Chapter 4 ❀ Big Reveal

                                    

                                          
"High-five, Puppy-guy! We beat those two to a pulp!"
                          
"Ya can say dat again! Ya were amazin' out there!" The male didn't go for a double high-five despite you having raised both hands in the air, and instead wrapped his arms around your waist, lifting you up with quite the unexpected strength and spinning you around. It had almost entirely slipped your mind that underneath this thick layer of puppy suit was an actual guy. The two of you shared your happy moment until you remembered that there were still literal butts to kick for having bullied a child into almost handing over their wallet.
                          
"Now back ta dem two—" Just as the Brooklyn boy was saying and had successfully placed you down on firm ground, the mentioned delinquents had made a run for it, and did so quite boldly given that they had decided to sprint directly past you. You and the male dressed as a Shiba Inu would have chased them down if it hadn't been for one of the hooligans hitting the back of your head with his elbow. You didn't know if it had been accidental or on purpose, but you were betting your mocha on the latter. "Ouch...! those friggin' jerks..."
                          
"Oh crap are ya okay?" The male was immediately worried because for instance he had witnessed exactly what had happened and the impact had made your head fall right into the Shiba Inu's soft chest. Hugging and patting your head as if you were the dog here, the young man tried to ease the pain that you already didn't even feel anymore. "Thanks, I'm alright now, so you can let go."
                          
The male almost felt as if he had overstepped certain boundaries when wrapping his arms around you and released you from his bone-crushing grip. When he did though, you couldn't help but widen your eyes at something on the chest-part of his dog suit. It was a red stain and you were more than positive that it hadn't been there just a moment ago. When you brought the palm of your hand to your face to check for the cause, you weren't too surprised to find out that your nose was bleeding. How that part of your head had begun bleeding when in reality the back of it had been hit was still a mystery to you though. Plot convenience, probably. "I'm so sorry! I just stained your outfit..."
                          
"Oh ma gawd yer bleedin'?! Let's geddit ta stop right away!" Clearly the waiter was more worried about your well-being than his dog suit which you certainly appreciated. He quickly made you sit down on the closest chair and raced to the ice cream stand to grab a good amount of tissues and back, before kneeling in front of you and pressing one of the many tissues against your nose. "I used ta get nosebleeds on a daily basis, but ever since ma friend Yuge told me dat tiltin' ya' head backward's actually bad, I don't really know what ta do."
                          
"Seriously? You're just like a kid!" You snorted at the worker's short tale, making him feel even more embarrassed that he had told you such a trivial thing by continuing to laugh. After regaining your composure, you reached for the tissue that the Shiba Inu boy had been holding against your nose with your own hand as if to signal him that he could let go now. He didn't though. Instead, he just put his paw on top of your hand, the fluffiness of it almost making you forget that it was just a get-up and not the real deal. "Gee, ya don't need ta rub it in!"
                          
"Still, I can't believe da punk actually hit ya!" The Brooklyn boy couldn't hide his anger despite his voice coming on a bit muffled due to his whole head being hidden beneath the dog costume, and you couldn't figure out why his concern in particular awoke a strange, warm feeling inside of you. The odd butterflies in your stomach had you too preoccupied to even notice that you had leaned your head more into the waiter's paw. "Don't sweat it. Besides, I think the bleeding will stop soon anyway."
                          
"Actually, shouldn't you take off your costume? We can try to wash out the stain in the fountain before it dries and becomes even harder to remove." You awoke from your half-daze by shaking your head slightly, pointing at the Shiba Inu's chest or more precisely at the red smudge with your free hand. "Hmm guess yer right." The male didn't seem to have really thought about it but decided to follow your advice anyway, and started doing so by releasing you from his tender grip, you unconsciously getting a bit disappointed at the sudden lack of warmth.