" ?"

the two walk beside each other, and every so often inumaki has the urge to reach out and slip his hand into hers, but he resists. inumaki shrugs in response to the question. he does want to spend time with y/n, but his fevered brain can hardly think of anything to do.

his gaze darts around, desperately looking for an idea. all of a sudden, he spots it—an ice cream truck situated not too far from the park they're at. his facing lighting up, he reaches out and taps her hand instead of her shoulder, and points to the ice cream truck.

"ice cream?" she questions, already beginning to walk towards it. "not a bad idea, inu," she laughs, holding her hand out for him to take. "come on."

he slips his hand into hers and he knows it sounds cliche, but they fit like puzzle pieces. his ears are a deep shade of red, his whole body on fire as he blushes at the nickname.

inu.

he finds himself smiling softly as she pulls his along to the ice cream truck, glancing back every once in a while to look at him. every time she does, he tilts his head at her, and she giggles before turning back.

inumaki thinks her giggles are cute.

"what flavour do you want?" she asks him when she's ordering hers. "i'm getting a chocolate chip one."

he pulls down his collar ever so slightly, mouthing vanilla.

"o... okay!" she shows him a thumbs-up and haphazardly orders his as well. she feels like a middle-schooler, having to resist the urge to squeal out loud, all red in the face and fumbling about carelessly.

why is she blushing? inumaki thinks to himself as his hand rests subconsciously on the tip of his collar. oh, my seal. she likes that?

"paying together or separately?" the cashier asks and inumaki opens his mouth to say separately but y/n cuts him off before he can even say anything. "together."

she pays for him as well, and they wait as the man goes out back to get their ice cream. y/n feels a gentle tugging on her sleeve and she turns around. "hm?"

it's inumaki. he's pointing at the cash in her hands and shaking his head, then pointing at himself. it isn't any sign language but it's pretty easy to understand, and y/n shakes her head in amusement. "i wanted to pay."

he nods as he collects his ice cream, signing, i'll pay you back later.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 🧋*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"you've got ice cream on your nose."

y/n, who's already finished her ice cream, laughs at the poor boy whose eyes have widened as he lifts a nervous hand to his nose. true enough, there's vanilla ice cream on it. his face turns an embarrassing hue of pink as he signs, i need a tissue.

she pulls a packet out of her pocket and hands it to him—not before getting a picture of inumaki with ice cream on his nose. he stares at her phone in shock as he cleans the ice cream off, as though planning some revenge.

"...hey," he manages to say as he stares at her phone. he doesn't even need to say anything else, she knows—he wants the photo deleted. she grins at him, showing him how it's her lock screen now.

"hey...!" he says again, reaching for her phone. she pulls it just out of his reach, mouth twisting into a cocky smirk. he can't reach out any further or he'll drop the ice cream, so he goes quiet again.

she thinks he's forgiven her.

oh, she's so, so wrong.

as soon as he swallows the last bite of the ice cream cone, he licks his lips, and lunges for her phone. "hey! hey," she laughs, dodging and twisting to keep it out of his reach. by this time,he's basically already on top of her, and she's grateful there's close to no one in the park. "you're not getting—"

his fingers accidentally brush her stomach, her shirt slightly lifted, and she lets out an uncontrollable laugh. arching an eyebrow, it's his turn to smirk. "oh, so you're ticklish," he says, with all the words. his voice is soft, but hints at something mischievous. he lifts his hands in a tickling motion as she backs away. "this makes it so much easier."

—

a/n: inumaki's becoming more

comfortable around y/n and less

of a nervous wreck now yayyyay