Summary: Las Vegas was known for its casinos and its unbearable heat. Even in a Singularity, the new Swimsuit Swordsmaster in Miyamoto Musa — I mean, Miyamoto Iori — watches over the little Chaldean Master while she traverses new streets with wonder. Hair care wasn't the first thing she was expecting to review when mid-watch, but it was something.

Or, in other words, Iori has a small bisexual crisis and Vy is dense.

Note: Inspired by how Berserker Musashi came to me on my last 11-roll I had on me in-game before possibly needing to spend, and how she's been really sweet to me in-story even though I don't have enough skill gems to fully level her yet.

This is a shorter chapter, but I'd like to think it conveys my feelings on Musashi as a whole rather nicely when it comes to Summer 4.

The theme I'll leave you readers to listen to while reading this is Kyle Landry's piano rendition of Inochi no Namae, or The Name of Life, from Spirited Away.

Please enjoy.

Day 17: Sword and Flower

No one moved a muscle when the Beginning Hunter shot his first bullet. After all, no one was expecting where said Hunter would aim. Especially in a Singularity modeled after Las Vegas.

On one hand, the intended recipient ducked just in time to avoid a fatal bullet to the head. On the other hand—

"…Oh," Vy said finally once a small chunk of her long brown hair fell to the ground, revealing split ends at where the chunk previously connected to her head and a thin line of red crossing her cheek. "Well, that's unfortunate. Um." The thin line of red proceeded to widen a little with the passing air, enough to allow a single droplet of blood start to pool beneath the cut on her face as she then added, "I guess I'll have to get a haircut?"

Robin Hood's mouth dropped open just as Mash shrieked. "S-SENPAI, YOU'RE BLEEDING!" Mash screamed in a rather adequate manner for the situation, contrasting the Chaldean Master by large as her shield started coming close to falling out of her hands. "I THINK A HAIRCUT IS THE LEAST OF YOUR WORRIES!"

"Oh," Vy said in the same normal yet still eerie-sounding high pitched voice. "That's a good point, kouhai. Um. Help?"

The Beginning Hunter who started it all immediately felt the air chill by more than twenty degrees. In front of him, he could already see two swordswomen come closer and closer, blades shining in that dangerous way, and he internally started brainstorming his last will.

"Thankfully, it was a small cut," Robin decided after a good look-over, handing Vy's sunhat back to her once he seemed satisfied with his observations. "All the damage went to your hair though, little sparrow." Robin's hand gently rubbed Vy's cheekbone before he actually stepped away, reapplying the smallest force to the band-aid now covering a part of the skin there. "Great job on dodging by the way."

Vy smiled wryly up at him from her seat in the shade of a rare tree in Las Vegas, shrugging her shoulders. "I learned it from you and Achi, Big Robin," she said softly. "Thankie, though." It was obvious Vy was trying her best not to think about the obvious split end in her hair if her wavering gaze was any indication. Then again, it wasn't every day a bullet would create such a rift in body image.

Oui's own gaze was flickering back and forth between Siegfried and the sword-wielding octopus Toto-sama; Mash was still looking like she might have a heart attack any moment now; and Siegfried himself, as much he looked alright with his new glasses, didn't seem all that knowledgeable about fixing hair. Robin did what he could, but…

Musashi — ahem, Iori — considered.

"Master, could you turn my way?"

"What are you doing, Musa—, I mean, Iori-san?" Vy still turned her head towards Iori's side as requested, and Iori reached into one of her pockets.

"Fixing your hair," was the passing mutter, and Iori felt herself relax once her fingers found purchase in gripping a familiar smooth handle. "Leaving it like this is going to keep bothering me…"

Vy let out a soft "Ah" noise of understanding, staying perfectly still once Iori unfolded the hair brush from her pocket, leaning back just a bit once the first bristles landed on her head. "Thankie then, