Oh-My-Matsuno!

Soft paws, soft heart

"Here..."

"Thank you..."

Though you knew your voice was too soft to be heard, the silent male beside you faintly nodded his head, one of the rare few who could hear your 'mute' voice. It had mostly been this way with the two of you being silent or too soft-spoken. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it was just how the two of you behaved since growing up. Being exposed to the harsh reality, too, had been one of the many reasons you both rarely uttered words. Heck, even the moment the two of you met for the first time was an awkward long silence, neither daring to open your mouths yet somehow it managed to create a friendship not you nor he expected to have bloomed, either way the both of you were glad about it in the end. Batting your eyelashes, you glanced over to him and timidly smiled when his own lidded eyes manage to spot yours giving him an indirect gratitude for his politeness. Being the 'tsundere' as he is, Ichimatsu quickly averted your gaze and groaned out, one of his eyes twitched.

Of course, you were slowly understanding his attitude and the way he portrayed his hidden emotions the more you two spent together. You understood how difficult it was to reveal the vulnerability of one's true personality, you understood the difficulty of the habit of closing off to others and not really knowing how to break out of it to try and befriend others. You understood the unseen fear of the harsh reality retaliating back even harder when one tries to be open towards other folks. His insecurities were masked by his monotone appearance but of course you saw through it easily. After all he was, in a way, a reflection of your own insecurities. He reflected how self-conscious he absolutely was to everything around him, the people who would stare at him, the bullet of unease ricocheting throughout his already darkened mind. Even if you were a friend of his, he still hid most of himself from you and you simply let him. He has the right to defend himself and besides you were far too kind-hearted to act so close-minded.

"You're staring...again."

Your eyes blinked multiple times when his monotone voice softly buzzed within your ears, taking note that you were staring up at him, flicking your gaze from his eyes to his lips and back up to his lidded gaze that always seem to stare deeply into your fragile soul. You lowered your head with reddened cheeks, murmuring apologies to which Ichimatsu rose an eyebrow at your reaction, rolling his eyes afterwards as he gently patted your head to signal you to forget it and move along. A sigh escaped your glossed lips as you fanned your cheeks while continuing walking besides the NEET nekomatsu. Honestly, he rarely puts effort to try to seduce others as he never really saw himself good enough for that area, but that is just what made you crush on him.

His shaggy, monotone appearance with his aggressiveness plucked your heart too many times yet what made you more lovesick of him was that you were the only one he was so gentle with. Even with his default expression, whenever he faces you it seems to soften, like a cat who would blink slowly towards the ones they fully trust. Another sigh and you slapped both your cheeks with your own petite hands, internally whining at how your stupid heart wouldn't slow down. Obviously, this caused Ichimatsu to lightly jump from the sudden noise and stared down at you perplexed. Lately you were being odd around him and it really confused him, especially in the moments you would randomly harm or squeal to yourself. Another smack triggered him and he gritted his sharp teeth, instinctively gripping your wrists a bit hard and glaring down at you with a slight growl in his voice.

"The hell are you doing?"

And there went your heart to skip even faster. His grip wasn't that harsh to bruise you but the tight sensation with your veins pulsating against the pressure felt a little too nice and you couldn't help but blush even more. You didn't answer him nor wanted to face him as you were caught off guard from his aggressiveness, too flustered to properly function.