Hina's eyes were completely locked on Sakura's, not leaving them even for a split second.
"Auntie… why don't you come hug me? I missed you…" Hina whispered in a low voice.
Sakura swallowed some saliva and took some steps back.
"H-Hina… haha… I… didn't expect to…" she tried to say, but she sounded like the words were stacked in her throat.
Sakura was scared… but I still didn't know why.
But the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that Hina didn't react how I imagined.
It looked like she already knew that Sakura was there and that she knew me.
"Why are you stepping back from me? Are you scared, M-a-m-a…? Fufufu~" Hina said, while slowly moving closer to her.
I was observing the situation from outside, not knowing how to react and what to do.
But my instincts told me that Hina would've done something horrible.
So, I grabbed her arm and stopped her.
Then, Hina stopped moving and turned her head towards me.
She had a surprised look on her face, and her expression turned to a "lovely" one.
"Kai-Kun… do you know this woman?" She asked with a lovely smile, but behind that smile, there was still a hint of a homicidal instinct.
Then, with a scared sigh, I nodded.
"Yes… I know her. She's your aunt, right?" I replied.
I had to tell the truth to Hina, no matter what.
Even the smallest lie could make her really angry…
"Oh… you said the truth… good… good boy…" Hina said while patting my head.
Then, she wrapped her arms around me, rested her head on my chest, and looked at Sakura.
"Kai-Kun… can I kill her?" She asked, like she was asking the most normal thing in this world.
Sakura's body started to tremble.
My eyes widened, and I felt a shiver through my spine after hearing Hina's question.
Despite saying something like that normally, I could feel a glimpse of repressed anger behind it.
Her cold, emotionless tone of voice held a lot of mixed feelings.
The life of Sakura was in my hands.
"No, Hina… you can't kill her. She's your aunt, and she saved me once…" I said, while gently petting her head to keep her calm.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief, but the sense of fear was still clearly visible on her face.
"Kai-Kun… she's a liar… a big liar… she lied to me… we can't trust her… she needs to be eliminated… I hate liars…" Hina whispered in a low voice, while tightening her grip around me and still not removing her eyes from Sakura.
A liar… she said that Sakura is a liar… and that would've explained her hate for her aunt.
"H-Hina… you know that I didn't lie to you… please… believe me. It wasn't my fault…" Sakura said, with a sobbing voice.
"What happened?" I asked, while still holding Hina in my arms.
She was still getting her head caressed, and it seemed the only way to stop her.
"F-Family issues…" Sakura said, while looking at the floor.
"Kai, can I kill her?" Hina asked again, with a voice even lower than before.
I swallowed some saliva.
"No, Hina. You can't. I ordered you not to hurt your aunt." I said by instinct, with a firm and direct tone.
Then, a loud silence filled the atmosphere around us for some minutes.
Hina kept locking her gaze on Sakura.
I wondered if she was blinking her eyes.
Then, she spoke.
"Okay, Kai… if this makes you happy… I won't kill her. I won't hurt her if you don't want…" Hina said, while hugging me even tighter.
I couldn't breathe.
Sakura looked at us with a very surprised expression.
"Kai-Kun…" Hina whispered while moving her gaze to me.
Caught by surprise, I lowered my gaze to match hers.
"What is it, Hina?" I said while still caressing her hair.
"Am I a good girl, Kai? I listened to you…" she asked, while looking at me with puppy eyes.
She was so cute… even though she politely asked me if she could kill her aunt.
"Y-Yes… you're a good girl," I said, while smiling and petting her hair.
Hina then closed her eyes, and her smile became even wider than before.
"Oh… tell me that I'm a good girl, Kai…" she said while pressing her head into my chest.
"You're a good girl!!" I said with a "fatherly" tone.
Hina was craving some affection, but I felt like there was a deeper meaning.
It felt like Hina wanted to be distracted from the sight of her aunt; it's hard to explain.
Or she wanted to be spoiled… like a child.
"Maybe she wants me to give her all the affection that she never received during her childhood…?" I thought in my mind.
I had these sensations and questions in my mind.
I had to find out the truth about the story between them.
I had to know why Hina hated her aunt.
While Hina was receiving affection, I managed to give Sakura a quick look.
She seemed to have calmed down after hearing that Hina wouldn't have hurt her, but at the same time I saw a glimpse of sadness in her eyes.
