Chapter 6
Dash-Dot

*.*.*

Mafuyu knew she had to get out of there fast. She was going through all the possible events her brain could make up as they walked inside the ice cream shop. In her absentmindedness, she almost tripped on a chair. Thankfully, she managed to hold on to its backrest. However, she dragged it a little too far back. Her eyes momentarily met with Kanon, and Mafuyu was momentarily frozen in fear of being discovered by those sharp eyes. To her surprise, Kanon took a seat.

Confused, she took a seat at the opposite end of the table, and they were now seated face-to-face, with Mafuyu desperately trying to avoid her gaze. She fiddled with her hands under the table as Kanon called for the waiter to give them a menu.

Pretend you suddenly forgot to do something, Mafuyu thought, as she twisted and knotted her hands for the nth time. Her silent despair was disturbed by the small coughing sound Kanon made.

"You," Kanon asked, and Mafuyu's heart jumped a little in nervousness, "don't really talk much, do you?"

Mafuyu let out a small cough of her own, determined to clear her throat to achieve a deep voice effect. "... Yeah," she answered, somewhere between a statement and a question, all while trying to keep her face a perfect mask of disinterest. Silence fell upon them once again, and she stared idly at her lap.

The silence was maddening. In Mafuyu's head, an eternity had already passed. Then she heard gentle tapping, and she looked up to find the sound.

"Isn't that..." Mafuyu started, but was cut off by Kanon.

"Didn't you say it was your hobby? I won't repeat it again," she snapped, refusing to meet her eyes. Mafuyu caught the crimson shade of Kanon's cheeks and felt hers flush slightly as well. She knew that she really, really had to get out of there fast, ruin the date, and get it all over with, but-

Mafuyu nodded as a reply, and she was thankful the waitress came right then to take their order, because she now had an excuse to not ruin the date; at least, not yet. The words Kanon told her in Morse code kept repeating over and over in head.

... - .- -.- / .- -. -.. / . .- - / . ...- . / .- ..- ... - / - -. . / .-. .- .-. ..-. .- .. - / .- .. - ... / - . .-.-.-

It was the first time someone remembered something she told them. So when their orders came, she dug in energetically, struggling to hide how touched she was.