𝕂𝕆𝕀 ℕ𝕆 𝕐𝕆𝕂𝔸ℕ {Tadano Hitohito}

『𝔼𝕍𝔼ℝ𝕐𝕆ℕ𝔼 𝕀ℕ 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝕂𝔸𝕋𝔸𝕀 ℂ𝕃𝔸ℕ 𝕀𝕊 𝔸 𝕊𝕆𝔽𝕋𝕀𝔼!』

⟦ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝟙𝟘⟧

Kagami woke up on Saturday with a smile on her face, and nothing could wipe it away. Not even Stalker Yamai. Today was the day that she and the friend she had made at the summer festival were going to hang out.

While she was excited, her nerves were much, much worse. She got dressed quickly, but packed and repacked her bag several times partly from nervousness, and partly just to have something to do with her hands until it was time for her to head out.

Will I be meeting his parents? Does he have any siblings? What if they hate me? Will I never be able to see him again? Her thoughts spiraled until her hands were shaking and she almost decided to not go all together. No, Katai-kun is my friend, and I promised him I'd be there.

With this new resolve in mind, she collected her keys and started her journey. His house was far enough away that she had to take the bus for part of the journey, but seeing her friend was worth the effort.

What Katai had failed to tell her was that his house was actually a dojo. A very large dojo. She wandered into the courtyard, finding Katai standing in the middle of it, wearing a nice button up shirt tucked into a pair of dress pants. His hair was combed back neatly instead of its usual unruly mess.

"Hello, Ishioka-san." He signed slowly, hands shaking faintly. Her eyes widened in shock before the happiness set in. He had taken the initiative to learn JSL to be able to talk to her.

"I'm not that great at JSL yet, but I'll do my best. Please be patient with me." Kagami could only step forward and envelop him in a hug.

"Thank you." He stood rigid, nervous about how to react. Kagami pulled back immediately, worried that she had made him uncomfortable. "Sorry."

"It's okay." They stared at each other in silence for a moment, both attempting to figure out what to do next. Ultimately, neither of them had to do anything as Katai's father showed up, standing intimidatingly with his hands crossed over his chest.

He didn't say anything, opting to stare at them, as if waiting for them to do something. Kagami tilted her head to the side, thinking deeply. "Should I bow? It is a dojo after all," she held up on her notebook.

Katai's father nodded once in confirmation, his scowl softening in approval. She bowed deeply, Katai doing the same beside her. She entered the dojo, walking directly up to his father and bowed again before flipping the page on her notebook, displaying a prewritten phrase.

"I'm Ishioka Kagami, thank you for having me over." His father didn't even blink before pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket to hand to her.

"My name is Katai Ken, you may call me Ken. Makoto told me that you're deaf. We will do our best to accommodate you. Thank you for befriending my son." A soft smile took over Kagami's face. Katai had told his father about her, and he had taken the time to write this in advance.

She wasn't used to this kindness, but she was glad to receive it. She began to write in her notebook, "Thank you for taking the time to accommodate me, I will do my best to not be a burden. I am glad to have Makoto as a friend."

Ken beamed at her from under the ever present scowl that appeared to just be how his face looked normally. It was frightening at first, but once she had read his note, she had understood him completely.

Father and son made eye contact over Kagami's head. I like this girl. Makoto flushed at the praise. It may not seem like much from an outsider's perspective, but it was praise of the highest order in his family. All of his pride left him when Ken began to question Kagami about how they had met. "Dad- no. Please don't embarrass me in front of my first friend."