According to Shinobu, there are two types of people in the world.
There are those who listen to their circadian rhythms and sleep before midnight, thus quenching the possibility of ever having midnight cravings.
And there are those that don’t, defying every signal their body tells them to sleep as they push through an irregular sleeping schedule that keeps them up till sunrise. But with forced sleeplessness also comes a stomach that yearns for food at the most inappropriate of times.
Take last night for example, when she’d had the urge to eat cucumbers dipped in honey at three in the morning. It wasn’t a pregnancy craving by any means, nor was it particularly appetizing, but Shinobu had stumbled across the combination by accident and it stuck with her ever since. The fresh, crunchy cucumber mixed with sticky, sweet honey? Perhaps the dead of the night had dictated her stomach.
This was how she ended up padding her way to her local 7-Eleven store at two a.m. to satisfy yet another ill-timed craving. She could technically blame her craving this time on her sisters (which wasn’t untrue after Mitsuri had stuffed their heads full of Pocky), but at the same time, her lack of self-control was also largely to blame.
Pulling the oversized hood tighter around her head, Shinobu quickens her pace to reach the convenience store. While she only lived five minutes away, walking alone so late at night still gave her some chills.
She steps inside the store not a second later, a soft jingle signalling her entrance as the door shuts behind her. She glances around, noting the store to be empty save for a tall male in one of the back aisles, and the employee slouched behind the counter. Shinobu politely nods to the worker before making a beeline to the snacks aisle she knows like the back of her hand.
A quick scan of the shelves tells her that the snacks need to be desperately restocked, a small frown inching its way onto her face when she gazes at the Pocky section. Much to her chagrin, there are only two sizes of each regular-sized Pocky left, chocolate and strawberry. But that isn’t the reason she’d made the trip in the first place.
What she’s looking for is larger, giant even, the box almost larger than her face. She knows it must be here; she’s seen it countless times before. But what’s countless times worth if she can’t find one now?
She scours the shelves again, her frown deepening when it’s nowhere to be found. Shinobu chews on her lower lip, glancing around the store desperately, until… there!
Right at the end of the aisle, situated in its promotional stand, is where the Giant Pocky sits.
Except there’s only one box left.
Her eyes widen, and without a moment to lose, she quickly scurries forward. Shinobu stretches out her arm, reaching to grab the last box when suddenly, she’s rudely interrupted. A hand sweeps in before her faster than she can react, and the box is swiped in a snap.
Shinobu blinks, lips parting slightly, as she tries, and fails to comprehend what had just happened. Did that just— Had she really been—
The initial shock soon shifts to disbelief, then anger, as her violet eyes flash heatedly. She glares daggers at the empty shelf, the very vanishing act a crime against her being. Her normally relaxed expression hardens, and she snaps her head to the right to glare menacingly at the thief.
Whoever this jerk was, they’d single-handedly managed to ruin her night by taking away her one saving grace. And that calls for a tirade.
Yet as her violet eyes register the tall figure, his muscular stature still visible even from under the navy blue hoodie he’s sporting, she realises this might be harder than she initially thought. She isn’t blind. She may not go around ogling random strangers as Mitsuri does, but Shinobu can recognise attractive strangers when she sees one.
And unfortunately for her, this stranger, no thief, falls under the category of definitely attractive.
Half of his face may be obscured by a white face mask, but it doesn’t detract from the strikingness of his features. Rather, the mask only seemed to draw all her attention to his blue eyes; there were eyes so blue they reminded her of the cool ocean’s depths and she could find herself almost drowning in them.
But she catches herself no sooner than a second later, the irrational urge to slam her forehead against the nearest wall looking more and more appealing if it draws her attention away from staring at that handsome stranger.
It’s two a.m, she’s dressed in fluffy PJs that had no business coming out, and she’s in public. If that isn’t enough to stop her from making a scene, she’s not sure what will.
But the handsome stranger isn’t just handsome, he’s stupid. He’s the very person responsible for ruining her night’s purpose and she mustn’t be swayed.
