~Wow it's been a hot minute since I last updated this book- but I'm back! Personally, I think KuguShiba is very underrated and, seeing as it's Halloween soon, I decided to write a Halloween party fic. Enjoy!~
Shibayama hates parties. He hates parties with every single ounce of his being. What reason did he have not to hate them? All they are is a group of, usually horny, high school kids cramming into the same house to be loud, drink alcohol and make a huge mess that must be a pain in the ass for the poor host to clean up. Why the hell would anyone throw a party? It's way too much hassle for such little reward. I mean come on, what do you actually get out of it? One night of being drunk and, if you're lucky, having sex and then a whole house to clean up the next morning, while you're hung over, before your parents find out. There's literally no point in it.
It's not his fault that he hates them; he just has really bad social anxiety and would rather stay inside binging anime than be out partying with his so called friends. It was probably rude to think of them that way but, let's be honest, if they were his actual friends they wouldn't force him to go out and engage in social interaction every other day. They should respect his decision to stay inside and become a complete and utter social reject who spends all his time in his room and lives off of caffeine while barely keeping up with school, even though he's very clever, and watching his will to live slowly shrivel up and die before his own eyes. That sounds much more fun than going to some stupid high school party.
Oh, but it could get so much worse... and it did. This particular party, horror of horrors, was a Halloween party which meant that everyone had to go in costume. That's probably the part he considered to be the worst out of all of it. Why would you go dressed up to a party? That's a social situation, and you already know how he feels about them, with a sprinkle of public humiliation in there just for good measure and, oh boy, was he going to get humiliated tonight. Why? Well, let me tell you why. Lev, one of his best friends, had just watched mean girls with his older sister and had decided that it'd be a great idea for them to all go in outfits inspired by what the plastics wore at the Halloween party in the movie. This meant that Shibayama had to go as a mouse. He'd managed to get a slightly more modest version of the outfit he was supposed to wear but the fact that it was a pretty short dress still made him deeply uncomfortable but hey, what could he do? Inuoka and Lev would kill him if he bailed on them and, to be honest, he got the most modest outfit out of the three of them so he doubted they'd listen to his complaints either.
He finished getting dressed and looked himself up and down in the mirror. Yes he has a floor-length mirror. It's not like he's interested in the way he looks, it's just that it looked pretty good in the corner of his room – it filled up that empty space quite nicely. He had to admit, he did look pretty good in his costume but that doesn't mean he was confident enough to actually wear it out in front of people. With a couple of hair extensions, he'd be a pretty convincing girl and he really didn't like that. Without the hair extensions, he just looked like a hooker. Also, it made him look even more gay than usual and, considering he was only out to select few people, that was terrible.
Sighing, he slid the mouse ears onto his head, grabbed his phone and walked out of his room. As much as he didn't want to go, he also didn't want to disappoint his friends by not turning up at the time they arranged. His sister was also just coming out of her room. Great, the last person who he wanted to see him like this.
His little sister looked him up and down and stifled a laugh. "Let me guess, Lev's idea?" Shibayama's face flushed red and he nodded. She laughed more. "No offence Yuki but you kind of look like a hooker right now."
He folded his arms, a pout forming on his face. "Shut up Maika, I don't need you to tell me that."
"Tsk, whatever." She rolled her eyes and went downstairs to get some food. Shibayama sighed. He'd always had a strange friendship with his little sister. They were basically best friends but what came with that was the constant need to take the piss out of each other. To anyone else, it must look like they hated each other. However, in reality it was quite the opposite.
He sighed and dropped Lev and Inuoka a text on their group chat.
From Shibayama: I'm just leaving my house.
He thought for a second and then sent a follow up text.
From Shibayama: I hate you both for making me do this.
From Inuoka: Lmao shut up you got the best outcome from this.
From Shibayama: Shut up Inuoka.
From Shibayama: I'm showing more skin than you.
From Shibayama: Plus, you don't have to wear a dress.
From Inuoka: It could be worse.
From Inuoka: You could be wearing what Lev's wearing.
From Lev: What do you mean?
From Lev: I look amazing!
From Inuoka: Who lied to you?
From Lev: It wasn't a lie!
From Shibayama: Was it Alisa?
From Lev: ...maybe...
From Shibayama: Unsurprising.
From Shibayama: Anyway, I'm leaving.
From Shibayama: See you in like twenty minutes.
From Lev: Don't be late Shib!!
~~~
If you'd asked Naoyasu a week ago if he was going to the party being thrown by that one Nekoma third year, he'd tell you no and to go to hell. However, his cousin was in the same class as the girl throwing the party and he'd told him to come along and bring his friend Mizoguchi with him. He wasn't entirely sure why his cousin had a crush on a girl two years younger than him from a rival school but it wasn't exactly his business. He'd brought her along with him to the party, which he didn't even want to be at, with the promise of his cousin getting him McDonalds the next day. He liked McDonalds a lot and having someone else pay for it sounded pretty damn appealing. Besides, it would probably do him some good to go out for the night.
