note:
non-canon: 'tara' in japanese means 'cod' but can also represent something that inumaki likes
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INUMAKI WAS SURPRISED, to say the least, when he saw you and not Ieiri-san walk into his room.
He noticed the heavy hesitation in your movements as you entered, and shifted awkwardly in his bed, sitting up and looking at you, not meeting your eyes fully.
You stiffened. I wonder if he's scared of my technique. He's being awfully quiet. You thought not that he spoke much to begin with.
"G-good afternoon." You managed, walking a little further into the room.
Inumaki nodded. "Kombu."
You gulped. This was too awkward. "May I... sit here?" You pointed to a chair next to his bed. He nodded.
You sat down without exploding much trouble and stared at Inumaki. He was not looking at you, so you were able to observe him without being weird.
He wasn't wearing his jacket over his face like usual and your eyes lingered for a few moments on the inked design that was etched on either side of his lips — you found yourself staring not-so-discreetly at the boy, which he seemed to picked up on.
He stared back, looking straight into your eyes. You felt as though his gaze would bore right through your skull (even through the glasses) by how scorching it was. Your cheeks turned a light shade of red and you looked away suddenly.
"How... how are you feeling?" You asked, fiddling with your fingers.
He shrugged. "Takana." He said, nonchalantly. His voice was hoarse, like he'd just been screaming for hours non-stop.
You grimaced and took a deep breath. "Look, I wanted to apologize." The boy tilted his head in confusion. You continued. "I was the one who pushed Inumaki-san into using your cursed technique against that spirit. It... almost got you killed."
You tried to keep your voice level, but even you could make out the waver in your tone. You gripped the sheets of the bed tightly, and closed your eyes, afraid that if you opened them, tears would stream out endlessly until you were completely dry.
Inumaki didn't reply, and you were scared what his expression held if you looked at him. Your thoughts were interrupted, however, by a warm hand placed over your own.
You looked up in surprise to see Inumaki with his eyebrows furrowed in frustration, his palm cupped over your clenched fist. "Okaka." He said sternly, shaking his head.
The boy's voice was soft but firm, and you tilted your head at the word.
"Okaka." He said again, a small pout forming on his lips. You were surprised by his double answer. He sighed and tried to express his point. When he couldn't find any onigiri-ingredients to use, he grabbed his phone from the bed-side table.
There is nothing to apologize for. So stop blaming yourself.
You read the message that he had typed before locking eyes with the boy. His eyebrows had returned to their relaxed position and he tried a small private smile at you — as reassurance.
You sighed and nodded. "Is Inumaki-san not — uh, I don't know — scared... of my cursed technique?" You bit your lip and looked away. "That almost got you killed, too."
The image of petrified silver replacing the ivory-pale of Inumaki's skin flashed in your head. You grimaced.
A reply from the boy wasn't heard, but he held up his phone after typing up a message.
No. I think your technique is cool :)
A wave of relief seemed to wrack your body and your shoulders visibly relaxed. You let out a weak smile, wanting to change the subject.
"Uh, I brought onigiri. Maki and Panda told me Inumaki-san likes tuna mayo, so..." You offered him the triangle shaped food and his eyes brightened.
He smiled, a short, minute gesture, but a smile nonetheless, and gratefully accepted it with a hum of delight. "Okaka?" He asked, showing the number '2' with his fingers and twisting his wrist.
You took a wild guess at what he was saying. "Maki and Panda said they will visit you after they come back. Gojo-sensei has sent them on a mission right now."
It seemed your guess was correct. "Ah." He said and nodded.
You continued with the rest of your visit, talking with Inumaki about random things (mostly from your side), and bonding over flavors of onigiri.
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ON ONE OF the occasions that you hadn't visited, Gojo went up to greet Inumaki himself.
"Good morning, Toge-kun!" He exclaimed with delight, holding a bunch of balloons in one hand and a basket of treats in the other.
