30 Day Challenge

Day 7

Prompt: Fantasy AU

Ship: N/A

Other information: Modern AU, this fic is focused on our boy Shino Aburame and team 8.

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People often told one another to not go into the forest. The chances of coming face to face with a werewolf, spirit, elves or even worse: a faerie. Faeries were known to be the worst kind of creatures to come across. Each could control a certain thing or element, they were all cunning and mischievous beyond belief, finding amusement in confusing humans to their doom whilst remaining hidden in their humanoid appearance. The only way one could tell a human and a faerie apart from humans was their eyes. Faeries didn't have pupils, their eyes remaining only made up of white and their iris's colour, and colourful those irises could be - it was more than usual for them to have purple, red, pink, yellow and kaleidoscopic eyes than not.

What humans didn't know, however, was that, despite all their precautions, faeries lived among them. Figuring out who was one was comon knowledge, but a select few managed to find their ways into human society, often becoming rather high rank in governments or corporation thanks to their sharp, manipulative nature. 

One of those faeries was Shino Aburame. Being born with onyx eyes, his lack of pupils was unnoticeable to the commoner's eye, only those with absurdly acute eyesight could discern the minuscule hint of yellow in the center of his right eye, where a pupil should reside. His entire family was reputed amongst those of their kind for such eyes, and their insect controlling nature.

Thanks to his eyes, Shino had grown up going to human schools and coming home to his family in faerie society. This rhythm of life was sometimes overwhelming, constantly switching between 2 cultures was tiring beyond belief but, ultimately, he was grateful for the opportunity. He got to experience both human and faerie customs, company and traditions and they were all things he held closely to his heart and cherished more than anything else. 

Shino was what some may call a social recluse, the quiet kid at the back of the class; he was never sure how to respond correctly without being stared at. He didn't necessarily understand social cues, whether that be because of his faerie genes or something else was something he had never thought too hard about, he just kept to himself and tried to go as unnoticed as he could, quite a challenging feat being a head taller than his classmates for the entirety of primary school and always wearing glasses - he wore them so often, it wasn't uncommon for him to come up to him to ask him if he was blind, cross eyed or if he had any deformation. He'd usually respond with a "I just feel more comfortable like this" and, if there was no one around and the person was persistent, he'd just take them off to prove his point. Being rather antisocial was a classic Aburame trait, everyone in the family was used to being ignored by others, whether it be consciously or accidentally. Shino was no exception to that. Despite all that, however, he had managed to make himself a few friends. Well a few was an overstatement, he had made 2 companions throughout the years.

Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga were exact opposites of one another, one was brash and unapologetically himself whereas the other was unreasonably shy yet determined. The two of them were already an incredibly odd pairing, so when you added someone as socially inept as Shino, it was a miracle pandemonium didn't break out. They had met at an after-school workshop for children in need of extra help in behaviour related problems when they were 8, Kiba sent there because of his lack of care for anything academic, Hinata for her problems in participating in class and Shino for his lack of understanding for societal cues. Their mentor, Kurenai Yuhi, had been perfect for them, whatever she lacked in experience, she made up with genuine care and passion for helping her 3 assigned misfits. It was in great part thanks to her that the three of them had clicked and that even now, 8 years later, they still hung out on a regular basis. 

Hanging out with his three friends (including Kiba's dog, Akamaru) always helped the tall boy forget his struggles and worried: be it something imposing such as juggling his two contradictory lifestyles or something minuscule such as what he was going to eat for dinner. Thanks to Hinata and Kiba, he had lived some unforgettable moments, from lying down on the street with Kiba after Hinata had fainted to make it look like they were just napping to cheering Kiba on at his track race just for him to fall off the podium after landing first place and breaking his femur, he wouldn't trade either of them for the world.

A/N: This is ridiculously short but I hope you liked it anyway. I was in the mood to write something short and wholesome, not to mention I had no inspiration for this oneshot, I'm really glad with how it came out. Shino is by far one of my favourite characters and I always enjoy him and team 8 so I thought this would be fun to write and turns out, U was correct for once. Anyway, see you later for the day 8 and 9 hybrid.

~leila