Hinata touched the edge of the bruise in the mirror before wrapping a scarf around her neck. The bruising only got worse, and she didn't have enough skill in makeup to cover it up. She stopped at the door to put on her shoes, and her hand slid across the black wool coat. Should she bring it with her to give it back?
Would she look weird carrying around a coat from someone no one knew? Could anyone else even see it? She left it there with a sigh as she pulled her own coat over herself. Raising her arms felt awful, but she would need to hide the face it made her make.
Kiba would feel horrible if he thought he sent her out to get mugged.
The wind whipped her hair around as she stepped out. She almost expected Itachi to be waiting there like nothing happened, coatless, but he wasn't. She headed down the stairs feeling all the minor aches in pain that came with being tossed at a wall. Her rib was the worst, but she was sprinkled with bruises she didn't notice until her second bath.
Hinata took a deep breath and immediately remembered why she couldn't do that. This was going to be really annoying for the next few weeks, wasn't it?
"Weird shaman girl?" Hinata turned her head. Kisame looked down at her curiously. "I thought you broke a rib? What are you doing walking around?"
Itachi told him about that already? "I have to go to work. Uh, Itachi-san left his coat. It's hanging by the door and… can you tell him I'm sorry?" Hinata flinched as someone went through him, giving her an odd look.
Kisame shrugged, narrowing his eyes at her before disappearing. What kind of answer was that?
A school girl peaked in the shop again. Hinata watched her walk up and cup her hand over her eyes to see inside. She did it every time she passed and never came in. The school uniform was local. She must walk home from school this way.
Kids had a bad habit of smudging their fingers and noses on the glass. Hinata remembered watching Hanabi running up to a colorful store full of candy and figurines, begging to go in. Hinata wished she would have given in more often.
Hinata straightened her back in the sewing chair. It was incredibly difficult to sew and not hunch over.
Kiba sneezed from the back room. "Ugh, this is dusty."
Hinata found it easier to ignore his rambling. Sometimes, he didn't even know he was talking. Back out the window, the little girl was gone, but Itachi was looming across the street. Should she go over and apologize? Would it be rude to expect him to wait? It was hard to tell if Itachi even knew what to consider rude.
Hinata flinched as she slouched again, clenching her eyes shut. She sat back up straight. This was excruciating. When the pain passed, and she opened her eyes, she jumped to find it on the other side of her sewing machine. "I…" She could talk to him here. Kiba was just in the next room.
Itachi rounded the sewing machine and sat down on the edge of her stool, facing the other way to tuck his arm in her coat to rest his arm against her rib. Was this him excepting her apology? By being a portable ice pack?
"I'm sorry," Hinata whispered as she went back to work.
"I left because you told me to, not because you were upset with me." Itachi turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. "I don't take your mourning personally."
Hinata pressed her lips together as she pushed fabric through the machine. "I'm sorry." She repeated under the noise of the machine.
Itachi returned his head forward to watch the wall as she worked.
Hinata sneezed and squeaked. Kiba blinked at her. "Did that hurt?"
Hinata pinched her nose to keep the dust out and the sneeze at bay. "I'm fine." No, she wasn't. She was going to sneeze again. Itachi hand rounded her back, and the other pressed into the front of her rib cage. She sneezed again and again. Itachi put pressure on her chest as she did to relieve the constriction.
"Shoo, find a mask if you're going to come back here." Kiba waved a dust-encrusted hand as he dipped his head back into the machine he was cleaning, turning on a vacuum, only kicking up more dust.
Hinata turned away, finding a tissue. Itachi's hands stayed put. "Put pressure here when you cough or sneeze." Hinata nodded into her tissue.
Itachi looked back at the back room. "What does this shop sell?"
"Anything that we can fix." Hinata lowered her voice so Kiba could hear her over the hum of the vacuum cleaner.
"Hmm?" Itachi disappeared and reappear across the room to look at a shelf. He lowered his head to it.