Inumaki only deadpanned at him. "Kombu." He said. Today, his throat hurt a little more than usual, and he really wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, let alone his childish teacher.
Gojo sighed. "I brought you snacks from your classmates. They couldn't come because they were sent on a minor mission."
"Hmm." He hummed in response.
The light-haired boy's thoughts immediately shifted to you.
They are not at school? I hope they're alright. He thought. It was a surprise since he could not recall you missing a single meal with him.
And yet he had not seen you at all that morning. Not that you were forced to come all the time.
He was just surprised. Merely taken aback. Nothing else.
"Whatcha thinking about, Romeo?" Gojo teased, wiggling his eyebrows at the boy. He leaned his face closer to him, a sly grin stretched across his face.
Inumaki pushed his teacher's face away, not replying.
Gojo's eyes widened a fraction. "You know, our newest addition to the group, right?" He was referring to you. "What do you think of them? Too overbearing? Too nonchalant?" Gojo grinned. "Scary ?"
It was clear that Gojo was only asking to see what Inumaki genuinely thought of you.
"Okaka." Inumaki said, a little too quickly, shaking his head violently.
The teacher considered the answer. It looked as if the light-haired boy had something else to say, so he stayed quite and waited for Inumaki to continue.
The boy looked at his fingers, fiddling with them nervously. "Tara." He said, quietly.
There was a moment of silence before Gojo gasped. "Aww, Tooge-kyun! Who knew you were so smitten for the newcomer~?!" He exclaimed, squishing his own cheeks with the palms of his hands.
Inumaki waved his hand dismissively. "Okaka." He denied.
But the hint of red on his ears was a little too dark to go unnoticed by his teacher.
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SOON, A FEW days past like seconds, and Inumaki had fully recovered. In that time, you had made it a practice to visit him everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, before going off to train late into the night.
You would've complained about that, if not for the fact that you were getting closer to him.
Gojo wasn't very pleased when you were skipping classes and training to visit the light-haired boy, but in the end, he sympathized. He also didn't hesitate to tease you when he handed you a huge stack of revision work to catch up on what you and Inumaki had missed.
This is going to be literal hell. You thought, as your teacher dashed away, turning the corner of the dormitory, and out of sight. You sighed. Well, at least I have Inumaki-san as a study partner.
Your thoughts wandered to the boy. He was very passive when it came to expressing emotions, but that was more because you couldn't usually see his face behind his jacket collar.
However, because of your frequent visits with him, he had started taking it off more often, smiling or frowning at you in response to something you said or did.
It made your heart do flips — you were not used to this feeling. "I should invite him to study later." You thought aloud, pulling your phone out of your pocket and opening his contact.
Inumaki Toge
You [ 06:51 PM ] hey inumaki-san, gojo sensei has told us to catch up on our school work and gave me a big stack of revision papers for us
You [ 06:52 PM ] would you like to come to the classroom to study together?
You sighed at your own message. It had taken you way too long to find the right way to phrase your question, and after five whole minutes, you managed to send it. Inumaki's reply was almost immediate.
sure thing. what time should i come? [ 06:53 PM ] Inumaki Toge
You [ 06:53 PM ] is 7 too early?
not at all [ 06:53 PM ] Inumaki Toge
see you then :) [ 06:54 PM ] Inumaki Toge
You [ 06:54 PM ] yeah see you
You sighed as you turned off your phone and placed it back into your pocket. Currently, you were in your room, staring at the stack of papers from Gojo that you had dumped onto your bed.
With a tired huff, you lugged on an oversized track jacket and a small backpack before heaving the papers into your arms and running out of your dorm room towards the school building where Inumaki would be waiting.
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fact: reader has never been given the opportunity to interact with other people when they were young because of the training that their parents put them through beforehand, as well as due to their cursed technique afterwards.
because of that, reader finds it hard to socialize, and conversations usually end up being really awkward unless a comfortable atmosphere is already established.
note:
hope you enjoyed :)