Just as fast as he had stolen the box away from her dose her initial admiration shift into something more heated as her eyes narrow at him dangerously. Her gaze flicks from his eyes to the box, her box, nesting in a shopping basket, and she flicks back to him. Shinobu grits her teeth as she forces a smile on her face, her tiny body boiling with longing and anger.
She points to the box. “Excuse me, but you took something from me. I’d like to have it back,” she asks politely, her tone levelled as much as she can muster without lashing out.
In high school, she probably would have yelled with no hesitation, but over the years, she had admittedly softened. She had tried to adopt some of her sister’s friendly countenance after Kanae’s gentle prodding, a plea for her to smile more the last straw before she gave in. But that didn’t mean she could be less of a threat; all those who knew her were afraid of ever angering her.
The thief raises a brow in surprise, glancing at the box in question. She waits for him to pick it up and give it back to her. But much to her chagrin, he does neither.
Instead, he shakes his head.
“It’s not yours,” he says bluntly, ready to turn on his heel and walk away. But she refuses to let him do anything but.
Shinobu is in front of him within seconds, her body blocking any further movement away. He blinks down at her in confusion, but she continues to keep the polite smile plastered on her face as she addresses him. “It is mine,” she repeats, the urge to not snap at him very quickly becoming harder to restrain.
“I took it off the shelf,” he replies and takes a step to his side to maneuver around her. But Shinobu follows him, blocking him once again in refusal.
“I was going to take it first but you stole it from me,” she explains as she clenches her fists at her side, trying to reign in her anger. “So please, give it back, thief-san .”
The thief eyes her with a slight frown, “Thief-san? I’m no thief.”
“I argue otherwise. But please, let’s not make a scene here, thief-san.”
She holds out her hand, waiting for him to give her the box. “I would like my Pocky back, please.”
He shakes his head, moving his basket to hide slightly behind him as he tries to sidestep her again. The aisles are too small for him to really move anywhere without bumping into her or the shelves, but Shinobu doesn’t care. She doesn’t intend on letting him leave without the Pocky being handed into her rightful possession.
“It’s mine,” he tells her once more, his eyes narrowing at her, “I took it first.”
Shinobu grits her teeth. “Because you stole it from me,” she argues, crossing her arms.
She’s so close to just stealing the box from his cart and running away, but she has a feeling that he has a trick up his sleeve that she won’t be able to outmaneuver (as annoying as that is).
“I didn’t steal it,” the male says firmly, “I took it because it was the last one left. First come, first serve.”
He attempts to sidestep her yet again, but she’s quick to block his path. He lets out a soft sigh in frustration, and before she knows it, he turns on his heel to walk back. Shinobu watches in surprise as he walks further down the aisle, seemingly to put the box back until it hits her.
Without a moment to waste, she quickly speedwalks to block his incoming path. That sneaky bastard, trying to take the long way out. But Shinobu is fast, and she’s able to catch up to him before he even reaches the end of the aisle.
“Are you going to keep doing this?” he asks irritatedly, his grip tightening on his basket. She can see that she’s not the only one getting annoyed and it fills her with a sense of pride. Good, two can clearly play that game.
“I see no harm in trying,” she replies, pasting an almost too-saccharine smile on her face.
He huffs indiscriminately, shaking his head. “You’re only going to exhaust yourself.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“That someone of your stature should focus your energy elsewhere.”
Perhaps he had been equally surprised by his boldness considering he had looked slightly taken aback, but it goes unnoticed by Shinobu. Instead, there is an irrational hatred growing in the pits of her stomach, anger boiling at the sheer audacity of this stranger. Had he never been taught basic courtesy by his parents?
She glowers at him, her normally bright violet eyes turning darker and darker with a threat of violence. Shinobu watches as he almost flinches at her glare, but his poker face immediately shifts back into place.
This infuriates her more.
If she could, she would punch him in the face in the middle of the store without any care of her surroundings. But considering she would like to remain an upstanding citizen in society, Shinobu restrains herself (with much difficulty).
