Fic: Shameless [Chapter 5]
5. Omen
Author Notes: As always, special thanks again go to my friends Redundant Goddess and shortyninja (Scribbling Ninja’s ff name), for being awesome :D. They are great betas and amazing friends and I want to hug them forever. However, this chapter is dedicated to my all gorgeous fans and reviewers as my Christmas present to you all.
I see from my stats page I’m on the favourite author list of fourteen people, that’s hot :3.
Omen is by The Prodigy.
Note: This chapter takes place over a month after chapter four.
“So what’s tastier, chocolate, banana, strawberry, mint or cherry? C’mon Shino, you’re the one that called and said you wanted to spend time with me so ya have to join in!”
He sighed, then, “Wouldn’t the mint gel become uncomfortable?”
“Yeah if it was just left there, but this-“
Kiba glanced at the label “‘Intimate Cute Body Gel’ stuff is bedroom only, you get it? It only stays on for a minute before it’s licked off.”
“Ah.”
They tried the testers, squeezing the contents of the tubes onto the supplied sample strips before tasting.
“Very minty.” Shino said.
Kiba nodded “That’s good, the chocolate tastes like crap, but the others are good.” He picked up several bottles and dropped them into the shop basket he carried. Kiba moved around the shop so easily, buying more of his favourites, looking through various items and comparing prices that you would think that they were in a supermarket and not a sex shop. The shop itself was not small, grimy or anything like what he had seen in film or television, it was large, brightly decorated, cheerful music piping through the subtly placed speakers, with warm lighting and simple furnishings, making the explicit merchandise displayed seem quite ordinary.
“I’m forgetting something…” The brunet muttered as he swept several condom packets into the basket “Oh yeah, we need to go downstairs to the dungeon.”
“Why?” The Dungeon? Dear God.
“The handle on my old whip’s totally unravelled, and that idiot Kankuro borrowed my paddle the other day and broke it, at least the asshole gave me money to replace it.”
“…I see.”
“Don’t be scared, it’s only called the dungeon cos the hardcore stuff is downstairs.”
“That’s not helping me, and I didn’t say I was scared.”
“Sure.” Kiba winked and took his hand, leading him downstairs. Surprisingly, for a section named ‘The Dungeon’, the décor was exactly the same as upstairs, only the items for sale were more… more. Shino could not even begin to name most of the things on display here, and he was not sure if this was not a good or bad thing in this place.
“So, you gonna have a heart attack?”
“No.”
“Uh-huh.” Kiba gave him a look “What’s up with you, I like spending time with your handsome self but this obviously ain’t your kind of place, and for like a month or something you’ve even been acting weirder than usual, if that’s possible.”
“Very funny…I’m here because I have a question I need to ask.”
“Ah?”
“How did you family react when you came out?”
Kiba blinks “That all?”
“It’s fairly important, none of my friends have…spoken to their parents, so I do not know any personal experiences from anyone I know.”
“Ah, well Hana doesn’t care, just told me to not to do anything too brain-dead, the cheeky bitch.”
“Hana?”
“My sister. ‘Kaasan died when I was a kid, and dad ran off so long before that I can’t even remember what he looks like, we don’t know any other cousins or whatever so its just me, Nee-san and her family.”
“I’m sorry to hear about that.”
“S’ok, what about you? Got a big brother?”
“No I’m an only child, my parents are still together, somehow.”
“Eh?”
“They make a very odd couple.”
“Not like us then.”
“We are not a-“
“ANYWAY-” Kiba said loudly, causing a few patrons to look over in interest, apparently being in a dungeon in a sex shop was still not as interesting as eavesdropping. “-So you want to tell your parents that, how shall we say...” Kiba grinned, cocked an eyebrow and rubbed his chin in a parody of stroking a beard, before saying in near perfect English, “You prefer the company of other gentlemen?”
Shino blinked, that was unexpected. “You speak English?”
“Sports and English baby, the only things I was any good at in school. I was also a master of ditching school, but they don’t grade that.”
“I have a feeling you would have been expelled from my school.”
“Well, I also have a feeling you went to a fancy expensive academy, and I bet you every single penny I have that they wouldn’t care if you didn’t turn up at all, as long as the parents pay the fees on time.”
“Judai was not like that (1).”
“Judai? In Chiyoda?”
“Indeed.’”
“Shit, I went to Tomonaga a few streets over! (2), but anyway stop changing the subject bug boy, you brought up telling the parents and you can’t back out, why do you suddenly want to know now?”
