“Rin-chan, will you do my hair again today?” Nozomi asks in her sweetest voice as she knots the ribbons of her coat behind her back.
Rin agrees with a serious nod, “I’ll try my best again, Ms. Tojo. Leave it to me.” It’s only her third day in her entire life handling hair longer than someone’s shoulders, and she spends more of her time with her fingers twisted into Nozomi’s waves of hair than she does actually accomplishing a hairstyle.
Nozomi grins at her conspiratorially, and Rin is sure Nozomi knows Rin just likes playing in her hair and running her fingers against the back of Nozomi’s neck and draping her arms over Nozomi’s shoulders while she’s sitting and Rin is finally taller than her.
“We’re baking today, you know, so a braid would be good,” Nozomi says as she smooths her skirt to the back of her thighs and sits. Rin’s eyes go wide.
She hopes that her voice doesn’t betray her when she walks to the back of the kitchen chair. “A-aha, Nozomi-chan, of course! No problem. Braid’s are my specialty.”
She darts her eyes around the kitchen nervously, pressing her lips together. Rin can count the number of times she’s braided someone’s hair on one hand, but Nozomi hasn’t laughed or turned around to tease her yet about her lie, so she soldiers on.
Rin takes two steps forward and reaches over Nozomi’s shoulders to gather her hair gently behind her back. Nozomi’s hair is soft and falls in soft waves over her back. Rin wants to run her fingers through her hair. When she had tried that on the first day, though, Nozomi had ended up with more tangles than she started with, so Rin is firm with herself today.
She pokes her tongue out of the side of her mouth and separates out what she feels are even sections. And if she runs her thumb over the hair in her hands more than she should, no one can see, anyways.
Rin deliberates heavily over the first few sections she crosses. She drops the rightmost section of the braid twice, but Nozomi doesn’t seem to notice. She hums softly the whole time, and Rin has a sneaking suspicion that her eyes are closed, too.
When she finishes, Rin is almost scared to show Nozomi what she’s done. The braid is loose at the top, looser than it should be, and it seems to veer diagonally. But Nozomi grabs her by the hand and ushers her into the bathroom, and then she coos in the mirror about the artful hairstyle Rin-chan has crafted for her, and she tucks and pins and even braids some of the night sky hair that’s already falling out of the inexpert braid Rin has given her.
Nozomi ends up with a cute hairstyle, after all, and she kisses Rin square on the mouth as thanks. Rin squeals, and they laugh their way back to the kitchen.
FILL: TEAM IMAIZUMI SHUNSUKE/NARUKO SHOUKICHI, G
“Rin-chan, will you do my hair again today?” Nozomi asks in her sweetest voice as she knots the ribbons of her coat behind her back.
Rin agrees with a serious nod, “I’ll try my best again, Ms. Tojo. Leave it to me.” It’s only her third day in her entire life handling hair longer than someone’s shoulders, and she spends more of her time with her fingers twisted into Nozomi’s waves of hair than she does actually accomplishing a hairstyle.
Nozomi grins at her conspiratorially, and Rin is sure Nozomi knows Rin just likes playing in her hair and running her fingers against the back of Nozomi’s neck and draping her arms over Nozomi’s shoulders while she’s sitting and Rin is finally taller than her.
“We’re baking today, you know, so a braid would be good,” Nozomi says as she smooths her skirt to the back of her thighs and sits. Rin’s eyes go wide.
She hopes that her voice doesn’t betray her when she walks to the back of the kitchen chair. “A-aha, Nozomi-chan, of course! No problem. Braid’s are my specialty.”
She darts her eyes around the kitchen nervously, pressing her lips together. Rin can count the number of times she’s braided someone’s hair on one hand, but Nozomi hasn’t laughed or turned around to tease her yet about her lie, so she soldiers on.
Rin takes two steps forward and reaches over Nozomi’s shoulders to gather her hair gently behind her back. Nozomi’s hair is soft and falls in soft waves over her back. Rin wants to run her fingers through her hair. When she had tried that on the first day, though, Nozomi had ended up with more tangles than she started with, so Rin is firm with herself today.
She pokes her tongue out of the side of her mouth and separates out what she feels are even sections. And if she runs her thumb over the hair in her hands more than she should, no one can see, anyways.
Rin deliberates heavily over the first few sections she crosses. She drops the rightmost section of the braid twice, but Nozomi doesn’t seem to notice. She hums softly the whole time, and Rin has a sneaking suspicion that her eyes are closed, too.
When she finishes, Rin is almost scared to show Nozomi what she’s done. The braid is loose at the top, looser than it should be, and it seems to veer diagonally. But Nozomi grabs her by the hand and ushers her into the bathroom, and then she coos in the mirror about the artful hairstyle Rin-chan has crafted for her, and she tucks and pins and even braids some of the night sky hair that’s already falling out of the inexpert braid Rin has given her.
Nozomi ends up with a cute hairstyle, after all, and she kisses Rin square on the mouth as thanks. Rin squeals, and they laugh their way back to the kitchen.