A/N: I'm back! I've been working on the characters back-stories and plot twists for more than a week now and I still haven't even completed Hinata's info. Let see how long it will take me to have all the 20 characters done (inner cry). I thank every for the favorites, follows and reviews. It awesome to know that people are reading this story!

I shall present you with another long chapter (sobs).

The Hinata company is in verge of a bankrupt. In order to save the company the father has promised his daughter Natsu to marry into Kageyama family. But after unexpected circumstances the one standing on the altar and making the vow is the eldest son, Hinata Shoyo. Can these two survive living together in the same house?

Cry Of A Fallen Crow
Cry Three: The Lost Connections

"I'm home." Hinata whispered to empty house being completely aware that no one would answer him. The ginger-head closed the door behind him and took off his shoes. Before doing anything else he went straight upstairs to change his school uniform.

The boy threw his bag to floor and sighed loudly while taking of his gakuran. He took a white T-shirt with 'Volleyball' written on the back and slipped it's opening through his head. Last, he put on black sweatpants with orange coloring and headed down stairs.

Before entering living room he stopped in front a mirror. Hinata desperately tried to straighten his natural bush, but the hair just wouldn't listen to him. With a defeated sigh he left the hair be and sat on the couch in their living room.

Searching for the remote control and when finally finding it Hinata turned on the TV. It was really boring to be alone at home... he didn't like the feeling at all. It made him feel like he was the only person in the world. Browsing though the channels helped him to kill sometime.

"Lions are big cat animals who-" he immediately switched the channel. At that very moment he wasn't interested in biology or geography, less alone an animal world.

"-Naruko-kun... I love you!"

"Me too Sayaka-chan. There is no one in the world who I treasure as much as I-"

No, definitely this wasn't the best time to be watching drama. The confession and rumor about Kenma was so clearly in his head that he needed something else to get it out of his head. And watching drama wasn't the best choice - it would only remind him of it even more.

Hinata browsed through the channels, there was police drama, news, commercials, drama, idol shows, live action, soccer match and more drama.

"-And Yoshioka-seishun steals the ball and runs trough the whole court on his ow-"

Hinata turned off the TV. He threw the remote away and slid down the couch, his eyes staring at the ceiling. There was nothing worth of watching; basketball was the very last thing the ginger-head would want to watch. Because of the schools PE lessons, he had came to dislike the sport.

And there was no volleyball tournament going on.

The boy pulled himself off the couch and stood up. He felt his stomach grumbling and decided to search for something to eat.

In one of the closets he found a cup noodles. They would be perfect enough to satisfy his hunger before his parents return and they could have dinner. Hinata boiled the water and waited for the noodles to be done. Not taking his attention from the cup, Hinata reached to get a glass for milk.

Out of carelessness his hand missed the glass and something fell down and scattered into pieces around the kitchen. Hinata jumped in startle and dropped the cup of noodles he was holding in his other hand - it ended up having the same fate as the dish. Perfect, not only he had broken something - his meal was spoilt as well.

The boy sighed. "This is so my luck."

He started to gather the pieces of the broken dish only to have his fingers cut. Hinata pulled back his hand and glanced at his arm. Three of his finger had cut in them. Blood-drops formed to the cuts. The ginger-head quickly licked his cut fingers and continued to gather the broken pieces.

When he had finally gathered all the pieces he could find Hinata glanced at the dish. His eyes widened when he realized that he had just broken Natsu's favorite rice bowl. Natsu surely wouldn't be happy to hear about it - nor she would be angry, though.

Hinata stared at the rice bowl and then at the three cuts in his fingers. Finally his glance turned to the clock. It was 5pm. The ginger-head gulped loudly. For some reason he didn't have a good feeling about it. The broken dish and the cuts felt like a bad omen.

Hinata then shook his head and smacked his face. It was nothing to worry about, everything would surely be alright. With that mind-set he put plasters on his cuts and continued cleaning the kitchen, which was full of noodles.

"Yosh!" Hinata smiled proudly when he had finally finished cleaning the kitchen. It was even cleaner than it had been before him. Stretching his arms he fell on the couch while exhaling in exhaustion. Was cleaning always this tiring?

Just as Hinata managed to close his eyes to take a short nap, he heard the houses phone ringing. "Who could it be calling at this hour?" he wondered as his parents were still working. Maybe it was Natsu, Hinata thought as he reached for the phone.

"This is Hinatas'" the ginger head answered with cheery voice.

The other side was silent.

"Excuse me. Who is it calling? Hello?" Hinata questioned as he got no answer. He heard some kind strange noises and finally someone spoke in quiet voice.

"This is Kenma..."