Even if it was for an instant, I could tell that Sakura loved her nephew from the way she looked at her.
Despite the initial fear, it seemed like Sakura wanted to hug Hina with all her might…
Then, Sakura managed to talk.
"Oh… sorry to disturb you, but I think the police are gonna arrive really soon. I can drive you home." She said.
Hina looked at her and smiled.
"Yes, Mama. Take me to Kai's home…" Hina said.
It seemed like her homicidal tone of voice faded away, replaced by a loving tone.
Sakura's eyes widened a little in surprise, not expecting Hina to be friendly, and a sad smile formed on her face.
After that, we ran away from the building, passed through the hole in the metal net, and then entered Sakura's car.
It wasn't big, but it was comfortable.
Hina was still clinging to me tightly, not wanting to leave me for a split second.
Her actions seemed like she was saying, "Don't leave me, or I'll do something awful."
She was holding back just because of me.
Sakura knew the position of my house, so if she had started driving without using any GPS, Hina would've gotten suspicious.
"Where's his house specifically? Do you know the address?" Sakura asked.
She perfectly knew what to do.
After that, I gave her the address of my home, and she wrote it on her GPS.
But then, a question lingered in my mind.
"Where's Naomi ?"
I knew that I couldn't ask this question in Hina's presence.
A small glimpse of anxiety soon formed in my heart, wondering where my friend was.
Then, Sakura turned on the engine and drove away from that school.
During the drive to our home, Sakura started to talk.
"Guys, tomorrow the police will go to see what happened. I sent them a warning through a police friend of mine. I told him not to investigate further, so I need to ask you to spend the next days by acting as if nothing happened…" Sakura said while driving.
She didn't mention Naomi.
"Auntie… Mama… okay… I'll do this for Kai's sake." Hina said in a friendly tone.
She was trying her best to talk with her aunt, whom she hated, to make me feel better.
"T-Thank you… I'll take care of everything, don't worry. Police will not go after you." Sakura replied.
I let out a big sigh of relief after hearing that, but I still had the feeling that I would've received a call from someone.
Then, I remembered something.
I had to find the connection between Haruto and the situation that just happened.
"Thank you… Ishikawa-San." I said.
I couldn't call Sakura by her first name in Hina's presence.
"You're welcome. But from this moment on, we'll need to work together. This event will surely enrage the gang…" Sakura said in a worried tone.
"I'll kill everyone who hurts Kai," Hina said, while holding my hand tightly.
"Then, you'll have to protect him from the gang," Sakura said.
"I will. I will not fail this time…" Hina said, while tightened the grip on my hand.
"I will not fail this time," I repeated these words in my mind, wondering what she meant.
I decided to stay silent.
Sakura also didn't speak a word, and a silence filled the atmosphere.
Nobody spoke a word until we finally arrived at my home.
When we arrived, we got out of the car and looked at Sakura.
She parked the car in front of my house and looked at us.
Meanwhile, Hina and I walked up to the door of my house, the tension still lingering in the air.
Hina's grip on my hand never loosened, and I could feel her trembling slightly, though her face was set in a determined expression.
"I'll stay here for a while, just in case," Sakura said softly from the car after lowering the window, her voice filled with a mixture of concern and exhaustion.
I nodded, understanding that she wanted to ensure our safety before everything else.
"Thank you, Ishikawa-San," I said.
Hina didn't respond.
She just kept her eyes on me, her expression softening when I turned to her.
Sakura then smiled at us and said: "Take care."
I then looked at Hina, who had her gaze locked on the floor.
"Let's go inside," I said, squeezing her hand gently.
She nodded, and then we walked inside.
I then rapidly waved at Sakura before entering.
We then entered my home, the familiar surroundings offering a brief moment of comfort.
Hina looked around, her eyes scanning every corner as if expecting an ambush.
Her clothes were still full of blood, and both of us needed to take a shower urgently.
"Hina, we should take a-" Without even starting to speak, Hina started to remove all her clothes and underwear very rapidly.
In a matter of seconds, she was completely naked.
I stared at her with my eyes wide open.
Her body was way too hot and beautiful.
Hina then looked away shyly.
"D-don't look at me… s-stupid…" she said while blushing.
I was surprised, since this was the first time I'd seen a reaction like this from her.
I had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.