Hinata sighed as she clear the dust from her nose, looking over at Akamaru laying by the window. "Let's go for a walk." Both Itachi and Akamaru looked up.
Akamaru stopped to sniff just about everything they went by when he wasn't on a mission to get somewhere. It was welcome because Hinata didn't actually want to walk. She just wanted the fresh air and to be able to talk to Itachi away from Kiba.
"I'm surprised he doesn't notice you here." Hinata hummed.
Itachi tucked his hands behind him as he followed her. "The dog? Why would he?"
"It's common in lore," Hinata explained in thought. "Dogs barking at ghosts or the supernatural."
"What does your book say about it?" Itachi wondered.
"The book doesn't make a lot of sense. Some of the Kanji I don't recognize, and it's missing pages." Hinata sat down on a bench, and Akamaru put his head in her lap. "It's more of a journal someone printed than a proper guide. I didn't see anything about dogs."
Itachi tilted his head. "Could you ask family about it?"
Hinata rubbed over Akumaru's face making him melt. "If there is one person who blames me for what happened, it would be my father, and I think he would be the only one who would know. There isn't much to my mother's side of the family."
Itachi took the seat next to her and watched the dog. Had he ever pet a dog? Did they collect the souls of animals too? His hand ghosted past her face, almost feeling warm compared to the wind. He tucked her scarf closer before his hand dropped, and he looked out at the street. Sometimes she wondered if he was thinking too hard when he dropped the conversation like that or if he just didn't have anything else to say.
"You should be wearing your coat." Hinata thought aloud. Akumaru huffed at her as she realized that she stopped petting him. Hinata's hands disappeared behind his ear to scratch.
"I don't get cold," Itachi commented.
"Then why have a coat?" Hinata wondered.
"It was a gift." Itachi's eyes wandered off to the side, maybe something he didn't want to talk about.
Hinata rested her hand under her rib cage as she stepped out of the back of the shop. The wind blew through her coat to remind her that it was only getting colder. Her eyes ghosted the ally. It was shorter, and she was sore. She didn't want to walk home. She just wanted to sit down with an ice pack and a cup of tea.
But would she feel sick walking past the place she was attacked?
"Are you okay?" Shino locked the door behind them.
"Yeah." Hinata lied, sliding her hand down like she was smoothing her coat.
"Are you still cold?" Shino pointed to the scarf she refused to take off. "Kiba said you were sneezing yesterday. Do you need to go to the doctor?"
"I'm fine." Hinata pressed her lips together.
"Here." Shino dug into his pocket, handing her a package of cold medication. "We can run the shop for a few days if you need to stay home."
Hinata took the box, feeling bad for lying to him. Shino was trying to help. He went out of his way to get her medication. "Thank you."
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Shino coat shifted as he moved his hand toward the sidewalk with his hand in his pocket.
"No. I'll be fine." Hinata lowered her face into her scarf and headed back into the ally she was dreading to make sure she wasn't going to same way he was.
Hinata flinched as she turned the corner to find Itachi waiting for her. "He is trying to be helpful."
Hinata sighed and winced. "Please don't make me argue with you. Breathing hurts, and I still have to walk home." Itachi held out his hand. Within a blink, she was back in her house and relieved she didn't have to walk the whole way home and especially up the stairs. "Thank you."
"How are you feeling?" Itachi followed after her as she walked out of her shoes into her apartment.
"Terrible." Hinata took her outer layers off with some difficulty and tossed them over a chair. She put the kettle on and froze as she felt a cold hand pulling her collar back to peek at her neck. It was eerie how he moved without a sound.
Did that mean that when he did make a sound, it was deliberate? Like when he sat down to stay with her? "Humans heal so slowly."
The way he worded it made it sound like an inconvenience, but his tone told her that he might actually feel guilty. "Tea?"
Itachi opened his mouth to remind her that he didn't eat but paused and nodded. At least he was learning.