It would not do to cause such a scene so late at night.
No, she needs to be smarter, and more manipulative.
The thought hits her not a second later.
Men are simple, she’d once heard Uzui tell her in all his flamboyant wisdom. They all want one thing, and the man in front of her seems to fit the exact description of a simpleton. The type of simpleton that would fall on his knees when a pretty girl flirts with them.
A devious grin spreads across her face at the thought. It’s time to put her feminine wiles to good use.
Shinobu steps closer to the taller male, her grin quickly morphing into an exceptionally saccharine smile, one that she’s no stranger to using. She bites her lower lip, capturing his gaze as she watches his eyes flicker to her lips almost in an instant. A good sign.
Lifting her hands up to her hood, she slowly pulls it down, letting her rich purple hair gracefully fall to her shoulders. She runs a hand through it almost casually, but she’s sure to keep an eye on the thief the entire time. It’s almost impossible to spot, with his eyes looking so void of life despite how blue they were, but he couldn’t fool her.
No matter how lifeless his eyes looked, she could still see the subtle lingering of his gaze on her hair as she continued to run her fingers through it. As an added touch, Shinobu curls a few strands of her behind her ear, her eyes softening to resemble an innocent doe.
This is good, this is really good.
She bites her lip again, “I did some thinking, and I realised how terribly rude I was being to you. I’m so sorry about the way I was reacting, it was a bit much for someone just trying to satisfy her midnight cravings.”
Shinobu plays with the ends of her sleeves, glancing down a bit before lifting her gaze again. His eyes remain on her, some light beginning to shine in the blue void.
“I guess I’ll just have to satisfy my craving another way,” she says sadly, gazing longingly at the box of Pocky in his basket before she forcefully tears her gaze away. A little dramatism wouldn’t hurt.
Shinobu places a hand on her stomach for good measure, lips forming a small pout. She watches as he swallows thickly.
Laying it on thick, she sighs. “Again, I do apologise about the way I was acting. I’m not normally like this, it’s a little embarrassing. But I really hope you enjoy it, even though I had so badly craved it.”
She looks away, muttering just loud enough so he can hear. “I haven’t had it since middle school, it would’ve helped with the day I was having…”
Shinobu offers him an apologetic smile before she takes a step back. She slowly turns on her heel, moving to take very small but obvious steps away.
Yet not even a step in, she feels a hand wrap around her wrist before gently tugging her back around. She smiles to herself; hook, line, and sinker.
Shinobu turns around, a questioning look on her face as she meets his eyes. The male runs a hand through his hair. He lets out a sigh of defeat.
“Here,” he says, letting go of her wrist to grab the giant Pocky box from his basket. He hands it to her, “Take it.”
She blinks, lips parting in disbelief. Shinobu points to herself as she glances at the proffered box. “Really? You’re giving this to me?”
He nods, shrugging.
“Seems like you need it more than me.”
Her expression soon gives way to happiness as she smiles brightly at him, reaching out to take the box. “Oh, thank you! You’re kinder than I originally thought.”
Yet just as Shinobu is about to grip the box between her fingers, it’s rudely ripped away from her once more. She grabs nothing but air. Her eyes widen as she stares at him in shock.
“You—“
“Sorry, but that’s not going to work on me,” he says coolly, dropping the box back into his basket.
She blinks. Excuse me?
Did this man think he had one-upped her? Even after she’d pulled all the stops that had a 99.9% chance of working?
“You give that back,” she snaps, giving up on playing nice. Instead, it’s time to play dirty.
Without hesitation, Shinobu pounces to reach for the box nestled in his basket.
But he sidesteps her, swinging his basket away from her reach.
“This is mine.”
“It was mine first!”
“But it’s in my basket.”
Shinobu is seething now. “Only because you stole it from me.”
Before either of them can continue, someone clears their throat loudly from behind them. This garners their attention as they turn to see the unamused look of the employee, pointing to the exit.
