青い骨の美 - The Beauty of Blue Bones

Chapter 43

Unknown
Unknown

Hinata noticed the shift in the air when her head was pulled out of the water. She remained suspended above the pool, waiting for the moment that she would be plunged into it again against her will. Had she given up already? Absolutely, she was already coming to terms with the fact that she was never going to make it out of her predicament.

Then why did the Shinigami stop? Why did he let her head go and take a step back?

She counted down the seconds, waiting patiently to see if he decided to change his mind. Perhaps this was a trick; a way to get her to feel safe, a moment of peace before it was snatched away from her and she would continue to live the life Chō had.

When thirty seconds turned into five minutes—or what she assumed was five minutes—Hinata knew that something was wrong. She weakly turned around, craning her head to get a glance at the red mask that she was used to seeing. Except the mask was gone and the kind face of Hamura greeted her.

He didn't say anything, his eyes were void of any emotion—expected for the god of death—and coldness radiated off of him in waves. If she didn't know that it was the dark chakra from the old man she had met months prior, she would find solace in the familiar face of her ancestor.

He looked up and over her, his brows set in a straight line as he stared at something that she could not see. Not for a while at least.

An image appeared in the pool of water, one that was hard to make out because of her blurry, tired eyes. The silhouette of herself, hair cascading down her back as her hands shook, greeted her. She knew that it was Chō.

She noticed the bloodied hands, and if her heart hadn't already dropped to her stomach from the sustained torture, then it would have. Bloodied hands gave way to a body cradled in her arms, sobs were heard along with curse words.

"I'm sorry...Hinata." Her father's face came into view. His pale eyes losing life as the seconds ticked by, a smile was on his face, one that she'd never been on the receiving end of.

Suddenly memories flooded her mind, Chō's own thoughts blaring loudly as her father's voice echoed in her head. Apologies, praises, blame, they all came rushing forward and Hinata didn't know how to feel.

There was a throbbing in her chest, her heart aching as she watched her father smile and apologize over and over again while Chō cried. The cold water that dripped from her hair, cascading down her forehead, joined the tears she didn't know she was shedding.

She cried out.

She should have hated him. She should hate him. For everything he had done to her, for hurting her and pushing her away—Hinata should hate her father. Yet the pain in her chest as she watched him die never disappeared. She weeped, her body feeling as if it wasn't her own as she listened to her sister cry just the same way.

He apologized to her after so long, and she was mad that she just couldn't find it in herself to forgive him despite the fact that she still loved him. The last words her father spoke were those of regret, but Hinata couldn't be bothered to focus on them.

Chō's body slumped over, her grip on Hiashi's corpse still tight as Hamura appeared behind her. Hinata could see it, through all her tears, she could see Hamura take Hiashi's body, and then her own.

Perhaps it was a fitting ending that the Shinigami—their ancestor—was the one to take his body. Power he had craved, that his family had sought out for, held him in its arms as it sunk into the ground.

When Hinata turned around, there stood Chō with a sad smile on her face. She didn't say anything, she knew that there was nothing to say as the death of their father hung in the air. Chō looked away as she stepped closer, wiping her hands desperately against her shirt to get rid of Hiashi's blood but it was forever tainted with it.