Ryuuji ran his needle through the fabric he was holding once again. On a rare occasion, it was one of his own clothes that required the attention, a rarity in his family. Well, family and...he was still trying to find a word for the one he could never actually convince to go home.

He took a casual look across the table, and found Taiga gazing at the TV with mild interest as she sucked on a straw. Juice was normally not something he had in the household, especially in carton form, but it was the only thing she drunk more than honey-preserved kumquats (though Ryuuji was seriously considering purchasing a keg to accommodate the amounts she demanded of that) It wouldn't be so annoying if she stopped storing her juice in his fridge.

She let go of the carton she was holding, quickly stabbing her draw into another one, one of five which were on the table, three of which already had straws sticking out of them. Ryuuji really was perplexed, where did such a small girl find room for all the stuff she consumed?

There was a flash from the TV, looked like it was commercial break. Ryuuji didn't take interest, instead continuing with his sewing, until he heard a word which stuck out in his memory...

"Isn't that the magazine Kawashima modelled for?"

He'd gotten the tense wrong. Taiga's face suddenly darkened, her features sharpened. "That woman..." He heard the crack of her knuckles. "That damn chihuahua!"

The carton was crushed in her hand, still full of juice.

"AHHHHH!" Taiga leapt to feet. "Dammit, it's everywhere!" Ryuuji got up too, though out of range of the explosion, had a mess to deal with. Before he could move Taiga ran, sweeping into the bathroom. The sound of running water was soon heard. He sighed to himself. He was going to have to double his efforts in his and Taiga's shared endeavours.

She single-handedly doubled his workload even on a good day. As for the bad...

With expertise only years of experience could bring, he quickly reduced the mess to a memory, and some slight, near-invisible wetness on the floor for time to erase. He heard the 'click' of the door opening, and looked to see Taiga coming out. She was...well, a mess. Her face was still dripping with water, and there were obvious signs of haphazard dress cleaning. That was something he was going to have to do himself. Her hair on the other hand, he did not envy Taiga right now. She almost looked like a near-drowned cat after an encounter with a blow dryer. Her eyes were hidden by her hair, and the intent she radiated did not bode well for him.

She raised her hand. "Brush."

A witty comeback would erase any hope he ever had of having children. "W-what do you-?"

She advanced on him, every step likely to be the one to send the landlady over the edge. She looked him in the eye, the short girl somehow seeming to tower over him as she did. "Brush!"

He stumbled back. "Wait- I don't know how! I've never-!"

She took one step more, bring the weight of the universe with her. "Do it, before something bad happens to you."

That was almost subtle...

He hesitantly offered his hand, and Taiga slammed the brush into it. A frailer man than Ryuuji would have wound up with broken bones, a stronger man...well, he might have been foolish enough to try matching Taiga's force, and wound up with far worse. When the raging beast wanted something there were two, and only two options: Submit or die, and Ryuuji hadn't given up on life yet. Taiga sat herself in front of the TV, letting Ryuuji sit down behind her, nearly deaf to the blare of the screen as it showed whatever it was Taiga was watching today.

He gulped. He'd never done this before. He'd been doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, but his duties had never extended to beautician. He hesitantly raised some of Taiga's hair in his hand. Well he could either try, do wrong, and get a beating for it. Or not do it and get an even harder beating for it. It was a no-brainer.

One day he really was going to figure out why he put up with this girl...

Softly, he cast the brush across the length of hair he had a gentle pull on, making sure to reach the very ends of the strands. Slowly, he repeated the process a few more times. Her hair really was as soft to the touch as it appeared. He gently brushed the length he held one more time, before letting go. He raised another length, and like the first it soon was brushed into fine order. He reached for another length, parts of it still darker with damp. He put the brush to the darkest part and pulled.

"Ouch!" She turned on him. "Careful!"

"Okay, okay." He looked at the area closely, deducing some of Taiga's hair had somehow spiralled into a knot. He slowly undid it, letting her hair take on a more natural state before he brushed it into perfection. He moved to another damper section, finding several knots to unravel. The TV flashed again.

Commercial break? Had he been at this so long already? He kept his focus on his task, while Taiga kept it on the screen before her...

"Damn woman...keeps trying to take other people's things."

"Huh?" He stopped. "What do you-?"

"Shut up!" She was quiet for a second before-"Keep brushing."

He untied a knot, and did just that. As he delicately tended to every length he found himself in awe. What did she have to do to keep her hair so beautiful? Something so long and flawless must have taken countless hours of care to maintain, but he'd never seen Taiga so much as glance at a hair care product. Yet despite that, as he held her hair in his hands, brushing every strand, there wasn't even a split end. This silken, bright auburn hair, affixed to a body seemingly crafted by angels. Spending so much time with her, Ryuuji could both completely understand and be completely confused as to why she found herself on the receiving end of confessions from so many would-be suitors. If there ever was a more appropriate use of "appearances can be deceiving" than Taiga, then Ryuuji was honestly curious as to what that entailed.

He released another length, leaning forward to capture a length near her ear. He briefly saw her face, her eyes were closed. Was she sleeping sitting up now? He smiled to himself, such a lazy little tiger...

He continued brushing, deaf to the sound of the show which was now quickly approaching its end. He pulled back, taking one last look at his handwork before smiling.

"I'm finished."

"Huh?" Ryuuji was certain she really was sleeping, she turned on him, briefly confused before she turned back around.

"D-do it again."

"W-What?"

"You probably missed something." She didn't turn around, so Ryuuji could only guess the expression on her face, and he was well educated in that tone. "Dogs don't make good hairdressers but I'll make do with what I've got. Now do it again!"

He sighed. "Alright." He reached out, taking his first length of hair once more. He gently brushed, sure of what was inevitably going to happen before long. Taiga would end up making him do this again. As he moved the brush through the length of hair he smiled.

He wouldn't mind.