Chapter Text
How did things turn out like this?
Raspy breaths echoed through the dark forest, white smoking emitting from Hinata’s mouth as he ran as fast as he could through the snow white forest with his unconscious sister on his back.
She was covered in blood.
”Natsu...don’t die. Please don’t die,” whispered Hinata to himself while forcing himself through the forest. ”I’ll definitely save you, so...don’t go dying on me. BECAUSE YOUR BIG BROTHER WILL DEFINITELY SAVE YOU!”
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The previous evening, Hinata was on his way down from their family cabin to sell some of his mother’s bread in the small village outside of Miyagi. Just as he was about to leave, he heard his mother call him. He turned around and saw his mother walk out of the kitchen.
”Your face is all black, come over here,” she sighed and brought out a tissue. She leaned down and gently started brushing off the soot on his face which had gotten there while he was helping his mother start a fire in the fireplace.
”Because it’s dangerous when the snow is falling, it’s okay if you don’t go,” said his mother with a worried look on her face. ”It’s almost the new year, and everyone wants to eat to their heart’s content, I’ll only go sell some of the bread you made,” smiled Hinata brightly which his mother returned with a small one in return. ”Thank you,”
The small moment between mother and son were ruined by Hinata’s cousins who came running the moment they heard that Hinata was going to the village.
”Nii-chan, you’re going to the village today?” asked Shigeru excitedly while his older sister Hanako and older brother Takeo stood behind him. ”I want to go too!” whined Hanako, wanting to see her parents who were currently working in their little bakery. They were awaiting a customer very early the next morning so they were going to spend the night there much to Hanako’s (who were a little bit of a daddy’s girl) dismay.
Takeo, meanwhile, was frowning. He obviously wasn’t happy that he couldn’t go with his cousin to the village, always having thought the family cabin where they spend the Christmas and a few weeks each summer was boring with no wi-fi or any kids other than his younger siblings and his cousins anywhere near.
”No. You can’t walk as fast as Shōyō can,” Mrs. Hinata said firmly and stood up to lead her niece and nephews inside where cups of warm chocolate were currently waiting. ”But, auntie!” whined Shigeru, bored out of his mind.
”No,” said Mrs. Hinata firmly, ”because the sleigh is snowed in the storage, you can’t rest while he gives you a ride.”
”Takeo, because you can do it no problem, could you help mom with getting rid of the christmas tree?” asked Hinata with a smile while patting Shigeru, who was currently hugging him in protest, on the head while Hanako’s whines were heard in the background.
”I guess...I could,” muttered Takeo before sighing and turning around before whispering, ”I thought we’ll all do it together,”
”Please come back quickly…” shouted Shigeru after his cousin while Hanako shouted after him to be careful. Hinata waved at his family with a huge grin before turning around, only to meet his little sister Natsu who was carrying their baby brother on her back.
”Onii-chan,” smiled Natsu when Hinata approached her. ”Natsu,” he grinned.
”I just lulled Rokuda to sleep...because he’ll start making an uproar…” explained Natsu with a small smile. Hinata smiled sadly as well and carefully stroked his baby brother’s hair.
”He’s just lonely because dad died,” smiled Hinata sadly while Natsu returned it with a sad giggle. ”It’s like everyone is stuck to you, brother,” smiled Natsy sadly.
Hinata ruffled her hair with a grin before continuing down the mountain with Natsu shouting, ”take care,” after him.
Life isn’t easy, but it is a blessing. But, concerning life, is like looking at the sky. It changes and moves, because there aren’t times where it stays clear for a long time. There also aren’t times where it snows for a long time. Thus, times where happiness is broken, there is always the scent of blood.
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”Well, if it isn’t Shōyō-chan?” exclaimed Mrs. Haruno when she saw Hinata walking down the street. Immediately, everyone greeted the boy who they all knew and loved.
”SHŌYŌ!” was heard behind after a while and Hinata turned around and saw Kogane being dragged towards him by his mother who was holding a bundle of something. Kogane’s family also had their cabin there and the reason why the two boys so fast became friends after meeting each other at the volleyball camp.
”I’M GLAD YOU’RE HERE. CAN YOU TELL WHO THE CULPRIT WHO BROKE THESE DISHES? PLEASE HELP ME, PLEASE SMELL THESE!” whined Kogane and showed Hinata the broken dishes in the bundle which his mother obviously thought was because of him. Hinata learned forward and took a sniff.
”It smells like a cat,” said Hinata which immediately caused Kogane to fall down to his knees in relief. ”Really? A cat?” asked Mrs. Koganegawa in surprise. ”See!?” said Kogane to his mother, ”It wasn’t me, just like I said.”