Indeed, he could not back away now, in fact he was running out of time. Adjusting his glasses, he spoke quietly;
“My fiancée and her family are visiting next month.”
The smile immediately dropped from Kiba’s face. “What?”
“My fiancée, I have to marry her next year.”
“What? You’re engaged? To a girl!?”
“…Yes.”
“But you’re gay!”
“I know that, but I don’t have a choice in the matter.”
“That’s bullshit-“
“It was arranged when we were infants, it’s for my family.”
“Your…” He was starting to turn red, “That’s total bullshit, why won’t you just be honest and tell-“
Suddenly he stopped, apparently spotting something just over Shino’s shoulder. He turned to see, of all people, Naruto and Sasuke coming down the stairs.
“Fuck.”
Turning back, Kiba still looked angry, but now also uncertain. “Fuck this.”
“What?”
“I ain’t taking this right now, see you later.” He stormed off, nearly knocking over Sasuke on his way to the stairs, and he saw Sasuke mutter something, and Kiba promptly yelled at him to fuck off, not even breaking his stride.
“Kiba?” What the hell had just happened?
Naruto looked at him, looking confused, “And what the hell was that about?”
-
“I get why he’s pissed,” Naruto muttered as they sat in the quiet ramen shop later, looking at the bottom of his empty bowl as if it had insulted him, “But why were you talking about it in a sex shop?”
“Idiot, you were talking about what we were doing last night in the supermarket an hour ago.”
“But I just dunno how that came up in the S&M section.”
“We were just talking and the conversation went in that direction-”
“Now that I think about it, what were you doing in a sex shop!?”
“What do you think they were doing, browsing for tea cups?”
“Shut up!”
“It’s none of our business! What if he asks what we were doing there?”
Shino really did hate being talked over as if he was not there, he may be quiet but he was not invisible. However he saw at this point there was no stopping them.
Eventually Naruto left to use the toilet, Sasuke watched him go until he was out of sight, then turned to Shino with a serious look.
“I just want to let you know,” He said quietly, “I’ve met Kiba before, and I don’t think he’s your type.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure, but I think he’s done, or doing, something illegal.”
“You cannot just say that without saying why.”
Sasuke checked to see if Naruto had come back, then: “It was a few years ago at this party for one of my cousins.”
“What did he do?”
“He didn’t stay very long, he turned up really late in the night and disappeared with a few of my cousins for a while, and he left.”
“Is that all?”
“When he was going, I saw one of the guys give him money.”
“Oh. I already know about that.”
“You do?”
“He told me a few weeks ago.”
“What does he do?”
“Adult entertainment.”
“And you don’t have a problem with him doing that!?”
“It’s his job, he’s explained everything and we have an understanding.”
“You don’t consider it cheating?”
“We’re hardly together, and even if we were, it’s just his job, and there’s a line between personal and professional.”
Sasuke didn’t look convinced, “It would bother me.”
“It would bother a lot of people… I would be lying if I said I was completely unfazed by it, but as I said, he keeps it separate.”
Sasuke looks unconvinced, but just shook his head and said “Just don’t tell Naruto, he’d just overreact and be jealous.”
“That’s why you looked so horrified when Kiba turned up in class.”
“Yes, and it’s worse now because Kiba obviously remembers me.”
Shino sighed, “I won’t say anything, but don’t you think you’re underestimating him?”
“You don’t know Naruto like I do, when he’s jealous he causes too much trouble and won’t listen to anybody.”
“I see.”
A moment later, something occurred to him, “I thought you hated parties.”
“Okaasan made me go. She thinks I should be more social.”
Naruto returned and sat down at his former place next to his boyfriend, “So,” He said, “Any ideas on what do with this fiancée thing?”
-
The next day Shino called Kiba and asked him if he would like to come round to his house so they could talk, and he accepted.
“What the fuck is that!?” Was the first thing Kiba said when he walked into his room, pointing over dramatically at a poster on his wall.
“That is a botfly larvae.” Shino said as he came in behind him and shut the door. His parents were out but he preferred to have the door closed anyway, “They are mostly found in South America.”
“Then what the fuck is it doing in your bedroom?? Not exactly romantic is it?”
“It’s only a picture.”
“It’s…oh God, there’s more posters of fucking bugs. Don’t you get itchy in here?”
“No, why should I?”
