;

“hey,” geto calls out to you from behind, and you don’t bother to face his way. how could you when all you’ve been doing these past few days is be prideful and avoid him after—that?

maybe that’s the problem—you’re a little too prideful for your own good; a little too stubborn to let your walls down and finally hear him out after days of escaping as soon as he comes into your line of view.

and you think it’s stupid; that little duality of yours. how one moment you’re hearing out everyone’s opinions and then in the other, you’re drowning them out, either because you think you’re in the right, or you know you’re wrong but not admitting it because all you’d have left is your pride, in short words, scared of the truth.

maybe if you’d let your pride down first before anything else, it wouldn’t be the only thing left with you.

then again, whether you put it down or not, they still leave. it’s better to have something than nothing at all.

suguru doesn’t hear a response from you or see one either for him, when all you’re doing is petting the black cat in front of you.

it’s the same cat he’s been so envious of, always being able to get your attention and showered with affection. at that moment, he figures he’s just as childish at you too, and it relieves him.

he’s found someone like him, and yet still so different, because you’ve always been so open to everything and yet closed at some times. it’s difficult to understand you, built with complicated little puzzle pieces, but suguru’s willing to spend hours, days or years trying to figure you out.

“um… about… last week,” he starts, taking a seat beside you on the staircase. he’s still a bit hesitant, afraid to just unintentionally push you away once again if a wrong word slips out of his mouth and he’ll just have missed another opportunity to mend things back together between you and have more time spent with you.

he puts his hand down from his nape, watching you quietly coo at the cat, giving it gentle rubs on its fluffy head and body. it’s laughable; him being jealous over a cat, but then he assumes you’ve felt the same way too, and he’s right.

“i’m sorry if you thought that i—” and before he even gets to finish his sentence, you’re interrupting his little apology, with an assumption that it’s another one of those pitiful sorry’s that nearly everyone’s heard so much every day from him from how many people are head over heels for him and unfortunately, the feeling not being mutual.

“of course you are.”

your fingers stop grazing themselves over the cat’s fur, and instead of it trying to get you back at it again, it leaves as if it sensed the growing tension between you and suguru.

“you’re geto suguru,” you begin, putting your hands back onto your lap, clenching both your jaw and your fist, desperately trying not to be so vulnerable, despite having known each other for who knows how long. “you’re—you’re just so unapologetically yourself, it’s annoying. you’re too—kind, considerate, too polite and too gentle with others that it’s frustrating.”

“it’s frustrating because i can’t seem to—” you don’t dare say it, not because of pride. if anything, you’d like to say it out loud but you feel the words stuck in your throat as if there’s some barrier between it and your mouth keeping the words from leaving you.

say it, and that’s one less person that cherishes you exceptionally, and that’s horrible because there’s barely anyone left who cherishes you as much as he does.

it’s pointless though since you probably already lost him after last week.

you’re vibrating in your seat, wanting to go home and be held and be vulnerable and cry. it’s childish, but you try to tell yourself it’s not and that everyone has to be a little bit emotional at times to let go or accept certain things.

in this case, let go of your pride, and accept the rejection that’s coming your way, then be told it’s okay, that nothing’s going to change and he’s going to stay, and be cradled in—his—arms.

who would have thought that even confessions and rejections could be so—dramatic?

but well, it’s you. you can’t help feeling your emotions to its core; you can’t help letting it all pour out of your little heart and into the world.

perhaps that’s one of the reasons suguru love you so much; how you find love in the littlest corners of the world and let it bleed through you and give it all away. and you don’t realize that he does because you’re too busy worrying and hammering unwanted thoughts into your head.

“sorry,” standing up, you wipe your own tears away with the back of your hands, as strings of apologies (that suguru assumes what he should be doing instead of you) thread the air. “this is, this is stupid and childish. i’m sorry you had to deal with this for so long. i’m going, it’s better that way. i’m sorry.”

you want to leave, but a part of you is telling you to stay. and if you couldn’t choose or make up your mind between those, then suguru was going to choose for you again, like every other time you and satoru chose him as a moral compass.

and geto wants you to stay.

he always has. you’re just too scared to face it—to face him. you could face anything but him, since you’re so afraid of letting him see you without rose-tinted glasses.

you’re afraid that he’s going to abandon you despite getting reassured plenty times that he never will.

you’re afraid that he’s going to be like everyone else.

so he takes your wrist before you step any farther, and his skin’s heat contrasts with yours.

“let go.”

“hear me out.”

and for a moment of weakness, you sit back down, three steps away from where he sat.

he could leave you be, at least you’re not too far, but he chooses to sit next to you and wipe your tears away.

when you don’t stop him, relief showers over him.

he’s careful with you, slowly and gently drying your tears with his handkerchief, patting it lightly on your cheeks.

he’s close, dangerously close to you. his breath’s warm against you, and he smells a lot like cool mint. it’s not helping you from trying to move on from him, because he’s so annoyingly and unapologetically himself, and his true self is this.

still, you don’t try to pry away from him, and neither does he with you because all you each want is to be close to each other again after what felt like weeks.

