a/n: Ahh, shoot me. Late updates and I'm not too happy with this chapter. But I just don't have the time to rewrite it so I'll post it for you guys. I figure you've been waiting long enough.
Enjoy!
disclaimer: Neji, Tenten and other characters (excpet for OCs) (c) Masashi Kishimoto.
kisses,
Iris:D
WINGS WE LACK
CHAPTER 21
~blissful ignorance~
"You deserve to know."
Hinata shuffled outside of Neji's door, knocking softly on it. Pressing her ear against the wood, she chewed on her bottom lip when she heard no sounds from within.
She knocked harder this time. "Neji-nii-san," she whispered urgently, "get up."
"Hinata!"
Freezing in her spot, she prayed Hiashi wouldn't trek up the stairs. "Yes, Father?"
"Have you fetched Neji yet?"
"I am in the process of doing so," she called back.
"Shit," Hinata murmured, jiggling the doorknob a couple times and kicking the door lightly when she discovered it was locked. "I'll have go through Tenten's door."
She stood in front of Tenten door and, momentarily forgetting her manners in the urgency of the situation, let herself in without knocking or announcing herself.
Squealing, Hinata quickly covered her eyes at the sight of Tenten and Neji lying beside each other, both half-naked (Neji, thankfully, was covered mostly by a blanket.), and spewed out a stream of apologies.
Neji was jolted awake and quickly threw the rest of the blanket over Tenten, who was still asleep. "Damn it, Hinata," he growled, pitching a pillow at his cousin, missing her by a foot on purpose. "What the Hell? Why didn't you knock?"
Hinata stooped down and hugged the pillow to her chest, glaring at him. "Hiashi-sama is requesting your presence," she informed him. "Me finding you is better than him finding you, you know."
"Shit."
He poised, ready to climb out of the bed, when he jerked his head at Hinata.
"Oh!" She chucked the pillow at him, hitting him square in the face, and headed for the door. "Be down in five. If not, Hiashi won't be the only one kicking your ass."
Moving quietly so Tenten wouldn't wake up, Neji pulled on his previously-discarded boxers and pants and shuffled into his own room, where he hurriedly pulled on a rumpled t-shirt. Glancing in the mirror, Neji sighed heavily and combed through his hair quickly before deeming himself presentable. With that, he sprinted down the stairs two at a time.
Hinata was waiting for him at the bottom and pointed at the drawing room. "He's in there," she mouthed.
Neji nodded and let himself in.
Tenten was, truthfully, only half-asleep when Hanabi crept into her room on not-so-quiet tiptoes. Ineffectively muffling her high-pitched giggles, Hanabi positioned her face directly in front of Tenten's and put on the most atrocious visage.
She was quite pleased when Tenten pretended to freak out – although she didn't know the older girl was bluffing – and poked her in the stomach. "I scared you, didn't I?" Hanabi singsonged.
"Oh yes, you're terrifying." Tenten winked and looked around the room, her hands crawling towards where Neji had been sleeping. In doing so, the blanket slipped and she fumbled, trying to cover herself.
Hanabi, however, had noticed. "You're not wearing a shirt, Ten-chan," she pointed out as if she didn't already notice.
"Yes, well, I prefer sleeping like that," Tenten lied hastily, hitching the blanket up to her chin. "It's much more comfortable, more in-sync with nature, you know."
"I see." Hanabi nodded wisely.
But she closed her eyes all the same while Tenten redressed herself.
"Hey," Tenten started, her eyes darting to Neji's sleeping spot, "where's Neji?"
"Oh, Neji-kun?" The Hyuuga tapped her chin thoughtfully. "He's with Hiashi-sama, I think." She pursed her lip, thinking. "Yes, I heard him telling Hinata to go get him."
"What for?" Tenten furrowed her eyebrows and tried not to think about the other day's episode of Hyuuga Hunt.
"I have no idea," she confessed, "but he looked really serious. The last time I saw him so serious was the day Neji's old girlfriend got pushed out of a window."
Tenten blinked rapidly. "What did you say?"
Gasping, Hanabi covered her mouth with both hands and shook her head back and forth. "I didn't say anything. Crap, Neji is going to kill me," she added quietly.
Tenten, however, heard her. "So, Hiashi pushed Neji's old girlfriend out of a window."
"No…" Hanabi drew out the syllable and suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. "Well, she kept insisting it was an accident but it was a few days after Hiashi had found out and he was really pissed but there really is no evidence or witness statement and she didn't press charges so no, he didn't." After finishing her run-on sentence, she took a deep breath.
"What happened to her?" Tenten inquired.
"Broken collarbone," Hanabi stated matter-of-factly, "and a fractured hip; she broke up with Neji and she lives in Akarui now."
"Who moved to Akarui?"
Tenten and Hanabi spun around to see Neji in the doorway, looking most unpleased.
"My friend," Hanabi lied, "you remember Kaori, right?"
