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It had only been a couple of days since Seto was able to bring Marry back home with him. And, so far, everything had been fine when it came to the Mekakushi Dan’s newest member. While she was still, somewhat, skittish around Kano and Kido, Seto’s reassurance was enough to keep her calm around the two of them. … Plus, Kido had been really nice to her, even if the Commander didn't, really, have much to say.
And, while he made her much more nervous, for some reason, she had come to appreciate Kano’s sense of humor, too. As rude as the boy could be, she could tell that he wasn't that terrible of a person, at least.
And, at this moment? Marry was just, quietly, sitting on the couch, her nose in a book. She was barely even paying attention to anything around her. The only thing that had any of her attention was the book that she was reading. She would get like this a lot; everyone, especially Seto, was aware of this fact. And, most of the time, they’d just leave her be to enjoy whatever book she had decided to pick up.
Of course, this time, it was different. It wasn’t that Marry had done anything- it was quite the opposite, actually. She’d done nothing wrong during the past couple of days in the Mekakushi Dan’s hideout. And, since her arrival, things had been too quiet. Probably because of the fact that Seto had been keeping an eye on Marry, like a hawk. He was awfully protective of the white-haired girl, for some reason. But, today, he wasn’t there. He’d be coming home from work soon- But he wasn’t there at that very moment. So it wasn’t like he could do anything to prevent what was about to happen next, right?
Slowly, Kano crept into the room, sliding against the wall so that he could fit behind the couch-- Obviously, to avoid Marry noticing him. He wanted to spook her a bit-- Just be his usual, prankster self. He didn’t mean any actual harm with the action he was about to do- It was just to get a reaction, after all! Just to see her be startled, and then turn around to glare at him-- It would be hilarious to see the look on her face-- And, once he was behind her, without making any sudden movements, his hand slowly moved forward before, lightly, his fingers came into contact with the girl’s near-white hair.
And, to be completely honest, it was so soft to the touch. The softness of it almost made Kano decide not to go through with his earlier plan-- But, it was too late to go back, now. He’d already made up his mind- He was going to do it. And, almost instantly, his hand wrapped around a good portion of the poor girl’s hair- And, as Marry felt the hair shift, she almost instantly froze up. And, without another moment of hesitation, Kano tugged on it.
It wasn’t hard- Not at all, to be honest. It was just enough to feel it being tugged-- But, to Marry? It was a completely different story. Her reaction was so much… different from what Kano had expected. Like with his sister, he had expected her to whirl around, slapping his hand away and glaring at him. But, Marry? She had been frozen, almost as if she had been turned to stone, before letting out a cry as she felt the light tug, before curling up into a fluffy ball-- And, even though he couldn’t see her face, from the sounds that she was making, it was obvious that the poor girl was crying. Kano felt the slightest twinge of guilt, while he would never admit it--
Slowly, the blonde moved to the front of the couch, his eyes locked on the furry mass that was on the sofa-- Occasionally, he could see that the mass of white hair in front of him was quivering-- She was shaking and crying- And for what reason? Because he’d pulled her hair? It surely wasn’t something that was that big a deal, right? From the way Seto spoke, she’d never been around other people before… So maybe that was it? Maybe he’d just startled her so badly--
Finally, after a few moments, he carefully sat down next to her, still not saying anything. Almost as soon as he had sat down, however, he could feel that she had tensed up. She was, very clearly, so frightened-- But, of course, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything yet. The two of them sat in almost complete silence, aside from the quiet whining noises that Marry was making from under her large, fluffy mass of hair. Once again, Kano was so tempted to reach over and run his fingers through it-- But, from the way she was acting, and the supposed reason for her to be acting this way… He figured it would be a bad idea. As big of an asshole as he was, he could tell that, maybe, he had crossed a line by pulling on her hair.
A line that he didn’t know was even there- But a line that he had crossed nonetheless. And, for once, he felt terrible about his actions. Not that there was anything that he could do to change what he had done. And, after a few moments, he spoke up to her. “... Marry-chan?” he asked, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. He waited a few moments- There was no response, just more quivering. He let out a sigh, before continuing. “... You don’t have to be such a baby, Marry-chan! I didn’t even pull your hair that hard!~”
And, almost as soon as he had said that, Kano glanced over to see the door that led into the apartment that the Mekakushi Dan referred to as their ‘base’ had opened. And, standing in the doorway, was the tall figure of Kousuke Seto-- At first, he wasn’t very intimidating. At least ,not until Kano’s eyes met with his-- The usually cheerful look that was on Seto’s face wasn’t there. Instead, there was what almost looked like a frown-- Or maybe it was a glare? Who knows?! It wasn’t like it mattered- Seto never got mad at anyone--
“What did you say that you did?” Seto asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. His gaze was still locked with Kano’s-- It was clear that he wasn’t very happy with what the younger teenager had just said.
