"Thank you for yesterday and for dropping me to-today, Uzumaki-kun." Hinata bowed deeply after getting down from the black vehicle and shutting its door. She had finally reached her house after a long day. She had many things to do that she had mentally registered while being over at his place.
"Should I pick you up after you get ready so we can go to college together?" The blonde boy asked, yawning from lack of sleep.
"I couldn't trouble you more than this..!" Hinata answered apprehensively. It was very evident that she felt overburdened by the number of favours she was receiving from one of the most popular guys in college. "P-Please head back safely."
"Hmm, I'm the one who's worried about you, though..." Naruto pouted while resting his head on the steering wheel, looking into Hinata's ready-to-blush face. Do you hate spending time with me that much? "But if you said no, it's a no, I guess. Whateves. Take care, Hinata. Next time anything happens, call me."
Hinata nodded fervently as if to agree completely. If it's Uzumaki-kun, I can rely on him. He's never been anything but gentle and respectful. He's also very strong... She could feel an incoming flush of red on her cheeks and cupped her face to hide the embarrassment. I can't deny that he looked really cool. No wonder so many girls like him.
"You had promised that you'd call me last time too, but you didn't. Hope it isn't an empty promise this time." Naruto commented. "I'm off then." He waved before whirring past the street, leaving Hinata at the foot of her apartment.
That was close. He almost saw how I was blushing while thinking about him. I better head back and set things up for today. As she walked up the stairs to get to her door, the flat owner abruptly stood in her way.
"It's six in the morning. Where were you?" The middle-aged man asked irritantly.
"Good morning, Maeno-san." She bowed, and her wish was greeted with an annoyed click of the tongue.
"This is no time for a greeting! Where were you?!" He demanded.
Why does Maeno-san have to know where I went? "I was with my friend. We pulled an all-nighter for the upcoming e-exams." She lied because she was not obliged to brief about the very personal happenings that occurred to her the previous day.
"I see studying all night leaves bruises of fingers on the back of the neck, hmph!"
"Excuse me!!!" An alarmed Hinata immediately covered her neck and looked at her landlord in utter shock. Why is he observing so closely!? They were the bruises that the assaulters were responsible for.
"You think we're fools here to believe that you'd be as pure as that!? All girls of this generation are rotten to the core! And you have the conceit to lie while wearing a guy's clothes! Can you make it less obvious that you slept with some guy for money just to pay rent!? "
Does he think I slept with someone?! "What?!" Hinata was dumbfounded at this man's ability to jump to such far-fetched conclusions. "If I may! I haven't done anything that y-you are shaming me for, sir!" She protested, as her lower lip quivered in humiliation. And even if I did, it is none of his business!
"Hah! All sluts say that! Now that you've made money by selling your body, you better pay up! Hmph!" He grumpily walked away after spewing nonsense, leaving Hinata almost in tears.
It almost reminded her of the time she was excommunicated from the Hyuga household for the same reasons, based on a completely fabricated lie. She was already broken, and they managed to break her even further.
Unable to talk back as she choked on a lump in her throat, a tearful Hinata ran up the stairs, got to her flat, hurriedly closed the door and slumped against it. Awning her palms against her open mouth, she let out a silent, sombre wail, that not a soul would hear. I'm crying a lot these days, aren't I? She was so tired; of all the judgements, criticisms, and hurdles in her life, even though she had never tried to harm anyone. What was more, the people who had hurt her were living off well and good, but here she was trying to make ends meet, and forced to deal with more than what she had signed up for?
But it was him, that gave her hope. If there was one ray of sunshine in her life, it was surely him. He had never once hurt her, he listened to what she often had to say, and cared for her like no one did. He taught her to value herself more.
"If you don't like something, speak up. You are not obliged to put up with it, for no reason whatsoever. Stand up for yourself, and raise your voice if necessary. Only your opinion matters. Don't let anyone take you for granted." His confident words rang through her ears. Hinata clenched her teeth.
His words gave her unimaginable strength. Although the sorrow was still ebbing and flowing within her heart, she realised that she couldn't be like this always. A newborn resolve had started to kick in. The next time someone says something to me, I'll speak up, just like Uzumaki-kun said. I don't want to be a coward all my life.