The only downside was that the only people he knew here were Mizoguchi and his cousin, who had already walked off together somewhere so that he could 'get her some drinks'. He knew exactly what that meant. Mizoguchi wasn't exactly easy but, considering her very obvious type in guys, he was almost completely sure that something was going to happen between them.
He sighed and jammed his hands into his pockets. Considering this was a costume party, what he was wearing could barely be considered a costume. He was literally wearing black jeans, a red hoodie and some devil horns that he'd borrowed off his mum. Considering she got them when she was in university, they weren't actually that bad looking. Looking around, he quickly realised that everyone else had actually worn costumes but that didn't bother him, he'd never been one to put in effort. I mean come on, why would he? He was only here to set his best friend up with his cousin. Again, what happened between them was not his problem. He was doing this for the McDonalds. That's all.
~~~
It had only been ten minutes since he arrived but Shibayama had already decided that he needed air. Lev and Inuoka had both abandoned him within seconds of being in the house. He was pretty sure it wasn't intentional; it was more likely to just be because he was small and they lost sight of him. So far no one had said anything to him about his outfit, which would probably have looked better if Inuoka and Lev had actually stayed with him, but he had got some strange looks and he didn't like it. The smell of alcohol, weed and body odour lingered around the house and it made him feel like he was going to suffocate. Not to mention the high number of people in such a small space was stressing him out a lot. He needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.
He started making his way to one of the doors. He didn't even care where the door lead, as long as it was outside. However on the way his path was blocked, hopefully unintentionally, by a taller boy wearing a red hoodie and devil ears. Shibayama ended up walking straight into him and stumbled backwards. "Ah- I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." He looked up at him, mumbling more apologies under his breath and tugging at his fingers. Whoever this person was, they were intimidating. Were they a third year?
"It's ok..." The taller one mumbled, clearly annoyed by Shibayama's presence. He flinched a little and the other clearly noticed. "Dude, I just said it's ok. If anything it was my bad, I was the one stood blocking the door." He could tell that he was looking him up and down as he spoke to him and it made him very, very uncomfortable. He kept tugging at his fingers. He wanted to get out of this situation but at the same time, something about the other was mentally forcing him to stay put. It was weird. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. "...Hey mouse boy?"
He blushed slightly at the nickname but it also kind of irritated him as well as reminding him that he was still wearing this stupid costume. "Hm? Sorry I zoned out for a second there." He laughed sheepishly. "By the way, my name is Shibayama, not mouse boy." Hang on; was he actually starting to start a conversation with him? What the hell was he doing?! He's awful at conversations! Oh god, this is going to go down like a led balloon in three... two... one-
"Oh, ok. Nice to meet you Shibayama." Wait what? So the conversation was continuing? Mind you, all he'd done was introduce himself so there wasn't really much of an opportunity for things to go wrong. "I'm Naoyasu. It's nice to meet you."
Ah. He recognised that name. "Kuguri Naoyasu, Nohebi Academy's #12 on the volleyball team? Wing spiker?" The taller boy tensed up which made Shibayama giggle a little. "Calm down, I don't hate everyone on your team. I don't tend to hate people I barely know. Your captain seems like a meanie though..."
A pout formed on Shibayama's face and, not going to lie, Naoyasu found it quite cute. He didn't find Shibayama cute, just the pout. He smiled just a little. "You're not exactly wrong. Daishou is a piece of shit, there's no denying that." His statement caused Shibayama to giggle a little, his hand covering his mouth slightly. Again, partnered with what he was wearing he found it adorable. What? He's bisexual and horny. It's really not his problem as long as he doesn't say anything to make Shibayama uncomfortable. "...So, what's with the outfit?" He had to ask.
Shibayama suddenly got very flustered. He really couldn't be bothered explaining his costume. "W-Well you see..." Mind you, he couldn't exactly come up with an excuse on the spot. He might as well just tell him the truth. "My stupid friend watched mean girls with his sister and decided that the three of us should dress like the plastics do in that one scene where they're at a Halloween party."
Naoyasu raises his eyebrows, almost subconsciously. "Oh really? My mum is obsessed with that movie... I'm really not sure why, she made me watch it with her once and it seemed pretty boring from my point of view." He sighed. "It might be because I'm not a girl but all the 'drama' seemed so unnecessary. Like, just talk it out. It's really not that hard."
"Eh, it's an ok film. I watched it with my sister a little while back and I thought it was pretty good." He folded his arms, the pout returning. "But now I only think it's ok. Do you wanna know why? Because stupid Lev decided to ruin any positive memories I had of it by making me dress like this."
Naoyasu chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. "If I were you, I would be thanking your friend. It suits you." Shibayama's face flushed red again, clearly flustered from the comment. Fuck, what if he thought Naoyasu was perving on him? He wasn't trying to come off that way! He had to fix this. "Not in a weird way, just... whatever, just take the compliment." He needed to change the subject before the other turned into a literal tomato. "...Anyway, if you and your friends came here as a group, how come you're by yourself?"
