"."

"then call him," maki tells y/n, looking at her weirdly. "please, he's staring at his phone every day. it's starting to get irritating."

y/n shrugs, faltering as she prepares maki's drink. "i mean, if i call him then he has to talk," she says, "and i don't think he likes talking that much."

what maki says next surprises her. "he's actually really talkative, it's just that he has to keep the talking to a minimum because of his cursed speech," maki explains, taking the drink that's handed to her. "just give him a call after your work, i'm sure he'll figure things out."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 🧋*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

inumaki doesn't talk very often.

yet he finds himself staring at the phone in his hands with anticipation, waiting to talk. he jumps every time it vibrates, hoping it's a call from his one-and-only — but it's always just a text from itadori or something along the lines of that.

he's sitting on his bed, hoping his bedtime doesn't come soon so he can stay up longer to wait for her call.

when it next vibrates, he doesn't respond or turn it over—afraid of getting his hopes up—but when it doesn't stop, he grins and flips the phone over. sure enough, it says unknown number on the call log. he swipes on answer excitedly, holding the phone to his ear.

"hey, is this inumaki?"

"salmon!" he smiles to himself, suddenly feeling the urge to fidget with the hem of his uniform shirt. "is it... l/n?" he makes himself say, awkward at saying anything other than ingredients.

"yup! yeah," she says, "you told me to call you, so..." he can't see her, but he knows she shrugged while saying that, and he grins at the thought.

"salmon."

"by the way, how come you don't come by so often anymore?" she asks him. there's a rummaging sound on the other end of the line. "are you busy with the curse stuff?"

he nods, before remembering she can't see him. "salmon," he says, wanting to speak more but too excited to think of anything to say.

"ah, well. work is kind of boring without you and your weird orders, you know."

he gasps, surprised. "they're weird?" he finds himself saying, before he can hesitate and consider if his words can hurt anyone.

"you talked!" she laughs, "yeah, they're weird. they brighten my day."

"...that's good..." he says, blush traveling like fiery liquor over the surface of his skin. he welcomes the burn, not trying to hide it—he is alone, after all—and wants to relish the feeling.

"you're cute."

"don't say that."

"i'm still surprised every time you talk," she laughs, unaware of the blush that stains her cheeks. "you should talk more, your voice is pretty."

and all of a sudden inumaki wants to talk. "thank you. what are you doing...?" he doesn't like the hesitation in his voice, but he's happy he's able to get a proper question out—among the other five thousand he has for her.

"talking to you," she says, "and i'm learning latte art! online, of course." she grins, "i can't wait to show you, but you don't order coffee, so..."

he parts his lips and hesitates before saying, "...i'll order coffee next time!"

"oh, you don't have to if you don't want to! i'll feel guilty," she says, and he shakes his head even though she can't see him. "i want to."

she giggles. "okay, what about you? what are you doing?"

"nothing..." his voice trails off when he sees panda and maki peeking into his room. he waves his arm in a shoo action, asking them to leave. maki raises an eyebrow at him, hands on her hips, and panda just continues staring at him.

"...inumaki? inumaki? toge?"

"huh?" he asks, flustered. she used my first name! "...ah?"

"oh, i'm sorry for calling you that! i just thought it'd catch your attention since you stopped answering. i thought you hung up," she says, "what happened?"

"i like it... you can call me that. friends..."

"oh, if maki's there tell her i said hi!"

"salmon," he says, but he'll never tell maki that. the last thing he wants is his friends to interrupt the call.

"it's inumaki's bedtime!" maki says overly loudly as she saunters into the room. "he sleeps real early, like a child!"

inumaki kicks at her, shaking his head. he holds the phone slightly away from his ear. "get out," he tells maki, and he hears chuckling on the other end of the line.

"tch, whatever," maki says, hitting the light switch on her way out. it's dark now, nothing illuminating his room except for the light coming out of his phone. he lies down, tucking himself into the blanket until only his head peeks out.

"sorry," he mumbles into the call.

"it's fine. you guys are kinda like siblings," y/n says. "i hope you come by tomorrow. don't force yourself if you don't want to, though."

"...i have a question," inumaki murmurs, face red. he's scared to ask, but he has to anyway. "when i can't sleep..." he begins, "can i call you like that?"

"of course," she laughs, "i'd be more than happy to answer."

he smiles softly, "okay." then i don't have to make up fake scenarios in my head anymore.

when y/n doesn't hear anything more, she heads to her study desk to begin sketching a sunset. watching from the building is two people, one girl, one boy, holding hands. there's a fence near the lift and they've climbed over. the sunset is pretty, but they're smiling at each other, talking.

she is drawing them.

"inumaki?" she asks, suddenly aware of the fact that he hasn't spoken since she started drawing. "are you asleep?"

there's no sound coming from her phone, except for the faintest snoring in the background. "oh, you're asleep," she lowers her voice to a whisper. "goodnight... toge."