There should still be some eggs left in the refrigerator. Maybe she should make omurice tomorrow. She also needs to pick up more eggs at the grocery store. Should she ask Shikamaru to do it? He's so lazy, he rarely does chores. And does Shikamaru even like omurice? Then again, she can just make omurice for herself. But she won't feel comfortable not making a portion for him.
With a quiet sigh, Hinata turns her thoughts back to her Microbiology textbook. She needs to focus.
"Hey!"
Her hands fly up to cover her throbbing forehead. She glares across the table at Kiba. He smirks at her, playfully flexing the fingers he had used to flick her forehead.
"I called you three times already," he says unapologetically. "What's with you, anyway? You've been staring at the same page for ages."
"I was starting to pay attention when you hit me!"
"Ha! So you admit you weren't listening to me!"
She briefly closes her eyes, willing herself to be patient. "Kiba, please."
He raises his hands in surrender before tilting his chair back on two legs. Hinata glances pointedly at his lax posture and then at the black screen of his open laptop. She sighs again, lifting her textbook upright in a futile attempt to drag her attention back to the subject. Their Microbiology exam is in three days, so why is Kiba wasting time squinting at her like that instead of studying—
"You're hiding something."
The textbook drops to the table with a bang. People around them glare, and one person even shushes Hinata. She blushes. Kiba looks as though he wants to cackle at his revelation, but he opts for a near-feral grin because people are watching their table warily, as if they suspect Hinata is purposely trying to cause disturbances in the library.
"Damn, I can't believe you really are hiding something," he says, taking his phone out. "Wait 'til Shino finds out. He'll be pissed!"
Hinata snatches his phone with such ferocity that Kiba shouts in alarm as she rips it from his grasp. A girl walking past their table stops, stares, shakes her head, and then strides away. The students at the tables surrounding them are glowering. Breathing heavily, Hinata tucks Kiba's phone in her bag and begins to swiftly pack up her things. She'll have to avoid the library for the rest of the month. Everyone is looking at her like she's insane, but it's not her fault, it's Kiba's!
She rushes out of the library and walks as quickly as she can. She needs to get as far away from Kiba as possible, so she can text Shino in peace. Shino is many things, petty being the most prominent of his traits. If he finds out that she has a secret she has yet to tell him, even if he doesn't know the contents of the secret itself, he will keep a grudge for weeks, if not months. So, if she can just get to Shino before Kiba and tell him that she has a secret that she'll reveal to him eventually, Shino will be content. As she thinks, her footsteps slow.
Kiba appears in front of her, growling.
Hinata doesn't even scream—her knees give out and her vision blurs as she comes dangerously close to fainting in shock.
"Oh fuck, Hinata!" He pats her cheeks until her eyes are wide and alert, and then he squishes her face between his hands. "You haven't fainted since high school. You scared the shit out of me, idiot!"
"You scared me," she manages to mumble despite Kiba's hold on her cheeks.
He lets her go and helps her stand up. "Yeah, well, if you didn't steal my phone . . ."
They both halt, having completely forgotten about why Hinata was being chased by Kiba in the wake of Hinata nearly losing consciousness. Discreetly, Hinata edges half a step backwards—
Like a predator, Kiba's eyes immediately catch sight of the movement and his body is in motion before Hinata can do anything more than squeak. Thankfully, he doesn't tackle her because she had almost fainted a minute ago, but Kiba does come close enough that her nose bumps into his hard chest as he checks her back pockets for his phone. She moans in pain, trying to move her hand between their bodies, so she can cradle her throbbing nose—
Someone clears their throat.
Another voice goes, "Uh."
Hinata and Kiba glance to the side, where Shikamaru and Chouji are staring at them with discomfort. Hinata wonders why they seem so awkward before realizing how she and Kiba must appear—her face is a burning red (from exertion), her head is tucked against Kiba's chest (her nose hurts), Kiba has his hands on her butt (to find his stolen phone), and a few seconds ago she moaned (because her nose still hurts).
Oh.
She yelps and pushes Kiba back. "It's not what it looks like!"
Inadvertently, her eyes land on Shikamaru. Someone felt her up in front of her husband.
"It's exactly what it looks like!" shouts Kiba, incensed for some reason Hinata can't even begin to comprehend.
Everyone winces at his volume. Hinata holds her nose and groans, a little nasally. Sometimes, she really wishes Kiba would stop talking. In the corner of her eye, she notices Shikamaru glancing at her.
"What," says Chouji, crunching down on a potato chip with raised eyebrows, "are we looking at, exactly? I don't want to jump to conclusions, but were you or were you not touching Hinata's ass while she was moaning?"
