22The shrieks of his infant sister follow him out into the cool air, so Hinata clamps his hands flat against his ears and looks upward to the sky. He silently begs the sun, the clouds, anything, to please shut her up. He can hear his mother begging the same, cooing and pleading, her voice raspy with exhaustion.
He plops down on the hard dirt, hands still protecting his ears, and huffs in frustration. When his father told him that his mother would be very sick and fat for a while, but then a new baby would arrive, he was so excited. Hinata was a diligent assistant throughout his mother's pregnancy, bringing her water in bed, sweeping the floors of their modest wooden house, and even lugging firewood from the edge of the forest, one log at a time, often carrying chunks of wood twice his size. It helped that he never had to go far; they live on the outskirts of the village and three-quarters of their house is surrounded by forest. Although his father's bowyery shop isn't far from their home, he works long hours, and Hinata takes his position as the family's only other man very seriously, even at only five years old.
He stands and walks over to the window of the room he now shares with a tiny banshee. It's four feet off the ground, much taller than himself, but with a small jump he is able to grip the sill and pull himself up. Peering in, he sees his mother rocking a small bundle, her eyes damp and bloodshot, deep, dark bags marring her usually beautiful, youthful face.
"Natsu, please, please stop crying," she whispers, her lip quivering.
Hinata releases his grip, landing with a soft thud. He knows better than to try and help calm the baby—his attempts yesterday resulted in some of her loudest screams yet—so he decides to focus on cheering up his mother instead. With a triumphant grin, he turns and sprints off into the woods in search of wildflowers.
He walks along a familiar path, humming to himself. Whenever a dash of color catches his eye, he veers off to collect it, carefully adding it to the growing bouquet of flowers in his hands. Before long, however, he finds himself distracted by something else—a handsome black owl. He recalls his father explaining that owls are nocturnal, meaning they stay up all night, but this one is perfectly awake despite the bright, sunny daylight filtering down through the trees.
He tries to ignore it and focus on the task at hand, but it seems to be following him. Eventually, he can't resist going over to the tree where it currently sits on a high branch.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping now?" he asks the bird, his head tipped back so far that the muscles in his neck ache.
It doesn't reply, disappointingly, but then something else does. Hinata hears a voice behind him, that of a young man.
"Hey hey hey, what have we here?"
Hinata vaguely recalls the countless times his parents have warned him not to talk to strangers, frequent reminders he requires due to his impulsive habit of wandering up to each and every new person he sees, eager to introduce himself and make a new friend. Casting aside these words of caution, he hesitates no more than a second before bounding over to this particular stranger.
"Ohmygosh, your hair!" he gushes, wanting badly to touch it. "Your hair is so... so COOL!"
"Thanks, Shorty! It is cool, isn't it?" He tosses back his head and laughs loudly, his shoulders shaking. "Is that the only thing that's cool about me!?"
Eager to take the bait, Hinata shakes his head no and continues to venerate this man, his heels bouncing with enthusiasm. "No! Your eyes are such a cool color, and you're so TALL, and—" he nearly falls over with excitement when the black owl lands on the man's shoulder "—is that owl your pet!? How do you get a pet owl!? My mom won't even let me keep a mouse!"
"That's smart of her, because if you did, Keiji would probably just eat it!" he says, laughing more.
When the man starts walking away, Hinata follows without a thought, peppering him with questions. "How long have you had him? Did you train him? What does he eat?"
"I've had him for over ten years! No, he has always just obeyed me! He eats whatever he wants, but mostly mice and rabbits, and sometimes people food!"
They walk deep into the woods, talking owls and the man's—Bokuto is his name, Hinata learns—general awesomeness. When Hinata is hungry, Bokuto has his owl catch a couple rabbits which they roast over a fire; when Hinata is thirsty, Bokuto leads him to a stream of cool, clean water. Shortly before the sun sets, they arrive at a small cottage, with a thatched roof, purple window dressings, perfectly manicured shrubs under each rounded window, and a small vegetable garden out front. It reminds Hinata of somewhere a grandmother might live, except no grandmother would live this deep in the woods, and then Bokuto introduces it as his place.
Once inside, there is no doubt that Bokuto loves owls. Every inch of the place is decorated with them; tiny owls made of glass and clay line every shelf, owls are carved into the wooden chairs and doors; in the kitchen, Hinata finds owl-patterned china, and, upon further inspection, even the purple curtains have tiny white owls embroidered along the edges.
To a five-year-old, it's awesome, and he promptly tells Bokuto so, but when Hinata pushes aside the curtains to see the sun disappearing below the horizon, he turns to him and says, "Okay, well, I gotta get back to my mom now."
"What?" Bokuto asks, looking slightly alarmed. "Oh, no no no, sorry, it's not safe! Look how dark it is! Hear those wolves? Stay here for the night!" When Hinata protests, Bokuto insists, putting a firm hand on his shoulder. "You can go home in the morning!"
He guides Hinata to small room in the far corner of the house. There is a child-sized bed there, made up with owl-patterned blankets. A stuffed owl rests on the pillow. Exhausted, and not particularly bright generally, Hinata doesn't dwell on the oddity of a single man who lives in the middle of the woods in a house with a spare child's bedroom.
His only suspicious thought is that of Keiji the owl, who decides to perch on the headboard just above his head. Hinata lets himself wonder if it's strange for an owl to stare at a little boy with wide, unblinking yellow eyes as he slowly falls asleep.