♠
~Later that day, in college~
Hinata was just skimming through the pages of the reference book that she had previously borrowed from the library and taking notes as usual during the study hour when an announcement thundered from the radio built in her class rang out loud.
"Hyuga Hinata of Class 2-5, Cardioneurology, is requested to come to the office. I repeat, Hyuga Hinata of Class 2-5, Cardioneurology, please come to the Director's office immediately."
An unnerved Hinata impulsively got up, frantically put back her books in the bag, and rushed towards the Director's office, not knowing what on earth had occurred. Thank God people don't recognise me, guess it's such a nice thing to be a nobody in college. No one gives you unsolicited attention. No more judgemental eyes if they don't even know who I am.
With a thousand thoughts storming through her mind, a panting Hinata sprinted to the office as fast as she could, fearing what was to come. She was already not used to speaking to strangers, but now she had to speak to a stranger with authority on top of that. Before stepping in, she took a deep breath to prepare herself and then stepped into the room.
Only to find the all-too-handsome blonde hunk of a guy, lolling on the sofa opposing the reception counter, a lollipop in his mouth and his arms resting widely on the backrest of the furniture. One of his legs was crossed over the other, and seeing him lean back majestically like that, one would think he owned the whole place.
"Hinata! You're here~"
"Uzumaki-kun?! What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you, duh."
"B-But-"
"I heard the announcement. So I came."
Hinata bit her lip. "Do you have any idea w-why I was called out of the blue?"
"Well, I know a lil this and that. They're gonna negotiate with you once you go in there." He said, pointing to the large teak door that was slightly ajar. It reminded Hinata of the time Naruto had brought her in for no reason at all and almost gave her anxiety over how careless and disrespectful he was being in the Director's very own office.
"I-Is it because of what h-happened yesterday?"
"Mm, yeah. More or less. They caught the footage of the CCTV."
A perplexed look sunk itself down on Hinata's face. I'm gonna have to talk about that?
"Hinata," His honey-like soothing voice trickled into her ears. "Don't worry. Just some formalities. They wronged you, didn't they?"
Hinata nodded.
"Then they should receive the legal punishment. You'll have to file a complaint, that's all. They will take care of the rest."
"Will all this be over once I finish this procedure?"
"Absolutely. No strings attached." And if they are any, I will sever them off.
Hinata gulped and glanced towards the door. Even though she was not feeling the courage well up in her heart, she decided she would not back down. "Are they all... m-men?" She asked nervously.
"Um, yeah... But they won't touch a single strand of your hair. Sasuke's in there too. You can count on him, if anything happens... Besides, there's an actual police officer, so you can relax."
Hinata's fingers grew tight around the shoulder straps of her bag, and her eyebrows furrowed. I know not all men are like that, but...
She was really bad at talking with strangers.
Looking at Hinata's nonplussed face, Naruto didn't have the heart to send her alone. Sure, the people in the room were all his very close, trustworthy friends, but even so, Hinata's trauma didn't need a reason. I guess three men towering over her after what happened yesterday will be a little too much to take. "Should I come with you?" He finally asked.
Hinata's eyes lit up in an instant upon receiving the suggestion. "Will you be a-able to? What about your c-classes?"
"To hell with the classes. Let's go together~." He got up from his seat, put an arm around her protectively and casually headed towards the room.
"Uzumaki-kun! The lollipop!"
"You want one?"
"No! The Director might f-find it disrespectful!" She panicked.
Naruto just let out an amused chuckle in return. "We'll see about that."
As they waltzed into the room with no care in the world, Hinata was bewildered as to why no one was outraged by Naruto's casual demeanour. He was clearly disregarding things like respect towards authorities. But no one seemed to mind his relaxed attitude. Nonetheless, her figure shrank as she slumped her shoulders at the sight of three tall overbearing men crowding the room. She only felt safe and calm because of Naruto's firm hold around her. When her eyes met Sasuke's, he gestured with a slight nod, and she nodded back. Her eyes scanned the room to find another silver-haired policeman standing beside the Director's table.
Hinata bowed "G-Good morning, sir." She greeted the Director nervously, but realised too late that it was an awkward juncture to greet at.
