ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ // ɴᴇᴊɪ ʜʏᴜᴜɢᴀ

02 | hold my hand

Neji nodded, staring blankly at the door after Itachi left.
    " Why..? Why did this happen... To us? "

' "(Name)-san!  Can you proofread this text for me? "
" (Name),  translate this article! "
" When are you going to edit this page?  I need it now! "

The (h/c) haired girl squirmed in her seat, shivering slightly. Her coworkers terrified her
. She had been assigned to the Marketing Team, and life hadn't been easy since.

She was only a support,  but she constantly thought it was pure slavery.
(Name) rubbed her eyes, yawning slightly. It was almost midnight afterall. 
All her coworkers have left hours ago, leaving her alone. 
      " Aahh.. I'm exhausted.." she murmured as she stood up and walked to the pantry. (Name) made a cup of 3in1 for herself, and grabbed a small packet of sugar crackers. As she headed out, her eyes landed on Neji's office, and saw the blinding lights.
  She glanced at the coffee and crackers in her hands, and walked towards Neji's office without a second to spare. Her lips parted slightly when she saw his exhausted expression and pale complexion.
      " Neji-sama," she called out, bowing her head slightly. He glanced at (Name) and nodded.
      " What is it (Name)?" he responded, still tired. 
      " I was just passing by, and I thought you could use some coffee. It's 11:30 pm, afterall, " she answered. With that, she set the drink and crackers on the table.
      " Ah, thank you. Never mind me, how about you?  Do you still have lots to do? " Neji asked. (Name) pursed her lips at the question.
       " I still have several articles and texts to translate, and a little proofreading to do." 
Neji didn't answer her after that, instead he only stared into blankness. 
        " Well, you have a lot to do. Go finish it, " he finally spoke. (Name) took it as a signal to leave. She stepped out from the office room,  and walked towards her own cubicle. 
She managed to resume her job only for a short while before extreme sleepiness overtook her. (Name) had to squint her eyes to get a better view of the text, and even so,  her brain was unable to interpret it. Slowly, her eyes began to grow heavy, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Neji slumped into his seat shortly after ending the video call with the marketer from Suna. He had lots to do, as the Marketing and Sales department was under his care. He glanced at the empty coffee mug on his desk, and instantly his eyes darted towards (Name)'s cubicle.
The light from a lamp illuminated the area, and Neji could see her figure at the table. 
   ' Isn't she going home? It's almost 1 am '
He slipped into his blazer and stood up, pushing his chair back. Neji grabbed his briefcase and stepped out of his office, and slowly approached (Name)'s cubicle. 
If it were morning time or even afternoon, he would've scolded her long ago. The only thing is, it was an hour past midnight. Neji quietly went through the files and documents, and wasn't at all pleased. It wasn't about (Name)'s work, no, her work was flawless - it was the amount of work his employees had dumped on her. 

They made her bring them coffee every morning, pick up stuff, translate texts, and later proofread them and the list goes on and on. The conclusion was all his workers had to do was copypasting all the articles (Name) worked so hard to prepare, and credit it as their own. It angered Neji, and he let out a loud sigh as he dropped the final file he went through on the table. He glanced at (Name), his feelings all mixed together.

' Poor girl. She's so naive, she doesn't even realise people are stomping on her head, '

Neji knelt down and scooped her up, only using one hand. She felt far too light for a girl her height, and the large, outdated and baggy clothes she wore hid the fact that she was nothing more than skin and bone.

He had no idea where (Name) lived, but judging her economical status, Neji was sure it wasn't anywhere even half decent.

He placed her gently in the passenger seat of his Bugatti Veyron, and slid into the driver seat. After that, he drove to Wisteria Highlands, an elite housing area in the most upscale parts of Konoha.
Simply said, only the richest among the rich live there. The ones who live there range from world class celebrities, politicians, ministers and businessmen.
       As he pulled up on his driveway, Neji glanced slightly at (Name). He couldn't help but think how different (Name) was,  compared to the rest of the materialistic society.
Naive, pure and untainted. Like a white cloth.

It was all Neji had been searching for. Among the bundles of numerous hues of colours, all he had been searching for was a white cloth. He didn't need one knitted with gold thread, or one made with the finest silk.
He already found her, and there she was, next to him.'

That night, Neji fell to sleep with the heart monitor's beeping as his lullaby. It was cold and painful, without anything warm around him. But he couldn't leave her alone - he left her alone for too long. 
    Neji was afraid - no, terrified that if he left her any longer, she'd fade away.
And he'd wait for her, no matter how long it would take. He'd sleep in the cold hospital room by her side, just so he could accompany her. Even though the only thing accompanying his was his own tears, he was willing to go through it.
      Just so he wouldn't lose her.