Hinata gasped with her head over the toilet. She rested back against the wall and wiped the sweat off her face. Her lungs protested her breaths. Her stomach protested in general. "Hinata? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Hinata squeaked back. "I'm fine." She whispered more to herself. She washed her hands and rinsed out her mouth before opening the door.
"Did you eat something bad?" Kiba wondered as she came out.
Hinata knew she looked terrible. "Maybe." No. She spent too long with her ring on after ignoring the sickly anxious feeling the whole morning.
"You want to go home?" Kiba offered. "I can close the shop."
"I'm…" Hinata's eyes caught a dark shadow out the window. Why wasn't it going away? "Okay."
Kiba helped her collect her stuff. "Text me when you get home, okay?"
"Alright." Hinata took another glance from the corner of her eye. It felt like it was watching her. She took the back door out to avoid getting close to it.
The cool air felt good on her warm cheeks but stung her strained lungs. Hinata turned her head toward her usual route and instead went deeper down the alley to avoid the feeling. If she crossed between a few buildings, she could come back out on the main road the rest of the way home.
Hinata barely turned the corner before she was tossed off her feet. Her side hit the wall and forced an awful noise out of her. Every fiber of her was washed with the anxious feeling of death. She clamored for her keys, but she lost grip on her bag as she was lifted off her feet by her throat.
Hinata tried to scream and kick, but the only thing she could touch was the vague cloud of an arm around her neck. The soles of her shoes scraped against the wall as she tried to get leverage to breathe as the cloud tightened its grip.
Hinata's sight started to darken, and as it did, she could almost make out a face in the cloud. Then it shrieked as it turned into a bright light, and Hinata was dropped in a heap. She dove for her key and swung. Her arm was caught and revealed Itachi holding her wrist just shy of hitting him.
Hinata hyperventilated, letting her hand drop. She shakily shoved her hand in her pocket for her ring. The disgusting feeling was gone, but now she was just left with the dread of almost being killed by something she couldn't fight against.
In her shaking, she dropped the ring as soon as she got it out of her pocket.
Itachi caught it and her hand to show himself again. He flattened out her hand to place it in her palm and stayed there, kneeling down to her while she had her moment. He swiped her hair out of the way to look at her neck. "I didn't think it would attack you so directly."
Hinata swallowed, feeling the soreness in her throat already. "What?"
"It's been tracking you since you first saw it. You're emotionally valuable. It tried to possess you." Itachi explained, offering his hand to help her up. "It couldn't, so you got tossed."
Hinata let him pull her up, but she didn't want to stand. She just wanted to curl up in the alley to shiver. "How did you find me?" She hadn't seen him all day.
"I knew once you started seeing it more frequently that it sought you out. You're more sensitive to them, they can feel that too, but they don't understand that they can't possess you." Itachi explained.
Hinata took a moment to process. "You used me as bait?"
Itachi tilted his head like he was surprised that she was offended. "Would you have felt better if I told you?"
Hinata pulled her hands out of his. "I would feel better if you left." She curled her arms around herself, digging her firsts into the fabric of her coat. Her entire body felt like it was empty. Like there was nothing left. She honestly just wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay, but she turned back down the alley, feeling her ribs protest as she walked. Hopefully, it was just bruised.
Itachi trailed after her. "It would have come after you either way." Hinata chewed on her lip as she turned into another ally. "And they will keep coming if they know you can see them."
Hinata turned toward him harshly. "Why now?"
"I don't know," Itachi admitted.
As much as she was upset with him, her adrenaline wore off, and the empty feeling wasn't going away. Hinata hiccuped and stumbled a couple of steps back to him. Itachi didn't even seem to understand why she was mad. Hinata pushed her face painfully into his cold chest and dug her fingers into his wool coat.
The ash smell had become familiar with him being around.
Itachi stood stiff. His hands took a moment to be placed on the back of her head and across her back. Hinata blubbered into his coat until she felt like she could breathe. She laid her head to the side to keep him there but continued to calm down, and that's when she realized she was standing in her apartment.
Itachi's hand ran down her hair as he released her. Hinata could stay there for longer, but she already was forcing a lot on him. She stepped back and out of her shoes, dropping her purse and not bothering to take her coat off as she collapsed into her couch, which made it feel like she had a knife in her side, curling around a pillow with her back to him.
Itachi hovered, kneeling down and pulling her hair back again to see the developing bruise. His cold finger ghosted over the swelling before he rested his hand there. The cold relieved the throbbing. "I'm sorry."