“Never mind, I don’t want to get into it cos I might feel sick. Why so many bug pictures?”
“Surely you know I’m a Natural History student.”
“Yeah but, why bugs?” Kiba threw himself on the formerly neat bed and made himself very comfortable. Shino sighed inwardly and sat at his computer chair.
“Lifelong interest, I like how ordered they are, and their place in shaping the earth.”
“Oh.”
“Do you really care?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Neither seemed to be able to think of anything to say after that, and there was a lull as Kiba suddenly seemed very interested in staring at his bookcase, while Shino decided the wall above Kiba was worth study. As the silence deepened, he could hear the ticking of the nearby clock. So this was an awkward silence.
Finally, the brunet looked back at him, unsmiling “So, did you knock her up?”
“What?”
“Only reason I can get why you’d get married cos your parents say.”
“No, I’ve never…with...no, she’s not pregnant. It’s as I said before, it was arranged when we were very young.”
“Have you met her?”
“Yes of course I’ve met her, I have not seen her for about two years because our studies but before that our families would visit each other at least once a year.”
“That’s nice but why are you doing it?”
“Our fathers are friends, and it would be good for my family’s reputation.”
“‘Reputation’? This isn’t the fucking eighteenth century! Why haven’t you said no?”
“I think I’ve been putting it off for so long I forced myself to forget it.”
“Really? You gonna talk to them?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Well don’t you think you should? I don’t want you to be shackled to some chick when you should be with me!”
“Kiba-“
“-And even if you don’t wanna be with me for some crazy reason you still shouldn’t, if you married her you’d end up just like those miserable middle-aged fuckers that call me up.”
Ouch. That was a scarily specific insult. He opened his mouth to deny it, but somehow the words would not come. Kiba moved further up the bed, putting his hands on Shino’s knees and smiling slightly. “I don’t want that for you.” He said, and Shino found himself nodding slightly, “Neither do I.”
For a little while they sat, gazing at each other before Shino looked away, feeling strange and a little embarrassed. He could still feel Kiba looking at him.
“Entomologists also work in Veterinarian Science.” He felt himself say.
“What?” He could imagine the look on the brunet’s face.
“For treatment of infected bites, animals are just as vulnerable to insect bites, if not more so than humans, so studies in insect/animal vulnerabilities are relevant to you as a dog owner.”
“So…” Kiba still sounded confused, and Shino risked looking back at him, “So…you wanna be a vet or something?”
“No, I want to be a researcher and archivist, but I have considered telling you before that reading papers can help Akamaru’s health, after a Entomology research paper is published, Veterinarians usually use the findings for new health and dietary research for wild and domestic animals.”
“Oh, that’s cool I guess.” Confusion was starting to turn into disappointment, and Shino busied himself by getting the latest issue of the Zoology magazine he subscribed to, before giving it to Kiba.
“Thanks.” Kiba flicked through it, “It’s in English?”
“I can read English but very slowly, I thought you would understand it faster than I.”
“Awww, that was a compliment!”
“Merely a fact.”
Kiba brightened into that infuriating grin, then leaned over and licked his cheek, “Thanks.” He whispered in his ear.
He…
“Y’welcome.” He found himself muttering back.
-
Golden Firefly Restaurant, Ginza.
Despite the common assumption that those born into higher society always fit in better with their own settings and peers, Shino despised gourmet restaurants and other glittering occasions that circled them. Of course he disliked any sort of public setting or occasions to be social, but with interaction with ‘his’ people, the wealthy and privileged, there came an air of expected conformity, which was even more suffocating than everyday life. Of course, as a family of academics, descended from a Samurai clan who made the actual money and status for their family, families such as the Aburames’ made a curious niche in high social circles, neither famous, influential or even worthy of note in mainstream society, but their name and wealth kept them within their unofficial class, wanted or no. Shino’s parents rarely interacted with other families that were not academics or other mostly un-noted families: with the exception of the Hyuuga family.
As the class of Samurai became obsolete, families splintered away into many different careers; many became writers, academics, journalists etc., while others went into business and industry. Shino knew that some families just went into what was convenient, such as the Naras’, their land was mostly virgin woodland, and so earned millions from logging and renting out land for farming (though a decade ago Shikamaru’s father had decided to turn a sizeable amount of his land into a wildlife park).
The Hyuuga family did not seem to believe in such fate or sentimentality.
