Work Text:
It was the rarest sight in the house; Momo and Tanaka being the only ones home. Shoko was on a business trip to another prefecture, Riopi was showing her cousin around Tokyo, Kei was at school, and Igarashi was at work. Momo and Tanaka as the two people who had jobs with more flexible scheduling and days off were left alone.
“Say Tanaka, your hair is really nice.” Momo said, her hands curled around her assigned pink mug. The two of them were in the living/dining room. Momo had been on the couch sipping tea while messing with her phone as a variety show played. Tanaka was at the table, a sudoku book spread open on the table with a stack of magazines next to him for when he had completed his puzzle.
Tanaka looked up from his book and found that the TV had been turned off and Momo was staring at him. Tanaka brought a hand to the back of his head and patted his hair self consciously. “Thank you. I don’t do anything special. I’ve never dyed it or done any styles to it.” In fact, Tanaka felt that his hair was just one more thing that made him plain in the house. Kei dyed his hair and the upkeep seemed to be the one thing along with schoolwork that commanded his full attention while Igarashi kept his hair long and would do all sorts of styles and curls with it. Nothing about him was flashy or special, not even his hair.
Momo got up from the couch and walked over to the dining room table, setting her mug on it, before getting closer to Tanaka. “But this scent?” Momo made an adorably quizzical look on her face as she tried to place her finger on the scent of Tanaka’s hair. “That’s a really fancy shampoo and conditioner brand! How did you know about it?”
Tanaka self consciously adjusted his glasses before pointing with his chin to the pile of women’s magazines next to him. “I read in one of the magazines that this brand made the shampoo and conditioner that women most wanted their boyfriends to wear because of the scent.”
Momo sat down next to Tanaka. “Ah right, you work in women’s magazines! I once hair modeled for one of them. Isn’t it funny to think that we could have worked together before moving into Love House?”
“It is.” Tanaka said, his voice a louder whisper than normal. It was funny because out of everyone in the house, Momo was the woman most different from him. Riopi and him were both quiet and Shoko and he had a connection before Love House was ever a thing. But Momo was so different from him; she was all bright pastels and smiles for Instagram ops. She was also way more socially intelligent than anyone else in the house. It was like she knew what she had to say or do flawlessly in any given situation. Tanaka was envious.
“I know.” Momo stretched out her arm. “That’s why I didn’t offer you a makeover. I’m not good with clothes like I am with hair and makeup but Riopi helped you. You don’t need to change anything about your hair or face.”
Tanaka steadied himself in the hopes that his face wouldn’t turn completely red. “Not even taking off my glasses?” It was a tip he had read in magazine after magazine and seen even more on TV and movies.
Momo rested her head on the palm of her hand and smiled at him. It wasn’t as big or sparkling as her usual smiles but it felt so much realer that Tanaka wondered why he had never noticed how pretty Momo was. “No, the glasses are the charm point. You’re perfect just the way you are.”