Yuji felt relieved after hearing her well-versed and practiced replies. At least she hadnāt laughed at him. Though, she probably had noticed his nervousness. Before he could even respond to her questions, two dogs suddenly rushed out from the back, pushing themselves as close to the counter as they could. Their noses prodded at the air, getting as close to him as they could. Yuji smiled at the Akita and Shiba Inu, pleased to see the two dogs. He had loved dogs so much as a child, even though he had never been able to have one. He was quite comfortable around them too, seeing as how many of his shows and even some movies had him interacting with trained dogs for scenes.
He looked back up at the girl as she explained the presence of the animals. Their eyes seemed to glimmer as she said their names. Yujiās smile grew a bit wider as he looked at her. It felt like she was staring straight through him. While he had previously, and very confidently, looked right to her eyes and pink locks of hair, he suddenly felt embarrassed, and averted his gaze to the dogs once again. They both seemed a bit tense with his presence. He realized it must be due to his glasses covering his eyes. Without even thinking about it, he pulled his sunglasses off his face, hoping that maybe the animals would be a bit more comfortable now that his gaze was revealed to them.
Of course, now just the hat remained, shadowing only a portion of his face. Yuji slowly extended his fingertips towards the Shiba Inu, making sure to keep distance, but allowing the dog to get more of his scent. Something inside of him suddenly switched. He felt a lot better, more calm, more like himself.
āThey seem very nice!ā He chimed, looking up at her and flashing a genuine smile. Yuji made eye contact with her, but something seemed to claw at the back of his mind. Something he had forgottenā¦did he leave the light on in his room? Forget to lock the door? Forget to say goodbye to his mother? His face went blank as he was absorbed into thought, trying to remember. Oh right, the sunglasses! He had taken off the sunglasses! ā¦Waitā¦he had taken off the sunglassesā¦
Yuji froze with the sudden realization , and trying to act as normal as he could, scrambled to put the shades back over his eyes, fumbling to open them, pushing them up the bridge of his nose with intense urgency. It definitely did not look normal, but with them back on, he turned to look at her again and spoke to break the silence.
āI need the arrangement for my mother. Pink is her favourite colour. You have some real nice stuff in here, but I kind of want something evenā¦bigger than anything youāve done. I donāt really know a whole lot about flowers thoughā¦you got a catalogue or something?ā
He wished with all of his heart that this woman had no idea who she had seen, or maybe didnāt see his face for too long to recognize him.
ā Stupid Yujiā¦that was real stupid.ā He chastised himself in his thoughts. If this one person knew who he was, and blabbed about it to all her friends, he would never have a peaceful moment here.