Hinata collapses to the ground, burying her bright red face in her hands. No one helps her up in the ensuing silence after Chouji's question. She takes a few deep breaths and stands in time to find Kiba throwing his hands up in the air.
"Well, uh, yeah, I guess I touched her ass—but not for the reasons you think! Hinata stole my phone and I was just trying to get it back!" he insists. "And the moaning—I don't actually know why Hinata was doing that."
The three men turn to her. Shikamaru steps forward, pulling a hand free from his pocket; then he suddenly aborts the movement, shoving his hand back before Hinata can even guess at what he was trying to do.
"Are you okay?"
"I smashed my nose against Kiba. It . . . it doesn't hurt that much now."
She forces a smile. Everyone gives her skeptical looks.
"Let's get you an ice pack, idiot," says Kiba, grabbing her bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
He waves at Chouji and Shikamaru before walking away. Hinata stumbles over a quick goodbye to the two and then hurries after Kiba. As she catches up, she realizes he is digging through her bag.
"Kiba, no!"
Phone in hand, Kiba lifts it above both of their heads with a smirk. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't text Shino."
Hinata glares.
Kiba laughs in her face.
"Hinata? I thought you were going to have dinner with Kiba and Shino today."
Her face is buried into a cushion, so her voice is muffled when she says, "Shino uninvited me."
Shikamaru, checking the refrigerator for food since Hinata is clearly in no mood to cook, pauses. Uninvited?
"Hinata stole my phone!"
"Kiba's fault?"
Hinata's head moves up and down in a sad little nod. Shino is notoriously bitter about being left out of things, whether they are secrets or simple trips to the grocery store. So Hinata must have been hiding something from Shino, and Kiba discovered her secret and tried to tell Shino. Sighing, Shikamaru glances back at the refrigerator. It's full. He doesn't really want to cook today, and Hinata clearly doesn't want to cook, so—
He asks, "Do you mind take-out? I'm thinking orange chicken."
A thumb lifts weakly, falling back down a few seconds later. Okay. He thinks back to Hinata's possible secret. There's really nothing that comes to mind, except their marriage.
Shikamaru blinks.
No, not possible. Hinata would be a complete mess if that were the case—not that she isn't a mess now. She had been looking forward to having dinner with her two best friends because she was too busy until now.
He shrugs to himself and reaches for his phone to call the Chinese restaurant he likes.
Hinata will be fine. She's more resilient than she appears.
[Hey! Want to get some ramen tomorrow?]
She stares at the message for a long time. Once her eyes begin to burn, she blinks and begins a carefully crafted response.
[Sorry! I'm having lunch with Hanabi tomorrow.]
Naruto-kun replies before the guilt Hinata feels for lying to her crush can start to gnaw at her insides. A gif of a man pouting appears on her phone screen. She can't help the immediate curve of her lips. Then—
[It's ok tho we can have lunch some other time!]
No, she thinks, but she can't bear to let Naruto down.
[Yes] She furiously backspaces. [Naruto-kun, I'm] Instead of hitting the backspace button again, her finger slips and hits send.
[Yea?]
Hinata pats her cheeks, hopefully waking herself up. The words had instinctively come out of her and she's not even sure of what she was trying to say. Naruto-kun, I'm in love with you? Naruto-kun, I'm married? Either option would be a disaster.
[Naruto-kun, I'm free on Friday night so I'm going to the bar with the others. Are you going too?]
It sounds like she wants him to come, Hinata reflects after rereading her own message. She can admit that there is a small—large—part of her that wants to see Naruto-kun again, but she also wants to avoid him because lying to someone she cares about so deeply hurts.
[I can't it's my dad's birthday. Definitely next time]
Hinata buries her face in her arms and tries to pretend that the hollowness in her chest is because she's relieved. Disappointment is for people with expectations and she doesn't have expectations of a relationship with Naruto-kun.
"Watch out for—oh, never mind." Chouji winces, his sympathetic stare fixed on Hinata's sopping wet form.
Sasuke silently hands the apologetic man the two glasses he had caught just before they hit the ground.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you!"
Hinata doesn't reply, eyes glazed over and cheeks flushed. Then, she falls to her knees and starts dry heaving. Sighing, Shikamaru exchanges a look with Chouji. He had expected Kiba to be completely wasted—said man is having a rowdy drinking contest with Lee, Sakura, Ino, and Sai in the next booth—but Hinata? It's difficult for him to imagine, even with the reality in front of him. Hinata groans with teary eyes and Shikamaru almost gets up to help her because she looks so damn pitiful. He hesitates, though, and then Tenten is approaching Hinata with a glass of water. She helps Hinata take little sips.
"Who thought it was a good idea to let Hinata get drunk?" demands Tenten.
