Hope everyone had a great start to the new year so far. Between work and working on this chapter, I'm glad I'm able to get this chapter out. Enjoy!
Chapter Two
The next morning, around seven am, Hinata awoke from her sleep, which had been, more or less, peaceful. Eyes bleary, Hinata rubbed her eyes and smoothed down her hair, which was quite literally standing up on end. Leaving her bed, Hinata entered her personal bathroom where she quickly showered and exited the bathroom, clad in only a black towel. After drying herself off, Hinata dressed herself and was now dressed in her summer school uniform, along with a pair of black thigh-length socks.
"I wonder how I should wear my hair today," Hinata thought to herself as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. After a moment, Hinata grabbed a comb and started combing her hair until all of the knots were gone before deftly brushing it. She then parted her lengthy blue hair in half and plaited down one side, tying a lilac purple ribbon around the end before doing the same to the other side. Satisfied with her hair, Hinata left her room and made her way into the kitchen where her younger sister Hanabi and mother Suzume were.
"Good morning onee-chan," Hanabi greeted as she was eating her breakfast.
"Good morning sweetheart," Suzume greeted as she placed Hinata's breakfast plate on the table just as Hinata sat down.
"I meant to ask you how your first day went Hinata-chan," Suzume said as she sat down next to Hinata.
"It went great," Hinata replied as she bit into her egg. "I've met a lot of nice and interesting people." Her mind briefly went to Tohru Honda and the Sohmas.
"I bet people were asking if your hair color was real," Hanabi said while smirking somewhat before getting scolded by Suzume. Hinata's unusual hair color had been the bane of her very existence from the time she was little but have grown to love and accept it over time. After finishing her breakfast, Hinata returned to her room where she grabbed her bookbag and, after saying goodbye to her sister, left the house. Hinata was immediately greeted by the scorching sun and blue skies.
"I see Osaka is as hot as Hokkaido. Maybe even hotter," Hinata thought to herself as she walked down the sidewalk. Fifteen minutes later, the blue-haired girl arrived at Kaibara and it just so happens that Tohru and the others arrived at the same time.
"Good morning Hyuga-san!" Tohru called out as she met up with Hinata at the entrance to Kaibara.
"Good morning Hyuga-san," Yuki greeted, smiling at Hinata.
"G-Good morning Sohma-san," Hinata stumbled, her face turning red.
"Turning on the charm on the new girl eh Prince?" Uotani said, smirking as she casually threw her arm around Hinata's shoulders. Hinata noticed Kyo lingering behind the group. Feeling a pair of eyes on him, Kyo looked up to see Hinata looking at him.
"Good morning, Kyo-san," Hinata said politely.
"...Hey," was all Kyo could muster at that moment before looking away, embarrassed. As the group made their way onto the school grounds, Hinata was pulled to the side by Kyo. An awkward look made its way onto the ginger-haired boy as he scratched the back of his neck.
"About yesterday during lunch," Kyo said, not directly looking at Hinata, who waited patiently for Kyo to continue. "I…I'm s-"
"What's this, a love confession Carrot top? This is Hinata's second day here," Uotani teased, causing both teens to blush heavily.
"Are you crazy you dumb yankee?!" Kyo shouted, his face bright red from both anger and embarrassment.
"I'm sensing conflicting waves within Kyo," Hanajima noted with her usual blank face, creeping Kyo out. "Sort of like a cat being indecisive." Spooked, Kyo turned back to Hinata, who was scarlet in the face.
"Forget it! I'll find you during lunch!" Kyo yelled before stomping off. A perplexed look was on Hinata's face before she smiled as she followed behind. The group separated with Momiji and Haru going one way (Hinata was shocked to find out that the two were, in fact, a year younger) and everyone else went the other way.
"How was living in Hokkaido Hyuga-san?" Tohru asked during homeroom.
"It was okay," Hinata answered awkwardly, not really sure how else to answer. "It's not too different from living here in Osaka, though Osaka is a bit hotter."
"It must've been a long trip, coming all the way from Hokkaido to Honshu," Yuki added.
"You can say that again," Hinata replied, chuckling nervously as she thought back to two weeks ago, when she, Hanabi, and Suzume all spent most of the day flying from Chitose to Tokyo and then traveling on a train from Tokyo to Osaka. For the rest of the class time (after Mayuko said what she needed to say), Hinata chatted with Tohru and everyone else. At one point, Hinata's white pupil-less eyes drifted over to Kyo, who was currently being teased by Uotani and Hiroshi about the cats that somehow made their way into the classroom.
