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Given his experience, Kaori knew a thing or two about buzzing, trimming, and above all perfecting your hair.
Well… maybe his knowledge was all acquired from being the client sitting in that overly large leather chair rather than grooming it first-hand. But watching, doing, it was all the same! Besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t touch up his haircut with a pair of shears every now and then.
… The human version was called shears, right?
Whatever! It didn’t matter. The point was that he knew how to use them, and if his own reflection in the mirror didn’t lie, he was fucking fantastic at it too.
It was only a year ago that he had uncovered the shiny new version of himself - freshly promised a place at an impressive college, a dazzling new identity and quite honestly, still a skilled member of the best band on the block. Fuck yeah! Kaori was nothing if not constantly moving up in the world.
But this… this might be a task he hadn’t levelled up enough to tackle just yet.
Seated before him was his girlfriend of many, many years. She fidgeted in her chair: anxious, but with a strange sense of confidence hidden beneath nonetheless.
“Hey, Maa-chan,” he tested as if he were taming a cat, tone soft and hopefully comforting. “Can we talk? This is all a little sudden…”
“I wouldn’t say so,” Mari answered, trying to conceal her nerves. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. It just—” she gulped, clutching the sides of her chair, “—never seemed like… I’d finally do it.”
“You never told me.” Kaori didn’t whine in mock disappointment as he usually would: he was simply stating what was true. “You haven’t told me much of what’s going on in that head of yours recently. Even less than you used to.”
“... I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Kaori accepted, ruffling her hair and ignoring the complaints the gesture brought. Gotta wringe those last drops of mischief out from it while he still could. “But this earnest atmosphere’s making me dip out of character… Tachibana-san’s gonna vanish~.”
“What? From one honest moment?”
“Yeah~ It’s a really crucial moment right now. I’m getting overloaded.”
“Well, I suppose that’s a problem you’ll just have to manage on your own,” stated Mari, an amused glint in her eye.
“So cruel~.”
“I thought you liked cruel.”
“In the bedroom, not in the kitchen…” he whined. “Anyway~ how short do you want it? As small as you or as tall as Aki?”
“Watch it.”
“Bold of you to threaten a guy armed with scissors~,” Kaori teased, punctuating his warning with a snip. “But about your hair. I don’t think we should cut it too close. … Heh.”
“It shouldn’t be anything too drastic,” Mari explained. “And I don’t trust you with that hair clipper anywhere near my ear, or within three miles of me.”
Oh. So that was what human shears were called. Snazzy.
“I just don’t want it to be as long as it is now. I’m sick of… everything to do with it,” she offered. “I’d prefer something like a bob that couldn’t touch my shoulders even if it tried.”
“You couldn’t have said that the whole time?” deadpanned Kaori. “I was dreaming up a whole bunch of wild lesbian hairstyles that fit your requirements~.”
“I’d rather keep my identity private than display it for all to see, thank you,” Mari said without a bit of bite or judgement. “The commitment I have to you is my pleasure, no-one else’s.”
If Kaori’s cheeks warmed up at that (as well as the palms of his hands), he was grateful that Mari couldn’t see it. “Weird logic, but… I like it.”
“I knew you would.”
“No more sappy talk~ Tachibana-san’s hands are gonna turn to jelly and then I’ll have no control~ What if I cut off your whole head?”
“You wouldn’t,” Mari offered simply, leaning back into Kaori with a small smile. “I know you’ll try hard not to disappoint me with this.”
“What did I just say? Sweet talk is banned,” he pouted. “Pay me with tips or kisses, thaaank you~”
“Impress me and I might.”
“Got it, got it~”
There was an audible snip right by Mari’s ear. She reacted with a clear flinch.
“Just testing things out~,” purred Kaori by her ear. “You sure you’re ready for this?”
“... No. I’m not,” Mari admitted. “But I can’t wait any longer.”
“... You remember when I first buzzed my hair?” Kaori began. “It took aaages for you to convince me that it was okay. I wasn’t making a mistake, I could go through with this. So… we don’t have to do this today if you’re not ready.”
