Ushijima follows Hinata back easily, his hand cautiously brushing with Hinata's every so often. Hinata is almost oddly quiet, but sometime he'll get a goofy look on his face as they sneak back into the square. Ushijima is much better at blending in now that he knows that they might be crowded any second and even ends up lending Hinata a beanie he'd pulled out of nowhere to cover his bright hair. Though his disguise was just parting his hair differently and putting on some glasses (prescription?) it made him look... Not harmless, but definitely less intimidating. His eyes were no longer half lidded, and a small thrill ran down Hinata's spine at seeing the matching soulgem so close.

They wander around unnoticed by the population once again as the crowds mingle and blend them together with everyone else. They still have an hour to waste before meeting the Hinata's, so they eye each other hesitantly.

"...Sports Goods?" Ushijima mumbles, watching as Hinata blinked in recognition.

"Oh! I, um, I was just going to look. If you don't want to go back in, that's fine-" But Ushijima had nodded already and clasped a calloused hand around Hinata's wrist and led him on. Hinata's mouth closed with an audible click and that goofy looking smile grew wide on his face now that Ushijima couldn't see.

It felt really nice. Being needed like this, with Ushijima's constant little bits of skinship and his occasional glances back just to make sure Hinata was still there.

Time passed almost too quickly, and before they knew it they were inside the shop. Ushijima only realized he was still clinging to Hinata's wrist when he was tugged over to the shoe section by a much happier looking Hinata. Loosening his grip slowly, he only stopped when Hinata looked back at him curiously.

"Where're you going?"

"Nowhere."

"Then...?" Hinata stared at their now unlinked hands curiously. "You don't need to let go, you know." Hinata watched curiously as Ushijima swallowed before a small huff of laughter escaped him. "Here," and he extended his hand before entwining their fingers together loosely. Nodding, he turned back to the shoes in front of him.

"Are you in need of new shoes?" Ushijima questioned after a few minutes of following Hinata pace along the shoes, eyes always drifting back to a pair of Mizuno's colored dark gray with a white decal and orange soles. He'd finally picked up a box in his size and almost seemed to be weighing it in one hand.

"I was just looking! I don't really have the money for a new pair right now..." Unfortunately this store was one of the few that wasn't having a sale today. Or at least, not a sale on the shoes. Hinata looked between the shoes he'd been inspecting and the price while visibly drooping.

"I'll pay." When Hinata's eyes narrowed and a shadow fell over his eyes, Ushijima quickly explained, "My conduct has been... Unbecoming, especially in my ignorance towards your feelings. I'd like to start making up for it. I'll buy the shoes."

"I don't want you to buy me the shoes just because we didn't start off that great," Hinata grumbled, but his eyes had lit back up and he bounced on his heels.

"It's a gift." There was a firmness in those words that made Hinata pause and nod in agreement. Ushijima took the box from Hinata and slowly let go of his hand as they approached the counter. The transaction took almost no time at all, and Hinata watched as Ushijima handed the cashier a credit card like it was nothing. How... How much money did Ushijima have, anyway?

Walking out of the store, Ushijima held hands again, refusing silently to hand over the bag when Hinata tried to grab it.

"I will carry it." And that was that. Hinata thought the action almost resembled a boy holding a girls school bag as they walked home together, but shook the thought out of his head before he could blush too noticeably. He was already getting his hopes too high... Discarding those thoughts, he tried to figure out what they were going to do next.

"Do you need to go anywhere? We could do that, try to find my mom, or head to the pizza place early!" They had wasted a good half hour inside the store, but it would still be too early for his mom to be in the pizza place. Hinata hummed as he awaited Ushijima's response, swinging their hands back and forth... back and forth...

"Dogs." Hinata paused his hand swinging to stare at Ushijima.

"...Dogs?"

"Over there." Ushijima barely tilted his head in the direction of a massive looking dog and... Was that a papillon next to it? The owner was lounging on a bench, looking somewhat tired but still petting her dogs slowly.

"So, you wanna go pet the dogs? Let's go!" And Hinata had Ushijima practically dragged behind him as they rushed across the crosswalk to make it before the light turned green.

The woman on the bench turned towards them when they got close enough, cocking an eyebrow curiously. Ushijima curtly nodded his head to her before staring at the dogs again.

"Hi! Do you mind if we pet your dogs?" Hinata chripped happily at the woman, tugging Ushijima closer.

"Of course not." She smiled briefly while jesturing to the dogs. "This big mutt here is Candy, and the lil one is called Toffee. Toffee likes to lick ankles," She whispered in a conspiratorial manner, "And Candy loves her ears scratched. I'm Ana and I like to doze here."

Ushijima was already crouched in front of Toffee, gently petting her even as she yapped and nipped at his socks. Hinata's eyes softened at the scene.

"How long have you two been dating?" Ana asked quietly, a smirk growing as she watched Hinata flush and start rubbing Candy's ears. "I see your gems match. New thing?"

"It was kind of a everyone else figured out before we did thing," Hinata huffed as he stared at Candy and her slowly thumping tail. "I was mad at him for a while because he knew what my gem looked like and he still didn't figure it out. I already sorta wished... But we did just get together like, an hour ago."

"You liked him before you found out? Talk about inevitable." Ana hummed to herself a moment before saying, "Follow your heart and all that Disney stuff. But maybe remember Ghibli if it gets hard."