Suzume's uncle was almost always around the house, in case Suzume needed him. But because it was one of those rare surprising occasions, he told her and Shishio that he would be leaving to complete errands for the night.
"Suzume, lock the doors when you go to sleep!"
"Will do."
"And Shishio, make sure she actually does. Keep her focused on the tutoring session."
"Understood."
When the door shuts, Suzume puts her pencil down and leans back on her hands, exhaling loudly.
Shishio raises an eyebrow. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm taking a break," she says. Her tone is so nonchalant it makes Shishio want to scold her, but he holds his tongue this time for some reason. He just watches in silence as she begins to undo the bun at the top of her head. Silky strands fall to her shoulders and stop at her mid-back.
"Your hair is strange," Shishio blurts.
Suzume's eyebrows wrinkle slightly, but she simply gives him a flat look. "What?" She begins combing out the tangles.
Shishio's eyes follow the movement, and he crosses his arms in response. "It's... I don't know. You arrange it in so many different ways."
"It's not complicated," Suzume retorts with a shrug. "Right now, I'm just braiding it."
Shishio didn't seem to have heard her; his eyes were still fixed on her fingers treading effortlessly through her hair. "It's pretty."
That's enough to snap them both out of their peaceful states. Suzume fumbles on the next step and her braid crumbles; Shishio's hand comes to gingerly touch his lips. The atmosphere changes, and they can both feel heat.
"Do you like braids, or-or something like that?"
Shishio pauses at her question. "Yeah," he says.
Suzume finally spins to face him and crosses her legs; that blank, meaningful expression intent on her face. "I can teach you."
"Teach me how to braid?" Shishio is smirking in pure amusement; Suzume is so sporadic sometimes.
"Mm-hmm." She nods, completely serious.
"Alright." He decides to amuse her.
"Watch me."
It only then hits Shishio how ironic the whole situation is: the role reversal, that is. He suddenly feels like a child - a silly schoolboy - as Suzume slowly demonstrates the test, asking questions and patiently waiting for nods of approval.
"You just cross one over the middle - and don't forget to alternate."
And then, Suzume has braided the full frontal section of her hair.
"Did you get it?" she asks, face set with one of firm determination.
Shishio realizes he's lost himself on another track of thought and comes back to reality. "Um... I'm not quite sure. I think I remember, but I'll have to try it before I know." He thinks back to his school days; he'd always been a hands-on learner.
And what he said only registered a moment later.
"You... oh, you have short hair," Suzume realizes belatedly, and Shishio has to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Somehow, everything she does manages to put a smile on his face.
Suzume stares at the ground, then hesitantly meets his eyes. "You can just practice on my hair, then."
She turns around, and she doesn't wait for his response. Shishio has to wonder why, but then without hesitation he sinks his hands into her hair. He has to mentally kick himself, but Suzume is sitting so quietly that he can't bring himself to stop.
Maybe she didn't mind.
Gaining confidence, he tries to recall everything that she taught him. He curses, realizing that he had barely observed any of the lesson. Was a student's job always this hard?
Wait, she said to separate into three. Alright.
"So I just... cross one over the middle?" Shishio questions. He does so, but immediately a flinch from the girl ensues.
"Ah!" she cries. Her hand flies to his, and she stills it. "You need to be more gentle. It's hair, you know..."
Shishio finds himself blushing red. It spreads to his ears, and he has to shake himself to get a grip. Alright, that didn't mean anything. He was cool. He was totally fine. He was just braiding a little girl's hair.
He just hoped his teacher wouldn't scold him.
&.
Suzume kind of feels like she's in pure bliss.
His hands are so, so soft and they feel so incredibly good in her hair. The feeling is indescribable, and she wishes she could hold that cosy feeling close to her heart. She imagines his face, brows creased and mouth in a firm line, focused on her hair. She wants to laugh and laugh, and she doesn't know why.
All she knows is that she doesn't want it to stop.
"Done."
Suzume turns for him, and he smiles sheepishly. "Er... I probably did it very badly. Sorry?"
Ignoring him, she takes a quick look at the mirror Yuyaka bought her. The braid was rather loose, but knowing the fact that... Sensei... did this filled her with a kind of somersaults-in-your-stomach feeling she couldn't describe again.
Feelings she can't describe. That's all she seemed to feel around this man.
Her eyes melt into a soft smile.
"It's really beautiful."
&.
Her smile tastes like liquidized sugar and the kind of wind you can feel at night when it's quiet. The thought is rather strange, because he's sure Suzume must smell like all the onigiri and seafood she eats all the time, but he can't stop thinking it.
Maybe it's because he's already leaning in, and her scent is taking over him. His lips touch the corner of her mouth, and Suzume's hand flitting across his stomach sparks something inside of him, and he springs back.
"S-Sorry!"
What was he thinking?
"That was... I didn't mean that." His hand covers his mouth again, as if he's trying to hold his words back.
"Um... umm... it's okay."
Suzume doesn't mean that. Any idiot could know that Suzume didn't mean what she was saying. Her face was a blank pallet at most times, but she was human for romance, was she not? A pale girl whose blood rushed to her face a little too often.
It didn't mean anything. Shishio kept trying to tell this to himself, but sometimes he wonders if a girl's heartbeat speeding up means anything. He can hear it sometimes, when it's really quiet, and it makes his own speed up until it's matching hers.
He wonders if she can hear it.
Suzume doesn't know anything about heartbeats, but she can feel the corner of her mouth tingling like stars had embedded themselves into where he touched.
"Sensei," Shishio says.
It makes Suzume smile. "Yes?"
"Do you mind teaching me again?"
&.
They're holding everything back, but sometimes touches over silk barriers still feel damn good.