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❪ ⤿ ⁺ ̥˚ 🪴┃₊' D #4 : 'ᨏ ، ❍ ⑅ ˚ ༘ ֺ₊⋆. ͙ࣳ. . ⇢ ₍ CHAPTER FOUR ¡¡ ₎* °📚 ─ space case! 𖥔. ͙ࣳ ⸰ֺ₊(๑•ૅㅁ•๑) ، ₊˚ *.᭣᭫ᥫ᭡ :: ❛ ....are you going to let go of my hand? ❜
04 - SPACE CASE
a squeak leaves y/n's mouth as she bumps into something while walking down the street looking on her phone. startled, she fumbles with the phone in her hands and drops it before looking up to see a hand that blocked her from hitting a pole right in front of her.
"thank y-hitoshi!" she beams at the purple haired boy who is staring at her with a frown.
"shinsou." he corrects automatically, lips quirking up at the comical drop of her expression. "why are you looking at your phone instead of watching where you're going?" he asks her, picking the phone she dropped off the ground.
"i was watching a video. is it broken?" she flutters her fingers nervously.
"you're lucky it's not." he hands the unharmed phone to her, and y/n sighs with relief.
"thanks."
"where are you headed with that spaced out head of yours?" he flicks her forehead gently.
"i just finished running errands, so i'm killing time before i have to go home. i'm all alone today." y/n smiles, but it doesn't quite look sincere.
wait. her smile of all things shouldn't be any of his business. he didn't even know her name a couple days ago, what was he doing? shinsou shakes his head, causing y/n to lift a brow at his actions.
he walks past her, lifting a hand behind him in a wave. "well, see you."
the pitter patter of steps behind him make his eyebrow twitch. why was she suddenly going the opposite direction that he initially saw her going in?
maybe she forgot something from the store, he rationalizes. they approach the grocery store at the corner of the block, and he sneaks a glance at the full grocery bag in her hands. his eyes flicker to her face and she's grinning that annoying smile of hers. he whips his head around, walking a little faster.
two blocks later, he decides to speak up. "by any chance, you don't happen to be following me, right?" he asks, still walking.
he hears her try to stifle a laugh and talk seriously. "no? i have important business to attend to in this direction that i just remembered."
they reach the corner, and shinsou pretends to turn to cross the street, but sidesteps her and keeps walking along the sidewalk as it bends to the right.
"hey!" she stomps her foot at the trick.
"so you were following me," he turns around to walk backwards with a small smile.
y/n rushes after him and grabs his hand without thinking. shinsou stops walking, raising an eyebrow at the action.
she's digging the toe of her shoe into the ground with one foot, looking a little anxious. "could i go with you? it's fine even if you're running errands or anything boring."
"why would i want company on errands?" he feels a twinge of shame when she looks a little hurt. but why should he? it's not like he owes her or anything.
he then freezes, remembering the embarrassing conversation from yesterday. why did he do that again? opening up to a girl who's going to leave his life soon enough was embarrassing, but now she holds precious information about him. if he's rude to her now, what would she do to him?
"well," he continues, turning around, "i suppose you can do whatever you want."
y/n is puzzled by his sudden change in attitude, but she beams and skips to catch up to his pace.
"...are you going to let go of my hand?"
"no."
when shinsou sighs, y/n laughs at her desired reaction from him and lets go of his hand. she switches the hand she's carrying her groceries with to her now free hand, flexing the other one. shinsou looks down at her and sighs. when y/n looks up at him confused, she watches him he scrunch his nose and reach out to take the bag from her.
"oh no, you don't have to hold it for me hito-"
he flicks one of the space buns on her head. "don't sweat it, space case."
her face scrunches. "space case?"
"you're always wearing those lopsided space buns." shinsou cant hold back a small grin when she frantically reaches up to feel them on her head. "and don't call me hitoshi."
y/n pouts. "they're not even? they feel fine to me." she frowns, taking one side out to retie as they walk.
"it ended up even more lopsided this time," he comments, and she groans.
"ugh, whatever!" she puffs out her cheeks in frustration.
she speaks up again a while later. "where are we going, by the way?"
"you followed me without knowing what i was doing?"
"it's not like you told me," she says defensively.
he hums. "i guess you're right." they approach another corner, and shinsou points to the door to the apartment complex that's located there. "this is where we're going."
y/n wiggles her eyebrows and nudges him. "taking me to your house on the first date? and here i thought you didn't like me."
he sidesteps her attempt to bump her hip into his and keeps walking, opening the door with a keycard. "it's not my house, you doof."
"woah, we're apartment shopping already? you move fast, hitoshi," y/n teases, but follows him anyway. he ignores her.
"it's shinsou. you remember how i asked why you thought ground zero was a girl?" shinsou ignores her comment and keeps talking, correcting his name.
"yeah?"
"well he's a dude, and i happen to be acquainted with him. i actually was supposed to help him complete a chapter today before it's deadline. are you any good with art?"
"you know ground zero?" y/n's screech is almost deafening. "oh my god what is he like? do you think he would give me an autograph if i asked?" shinsou frowns, trying to hide a smile at her panic.
. . .
"do i look okay? is my hair really that lopsided?" y/n keeps pestering him as they enter the elevator.
"a little", shinsou decides to be half honest.
"hitoshi, how could you not tell me this the whole time!"
"shinsou." he corrects.
"ugh!!" he smiles at her panic and decides to let her feel this frazzled for a little bit longer.
