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If there was one thing Shuriken learnt quickly from having roommates, it's that it was pretty much impossible to completely keep any kind of secret under wraps. Especially when said roommates were so incredibly nosy and stubborn, and has basically known him for the entirety of his life.
AKA: his siblings.
Now, Shuriken likes to think he's a sufficient liar. In recent years, with his sort of side gig as the Silver Shadow, he's had to lie to nearly everyone about nearly everything. He's developed a poker face, and improvised excuses on the spot, and he's even mastered what Slingshot likes to call his 'puppy eyes.' If Shuriken ever sought out an acting career, he's confident he has a decent shot at becoming a star.
But, sometimes, no matter what tricks he tries to pull, his siblings could see right through his facade, and calls him out on his bluffs. Thankfully, they've never been over something super major, so Shuriken still keeps his double life hidden away.
Though there was no denying they were at least a little suspicious of him, and the fact that they caught him lying every now and then didn't help.
Like right now.
It's Thieves' Rest designated closing day, so the entire family was home, spread throughout the apartment and getting mundane tasks done.
Shuriken is in his room, sketching out possible modifications for his vigilante suit, when a muffled shout sounds from beyond his door.
"Shuriken?" yells Slingshot from across their apartment, tight, questioning, but undeniably panicked.
He jolts up from his notebook, only taking a second before he's snapping it closed and stuffing it under his pillow. He barrels into the laundry room in record time, finding Slingshot hunched over a basket of dirty clothes.
"What? What happened?"
"What is this?" Slinsghot turns to him, holding up a white shirt bearing tears and old blood stains.
Ah, shit.
It was one of his many undershirts that he wore for both his outings as Silver Shadow, and with his Thieves' Rest uniform.
The damage had occurred a few nights ago, when he jumped between a developing scuffle, trying to diffuse the situation and promptly getting a knife slashed across his shoulder for his efforts. He must have felt particularly tired by the time he returned home and undressed, and had thrown it towards his other clothes with little afterthought. The wound was almost completely healed by now, but it still stung when he made any abrupt movements.
Well, no matter. He's been put on the spot plenty of times before, and the brown stains could be explained away easily enough.
"Oh, that's when I accidentally spilled some coffee yesterday. It's nothing to get worked up over." Shuriken lies, calm and collected from rehearsing aloud to himself for hours.
Slingshot's eyes squint at the splotch like it personally offended him. He didn't seem entirely convinced yet.
"And the rips?"
"Honestly, I have no clue. I probably yanked it too hard off the hanger once, that's all." Feigning ignorance was his go-to method whenever he wasn't sure how to cover something up.
Slingshot fell quiet, his grip on the shirt relaxing. Still, he looked unsure. Shuriken was about to reassure him again when -
"Those aren't coffee stains." Vine Staff interjects.
The two whipped around to see her standing in the doorway, no doubt called by Slingshot's worried voice like he was. She walked pass Shuriken, eyes trained on the smears, and took the shirt into her own hands to examine.
"It's too dark to be coffee, and the ring around the spots are distinct too. It's clearly old blood."
Crap, seriously, Vine?
He supposed he should have saw it coming. Vine Staff was very familiar with wound care, courtesy of being on her lonesome for the first years of her life, so of course she would recognize a blood stain apart from coffee. He would've been able find a different excuse, had he known she was there in the first place. With the way she snuck up on the both of them, he'd think she was the stealthiest one of the three.
Now they knew he had lied, and he had to come up with something else to save his ass.
The concern returned to their faces as they looked up at him.
"Shuriken, why did you lie?" Vine Staff asks.
"Did you get in a fight? Has someone attacked you?" Slingshot questions.
"What? No! Why would you think that?"
"Why would you lie to us?" Vine Staff shoots back just as sharply.
They're really not going to make this easy, huh? It felt weird to want, but Shuriken wished, just once, that they cared about him a little less.
"I-," Shuriken sighs, "Okay, the truth is… I didn't want to tell you guys because…" he flails, trying to think of something, anything that sounded like a decent enough explanation, and blurts the first words that come to mind.
"…it's embarrasing."
Silence overtook the three. The statement only deepened their narrowed eyes and it was obvious they wanted him to continue.
Shuriken pointedly stared at the floor, and opened and closed his mouth a few times. He wasn't certain on what to say, or if he should speak at all. Perhaps if he pretended that whatever happened to him was so humiliating, they'd cut him some slack and drop it.
Finally, Slingshot was the first one to break the quiet.
"What's so embarrasing? You know no matter what, we won't judge you, right?"
Shuriken suddenly feels guilty for making his siblings worry so much. Would you keep that attitude if you really knew who was the Silver Shadow?
He forces out a nod, and shame keeps his eyes glued to the ground.
"Then why can't you tell us? Is someone threatening you?" Vine Staff's tone turns steely.
"Would you guys quit it with the assumptions? No one's trying to harm me, alright? It was just a stupid accident."
For a second, he thinks he may have sounded a bit too defensive, but surprisingly, Slingshot and Vine Staff back off.
"Well, if you really don't want us to know.. next time, don't lie at least. You made it sound like you were being blackmailed or something." Slingshot says.
"You shouldn't be afraid to come to us. If anyone's bothering you, we'll kill them for you if we have to." Vine Staff smiles, but she doesn't say it in a joking manner.
Shuriken lets the relief wash over him as he nods again. Silver Shadow lives for another day.
Slingshot continues on with the laundry while Vine Staff orders him to show her his shoulder. Once she's deemed it healed enough that it doesn't need any treatment, she lets him go with one more reminder.
"You can tell us anything, okay Shuri? Don't forget that." Vine Staff says.
His heart swelled at the sentiment, and oh Swords, he's such a terrible sibling.
Vine Staff and Slingshot had basically said they'd kill for him, and here he was lying to their faces and going behind their backs to play hero out in the streets at night. And for what? Because he felt a little homesick? It was becoming obvious that Shuriken didn't deserve the love they showered him with.
He manages a nod and smile as he leaves to stroll back to his room. The confrontation left him drained of motivation to continue his sketching, and for a second he just sits there with his notebook opened in his lap to a half-finished drawing.
Shuriken turns to a blank page and writes a note to buy black undershirts from now on.