Shimmering Fireflies

Secret

She experienced a beautiful sleep, mainly because the crickets kept singing around her house the whole night. There was, of course, something else that really made her feel better than ever. Mizuiro could still remember the taste of Shino's lips, the feel of his arms around her... It was the first things that came to her mind, and it was a feeling so strange she thought she was still dreaming. The young girl even wondered if it really happened at some point.

She put on her ninja clothes in case she would be given a mission and prepared a small breakfast. While she was eating, her father stepped into the kitchen.

"Did you have fun last night?"

She blushed, then shook her head up and down, twice. Since her mouth was full, she was hoping this answer would be enough for him.

"I think I saw you yesterday." He added. "Your mother wanted onigiris so I passed by the festival. I saw you sitting on a bench with someone."

She swallowed her food way too quickly and felt uneasy. The rough ends of her cereals were hurting her throat.

"Oh... really?" She asked, pretending to have an ambiguous memory of it.

"You two were eating together. Is that someone I know?"

She remembered the fireworks, the softness of his hand, her confession, their walk, the crickets, and their kiss.

"He's Hinata's teammate." Mizuiro said, trying to look casual. "Also a friend of mine, but I don't think you've met him."

"Oh, I see... so hum, what's his name?"

Mizuiro hesitated, not knowing if she should really mention him.

"Aburame Shino..."

"Oh! Is that so?" He laughed. "I can see why you'd be friend with someone like him. After all, their family is known for being bug keepers."

"Y-yeah..."

This conversation could go anywhere now, and she didn't want to talk about this with her dad. Her doubts concerning the events of yesterday came back altogether. She had to keep everything to herself for the moment being. Either way, it's not as if she liked discussing her feelings with her parents. Both were quite open in general, but since she never brought up the subject, she couldn't anticipate their reaction.

She suddenly wanted to talk to Shino about how anxious this situation made her feel. If Mizuiro didn't think about what she was going to do today, she was now certain she wanted to start by talking to him. She rapidly finished her breakfast and headed straight for the door. She wished her father a good day, hoping he wouldn't find her sudden departure too suspicious.

~

Mizuiro knew where the Aburame residence was located, but she couldn't just show up so early; that would've seemed weird. She was kind of hoping to bump into him on the way, but it didn't happen. When she was just a few minutes away from there, she saw the calm atmosphere around their beautiful house. Even though it was early in the morning, a lot of villagers were already walking in the streets. She thought maybe she could just wait for him on a bench nearby.

Time passed by, and just liked she had hoped, he left his house a few minutes later. When she noticed he was coming down her way, she decided to stand up slowly. It didn't take long before he noticed her presence and came to her.

"Good morning, Mizuiro."

"Hi," she timidly answered.

"Were you waiting for me?"

"Hum, yes... I wanted to talk to you. If you're free, of course."

"Yes, I was just going for a stroll."

"Can I join you?"

"Sure. I wanted to go in the forest."

She smiled and sighed with relief. It would be much better if they were alone for their conversation. Just like she thought, he wasn't showing any visible signs to imply they were particularly interested in each other. They were walking side by side in silence, as usual. Sometimes when their eyes met, they exchanged a faint smile, but nothing too noticeable. Mizuiro knew they were both secretive and could only imagine their relationship being discreet, probably even more in front of everyone.

When they ended up being alone, Mizuiro delicately tried to hold his hand, which he gladly responded to. They walked for a while in the forest, enjoying each other's company before stopping near a pond.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Asked Shino calmly.

Mizuiro addressed him a small nod, her face starting to show her worries.

"What happened yesterday," she began to say, blushing. "Do you still feel the same?"

"I do," he answered immediately. "And you?"

"Of course."

She looked at the ground. It took a long period of 30 seconds for her to say the rest.

"I'm just worried about... the opinion of others. I'm also afraid that, maybe, they'll stop sending us on missions together."

He looked pensive, then loosened his grip on her hand.

"You want to keep it secret?"

She opened her mouth, trying to justify herself, but nothing got out. The young girl wasn't ashamed of their relationship -on the contrary- yet had many difficulties imagining it wouldn't interfere with them being ninja. As she began twisting a strand of her hair around her finger, she also tightened his hand so he wouldn't let go.

"I just don't know any couple of our age and... I'm not sure we are allowed to have that kind of relationships."

Shino seemed thoughtful for a while, looking at the pond.

"Shikamaru and Temari are together. It doesn't look like that big of a deal." Shino shrugged.

Mizuiro's eyes got as big as plates.

"They are!?"

He nodded.

"I didn't notice", mumbled Mizuiro. "But it does make sense."

"They're subtle", continued Shino. "We can be subtle too. However, someday it will be known no matter what we do."

His comment made her smile; He was suggesting they would be together for a while. She slowly came closer to Shino and put her arms around him. He did the same, which resulted in a tight hug between them. They stayed like this for a minute before continuing their stroll.