A bet on Love

11 | It's OK

Her face is blurry.

That was what crossed Hinata's mind as she stood in a safe distance, watching as her past self lay in the anonymous woman's lap and let her run her fingers through her hair.

Her face is blurry.

She watched in suffocating silence as the actions repeated. Her face was blurry but that was her mother. She had forgotten what her mother looked like after 12 years. 12 years. But she could feel the warmth of the woman, the love of the woman, the love of her mother. It was sad and scary. Something she vowed to never crave for. It was weird. She was craving a mother's touch. One she hadn't felt in 12 years.

She watched and listened. Her voice was also blurred out as if trying to listen to someone speaking underwater as if trying to process someone's voice in space and vacuum, but the tune was there. And she didn't want it to be there. It was consuming, trapping her in a bubble, a past bubble, a bubble of her misery, inferiority and insecurities.

She covered her ears with her two hands, pressing them hard against her ears and hoping that any more pressure applied would crush her skull into pieces. But the tune was then, on repeat, over and over. Her past self seemed to be engrossed in the music, while she was dying inside, and outside. She wanted to die. She wanted to die.

I want to die.

I want to die.

I want to die.

I want to-

"Hinata!" She gasped for air, her eyes tearing open and her hands gripping the bedsheet. I'm alive. The thought left another scar on her heart and she dropped back down onto the soft bed that dunked on the impact of her weight. She wished it sank further than it did, suffocating her till she could no longer breathe and then died. If wishes came true or genies existed. "Hinata." Her eyes travelled towards the side of the bed where the voice came from to meet blue eyes.

Pretty...

"Hey," she managed to mutter out, turning her head back upwards to stare absentmindedly at the bright cerulean blue light that seemed to shimmer like a certain someone's eyes, reflecting off the glass translucent orb that covered the bulb. "What happened?" Her throat was parched, making her let out a crocked cough. The sudden noise caught the blonde off guard and he staggered off his chair. His eyes darted around the room and he grabbed a glass cup from the bedside table and ran out of the room, yelling something about going to get water and not dying.

'Don't die'. Easier said than done.

As quick as he left, Naruto came running in with a full glass of water in his hands, looking constipated Hinata could only stifle a burst of laughter that looked more like she was choking herself to death. Naruto sucked a breath and rushed over to her side and shoved the cup to her lips and forced the liquid down her throat. Hinata breathed out then muttered thanks. "What happened?"

There was silence before the blonde sat back on his chair, taking a deep breath. "After your presentation and you had left with Hiashi, I stayed back for a while to avoid suspicion. Unfortunately for me, I found myself among people asking about the company and how business was going. How would I know I'm not my dad." He rolled his eyes but continued, "Anyways, after I had made my way out of the suffocating crowd, it took me way too long- apparently- to find you and when I had, you were laying unconscious, in your pool of blood."

The blonde paused for a while to add suspense, while also recalling the horror and chill that ran down his spine when he had first witnessed the scene. But she sputtered out a crocked laughter, hugging herself to reduce the pain that surged through the surface of her skin and the contraction of her stomach muscles. She was laughing. "What's so funny?! I thought you were dead!" Now he was more concerned than worried, he was horrified.