Neji frowned. "Kaori? No, who is she?"
"Of course you don't know her," Hanabi snapped, showing her aptitude as a brilliant actress. "You never pay any attention to me."
"True."
Hanabi looked immensely relieved, and didn't try to hide it, as she bolted out of the room.
Neji came over and placed a chaste kiss on Tenten's cheek. She smiled up at him absently, her mind still whirling from the newfound information. Hiashi, Neji's uncle, could he really hate Neji's dating so much that he'd push a girl out of the window?
Involuntarily, she inched away from the window and luckily, Neji didn't notice.
"Hiashi-sama is forcing me to go visit my father again," he said quickly.
"Don't say it like it's a burden," she scolded him gently. "He's your father."
"Hiashi-sama won't let you come," Neji added. "He thinks you'll be a distraction."
"He's right," Tenten said firmly, noticing his look of surprise. "Your focus is to comfort your father and you must give your undivided attention to him. Your father is your priority."
Neji furrowed his eyebrows. "Tenten, he knows."
"About us?"
"Yes."
Tenten bit her lip and imagined the sound of her body hitting concrete, shivering uncontrollably when she imagined the pain. "Nothing bad happened yet," she pointed out, stressing the last word.
"He's trying to separate us, prevent us from seeing each other." Neji paused. "And, he wants the three of us to go out to eat tonight."
"Why?"
"Don't question it," he advised with a shake of his head. "The answers are sometimes not what you want to hear." Hiashi's voice floated up the stairwell and Neji stiffened instantaneously. "I've got to go. I doubt I'll be back before midnight if Hiashi's intent of keeping us apart." He kissed her once more before rushing out the door.
She waited until the door slammed shut before hoisting herself out of bed and ordering her feet to carry her downstairs.
In the kitchen, Hinata was sporting a lavender sundress and a cute beret and stuffing something into her leather purse. She looked up as Tenten walked in and smiled. "Hey, ready to go shopping?"
Tenten blinked blankly at the Hyuuga. "What for?"
Hinata cleared her throat awkwardly. "For your dinner with Neji and Hiashi-sama."
"I don't need a dress," Tenten responded, shaking her head for emphasis.
"You need a respectable dress," Hinata rephrased herself, "One that's clean-cut, sophisticated, and elegant. Come on, you need to impress Hiashi-sama so he won't be too hard on Neji-nii-san."
At the mention of his name, she softened and nodded. "Fine, let me go change." Tenten plodded back up the stairs and pulled on a pair of jeans and a soft T-shirt, taking great care to avoid the window.
Window-phobia, she mused, grabbing her cell phone and wallet and sticking them into her pocket, the irrational fear of windows.
Hinata was handing Hanabi a pair of shoes when Tenten reappeared.
"Oh, Hanabi, you're tagging along?"
"No…" She bit her lip as she struggled with her laces, her sister watching her carefully. "Hinata is dropping me off at the Takayuki's."
Tenten's eyebrows raised.
"It was Hiashi-sama's orders. If we were ever to leave, we would have to drop Hanabi off to be watched by Sho," Hinata explained.
Though perplexed, Tenten did not complain or comment, only followed the sisters into Hinata's car. They pulled up to yet another large villa constructed of sun-baked bricks and Hanabi let herself out to ring the doorbell.
Hinata killed the engine and glanced at Tenten in the passenger seat. "I know you don't like them very much so you can stay in the car if you'd like."
"No," she contradicted, surprising Hinata, "I'll come. I have a few words I need to say to Takayuki."
"Alright."
Hanabi had already run inside by the time Tenten and Hinata arrived at the front doorstep. Sho was lurking in the doorway, eying Tenten in a way that troubled her. She felt a chill crawl down her spine.
"My mother wants to speak with you," he told Hinata, jerking his head into the house.
Hinata nodded and moved to step inside but looked back at Tenten questioningly. Tenten shook her head and Hinata continued her way in.
"Did you come to apologize?" Sho prompted once Hinata had left.
Tenten scoffed. "No, as a matter of fact, I want you to apologize."
He sent her a slew of glares. "How 'bout this: instead of an apology, I'll give you some advice."
"Advice," she repeated, "for what?"
"You're not safe there. At the Hyuuga's," Sho added.
"Since when did you care about my safety?" Tenten snapped.
"You're not safe," he repeated, his face grave. "As long as you're there and as long as you're Neji's girlfriend, you're going to get hurt in an 'accident'." Sho made quotation marks with his fingers. "You shouldn't risk it. End it now. You don't want to end up being pushed out of a window."
Hinata came around the corner just as Sho uttered those last few words. Her face contorting into a look of uncharacteristic fury, she rounded on him. "That's none of your damn business," she hissed, so out of character that he could only stare stupidly at her in pure shock.
Sho's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Doesn't she deserve to know?"
"Not from you," Hinata retorted, taking Tenten by the arm, "and most definitely not your twisted, biased version."
