𝒮𝒽𝑒'𝓈 𝑀𝓎 𝐹𝒶𝓋𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒪𝓅𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝑒 (Modern AU)

Chapter 5: Evening

The movie went on, the amazing twists, turns, suspense, and shock was just perfect. A more low-key scene played out and (Y/N) felt a tap on the shoulder. (Y/N) turned around to face Shikamaru, him leaning in to get closer to her. This sole moment made (Y/N) forget about the movie. Her heart was racing, her palms sweaty, as she leaned closer to Shikamaru. Shikamaru raised and moved his hand toward (Y/N), toward her ear. Then he leaned further, and (Y/N) closed her eyes.

"Can I have some of your candy?" Shikamaru whispered.

(Y/N) gasped mentally, she felt embarrassed.

"Y-yeah, here." (Y/N) handed him the bag of candy, and Shikamaru took it, taking a few pieces.

"Thanks." Shikamaru smiled.

"Mhm." (Y/N) simply nodded, taking the candy bag back and whipping her head back to the big screen.

'How could I possibly think that we were going to kiss? I'm so stupid.'

(Y/N) sighs, feeling a little defeated. Despite that, however, she was happy that the darkness of the auditorium masked her very red face. How would she explain the color she gained after being in close proximity with Shikamaru?

The rest of the movie was just as great from the first half, and there weren't any more awkward moments between (Y/N) and Shikamaru. The trio walked out of the auditorium, Sai and Ino following them as well, and they all talked about the movie. By then, they were all sitting on a table near the exit of the theatres, discussing the film, pointing out their favorite parts and their least favorite parts. A few moments passed, when Sai and Ino excused themselves, saying they were going somewhere else for their date.

"Well, it's 8 PM, you guys down for dessert?" Choji asked.

"Yeah, I'm down, you?" (Y/N) said.

Shikamaru nodded, "Where to?"

"I want dorayaki, sounds good?" (Y/N) said.

"Yeah, I know a place, let's head to my car." Choji responded.

Choji, Shikamaru, and (Y/N) all went to Choji's car. Choji went in the driver seat, Shikamaru in the passenger seat, and (Y/N) in the back. They listened to whatever was on the radio, singing sometimes as they drove, and talked a bit more about the movie. After around 10 minutes in the car, Shikamaru suggested,

"Why don't I plug in Bluetooth? I wanna listen to Lofi."

Choji said jokingly, "Who wants to listen to Lofi besides you?"

"(Y/N) does. We listen to Lofi music together." Shikamaru says.

(Y/N) blushed. Shikamaru saying 'together' made (Y/N)'s mind wander off to scenarios.

"Is that true?" Choji asked, a little in disbelief.

"Yeah, I like Lofi." (Y/N) admitted.

"Well then, (Y/N) has spoken. We have to listen to it now." Choji chuckled.

Shikamaru put on the music, and (Y/N) hummed silently to the tune. A few tracks later, Choji confessed,

"It isn't too bad, it's cool."

"Dude, I've been trying to get you into Lofi since forever." Shikamaru laughed.

(Y/N) laughed at their playful argument. Once they finished, Choji announced their arrival to the place with dorayaki. Aside from the dorayaki being the place's focal point, they also had tea and ice cream. They all ordered dorayaki, though they all had distinct orders. Choji wanted the original dorayaki, with a side of genmaicha tea and vanilla ice cream. Shikamaru asked for dorayaki, but instead of sweet azuki paste, he went for sweet potato cream, with a side of hojicha tea. (Y/N) decided to have the original dorayaki with matcha ice cream on top of it, and instead of tea, she asked for water.

They all had a great time eating and just chatting about life. It was getting late however, so they decided after they all finished eating, they would go home. Once they finished, they thanked the employees as they walked out of the establishment. The trio hopped in the car and the first destination was (Y/N)'s house since Choji and Shikamaru lived closer to each other than to her. She was pretty bummed about going first, but she brushed it off. Although she had initially thought she was going to be alone with Shikamaru, she had fun nonetheless. They finally arrived at (Y/N)'s house, and so (Y/N) walked out of Choji's car, thanked both of them, and started walking toward her house. She was about to open the front door when she heard Shikamaru's voice.

"Hey, uh (Y/N), before you go in, I wanted to tell you, thanks."

"What, why?" (Y/N) asked, smiling a little.

"Well, because I forgot about the whole Temari thing during our hangout, and you listened to me." Shikamaru said, lowering his voice.

"Where's that bold, so not timid, pineapple head I know and love?" (Y/N) teased.

Although she was teasing him, once she realized she said 'love' her heart leaped.

'I hope he doesn't take it like that...'

To her relief, Shikamaru didn't even think one bit of what she said. Instead he laughed lightly, but then quickly said,

"I'm serious. God, just take the thanks, don't make this more of a drag than it already is." Shikamaru exasperated.

"Okay, okay. You're welcome, just remember that I'll always be there for you." (Y/N) said, mumbling the last part in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well, see you." Shikamaru awkwardly waved.

(Y/N) really badly wanted to go in for a hug, but she instead let him go. As Shikamaru was opening the car door, she shouted impulsively,

"We should hang out soon, I really liked your company!"

She could hear him chuckle, "Sure, spunky, can't wait."

Shikamaru closes the car door, and Choji drives away into the night. (Y/N) couldn't help but sigh in awe.

She finally opened the front door, walked in, took off her shoes and dragged her feet up the stairs. (Y/N) closed her bedroom door behind her, walked over to her bed, and flopped onto it. She then flipped over, faced the ceiling and yawned. She took off her clothes and replaced it with her favorite silk pajamas, but then didn't bother to take her makeup off. She was tired.

"I had fun. The movie was great, and so was Shikamaru..." (Y/N) spoke to herself.

"Choji was cool too, but man I wish it was just an evening with pineapple head."

"My pineapple head..."

(Y/N) blushed. She held onto that one moment she had with Shikamaru. Although it was embarrassing, (Y/N) couldn't help but think about how a whisper to her ear felt so amazing. Shikamaru's hushed, signature voice did things to (Y/N). His breath! His goddamn breath. It made (Y/N)'s stomach absolutely flip, her thoughts scramble, her whole being nerve with excitement. Thinking such thoughts, (Y/N)'s ears vigorously flushed.

With the sweet thoughts in her head, she fell asleep, dreaming about Shikamaru confessing his love to her.

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(6/19/21) - narut2mh

Greetings humans, I hope you've had a wonderful evening. (Even if it's not evening/night for you, pretend it is for the sake of this chapter,,, please and thanks). Hope you enjoyed this one, see you in two weeks!

Feedback is very welcomed.