As the days pass, Hinata is kept well fed and entertained. Bokuto takes him out around the woods, plays games with him, and teaches him about owls. As days turn into weeks, Hinata becomes slightly more persistent that he should check in with his parents, but Bokuto finds endless excuses to delay this, and Hinata knows he wouldn't be able to find his way back alone. Moreover, the owl continues to watch him sleep, and although it has shown itself to be nothing if not a sweet, gentle bird, Hinata suspects it wouldn't be very happy if he tried to sneak away in the middle of the night.
Weeks later, Hinata tries, yet again, to convince Bokuto to take him back to his parents, when the door to the cottage opens unexpectedly. A man with short black hair and blue eyes steps inside and stops with a jolt, looking very surprised to find a little kid sitting on the floor of his living room playing with wooden blocks.
"Bokuto, what the hell is this?"
"Akaashi!" Bokuto shouts with obvious joy. He dashes over to the new arrival with his arms outstretched, but Akaashi rebuffs him, stepping aside so that he slams into the wall instead. This doesn't deter Bokuto, who rubs his slightly-bleeding nose but remains joyful. "Isn't he cute, Akaashi? I found him in the woods!"
"You mean," Akaashi replies, his eyes narrowed and voice deadpan, "You kidnapped this child?"
"Don't be like that!" Bokuto whines, going in for a second attempt at a hug, and again being rebuffed, this time by a flat, outstretched palm. "He was by himself! He doesn't have any parents!"
"I do!" Hinata interjects, standing up very suddenly. "I told him, but he just said—"
"Shh, Shorty, shhh!" Bokuto slides a hand down and over Hinata's mouth, muffling his objections. "Like I said, found him all alone! He is a sad little orphan!"
"Bokuto," Akaashi says over Hinata's muffled protests, "You have to put him back where you found him."
"But Akaaaashi—"
"Now!" he shouts, and Bokuto shrinks back a little.
"Fine," he says, hanging his head and looking truly dejected. "C'mon, Shorty, follow me."
Doubting Bokuto's ability to follow through with this promise, Akaashi comes along, and together they lead Hinata back to the clearing where he first saw the owl. That was almost four weeks ago.
"You can find your way home from here?" Akaashi asks.
"Yah," Hinata replies. He hesitates for a moment, and then dives at Bokuto for a hug. "Bye, Uncle Bokuto. I'll visit you again if you promise to let me go home every day."
"Certainly, Shorty!" he replies, tears in his eyes. He ruffles Hinata's hair and waves goodbye.
Hinata turns and breaks into a run, desperately missing his mother, father, and even little baby Natsu. The closer he gets to his village, however, the faster his heart begins to race. Horrible sounds are coming from the direction of his home. He runs closer, and soon bloodied people are running past him, trying to escape the very place he is hurrying to reach. Hinata recognizes these people, all of them, and knows with a sickening certainty that something very bad has happened in his village.
When he arrives at his family's home, it's empty. The front door is in splinters on the ground beside the doorway, and inside the family's belongings are tossed about, some broken and others missing. Tears spring to his eyes as he checks everywhere, even under the bed and in the closet, unwilling to believe that his parents and sister are gone, but they are.
He dashes back outside and spots some men that he recognizes by their uniforms—the Grand King's soldiers. Before he can call out to them for help, he feels strong arms grabbing him on either side, holding him in place, a man on either side of him.
"This is the one?" the one on the right asks.
"Looks like it," comes the reply from the left one.
A third man comes to stand directly in front of Hinata, but he doesn't get a good look at him either, too focused on the thick stick of wood in the man's hands. The end of it burns orangey-yellow, and soon that glow becomes the very last thing he sees. Before he can begin to comprehend what is happening, his left eyelid is being held open, followed moments later by a searing hot pain. The pain engulfs him, starting in his eye socket and traveling to the tips of his toes, his fists clenching and mouth opening in a wide scream. They do the same with his right eye, but he can barely keep up, too consumed by pain and fear... and then, just as quickly as they'd come, the three men release him and run away, leaving him with no explanation, apologies, or comfort.
He tries to crawl away, but he can't see, doesn't know which way is safe, and the sounds of chaos still surround him, crying people and panicked animals and the scrape of horse carts along the pebbled streets. He scoots backward until he feels the walls of his home against his back, pushes his knees to his chest and hugs his arms around them, making himself as small and tightly protected as he can. He rests his chin on his knees and doesn't bother trying to wipe away the tears pouring down his face, too afraid to touch anywhere near his eyes, irrationally worried he will somehow damage them further, even though he can see no more than a faint orange glow on a sea of black.
Don't cry.
He hears the voice and lifts his head, turning it sharply to either side, as if searching, but everything is still darkness.
I'm right here. Don't freak out.
He feels soft tips of fur tickling his skin and jumps to his feet, but he loses his balance and falls backward, landing on several sharp stones that bruise his skull and cut his hands. He feels something land on his chest, four soft points of pressure, and reaches out with both hands to grasp at a small animal, warm and soft. A cat?
I'm sorry this happened to you. Please, let me help you. My name is Kenma.
He opens his mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes out. He feels crazy; Kenma's voice doesn't sound like the rest of the noises around him, of crying women and whinnying horses.
I'm speaking to you telepathically. Nobody else can hear me. But you aren't crazy. Stand up, and do what I say. You'll be alright.
Hinata lays there, breathing heavily, but eventually finds the strength to push himself up with shaking arms, tears still streaming down his face and drenching the backs of his bleeding hands.
Turn right.
He does.
Now go straight... yes, good. Turn left, just a little... now run. It's okay, nothing is in your path. Keep running. Don't stop until I tell you to.
He obeys, running until his chest hurts, toward nothing but more darkness.
A/N: Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a comment or following me on Twitter at dayoldcupcake!