Later that evening, when the sun was about to go down, Hinata was finally on his way home. ’It’s getting late…” thought Hinata as he reached the path up to the cabin. ”Hey, Shōyō! Are you returning to the mountain?” was suddenly heard behind him. Hinata froze and turned around to see Mr. Shinozaki watch him from his window.
”You can’t. It’s dangerous,”
”My nose can smell anything, I’ll be fine,” said Hinata after a moment of confusion. ”I’ll let you stay the night. Come,” sighed the man and gestured to his front door.
Hinata was about to protest when the man shouted, ”Enough of that, come here. The demons will come.”
”Since long ago human-eating demons have come out to prowl at day's end. Because of that, it’s a problem to walk around at night. You’ll be eaten, it’s best of you to sleep here and then wake up early tomorrow and return home,” explained Mr. Shinozaki while he served dinner to Hinata.
Later when he was extinguishing the fire in the fireplace in front of the coach where Hinata was sleeping, a thought came to his head. ”Can the demons...not enter houses?” he asked.
Mr. Shinozaki stayed kneeling in front of the fireplace for a second. ”No, they can enter,” he said after a minute of silence.
”In that case...everyone...eaten by demons…” yawned Hinata as he slowly fell asleep after a long day. ”The great spirit hunters kill the demons for us. Since long ago…” said Mr. Shinozaki as Hinata fell asleep while thinking, ’Shinozaki-san must be lonely, living alone since his family died. Next time, I’ll bring my siblings and cousins along…even though it is scary, it’s okay, because demons don’t exist but, even though I said that...our grandmother, before she died, said the same thing…’
Early the next morning, Hinata and Shinozaki said farewell and Hinata started making his way up the mountain again.
Times when our happiness is broken, always have the scent of blood.
After smelling the heavy amount of blood, Hinata ran the short way he had left. When he was finally there, he breathed heavily before finally his brain processed the sight of a bloody Natsu laying over Rokuta in a protective state.
Terror and shock coursed through his body as he ran forward and kneeled down next to his siblings. ”What is...How did this happen! What happened…” he stammered as he tried to Shake life into his siblings when he looked into the cabin into a scene from a horror movie.
Blood.
Blood everywhere.
With his family dead.
”Mama, Hanako, Takeo, Shigeru, Natsu, Rokuta,” Hinata said in complete shock as he felt tears forming in his eyes.
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Back in the present, Hinata was still making his way down the mountain to get his aunt and uncle to call the police and an ambulance. It most probably wasn’t the best choice to take the axe with him but for some reason it felt like the right thing to do.
’Only Natsu still had warmth in her body. If she gets to the hospital, they might be able to save her. How did such a thing happen? A bear? Did a bear that doesn’t hibernate appear? It’s painful to breathe...the frozen air hurts my lungs. I have to continue moving forward...I have to move my legs faster. Not yet, we’re still far from the village. I need to go faster...I won’t let her die.’ Natsu’s fingers started to twitch, ’I’ll definitely save her. Your big brother will definitely save you’
At that moment, Hinata jumped when an inhuman screech came out of Natsu. Hinata stumbled before finally falling off a small cliff. ’Oh crap! I slipped…’ thought Hinata in a panic as he and Natsu fell.
Luckily enough, the deep snow saved him. ’I’m saved, the snow...I slipped and only fell on snow,” thought Hinata while breathing heavily when a second thought crossed his mind. ”Natsu!” shouted Hinata and sat up so quickly, he got dizzy.
He turned around and saw his bloodied sister stand in front of a tree while looking down at her pale feet. ”Natsu! Are you okay?” said Hinata while getting up to run towards his sister.
”You don’t have to walk, I can carry you to the village. Natsu…” said Hinata and laid his hand on her shoulder. But to his shock, when Natsu looked up she was growling, she had fangs and her eyes were slitted. With a roar, she threw herself at her brother, trying to bite into his neck.
Just in time, he managed to get the axe in front of him which caused her to bite into it instead as they fell onto the snow covered ground.
’A demon! Shinozaki jii-san’s words came to mind at this time. Natsu is a human eating demon? No, That’s wrong. Natsu is a human. Ever since the time she was born, `` thought Hinata as he remembered the first time he met her. The instant love he felt as he watched the small baby look up at him with innocent hazel and wrapping her tiny hand around his.
’But the smell is...different from the normal Natsu. So, in that case, Natsu didn’t do it. Because she fell like she was protecting Rokuta. And her mouth and fingers don’t have blood on them. Another scent...is here.’ thought Hinata as Natsu’s body grew bigger, into that of an adult.