"He must really be into cats," Hinata thought to herself, giggling in the process.
"What are you laughing at?" Kyo grunted, glaring at her.
"N-Nothing!" Hinata squeaked before looking away, her cheeks bright red.
"Stop scaring her dumbass!" Uotani yelled before slapping Kyo upside the head. As the two started arguing, Hinata found herself thinking about her two friends back in Hokkaido, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. While they weren't exactly like Kyo and Uotani, they did bicker a lot like them. A wistful smile graced Hinata's face at that moment.
"Are you thinking about someone back home?" Yuki inquired and Hinata's cheeks flushed further.
"I was just thinking about my two friends back in Hokkaido," Hinata answered. "They bicker just as much as Kyo-san and Uotani-san." At that moment, Hinata felt a chill down her spine, turned to the right, and saw a bunch of girls glaring at her.
"Oh my. It seems the Yuki fan club have set their eyes on you," Hanajima murmured.
"T-The Yuki Fan Club?" Hinata questioned, baffled while Yuki could only drag his hand down his face in embarrassment. A look from Hanajima sent the girls scrambling however.
"Don't worry Hinata-san. They won't bother you for the time being," Hanajima said, her normal blank look on her face.
"Er…thanks Hanajima-san," Hinata replied unsurely. She didn't know what Hanajima actually did and quite frankly, she was too afraid to ask. About fifteen minutes later, the bell rang, and Hinata walked to her next class with both Tohru and Yuki as they shared the next class together. Later on, during lunch, Hinata was walking down the hallway when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled into the staircase. Before she could scream, a hand covered her mouth at that moment.
"Calm down…jeez. It's just me," a familiar voice said and Hinata whirled around to see Kyo standing there, slightly annoyed.
"Oh Kyo-san," Hinata said, clutching her chest as she sighed in relief. "I thought it was someone else."
"Anyways, follow me to the roof. We'll have more privacy up there," Kyo said before walking up the stairs, Hinata following behind. Moments later, the two teens arrived on the roof. For a moment, the two awkwardly stood there. After a moment, Kyo spoke.
"Yesterday I was really rude and I took my anger out on you when you had nothing to do with the stuff I'm going through," Kyo started, shuffling about somewhat. He could already feel heat climbing up the back of his neck, but he pressed on anyway. "I'm…sorry."
"It's okay," Hinata replied, somewhat awkwardly as she started twiddling her index fingers together. Another bout of silence passed between the two, which caused Kyo to look at her, slightly perplexed.
"You're not gonna say anything else?" he questioned, thrown off by Hinata's response, or lack thereof.
"Oh…I didn't know what else to say," Hinata admitted. "I didn't think you meant it anyways."
"Tch, you're so weird," Kyo commented as he briefly looked away to the horizon before looking back at Hinata. He then patted Hinata on the top of her head, surprising the blue-haired girl. Unknown to them, Tohru had been watching from the ladder, an amazed look on her face.
"I'm glad Kyo-kun is doing well," Tohru thought before smiling to herself. She then ducked down and waited a few minutes before announcing herself.
"Kyo-kun! Hyuga-san! There you two are!" Tohru called out as she climbed up the steps.
"Honda-san, I didn't realize you had lunch this time as well," Hinata commented happily.
"Oh yeah. I usually find Kyo-kun up here during lunch," Tohru said.
"In any case, I apologized to Hinata. Are you happy?" Kyo asked, somewhat disgruntled. He then thought back to the discussion he, Yuki, Tohru, and Shigure had last night concerning the tension that had been building up since summer vacation and, needless to say, a large amount of crying (on Tohru's part obviously) and yelling was had that night.
"Yes!" Tohru exclaimed, pleased. At that moment, Hinata's stomach growled.
"You moron! You haven't eaten yet?!" Kyo yelled.
"You pulled me away before I could start," Hinata complained.
"Tch…you should've said something after I said sorry!" Kyo retorted before lightly pushing her towards the ladder. Tohru could only giggle as Kyo kept pushing Hinata towards the ladder. Later that afternoon, Kyo and Hinata were walking towards the locker area as they had their last class of the day together (something Hinata was not aware of as Kyo had left school early the day before). As they were waiting, Hinata saw Momiji and Haru walking towards them.
