that's the goal in inumaki's mind now as he enters the cafe, sub-consciously smiling as he makes his way to the counter.

he can barely control his excitement when he sees the familiar girl serving another customer. when it's his turn to order, he parts his lips, only to close them, hesitant. just be yourself, talk normally, was what maki told him before pushing him into the cafe.

"hello," she say, "wh—"

"kelp!" he finds himself saying, without thinking. the words go out of his mouth faster than he can process them, and his excited tone is shamefully revealed through the one word he can't help but speak. his ears blush before his face does, and he ducks his head into his uniform, his hair conveniently falling over the red on his ears.

but he thinks, from the sparkle in his eyes, she can probably tell how happy he is to be here.

she blinks, surprised, and laughs. "seaweed? we don't sell that here," a smile plays on she face as she gestures to the menu above her, saying, "everything we sell is on there."

his gaze traces hers to the menu above, and he steps back to take a look. choose something different, choose something different. make a strong impression!

what he doesn't know is that he already has made a strong impression, with the collar of his uniform covering his face and the weird vocabulary he uses to speak. she also happens to remember vaguely that he's come before, and wasted so much time stuttering his order that his friend ordered for him instead. y/n doesn't let it show on her face because she's learnt not to, but honestly? she's never met a customer like him.

the aura of excitement is radiating off of him too strongly.

"tuna and mayo," he says, and she turns his attention back to him, broken out of her thoughts. "hm?" she asks, and looks to where he's looking.

he points at the hot chocolate option on the menu, his eyebrows slightly furrowed together as he frowns. i wasn't able to choose something different. he feels like everything is wasted—the amount of days he spent watching y/n outside of the cafe, the first time he tried ordering but ended up stuttering, "i-i-i-i-" and having itadori order for him instead.

he wonders if she still remembers that. by the looks of it, probably not.

"hot chocolate?" she asks, to confirm his order, and maybe also because she wants to talk to this peculiar boy a little more. "is there anything else i can get for you?" she asks, a bright smile on her face.

not that y/n can see it, but the blush travels all the way onto his cheeks, dusting them with an embarrassing shade of pink. it spreads down his neck, and he's not sure but he thinks his whole body is pink by now.

it isn't his first time realising this.

i like her smile.

"oka—" he begins, shaking his head. she heads out back to make it, but all of a sudden something hits him. it's unexpected, and completely weird, but he wants to leave a strong impression, so he says, "salmon roe!" when she gets back, his voice shy as he looks down slightly.

"boba!" he says abruptly, startling y/n and nearly making her drop the drink. she tilts her head, asking, "sorry?" and he points to the menu on top. "boba," he repeats, slower, softer, surprised that he's said a new word.

"you want a cup of boba too? what flavour?" she asks, and he shakes his head. "boba," he says for the third time, pointing at the cup of hot chocolate. his eyes soften and he makes a throw it inside! motion with his hands.

"throw boba pearls into the hot chocolate? you don't want marshmallows?"

and he shakes his head, beaming underneath the collar of his uniform. he feels all warm and fuzzy inside, and he doesn't know it but y/n can see the red all over his face. it stands out in between the white strands of hair that hang over his forehead, and his ears basically shine with it.

"okay..." she says, adding boba pearls into the hot chocolate. "is there anything else i can get you?"

he shakes his head, sinking his face further into his uniform. but it's a happy sink—that's what he calls it, or has decided to from now. he's uncontrollably happy, his eyebrows skewed in all the right ways and his eyes squinting from all the smiling. he isn't able to control the lurid blush on his cheeks but he thinks, that's fine now.

i did it!

"...done!" she says, bringing the hot chocolate to him. his eyes widen when she hands the cup to him and his hands brush hers by accident, and he's sure his face is going to explode from all the blushing.

"you okay?" she asks him, and he nods. "salmon..." he mumbles, then begins to leave. he stops halfway, like he's forgotten something, then turns back to wave. it's a hesitant wave, the kind where you're unsure if the other will wave back, so y/n waves to calm his nerves. looking like he's accomplished something, he flees from the cafe.

"what a weird boy," y/n mutters to herself as she rests her head in the palm of her hand.

who orders hot chocolate with boba...?

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

a/n: ( mini rant ) i saw this happen

when i was at the cafe my friend's

older sis works at! there was this one

customer who ordered this combo—

it was so cute & i immediately thought

'omg inu would do this' so this happened LOL