Mari steeled herself with a deep breath. “But I want to.”
“Yeah, I know. But…” he hesitated. “Well, I went to an actual barber for my haircut. Fluffy at the top, fuzzy at the sides. And you’re having your girlfriend take a pair of scissors to your head in the kitchen on a spontaneous evening.”
“Is the problem that it’s you doing it?” asked Mari. “You’re afraid that you’ll mess this up and deter me from trying again?”
Kaori shuffled where he stood, nervously drumming his fingers on Mari’s shoulders. “A little. ‘Cause, y’know, if this is important to you then… I don’t wanna screw that.”
Mari reached her hand over to meet Kaori’s, lacing their fingers together. “I trust you, and it was you who inspired me to do this. To change. So… that’s why I want you to do this,” she confessed. “Oh, and if anything goes wrong, then I asked for this.”
“Now that’s the kinda reassurance I wanna hear~. That you claim legal responsibility.”
“Mm. Now, will you start already?”
“I mean, yeah, but I’ve never done this before, not even once in my life. Can’t I watch a YouTube tutorial first or something?”
“Tachibana Kaori.”
“Alright, alright~!”
Knowing her hair was being taken into Kaori’s hand, Mari tensed, preparing herself for the cut.
“... Y’know, I really like feeling your hair. But… I’m gonna like the end result even more, I think,” he promised. “Even if it’ll look like shit.”
Steady, steady…
With each strand secured in place, the scissor hands sealed shut.
Mari bit her lip.
But it was okay.
Kaori’s sweet voice reached her ears through it all, mumbling reassurance and dad jokes he had memorised from cheap books to ground her.
“Ooh, I’ve got a good one.”
Snip.
“What is it?”
“You said you wanted a haircut, right?”
More and more hair dropped to the floor. Mari’s stress crumpled with it.
“Well, sorry to tell you, but you’re getting them all cut~,” Kaori teased with a wink. “No man left behind.”
Mari chuckled breathlessly. “Where did you find that one?”
Snip. “It’s all my imagination, baby~ And maybe a website too.”
With another minute gone, the strands that hadn’t quite slipped off her back tickled her neck.
“We probably should’ve found you an apron first.”
“We definitely should have done that.”
Soon enough, all that remained were the final touches.
“Hey,” Kaori called out softly. “I’m proud of you. Y’know, for doing this.”
“Thanks.” Mari smiled, the kind of smile you’d only ever see a drizzle of in your lifetime. “I appreciate you doing this for me.”
Kaori pressed a kiss to the top of her head wordlessly. “No biggie.”
“Oh, and by the way, I think I want a different cut now,” Mari pointed out. “Like a boy’s hairstyle. One where the hairs on the back of my head don’t grow out.”
“... You’re kidding, right?”
She was not.
Nevertheless, Kaori pushed on with her requests without complaint. In his words, “if that’s what the lady wants, then that’s what the lady shall receive~”.
In the end, they were left with shared satisfaction between them and an eternity of cleaning to do.
Mari stared into the mirror offered to her, breathless.
“... It’s cold.”
“Well, yeah.” Kaori shrugged. “You don’t have a built-in hat to shield you anymore.”
With a laugh that sounded more like a pant, Mari smiled again as tears pricked her eyes. “I like it.”
Grinning, Kaori returned to the home he had been nesting in for years: acting as the belt around his girlfriend’s waist. “I’m glad.”
Mari leant back into Kaori at last, basking in the moment.
Compared to the chill she felt only seconds ago, this was so, so comfortingly warm.
“... So. How was your service today? 10 out of 10?”
“A messy job, but priceless delivery.”
“Wahey~.”
“In fact,” Mari continued. “I consider it worthy of a rather hefty paycheck.”
“Tachibana-san loves my more generous clients most of all~.”
And with that, Mari dove in close to pay her fees and knew she was certain of one thing: she was never going to an actual hairdresser ever again.