"Hi Hinata-chan!" Momiji yelled. Before Haru could stop him, Momiji ran towards Hinata in an attempt to hug her, but Kyo grabbed Momiji by the top of his head.
"Are you an idiot?! Stop trying to hug her, you moron!" Kyo yelled, a vein appearing on his forehead. Not that she minded in the least, but Hinata did find it odd that Momiji was essentially banned from giving out hugs to girls. In the end, Hinata decided to ignore it, figuring it was none of her business.
"Hey Kyo…you seen Yuki?" Haru inquired, nodding to Hinata.
"No, I haven't seen that boring loser!" Kyo snapped before he found himself face-planting the floor, startling Hinata immensely.
"You're the last person I want to hear that from," Yuki muttered disdainfully.
"You damn rat!" Kyo roared as he stood to his feet and got into a fighting stance. "Fight me!"
"We're at school you idiot," Yuki replied, irritated.
"Do they normally argue like this?" Hinata asked Haru, astounded by Yuki's sudden switch in personality.
"Yeah. It's a lot worse outside of school," Haru replied. Yuki turned to Hinata and smiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry you had to see that Hyuga-san," Yuki said but Hinata shook her head.
"It's fine. I was just…surprised to see you and Kyo-san argue, that's all," Hinata replied. "Sort of like cats and mice." Yuki and Kyo froze up at that moment while Haru and Momiji both looked somewhat shocked.
"...Did I say something wrong?" Hinata asked, baffled by the reactions. Haru recovered and started chuckling at that moment.
"Nothing at all," Haru replied while grinning. "It's just funny that you said that." This just left the blue-haired girl even more stumped.
"See Kyo? Even Hinata-chan noticed it-owwie!" Kyo pulled Momiji into a headlock. Tohru chose that moment to appear, along with Uotani and Hanajima.
"What's with all the ruckus?" Uotani asked.
"None of your damn business yankee!" Kyo snapped, which angered the blonde girl.
"What'd you say dumbass?" Uotani yelled, grabbing Kyo by his collar.
"Hinata-chan, can we come by your house today?" Momiji asked, despite still being in Kyo's headlock.
"She's probably busy today Momiji," Yuki said.
"I do have errands to run but if you want, you guys can come by on Saturday," Hinata suggested.
"That would be lovely," Tohru said excitedly.
"Unfortunately I got work on Saturday," Uotani said.
"And I have prior commitments with my family," Hanajima responded.
"So do I as well," Yuki responded. "Unfortunately," he thought, thinking about his unpleasant meeting with Ayame.
"I'll tag along as well if it's okay Hyuga-san," Haru added.
"So it'll be me, Haru-san, Kyo-kun, and Momiji-kun," Tohru said.
"Don't invite me without asking me!" Kyo yelled, annoyed.
"Guess Kyo's not coming."
"I didn't say that!"
Four days later and it's Saturday morning around nine am and Hinata was still laying in her bed. Suzume went to work and wouldn't be home until well after eight pm that night and Hanabi was still asleep. Her first week of school at Kaibara had been exciting, to say the least. She made a lot of new friends, including the Sohmas. As she laid in the bed, her cell phone started ringing. She saw that Kiba was calling and immediately picked up.
"Good morning Kiba-kun," Hinata greeted happily.
"Morning Hinata!" Kiba boomed loudly. Hinata heard loud barking in the background. "And Akamaru says hi too."
"Hi Akamaru-kun," Hinata greeted.
"How's everything down in Osaka?" Kiba asked.
"It's going fine," Hinata replied as she sat up, smoothing down her hair. "It's as hot as Hokkaido, maybe even hotter."
"Made any friends yet?" Kiba asked.
"I've met some interesting people," Hinata responded, smiling as she started telling him about Tohru and the others.
"That guy Kyo sounds annoying," Kiba remarked, something Hinata found ironic as people tended to find Kiba annoying and somewhat obnoxious. Hanabi entered the room at that moment, her chin-length brown hair standing up on ends.
"Is that big bro?" Hanabi sleepily asked, rubbing her eye
"Yes it's Kiba," Hinata responded. Hanabi immediately jumped onto Hinata's bed and immediately snatched the phone away from Hinata.
