When Hinata was four years old, his parents died.
"It was my fault to have sent them on a mission they couldn't handle," Ukai had told his secretary. He didn't understand what it meant, but the man had refused to come out of his office for three whole days. Sugawara told him that Ukai was 'grieving'.
Sugawara is six years older than him and much, much smarter. When Hinata asked him where his parents went, he told him that they 'passed on'.
"Will I get to meet them later?" Hinata asked.
"Not that soon, but one day when you're way older than this."
He supposed he's okay with that, his dad like to call him a 'big brave boy', and big boys are patient boys, like Suga is.
Ukai, after the days of isolation, came to talk to Hinata. "Your parents are very dear people to me and I've committed a grave mistake sending them on that godforsaken mission. Will you be able to forgive me?"
Hinata nodded, somewhat understanding that his parents were gone partly due to Ukai's fault.
"I won't blame you," Hinata said, watching how Ukai's whole figure seemed to slump with relief upon hearing those words.
"Since you still need an adult's guidance, I've decided to take up the responsibility to raise you into a respectable young man. I promise to try my best. Are you alright with this?"
Hinata nodded again.
Eight years old Hinata returned home from school to a beautiful girl he's never seen around here before.
(Home to him now is, of course, the Crows Corporation Headquarters where Ukai worked. His parents too, but not anymore. He wants to follow their footsteps.)
"Hinata, how'd I look?" The black-haired girl asked and her voice sounded suspiciously like his best friend's.
Ukai, who was standing beside the girl, broke the news to a dumbfounded Hinata, "Sugawara here is taking on his first mission. Because there've been more incidents of witnesses for the recent years, and subsequently more failed missions, as well as resulting deaths, I've introduced this new form of disguise."
Sugawara grinned, "People are gonna underestimate me cause I'm a girl, so I'll be able to get the upper hand easily!"
Still rather shocked, Hinata asked, "But your name would give it away?"
Sugawara grinned, "Yeah, so I'm going by the alias 'Kiyoko Shimizu'. What do you think?"
As Hinata was about to speak, Ukai cut in, "Kiyoko, you're gonna fail this mission if you don't hurry up and leave now."
'Kiyoko' waved as 'she' left the two, ready to take on this first mission. Hinata watched his childhood friend leave when he suddenly remembered.
"Ah, yes! Ukai, I've been meaning to ask, when will I go on a mission as well?"
Ukai frowned, "I'm not planning to make a hitman out of you."
"Eh? But my parents were hitmen and now Suga is one too, why can't I-"
"No means no, I don't want you to have to kill."
"But I've been training-"
"That's for self-defence," Ukai interrupted, "I want you to lead a normal life. No matter what you say, I refuse to let you go on a mission."
Hinata, fuming, stormed off to the training grounds. All I want is to do what my parents did, what's the big deal anyways? I'll get stronger so that when I grow up, he'll have no reason to refuse, he told himself.
Having helped Sugawara prepare his disguise for years, Hinata knows exactly what to do.
Well, maybe not exactly. He still had trouble with makeup, so he left it aside. Looking in the mirror, he decided that the look is authentic enough. It's just how an average fourteen years old female student would look like.
Satisfied, Hinata glanced down at the folder he stole from Ukai's office. The man's gonna have a fit when he finds out, Hinata thought. It's a mission of low difficulty, perfect for a newbie.
I'll show them what I can do. With that thought in mind, he left the headquarters with confidence.
Following the details given in the mission outline, he found the apartment with relative ease.
The smell of booze and cigarettes hit him hard when he went near the door. His target, a man of forty-something, should be inside this apartment.
Hinata knocks on the door. "Hello," he called out, an octave higher than his usual voice. Muffled shuffling sounded from inside and the door creaked open.
"Huh? What's it, missy?" The man asked, clearly surprised.
"Uhm," Hinata began, suddenly realising that he didn't think of a good plan, "I- I'm here to do a survey for the school! May I come in?"
The man seemed to buy the excuse, as flimsy as it may be. He steps to the side and nods to Hinata.
"What's yer name, missy?"
"O-oh, um, Yachi. Yachi Hitoka."
Red. There's so much red. It's all over the man, spreading, spreading, spreading like a nightmare. He can't breathe.
