FORCED
CHAPTER 13 : HINATA, NEJI, HANABI
" Please reconsider the punishment for Hanabi..," a voice said followed by the sound of the opened the door. Standing there was Neji and Hinata. Hinata looked pale and tired but Neji was standing by her side, supporting her. " Hinata… Neji.. What are you doing here," Hiashi asked as he walked towards them. " You two should be resting. You're in no condition to wlak around like this….". " Please father.. Hanabi doesn't deserve that punishment. It's too heavy..," Hinata pleaded. Hiashi stood in front of her, not a word from him. He looked at Neji. Neji nodded, agreeing with what Hinata had said. Hiashi avoided eye contact with them. " It's not my decision. It's the council's…," he whispered with regret.
Neji and Hinata walked inside and stood beside Hanabi, leaving Hiashi at the door. " Please, I'm begging to you. My sister don't deserve it…," Hinata stated. Neji continued, " Though what she did was repulsive, this kind of punishment is too much. Both me and Hinata suffered no fatal damage… We can just think of it as a sparring accident…" The elders shook their heads. " An accident that almost caused the heir and heiress's life… An accident that we could never allowed to happened. It wasn't just a sparring accident. Hanabi attacked Hinata with intention to kill. If you weren't there in time…," he trailed off.
" Still, everyone is fine. Me and Neji only suffered minor injuries. Things like this will never happen again," Hinata added. " What makes you so sure, Hinata? What guarantees that Hanabi won't do this kind of things in the future," an elder asked fiercely. " I trust her. She'll never do anything to hurt me. Today was just a mistake… Please.. At least change the punishment into something lighter…"
Hanabi stood there, helpless and Hinata and Neji defended her. ' The people I nearly killed is here, defending me.. Begging for my sake…. These two kind-hearted and wonderful people.. My sister and future brother-in-law…' Hanabi was so touched with what Hinata and Neji was doing she cried silently. " Nee-san, Neji-niisan… that's enough," she whispered to them. Hinata and Neji stopped talking. The elders listened.
" I accept my punishment….," Hanabi said as tears fell from her eyes. " Hanabi….," Hinata and Neji called her. They didn't know what to say or how to react. " If receiving the seal means I have to obey these two people, I'll gladly do that. I'll gladly give my life for these two…," Hanabi announced to the elders. Her eyes were filled with determination though there was still some trace of tears. The elders nodded their head. " The ceremony will be done tomorrow at sundown." With that all of the elders left, leaving Hinata, Hanabi and Neji while Hiashi watched them from afar.
Hinata was standing in front of her sister. " I'm sorry for what I did to you. I was so jealous of you. You have what I don't have..," Hanabi sobbed. Hinata shook her head slowly, " You have things that I can only dream to have Hanabi.. You shouldn't be jealous of me. I'm the one who should be jealous…." Hanabi nodded slowly. She lifted her face and smiled to Hinata and Neji. " Thank you for defended me." " Tried to defend you. We failed…," Neji corrected her. Hanabi smiled. " It's ok. Like I said, it's not a bad thing is the one I'm serving is the both of you…" Hinata looked at Hanabi sadly. Slowly, she pulled Hanabi into her arm and hugged her. Hanabi hugged her back and they cried in each other's arm. Neji watched them. From afar, Hiashi who was watching smiled. " I may not be a bad thing at all…," he told himself.
Hiashi took Hanabi back to her room while and Neji and Hinata returned to their treatment room. After making sure Hinata was comfortable on her bed, Neji went to his. Both of them laid on the bed, not sleepy at all though their body hurt all over. " I pity Hanabi….," Hinata blurted out of the sudden. Neji nodded his head. " But it's not really a bad thing if you think about it positively…." " Neji…. What did you feel when you received the seal?." Neji didn't answer the question.
Not long after the silence, " I was filled with rage… furious but to whom I didn't know. That's why I blamed you…." Hinata nodded slowly. " But Hanabi is different from me. She accepted the punishment open-hearted. I don't think she'll end up being a wreck like me…" Neji looked at Hinata and gave her an encouraging smile. " Thanks… Neji…," Hinata thanked him. " For what?." " For being there, for giving me the things I needed the most during the time I needed it the most." " Vice-versa," Neji answer was short and simple but Hinata felt so happy hearing those words. " Oyasumi, Neji…" " Oyasumi, Hinata…"