Chapter Text
Bonus chapter 4
(Falls just after book 1)
Riku's perspective
“So, how short are you wanting to go?” Meli flipped a navy blue towel around in front of Riku and settled it around his shoulders, then picked up another identical one to cover his back. “Are we talking a trim, or a buzz cut, or somewhere in between...?”
Riku laughed. “Well, definitely more than a trim. I'm not positive what a 'buzz cut' is, but based on the way it sounds I'm gonna say no.”
“Good, because I think I'd have to shoot you if you said you wanted me to shave off all this gorgeousness.” Running her fingers up through his hair, she fluffed it out a few times, sending a shiver down his spine to combat the heat rising into his cheeks.
“I honestly haven't thought about it too much. Shorter than Sora's, I think? And definitely not as...spiky.” Meli gave a little laugh at that, continuing to gently comb through his hair with her fingers. He found himself relaxing into the sensation, almost tempted to let his eyes drift shut. “Maybe a little longer in the front than in the back?”
“So, like a reverse mullet?” Despite not knowing what she was talking about, he could tell by her tone she was teasing. Before he could question her, though, she waved a hand in his peripheral vision. “Never mind. Are we keeping the bangs?”
Riku stopped to consider before answering. “Yeah, I think so. Definitely a little shorter, though.”
A small hand came around to his forehead and shoved said bangs up out of the way, before letting them flop back down into place. He couldn't help but be reminded of the time she had done the same thing in the mansion, one of the first times she had deliberately touched him. “Yeah. I agree with you there.”
“I had a feeling you would.”
She came around to stand in front of him, studying him from a couple of different angles, occasionally reaching out to play with a section of hair. “Okay. I think...I think I have an idea.” Crossing her arms suddenly, she twisted her lips to the side. “I'm nervous, though. I've never...actually cut anyone's hair besides mine.” She snorted, shifting her eyes away. “Aiden didn't trust me enough to do his.”
Lifting his arm carefully so as not to disturb his towel cape, he grasped her elbow and squeezed gently. She shook her head slightly and smiled at him. “Sorry. I'm okay.” For once he actually believed her. The usual sparkle in her eyes was still there, not overtaken by the shadow of old memories. “Anyway, I don't have any experience on other people, and I'm still not super familiar with the styles over here. Are you sure you want me to do this?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation. “I do. I have faith in you, you're gonna do great.”
Meli took a deep breath, staring at him, then let it out in a whoosh. “Okay. As long as you're sure.”
She got to work right away, first trimming the pieces that framed his face to be around chin length – with an adorable expression of concentration, he noted – then moving back behind him and spraying water on the remainder. To start with the only sound was the soft snick of the scissors. Riku didn't speak, not wanting to break her focus. But eventually, she seemed to relax into the work, and started up a conversation herself. They flitted around to a variety of subjects, Meli telling him a few more stories of things that had happened in the previous two weeks while he had been missing, and Riku filling in his own stories in between. It had been years since anyone but him had messed with his hair, and he decided he rather liked it. The soft tugs and the scrape of the comb across his scalp, combined with the warm sun overhead, were nearly enough to put him to sleep, had the company not been so riveting.
After some time, once a decent pile of silver tufts had accumulated in the grass around his chair and Meli had finished styling the back and top of his head to her liking, she reappeared in front of him and bent down to work on his bangs. “I can't wait to actually be able to see your eyes properly,” she smiled.
“It's been a while since you've cut yours, hasn't it?” He hadn't been paying attention before, but he noticed now that the normally close-cropped side had gotten a good bit longer since she was traveling with Sora. “Are you thinking of growing it out, or just haven't had time?”
Meli pressed her lips into a thin line, eyes still focused on his bangs. “Thinking of growing it out,” she answered after a moment.
He resisted the urge to furrow his eyebrows, not wanting to mess her up. “That wasn't a very confident answer. What made you decide that?”
Sighing, she straightened up and bit down on the corner of her lip. “Um...there's...” The hand that wasn't holding the scissors went up and rested on the back of her neck. “I just...I don't want...”
Realization dawned across his expression. “Your scars.”
She winced a little, gripping her neck tighter until he was afraid her fingernails might be digging in. “Yeah. I wasn't...planning on growing my hair out this soon, but...I wanna cover them up.”
Without warning, he snatched her by the waist and pulled her into his lap, eliciting a squeak out of her. “Have I told you that you're beautiful?” He pressed a kiss right onto the first branch of scarring that peeked out from under her collar. “Every little bit of you.” The next one got a kiss, as well. “Including the scarred parts.” He kissed the final visible mark, lingering a little longer on that one.
When he looked back up into Meli's face, there were tears glistening in her eyes and she was red all around her ears, but she was smiling. “You're so cheesy, you know that?” She dropped her own kiss onto the tip of his nose. “And I love you for it. But now you've gotten hair all over the place.” With a wave of her hand, she indicated the tiny pieces that had scattered from his askew towel onto both of their clothes.
“I don't care.” He kissed her again, on the mouth this time, unwilling to resist the draw of her skin now that he had begun. “But seriously.” Looking her right in the eyes, now without a fringe of hair in his way for the first time ever, he made sure she was paying attention before continuing. “I think you should do whatever you want with your hair. If you really want to grow it out, that's great. It will look just as beautiful as it does now. But if you don't want to, then don't. No one who matters is gonna care about your scars. The important thing is that you're happy with the way you look. If that means having short hair, keep it short. If that means covering your scars, then go for it.” His mouth quirked up to the side. “Deal?”
For a moment she just looked back at him, then gave a little nod and a smile. “Deal.” She pried herself off of his lap, much to his chagrin. “Now can I finish your bangs?”
“Fine,” he groaned dramatically.
A few more snips was all it took for her to be satisfied. “Okay. I think...” Standing back, she surveyed her work, chewing anxiously at her lip. “I think you're done. Do you...wanna see?”
He shook his head around, trying to get used to not being able to feel his hair brushing his shoulders. It was strange. But it had been time for a change – new season of life, new hair. It felt a bit like the weight of the past few years of darkness had been chopped off and left behind. “Yeah, let's see it!”
After shaking out the towels and dusting off their clothes, Meli followed Riku back into his house and to the bathroom. She stood a bit behind him as he took in his appearance in the mirror, her hands clasped in front of her mouth. “Don't you dare lie to me,” she ordered after a few seconds of silence. “I mean obviously I can't help it if it's too short, but if there's anything you don't like you have to tell me so I can try to fix it. You can't just say you like it because I'm the one who did it, you have to be hon–”
“I like it.” He cut her off mid-ramble, putting down the hand mirror he had used to see the back of his hair and turning to face her. “I really do, I promise. It's going to take a little bit of getting used to it being this short, but this is exactly what I had in mind...except better, because I couldn't picture it perfectly.”
Meli tucked her still-clasped hands underneath her chin. “You're sure?”
He smiled. “Do you really think I'd lie to you?”
“Mmm...”
Groaning in play exasperation, he pulled her into a hug by her shoulders. “Come here, you. You did great. I love it.”
She sighed into his chest. “Good. Because I do, too. I mean, the long hair was pretty attractive, not gonna lie...minus the bangs...but this is like, more mature, I think. And hot.”
Riku chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Well, I'm in good company, then.”
Tipping her head back, she peered up into his face with a smile. “Should we go show your mom?”
He couldn't resist planting one last kiss onto her forehead. “Yep. Let's go.”