Chapter Text
It all started with what Hanako liked to call, the “Ascending radish.”
Of course, he didn’t mean an actual radish levitating, but instead his assistant’s cream-colored locks, with a green ombre, rising up in the form of a tower.
In a way, it resembled a daikon, just like her legs.
With a few of the mokke on his behind, he made his way towards the girl’s classroom. Rather than appearing above her upon her desk, he decided for a more subtle approach.
As the girl was dozing off during her teacher’s lecture, she felt two hands on the head of her shoulders. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but seeing her ghost friend staring straight into her eyes while doing a handstand on top of her, made her quite shocked.
Resisting the urge to scream, she dusted his hand away from her.
“Hanako-Kun, What are you doing?!” Nene whispered hastily.
Pulling out a comb, and a couple of hair ties, he waved them towards her without saying a word.
Students were already giving her weird looks, and she didn’t want to be seen more as the crazy daikon girl who talks to herself, so she pulled her notebook from her desk, drawing her pencil to the paper.
“No.”
“C’mon don’t you trust me?” He pulled out the puppy-dog eyes, making her turn away guilty.
“No.”She rewrote on the page.
He wasn’t taking that for an answer. Moving away from her side, he floated towards the ceiling, into the room above. Hanako only wanted to give the impression that he left, to the girl. After a minute he came back down, but behind her.
“Yaaaaaasssshhhhhiirrroooo” The boy spoke, his mouth inches from her ear, making the girl jolt up.
“Why are you still here?! I thought you were gone!”
“Well what type of ghost would I be if I didn’t haunt someone?”
“A courteous one!” She scribbled onto the sheet.
“Now don’t be silly! I promise not to do anything bad…” His hands were now caressing the top of her head as they followed the length of the soft threads.
Nene turned around to gaze at her friend. It seemed like he was telling the truth.
“Fine.”
Excitedly, Hanako pulled out a comb from his chest, bringing it to her hair.
Brushing through, he tried to smooth out the tangles, making the girl wince.
Pulling out two hair ties, he split the girl’s hair in two and then split those pieces into three each.
Crossing the first set of strands onto each other, he reached a point where there were only about two inches left her green ends.
Whipping out the first band, he tied it where the crossing stopped. The boy grew satisfied with his work and decided to repeat the same thing to Nene’s other half.
With the second hair tie, on the bottom of her crossed locks, he flipped over her to make his face stare upside down over her own.
“Annnnnd, finished!” He pulled some loose strands to cup the side of her cheeks.
Grabbing the mirror a mokke held out, he shoved it into her hands. “What do you think?”
Nene nervously shifted the glass towards her head to see the reflection. She was relieved to find no over the top styles but instead her hair was parted with two braids.
“Oh? It looks… good?”
“For the first braid, I ruined… Now you have two!” He commented cheerfully.
“Thank you?” She turned around to make eye contact with him, but he wasn’t there.
The next day was just like every other, until the same apparition that appeared the day before, had done the same thing once more.
With the hair accessories in his hand and the approval of his assistant, he used his comb to sweep through the threads on her heads.
Nene would be lying if she said it didn’t feel nice. His fingers running gently through her scalp, as she leaned back comfortably in his touch.
As quickly as he started, he pulled back making the finishing touches.
“With the way they look, they should be called Space donuts instead.” Hanako released his hands from her head and wrapped them around her body.
Reaching her palms towards her new hairdo, she felt the threaded spheres. “Space buns?”
“My personal favorite… they look amazing on you.” He nuzzled his nose into the back of her neck.
“Ah- t-thank you.” She stuttered, her cheeks turning a soft pink.
As if it was a daily routine, Hanako would show up every day from that point with a brush in his hand, and hairy ties adorning his left wrist.
Most of the time it was in her classroom, but sometimes it would be right before P.E., right before she would go for a run. He would appear behind her, a scrunchie on the ends of his finger, ready to tie a ponytail for her.
Depending on which period she had next, he would give her a style that served the most convenience towards his assistant. Cooking class, he would put up a single bun and for gardening, he would give the girl a single fish-tail braid. Hanako thought that certain hairdo fitted her best.