“get straight to the point,” you croak once he backs away from your face.

“the feeling’s mutual,” he says, smiling at the ground, then at you.

he better be kidding.

“it’s not funny. quit fooling around with me,” you breathe in heavily, feeling somewhere between scared, nervous, and happy.

“i’m not.”

“this! this is why i want to leave. because you keep joking with me when i’m serious—”

“accept it,” he wraps a hand around your arm, and he’s so, so close to you again. he could be teasing you, but the tone of his voice is telling you that he’s just as serious as you are.

it all runs back to you, the little comments about you that shove your insecurities back on your shoulders to carry. “…why? why me?”

suguru sighs and lets go of the tight grip on your arm. he’s got a bunch of reasons—well, contributors to that list, but he doesn’t really know the main reason why. so he replies, simple and honest, “just because.”

you were the one who told him that too anyway. how someone doesn’t have to have a reason why they love someone else.

you want to kick him on his shin so badly and say he’s being playful again with you because he always has been, but you can’t sense a single inch of it. he’s actually serious.

“you—that’s the dumbest decision you’ve ever made,” you spit out, panting heavily after holding your breath for so long. “you’re trying to ruin your life.”

having always been understanding, instead of feeling irritated at your counter, his eyes soften at the look of disappointment outlined in your features. who hurt you and why?

it’s going to take him longer to piece you together, but it’s okay. suguru’s got plenty of patience for you. after all, he’s going to be in it for the long run.

“it’s not,” he whispers.

murmuring a small ‘what’, you get pulled into his chest. it’s warm and comforting, with his hand patting your back gently, and the icing on the cake is hearing his steady pulse.

he’s alive, and he’s with you out of everyone in the world.

he’s unable to make out words and tell you everything he wants to say to reassure you that you’re so much more than what you think you are, that you’re deserving of the same love you give away and so much more than that, that you’re too valuable to be discarded so easily or just thrown away at that. so hopefully, this was enough.

first of all, inumaki’s a precious beanie, do not let his lack of vocabulary faze you in any way, because this guy's a master at expressing love through actions

when both of them first met, she'd joined tokyo jujutsu high along with yuuta okkotsu, capturing maki, inumaki's and panda's attention

panda being extroverted of the three introduces yuuta and her to maki and inumaki, and she was especially curious about inumaki whenever he'd mentioned words like “shake,” “sujiko,” “okaka,” and so on

that's when panda tells them that the inumaki clan possesses the cursed speech technique, where whatever he speaks has a major impact, not only on the enemy but on himself, depending on the severity of the cursed technique. hence, he speaks only using the ingredients of the onigiri rice ball.

also, just because he couldn't speak, that doesn't extend to his writing, he also can write letters when necessary.

initially, it was a bit difficult to understand his vocabulary, but with certain signs, she learned to be able to communicate with him.

over time, they bonded really well, enjoying their alone time whenever possible. an ideal hangout for him would be picnics in a flower park.

whenever (y/n) felt upset, or low on herself, inumaki would rub her back, calming her in a way none of the other classmates would be able to.

eventually, during missions, whenever inumaki said in his code language, she nodded and replied accordingly, causing everyone else to be surprised that she could understand him in a much deeper way.

he's the best listener, there's no shadow of a doubt

months went by, and even as yuuta decided to travel overseas, she stayed back to help everyone. this made her be closer to inumaki, especially whenever the kyoto jujutsu high people showed up.

she would even invite her classmates over for a meal, which inumaki would help her cook, and as they spent time together, they noticed the little things appealing to them, for her, it was his eyes and in the way, he'd give her head pats, and for him, it was how she gave him space to cope with everything,.

when inumaki fought against hanami, he hurt his chest so bad that he needed to rest and recuperate a little bit.

so when he was resting, (y/n) had gone to meet him, sat beside him every day, ruffled his hair, spoke to him about whatever happened, and also confessed while he was sleeping. “well, this is not what i expected to happen. toge, Iooking out for curses doesn't feel the same without you. i wish i could tell you how much i like you and how much i miss you. anyway, get better soon,” and leave the room, while she was oblivious that inumaki had actually heard that, causing him to smile.

in the days leading to her birthday, she noticed teddy bears being left outside her house, and she'd smiled, picking them up and keeping them safely in her bedroom.

on the day of her birthday, she found a (f/c) teddy bear outside with a note, saying, “i may or may not be secretly leaving teddy bears outside your house so i can see your delighted face in the mornings. meet me at our spot in the park.”

as she went to the park, she noticed a blanket on the grass with her favorite items and a note that said, “happy birthday, will you go out with me?” she turned around to find her favorite person and ran to him and hugged him, who in return left her a soft peck on her lips as they ate together for the first time as a couple.