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Hiyori woke up in quite a mood. She was always seeming to wake up on the wrong side of the bed lately, but every morning just didn't feel right anymore, not after her captain Hikifune had gotten her promotion. A new captain was set to be chosen soon, but she wasn't looking forward to it at all. In Hiyori's eyes, Hikifune was like a calm, but strong mother that she could rely on. She could understand her desire to accept her promotion to Division 0, but it still stung.
As she got out of her sheets and sat up, her hair was down and even a little messy. Hiyori cringed, thinking of the fact that Hikifune always combed it out for her and would do her light blonde strands up in those fluffy pigtails for her. And she didn't know how to.
It couldn't have been that hard, she reasoned. After seeing her captain sit with her in front of the mirror every morning to put them up, it should've been no problem. Hiyori picked up her hairbrush and attempted to run it through her messy strands that she hadn't tended to in a few days, and that was when she hit a snag. The tug just made her wince at the pain in her scalp. With her impatience, she just wanted to rake the brush through over and over until it was over, but she couldn't stand the thought of all that pain. There was only one place she could think to go to for help, but she certainly didn't like it.
Getting dressed quickly, she simply threw on her uniform before pulling her red hair ties onto her wrist and collecting her brush and comb before quickly setting out towards Division 5's captain's office. Normally, it was the last place she would want to be, but now, she needed a certain idiot's help.
She was moving pretty fast, not wanting to be seen, and once she got to his door, she wasted no time throwing open Shinji's door and finding him procrastinating at his desk. He looked up in confusion at her as she then shut the door just as quickly.
"Listen, if you've come to bully me this early in the morning, I'm kinda busy—"
Hiyori grunted. "It's not about that, dumbass! I just—! I..." Her voice trailed off, letting out a sigh as she held up her brush. "I need help doing my hair," she mumbled in defeat. "Hikifune hasn't been here to do it, and every time I try to, it just hurts. So I figured you'd know what to do 'cos you keep yours pretty nice."
Perking his brow, Shinji gave her an incredulous look. But when she didn't falter, he gave in and slid his papers aside.
"C'mere. I'll fix it up for ya."
Stepping aside from his desk, they sat together on the floor as Shinji began to brush out the tangles that had formed in the days she hadn't been maintaining a routine. He was careful not to pull at them too hard, lest he get Hiyori mad, but she just shut her eyes and let him do what he needed to, huffing in defeat all the while.
"How long has it been since you at least brushed it out?" Asked Shinji. "It's a mess back here."
She frowned and responded quietly, uncharacteristic of her usual boisterous energy. "Since the day after Hikifune left. She used to do it for me. We'd wake up and she'd brush out her's, then she'd do my pigtails. At first I just felt too sad and frustrated to try it, but now it just hurts and gets me angry." Hiyori huffed. "And I'd rather not pull out a clump of my own hair from getting mad at my own shitty brushing skills."
Shinji just kept brushing for a moment before he responded. "I know this is gonna be hard. Moving on from someone ya care about is always difficult, 'specially from someone like Captain Hikifune." Even he had to admit, it was a little bittersweet to think about. "She was there for us when we managed to get into the academy, so I can see why this has ya so upset."
Shinji and Hiyori were pretty close as kids. Just like anyone else in Rukongai, they were just two young souls with no relation to one another. And yet, all they had was each other. It felt like a stroke of luck getting into the Shin'o Academy, but the Division 12 leader took to caring for them both for quite some time. She could swear there wasn't a moment they were far apart, not until the day Shinji chose Division 5 instead. But even then, when they had time off, they were still together. And for that, both Hikifune and Shinji were like the only family Hiyori had.
As he finally untangled the last knot, Hiyori relaxed and slid the red hair ties from her slim wrist and handed them over.
"It just. Sucks," she mumbled. "Sucks that it has to be this way. I get why she did it, but I just feel—" Hiyori wasn't the best with opening up about her true feelings, so it was hard to admit what she wanted to say. The words were caught in her throat, but she pushed on. "I feel abandoned."
While putting up her left pigtail, Shinji replied, "I'm sure it can feel that way. Sometimes people gotta make big decisions, even if they come at the cost of their loved ones." He took in a breath as he fluffed up the pigtail with her brush. "But it doesn't mean she didn't love ya any less, either. Nor does it mean you're alone."
Hiyori felt to embarrassed to admit that she thought he was right. She'd never admit that. But she'd think it.
He gathered the right side of hair with the comb and began to repeat with the other side. "Hiyori, you're a strong, but stubborn young woman. I've come to realize that plain as day from all the years we've spent together." As he finished off the other pigtail, she looked back at Shinji. "But for as tough as ya are, that doesn't mean ya gotta be facing these feelings alone, okay?"
She just nodded, and then pulled Shinji into a firm hug, squeezing his arms as he carefully hugged her back.
He was right. The pain didn't feel so bad when she had someone to share her feelings with.