for an excuse, really anything would be better than having shu stare at his red face for much longer. he opened his mind to somehow explain when xander rolled farther, mumbling, "angry.. german.. titan.."

shu and valt looked at each other and chuckled. they kept their gaze on each other before the albino asked, "want to cuddle with me? you seem a bit shaken up."

valt nodded happily and settled next to shu's warm chest, the pulse of his heartbeat calming his nerves and causing him to feel drowsy. he'd never felt this comfortable sleeping, unless you counted that one time he went to walmart and found a fluffy dog bed to settle in.

the two friends slept together comfortably, despite xander's various attack on titan quotes and references.

『 later 』

"hold on a second- is this what others call a ship?"

"i call dibs on being ship captain!"

"xander, care to explain how they ended up like that?"

"quiet you guys, they're waking up!"

valt heard nonstop mumbling and arose, letting out a tiny yawn before opening his eyes. his vision was surely playing tricks on him, for he saw blondes, nico di angelo, gajeel and-

"xander?!"

beside him, shu also bolted upward upon hearing noises. his hair resembled a mini blizzard, with tufts of soft white hair sticking out randomly, making him look quite childish.

rantaro tried to hold in his laughter, but doubled over, well, laughing. "all we did was come by to check up on valt-"

"-and we come to this!" wakiya finished with a smug look and crossed arms.

valt and shu glanced at each other, their faces expressing a slight pink hue as chaos ensued the room before diago asked, "so, how is valt?" the laughter stopped, a thin viel of tension layering the atmosphere.

the blue haired male was taken aback. "what do you mean?" he looked down and shoved his arms under a blanket, praying internally no one asked about it.

but diago saw.

ken's face softened. he kneeled in front of his friend and petted his head. "people are starting to say you're.. that you're anorexic. we got worried and came over to see if it was true or not." wakiya scoffed and pointed at his body. "he obviously is, i can basically count his ribs even with a shirt on."

valt flinched at the accusation and looked at shu for some sort of help. the albino placed a hand on his shoulder and explained, "he's just cut back on beybread and junk food, that's all."

the beyclub exhaled in somewhat careless relief. valt looked at them and doubted they cared. they just wanted the truth, the ugly truth that they themselves had started.

his thoughts became heavy as he thought about it. he was really a loser like they'd said countless times. a loser who doesn't eat.. who self harms.. who heard voices-

wait, voices-

hey.

valt's eyes widened. he looked around for the distant voice that had just spoke, making the others confused. shu removed his hand from his shoulder and asked, "hey, you okay?"

the blue haired male's face was yet again adorned with sweat as his breath sped up. his thoughts swirled in his head, heavier than ever.

do they really believe you'll get better?

no.. of course they wouldn't.

shu and xander have yet to realized that most people with valt's exact case ended up taking their own life.

and now, that was the only thing on his mind.

"i think he's having a panic attack!"

let's take a quick trip to the past, shall we?

xander kneeled down in front of valt and grabbed onto his shoulder firmly. "valt, can you hear me?"

no.. i don't want to go back, please don't!

"valt aoi, snap out of it this instance!"

just end me already, why should i go on?

he didn't have any strength left to say a word. his eyes rolled back as his body fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"valt?!"