"I usually watch Hinata's alcohol intake, but I did not this time. Why? Because I am ignoring her." Despite his monotonous voice, Shikamaru can tell Shino is genuinely sorry.
"I'm more worried about why Hinata wanted to get drunk," says Chouji.
Everyone falls silent.
Then Kiba stands on the seats of the booth beside theirs, leaning over with a furtive gaze. Everyone leans forward as he cups his hands around his mouth.
"She failed her Microbiology exam!" he loudly whispers. "Hinata told me when we had ramen yesterday."
Everyone with the misfortune of being near Kiba wrinkles their noses at his breath. Meanwhile, Hinata is weeping drunkenly into Tenten's shoulder. Shikamaru stares hard at a spot on the table, trying to drown out the noise around him through sheer concentration. Why did he let Chouji and Ino talk him into coming, again?
"Don't cry, Hinata . . . Seriously, you're just dehydrating yourself even more!" says Tenten, rubbing the girl's back.
Wincing when Hinata wipes her snotty, tear-streaked face on Tenten's sleeve, Chouji takes a few napkins from the table and hands them to the crying girl. Tenten grimaces as she strokes Hinata's hair.
"Someone needs to take Hinata home. Does anyone know where she lives now?" announces Tenten.
"Her dad's house, right? Kiba—" Chouji eyes Kiba, who is laughing raucously as Sakura slaps Lee across the face. Ino lunges across the table to hold back Sakura when Sai makes a rude comment about the pink-haired girl's face, but Kiba is left to fend for himself when Sakura turns her attention onto him. "Uh, never mind. Shino?"
He shakes his head. "I do not know the address. I also do not recommend allowing Hinata's father to see her in this state."
Shikamaru splutters into his glass of water. He doesn't even want to contemplate Hiashi's reaction to a drunk Hinata and his subsequent lectures directed at both Hinata and Shikamaru for not acting appropriately. One thing that really annoys Shikamaru about being married (aside from not being in love with his wife and having a strict father-in-law) is that he is responsible for Hinata and vice versa. He had been too busy dozing on the table to see Hinata drink herself into a stupor, but she has also been strangely gloomy and pensive in the past few days—he doubts her Microbiology exam is the sole reason—so he decided to give her space unless she starts crying, at which point he planned to hand Hinata over to his mom. Hinata is crying right now, but Shikamaru is unsure whether she has reached her breaking point, or the alcohol is amplifying her emotions. Then again, maybe the fact that she let herself get drunk in the first place means that she really needs his (mom's) support. Stifling a groan, Shikamaru makes a mental note to visit his mother on Sunday with Hinata in tow if he can't solve whatever is going on with Hinata by the end of tomorrow.
"Are you okay?" asks Chouji in concern.
Shikamaru opens his mouth to tell him that he's just tired when he hears Tenten say, "I'll text Neji to let Hinata crash at his place."
The words come out automatically. "I'm going to head home right now. You don't need to text Neji. I can drop Hinata off at his apartment on the way to mine."
"Oh, great! Neji always gets cranky when he misses some of his 'beauty sleep'," says Tenten, rolling her eyes. "You're sober, right?"
Chouji gives Shikamaru a weird look before breaking into an exasperated smile. "I'm pretty sure all Shikamaru's done tonight is drink water and nap."
Shikamaru nods, careful to keep his breathing even and relaxed. He's trying to steady his racing heart, which had almost skipped a beat at the sound of Neji's name. Neji is of course aware that Shikamaru and Hinata are married because he is the latter's cousin. However, he frowns on keeping the marriage a secret and only agreed to keep it under wraps for Hinata's sake. Unfortunately, this doesn't stop Neji from dropping heavy hints about the marriage when Hinata isn't present. Neji definitely would have insinuated that Hinata should go home with Shikamaru if Tenten had texted him. And Neji would rip Shikamaru apart for not taking care of Hinata.
Shikamaru is not very fond of his in-laws.
"Troublesome."
He slides out of the booth and crouches down in front of Hinata. She looks up at him, her long eyelashes fluttering slowly and her pink lips slightly parted. For a moment, all he does is stare back. Her face is so red that he thinks if he leans closer, he would be able to feel the heat radiating off her soft skin.
"S-Shikamaru?"
Swallowing, he notices that his left hand is holding her forearm and that he's far too close to her for his comfort. He knows the others are watching him, so he doesn't flinch away from Hinata, even though his skin is prickling where it is touching hers.
He licks his dry lips. "Hey, help me out here. You need to stand up."
She squints at him before nodding. Trembling, she rises slowly. Shikamaru guides her back onto her feet, only releasing her forearm so he can move her other arm over his shoulders. Hinata resists the motion, almost falling to the floor when she pushes at Shikamaru's chest.