"Hi big brother!" Hanabi yelled as Hinata laid her head on the pillow, content on letting Hanabi talk to Kiba. After a few minutes, Hanabi gave back the phone and left the room. After several minutes of talking to Kiba, Hinata hung up. Yawning, the teenager decided to get up and fix her and Hanabi breakfast.
"Hanabi…I'm going to make breakfast," Hinata announced as she stuffed her hair into a top knot.
"Okay," Hanabi responded from her room. Making her way into the kitchen, Hinata got started on making breakfast by first setting up the rice maker. After that, she took out the rest of the ingredients for breakfast. About halfway through her making breakfast, Hanabi appeared and plopped down in a nearby chair.
"Hanabi, I have some new friends from school coming over in a little bit," Hinata stated as she grilled some fish.
"Cool," Hanabi responded, feigning disinterest, which made the older girl smile indulgently as she continued to cook breakfast. After she fixed both of their plates, the two sisters started eating. With their mom working long hours, both Hanabi and Hinata were used to having breakfast to themselves most days. Once they were done, Hinata started clearing away the dishes and Hanabi attempted to assist her but Hinata simply shooed her away, saying it wouldn't take her that long. As she was washing the small amount of dishes, her phone rang. Distracted, Hinata dried her hands off and hastily answered the phone.
"Good morning Hyuga-san," Tohru chirped brightly.
"Good morning Honda-san," Hinata greeted back.
"I hope I wasn't disturbing you. I apologize if I was," Tohru rambled on, which made Hinata giggle.
"You're okay. I was just in the middle of washing dishes from breakfast," Hinata reassured her.
"I was just calling to let you know that Haru-san, Momiji-kun, Kyo-kun, and I will be there around eleven am if that's okay with you?" Tohru inquired.
"Oh yes of course," Hinata replied excitedly. After a few more minutes of talking, Hinata hung up and quickly finished cleaning the kitchen before returning to her room where she took a shower before getting back out. After drying her skin off, Hinata decided on wearing a simple white short-sleeved crew neck shirt, paired with a purple, gray, and white plaid form-fitting skirt with a tiny split on the right side. She then looked into the mirror and wondered how she would do her hair. A certain orange-haired boy randomly flashed through her mind at that moment, which spooked her immensely as her cheeks flushed a rosy red briefly.
"What was that about?" Hinata thought to herself before pushing the moment from her mind as she settled on leaving her hair hanging loose, smoothing it out with a brush a few times before being satisfied with the result. It was at this moment that Hanabi appeared in her room.
"When are your friends coming?" Hanabi asked.
"I thought you weren't interested," Hinata said, grinning and Hanabi had the good grace to blush slightly.
"I'm not," Hanabi defended. "I just want to see what they look like, that's all." Hinata checked her clock and saw that it was fifteen minutes until eleven.
"They'll be here around eleven so behave," Hinata reminded the brown-haired girl.
"Yeah yeah, I know," Hanabi replied while rolling her eyes before returning to her room. Grinning to herself, Hinata went to the living room and started tinkering around, tidying up the already clean living room and whatnot. Just five minutes past eleven o'clock, the doorbell rang. With a little happy skip, Hinata went over and opened the door, revealing a smiling Tohru, along with Momiji, Kyo, and Haru.
"Guten morgen Hinata-chan!" Momiji yelled out as he entered the house.
"I didn't know you were fluent in German," Hinata said, slightly awed by this.
"Oh I didn't tell you? I'm half Japanese on my dad's side and half German on my mom's side," Momji explained. A brief look of sadness briefly appeared on his face as he said this before it quickly vanished. Hinata, being the curious and observant girl she was, noticed but decided to leave it alone for the time being.
"Your home is so cute," Tohru exclaimed as she looked around, squealing in delight.
"It's pretty spacious," Haru commented as he looked around before looking right at Kyo. "Wanna fight?"
"What?! You idiot, we can't fight inside Hinata's house!" Kyo yelled.
"Yes, please don't fight in my house," Hinata quickly agreed, nervous.
"I brought over some games for us to play," Tohru quickly interjected, eager to prevent a fight from starting. Momiji cheered and immediately sat down, along with Haru and Kyo while Hinata went into the kitchen to retrieve some snacks. It was at this time that Hanabi made her appearance. Tohru noticed her and squealed and immediately went to her.
