Work Text:
This afternoon was a pleasant one. Although the sun is shining brightly, it didn't feel hot at all. Shinobu sat on the patio that was overlooking the garden of the Kamisato estate. Within the gentle breeze, she could hear Itto shouting, as well as the faint sounds of onikabuto screeching.
Right.. she was here because Itto had invited THE Kamisato Ayato to an onikabuto battle.
Shinobu shook her head at that, but got out of her confused mind pretty quickly by looking at the garden in front of her. It was very neatly kept, and just looking at it put her mind at peace.
As she closed her eyes, she could hear footsteps nearing her. "Excuse me, i brought some tea, mind if i join you?" A gentle voice belonging to Thoma, the housekeeper of the Kamisato clan. Shinobu nodded, before turning her head to look at him, and then the tea, which was placed between them. "You didn't have to," Shinobu spoke apologetically. Thoma gave a chuckle before answering, "Well, i did. So drink up."
-
They both shared a comfortable silence together, just sipping on tea and watching the scenery.
Shinobu was the first to break the silence, "Thoma, how often does Itto come by?"
"Oh, he comes by almost every time My Lord has free time. I don't know how he manages to know exactly when he's free, it's quite impressive"
She's gonna have to talk to him about that later.
Thoma placed his cup down and turned his attention towards the woman, "you know, you're pretty amazing," he attempted to start a conversation.
"A lawyer, a junior chef, a tailor.. even a health manager, saying that you're spectacular is a huge understatement," he complemented.
She waved her hand dismissively. "Ah, it's nothing, really," her gaze shifted towards him, "could say the same about you too, you know?"
"Haha! You flatter me, Ms. Shinobu," Thoma laughed nervously, which Shinobu seemed to pick up on.
"Just Shinobu is fine," she corrected.
"Right, Shinobu," he paused a little before continuing his sentence, "If you don't mind me asking, out of all the jobs you could've possibly taken, why did you choose to work for the Arataki Gang?"
Ah, one of the top three most asked questions about her.
Shinobu shrugged. "I guess i just like how 'free' i feel working with them." That was, of course, not the whole story, but she felt like that explanation was enough.
"I see." Thoma nodded.
"Enough about me, how about you? How did you end up working for the Kamisato Clan?"
"Ah, well.."
As Thoma began to talk about how he ended up working for the clan, Shinobu found herself absorbed in his voice.
It was soothing to hear, not to mention his easygoing persona was also quite attractive. And dont forget about his looks, a combination of pretty and charming..
..huh..?
It was weird, she had never been this distracted while listening to someone talk. This wasn't the first time they've had a chat, so she was confused as to why these thoughts are in her head now.
Thoma stopped talking once he noticed the troubled look on her face.
"Hey, uh, you alright there?" Concern painted his face. "Want me to stop those two so you can head back home?"
The question caught her off guard, "N-no! No, it's alright, don't worry. Please continue."
Despite his suspicions, Thoma decided to let it go and continue where he left off. Although, there was a bit of amusement in him, it's not everyday you get to see Shinobu caught off guard. It was pretty cute, but he wouldn't admit that out loud.
As the conversation went on, Shinobu soon felt a strange tingling in her stomach. *What is this..?* It's not hunger, thats for sure. Stomachache? But she doesn't feel nauseous.
But then, she recalled something.
-
"Boss? What's gotten into you?"
"Oh you know why im like this!" Itto turned around, excitement written all over him.
"Ms. Hina responded to my letter! Aah, im getting butterflies in my stomach!"
"You're getting what now?"
Itto looked at her dumbfounded. "What? Don't tell me you don't know what that term means!" He laughed, but slowly stopped when he realized she was being serious.
"Butterflies in your stomach, y'know.. those tingly feelings you feel whenever you feel excited! More specifically, when you're-"
-
".. in love with someone.."
...
THIS is what you feel when you're crushing on someone?!
It felt very foreign to her, she never had a crush on someone her entire life. However, she had heard of someone else's crush experience, mostly from the gang.
Kuki Shinobu was good at lot of things, but one thing she's horrible at is managing anything romance related. She's good at giving love advice (somehow), and that's it.
She now understands how people feel when they have a crush on someone. It's horrible. Exciting, but horrible. The gang doesn't seem to feel like its a horrible feeling though, maybe it was just her?
In her trance of thoughts, she doesn't realize that Thoma had stopped talking altogether. Hands fumbling, he asked himself "..did i say something wrong..?" as he saw Shinobu from the corner of his eye.
-
"Man, you're getting really good at this! You're almost at my level!" Itto's laughed out.
Ayato picks up his beetle and started feeding it. "And it's all thanks to you, 'bro'. You were the one that taught me how to battle with beetles."
"You know, Itto," he continued, "you should bring Shinobu here more often."
"Huh? Why's that?" Itto looks at him, confused.
"Well, Thoma's been talking about her a lot lately."
The gears started running in Itto's brain, "ooh, because he's too shy to ask me to train him, huh? He wants to surprise me by secretly being good at beetle fighting!"
".. You could say that."