Hinata turned her head. Itachi seemed genuinely concerned with the injury. He gazed at the edges of it like he was afraid it would get worse. Maybe he didn't realize they could hurt her, but didn't possession feel terrible? Did it feel like this, nothing hole in her chest that wouldn't go away? "Can you stay?"
Itachi didn't answer her. His hand slipped away, and she thought he might be gone, but his coat ruffled as he sat down. Hinata's ribs protested violently as she turned around to face him. Itachi sat with his back to her and his shoulder blocking her view of the rest of the room.
Hinata brought her hand up to pinch the slighted fiber of the shoulder of his coat. She was afraid he would go if she closed her eyes. Itachi turned his head and responded by offering his hand. Hinata latched on to the offering and buried her face into her pillow as she tried to forget the horrible feeling that stuck to the inside of her ribs like tar.
Itachi watched her fall into the most unpeaceful sleep. Hinata miserably scrunched into a frown in her sleep, and her hand only barely loosened on his when she drifted off. She was sweating in her coat, but he feared waking her up and bringing her back into the hell she went to sleep in.
Itachi pressed his hand to the side of her overheated face in hopes of giving her some relief. Hinata turned her face into his hand instinctively. So, trusting. That's why it was easy to use her.
Did he feel bad? He apologized because that's what she expected, but destroying the lost souls was part of his reason for being. Itachi moved his hand to press his knuckles over her pulse, it was still high even in her sleep, but with his hand here, it would distribute his cold faster through her body.
The bruises bothered him. Itachi couldn't imagine a lost soul directly physically attacking a human. They could possess them, make them attack themselves or others, and lore the living to the deaths, but never once had he seen someone thrown or strangled. He didn't know it was an option. So these bruises, he did feel regret for, if only that he hadn't got there sooner.
You weren't supposed to catch the bait in the trap.
Hinata's face slowly softened as she fell into a deeper sleep. Maybe he could move her now.
Hinata turned her head and was immediately reminded why she shouldn't. She blinked at her bedroom and sat up in the clothes she wore yesterday, minus her coat and scarf. She expected to find no sign of Itachi, but she turned around to find him sitting shy of her bed with his back to her. Had he fallen asleep like that? Could he sleep?
Itachi's head turned to answer her question.
"Thank you." Was Hinata could think to say.
Itachi reached his hand out to place it on the side of her face like he was checking her temperature. He retracted it after a moment before standing up. "I will tell you next time."
Should she be happy that he would tell her upset that he planned to do it again? "Maybe you should be closer next time."
Itachi nodded. "I plan to be." He held up her keychain by one of the safe touch keys. "Keep this near you in case I am not there." He released it into her hand.
"You're planning to not be?" Hinata regretted saying that. She didn't want to be bitter. Maybe they shouldn't talk about this until she was awake and took a hot bath, and made a cup of tea.
Itachi didn't look offended. He became pensive. "You're afraid."
Hinata bit her lip and tightened her hand around her keys. Yes, of course, she was afraid. She had a chance to defend herself, and she was too clumsy.
Itachi offered his hand once more. Hinata slid her hand back into it like she did the night before, holding on tight because it helped her feel more grounded. The emptiness had faded, but it was still gnawing at her insides, threatening her to stay. "I'll be there."
He was lying. He couldn't promise that, could he? Did Itachi care about what promises meant? Was this just more manipulation to keep his bait cooperating?
Other horrible reasons for his soft-toned promise crossed her mind, but she didn't have anything else to cling to right now. Who would believe her? She barely believed herself.
Hinata moved her back a fraction and winced at the consequences. She needed a hot bath and to take a look at the damage, but Itachi probably wouldn't wait for her. She would have to leave the emotional comfort for her physical comfort, and as much as she wanted to not be alone, the pain in her ribs was starting to worry her.
Hinata sifted out of bed with difficulty and slid her hand over her rib cage. Maybe a broken rib. Hinata flinched as Itachi appeared beside her and lifted the edge of her sweater high enough to show the purple blotching on her side. Her back stiffened as he examined her skin. Itachi placed his hand over the discoloration. Despite the initial shock of his cold hand, it felt nice. "You're like a person-sized ice pack."
"You've broken it," Itachi's hand stayed steady, which was good for both of them because he moved it an inch. She might smack it away instinctively. Sometimes she wondered if he knew what normal touch boundaries were and just didn't care.
"You can tell?" Hinata looked at the bruises in the mirror. Another peaked up from the hem of her pants where her hip made contact with the wall.
"I've seen a lot of broken bones," Itachi explained. "It will not kill you."
Was that meant to be reassuring? Itachi's usual smooth tone didn't always hold enough emotion to understand his intentions.