Chapter Text
"Say, Susato, I barely recognized you with your hair under that hat!” Haori says, after calling her lawyer gallant for the umpteenth time. “When did you learn to style it that way?”
Susato smiled, putting a hand to her cheek fondly. “Oh, it was back in England, actually. Iris had just made me the loveliest hat, and...”
Susato shoved the hat back onto her head, only for it to pop up in the back where her hair was tied together on the crown of her head. She tried again, and again, but it would either not stay down, or made her hair fluff out in an unflattering way, or, once, launched off with a good deal of force after giving her ten seconds to feel accomplished about getting it to stick.
“I’m sorry, Iris, it’s just not working with my hairstyle.” Susato handed the cap back to its maker, who sighed.
“Well, so much for that.” Iris said. “I wonder if Hurley wants to try it on?” With a smile, she took the pink hat and left, probably to go ask her father about that.
Susato turned to the mirror. The rest of the outfit was quite nice. “What a waste, not being able to wear the hat…”
“Ain’t it?” She turned, seeing another familiar face come in. Gina took off her own hat, coming over to stand across from Susato.
Then, without warning, she grabbed Susato’s face with one hand, steadying it as she tried to wedge her own hat onto Susato’s head. It simply popped back up, much to Gina’s entertainment.
Susato took the hat off. “Don’t laugh, Gina—Iris looked so heartbroken that I can’t even wear the hat she made for me.”
Gina’s new clothes, meanwhile, were an excellent fit (although Susato guessed the one thing that didn’t change was the hat). Iris had an exceptional talent for sewing, after all.
“That does sound like a problem. But why ‘aven’t ya just changed 'ow ya do yer barnet?”
Susato paused to puzzle out that one in her head (it didn’t even rhyme!). “Oh! I don’t really know any other hairstyles, I suppose. I’ve been wearing this one since I was little.”
Gina grinned. “Oh, same! One o' the other girls taught me 'ow to braid, and I’ve been wearin’ it like this ever since.”
No one spoke for a few seconds—then, Gina gasped. Susato whipped around, thinking some murderer was in the room, but saw no one. She turned back to Gina, curious.
“Man, I’ve got the perfect solution, Sooze—I’ll just show you 'ow my ‘air goes, then you can put that ‘at back on yer loaf.”
“You’re a genius, Gina!” Susato was already undoing her hair, waving Gina over to stand before the mirror next to her. “So, how does it go?”
Gina stepped in a little closer, taking a section of Susato’s hair from the side of her head. “Well, it’s ‘ard to explain, but I fink the braids are the first step. So we split it like this” Gina split the section in three, her dexterous hands able to manage it easily. She held it all up for Susato to see in the mirror. “Then—oi, ‘Oddo, get me a few elastics!—, ya jus' cross one side over, like so, then the other…”
She went on, pausing only for a second to grab the hair ties from Naruhodo-san, and holding them in her teeth. He backed out of the room, slowly.
“And, then…” She tied the finished braid off. Only, moments later, Susato watched her hair slip out of all its twists and turns, beginning to look like a frayed bit of rope. Gina clenched her teeth.
Susato hadn’t really been paying enough attention to how the braid was formed in the first place—she was a bit distracted watching the way Gina furrowed her brow when she was concentrating, and listening to how she hummed a little of a song, too.
“My hair, two, 221B Baker Street, zero…” Susato said.
“I can’t Adam and Eve it.” Gina laughed. “The bun should still work, at least. Just won’t be as fancy.”
Gina set back to work, face scrunched up as she tried to juggle several sections of hair between only two hands. Not once did she ask Susato for help.
In the end, it was a clean enough bun—the braiding really didn’t work out in the end, but it was remarkable how neat Gina was able to get it despite that.
“It’s lovely, Gina. Though, I do have to wonder how effective a bun is for getting hair out of one’s face,” Susato said. “When my bangs are still hanging in the front.”
The other girl chuckled. “Aw, it’s still a cute look, Sooze. I’ll go grab that ‘at from Iris, then—”
“Wait!” Susato exclaimed, not really sure why; she just wanted to spend a little more time with Gina, she supposed. She didn’t stay in the flat with everyone else, so they didn’t get to hang out much.
“Yeah?”
“I’m still not sure how to braid, you see.” Susato fumbled for an excuse.
Gina quirked an eyebrow. “I thought yer hair didn’t hold one, though.”
“But it’s a good skill to have, you see.” She raised her fists. “So, show me how on your own hair!”
Gina relented, taking off her own hat and passing it to Susato.
( Well, there’s one benefit to my problem, Susato thought, giggling, I won’t have to deal with awful hat hair like that. )