’OOF! Her body is getting bigger! Her strength is also increasing. While I was sleeping comfortably in another house everyone was, such a cruel thing. They probably hurt, and they probably suffered. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you. At least, I hope I can do something for ther. However, she can’t force back against this great power.’
”Natsu!” shouted Hinata to his sister to try and get her original self to come back, ”Try your best, Natsu! Try your best to hold it off. Somehow you turned into a demon, pull yourself together. I believe you! You can do it!”
And that did it. Tears started screaming down her face which caused tears to pop up in Hinata’s eyes. To see his little sister so scared and hurt was heartbreaking. The heartbreaking moment was interrupted by a familiar figure coming out of the forest with a sword that was on its way to Natsu’s neck. In the last second, Hinata managed to get both himself and Natsu out of Kageyama’s way.
’Kageyama?’ thought Hinata confused as he hugged Natsu closer to his chest. Kageyama was wearing a dark cyan-tinted uniform with buttoned white leg-wrapped Kyahan and a pair of white zōri with dark blue straps. Over this, he was wearing a haori that was split down the middle into two different patterns: the right one a solid red, and the left one geometrically patterned with squares of green, orange, and yellow. ’A katana…” thought Hinata in confusion. He saw faintly that something was inscripted on it but he couldn’t see what.
”Boke, why did you protect it?” Kageyama finally asked after a moment of silence. Hinata blinked in confusion. ”She’s my younger sister, you know that?” he whimpered when Natsu started trashing and growling in his arms.
”You still call that thing your sister?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Hinata gulped before his eyes widened in fear when Kageyama started sprinting towards them. Hinata dived down to try and protect his sister but before he could Natsu was in Kageyama’s hard grip on the other side of the clearing.
”Natsu!” shrieked Hinata in a panic. ”Don’t move!” said Kageyama in a firm voice when he saw Hinata stand up, so firm in fact that Hinata froze in fear. ”My job is to kill demons Boke. Of course, I’m going to put Natsu-chan out of her misery,” he said, which caused Hinata to panic and grow even more fearful.
”Please wait, Natsu hasn’t killed anyone! At the location of our cabin there was another scent that I never smelled before. Whatever killed everyone was probably that! Natsu is different, I don’t know why she’s acting like that but,” Kageyama cut Hinata off before he could finish.
”It’s simple. If you bathe an open wound in demon blood, you become a demon,” said Kageyama calmly while Natsu growled and tried to free herself from his grip, ”this is how the man eating demons increases their number.”
”Natsu hasn’t eaten any people!” insisted Hinata much to Kageyama's frustration. ”How dare you! Just now, it looked like you were about to be eaten,” he spit.
”That’s wrong! You can’t know that for sure in my case!” he continued to insist, ”I wouldn’t let her injure anyone. I’ll turn Natsu back into a human. I’ll definitely cure her,”
”There is no cure. There is no way to turn a demon back into a human,” said Kageyama, sorrow for his best friend coursing through his body even though he didn’t show it on the outside.
”I’ll search for one! I’ll certainly find a method, so please don’t kill her Kageyama! I’ll also find the one who killed my family, I’ll take care of everything! So please...please…!”
Hinata’s eyes widened in fear as Kageyama pointed his sword at Natsu again. ”PLEASE STOP!!” screamed Hinata when an image of his family appeared in his mind.
Everything else was taken from me.
At that moment, Hinata did something he never thought he would do. He sat down on his knees and bowed to his best friend/rival and begged him. ”Please stop...whatever you do, please don’t kill my sister…I beg of you… I beg of you,” he begged as tears formed in his eyes again.
Kageyama stood and looked down at Hinata in complete shock for a moment before anger filled every core of his being. How dare he.
”YOU CAN’T GRASP THE AUTHORITY OVER SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE AND DEATH!!” he screamed which caused Hinata to look up at him in shock. ”STOP THAT MISERABLE LOOKING SQUAT!! IF YOU TRY TO PASS OFF THAT KIND OF THING, YOUR FAMILY WOULDN’T BE DEAD!”
Hinata sat on the ground, listening in stunned silence at Kageyama’s angry scolding. ”TAKEN AWAY! IN THE TIME THAT THEY COULD BE TAKEN AWAY, YOU WERE WEAK AND COULDN’T SEIZE THE INITIATIVE. CURE YOUR SISTER? SEARCH FOR THE ENEMY? IT’S HIGHLY RIDICULOUS!! FOR THE WEAK, THERE ARE NO RIGHTS OR OTHER CHOICES. ENTIRELY WITH FORCE, THE STRONG CAN MAKE OTHERS SURRENDER, maybe the demons know of a way to cure your sister, however…! I DON’T THINK THE DEMON LORDS WILL RESPECT YOUR WILL OR REQUESTS. OF COURSE, I DON’T RESPECT THEM EITHER. THIS IS REALITY. Why, just now you were fallen upon by your sister. You plan to protect her like that? WHY DIDN’T YOU SWING YOUR AXE? WHY DID YOU SHOW ME YOUR BACK? WHILE FAILING LIKE THAT, YOU PLAN TO TAKE YOUR SISTER?!” screamed Kageyama and pointed his katana at the stunned Hinata. ”IS IT OKAY IF I SKEWER YOUR SISTER RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU?!”
