CYPHER ~ Naruhina

Chapter - 31

"Then I'll see you next week, Miss Hyuga."

"Yes. T-Thank you."

The woman standing in front of her looked a couple of years older, and she flashed a mature smile. "Please do sleep well and eat well."

"Yes, absolutely." Hinata bowed, and turned to walk further towards a gleaming, black vehicle that was waiting for her down the end of the street.

Therapy had been really working out for her for a few days now. She had initially been a little wary of her therapist, but the ice around her heart had slowly thawed under the warmth of the bright-looking young lady. Lots of things on her mind, that were clouding her sense of judgement, were slowly getting entangled. She felt grateful because it all felt like teamwork. Somehow, all the clutter in her heart seemed smaller to deal with when she had her therapist beside her. Uzumaki-kun had suggested this long back. I should have listened then itself. Silly me. But she had now realised that the past version of her had a lot of inhibitions, which could be blamed on the circumstances that she had been through.
That was something new she had learnt from the therapist—that blame was a heavy burden to put on yourself or others, which is why they don't belong in relationships at all. Reasons for failure were mostly circumstantial, but humans, shallow creatures, opted for the only easy way out of bearing responsibility, which was taking the blame upon oneself or smearing it on others to create the illusion of a solution, or a vague idea of karmic balance. There was a big difference between responsibility and guilt. It was simple to say that something was your fault and mull over it for a long time, using sadness as an excuse to run away from progressing in the situation. What was difficult was admitting that, despite feeling misery over one's mistakes, one should take steps towards one's own improvement.

Unpacking loads of trauma, took her more time than she had expected. She was, in no element of surprise, the very girl who had assured herself that she was a doll with no emotions, someone who didn't feel pain or grief. The truth was, she felt both, just like anyone else, and when she tried to mask them under the guise of a barren heart, they only hurt her more; as if she was pulling the trigger of a gun that shot backwards. She felt more relieved than before.

It had become dark outside. Though it was a Friday, she hadn't gone to work that day because of a compensatory holiday. When she reached the parked car, it was a bit unusual that the door didn't open from inside. (It was Naruto's habit to step out of the car for a bit, as if to talk with her under the romantic breeze.) She decided to cup her palms on the glass windows to see what he was doing.

The ever-youthful, enthusiastic young man was dozing off, sunk back onto the reclined car seat. With his hands resting on his chest, and a few buttons undone, and a tousled tie almost falling off one side of his collar, he looked like a portrait that could be named 'The Tired Office Man'.

Should I wake him up? But he seems so tired. Hinata knew about his erratic working habits. He returned home ridiculously late sometimes, and seemed to type away all day on some Sundays. Moreover, he had dropped her off at college first, then picked her up, dropped her off at the therapist's place, and then come back again to pick her up. I'm really making him work a lot. Her worried fingers reached her crimson lips. She waited for a few minutes outside, and then leaned on to the car. Coincidentally, a dull noise of a shrill ringtone from inside the car resounded, and that seemed to have woken the blonde up.

A light click of the car door, a subtle clack of his shoes on the tar road—there he was, hoisting himself up and stretching with one hand because he was holding his phone in another.

"Yup. I've told you before. I didn't get to personally look at the 'so-called' report yet. Send it over." He greeted Hinata with a silent smile in the midst of his call, using his free left hand to pat her on the head. "Yeah, it's next Thursday. Don't forget to add it to my schedule." He stopped talking to yawn. "Yup. Enjoy your weekend." He hung up and finally faced her properly. "Welcome back, Hinata."