Whispers in the Dark

Chapter 8: Disclosures

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SUMMARY: Hinata reacts to Sunada's threats. Another visitor comes into the bakery.

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After several minutes, Hinata finally feels steady enough to gently push Kageyama away and tell him, "I'm okay."

Kageyama studies Hinata's face, making sure he means it, Hinata supposes. Accepting that Hinata is sufficiently comforted, Kageyama rises from the floor. Hinata immediately misses the comfort of his scent.

They lock up the shop, finish their cleaning and head up to the apartment. Hinata feels drained, exhausted both emotionally and physically. He struggles to get up the stairs, his legs like weights. He needs to sleep.

He gets to the sofa and plops down headfirst. Kageyama doesn't say anything at first, but Hinata can feel his eyes burning a hole in the back of his shirt.

"You need to eat something," Kageyama finally says.

"Not hungry," Hinata mumbles without raising his head, his voice muffled by the fabric.

"I get it, but you need to eat for the pup."

Hinata hates that Kageyama is right. "I feel sick, 'Yama."

"At least have some crackers with peanut butter."

"I'll eat crackers but not peanut butter."

"Hinata," Kageyama says as if negotiating with a child, "You and the pup both need protein. If you're not going to eat a proper meal, at least have peanut butter with your crackers."

Hinata pouts into the sofa even though he knows Kageyama can't see it. "Fine," he agrees finally.

He hears Kageyama puttering in the kitchen for several minutes but keeps his face smooshed into the sofa and his eyes closed. He wants to go to sleep. Tomorrow he will be able to emotionally process what happened tonight. But not now. Now he needs to rest, to forget, even if it's only for eight hours.

He hears Kageyama place a dish on the coffee table. "Sit up and eat. Then you can go to bed."

Hinata whines because he already feels like a child, so why not? With effort, he pushes himself into a sitting position. The plate Kageyama has offered him has ten round crackers, each neatly and evenly covered with peanut butter.

"That's too much," Hinata says.

"That's three tablespoons of peanut butter, which is only ten grams of protein. It is the least you should eat for you and the pup. You actually need more, but this should be good enough if you promise to eat well tomorrow."

Hinata looks up to see if Kageyama is serious, but he looks normal. Same frown, same blue eyes, same unfairly beautiful face.

Hinata is struck again by the alpha's kind and caring nature, how he seems to automatically default to a caretaking mode. It feels so strange to Hinata. He is used to doing everything for his alpha, so being waited on and pampered is a foreign concept.

He accepts the food from Kageyama, thanks him, and begins nibbling on the first cracker as Kageyama sits down by his side without speaking. It feels nice to have Kageyama around for so many reasons, but Hinata is especially thankful for the alpha's assistance during the confrontation with Sunada.

Yes, he knows he can stand up for himself, can fight for himself. He is learning to be self-sufficient after a lifetime of relying on his parents and then Sunada. But when Zenji threatened him by implying he would try to take his pup, Hinata had lost it. His brain and body had frozen in terror, and he had been unable to think with the buzzing sound filling his head. Thankfully Kageyama had been there, had had his back when he needed someone to speak for him.