It was in the bathrooms right before Nene was about to do her cleaning duties. The ghost already had his hands tied to her locks, pulling up two pigtails.
The girl realized that she was always the one with her hair being tended to, but she never once got to touch her friend’s.
“Hey Hanako-Kun, it’s my turn.”
“Your turn for what Yashiro?” The boy hummed.
Turning around she grabbed his hands away from her scalp. “Why don’t you ever do your own hair?”
“W-what? That’s an odd question… obviously it’s because I uhhh- wear a hat!” Hanako pointed to the cap on his head.
“Hmmmm, take it off.”
“E-excuse me?” A blush crept onto his face. “What did you say?”
“Take it off?”
Nene wondered why he became so shy within that minute, but her eyes followed his hands. They drew closer to the button on his top.
In a quick motion, he pulled it under the loop, making his jacket go loose.
"Wait, w-what are you doing?!” The girl screeched in horror, becoming the flustered one.
“I’m taking it … off?”
“I MEANT YOUR HAT YOU DUMMY!”
Staring at her in confusion, he got a hold of the situation. “OOhh, I thought- we- and you- oh.” Trying not to embarrass himself, even more, he took off the cap covering up his messy black hair, while looking away.
Nene couldn’t help herself, throwing her fingers through the dark strands, she thought of what sort of style would suit him. His unruly hair did quite have a good appearance on him, but there were some different looks she had in mind.
“Your hair is so soft! What product do you use?!” The girl exclaimed, as she already stole the comb away from him.
“Eh, I don’t use anything.”
“You… don’t? Then how is it kept so maintained?”
“It’s always like this, I think. Perks of being a ghost?” Hanako shrugged.
“Wow! I wish I was a ghost…” Nene looked up at her own hair, with a sigh. Perhaps then, it wouldn’t be a struggle to take a bath as a fish.
“You do?” He gazed at her with wide eyes.
“Uh- no. That was a joke.” She replied.
“Oh…”
“But do you have any hair gel?” The girl changed the subject.
Nodding, the boy raised from the floor and went to the third stall. Digging through the toilet bowl, he pulled out a bottle of the blue jelly substance. “Voila~”
“... did you just grab that from the toilet?”
“Mayyyyybeee~” He dragged with a grin adorning his face.
“I’m not touching that.”
“Ehhhhh, but it took a lot of my power to bring this for you.” Hanako lied, as he pretended to look sad. Of course for such a strong apparition like him, summoning from his own boundary, was a cinch.
“Unnnnghhhhh, fiiiinne! Gimme that!” Nene snatched the bottle from his waving hands, making him chuckle a bit.
First, she brushed his hair out, flattening it down. He looked so much like a black Komondor, that it took all her will power to burst from laughing.
Pulling out the gel, she poured a small blob onto his head and rubbed it in with her hands. This gave it a slick and smooth look, along with the ease of styling it in the way she desired. Using the comb, she gave him an off-center parting. Brushing the fallen strands down, his assistant gasped.
“What’s wrong?” He looked up, his legs crossed.
“Y-you l-l-look, like a …..”
“A what?”
“A PRINCE!” She squealed in delight. “It looks so good on you!!!”
“I look...good?” He gazed at her hopefully.
“See for yourself~” She signaled to the mirror, giving him space to rise.
Staring at his reflection, he had to admit, he did appear to be pretty handsome. If he was only a little taller, he was sure he would’ve fit the criteria on Yashiro’s “type”. Something was missing though… his hair was perfect, but perhaps-
Looking down at his drabby uniform, he stroked it, causing a poof of smoke to replace his location. Seconds later, he appeared in front of the confused girl.
Grasping her hand, he bent on one knee. Tilting his head down, his lips made contact with the dorsal. “Thank you, it looks great~”
It wasn’t everyday he switched into a prince costume, but perhaps, it did fit him well at the moment. With tassel-like pads on his shoulders, and a crown resting on his head. He was sure Yashiro would love his appearance even more.