Hinata was surprised to receive a call from Kenma. It wasn't very often when the blonde boy would call to him; Nishinoya did it almost everyday as he asked Hinata to accompany him with volleyball training. As Hinata didn't own his own cellphone the boys called the house phone.

"Yes, what is it?" the boy asked, being relieved to know the caller.

"Could we... meet?" was Kenma's quiet question, which seemed to Hinata as if the boy was putting all of his effort and courage to ask it.

The rumor of Kenma's feelings towards him immediately filled Hinata's head. Was the other boy going to confess to him? His head was filled with load of questions and thoughts.

In the end Hinata shook them off and collected his emotions. He shouldn't get ahead of things. Maybe Kenma was calling because he had troubles and here Hinata was already thinking of confession. He should just go and see what Kenma wanted.

"Sure! How about we meet at Hato-Park at seven straight?" Hinata suggested. It was the closet place for both so they often decided to meet there. Hinata didn't see a reason why they shouldn't meet there.

The other side was silent. Hinata waited for Kenma's answer.

"...Okay..."

When the other boy finally gave an answer Hinata's smile widened. "Then see you there!" he laughed happily. After Kenma answered with a short 'Yeah' Hinata turned off the call.

He quickly ran to upstairs to put on his plain colored hoodie and then ran off the house to meet his friend. Before stepping out of the house he glanced at the clock. It showed quarter to seven.

It didn't take long for Hinata to arrive at the park. It was close to his house so it took about five minutes to arrive by walking. If he had run it would've taken only a minute or two.

Hinata was sure that we was the first one to arrive, after all it was still 10 minutes till their appointed time. For that very reason Hinata was surprised when he saw Kenma leaning against tree at the side of the park.

"Yo! Kenma-san." Hinata called out for the boy. When Kenma noticed the ginger-head running towards him, he turned to Hinata, stopped the Mp3-player and took off his earphones. The older boy showed a weak smile.

"How come you're this early?" Hinata asked when he had reached Kenma. The boys home should be at least 15 minutes away from the Hato-Park. Even by running it should take more than half the time - and Kenma wasn't fast runner so he shouldn't have made it before Hinata.

"I was in the convenience store nearby... that's why..." the blonde told and took a sip from the coffee can he was holding in his hands. He then opened his backpack and took a meat bun. Kenma glanced at Hinata with questioning look if the ginger-head wanted some.

"No thanks." the younger boy replied. In truth he was hungry because the noodles ended up as disaster and he hadn't managed to eat anything, but he thought that it would be better to wait for his mother to arrive home and have proper dinner since it wouldn't take any longer. She usually arrived home by seven so most likely they would have dinner ready by the time he arrived home.

Kenma glanced at the meat bun in his hand looking little disappointed. He then put the additional one to back to his bag and opened the one his arms. Slowly he started eating.

Hinata stared at his friend as he stuffed the meat bun into his mouth. As the silence was getting disturbing - well it was always that way with Kenma - he decided to start a conversation. "You're on your way to prep school, right?"

Kenma gave a small nod as he finished his meat bun. He then took the coffee can and drank from it till it was empty. Hinata smiled at the blonde. He was happy that his friend had a clear goal for his future.

Since the start of his fourth year Kenma had told him that he was going to enter a university in Tokyo - it was called Nekoma, if he remembered right. Since at the start Kenma's grades weren't high enough to pass to the university he had studied hard and taken prep lessons the whole year in order to get to the school he wanted.

In Hinata's case, he wasn't so sure what he wanted to do in the future. He wasn't good enough in volleyball to be scouted into a school like Nishinoya, so most likely he was going to take entrance exams to the nearest university which was Karasuno University - KaraUni for short. He had heard that despite the scouting Nishinoya was going to enter KaraUni, because it was close to his house. Well, they did have a team which made it to the top 8 in the Inter-high so it wouldn't be complete waste of university life.

"Are to still aiming for Nekoma?" the ginger-head then asked. He would've liked so much to stay near Kenma and Nishinoya as they were his only friends. What would he do if they both disappeared from his life?

Kenma glanced at Hinata and nodded. "The entrance exam is in two weeks. If I pass I move there after graduation ceremony."

A weak smile appeared on Hinata's when he heard his friends words. So in the end he was going separate ways with Kenma. He did have Nishinoya with him, but somehow things would definitely be different without Kenma.

A silence fell upon the duo and Hinata tried to quickly come up with a topic. "Oh, you know. Today I finally met Natsu's boyfriend. He was such a fine man, what was his name again..."