Hinata breathed heavily while looking at Kageyama who still had the struggling Natsu in a tight grip.
’Don’t cry. Don’t despair. Don’t do those things now. I know that you were knocked down. Your sister that killed your family became a demon. It’s painful, isn’t it? You want to shout, don’t you? I understand! Only a half day, if I had arrived then, your family probably wouldn’t be dead. However, time cannot be unwound. Be furious. Say that it’s unforgivable. A strong pure anger. Let it become an unshakable driving force such that your limbs can’t be moved. Frail resolutions will not save, nor cure Natsu, and will not defeat your family’s enemy,’ Kageyama once again took up his sword and before Hinata could scream at him to stop, he had already stabbed Natsu in the shoulder.
A scream of pure agony echoed through the woods, ringing in the boy's ears.
”STOOOOOP!” screamed Hinata and threw a stone at Kageyama which he swiftly blocked with the handle of his sword while Hinata picked up his axe and another rock. When sprinting by a tree, he threw another stone at him.
Kageyama, once again, avoided it when Hinata ran at him like he was about to hit him with the axe. ’A simple attack based on emotion, you Baka!’ thought Kageyama angrily while angry and annoyed by Hinata’s attack. Kageyama hit Hinata in the back with the sword handle immediately sending him into the ground.
Kageyama and Natsu looked down at Hinata’s unconscious form with Natsu in shock while realization suddenly hit Kageyama. ’Where’s the axe…?’ he thought when he heard something falling towards him.
He looked up just in time to see the axe falling straight into his face. Kageyama barely avoided it, losing a few strands of hair in the process. He breathed heavily and watched the axe, now embedded into the trunk of the tree, in complete shock. ’Just before he was hidden by the tree, he threw the rock this way. He then threw the axe up. He hid the fact that he was unharmed, with his charging posture. Because he knew he couldn’t beat me. He tried to bring me down after he got himself beheaded. Boke…’
At that moment, a snarl escaped from Natsu who tried to kick Kageyama away but he managed to jump away from her just in time.
’Crap! Boke will be eaten!!’ thought Kageyama in a panic as he saw Natsu rush towards him when something unexpected happened.
Natsu is…
Natsu is different. She doesn’t eat people.
What Hinata said echoed through Kageyama’s mind as he saw Natsu standing over Hinata in a protective stance, snarling at him.
’A long time ago...there was a guy who said the same thing and was eaten.’ thought Kageyama as Natsu rushed towards him.
’Natsu is carrying a wound. Giving that would consume a lot of energy, also because turning into a demon would consume a lot of stamina. Without a doubt, right now, she is severely starving. Any minute now she’s going to want to eat human flesh and blood. Those defensive movements. As if she’s warning me.’
Kageyama withdrew his sword when Natsu started nearing him, ’Maybe something is different about this one…’ and knocked Natsu out with a hit on the neck.
His family was with him. His mom, his little brother and his cousins. ”I’m sorry for leaving you, Shōyō. Take care of Natsu,” whispered Mrs. Hinata in Hinata’s ear, who immediately woke up and grabbed the thing nearest.
His sister’s kimono.
Hinata breathed heavily and tears started streaming down his face when he saw his little sister alive but unconscious next to him with a bamboo gag in her mouth.
”Are you awake?” Kageyama’s Voice was suddenly heard. Hinata immediately hugged his sister close protectively, staring suspiciously at the setter. After a moment of staring at each other, Kageyama broke the silence with, ”Visit the elder Kazuya Kageyama living at the foot of Fuji Mountain. Tell him that his grandson sent you. Because the light isn’t increasing it seems like it should be ok. Don’t take your sister out under the sun,”
And just like that, Kageyama was gone and Hinata stared at the spot where he once stood in confusion.
An hour later, the two siblings watched from the mountains as their panicked uncle was trying to calm his grief-stricken wife and call the authorities at the same time.
Poor woman. Lost her twin sister, daughter, sons and nephew at the same time. With her oldest nephew and her niece mysteriously gone.
After a moment, Hinata took Natsu’s hand and led her back into the forest.
”Lets go,”
And just like that, the Hinata siblings were never seen again and presumed dead. While the siblings, went on a journey that would forever change their life.