Shibayama bit his lip. "Funny you ask that..." This was embarrassing for him to tell. "See, I have a theory that they lost sight of me because I'm, well, kind of on the short side. There are a lot of people here so it's plausible..." The pout returned. "...but still annoying." And it was annoying. His friends had put him in this situation and they didn't even have the decency to come and find him.
"Well, if you want you could hang out with me until you-"
"Shibs!" Inuoka walked over to him and grabbed his wrist. "There you are. We've been looking for you everywhere!" His attention got drawn to Naoyasu. "Who are you supposed to be? I swear to god if you've been harassing him I'll end you're entire bloodline." He wasn't even kidding. He was very protective of Shibayama, as a best friend should be. Especially since Shibayama wasn't exactly great at sticking up for himself. Without Inuoka, who knows what kind of trouble he would've got into by now.
"Inuoka!" Shibayama let out a small, whine-like noise. "Don't act like that, you're being mean!" He was never normally bothered by Inuoka being protective of him but, for some reason, he felt the need to get him to back down when talking to Naoyasu. "For the record, I bumped into him and we're only having a conversation!"
Naoyasu was surprised. Shibayama didn't seem like the kind of person to stand up for someone after knowing them for five minutes, especially not to someone who he probably considered a friend. Then he took in Inuoka's outfit. Yeah, he was definitely one of the friends that lost Shibayama at the start of the party. "Hey, you don't have to stick up for me-"
He was giving Inuoka those special pleading eyes of his. "Come on Inuoka, please can we talk for a little bit longer?" He started gently tugging on his fingers and messing around with his hands. "I'll come and find you and Lev afterwards, I promise!"
Inuoka sighed. "Fine, whatever." He let go of his wrist and folded his arms. "But don't go doing anything stupid. If anything happens or anyone harasses you, come and find me. And you." He turned to Naoyasu, a small glare on his face. He really didn't trust him. "If you do anything to hurt Shibayama I will cut your dick off right then are there, do not test me." He turned and walked away, leaving the pair stood there absolutely gobsmacked.
Shibayama was slightly confused. Sure, Inuoka was usually protective over him but never this protective. He couldn't figure out why... oh wait, yes he could. He probably recognised him from when they played against Nohebi and, like everyone else on the team, decided he disliked him on the spot. "I'm really sorry about him Naoyasu; he's not usually like this." He started playing with his fingers again. "He's just really protective. Don't take it too personally."
"Don't worry, I didn't." He shrugged. "He's a Nekoma kid; I'm more surprised at you not hating me than him acting like that." That's another reason that he liked Shibayama so much already. He was the only person on Nohebi who didn't hate everyone on Nekoma, the same way that Shibayama seemed to be the only one on Nekoma who didn't hate everyone on Nohebi. It was quite refreshing. "Anyway, want to go grab a drink and talk? No ulterior motives, I promise."
He smiled a little. Going to get a drink with Naoyasu actually sounded kind of appealing. "You know what, sure. Why not." Naoyasu smiled at him and led him off to get drinks. As much as he hated socialising with new people, this was actually turning out to be not that bad.
~~~
The party had ended well into the early hours but Shibayama had got overwhelmed and left within three hours of being there. He had spent a lot of time with Naoyasu though and had actually managed to get his Snapchat. Apparently the other wanted to keep up with him to which was nice. He wanted to text him but he was shy. What was he even supposed to say? Maybe he could message him about enjoying the party? No, he left before it even ended so he clearly wasn't enjoying it. He curled up on his bed, clutching his phone into his chest. Damn it, why did socialising have to be so difficult?
His phone buzzed against his chest and he gasped. Could it be...? No, it wouldn't be Naoyasu...right? He checked his phone and felt his heart give a little flutter. It was him! It was actually him! Oh my god, he'd only gone and made himself a new friend from another school! Wow! This was actually a pretty big deal for someone like him.
Naoyasu: Hey.
Naoyasu: It was nice meeting you today.
Naoyasu: Also that costume is cute on you.
Naoyasu: I've probably already said that though.
Shibayama: Haha its ok I appreciate the compliment.
Shibayama: It was nice meeting you to.
Naoyasu: Not gonna compliment my costume huh?
Naoyasu: Jkjk it wasn't exactly a costume.
Shibayama: Lmao I'm going to have to agree with you there.
Shibayama: The devil horns were cute though.
Naoyasu: Thanks.
Shibayama: This is probably a bit sudden but would you like to hang out again sometime?
Naoyasu: Sure thing.
Naoyasu: Do you have anything specific in mind?
Shibayama: Not really.
Naoyasu: Cool me neither lmao.
Shibayama: Ah.
Shibayama: Oh well, we'll figure something out.
Naoyasu: Yeah.
Naoyasu: Well I'm going to sleep now.
Naoyasu: Talk tomorrow?
Shibayama: Sure thing!
Naoyasu: Goodnight Shibayama.
Shibayama: Goodnight!
He put his phone down on his bedside table and plugged in the charger. It had about 30% charge left but he was going to sleep now and it would probably die overnight if he didn't charge it. He shuffled his way under the covers and curled up, closing his eyes.
Shibayama hates parties.
But maybe he doesn't hate them as much as he thought.