Work Text:
“Here! Let me help you!” Yui’s fingers brush through her hair. She smiles – amused – but doesn’t laugh, which makes Kyoko’s heart grow warm. “You’re not very good at this side, are you?”
Kyoko doesn’t mention that her mother always braided her hair before. It was one of the few things that Kyoko maintained while she was traveling with her grandfather, hoping that she would get good enough at it that her mama would smile when she saw her again. Then her mama didn’t see her again, and Kyoko still isn’t good at braiding her hair, but she keeps doing it over and over again anyway.
Maybe her mother looks at her attempts and smiles anyway. She likes to think of her mother smiling down on her, when she thinks of her at all.
“Can I practice on your hair?” Kyoko asks in a soft voice as Yui ties the second ribbon around her hair. She notes when Yui’s fingers fumble, and she smiles. “It’s not long enough. I know.”
“So, Kyokyo.”
Junko’s voice breaks Kyoko out of her thoughts, and she comes to with the other girl sitting backwards on her chair, elbows propped on Kyoko’s desk, staring at her. But Junko seems to note just when Kyoko returns to herself, a smile twisting onto her lips. “You weren’t paying attention to me, huh? What, am I too boring for you, or something?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to say it.” Junko pretends to pout, but the expression doesn’t last long before the amused smile comes back. She reaches out and brushes her fingers through the hair just around Kyoko’s right ear. “You only have one braid. What’s up with that? You just suck at this side?”
Kyoko doesn’t flinch, but something cold stabs through her heart.
“Promise me. Promise you’ll fix my braid.”
Yui smiles at her. “Of course, I will.”
It’s a lie. The smile is a lie. Kyoko can see that it’s a lie – there are tears pooling at the corner of Yui’s eyes as she says it.
But she refuses to believe that Yui would lie to her. Yui wouldn’t lie to her. And if she did—
(Kyoko holds the handcuffs she’s never let go close to her chest.)
“I’m not good at either side. I’ve just practiced more with this one.”
That’s a little more truth than Kyoko would like in that statement. Not that she would lie to Junko – she would, if necessary – but in most cases she would much rather obfuscate the truth, misdirect and lead the conversation in another direction entirely, or give information that doesn’t lead to—
“I can teach you that.” Junko flicks Kyoko’s hair between her first two fingers, holding it in place. “Or braid it for you—”
“No.”
Junko’s eyes widen just a fraction, then she grows smug. “Here,” she says, dropping Kyoko’s hair from her fingertips, and turning away from her. Then she unties her characteristic twintails and leans her head back until her long pink hair cascades along Kyoko’s desktop. “Braid my hair, Kyokyo!” She leans back just enough to meet Kyoko’s eyes and grins, wolfish, at her. “Then you’ll have so much practice, you’ll be the Ultimate Braider!”
Kyoko blinks. “I don’t think that designation exists.”
“Only because no one’s been that good at before!” Junko sticks her tongue out at her.
Kyoko sighs. Her gaze wanders to Junko’s hair, and she slowly runs her gloved fingers through it. She’s sure it feels brittle or rough from however many times Junko must have dyed and bleached it to first get it to and then keep it as this color, but she still imagines that it’s soft. Soft enough that no matter how numb or tingly her hands get, it still feels good. Comforting, even. “Not during class,” she murmurs.
“Mm. If you say so.” Junko grabs the front of her own desk and pulls herself back into an upright position. “Make it a date, mmk?”
“I didn’t—”
“I’ll even bring the movie!”
Kyoko’s eyes narrow. “Not Rocky.”
Junko rolls her eyes. (Kyoko doesn’t have to physically see her do this; she knows that Junko does.) “Of course not. What do you take me for? We need Harriet The Spy for a braiding session. Duh.”
Kyoko doesn’t respond to that. She just runs her fingers through the unbraided hair around her right ear, presses her lips together, and then tucks it back behind her ear. There’s no consideration of a maybe later. That’s for Yui to braid.
No one else.