A light smile appeared on Kenma's face when he stared at the excited Hinata. He closed his eyes and prayed for the best to happen. This was the moment which could change his relationship with Hinata... forever. "Shoyo-"

"Right! It was Sugawara Koushi. Can you believe he was even wearing suit-"

"Shoyo."

Hinata quieted down when he heard Kenma calling him for the second time. The blonde boys cat-like eyes were sharper than usual - they were gleaming with determination. If Hinata was right, he could also feel a hint of fear glowing from them. He gulped loudly; why Kenma was so serious? He had never acted this way.

"Shoyo... I..." Kenma took a step ahead to which Hinata unconsciously responded by taking a step back. He was shaken by the sudden change in his friends behavior. This serious mood could only mean one thing; the very thing he had tried to deny.

"I love you." Kenma finally managed to say. As the silence fell upon the park, Hinata saw as his friends cheeks slowly turned different shades of red. "Not as a friend. I have a crush on you as a man." the blonde corrected so that Hinata wouldn't mistake his feelings.

Slowly he closed his eyes to wait for the answer, his whole body shaking in fear. He had taken a huge risk on confessing his feelings to the ginger-head, but he had no other choice. This was most likely the only time he could be with him, soon they would be separated... Now there was no turning back, he could only face forward and wait for Hinata's answer.

After the shock of being confessed and having millions of thoughts running in his head - like the rumor about Kenma was real - Hinata finally managed to calm down. He had to admit that being confessed by Kenma was even scarier than rejecting the second year girl. After all what he was to answer to Kenma would change their relationship - forever. After this, they relationship would most likely never return to what it used to be.

Kenma must have been aware of it, and still he had taken his courage to confess to Hinata. The boy was amazed by how much courage his friend had and respected the older boy even more now. That's why it hurt him to say the following words. It hurt even more than it had with the second year. His whole body ached and he felt like his heart was bursting out of his chest.

Hinata closed his eyes and bit his lip with all strength to stop the pain inside him. He inhaled and with determined look stared at Kenma, who had his eyes open. When the blonde squinted to see the other boy, he was shocked to see Hinata's expression.

The ginger-head closed his eyes and smiled. "I really appreciate your feelings, it is wonderful to hear that someone in this world is in love with a person like me." the boy then kept a short pause and his expression saddened a little. Why he had to say these words to his best friend? He didn't want to hurt Kenma.

"But I don't see you that way. I only see you as a friend." Hinata told, lowering his head as he was afraid to see Kenma's expression. With trembling hands he then added. "I'm straight. I only like girls."

Kenma felt his eyes watering. He had expected to be rejected by Hinata, but the reality hurt him even more than he had imagine. Especially Hinata's last words pierced right through his heart. It was as if Hinata was mocking him for not being straight; as if it was wrong to like the same sex.

"How do you know?" was a slow whisper which Hinata heard. He opened his eyes and saw Kenma staring at him with murderous expression in his eyes. The pupils of his cat-eye like eyes were so small and sharp that Hinata could barely see them. They were flaming with pure anger.

"How can you know that you're straight? Have you ever fallen in love with someone?" Kenma suddenly reached towards Hinata. He took hold of the younger boy and pushed him against a tree, Hinata's head smashing against it. Hinata gasped for air as the sudden smash had emptied his lungs.

"Kenma...-san..." the boy begged panting hard, but it seemed that Kenma had turned into a completely different person. He was no longer the kind and quiet Kenma he knew. It was as if his friend had been possessed by a ghost.

"How can you be so sure when you have never fallen in love?!" the blonde yelled, pushing Hinata's shoulders against the tree. Just the strong hold of Kenma made Hinata cry in pain. The hit in his head made his vision blurry and Hinata felt as his mind was blanking out.

For the very moment he closed his eyes, Hinata saw an image appearing before his eyes. It was the same scene as in his dream. He could barely keep his eyes open. Somewhere in the distance he saw the same dark-haired child and Natsu standing before him. His eyes closed and he used all of his strength to open them.

It felt hot, his body ached. Just as he was about to give up to the pain, Hinata heard a voice yelling.

"It's because I love him!"

At that very moment an image of the black-haired person appeared before him.

Out of instinct, Hinata used his remaining strength to push Kenma away from him. The ginger-head was panting hard.

Hinata didn't know who the person was, but it felt so close. As if it was closer than just 'a friend." A person whom he most likely loved - or at least had loved. The ginger-head then shook his head. What was he thinking, getting so worked up by a mere dream?

Finally Hinata returned back to reality when he saw Kenma lying on the ground with hurtful look on his face. The boy was stunned and shocked at the same time; but he also felt guilty for what he had done to Hinata.

The boys shared a short stare.

"Shoyo, I..."