Or so he thought.
“Yashiro are you ok?” He peered worriedly to the girl above him. The silence was being served for way too long, much to his dismay. ‘Yashirooo?”
With a blank face, she started to tip over unconsciously.
“W-whoa, be careful.” He leaned forward to catch her. Although for some reason that just made it worse. Falling limp in his embrace, she slid down, his arms being the only crutch.
“AHHH YASHIRO!?” Instinctively, he pulled her body closer, wrapping his arms around the back of her knees, supporting her frame with the other. “SOMEBODY HELP! KID? TSUCHIGOMORI?!”
Running out of his boundary, he rushed to No.5’s office. It would’ve been a lovely scene, a prince carrying his princess if only the boy wasn’t sweating frantically, while the girl’s head was bobbing constantly with each step.
“SENSEI! I mean, TSUCHIGOMORI!” He slammed the door open with his foot. making the poor teacher jolt in surprise.
“Eh, No.7 what’s the matt-”
“HANAKO, WHAT HAPPENED? LET ME AT ‘EM!” A new voice burst in the room, holding his raiteijou, threateningly. Looking around for the ghost, he ignored all appearances except the girl in his arms. “SEMPAI?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?
“KID, I DON’T KNOW.” The tears were starting to flow out of both of the males’ eyes, making the spider apparition roll his own.
“She’s not dead.” The man retorted, although his students didn’t listen. For they were too busy sobbing to notice. Perhaps it was better this way. The sight was quite amusing anyway. “Do you guys want to save her?”
“YES!”
He was probably going to go to hell for this…. “A kiss.”
“...what.” The boys both stopped in confusion and looked at the spider apparition.
“If you want to save her, you must give a true loves kiss.” How cliche, they wouldn't believe tha-
The first one to get up was Hanako. Dusting his clothes off, a light tint of red adorned his face. “Ahem, well I guess I got no choic-”
“HOLD ON.” Kou grabbed him by his black cape, making him fall over. “There's no consent. Sempai wouldn't like it.”
“Well, maybe with you kid. But I’m going to be her prince that saves the day.”
“W-well, if anyone should do it… it should be ME! Plus you’re dead, it wouldn’t work.” Kou proclaimed.
“Excuse me, my assistant and I share a bond that can’t be broken. Especially by a young inexperienced exorcist.”
“Who’s young?! I’m older and taller than you, more of Sempai’s type.”
“If we’re speaking age, I’m technically over 50.” He cheered.
“You’re disgusting, get away from her.”
While the boys continued their feud, Nene finally found consciousness.
“W-what happened? Where am I?” The girl looked around making eye contact with her teacher.
“Kid, It’s probably best to leave while you can.”
“Why?” The last thing she remembered was doing Hanako’s hair, and then…”Hanako-Kun?”
Stopping their quarrel, both males turned around to the girl’s voice.
“Yashiro?”
“Sempai?!”
“...Yes?” She instinctively moved back at their stares.
“YASHIRO!”
“SEMPAI!”
Running to the just awoken girl, Hanako held her in his arms, while Kou stayed a few feet back with tears of happiness.
“Ehh, what happened?” A blush plastered on her face at the attention.
“You fainted after I kissed your hand.” The boy holding her spoke bluntly.
“YOU DID WHAT TO SEMPAI?” The exorcist screeched, pointing his raiteijou towards the ghost.
“To fall into my arms so boldly, did my looks seduce you that well~” He teased.
“...you should…
wear your hair like that more often.”
Pushing herself slightly out of the boy’s arm, she walked out of their teacher’s office, not saying a single word.
All that could be heard was the creaking of the door as it closed against the frame.
“Is she going to be ok?” Kou spoke up.
“Poor girl couldn’t process what had just happened to her.” The spider apparition mentioned.
“I think I broke her.”
…
“Now get out of my office.”
“Yes sensei.” The boys said in unison, heads bowed.
Next day:
“Hanako what are you doing?” The blond teen questioned the ghost.
“My hair.” He simply replied as he applied the gel to his head.