Comme sommes toi? - How are you?

Le Americain amie - The American friend

Oui - Yes

WARNING!: It gets a little rapey in this chappie. NOT REALLY BADLY THOUGH.

Chapitre Cinq

Narrateur: Monsieur Shino

"All right, so Brulant Transpirer is the name of the place." I let Shikamaru know while we walked. I wasn't really sure if he was listening, but I felt that I should keep talking anyway. "I'm in with the club owner. We can get stuff for free, come in anytime, whatever you want. It's pretty exclusive..." I sized him up for a moment and turned back forward. "...and you'll probably fit in just fine with them." He gave a sigh of relief, it seemed. Time surely flies when you're with someone like him. We were walking and talking for a while, but I hadn't noticed the setting sun. It was getting much darker. Six o' clock.

I looked up at the big brick building. Standing next to it were most of the usual group, including Kiba, my long-time best friend and a loud dog lover, Naruto, an obnoxious blond, Sasuke, a dark young man, Temari, a cocky girl, and Gaara, and even darker young man than Sasuke. I came up to them with Shikamaru... who was acting like a shadow to me.

"Shino! Comme sommes toi?" Naruto beamed walking over to me and giving me a pound. Kiba walked up behind him, then looked to Shikamaru.

"Le Americain amie?" he said looking back at me.

"Oui."

"Hey, Shikamaru." Kiba said to him holding out a hand with a big grin. Shikamaru looked surprised, but he returned the handshake kindly.

"We've been waiting for a while." Sasuke sighed before gesturing toward the door for Kiba. He rustled through his pockets and pulled out a set of keys, which he used to unlock the door. After it swung open, Temari was the first to step in, and Gaara closely followed.

"Hey, c'mon inside Shikamaru! Shino!" Naruto called back to us before jogging into the door. Sasuke entered with his hands in his pockets, and Kiba looked to us. I looked down to my companion. He glanced up at me then turned to the door. I took that as cue to go in, and Shikamaru came in after me. We went upstairs to the main area alongside everyone else, and we sat in a booth. Everyone else filed into their own seats and looked up at Kiba who was standing before us, as usual.

I heard the door to the left open, and Sakura stepped inside. I heard Shikamaru shuffle and gasp. He hopped up and pointed at her

"You're that girl from the school! What are you doing here?!" he asked shouting out. She giggled slightly.

"Sasuke here is my boyfriend." she said pointing to him.

He sighed. "I hate being here..."

"Sorry I'm late, everyone... I'm here to help out." She sat down, and Shikamaru sighed before sitting back down.

Kiba clapped his hands together to make sure we were all paying attention. "Alright, everybody, listen. The regulars will be here any moment now, and I want you to take good care of this place. Be on your best behavior. We have a guest." We turned our attention to Shikamaru who looked down shyly. I felt myself smile.

LVSTRYNPRS

Narrateur Interrupteur: Monsieur Shikamaru

It was very dark, other than the luminescent neon lights going all across the bar in the center of the room. The loud party music felt as though was pulsating throughout the city. People of all kinds from the ages of sixteen to the late twenties were there. I suddenly wished that I were warned about these boys, though... Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and especially Kiba... let's just say that they weren't too hard on the eyes. The majority of the party-goers were males, and the crowd was enormous, just full of people singing, dancing, drinking, smoking, eating, chatting, kissing... pretty much anything you might think of young and hormonal people to do. I was pretty damn tired, and frankly, I was scared too. Honestly, I didn't want to leave Shino behind. In fact, I felt very bad about it... but I needed a break from the hot and uncomfortable atmosphere inside the room. I stood up slowly and made a path across the club. Making my way wasn't easy at all, and I was almost surprised that I hadn't had more collisions than I did. At last, I reached the metal door. When I placed my hand on the silver handle, I was totally stunned by the fact that another, bigger hand was placed atop mine. I took in air sharply, and immediately whipped my head around to see who was there. This guy was slightly older than me, and it would be a lie to say that he wasn't extremely attractive... but that wasn't the main point at the moment. He appeared tipsy, so I was pretty sure that he'd had a few.

My eyes shifted back and forth slowly for a moment. "Can I help you?" I asked, making it obvious that he was a bother. He looked into my eyes, and I was feeling very small.

"And just where do you think you're going at this late hour?" he asked me with a malicious tone of voice. He had an accent, just like everyone else. I shrunk back again, trying desperately in vain to wriggle my hand free of his grasp.