Kano was silent for a few moments, before finally breaking away from Seto’s gaze. “Are you deaf, Seto?~” he asked, in that same nonchalant tone he always had. “I said that I had pulled on her hair! As a joke! I didn’t even pull it that hard, and now she’s a crying mess!~” He said those words so cheerfully- Almost like he didn’t seem to see the gravity of the situation that he had caused.
Almost instantly, Seto’s glare grew more intense, as he walked over to the two of them. He didn’t say anything else to Kano, however. Instead, his focus was on Marry, who was still curled up- and shaking on the couch. Carefully, he sat next to her- Not even daring to try and touch her hair. Not yet, at least. Not until he was sure it would be okay to. As he started to speak to her, his glare softened-- And, from the tone of his voice, it was almost like he was trying to talk to, or calm down, a baby animal--
“... Marry?” he asked, not moving his hand towards her hair. “... Marry, it’s going to be alright, I promise,” he reassured, his voice soft. He didn’t get much of a response from her, however. Just a muffled whine, more or less. “... I know you don’t like people to do stuff like that, Marry,” he continued, scooting himself down to the floor- “... But Kano didn’t know that. He was only trying to pull a joke. He doesn’t know what happened,” he continued, slowly reaching for her. He was careful not to make too sudden of a movement-- But he still moved his hand closer, in an attempt to calm her down.
Of course, before his hand could come into contact with her, Marry seemed to jerk up. And, for the first time after this whole ordeal had started, Seto could see the poor girl’s face, which was red, puffy, and just stained with tears. “... Come here, Marry. It’ll be alright. I promise,” he reassured again, his expression still soft. He had to seem strong and brave for her- Now wasn’t the time to yell at Kano for what had happened. He could explain everything to the younger boy later-- For now, the most important thing was getting Marry to calm down and stop crying.
Quietly, the small girl moved down to the floor, almost instantly burying her face into Seto’s shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. And, just as carefully as she had been, Seto wrapped his arms around her- gently patting her back. “Shhh, it’s okay, Marry. I promise,” he repeated. Shifting just a bit so that he would be a bit more comfortable, Marry also shifted so that her face would still be buried in the boy’s shoulder. She was still shaking, and an occasional choked sob could still be heard from her, even while she was in Seto’s arms.
And, to be completely honest, Kano was starting to worse and worse about what he had done. He hadn’t meant to make Marry so upset-- Hell, the worst that he was expecting was for the girl to get butthurt, like Kido would, and maybe get a slap to the face-- Or, at the very least, something along that caliber of reaction… Nothing like this. Kano couldn’t do anything but sit on the couch, keeping his distance, and watching the two of them carefully- guilt only building more and more. And he almost never felt guilty for this kind of stuff--
And, while she was still hiding her face in Seto’s shoulder, he could vaguely hear her whisper something through her sobs-- “... I want to go home..-”
“... Marry,” Seto said again, pushing her away from him just a bit, so that she would be forced to look at him. It wasn’t that he was trying to be harsh with her-- Quite the opposite, actually. He was still trying to calm her down, but he wanted her to be looking at him for what he had to say next. “It’s fine. Really. Kano doesn’t know why your hair is such a big deal, alright? He wasn’t trying to hurt you like they were,” he tried to explain, his voice still soft-- He was still trying to calm her down and soothe her, after all. And, since he had managed to get her off his shoulder, he moved one of his hands from her shoulders, and use it to wipe the tears from her eyes. “So there’s no reason to cry, I promise. He wasn’t trying to hurt you. I promise. I know it’s not a good thing for you to think about, and I know you really aren’t that comfortable with people touching your hair…” he seemed to trail off just a bit, before quickly bringing himself back to the topic. “But you’re fine, right? You’re not seriously hurt. No one here is going to hurt you like those bad people did…” It was obvious that he was opposed to the idea of Marry going back to her home in the forest--
She had been so alone there, after all. He could see where she was coming from, with what his brother had done… But he could show her that it would be alright. That just because people did mean things didn’t mean that they were trying to really hurt her, like she was so scared of happening again-- “... So, Marry- Please give us all another chance…? Please?”
The small girl was silent for a few moments, sniffling a bit before she finally responded. “... A- alright, Seto… If you s- say so--” And, with that, she leaned into him once again, resting her head on his shoulder instead of burying her face into it-- Surely she would be okay, if Seto said she would be. … Right?