The gun was in his hand and then it was on the floor and the man-
Hinata felt the world spin and the room, the room closed in on him and he can't breathe-
Then there was the bang of the door against the wall-
-and he can't breathe and he can't breathe and he can't breathe and he can't-
"Hinata! Sugawara, give me the paper bag right now. God, he's worse off than I thought."
And something covered Hinata's mouth and he breathed and breathed more and the room finally slows to a sluggish stop. Warm hands were holding him up. He saw Ukai in front of him, eyes shadowed like the blurred memory of ten years ago.
(Sugawara called it 'grieving'.)
"When you kill a person, it takes away part of yourself," Sugawara told him, "Ukai wanted you to never know this kind of pain." His eyes were mature and his smile was sad. Hinata knew he spoke from experience.
Sleep that night came only after the bouts of tears he shed. When morning arrived, he made the decision.
"Ukai, sir, I've already killed. There's no turning back now."
("I am Yachi Hitoka, rookie hitman.")
"Eh, Hinata? You're leaving?" Ukai stared at the teen, surprised.
"Um, yeah. I'm already sixteen, it's time for me to be independent."
The man who looked after Hinata as a father figure motioned for him to take a seat. "What about your income? Where are you going to stay?"
"I've been thinking about a part time job at a pizza chain, and I've saved up enough money for an apartment."
Hearing that, Ukai sighed, "A part time job won't be able to support you. How 'bout this, seeing that you're one of my best agents, I can pay for your rent-"
"What? I can't possibly-"
"-provided that you still take on odd jobs every now and then. What do you think?"
Hinata pondered for a while, thinking through the pros and cons. On one hand, he didn't really want to kill anymore people, but Ukai had been kind enough to give him those wanted for their horrible deeds, so it's still kind of alright.
On the other hand, a free apartment.
"Osu!"
As Ukai watched the boy he raised step out of the office with a grin on his face, he couldn't help but think to himself, Is this how a father feels when he parts with his son?
Snorting at his own thoughts, he turns on the laptop to prepare the documents necessary for Hinata's leave.
"...I've become an old man, huh?"
"I want you to think about it. The client is a relative of Sire Noble's victims and she is willing to pay a huge sum of money for his death."
That was what Ukai told him. Hinata would like to do a bit more research before he took on the mission, so he told the other he would think about it.
That night, Tanaka, who is working with the police, tipped him off about the newest murder case and he left his apartment in a hurry, eager to get a glimpse of the scene before too many authorised personnel arrived.
On his way there, Hinata bumped into a grumpy-looking guy with a slight frown on his face. He felt bad leaving the other on the floor, but time waits for no one, so he didn't really have a choice, did he?
Hinata made it to the house and sneaked in successfully. The stench of gore was horrible in the room. However, a professional is a professional, be they anywhere, so Hinata forced himself to work against the offensive smell. The stomach of the man was cut open and he caught a glimpse of something shiny inside.
Is that... is that a wedding ring?
Footsteps approached outside the room, signalling the arrival of police officers.
"Crap!" He muttered under his breath and left in a panic, not realising the fact that he's knocked a certain certificate off its original position.
Well, at least he'd gotten a first-hand feel of how this serial killer is like. Perhaps he should take on the mission after all. He would tell Ukai soon.
"Hey, be sure to deliver this pizza order on time," Kenma reminded him, "This family is a regular customer, don't let them down."
"Yosh, you can count on me!"
Hinata never expected in a million years to find the family dead, let alone encounter the Sire Noble himself, but it happened, and it ignited a fire in him.
"I'll make you pay for this," he thought as he declined yet another interview from a reporter who refused to give up.
Hinata wants to stay by Kageyama's side forever. He thinks that Kageyama feels the same.
"I am Yachi Hitoka, professional hitman. I am here to kill you."
Everything hurts. Everything hurts so much.
(It's called 'grieving'.)
A/N: Due to the persistent headache, I've lost motivation to work, so there you go, chapter seven. This is how Hinata came to be a hitman.
I've wanted to try this concept for quite some time already and writing his backstory was plenty of fun. I had to give him an alias and a thought occurred to me. 'Hey, why not use another character as his alias?' In the end, I ended up with Yachi.
Now, there are four ways this story can end. One, they both live. Two, they both die. Three, Hinata kills Kageyama. Four, Kageyama kills Hinata.
(I've decided on the ending already~)