"You're here," acknowledged the tall man dressed in a crisp blue suit, seated comfortably in his chair. It was the Director, Uchiha Obito. "Please have a seat, Ms Hyuga." He motioned. "Why are you here, Naruto?"
"Moral support. Ain't that right, Hinata?" He winked at the girl who sat on the edge of the seat as soon as she was asked to. Hinata was a little too tense to answer. Naruto too, sat beside her and stretched himself leisurely, acting as if it was his own house and not some formal place. A few minutes of silence ensued until Hinata calmed down after taking a sip of water.
"Ms Hyuga, do you feel better?" Obito asked.
"Y-Yes." She managed to let out more than a whisper.
"Well, we'll start by introducing ourselves. I'm Uchiha Obito, the Director of this college."
"I'm Hatake Kakashi, Superintendent General of Police. Nice to meet you. I am in charge of this case."
"Uchiha Sasuke. Student Body President. You know me."
Hinata nodded in response. The atmosphere had loosened up quite a bit. It no longer felt like she was in a domineering environment. Rather, it felt too lax for a room concentrated with authorities.
The sofa was diagonally opposite to the Director's table, so even if Hinata didn't make eye contact, it would be just fine. "Director, wh-what was I called he-here for?" She finally gathered the confidence to ask.
"We'll get straight to the point, Ms Hyuga. We acquired footage from the CCTV of one of the changing rooms in the cellar, and it seems like the victim in question is you. Is that true?"
"Yes."
"Could you please elaborate upon the things that led up to this?" Kakashi asked.
Hinata hesitated for a moment, not because she was too shaken up to confess, but because Naruto was right beside her. She recalled his very fierce and violent reaction the previous day even before he knew the details, so she was doubtful about how bad it would be if he actually found out what had occurred. Nevertheless, she was talking to a policeman, so she had no other choice.
"I came to the c-cellar to meet Uzumaki-kun, and I didn't know where h-his changing room was. The person standing outside insisted that he knew the room, and took me to the opposite one. I had a bad feeling, so I wanted to turn a-away as soon as possible, but he shoved me in b-by my neck and continued to..."
"If you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to talk about it. We have the rest of the details from the footage. Can we take it from there?" Kakashi's fatherly voice sounded as though he was consoling the poor girl.
"P-Please do." Hinata bit her lip and hung her head down. She felt Naruto's warm hand rubbing her back comfortingly. What she didn't know., was that his left fist tightened up to the point where his veins bulged out, and the reason for his silence was the gritting of his teeth.
"Would you like to file a complaint?" The policeman asked again.
"Yes." Hinata was handed a file with a collection of papers and a pen, and she proceeded to fill them in, patiently. After a good twenty-five minutes, she finished signing the last leaf and handed over the charge sheet and attached documents back to Kakashi, who flipped through them, making sure that everything was in place. He turned to her and gave her an assuring nod.
"Everything is good to go, Ms. Hyuga. It's basically an open-and-shut case. We will carry out an Out of Court disposal because we have such concrete evidence. You won't have to deal with this anymore, you have my word." He said and ended the conversation briskly with a firm handshake.
"Thank you, sir."
Naruto's eyes followed Kakashi as he walked out of the room, but his focus was quickly broken by Obito's low-treble voice addressing Hinata.
"We are terribly sorry that we couldn't prevent such an incident in our institute. But, please rest assured. We will take full responsibility. The two offenders are already stripped off of their sports team and their sports scholarship and debarred from attending the college, and this is the official apology letter from their institute's side." He handed a printed sheet to her.
"Apart from this, we would like to know your demands. How would you like to be compensated for the irreversible damage?"
Hinata blinked a few times in bewilderment. Is this really happening? She found it strange that proper action was being taken. It was usually just her trying to brush off any bad incident that had happened to her, for she seemed to know the fact that no higher authorities would consider her plea. But the present situation was far from what she had imagined. Not only were they taking care of the situation at hand, but they were also offering compensation.
"This is really n-not necessary, sir. As long as the correct p-punishment is meted out to the responsible party, that is fine with me. I really don't need anything like a compensation."
"Hyuga-san, this is the policy of the college. You deserve to be compensated duly." Sasuke pressed. "Please state your conditions."
"Hinata, just ask them whatever you want. They won't refuse." Naruto whispered in her left ear, as a wide-eyed Hinata was still trying to take in all that was happening.
