TRAGEDY | Shouyou Hinata (Murder of Crows) ✓

CHAPTER FIVE

The following Monday you were walking through a quiet neighbourhood on the outskirts of Miyagi Prefecture, the evening smelling of cigarette smoke and warm coffee. The air was still and mild enough to warrant a jacket instead of a coat, with the buttons undone and your sleeves rolled up to your elbows.

It was almost seven o'clock, but the April sky was still light enough to see by with the watery grey light of dusk and the streetlights that were starting to flicker to life.

You'd stayed with the Volleyball team for a late practise to make sure Hinata was okay, even though he didn't participate too much in the actual match, and were on your way home. Your mother had offered to pick you up, but you'd fancied a walk in the fresh air. It had been a while since you'd had time to yourself, but you still felt troubled. With everything that had happened to Natsu and now Hinata's strange behaviour, your mind was constantly in turmoil over what to do.

You'd never had much experience dealing with grief. Most of your family had died before you were old enough to really remember them, and you hadn't suffered any recent loss. Although you wanted to help Hinata as much as you could, you simply didn't know how.

He had changed, and you didn't know how to adapt.

The gravel crunching underfoot echoed suddenly as footsteps ghosted the pavement behind you, light, flurries of sound that you barely picked out amongst the hushed murmurs of wind rattling gutters and empty cans.

You were struck with a momentary panic, cold and sudden in your chest, but then you realised it wasn't uncommon for other people to be walking about at this time of night, and your heart soon settled again.

It wasn't until you took a detour through a back alley scarcely-visible from the main street and found the footsteps still following you did it strike you as odd, and that cold panic returned like an old friend, finding root in the cavity of your chest. Short, panicked breaths fighting their way past your lips, you almost tripped on a loose stone on your way back into the open and spun around, cornering the stranger in the narrow alleyway.

Your vision blurred, found a pale face amongst the shadows, and focused with sudden, stunned clarity. "Hinata!?"

The boy shrunk back, his eyes two deep-set hollows in the lucid sheen of his face.

"W-what are you doing? Gosh, you gave me a fright," you exclaimed, cradling your hands to your chest. You shifted nervously from one foot to the other, looking behind him to make sure there was nobody else following you.

"I wanted to make sure you got home safe," he said slowly, his voice all broken whispers. "It's late. You don't know who's around. Someone... someone might have hurt you."

"Oh, Hinata. You really didn't have to come all the way out here," you said with a shaky laugh.

He closed the distance between you, stepping out into the light of the moon, his eyes silver disks. "That doesn't matter. I wanted to make sure you were okay. What if... what if you ended up like Natsu? Taken away from me. I can't face that again."

You took his shoulders in your hands and caught his eye firmly. "I know you're still upset about what happened, and I appreciate your concern Hinata, I really do, but you need to look out for yourself too. You're not the only one worried about losing those we care for. What would I do if anything happened to you?"

His eyes widened a fraction. "You're worried about me too?"

"Of course I am!" You said with an odd look. "You're my best friend, Hinata. How could I not be?"

You tried to smile, but it didn't feel right on your lips. You were still unsettled by Hinata following you all the way from school without making his presence known to you. It was almost stalker-like behaviour. But you figured his intentions were decent enough - he was just looking out for you, in his own strange way.