Chapter Text
Hinata doesn’t know how it came to this. She tried to hold in her tears while her sister—her brave, serious, energetic baby sister—was held down by the neck. Her own arms were held tightly back by Zhushou, her father’s handmaid. Matagoro, her father’s previous retainer, shoved Hanabi down, stealing her breath and springing tears to her eyes. Hanabi gasped and gagged against the firm hand on her throat, writhing in equal parts fear and pain. Hinata gasped and struggled against the hold on her, begging for something to stop Matagoro.
But nothing did, and Hanabi was left convulsing in a puddle of her puke and excrement. Hinata screamed, lunging forward to help her baby sister, but Zhushou pulled her arms back. She cried out as they cracked, falling to her knees while trying to curl into a fetal position. Her arms hung limp at her side, unable to obey her command. Zhushou dropped gracefully to her knees behind Hinata, her hands outstretched towards her.
“Leave her,” Matagoro said coolly. “Maybe then she will learn her place. Hiashi was always too lenient with his heir. I will not make the same mistake.”
Zhushou hesitated for a second before she stood and bowed her head. Hinata sobbed to the rhythm of her steps as she walked away. Her shoulders throbbed, but the pain was shoved aside as Hanabi’s screams turned into horrible silent gasps. Hinata clenched her jaw, but it wrenched apart to scream as she dragged herself to her sister on unsteady knees. Matagoro took measured steps to stand before her. Hinata panted, her vision swimming as she tried to catch sight of Hanabi from between his legs.
“You always have been such a disappointment,” Matagoro drawled. “It’s a shame you never put this much effort into your duties as an heiress. Hanabi would have been my preferred choice, but you’re no use to me dead. Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered if Neji didn’t shame the Hyuga name. But then, it’s exactly because of his actions that I can fix the flaws he represented. I think I’ll consider us even. The first step to fixing the Hyuga will be your reeducation. Stand, Hinata.”
Hinata turned her watery eyes upwards. Steel hard eyes looked back at her, lips firmly sealed into a disappointed line. She took shallow breaths, eyes darting uncertainly between her new clean head and her baby sister. Matagoro’s eyes narrowed into angry slits.
“Get up, Hinata.”
It would be so easy for him to twitch his fingers into that damning seal. Hinata steals one last look at her baby sister, left shivering against the wooden floor with throw up matting her hair, and pushes herself to her feet. She whimpers, arms shifting despite not being moved at all. She blinks her eyes, feels her tears roll down her cheek, and takes in a shuddering breath. She lifts her head and meets Matagoro’s eyes. She’s hiccuping and holding back noises of pain, but she does not falter. Does not lower her head, does not look away, and does not blink. Matagoro’s anger doesn’t fade, but she won’t be cowed into submission. If she does, what will that mean for Hanabi?
Hinata realizes that she has been far too passive for far too long. If she had stood up for her cousin when her father drunkenly mistook him for his younger brother, if she had not stood by as her father punished him for seeing him in a moment of weakness, if she had not allowed Neji to take the beatings her trainers could not give to her-
If she had loved him like a brother the way her mother had hoped she one day would. If she loved Neji the way she loves Hanabi, she might have found her courage before today. So Hinata stood tall, shoulders carefully held so her throbbing arms would not come to more harm. Matagoro’s silver-streaked hair glinted in the sun as he shifted to look away.
“Now where was that determination when you were tasked to learn the clan’s techniques?” He sneered.
Despite everything, Hinata felt the hot flush of shame curl onto her face. She had always been so quick to blush. So quick to tears. Her toes curled as her breathing sped up, but still, she did not look away.
“Get yourself to a medic,” Matagoro said quietly. “The funerals are in two days. You must prepare a eulogy and ensure Hanabi does not shame the family. When you’re healed, go change into the proper mourning garbs. Collect Hanabi when you are done and make sure she does the same. Am I understood?”
Hinata forced herself to stop grinding her teeth together. “Yes.”
Matagoro turned to face her, his eyes indifferent. “Yes?”
Hinata could not stop herself from ducking her chin for a moment before she gathered her nerves and once again met his eyes. “Yes, o-Matagoro-sama. I understand.”
Matagoro nodded, though his severe features did not move an inch. He turned, the almost-sheer outer layer of his black mourning kimono swishing at his heels. Hinata held her breath as she carefully listened to his fading steps. When he was far enough, she took careful steps back until her fingers brushed the wall. She took a deep breath, angled herself carefully, and kept her eyes on Hanabi. Hinata gently backed up and brought her back to skim the wall. She gasped and twitched as her dislocated joint got pushed a bit. Hinata bit her lip before reminding herself how badly it would hurt if she were to bite through it.
She refocused her eyes on Hanabi and didn’t give herself the time to think. In one movement, Hinata slid down and shoved her right shoulder back into place. The pain blinded her for several seconds, but the wall let her slide down it instead of face-planting onto the ground. Hinata heaved, struggling to get enough air to soothe her headache. Eventually, when she was able to get past the disorientation, Hinata pushed herself back up and stumbled towards her little sister. Hanabi had stopped shivering, but her body was still and her hands were clenched. Hinata fell to her knees and brought her shaky hand to Hanabi’s throat. She almost cried in relief when she felt the steady pulse.
Her little sister was alive . For now, that was enough. Hinata dipped down, uncaring of the liquids that clung to her skin and clothes, and hauled Hanabi over her shoulder. It was tender and there was a sharp ache as she struggled to balance Hanabi’s body weight, but Hinata knew she’d be able to handle it until she reached the healing ward. Hinata took deep breaths as she slowly rose off the ground, nearly overbalancing in the process. She bent under her sister’s weight and her steps staggered every so often. At least half a dozen pairs of eyes followed her, but none made a move to help. Hinata grit her teeth and kept going.
There was a healer waiting for her outside of the hall. She looked at her in a mix of shock and sorrow. This was Yui, the woman who had delivered her baby sister. Still, as she hesitantly held her hands out to receive Hanabi, Hinata glared at her.
“Open the door,” she said through grit teeth. “And prepare a basin with warm water.”
Yui’s eyes widened another fraction. The clansmen around stilled, forgoing the illusion of ignorance in favor of staring the previously soft-spoken heiress.
“ Now ,” Hinata hissed.
Yui flinched, but she hurried to do as she was asked. Hinata crossed the threshold under her own power, under the unbelieving watch of the branch members who always gossiped about her inadequacy. She deposited Hanabi on the only cot set up in the room. There were more in the closet, she knew, but she did not ask for one to be set. Instead, Hinata leaned against the wall and let her eyes flutter. She couldn’t fall asleep, ever aware of her vulnerable little sister, but closing her eyes let her feel her hurts in the illusion of privacy. She had failed Neji, and because of that, her father was dead. Her grand-aunt, uncle, and her father’s cousin were also slain, victims of circumstance. Hinata felt cold.
She doesn’t know if Neji is alive anymore. Someone must have activated his cursed seal, but for him to attack the main branch, it must have been corrupted or void somehow. Hinata’s face settled into a grimace. She had to be everything she never had the heart to be before. If she is not the heir Matagoro wants her to be, it won’t be only her who suffers. It will be Hanabi, who has always been the preferred choice. She has to police her sister in a way she wasn’t used to worrying about. Father had been lenient with Hanabi’s outspokenness because she was strong. She excelled in everything Hinata failed, but even this wouldn’t be enough to spare her from the seal’s activation.
Hinata let go of the breath she was holding. For Hanabi, she would have to become everything she fundamentally disagreed with. It was a sacrifice that had to be made. It was time for her to be the heiress her father had always wanted.