In Love With a Fugitive

3.

 Bright blinding sunlight slicing through my closed eyelids wakes me up. i move and realise my ankle hurts less than yesterday, i can freely move it without much struggle. i do a silent fist pump and turn. my eyes widen when i see Hinata is not next to me and i jerk to my feet. i walk unsteadily round the dumpster we slept behind and pause when i see Hinata stood in front of an old, withered woman who's clutching his hands in her shaking ones. i strain to hear what he's saying to her over the hum of the nearby market.

"of course, here, take this, it's all i have i'm sorry." he reaches into his pocket and pulls put a few notes, pushing them into her palm and closing her fingers around them. she smiles at him, before patting his shoulder and hobbling away. Hinata turns and seems startled to catch me watching. he walks over and awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, "so, you saw that?"

"yeah. what was that about?" i raise my eyebrows.

"she's sick... and  I'm friends with her son, i owe him a lot. he helped me when i was first thrown onto the streets and saved my butt more times than i can count. i owe them both." he reajusts his snapback and sighs.

"thrown onto the streets? you weren't always poor?" my mind is spinning, everything i've been taught about this boy is wrong.

"i was a government agent, the first to score an 1000 on my test, but i saw through them, i hacked into a few confidential files and spread what i found online,  so they tried to kill me. i escaped, and somehow got the name Little Giant. i was picked on a lot at first, beaten up, stolen from. then, the guy i told you about earlier, he saved me." his eyes shift from darkness, to admiration, and i feel an abrupt pang of jealousy about the way he talks about this other boy.

"who is this other guy?"

"The Rolling Thunder. you might've heard of him." Hinata says the last part with a hint of sarcasm, as if it's possible i haven't heard of him. Rolling Thunder is almost as famous as The Little Giant. almost. 

"s-seriously?" i stammer.

"you're seriously weird." Hinata says, before turning and walking down the alley, heading out to the streets. i stumble after him. 

"where are we going?" 

"well, I'm going to the market, not sure about you though." he lets out a puff of air and looks at me out of the corner of his eye.

"oh, i thought I was going with you.." i feel a crimson blush creep up my neck, making me turn away and bite my lip.

"look, i patched you up, it's my thing, helping people, but you don't wanna hang with me blad. you'll get in trouble. if anyone sees you with me, you'll be guilty by association. sorry Tobio." he shrugs and picks up his pace, then turns his head and gives me a crooked grin.

"goodbye Kageyama Tobio." he turns back around and walks away without looking back. i stand there, at a loss for what to do. my hand itches to clasp the pendent and call Ukai, tell him Hinatas location and be done with the whole thing, my legs beg me to run after the other boy, but my mind, my government trained mind, tells me to keep calm and assess my situation. I'll follow him, see where he goes, pin his night location and call Ukai, case closed. simple. i take a deep breath and shake my head, i haven't been acting like this is a mission. i crane my neck and spot Hinatas orange head in the crowd, then begin following him, occasionally he turns around and i duck behind a person or anything close to me, but soon enough he stops walking and talks to a stranger. 

the stranger is tall, with brown hair and angry eyes. i clench my fists and hold my breath in anticipation. they walk down into an alleyway, Hinatas back is rigid, sending alarm signals off in my head. i follow, and hide around the wall, observing silently. 

"it's been a while." the stranger says, his voice showing no emotion.

"Ushijima, what do you want?" Hinatas voice sounds strong, but i can feel his fear, this guy is twice the size of him. 

"you know exactly what i want, Little Giant." the disgust in his voice as he says Hinatas nickname is the first emotion he's showed.

"i really don't." 

Ushijima flicks his wrist and knocks Hinatas snapback onto the floor, now his head is exposed, i can see three thick leather straps on top of his hair connecting to his eyepatch. he then pins Hinata to the wall with one hand and loops his finger behind one of the straps, inching the material slowly off Hinatas face.

"I'd rather you didn't do that." Hinatas voice is low and deadly, it sends shivers up my spine. his hand flies up and catches Ushijimas wrist in an iron grip, the muscles in his forearm are taut and his eye is on fire. 

"i can do the same to the other eye if you'd like." the taller boy growls.

"if i remember correctly," Hinata calmly retorts, "it was Tendou who did this, the sick red haired creep. not you. is red his favourite colour?" that last remark catches me of guard.

"what are you talking about?" Ushijima seems confused too, and loosens his grip ever so slightly. bad move. i whisper.

"well, you haven't seen the damage he did, have you? and you had the cheek to claim it was your doing, but you've never even laid eyes on it, ha get it? eyes? i only have one working one now." this is the Hinata i've seen on the news. the insane, messed up criminal. how is this the same guy who helped that woman and saved me? how?

Hinata releases the others wrist, and reaches up, before ripping the eye patch off, snapping the leather, and letting it fall to the floor. 

if i weren't a government agent, who's seen things worse than death, then maybe i would've thrown up on the spot, or stumbled backwards with my mouth agape or even screamed. but i stay rooted on the spot, my eye glued to his. 

Hinatas left eye is a deep amber, it was always the first thing i'd notice about him, the way it sparkled and shone when he smiled. but his other eye, the eye usually hidden beneath a layer of fabric, the right eye. where the white surrounding the iris usually sits, is instead a bottomless black, as if someone has injected ink into it. The iris is no longer warm, and friendly. now it's red. all red. darker then blood but yet rosy and bright. 

its terrifying. 

but beautiful. 

God i am so in love. wait what.