The Bug Queen

The Aunties - Ino

The next day, Ino opened the door, and two women were standing there, smiling.

"Hello, Dear! You must be Ino!"

She felt a little panic in her chest as she nodded. She heard Shino come up behind her.

"Oh, hey. Ino, these are my Aunties, Ayami and Izumi."

"It's nice to meet you both."

She couldn't get her voice out.  They both watched her sadly.

"Oh Dear, you look so nervous.  There's no need to be nervous."

"Would you like to come out with us? We're going to get our nails done."

Shino spoke in her ear.

"You don't have to if you don't feel well."

She was going to have to be vetted by them eventually if she wanted to stay.  And she felt well enough today.  She had even eaten a little bit of lunch already.

"No, I'll go. Shino, can you help me unhook this IV?"

They walked back to their bedroom where Shino clamped her IV and unhooked it.

"You do not have to do this-"

"I want to.  I want to meet your family."

She grabbed her new cream-colored sweater from the closet, putting it on gently over the saline lock.  She gave him a kiss.

"I'll be back in a bit."

Shino looked a little upset.

"Okay. I'll be here waiting. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

She left out the front door with the two women.   As they walked out of the compound, the Aunties flanked her on either side.

"You poor thing. Shibi told us so much about you."

"But we already knew quite a bit about you. I used to get lunch with your mother often. She was such a lovely woman."

"You did?"

Ayami nodded.

"Oh, yes. You were her pride. Her precious Ino."

This made her tear up.

"Do you have stories about my mother?"

"Yes! I'll tell you as many as you'd like."

She wiped her eyes as Izumi spoke.

"Are you afraid? You seem scared. We aren't here to scare you."

She began to cry again.

"I'm afraid you're going to make me leave the compound, and I really like Shino..."

"Why would we make you leave?"

She shrugged.

"Shino said that sometimes you make women leave."

They both looked surprised. And then, Ayami rolled her eyes.

"Honey, no. We don't make anyone leave."

"But we have been known to have a serious conversation with a girlfriend who clearly has bad intentions, so it might seem like we've run women off."

"What I don't think Shino realizes is that all of the men in our clan are tender-hearted and can get taken advantage of easily, including him. They aren't naive or anything, but they have little hesitation to help if someone is in need. And not everyone has their best interest at heart."