𝑳𝑬𝑺 𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑺 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

echoes of a life long since ended ~ 51

AN: WARNING, DEPICTION OF SELF-HARM (NOT IN A SUICIDAL MANNER) AND BLOOD
This chapter is going to be a bit dark? I suppose. I didn't really intend to write it as such, but the more I wrote, the more I found myself spiralling downwards. Oh joy. 

THE INITIAL STING WASN'T BAD. It wasn't his first time being cut, but it was his first time cutting himself. The initial sting wasn't bad, it was what came after. His skin was burning and aching, some parts of it already forming blisters, and him dragging jagged glass across it wasn't how he intended to spend the rest of his day. It got worse when the glass turned out not sharp enough to cut clean through, which ended with him forcing it deeper into his flesh, right into the burns he previously suffered.

It was a wonder the doorknob hadn't melted right off with how heated it was.

Carefully, he hovered his bleeding hand over the floor, where bits and pieces of glass laid—glass he himself broke. This way, he wouldn't have to mention what happened moments ago. He could think of a simple reason and go along with it, like how his emotions got the better of him and the glass broke as a result. That the injuries he suffered weren't self-inflicted, but instead because of the glass he tried to pick up. It would be easier that way.

If anyone saw the melted glass, problems would arise.

Yuma didn't want problems.

Flicking his wrist, he let the blood drip onto the tiles, onto the glass. With his other one, he picked up the translucent pieces and dipped them into his palm to stain them crimson. Chikara would believe whatever he told her. She made too many mistakes already, and she knew that if she started an argument, it would not end well for them. She'd believe him, that was for sure.

Shion, on the other hand, would need more convincing, which was why he did this. Like this, everything would be as it was before, and he could pretend today never happened.

With a deep inhale, he straightened up and headed to the bathroom.

_

They seemed hesitant the next time they saw him—Shion and Chikara. The former had a camera in her hand, pale fingers keeping a tight grip on it as she stood at his doorway. The latter stood a bit in front of her, just a step or two, and the look in her eyes told Yuma that all she wanted was to wrap her arms around him and make sure he was there.

That he was back.

"We have to talk." He told them, offering a small smile.

Both of them nodded, no other words following his own.
.
.
.
The conversation they had were short, him reassuring them more than anything else.

"Is it...done?"

"Yeah."

"Couldn't you have contacted us?"

"It was something I had to do alone."

"You're not leaving again, are you?"

A closed-eyed smile. "I'm not going anywhere."

"We want you to rely on us."

"You said it yourself, didn't you? We're family."

"We want you to be honest with us."

A tight-lipped smile. "Always."

"If there is ever something you're having trouble with..."