“If you’d like to continue your conversation, I’m afraid you’ll have to do it outside the store. You’re causing a public disturbance,” he says frankly, waiting for either to respond.
Shinobu immediately bowed her head, “I’m deeply sorry for the trouble we’ve caused. We’ll take our leave now.”
And before the male beside her can respond, she grabs him by the arm with an iron grip. He drops the basket in surprise as she practically hauls him outside, waving politely to the owner as they leave.
Honestly, she still can’t believe this stranger managed to rile her up so much in a couple of minutes. Normally, she’d never think of making such a scene, but she had to agree with the worker. Any longer and she’d probably begin shouting at him. Or worse, she’d have gotten her hands into his hair (not something she’d be proud of, but she couldn’t put it past herself).
The male behind her stumbles as she continues dragging him to a lamppost nearby, letting go when they are far enough not to cause too much commotion near the store.
“You made me drop my stuff,” he says, brushing his arm to smoothen out the creases in his jacket.
Shinobu turns to him with a sour scowl, crossing her arms. “Well, you made me lose the very reason I came to the convenience store at three in the morning.”
He shrugs. “That isn’t my fault.”
Her eye twitches. The absolute audacity.
“I don’t know you but I already hate you. You’re so unlikeable.”
“I’m not unlikeable,” he deadpans, staring at her. “People like me.”
She scoffs, “I’m not sure who does but I’m sure they’re only saying that out of pity.”
Shinobu can already see that he’s starting to get affected by her words when his eye slightly twitches. Perfect.
If she can get under his skin enough, he can storm off and she can run back into the store to grab the giant Pocky before he even thinks about returning. It’s the perfect plan, practically infallible. She won’t give up on those chocolate sticks, not tonight.
The male grunts. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I still need to do my shopping.”
He tries to walk toward the convenience store but she blocks his path, refusing to let up. If he thinks he can go back, he’s got another thing coming.
“I can’t let you return there.”
“You can’t keep me here.”
She raises a brow. “Of course I can. Just watch me.”
“You’ll only exhaust yourself.”
“And why are you so sure?”
He says nothing, instead looking her up and down slowly, his gaze stopping at the top of her head. While he remains silent, Shinobu knows exactly what he’s getting at, and she doesn’t know if she can contain the urge to punch him any longer.
“You asshole,” she curses, pinching him in the arm. He flinches, pulling his arm away as he glares at her as though he’d been burned.
But she doesn’t care. If she can’t get those chocolate sticks, then he as hell won’t get any either.
“My name is Giyuu.”
“I don’t care. You’re still an asshole.”
“I haven’t done anything to deserve being called that,” he retorts, frowning at her.
“I beg to differ. Not only have you been making unprovoked comments about my height despite only knowing me for about half an hour, but you stole my midnight craving and refused to give it back despite it being claimed as mine first.”
“You’re the one that called me an asshole and unlikeable within five minutes.”
“Because that was the truth!”
“You being short is also the truth.”
“Why you—“
“Just go home!”
A loud voice yells in the distance, seemingly familiar. They both turn to see the employee from before, standing in front of the store with a large scowl.
Shinobu’s cheeks start to flush. This is so embarrassing. A second time they’ve been called out? Maybe it is time to end it here before the rest of the neighbourhood gets woken up.
Sighing, she turns away from them both and starts heading toward her apartment. It’s late anyway, better go home now before she runs into any more trouble.
“Where are you going?” Giyuu asks, hearing his footsteps follow behind her.
“Home.”
He doesn’t say anything, so she leaves it at that. At least, she wishes she could but his breathing and his footsteps behind her are becoming so distracting that she can’t ignore it anymore.
She halts abruptly, whipping around to face him.
“Why are you following me?”
“To make sure you get home safe.”
She frowns, crossing her arms. “You don’t even know me. For all I know, you could be the one I need to be safe from.”
He shakes his head firmly. “I won’t hurt you.”
“That’s what they all say,” Shinobu scoffs. “Now don’t worry about it, I’m only around the corner. You can go home.”