She marched away and dragged Tenten with her, fuming so angrily that Tenten could almost see the fire in her eyes.
Kotone Mai strode through the glass doors of her studio at exactly ten fifteen that morning, dressed in a smart black suit adorned with a large, gauzy pearl necklace. She threw her bag at Hisako, who caught it with ease, and grabbed at her coffee cup. After taking a sip, she spit it out and glared at her intern.
"What the hell is this?" Kotone shrieked, slamming the cup down and splashing coffee all over the desk. "Are you trying to fatten me up? Skim milk and no sugar – didn't I specifically say that? I can't drink this. Go get me another one."
The veins in Hisako's forehead bulged as she slowly grabbed the cup and smiled grudgingly. "I'll go get you another one," she said through clenched teeth.
Kotone nodded, primping her collar.
"Oh, and a letter came for you, from a boy," she added. You haven't been sleeping with him, have you? Hisako added in her mind.
"Well?" Kotone held out her manicured hand and wiggled her fingers a few times. "Hand it over."
Hisako chewed on her lip, feigning indecisiveness. "But I've got to look for it – Heaven knows where I put it – and I need to go get your coffee. It's really a pity though; the boy said it was important. He wanted you to receive it right away."
"Fine. Forget about the coffee," Kotone ordered, looking very curious indeed. "Find the letter."
She spent the next ten minutes shuffling through folders and drawers, pretending to look for the letter even though she knew where it was. Hisako emerged with a crisp white envelope in her hand and offered it to Kotone.
Kotone snatched it out of her hands and ripped the paper eagerly. As she scanned the note, she sent scathing glares at Hisako, who watched interestedly, but when she pulled out a photo, Kotone squealed gleefully.
Hisako winced and realized that she didn't really want to know what the photograph was of.
"Contact this boy," the reporter demanded suddenly, slapping the picture onto the desk. "Schedule an appointment for him with me. Sho Takayuki, he lives in Oto. You know what he looks like, don't you?"
"Vaguely," Hisako answered, only remembering sandy hair.
"Good, good." Kotone bobbed her head. "Find him. I'm going into the studio now and you better have tracked him down and set our appointment up. The sooner the better."
As Hisako Kame opened the internet on her computer, she sighed and realized that she really hated this job.
Neji found himself averting his eyes every time they strayed onto his father's sleeping form. Hiashi sat beside him, his back straight as a rod, and stared at an invisible mural painted on the opposite wall.
Hizashi was dying. They had already known that, but to hear it from the doctor made it all the more real, all the more final.
He had hoped – he wouldn't deny it – that somehow, the doctor's had misread their analysis and diagnosed his disease inaccurately.
But when you looked at Hizashi, you were overcome by this sense of hopelessness and death as you surveyed his skeletal frame.
"The parasites have already entered his spleen and liver. Our data shows that they have been there for quite a while. He hasn't responded to any of our treatments – chemotherapy, miltefosine, or liposomal amphotericin B."
It just couldn't be true.
"Neji, there's no point hiding it from you anymore."
Never, ever, did he actually believe Hizashi would die. He had fed himself hope and desire and trust in the hospital staff and their medicine.
"You're not a kid. You can handle this."
Had that all been for nothing? The sleepless nights, the desperate prayers, the depressing hospital visits – were they all in vain?
"I'll try to be optimistic. He has a couple weeks left to live. Let's not be sad."
Shouldn't some of them count? Shouldn't the Universe look down on him and pity him? Where was the justice in this world?
"But I won't sugarcoat it either. He's going to die, Neji."
Neji.
Neji.
What will you do?
"Neji?"
He looked up and had a hard time keeping the tears from spilling out of his eyes.
Hizashi opened his eyes and stared at Neji, who was reminded of the proud, strong man his father once was. "Brother," Hizashi croaked weakly, "give us a moment alone. I need to speak with my son."
Hiashi hesitated, something flickering in the corner of his eyes, then got up and left.
"Look at you," Hizashi whispered, "all grown up. I'm glad I got to see you like this. It's one thing that I know your mother regretted."
Neji stayed still, not trusting himself to move.
"I know she'd be proud of you," Hizashi paused to smile, "proud that you've found love."
"What?" Neji stared at his father unblinkingly. Had he really just said…?
"Neji, don't ask me how I know. Just be aware that Hiashi does."
a/n: I hate to disappoint. I'm rereading this and there's just a terrible lack of flow and detail and..blehhh. There's just too much going on this week. I apologize.
Especially when you loyal readers have left me more than 100 reviews! I'm touched. Your support and love for my story really motivate me to continue. So, I promise, the next chapter will be phenomenal. :)
The plot thickens.
Our antagonists are meeting.
Neji ex-girlfriend seemed to have angered Hiashi.
Hiashi knows.
*shivers*
REVIEW, please!
kisses,
Iris:D