Comfortable Silence (Shinsou Hitoshi x Mute! Gender Neutral Reader)

SPECIAL CHAPTER - Valentines Day Special

Author's Note:

Hello Everyone! It's that special day and whether you have someone to spend it with, are by yourself this year, or happily hanging out with friends, I've decided to give you a special little chapter for Y/N and Shinsou! This takes place before either of them made it official, because the the fic is one hell of a slow burn, so enjoy!
Onto our lovely special chapter!
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February, the coldest month in Japan, had kept you inside the workshop, happily using up the warmth of the room to draft and sketch out new ideas. You despised winter mainly for the bulky gloves you'd be forced to wear, as it made it difficult to sign, not to mention that your fingers would cramp faster from the cold. 

Luckily, you only really needed to go outside to go to class and to head home, where even then Maiko would talk and talk and talk that you didn't need to sign or use your hands inside those stupid gloves. You could stay all warm and bundled up and finger-cramp free. 

Soft music floated through the room as you sketched out new designs for the hero-course students, along with random tech and gear that you thought of on the spot. You loved inventing, but you adored sketching out the plans as well. You considered being an artist at some point, but the creation of support tech offered more fulfillment into your life. You bobbed your head along to the music absent mindedly, unaware of the figure that slowly walked towards you.

You only realized that anyone was there when the faint scent of lavender and matches, left over from possibly incense, reached your senses. You look away from your drawings, meeting the eyes of a very tired-looking boy leaning over to look at your work.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Shinsou asks with a small smile, his resonant voice washing over you.

You shake your head and smile. Not at all. Do you need anything?

He rises to his full height, his hand finding the back of his neck. "Ah not quite. I was hoping you that you would be free, actually. But uh...if you're.." he gestures to the stack of papers beside you, "still working on those, I'll come back later."

I'm just doing this to have a reason to stay inside the shop. It's cold outside. You shuffle the papers into a neat pile, slipping them into a binder. I am free, though.

You see his expression light up a little, his smile tugging the sides of his mouth a little more. "Really? Well then...there's a cafe open nearby.. if you wanna go."

You give him a mock sad expression, signing You're going to make me go outside? In this weather? That's so cruel.

"..It's a cat cafe."

You nearly jump out of your chair as you stand up, a wide grin on your face. Let's go. Right now. Why didn't you say that before?

His laugh echoes in your chest, his expression finally showing you that more expressive side of Shinsou he rarely let's out. "Easily motivated. I figured that'd catch your attention. I was hoping you'd just wanna go with me to a cafe regardless, though."

You hit him softly with a gust of air from your finger tips, rolling your eyes. I would, but you could have told me it had cats sooner.

"So...are going because of me? Or because of the cats? I'm getting mixed signals here."

The cats. You're just a bonus.

He chuckles, following you out of the workshop as you put on your coat and hat, taking the gloves out of the pockets and slipping them on. "At least I'm a bonus. On tests, those are normally worth more."