Chapter 40

The sun hitting her face effectively woke Momo from her slumber. She rolled over expecting to find comforting warmth, but found an empty space. She groggily opened her eyes to stare at the open spot in front of her. Shino was gone.

She had spent the entire Saturday at the Yaoyorozu estate and had fallen asleep on Momo's bed again. She had her own room, but almost never used it. Momo can count the amount of time Shino slept in there.

Momo glanced at the clock nearby and noted the early hour. Eight in the morning. Shino doesn't like waking up early on the weekend, or at all actually. Her being up early meant that she was either in her room, which she had turned into a lab or in the library.

Momo climbed out of bed, not bothering to fix her hair. Shino's room was the closest location so she went there.

"I hope she hasn't blown something up again "

The probability of Momo walking into a smoke filled room was very high. Shino's experiments had the tendency to blow. More than once.

"Trial and error"

That's what Shino says every time.

Luckily Momo was not met with error. It seems nothing had been blown up. The room was messy, as always. Random objects were strewn about the entire room. Momo could only identify a hand full. Other than that, the room was ok.

Shino herself was hunched over her desk, mumbling incoherent words to herself. Momo heard the scribbling of pencil on paper and knew Shino was deep in her thoughts. Which meant that she was probably unaware of anything around her. She gets that way often. She probably hadn't eaten anything yet. Momo was sure of it. Shino forgets to take care of herself. A very worrying trait.

Momo didn't say anything and quietly left the room. She would need to make sure Shino ate and got the sugar she needed.

Heading down the stairs she was greeted by her parents. Her father was getting ready for work and her mother was baking cookies apparently.

"Good morning Momo"

"Good morning "

"Where's Shino? "

"In her mind" Momo wandered into the kitchen, kissing her mother on the cheek. "Which means she forgot to eat" she opened the refrigerator and gathered a handful of ingredients. Strawberries. Chocolate. Milk. Pancake mix.

"I see" Her mother watched as Momo set her ingredients on an island and went off to gather kitchen necessities. A smile grew on her face when she saw the determination and worry in Momo's eyes. "You have my full support "

"Full support for what? " Momo was genuinely confused.

She only received a knowing smile from her mother, who then left without another word.

That was odd.

A growl left Shino's lips when her latest creation blew up in her face. That sucked. With another growl Shino wiped her face clean and glared at the burnt machinery in front of her. What went wrong this time? Maybe she gave it too much electricity again. She sighed as she observed the spent machine. She was so close.

What was she even making?

"You've got to be kidding me"

She put the burnt experiment to the side and rapidly flipped through her notebook in search of any information as to what she was in the process of creating. She always gets lost in her head and ends up doing things automatically. Her brain wouldn't really process what she was doing at one moment because it was too occupied by other thoughts. It sometimes turned out very troublesome for her.

"What did you blow up? "

Shino swiveled in her seat to face Momo. She glanced back at her burnt up mystery and chuckled. Nervously or bashfully?

"I have no idea"

Shino noticed the tray of food Momo brought with her and was suddenly aware of her hunger. In fact she was starving.

Momo noticed the sudden realization and shook her head with a smile. As mysterious as Shino is she had patterns and habits that could be read. Well at least Momo could pick up on them.

"Finally realized how hungry you are? " Momo asked as she rested the tray on Shino's desk.

"Yeah"

"Thought so. I came to see you some time ago and knew you were off in your own world again. I knew you forgot to eat so I made you some breakfast "

Shino eyed the delicacy presented to her. Strawberry pancakes with chocolate syrup along with a chocolate milkshake. She smiled brightly as she sipped on her straw. Her milkshake was super sweet and she could clearly taste the chocolate within. The pancakes were just as delicious. The combination of strawberry and chocolate was heavenly.

"I have been blessed with heavenly food"

"I'm glad you like" Momo slid onto Shino's desk and toyed with a stray piece of machinery.

"I absolutely love it. You're an amazing cook" Shino's eyes glimmered with pure excitement. She looked like a child who got access to untouchable sweets

"If you say so" Momo said. "How long were you up? "

"Over two hours" Shino stared off into the distance, a pensive look on her face. "Or is it three? I'm not sure"

"You're tired aren't you? "

Shino let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back into her chair. "Very much so. It's hard you know? I want to sleep. I really do. I'm exhausted, but it's impossible to sleep with all these thoughts tormenting me. You'd think I'd get used to it over the years"

Momo didn't know what to say. An actually frustrated Shino was a rare sight. She knew Shino had her downs and knew she liked to deal with it herself. Having her spill her emotions to her always made Momo feel a way. She was happy and relieved that Shino wasn't bottling up her emotions. It also allowed her to learn a bit more about I Shino as well. But she was also worried and sad whenever she listens to the other. She couldn't imagine what the other was going through. She doesn't like seeing Shino the way she is. She wanted to help, but what could she do?

"Let's... Let's go out" Momo suggested after some time. Shino finds amusement to distract herself from the negative thoughts and feelings. Momo couldn't think of anything else at the moment and hoped it would help in some way.

"Where to? "

"The amusement park" it was the perfect place to find Shino some entertainment. "There's a new one nearby"

"An amusement park" a smile appeared on Shino's face. "Cotton candy. Games. The odd annoyed parents and venders. Sounds pleasant "

"Then shall we go? "

"Definitely "

After they both took a deserved shower they found themselves in the backseat of a fancy car. Shino was happily sucking on a chocolate while humming a peasant tune. Her mood took a complete three sixty.

While on the drive Shino pondered the idea of having her own vehicle. A motorcycle appealed to her. Or maybe a small car. Too bad she was too young to attain such a thing. Perhaps she could find a way to obtain a motorcycle. She could already see it. A sleek black two wheeler with a single silver line cascading down it. A similarly colored helmet along with boots.

"Momo have you ever been on a motorcycle? "

Momo raised an eyebrow at the random question. She had been occupying herself by noting down something in her tab. She liked the quiet and the pleasant warmth Shino emitted. She was so lost in her own world that the question confused her even more.

"No I haven't " Momo answered. "What's with the question?"

"I was just imagining owning a motorcycle. I think it would be cool" Shino had stars in her eyes at the thought.

"You need a license for one of those"

"I know, but maybe I can work around it"

Soon they arrived at the park. The very first thing Shino did was get some cotton candy. Momo could only stand and watch as Shino completely devoured the sweet before buying some more. At the rate she was going he was going to buy everything the vendor had. At some point Momo had to physically drag her away from the stand. Since she wasn't allowed anymore cotton candy she opted for ice cream. She bought two chocolate cones and looked very happy as she oferred Momo one.

"You'll spend all your money on sweets at this point" Momo joked as they walked along the variouse vendors. The possibility of such a thing happening was ridiculously high.

"It will be worthy it. Every single delidelicious cent"

"Should we play a game? "

"We are at the amusement park. We can play a game, win a price or go on one of the various rides" Shino eyed the ferris wheel. Oh, how she wanted to get on that ride.

"What first? "

Shino grinned brightly.

"Well. The first thing to do is play a game and win you a fluffy price"