Plucky! (Shino x Reader 2)

Plucky!
(Shino x Reader 2)

As you approached Ichiraku’s, you could feel everyone’s eyes watching you.  Each stride you took was long and confident.  You were practically strutting.  The outfit you were wearing wasn’t inappropriate, but it was a lot more enticing than your usual attire.  When you finally entered the small restaurant it didn’t take you long to spot who you were looking for.

“You showed up!” You laughed slightly as you took a seat beside Shino.  He didn’t even glance at you.

“I said I would, didn’t I?”

Rubbing your cold palms together, you bobbed your head enthusiastically.  “You did, you did.  And here we are!”  This time your laugh was a bit more forced.  You were awkward and a bit nervous.  Trying to live up to your speech the other day, you wanted to make yourself seem as “plucky” as possible.  Instead you acted as if you were coming down from a sugar high.

“What’s good, old man?” You asked Teuchi, who gave you a slightly awkward smile.  He had known you most of your life, and you were acting…odd to say the least.  He opened his mouth to speak when Ayame interrupted.

“Oh, are you two on a date?”  Her cheeks were tinged slightly pink as she gave you a bright, attractive smile.  You had always been a little jealous of Ayame.  She was pretty, she could cook.  The fact that you were on a date and she wasn’t sort of made you feel a bit more confident.

“Yep!”  You puffed out your chest slightly and straightened your back.  Your smile mirrored hers.  “Sure are!”

Ayame glanced at Shino and giggled slightly.  “I think you two are cute together!  Order anything you like on the house!  Right?”  She glanced at Teuchi, who massaged his neck and laughed nervously.

“S-Sure.”

As the two of them began cooking, you glanced at Shino out of the corner of your eye.  He wasn’t unattractive…maybe a bit odd, but physically he—

“What is it?”

Your eyes widened as Shino spoke.  You hadn’t realized it, but you had been watching him for quite a while.

“U-Umm…n-nothing!  I was reading the menu!”  You pointed past him to a menu that was posted beside his head.  Before he could say anything, you blurted out, “D-Do you like shrimp ramen?”

His expression didn’t seem to change.  You had no clue what Shino was thinking, and he still wouldn’t look at you, which really irritated you for some reason.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t like shrimp ramen.”

“Oh,” you mouthed your reply silently.  It wasn’t long before a steaming bowl of ramen was placed in front of you.  Ayame smiled brightly.

“Enjoy~!”

    The walk back to your house was awkwardly silent.  You tip-toed along a few bricks and tried to tight-rope walk on a few benches to make things more interesting, but it didn’t help the awkward aura that was pressing down on the two of you.  Shino kept his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes locked straight ahead.  You had never noticed before, but he was actually a rather unapproachable person.

“So, do you?”

You stumbled a bit.  Shino’s words caught you so off-guard that you nearly fell off of the bench that you were walking on.  Once you regained your balance you noticed a pale hand lingering in front of your face.  Shino stared at you expectantly.  It was probably the first time he had looked at you all evening.  The fact that his eyes were covered made you frown, however.  You could only see your own annoyed expression reflected in his shades.  Wrapping your fingers around his loosely (mostly as a courtesy), you hopped onto the pavement.  Your shoes made a light clicking sound as you landed.  The scent of your perfume wafted into the air and floated away with the breeze.  You tried fixing your hair slightly, but soon gave up as Shino began walking again.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Do you or don’t you?”

You sighed irritably.  “Do I or don’t I what?”

“Like shrimp ramen.”

“Oh,” your expression became blank as you stared at the path in front of you.  Your house was a growing silhouette in the distance.  “(Answer).”

There was another awkward silence that extended all the way until you were standing on your porch.  Glancing back over your shoulder, you saw Shino nod.

“Good to know.”

You took another step, then stopped.  Turning suddenly, you blurted out, “I’ll make you believe in me!”

Shino stopped as well.  He didn’t turn around, however.  He merely stayed within ear-shot.  When it became apparent that you weren’t going to speak again, however, he kept walking.

You felt your heart sink slightly as the ninja disappeared.  “I’ll make you believe in me if it’s the last thing I do…”

To be Continued…