Restoration: Book 1/3

Chapter 15

After showering, I gingerly walked to my bedroom. My eyes started to water as I looked around at my belongings. It'd been less than a month since I'd been here, but it felt much longer. Nothing had been moved, so it looked exactly how I had left it.

The lump in my throat was so hard to swallow. My fingers danced lightly over the edge of my desk as I passed it to sit on the edge of my bed.

The mattress was so plush and comfortable compared to what I've grown used to downstairs. Madara informed me that he'd be waking me early in the morning, just a couple hours from now, so I could prepare myself for Hanabi. I was eager to rest as much as possible because that interaction would most likely exhaust me thoroughly.

Sleep took me over the moment my head hit the pillow. I'd forgotten what it was like to rest without worrying if someone would attack me while my guard was down.

The blissful experience was over before I knew it, and I was awoken by Dr. Uchiha roughly shaking my shoulder. I cringed when I saw his face, expecting the worst, but he simply stepped back and waited silently for me to rise. He had bags under his dark eyes, and I was happy that he, too, was suffering, even if it was only a little.

My skin burned under his watchful gaze as I grabbed some clothes from my closet and headed to the bathroom to dress. To my horror, he followed me there. With my face actively paling, I glanced up at him with unease, "...I need to get dressed."

He crossed his arms and leaned against the closed bathroom door with a tired frown, "Go on."

My mouth opened slightly as I tried to argue, but his stern look changed my mind. My face burnt as I turned my back and changed clothes, careful to show him the least amount of my bare skin as possible. Humiliated tears welled in my eyes as I tossed my pajamas in the clothes basket and tried to ignore his reflection in the mirror.

My face was pale and sickly looking, likely from not seeing the sun for weeks, so I had to apply makeup to my skin to mask it.

The other participants would likely wake up now and realize I was gone. Would Masumi be taking over M.A.T. since Madara will be with me most of the day?

By the time I was ready, I almost looked like my old self, but I could see a difference in my demeanor. Madara and Masumi noticed it, too, because they both threatened me to get it together as I stiffly sat at the dining table. My stepmother prepared breakfast while her boyfriend sipped some coffee and read the newspaper as he sat across from me.

I was also given a mug of coffee but couldn't bring myself to drink it. My fingers trembled against my lap as I glanced at the staircase again, waiting for my sister to come down. The sun had already risen at this point.

"Stop shaking. For Christ's sake, you'll give us away!" Masumi hissed at me from near the stove.

Usually, I'd shoot a retort at her rude words, but Madara's eyes were burning into my soul, so I simply stared down into my coffee as I tried to stop fidgeting.

"Hinata?"

We all looked up and saw Hanabi dashing from the staircase into the kitchen. I rose from my seat just in time for her to wrap her arms around my waist. Tears rose in my eyes, and I took a shaky breath to keep them from falling. She was crying into my shirt, so she didn't notice my struggle.

If I'd disappeared while Dad was alive, I don't think she'd have reacted like this, but after grieving his loss together, we'd become closer like we'd been when we were younger. Madara's eyes narrowed at me, and I swallowed nervously, looking down to meet Hanabi's teary eyes when she finally pulled back.

"Where have you been? Why haven't you called? I was worried!"

I temporarily forgot about the past month and wondered where my bratty little sister had gone. It wasn't like her to say things like that, even if she missed me. I fought the urge to regard the adults in the room with an accusatory look, knowing I'd be punished for doing so. Did something happen while I was away?