The gazing-and-coy-smiling game carried on for a good ten minutes before Kanda broke the ice with, “I”m Kanda’. She nods. Kanda thinks to take another stab at melting just a drop of water from that ice, “…how are you?” She shrugs nonchalantly. Kanda is overcome with a realization that possibly this girl couldn’t speak. She never had at the garage when she was spoken to. So he quickly rethinks. “Um…” he sounds, to attract her attention. He motions some signals with his hands very slowly. He stops after a couple of attempts at signalling letters, badly. Mystified by his dismal effort, he waves a hand for her to forget what he’d signed. As he starts to try again, her bemused face becomes enlightened by what he’s doing.

“I”m sorry…are you trying to communicate with me through sign language?’ She whispers.

An embarrassed and shocked Kanda, lowers his hands, “Yeah…” he clears his throat, “thought it”d be fun.’ An awkward pause passes between the two “strangers” as she smiles widely and his mind somersaults, but he regains his wayward confidence and decides to laugh aloud. Within a split second she jumps on him, a hand over his mouth now, shushing him vehemently. Unfortunately, for Kanda, her knee met his crotch in her sudden outburst and he keels over again, but could almost faint from the repeated assault. This time though, she is prepared with a pillow to muffle his cries.

“I”m sorry. I’m so sorry, really,’ she whispers sincerely over and over to him. “Are you…feeling better?” she asks when the moans die down. Kanda lifts an okay sign above the pillow on his head.

“Getting better,” he exhales when she lifts the pillow off him, “just wait.” He swallows hard and rubs his face to wake up from the endurance test she’s dealt.

“I had to,” she said simply.

He waves a hand, “…no sweat…really…” and drags himself to the wall to lean against. He looks to her and sees that same defeated face he saw earlier that night.

Shakily she asks, “I suppose you won”t come see me again…?’

He faces her and sits cross-legged, as she does, “Do you think I should?” He glances down quickly, then back to her and they both laugh quietly.

Quickly, she retorts seriously, “I will make it up to you.” He gives her a questioning look, yet interested all the same, “if you come back, I will give you something.” He’s caught off guard by her mischievous smile.

“What?” And his features are blank.

“Yes…are you large?”

“What?” Yeah, what? Repeated Kanda’s little voice. He couldn’t think anything else.

“Do you like it tight?” Kanda was speechless. He just swallowed and left his mouth agape.

“What”s wrong?’ she asks timidly.

Sputtering, Kanda answers, “Well…I-I think…we should get to…know each other…” She must be special, seeing as you’ve been dry for almost a year, his little voice teased.

“I guess a hand-made sweater is a little personal…” she says uncomfortably.

You idiot, Kanda thinks and his little voice doesn’t spare him either. LOSER!

‘Look…’ he started. He didn’t want her to think he was in a completely different conversation, “how about I take you out? One night?” Nice recovery, he thinks. “Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go…not tonight though…I don”t want to get you in an accident on my bike….in my condition…’

She smiles so thankfully and says clearly, “I would gladly go out with you tonight…even at the risk of an accident.”