Hinata shot up from her slumber, and subsequently fell off the couch and hit her head on the table near by. She nearly groaned out loud, but restrained herself. She was staying at someone else's house after all. She couldn't be troublesome and wake anyone up. She rubbed her eyes, it was pitch dark, and she was yet again having nightmares, which meant that she most likely wouldn't be able to fall asleep again until five or six in the morning. As of late, her nightmares had been getting more and more frequent, and frankly it was a combination of exhausting, frustrating and most of all scary. Hinata sighed; rubbing her head she gulped back tears of frustration, which made the pain in her head more difficult to deal with.
"Are you feeling okay Hinata-chan?" She automatically stiffened.
"Y-Yoh...Kun" She stood quickly, wiping imaginary dust and very real fatigue off of her figure and putting on a smiled.
"W-what are you doing up so late?" she spoke softly, as to not wake anyone else up.
"I could ask the same of you Hinata-chan" Hinata hoped that her blush wasn't so visible in the darkness of the old haunted mansion.
"You know, people who toss and turn in their sleep really shouldn't volunteer to sleep in narrow spaces"
"I-I don't toss and t-turn" unforeseen Goosebumps scattered along her making her shiver just slightly, and rub her hands across her arms to warm them. Yoh raised his eyebrows, seeing the former Hyuuga's stubborn brand pride shining through.
"So how did you fall off the couch?" More Goosebumps prickled against her.
"I-it's only when I have nightmares"
"What were you having nightmares about Hinata-chan?" Hinata swallowed and looked away.
"I-I don't remember" he just smiled, understanding fully that she was lying, but not wanting to pry into the dark haired girl's private thoughts nonetheless. They had only met a month or so ago, it wasn't his place to pry, he was being a bit rude by even pointing out that she had fallen off the couch, a fact that obviously bothered her quite a bit. He picked a blanket off the floor and wrapped it around Hinata, who he knew would deny the fact that she was cold out of some strange need to not be burdensome. But she pulled the blanket close around her, obviously grateful for the warmth.
"A-aren't you cold too?" Yoh shook his head.
"Nope. I'm used to the weather here" Hinata smiled as best she could.
"Of course. You grew up in this country didn't you?" He nodded.
"Do you miss your home?"
"I haven't been there in a long time b-because I."
"I was exiled" He cocked his head to the side.
"But...why? Hinata-chan is such a kind person" Her fist clenched.
"Yoh-kun...How would you react?" She let out a little sigh.
"How would you react...If I told you?"
"You say that like you did something unforgivable" Hinata closed her eyes as a mirthless chuckle escaped her lips.
"I did... but that's not why I was exiled" She grasped his fingertips, leading him to the couch to sit down and giving him some of the blanket despite some mute protest.
"In my country, there were once demons called Bijuu, or tailed beasts" Yoh liked how she said her country, even though it was a completely different world.
"One by one they were sealed into humans"
"The last and most powerful Bijuu was called Kistune no Kyuubi, and it was sealed seventeen years ago by the Yodaime Hokage into his new born son, Uzumaki Naruto"
"His own son?" Hinata nodded.
"Naruto-kun was scorned by everyone because of the beast that he contained, but he never gave up, and eventually he grew stronger then anyone" Her eyes shined with admiration.
"But people wanted the demon inside of him. And for that they attacked the village and destroyed it"
"They nearly succeeded in their goal...But...I"
"I got in the way, and freed Naruto-kun, and he defeated the man who had destroyed the village, not through violent methods, but through talk. He made peace with their leader and they went away."
"After the attack Naruto-kun was accused of being the cause of the whole thing, and therefore he had to be executed"
"And since I had saved him... I was not only exiled but punished"
"Punished?" Hinata nodded.
"I-I loved him...Everyone knew that. S-so...-" She wiped away a couple of tears.
"They made-" She swallowed, her head finding her knees.
"Th-they made me kill him," She whispered tightly. Tears flowing down her face despite her best efforts. Yoh blinked. She was so kind, she would never kill someone! He couldn't imagine her hurting a fly, let alone raising her hand towards another human. But... She wouldn't lie about something like that. Her tears were genuine. Plus, he could see the ghostly aura that hung around her. That kind of aura only hung around someone who had killed. It was said the part of the ghost would always remain with their killer for as long as they blamed themselves for the death.
"Hinata?" She made no response. Yoh placed a steady hand on her back.
"I...is there anything... that I can do?" She slumped against him. Her little toes brushing against his leg.
"Gomennasai. I'm keeping you up," she states softly.
"How can you even stand me Yoh-kun? I'm a monster" He shook his head.
"Hinata-chan you're not a monster. Why can't you see that?"
"Because it's written on me," She whispered. Pulling her long baggy shirt up a little bit to reveal the mark on her hip. The way that she looked at the scars; it was almost loving; yet also bitter and sad. Yoh covered the mark with his hand, pretending not to notice the deep blush on the shy Hyuuga's face.
"Hinata..." He couldn't find the words that he wanted to say to his lavender-eyed guest. But it didn't matter, she was talking enough for two people and didn't care if he responded or not. Her voice was so soothing, even more so then his music and the river that he listened to in the afternoon, only he had a soft breathing girl pressed against his skinny chest and a blanket providing warmth for him instead of the sun. Eventually she petered out, pauses between stories becoming longer and longer until she fell into complete silence and her breathing became steady.
"Sleep well" He wrapped the blanket around her. Finally removing his hand from her hip. He didn't hear her as she mumbled between quiet breaths.
"Thank you"