"I'm sorry!" Hinata interrupted Kenma's apology and ran off on his own, leaving the blonde in the park, heartbroken and full of guilty. While drying his eyes Kenma took his backpack and headed towards his prep school. Most likely, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the lesson.

Hinata ran with his all while drying the watering eyes with his sleeve. His whole body hurt - especially his shoulders - his head was still aching and pulsating with unbearable pain and what more, his heart hurt.

He hadn't wanted to part with Kenma such way. He just hadn't expected the boy to attack him like that - maybe it was the punishment for lying. Never had he been so scared, and the fact that he had been scared of his friend feared him even more. He felt so nasty and guilty inside him. As if he was tainted.

He felt like throwing up.

"I'm home." Hinata sniffed with small voice when slowly opening the front door. He had made sure to rub the water out of his eyes before entering the house, but he guessed that it still would be clear to his mother that he had cried no matter how much he tried to hide the fact. Let's say - maternal instinct.

"Shoyo!" was a cheery answer he got from his mother when the boy entered the living room. "We're having curry today. Hurry up go to shower and join us for dinner." the woman told adding that Hinata throw the hoodie to washing machine.

"Where's Natsu?" Hinata heard his old man asking, as he kept browsing through the channels. Like during the day, it seemed as if nothing worth of watching was going on. Finally the man stopped to check the news.

"She's with a friend. She'll most likely eat with her so we can start without Natsu." Hinata answered, lying to his parents. It was an agreement from both sides that they would keep Natsu's relationship with Sugawara secret. At least till Natsu was eighteen. The reason was - but of course - because Hinata's father was even more over-protective over his daughter than Hinata. He would most likely hunt Sugawara down till the end of the world if he was to be introduced to the family.

Hinata shook his head at the thought of it. He didn't even want to think of all the possibilities of what their father would do if he found of that Natsu had a boyfriend. Especially now that she had a fiancé-

Hinata froze.

Hinata's over-protective father was actually marrying off his daughter - on his own will.

The boy walked to the window and checked if he saw any cows flying. Well of course there wasn't any cows flying - what was he even thinking? With a sigh, the boy then left to his room to change clothes and prepare for bath.

He was only middle way the stairs when the phone suddenly rang.

"Shoyo can you pick it up?" he heard his mother asking. The boy answered with 'Yes' and rushed to the phone.

"This is Hinata's-" the boy answered only to have the other line speaking on top of him.

"Are you Natsu's older brother?" the voice, which obviously belonged to an older man, asked. He needed just a split second to realize who of three members of the Hinata family it was.

"Yes." Hinata answered. He wondered who the person was? He had mentioned Natsu name - the voice also sounded familiar, but this time it was more desperate and worried. The man also seemed to be panting.

"This Sugawara Koushi speaking, we met earlier today." the man introduced himself and Hinata finally recognized him as Natsu's boyfriend. "I'm calling from Natsu's mobile phone." Sugawara explained.

Hinata heard as the older man suddenly quieted down. He stopped talking to catch air. Finally he heard Sugawara continuing. "We're with Natsu at Akazora. She... Natsu was shot."

The phone dropped on the floor as Hinata's eyes widened in shock. Natsu had been attacked - once again. It was for this very reason that Natsu had cell phone while Hinata still didn't - he was going to buy it once he got accepted into university. She was always attacked by strangers so this was the best way to get in touch with her.

But this time, they had been late.

"Shoyo, what is it? Why do you look so shocked?" Hinata could barely heard her mothers' voice as his head was filled with Natsu and the worry of what had happened to his younger sister. He was angry at himself. Why he was never present when something happened to her? What was the point of protecting her if he couldn't even do it properly.

His intuition about the rice bowl and cuts had been right - they really were a bad omen. Hinata glanced at the clock; half past seven.

"Shoyo, what's going on? Has something happened?" the faint voice repeated.

He had no more minutes to lose. He headed towards the front door to put on his shoes.

"Shoyo, where are you going? The dinner is soon!"

Hinata dashed out of the house with full speed.

"Shoyo!"

A pair of men suited in formal suits walked down a hall which lead to a restaurant called Akazora. The younger man had blonde hair and was wearing a headband. He was chewing a lit cigarette and had his hands crossed behind his back. "Man, why have we been called here even though we're from the Abnormal Crimes Department?" Ukai Kenshin sighed as his cigarette had finally burned completely.

The older and head shorter man next to him, who had messy black hair and was wearing glasses answered to him with serious tone. "We were closest to this place! It doesn't matter which kind of crime has happened, a work is always work! Take it seriously, Kenshin-san." Takeda Ittetsu spoke, picking up his pace.