"I... I- really don't know what to say. This is rather unprecedented." She stuttered under the incredible pressure to come up with something.
"A few months ago, you had applied for The Vermont Scholarship till the fourth semester, had you not?" Obito asked, pulling out some records.
"Yes."
"We looked into your academic profile, Ms Hyuga. You have scored extremely well in all your previous semesters. After much contemplation, I have decided to offer the scholarship to you, since you seem to be such a promising student."
"Wh-WHAT?! That's too much, sir! B-Besides th-there are 140 applicants for 10 grants! Y-You can't just-"
"There are still the same ten grants open for competition among the same applicants. Just you, Ms Hyuga, are an exception. Your education till the next semester will be sponsored by the college itself."
"But-!"
"Frankly speaking, that's hardly any compensation. Is it, Obito-nii?" Naruto leaned forward and boldly questioned, the lollipop still jutting out of the sly mouth that had spoken. He was strangely showing no respect and was quite laid back while talking to The Director, and even addressing him with his name. "That's just the bare minimum. If you wanna do something, at least put effort, ya know?"
Hinata tugged at his sleeve in sheer alarm. She couldn't believe his outrageous manner of talking "Uzumaki-kun! What are you s-saying to The Director?!"
The cocky blonde just smirked and patted the back of Hinata's hand, just to turn to Obito to continue talking. "Just 'cos Hinata's too polite to demand a proper compensation, doesn't mean you get to take her for a fucking ride. Like, deal with this shit properly dude. You're the Director for a reason."
Hinata feared that the next moment, they were going to be kicked out of the office for disrespecting the director, but instead, Obito retaliated with nothing but a fizzled-out sigh.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Hmm, how many semesters long is your course again, Hinata?"
"Six.." A confused Hinata answered.
"Yeah, so, reimburse all six of 'em." He demanded.
"Uzumaki-kun!" Hinata whisper-yelled.
"Trust me Hinata." He whispered back.
Obito raised his eyebrows and pretended to have a headache.
"What? Let's not fuckin' pretend as if Hinata wouldn't have gotten Vermont unless you gifted it to her, alright? That was already a given. If you're gonna do something for her, do it right." He protested while ignoring the persistent yanks at the fabric of his right sleeve.
"Fine. You have a deal. We'll reimburse your complete tuition fee, Ms. Hyuga. You'll get the college-approved letter in a few days. Thank you for your time." The gentleman dressed in the suit rose up and extended his hand. Not wanting to be rude, a flustered Hinata quickly got up and gave him a handshake from across the table. "Again, we are extremely sorry for what happened to you yesterday."
"That's fine, sir. Thank you." She bowed, rising just in time to see Naruto fist-bumping Sasuke. He then headed over to the other side of the table and gave a bro-hug to Obito, styled the older man's hair a bit and laughed light-heartedly, as if he had known him for a long time. Hinata could not get over the fact that he was being so casual with him, and most of all, the Director didn't even mind it.
"Shall we go?" He asked, smiling at Hinata, who was still shaken.
My tuition fees have been waivered! Am I actually dreaming? What just happened here!? It was the best news Hinata had heard after a long time! The ecstasy was just taking effect as she walked out of the office together with Naruto. Her cheeks were red with excitement, and she couldn't stop smiling. Naruto looked at her, amused at her antics. So cute.
"Happy, Ms. Hyuga?" He craned his neck and asked.
Hinata let out an uncontrolled, earnest chuckle for the first time before Naruto's eyes. She shone like an angel under the radiant beams of the sun. His cerulean orbs were enraptured by the stunning sight. She was so beautiful, that Naruto involuntarily reaffirmed his belief that it would be worth giving up anything in his life. Anything.
♠
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||Author's note||
Extremely sorry for the deep divulging into the dry details of the events. I find it necessary to set the correct mood for the story. Although not much of development is seen in the chemistry of the main couple at the moment, I promise the story will progress better and focus more on the characters themselves after the next chapter. Dear readers, as always thank you for choosing my story to read, it is truly my honour. Please do vote if you like it, and also, reading all your comments make me so happy. Thank you for partaking in this journey with me.
Much love,
Mighty_03