Wedding Dress | twenty
Shino tried to open his eyes but the light blinded him, stabbing at his eyes. He groaned in annoyance and shut them tight again. A twinge of dull pain shot up his arms when he moved.
"He's moving, he's moving! Hey, Hinata, he's awake!" Kiba's yell was deafening, ringing in his ears. "Shino, how're you feeling? Good? Aren't you glad we're here to see you?" A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders in excitement.
"Stop moving me. I'm okay," Shino grunted irritably, opening his eyes just a little and taking in Kiba's familiar, slightly feral grin. His eyes took in the familiar white surroundings: the medical centre. He should've known.
"Kiba, Shino-kun broke his arms! Don't touch them!" Hinata, peeking out from behind Kiba, looked horrified and pulled Kiba away from Shino's bedside, taking the spot herself. "How are you feeling, Shino-kun? I'm so glad you're okay! I was so scared when I saw all that blood, and the bone coming out of your arm…" She shuddered at the memory.
"I deserve some credit, don't I?" Kiba demanded. "I carried him back, you know! All those bugs and his stupid coat make him weigh a ton! Unlike that time when I got poisoned and he didn't even carry me, he dragged me back to Konoha, remember?" He sniggered at the withering look Shino shot him.
The look Hinata gave Kiba was filled with a mixture of exasperation and affection. "Don't listen to him, Shino-kun," she muttered wryly, rolling her eyes. "Kurenai-sensei dropped by earlier but she had to leave to pick her daughter up. The Yamanakas sent you these flowers, and Lee-san wishes you a youthful recovery." Hinata smiled, pointing at the various gifts his visitors had brought in his period of unconsciousness.
"Oh, and the invitation! I want to tell him that one!" Kiba insisted, waving an envelope embossed with the Uchiha crest around. "We're invited to another celebration at the Uchiha compound because, get this, Ino is pregnant! I mean, come on, they only got married, what, last week?" Shino privately thought that Kiba looked way more excited and scandalized than the situation really demanded.
"It was last month," Shino corrected automatically, "and why are they celebrating? Don't we celebrate when the baby is actually born?"
"Come on, you know Sasuke is close to obsessed when it comes to reviving his clan! He's probably delirious with happiness right now. I'm sure Ino's going to have another ten more babies down the road. The poor girl sure didn't know what she was getting into when she married that crazy Uchiha," Kiba said with a wink and a loud laugh.
"Stop teasing, Kiba, I'm sure Ino is delighted too," Hinata said quietly, a hint of reproach in her voice, coming over to stand beside him.
Kiba looked completely unapologetic and only wrapped an arm tightly around her waist, pulling her closer to him and looking down at her with a cheeky smirk on his face. "Let's have some kids of our own, Hinata. How does that sound?" He muffled her exclamation of shock with a quick kiss, making her blush tomato red.
Shino cleared his throat loudly. "I'm still here, you know." Even to himself, he sounded a tad sulky. Very uncharacteristic of the normally emotionless Aburame.
"Yeah, yeah, another reason why you should go to that Ino-is-pregnant celebration," Kiba retorted. "Your love-deprived soul so needs a girl! Anyway, we're going out for dinner, okay? We'll be back later with dessert! Fried spiders and boiled worms!" He hurriedly dragged Hinata out of the room upon seeing the look of outrage on Shino's face, his laughter echoing down the entire hallway.
The scene kept replaying in Shino's mind—eyes meeting, lips touching, love in their eyes.
I never really had a chance.
Shino had never even confessed. Just two days after their quarrel, Kiba had come back to Hinata on his knees, begging her to take him back, apologizing for accusing her, claiming he couldn't live without her. Hinata, being Hinata, had granted him forgiveness immediately, then promptly burst into tears and hugged him. There hadn't been a hitch in their relationship since then.
Shino had been relegated to the backseat again, taking up his familiar yet unwelcome position of the spectator, dragged to a show he was reluctant to watch.
In the empty room, his sigh was loud in the still air.
.
.
.
This is it.
Shino had had enough. This had been weighing on his chest for way too long. He didn't think he could stand being around Kiba and Hinata and their obliviousness to him much more. It wasn't that he didn't like them dating—alright, he didn't, but he could tolerate that—instead, it was how they simply didn't realise how he was feeling, how he had been feeling the for the past four years.
And they called themselves his friends. He loved them and all, but really, enough was enough.
So he'd approached Hinata and, after overcoming his unusually bashful, tongue-tied self, invited her to dinner. In a strictly as-friends manner, of course.
What he hadn't expected was Kiba and Akamaru tagging along. That would make the confession part of the evening just a tad awkward, not to mention Shino hated how his house was going to smell like dog, but Aburames weren't known for backing down. In fact, they were sometimes a little too focused on their goals, and Shino was no exception.
The dinner part of it had gone smoothly. For a moment, it had just been Team 8 chatting and laughing, without complications. For a moment, Shino could almost imagine that they were twelve again, with Kiba being loud and insulting, Hinata stammering and blushing, himself silent and nonchalant. Nostalgia.
"Ino's getting fat, isn't she? How long do you think it'll be before it's Sakura's turn?" Kiba sniggered to himself. "By the way, Hinata, did Shino tell you about that mission we went on where I totally saved him from some rogue ninja?" Hinata laughed, shaking her head and looking at Shino with amusement in her eyes. She leaned forward, listening patiently as Kiba launched into an animated retelling of a tale ending with him saving the distressed Shino from certain death.
"That clearly never happened," Shino commented dryly. "Kiba, we've had enough of your tall tales."
Kiba looked exaggeratedly insulted for a moment. "Sure it did! Maybe you were so terrified that you wiped your own memories and made yourself the hero instead." He nodded and smirked, looking satisfied with his own explanation.
Shino shrugged, losing interest. He reached into his coat pocket, fingering the ring inside thoughtfully. Kiba, one hand scratching Akamaru's head, was whispering something to Hinata. They were leaning close to each other, noses almost touching, engrossed in conversation. Just across the table, Shino thought he had never felt so far away from them before.
All his thoughts evaporated in an instant as he watched the scene. Hinata, I don't know how to say this, but I like you. Hinata, all these years, I've been watching you. I love you. Give me a chance to show you how much I like you. Please. I love you. I love you so much. He rolled the ring between his thumb and index finger indecisively.
Suddenly, Kiba stood up. "Okay, I've been thinking for a long time, and I think there's no better time to do this than now, with our whole team present, okay? Because really, you guys are closer than family." He looked uncharacteristically nervous, pulling at the collar of his shirt.
Kiba met Hinata's eyes and dropped to one knee. "Hinata, please marry me," he choked out, presenting her with a delicate silver ring set with an amethyst. The precious stone, catching the faint light in the room, flashed purple fire.
Shino's breath caught in his throat.
Hinata's expression flitted from one of pure shock to pleasant surprise to utter delight. "Yes," she breathed. Kiba almost collapsed with relief and delight, and engulfed her in a hug. Akamaru sat up, catching the excitement in the air, and gave a loud bark.
Kiba caught Shino's eye. "You'll be my best man, won't you?" he demanded. You can be my best man at the wedding! Shino had heard that before, years ago, and his heart experienced the same ache it had upon hearing that sentence.
"Of course, Kiba." He carefully kept any hint of inflection out of his voice. Aburames were always in control of their emotions, of their body language, of themselves. Heartache, anger, resentment, he kept these out of his voice, away from his face, hidden behind his broken heart. After all, seeing the joy on Hinata's face, that was enough for him.
But in the back of his mind, a single line kept repeating itself.
I never even got a chance.