"Are you Hinata's sister? I'm Tohru Honda," Tohru introduced herself. She then gestured to Kyo, Haru, and Momiji. "And that's Kyo-kun, Haru-san, and Momiji-kun."
"I see you three have weird hair colors like Hinata too," Hanabi commented.
"That's right!" Momiji jumped up into Hanabi's face, only to be pulled back by an annoyed Kyo.
"Stay out of her face moron!" Kyo yelled, his temper quickly rising before bopping Momiji on the head, causing him to start crying.
"Thanks Carrot Top," Hanabi replied, to which a large vein appeared on Kyo's face just then.
"You brat!" Kyo growled right as Hinata frantically appeared from the kitchen.
"Hanabi," Hinata said sternly as she placed her hands on her hips while staring down at the eleven year old, who blushed in embarrassment as she looked away.
"...Sorry," Hanabi reluctantly apologized.
"It's okay. I'll forgive someone that's as cute as her big sister," Momiji said cheerfully before boldly kissing Hanabi on the cheek, causing Tohru, Hinata, and Hanabi to turn bright red.
"Momiji's gonna be a lady killer when he hits puberty," Haru airily remarked as he laid on the floor while Kyo started yelling at Momiji about invading personal space. Once things had settled down, the group started playing the games Tohru had brung over. At some point, Haru asked for the nearest bathroom.
"It's just down the hallway and to the right. It's the first door on the right," Hinata instructed. Haru thanked her before leaving the room.
"Kyo-kun, will Haru-san be okay locating the bathroom?" Tohru asked, looking slightly worried.
"There's no way that idiot would get himself lost that easily in this house," Kyo grunted, though he looked slightly unsure of himself as he said this.
"Is everything okay?" Hinata asked, looking both concerned and baffled.
"Haru has a bad sense of direction and manages to get himself lost somehow," Kyo replied, causing Hinata to look comically shocked.
"W-Well it's just down the hallway like I said. I'm sure he wouldn't become lost," Hinata said. After almost ten minutes and Haru had not reappeared however, Hinata was definitely worried.
"I can't believe that idiot really got himself lost!" Kyo yelled, irritation clear on his face.
"I'll go look for him," Hinata volunteered before standing on her feet and leaving to look for Haru.
"I've never met anyone with a terrible sense of direction, aside from Kakashi sensei, but he lies a lot though," Hinata thought to herself as she walked down the hallway.
"Haru-san," Hinata called out as she rounded the corner. She then noticed her bedroom door opened, which left her stumped.
"I know for sure I closed my door before," Hinata thought to herself, confusion filling her face. She entered her room, only to see Haru sitting on her bed. He then noticed Hinata standing there and waved.
"Hey Hyuga-san. I'm sorry I got lost and somehow ended up here in your room," Haru stated blandly. Hinata giggled and walked over to him.
"It's okay. Kyo-san and Honda-san had mentioned it but I guess they weren't exaggerating," Hinata commented. There was a moment of silence between the two teens before Haru decided to speak up.
"Hyuga-san, have you noticed anything weird concerning Yuki and Kyo?" Haru asked. He knew that he was risking everything at that moment, but Haru could see that Hinata could absolutely be trusted with the family secret. Despite him constantly arguing with Kyo, Haru knew Kyo needed someone that wouldn't judge Kyo at all. Tohru was very kind and forgiving, but unfortunately she couldn't deal with Kyo's…other form.
"Well…Kyo-san and Sohma-san argue a lot but that's normal behavior I think. Although…" Hinata trailed off as she thought back to the recent week since she arrived in Osaka. "Kyo-san's always preventing Momiji-kun from giving people random hugs. I just thought that Momiji was being super friendly. Kyo-san kind of reminds me of a cat." Haru chuckled at this, thoroughly convinced that telling Hinata would be a good idea after this.
"It's something like that," Haru replied and at that moment he pushed off from the bed and walked towards Hinata until he practically towered over the petite girl.
"H-Haru-san?" Hinata questioned, her face turning bright red at how close the white-haired teen was to her. She barely came up to his chest, which was visible due to his black shirt being unbuttoned.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone else outside of the Sohma family…and Tohru knows about it but..." Haru hesitated.
"Haru-san?"
Clenching his fist, Haru decided to go through with it, regardless of the consequences.
"It's better if I show you rather than tell you," Haru muttered before embracing a surprised Hinata.
And the plot thickens! Send reviews and I promise I'll actually respond to them lol