"Where . . ." she slurs, keeping herself upright by clutching Shikamaru's shirt, much to his dismay, "are w-we . . . going?"
"He's going to take you to Neji's place!" says Tenten helpfully.
Hinata groans. "N-No, I want . . ."
"I'm taking you home," mutters Shikamaru, hoping that if the others hear, they will assume that he is simply lying to soothe her.
He flinches when Hinata sighs in relief and buries her face against his shoulder. Scowling, he glances back at his friends.
"Don't push her away," says Shino, correctly guessing Shikamaru's thoughts. How troublesome. "Why? Because Hinata will fall over and hurt herself."
Sasuke, oddly enough, is staring at Hinata with an eyebrow raised. Shikamaru grits his teeth and subtly shifts so that Hinata is further hidden in his arms, though he still feels enormously uncomfortable.
Tenten laughs as she pulls out her phone. "I wish you could see your face, Shikamaru."
In the neighboring booth, Sai turns around to see. "Interesting. That expression resembles the one Dog Breath makes when he is required to do some thinking." He pauses, his head tilting to the side. "Is he capable of thinking?"
Kiba must have splashed his drink at Sai, though all Shikamaru can see is a spray of alcohol flying past Sai's ducked head and soaking Sasuke and Tenten. Sasuke whips around in his seat to snarl at Kiba, but Tenten only sighs and cleans herself up with a napkin.
"Shut up. Chouji, can you get her off me and carry her to my car?" Shikamaru's daily quota of physical contact has long been exceeded.
Chouji easily lifts Hinata into his arms and follows Shikamaru outside as the others chorus goodbyes. He places Hinata down in the passenger seat of Shikamaru's car and buckles the seatbelt over her dozing form. Shikamaru thanks him, briefly reaching across Hinata to close her door, and starts the engine. But he doesn't drive away.
Shikamaru rolls down the window on the passenger side. "What? You just standing there without saying anything is creeping me out."
Chouji blinks, hesitates, and then asks, "You're not tipsy, right?"
"You know I didn't drink anything, Chouji."
"I know, I know. But you're acting weird and I . . . Um, is everything okay? You don't have to tell me what the problem is. Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help!"
If Shikamaru had to tell only one person about his marriage, it would be Chouji. He didn't realize how stifled he feels by keeping the marriage a secret from his friends, even though he is still reluctant to tell anyone because he doesn't want the marriage to change the way his friends treat him and Hinata. And he knows telling everyone will lead to his friends unsubtly seating him beside Hinata, planning outings together but ditching so that Shikamaru can be alone with Hinata, and other bothersome attempts to create a spark of romance between him and Hinata. Shikamaru frequently lets other people nag him into doing things he doesn't like but doing what he is told to has never changed his displeasure about the actions themselves. If his mother badgers him about exercising, he'll run on the treadmill under her close supervision, but that doesn't mean he will suddenly begin to enjoy running because he listened to his mother—after all, he only ran because he was forced to. He agreed to marry Hinata, but there has never been a point in which he could say he was glad to be married. Shikamaru's not going to put up with people pressuring him to fall in love with Hinata.
His face twists, but he composes himself and quickly straightens his expression. A glance at Chouji tells him he wasn't fast enough, judging by the deepening of the already present wrinkles in Chouji's brow.
"I'm keeping a secret from everyone," admits Shikamaru, "but you'll be the first person I tell. Just . . . promise me that you won't be annoying about it."
"Uh, what qualifies as 'annoying'?"
"If I say, 'troublesome', you'll know."
"You say that all the time—" Chouji catches sight of Shikamaru's expression and frowns. "Alright, I promise. I hope I won't regret this."
Shikamaru chuckles. "Thanks, Chouji."
a/n: i really have no idea where i'm going with this story so feel free to send in (reasonable for a college/arranged marriage au) prompts. like seeing shikamaru and hinata have dinner with the rest of the hyuuga family (don't suggest this because i already plan on writing it lol). i can't promise i'll incorporate all of the prompts, though. i have a lot of thoughts about this chapter, mostly about what a pain it was to write. i don't like the way it ended and i think i showed my love for kibahina (romantic and platonic! but no worries, in this fic kiba just likes hinata platonically) too blatantly lol. also i love chouji and shikamaru. bffs. i really wanted to introduce hinata's close friends and shikamaru's closeness with chouji. i tried to include other characters, but a lot of them are just . . . there (sasuke . . . i'm sorry), because shikamaru and hinata notice what other people are doing but don't really directly interact with them. in the friend group, there are plenty of people who would be awkward if they were left alone together (prior to being married, this would be hinata and shikamaru. now if they were left alone they would small talk) because they interact better in a group (or in groups of threes lol like their teams). thank you for reviewing/favoriting/following/reading!