One international bank and several intimidating collections of priceless art and antiques left the Hyuugas’ one of the richest families in Asia, and currently, he was sat at the same table as the patriarch of the clan, in one of the private dining rooms of the best restaurants in Tokyo.
The table party consisted of himself, his parents, Hyuuga-san, Neji-kun, Hanabi-chan, and Hinata-chan, and the atmosphere was odd, to be perfectly honest.
His parents and Hyuuga-san were chatting amiably, their discussion current events mixed with catching up on old times, while he and the young Hyuugas’ had barely exchanged a word. Hinata occasionally glanced up from her meal to smile at him briefly, Hanabi looked bored and Neji seemed peevish, although Shino was unsure if it was being forced to come along to Tokyo (as Hinata’s second closest male relative and therefore a type of secondary chaperone) or simply because he and Shino was in the same room together that annoyed him. They had never been close, merely mutual indifference that had turned into a mild dislike on Neji’s part for some reason.
Although never truly vocalised, he knew that Hinata was as reluctant as he was about the marriage, but equally was willing to do it to maintain tradition, if anything she had more to lose. Maybe Neji’s dislike of the arrangement had transformed into blaming Shino for it, he was not sure.
He was sat nearly across from Hyuuga-san, perhaps for propriety, but perhaps also for slight intimidation. That was not difficult, Shino had known him all his life but in this situation he was incredibly nervous.
He had never been intimated by his wealth of general air of old-fashioned formality, but what Hyuuga-san was on a personal level scared the life out of him. He was his father’s best friend of over twenty-five years, and he was also the father of his fiancée, Hinata, the woman sat directly opposite him.
She had matured since he had last seen her, a crippling lack of self confidence and a stern upbringing had left her painfully shy and barely able to speak without stuttering. But now, although she still frequently blushed and was obviously a shy woman, something about her had changed. The defensive habit she used to have of hunching her shoulders and looking down as she spoke was gone, her tone was quiet but confident, and she no longer seemed afraid to express an opinion, although she always seemed to pick her words carefully. Medical School, it seems, had done wonders for her confidence, and she was beautiful. She had always been beautiful.
Sometimes self-awareness could be a terrible thing. Hinata’s shy smile could make any man’s heart ache, but all Shino could really think of now was the look on Kiba’s face when he told him he had a fiancée.
When Kiba had visited him, they agreed that to not talk about it for a while, whilst Shino dealt with the situation. Although Shino wondered if Kiba would actually stick to the agreement, because he knew Kiba never really tried to conceal how he felt.
Obviously he knew what his problem was: Firstly, he was gay and it would not be fair to Hinata or himself to marry. Secondly, it would not be fair to Kiba.
When Kiba had announced a little over a month ago that they were ‘boyfriends’, it seemed too ridiculous to be involved with such a person, and brushed it aside like so many of Kiba’s crude jokes. But the looks and touches Kiba sometimes gave him were… well, thanks to Kiba and his friends he knew the difference between ‘lacking the concept of personal space’ and ‘light groping’.
He also now knew that Kiba was blunt to the point of rudeness, but never insincere, he always spoke about what was on his mind.
Shino had lately found himself liking the brunet’s butchered ways of attempting subtle courtship, the time they spent together was like spending time with his friends, but unlike social times with his friends he was no longer the near silent spectator, his reserved nature did not disappear but with Kiba he was…different. Kiba certainly seemed to like his inexpert type of informality, and when Kiba wasn’t being abrasive he liked his company, and often found himself thinking of him when they were apart. Therefore, he had to conclude that Kiba genuinely liked him and wanted to pursue a relationship, and he was of a similar feeling.
“Shino-kun?”
He felt himself start slightly before looking up, Hinata seemed concerned. “Are you okay? You’ve hardly eaten all night.”
“I appear to not have much of an appetite, I’m sorry.”
“Its fine,” Pale eyes glanced to their fathers talking, probably to see if he was listening before she continued in a lower voice; “I couldn’t eat a single thing all day, I had to make sure I would finish my meal tonight.”
“Ah.”
Another glance to their fathers, then her lips moved, but no sound came.
“Excuse me?”
Yet another glance, then her lips moved again:
-dinner.
She was mouthing something to him, this time he understood and inclined his head slightly to repeat herself again.
Ask me to walk with you after dinner.
Oh.
Not quite understanding why, he did as she said.
“Excuse me, Hyuuga-san, but after dinner may I take Hinata for a walk?”
5.5