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There was a game that Shinobu and Inosuke had been playing for a while now. Not a traditional one, and not something they had ever spoken about, but a game nonetheless. Every time Shinobu entered a room, Inosuke would stop whatever he was doing to scourer the entire room for a single bug, usually hidden in a clever spot. It was never the same insect, nor the same spots, and Inosuke would not stop until he found it.
The boar-child was at least careful enough to make sure that no one else knew he was seeking out something, his meandering around covered by his constant activity and his searching hidden behind the mask of an unmannered youth who didn’t know any better when he opened things he shouldn’t. It wasn’t any fun if the others helped him find it, it had to be him and him alone.
For her part, Shinobu was surprisingly mild about Inosuke’s insistence in locating her insects. She hadn’t started the game on purpose, she had just released one of her butterflies to free up her hands when she watched as the dark-haired boy followed it closely with his eyes, the reflection of its wings against his green eyes beautiful. He had surprised her when he held a single finger out for the bug to crawl onto, staring down at it with a quiet awe that was so unusual for him. She wondered….how would he react to other types?
And so their game began, without a word from either of them and no clear reason or goal in mind. She hid, he sought. Every time, he searched carefully and thoughtfully, going against his nature, perhaps with one that might have been his true nature if he’d been raised with humans. Every time, she would tilt her head and smile wider at him, her hand gentle on his head as she patted his hair.
Next time, she’d make it harder.