Chapter 179: Kiba/Shikamaru

They’d known each other for years and Kiba had been in love with that stupid spiky asshole for somewhat close to three of them when the words finally came out. As much as he’d known with his entire heart that he could never love anyone again the way he loved Shikamaru, Kiba hadn’t actually suspected that they could be soulmates. It seemed just a little too far-fetched, a little too good to be true, so the idea had never even crossed his mind.

Even worse, the moment they came wasn’t anything close to significant. Both of them were drunk and alone on a Friday night. Others had been here earlier, of course, but their friends had all trooped off on some sort of unsteady adventure when Naruto piped up that he had a terrible craving for ramen. Apparently finding out whether or not Ichiraku’s was still open at this hour was a seven person job.

Kiba lolled his head back, trying to tilt far enough that he could see passed the back of the couch and in to the kitchen. Five minutes seemed like a long time for Shikamaru to be getting them another round of drinks. Maybe he’d gotten lost in the fridge. This was Choji’s house; the fridge itself was the size of Kiba’s entire pantry at home.

“Did you fall in?” he called. Something clattered on the floor, something else rustled quietly, and then his friend reappeared in the corner of his vision with a triumphant smile and two beers.

“Almost,” Shikamaru admitted.

“What…what does he even need that much food for?” Despite concentrating very hard on not doing so, Kiba still managed to slur every single word in that sentence. Shikamaru didn’t comment on it, luckily, only shrugged and handed him his drink.

“He’s an Akimichi. You know they’re always ready to feed an army at a moment’s notice.”

Since that was true and logical and very wise Kiba granted him a solemn nod. Then he yelped and fell sideways when Shikamaru flopped down next to him, toppling his upper body directly in to his companion’s lap. The two of them stared at each other for a moment while Kiba’s nose twitched, delighted to find itself in the epicenter of his favorite human scent, then Shikamaru let out a single huff of laughter.

“You fell over,” he pointed out. What a genius.

Akamaru lifted his massive head from where he had been lounging on the opposite side of the kotatsu, woofing gently in questions. When his human didn’t answer he lurched to his feet and padded around to drop his massive head in Kiba’s lap.

“No, not now,” Kiba said, meaning to push him away but ending up petting his snout instead. “I think both of us together would be a bit heavy. And I don’t think Shika wants you drooling all over him. Sorry, boy.” He felt bad immediately when Akamaru whined and his ears went all droopy.

“Let him rest his head,” Shikamaru told him. Kiba tilted his chin up so he could look at the young man he was lounging on, blinking to clear his hazy vision, and tried to rearrange his face in to a brave expression.

“You don’t have to say that.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “Wasn’t just saying it. You’re a package deal. You and your dog are always welcome with me”

He jerked when Kiba gave a full body shudder and watched curiously as he fumbled with the sleeve of his ever-present leather jacket. Since he was a very young child Kiba had been careful nto to leave his house without wearing sleeves to cover his words. When the material slid up they both stared at the softly glowing writing on his arm, written in a hand that looked all too familiar to both of them.

“That’s my writing,” Shikamaru said. His head was spinning.

“You just said what this says!” Kiba looked up at him with wide eyes and a slack jaw. “You said this! My words! The important ones! You said me and my dog were important and – wow. No one’s ever said that before.”

“I mean, the two of you are kind of a package deal,” his friend pointed out. “Gotta love one to love the other.”

“Yeah. See, you get it!”

“Of course I do, I’m a genius.” Shikamaru lifted both eyebrows and kept a straight face just long enough for Kiba to crack and then both of them dissolved in to helpless laughter that tasted like beer and bright futures.

When they both calmed down Kiba squirmed until he was able to sit up, setting his drink aside then turned sideways and leaning back in to Shikamaru’s space to say, “I can’t believe I’ve been in love with my own soulmate all this time, how crazy is that? Damn. I feel stupid now for not saying anything.”

“I…can’t believe you’re in love with me?” Shikamaru breathed. For a moment Kiba wondered if he should be embarrassed to have accidentally blurted out his own secret like that but there was too much alcohol in his system at the moment and he was still flying high from discovering the identity of his soulmate – and that Shikamaru, of all people, was the one to understand the true heart of who he was as a person – to do anything except express his feelings the only way that felt appropriate.

Embarrassingly, he missed on his first attempt at going in for a kiss. Kiba huffed when he heard Shikamaru laughing at him, shuffled a little to center his balance, and leaned in again. He definitely did not miss that time.

They were, however, interrupted rather quickly by a sudden howling from the floor by their feet.

“Can you not see that we’re busy?” Kiba spluttered. Akamaru whined and scratched at the floor, shaking his head until his ears began to comically flop about.

“Ah he’s just upset that he’s not a part of things. Did you need a kiss too Akamaru?” Shikamaru grinned when the dog whined again and dropped his head down to cover it with one paw. Kiba stared at his companion in awe.

“Man, you really do get us,” chuckled.