“After you’re home,” Giyuu insists, staring her in the eye. “I’ll go once you’re home.”
Her nose twitches. She has no idea what he’s up to or why he’s so persistent on this but already he’s the most infuriating person alive.
But she knows that if she continues to refuse, he won’t let up. And she knows that the longer she stays in his company, the more likely she’ll get riled up again. Another interruption about causing a commotion so late at night is the last thing she wants.
So she sighs, surrendering to his whims as she turns on her heel. She continues walking silently, hands in her pockets and almost too hyper-aware of the man behind her.
His breathing may be quiet but it’s still so noticeable. His footsteps are light, as though he were treading on water, and he’s very good at keeping quiet.
But she’s noticing everything no matter how hard she tries to keep herself focused.
It takes three minutes before she arrives at the foot of her apartment complex but Shinobu thinks it’s the longest three minutes of her life.
Now that she’s home though, she can finally say her goodbyes and hopefully never see this man again.
“I’m here,” she turns to say to him, but he’s standing a little closer to her than she remembers and her breath catches in her throat. He may be an arm’s length away yet she can’t help but feel as though he’s too close.
And being this close to him brings those initial thoughts to the surface again. Like how attractive he is, how much he towers over her, and if he doesn’t open his mouth then he could be her type.
“It was nice to meet you,” Giyuu blurts out, breaking her out of her trance. His eyes dart away from her almost immediately.
Shinobu blinks. Where did this come from?
“Uh, I guess it was nice to meet you too.”
“Goodnight…” his voice trails off, and she realises that he’s looking for her name.
“Shinobu,” she supplies. Why she had decided to introduce herself to the same person that she had sworn as her moral enemy just a few minutes ago, she’ll never know.
“Goodnight Shinobu.”
He goes quiet, hands in his pockets as he stares at her, almost shyly.
She’s not too sure what she’s meant to do in this situation either. Why had it suddenly gone awkward? And why had his entire demeanour changed? Just a minute ago, he was so confident mocking her height. So why is he so quiet now?
“Goodnight Giyuu-san,” she says, offering him a small smile, “Thanks for walking me home.”
He nods, rubbing the back of his neck. They don’t say anything, but they understand that it’s time to leave so they both turn around.
But before Giyuu can take another step, Shinobu remarks loudly, “But I’m still not happy you stole my Pocky. I’ll get it from you next time.”
He doesn’t say anything, but she knows he heard her from the way he lifts his hand out of his pocket to give her a tiny wave as he walks away.
What a night.
“Wait, so you’re telling me that Giyuu was actually smart enough to realise you were trying to trick him?” Sabito exclaims, looking at the woman in disbelief.
“Hey!” Giyuu interjects, obviously offended, but his best friend pays him no heed, his eyes steady on Shinobu.
She giggles, shaking her head. “Not quite. Apparently, he was just really hungry that day.”
“I knew it! That didn’t sound anything like you,” Makoto jumps in this time, “You wouldn’t know when a girl was flirting with you unless she had it written on a neon sign. Even then, I’m not sure you’d even believe her.”
Giyuu’s cheeks burn a bright red, but he turns away from them before they can see it. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring Shinobu along to meet his friends. It hadn’t occurred to him just how much he’d be grilled as the centre of attention.
“I still can’t believe you guys fought over a box of Giant Pocky,” Sabito quips, still in disbelief.
Makoto nods in agreement. “I know right? And Giyuu was so mean despite you only meeting for the first time.”
“Exactly!” Shinobu exclaims, “I told you he was out of pocket.”
Giyuu turns around to face her. “That doesn’t change the fact that you’re short.”
She scowls, “Be careful what you say next or you’re not going to have a girlfriend anymore.”
“I didn’t finish.”
Shinobu raises a brow suspiciously. “Go on...”
“And I still fell in love with you in spite of that.”
“Hey!”
Sabito and Mako look between the two before their eyes meet in a knowing look. Giyuu has met his match.