"Ah, I forgot that you're workaholic..." Kenshin sighed, throwing the cigarette to a rubbish bin they passed.

Just as Takeda was about to answer to him a small figure - even shorten than Takeda - dashed past them while panting heavily. The two of them were left stunned, staring at the after image of the person who had just ran past them. The two of them glanced at each with widened eyes.

"Natsu!" Hinata yelled as he finally arrived at Akazora. His eyes were filled with tears - he didn't even have enough time to wipe them away. When he spotted Sugawara and Natsu lying in his arms Hinata immediately went to them. "Natsu!"

He knelt down and called for his younger sister. "Natsu!"

Sugawara, just like Hinata, was shedding tears. He looked at the older brother as he held his girlfriends still body. "I'm sorry, Hinata-san. I couldn't protect her. Even though I was with her I couldn't do anything to protect her... I'm failure as a man..." he explained the situation, but Hinata couldn't hear him.

His whole attention was focused on Natsu. Hinata cursed himself for not being able to protect Natsu; for always behind absent when something happened to her. He regretted it so much, never was he able to be there for her. He would definitely regret this his whole time.

"... She did it to protect me..."

The words caught Hinata's ears and he glanced at Sugawara turning his attention away from Natsu. "The shot was originally aimed at me, but Natsu jumped in front of me and took the shot..." the grey-haired man told and fell into despair.

"I'm such a worthless man! I need a high school girl to protect me from dying. I can't even protect the woman I love." Sugawara whined between his sobs and tightened his hold on Natsu. Hinata stared at his sister and his eyes teared up. The ambulance had already been called, but they couldn't be sure if it was able to make it in time.

"Excuse me." Hinata suddenly heard a voice speaking and he turned around. He saw two men in suits staring at him. They looked familiar, as if he had seen somewhere already. Most likely his imagination - his mind was so confused that Hinata couldn't even remember that he had passed the two men just before.

"I'm Takeda Ittetsu, a detective. And this is my partner Ukai Kenshin. We're here about the shooting incident. We have few questions." the shorten man with black hair introduced himself showing his badge. Hinata and Sugawara glanced at each other and dried their eyes.

"I'm Hinata Shoyo. The one who was shot is my younger sister Natsu. This man is Sugawara Koushi, he was accompanying my sister when the shooting incident happened." the ginger-head explained and stood up to shake hands with the two detectives.

Takeda's eyes widened in shock when he heard the names. He stared at the ginger-head duo and finally his stare changed to Sugawara. Ukai heard as his partner quietly whispered. "It's back... The Empty Vessel incident..."

What was the man talking about?

Natsu made a small movement, which immediately changed Hinata's and Sugawara's attention to the dying girl. She opened her eyes - it looked as if only that took all of her strength.

"Natsu!" Hinata and Sugawara yelled in union.

A light smile appeared on Natsu's face when she saw her older brother before her. She took a deep breath as if preparing for her last moments. Finally the girl spoke. "Nii-san, Shi-chan..." she barely managed to voice out beneath her deep and heavy breaths.

"Don't talk, Natsu! You have to save your energy!" Hinata yelled in despair, taking hold of Natsu's hand.

His sister only smiled. She was about to say something, but cried in pain as her whole body ached. Finally - after long and painful breaths - she continued. She wanted to convey these words to the men she loved more than anything.

"I love you both... very... much." with that, the girl closed her eyes and took her last breath.

Hinata's and Sugawara's eyes filled with tears and big pearls were running down their eyes. Takeda closed his eyes while lowering his head. Even Ukai seemed to be wearing sad expression.

Hinata's reached out for Natsu and caressed her head. As the girl didn't respond to him and her chest had stopped moving, Hinata shook his head. He couldn't accept the fact. He couldn't accept the reality that his sister was no longer with him. It had all happened so unexpectedly.

"NATSU!"

The clock showed 8 hours, straight. Three hours had passed.

A/N: So much tear jerking moments and crying in this chapter. This chapter was surely filled with drama - I don't even know what my mind was thinking when I was writing that Kenma x Hinata scene. I really hope that I did portray the characters right. Some of the OOC-ness is intentional though - reason will be found out in later chapters. Ah, now I have one less character to write about (cries). And I really started to like Natsu.

In next chapter - which is also the last chapter of this arc - we're going to have Natsu's funeral - where Hinata's father tells him shocking news. A new characters are introduced, and Hinata is dressed to a white wedding dress. Also, the grumpy groom - who is none other than Kageyama Tobio - will finally make his first appearance. And then there's a k- Okay, no more spoiling!

Stay tuned for next chapter - and do leave a review!