Story: The Reanimations of Hinata

Chapter: 03 || Settling In


When I was discharged from the hospital, I was led into one of my father's numerous cars. I remained tight-lipped and expressionless. I haven't been to the Hyuuga Manor since I was a small child, when my parents pretended to be totally fine with each other. And before my father had shunned her from the family, her taking me with her in the middle of the night. The whole ride, the butler tried making small talk with me. I decided that he seemed really nice and figured that since my mother isn't here for some reason, I might as well make a few allies in the house.

He was a man in his late thirties but the effects of time had gotten to him pretty quickly since every time he would smile or squint his eyes to see better through his wire-frame glasses, wrinkles would appear. He wasn't a very tall man, only taller than my small frame by a few inches or so. He wore that usual servant/butler look—a white button up shirt with slacks and his slowly graying hair slicked back. His name was Yamoto Kenta.

Every time he would talk to me, I would nod my head or give sounds to show that I was listening. I didn't listen attentively enough to hear his full sentences. All I heard was bits of words as I stared out the tinted windows, the rain lightening up yet the clouds were still a gloomy gray. I breathed in deeply and exhaled. I felt a mix of many emotions. I am returning home. The place where my so-called family had kicked my mother out and left her to find a place for her toddler while they kept Hanabi. Unconsciously, I found that my lips pulled downward into a full blown frown. I immediately returned to my blank state. Try not to think of that, any of that.

"Miss Hinata, we have arrived," Butler Yamoto called out to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I nodded my head once and got out of the car. Butler Yamoto headed straight to the trunk, retrieving my backpack with the clothes I wore that day and nothing else. I pressed my lips together and even tighter. Approaching me, Butler Yamoto gave me a gentle reassuring smile.

"If you'd like, I can take you to your old home to pick up all of your things. However you must rest first. We can always go later on," he said as he carried the backpack.

I instantly took it off his hands and gave him a small smile. "It's fine, I can take it. I just want somewhere to rest already."

"Yes Miss Hinata," he chuckled. "I'm going to fetch for one of the maids to show you your room. I'm positive that they must've finished setting up the bedroom as soon as I left to pick you up." He walked inside and called a name. A few minutes later a woman who looked to be quite a bit older than Butler Yamoto showed up.

The second she saw me, her eyes became glossy as if fond memories flashed through her old and tired eyes. She almost jogged down to where I stood and took in my appearance before pulling me into a tight embrace. "My, how much you've grown into such a beautiful woman," she whispered mostly to herself.

I replied with an awkward thanks. I think I remember her; she was probably one of my mother's favorite maids. She always had at least 3 people on her list and I believe that this particular one was always at the top. She released me from her embrace and pushed my bangs out of my eyes before leading me up and to my old bedroom… It was completely untouched.

There was the shelf of stuffed animals on the wall, next to it was a book shelf full of ancient Japanese children's stories and folklore and pictures. I also spotted my old haiku from my calligraphy class when I was liitle, it was framed and showed no signs of dust. Actually, my entire room appeared as though it was frozen in time from when I left it—except the bed was made.

The sheets were freshly washed. The smell of lavender and fresh linen sheets filled my nose. I traced my finger over everything on my vanity, from my old hairbrush to my jewelry box. And the Maid was right there, watching me the whole time.

"I should let you have time to yourself and to rest," she spoke quietly. "Oh, and it's good to have you back, Miss Hinata." With that she slid my door shut completely.

I sighed before plopping down onto the bed. Sleep had immediately overcome me and my eyelids shut.

I woke up around 6 in the afternoon and Butler Yamoto had come with me to retrieve clothing.

I entered our home to find that it had been abandoned. I simply thought that my mother was just letting me recover at Father's house since it was much closer to the school. I thought it was all temporary. I thought.

Reality washed over me and I made sense of everything. No wonder why I'm forced to stay with Father, no wonder why they suddenly appeared when the accident happened. This is not happening right now… I brought my hand up to my face and it felt wet, I was crying.

"Mother…" I called out, frantically running throughout the entire house. I checked every bedroom. Every bathroom. I took the house phone and tried dialing her cell phone number, though I had only gotten an automated voice and something about the line being disconnected.

Butler Yamoto walked into the house. He saw me crying and running. He had asked me what was wrong and what was I doing.

"What did my father do to my mother?" I demanded to know in a strangely calm voice. "He did something to her make her leave and cut off her phone line. So tell me! What did my father do this time?" My venom-laced words were thrown at this innocent butler, though I couldn't help it. I was in a state of panic since the woman who raised me was nowhere to be found.

"Miss Hinata, your mother is…missing."

The words hit me like waves crashing on the shore in the middle of a storm.

"What do you mean?"

"Your mother was admitted into the same hospital as you were. All I know is that she woke up two weeks before you did. And that's it," he tried to explain gently in hopes of me calming down.

"Does my father know anything?"

"He probably knows more than I'll ever."

I choked out a couple more quiet sobs, Butler Yamoto approached me and patted my shoulder. After letting it out, I forced myself to recompose and begin packing. I left him in the living room as I numbly stuffed things into suitcases and bags. How could this be happening…?


The next day I had to return to school, that morning for breakfast my father wasn't there so I couldn't ask him any questions. I'd thought I could talk to him when he returned from work today, that way I could probably think out what I was going to say to him. There were all these emotions within me and I didn't know exactly how to go about them. Should I keep them within myself? Should I tell someone? Crap.

All I know is that after I left for school, everything was a blur. I couldn't learn anything since the classes were chapters ahead and everything they taught was jumbled completely in my brain. I received a worksheet for homework, I scanned over it and it was like I was reading a foreign language or something of that sort. I just spent my time looking out windows, however there wasn't very much to admire since the weather was still gloomy.

By lunchtime, I had a whole list of homework to attack. I was excused from some but that didn't even help, my grades were suffering and the exams were coming up. I sat down at a random table, staring down at the whole list of things I had to do in order for my grades to return to the way they were before the accident.

Ten minutes into trying to solve the meaning behind the writer's muse for a passage, I felt someone take a seat across from me. It was Naruto. He had a confident smile on his face and a huge envelope in his hands. He placed it on the table. I shut my textbook and gave him a forced smile… He noticed but still kept his beam intact.

"What's this?"

"Something to help you remember…" he replied vaguely.

"Help me remember what?" I took the envelope into my hands and examined it. My eyes glued to the envelope but for some reason I was completely terrified to open it right then and there.

"To remember us."

I tore my eyes from the envelope but before I could say anything, I only saw Naruto's retreating back with his head hung low again. The confident smile he had on immediately fell from his face and he scratched the back of his head, as if to hide the sudden shift in his aura from me. My hands gripped onto the fairly thick packet, something tugged at my heartstrings seeing him like this.

Us?