"And just where did you get the idea that it's any of your business?" I answered him defiantly. I think I may have made him a bit angry.

"You've got balls to talk back to me like that." His grip tightened and he gave me a perverted smirk. The way he loomed over me was extremely intimidating.

"It's easier to talk back to asses like you who get me annoyed."

I think he was grinding his teeth. "You're too cute to have a potty-mouth like that."

I began to feel very worried. "Look, I don't go that way..." I lied. I knew he wouldn't buy it, but it was worth a shot.

"Nice try," he said with his smirk widening. "but we all know this is a gay bar."

"Of course, a gay bar." I said to myself obliviously. My blood froze. Shino had taken me to a GAY BAR? My mind was racing at ten times the normal speed. How was this possible? What did it mean? And why didn't anyone mention this to me?

"Brulant Transpier is a gay bar!?" I interrogated loudly. I was lucky that a very few people had heard me, even though most of them wouldn't have understood me. He started to laugh lowly.

"Boy, are you clueless. It's not exclusively a gay bar, but it isn't hard to assume with a prize like you."

I felt a sharp pain in my back as I was thrust onto the wall. I had never felt so helpless in my life as I my wrists were pinned down. His knee went between my legs gently, and I wasn't sure whether to enjoy it or scream for help. His face was getting closer and closer to mine. So dangerously close... I had to do something about it. I turned my head to the left and huffed in a huge breath before calling out...

"Shino!"

It felt like a defining moment to me. My oppressor raised an eyebrow at me. I couldn't really see past him, but I spied someone or something moving behind him.

The familiar voice chimed in. "Bonjour." He spoke calmly, and I felt like a guardian angel was watching over me. I couldn't help but smile.

"Shino." I muttered. The man looked over his shoulder at him. I think my confidence took a hit when I noticed that Shino was a bit less bulky than him. I tried not to let it show.

"I'm in the middle of something. You can fuck off for now." Shino pushed back his hair, almost as though he were flustered. Was I drooling?

"You have my friend against that door, there. If you would kindly step away..."

"This little dude is mine." he said holding his body closer to mine. "Maybe you should step away."

"One last chance." Shino warned. "Step away, or you'll suffer a bite." I didn't know what a "bite" was, but it sure sounded like he deserved it.

But rudely, he rolled his eyes and turned back to me. Whatever Shino was going to do, he needed to do it quickly. I was about to lose my virginity... forcibly.

All of a sudden, the older boy twitched, and his eyes went blank. Shino caught his limp body, as to not let it crush me, and tossed it aside onto the floor carelessly. I was shocked to say the least...

So I stood up, my knees knocking. A whole lot of people were looking, and some of them were clapping, cheering, whistling, and whatnot. Shino payed no attention to them, almost as if they were as normal as the breeze going by. He looked into my eyes (I think) with deep concern and asked, "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

It took me a moment to respond. "No, I'm fine." I felt that I had to ask about the "bite" that he used to knock the rapist out cold. "Um... how did you--"

Shino held up his pointer finger. "It's a secret." he said with a smirk. "Let's go back home. See you at school, Kiba."

Kiba waved. "Adieu."

With that, Shino walked me out the door as though I were injured. Not another word. It would have been very dark, if not for the bluish-white streetlights illuminating the roads as we walked casually and leisurely toward home. Paris was turning out to be pretty cool. When we arrived back at the apartment building, the two of us sat on the front stoop and relaxed. I broke the silence.

"Shino... what you did for me back there--"

"I had to," he cut in. "As a friend. You needed help."

I looked down and smiled, twiddling my thumbs. Was it just me, or was I acting totally out of character? Almost like Hinata back home. He stood up without warning and held out his hand to me. I looked up and accepted it, allowing him to pull me up. I felt very light. But something else unexpected happened... After he had pulled me up, in almost the same motion, he pulled me into a bear-hug. I blinked in astonishment.

"Try and stay out of trouble." he said before letting me go free and entering the code on the padlock. (Such high security!) He walked me to my apartment, and headed on to his own. My heart was pounding because I still hadn't gotten over my startled feelings of the embrace, and I had to ask yet another question before going to bed.

"Shino?" I was trying to make my voice sound innocent, and I think it was working.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Why do you wear those sunglasses at nighttime?"

An awkward hush fell over the hallway, and a sweat drop formed upon Shino's head.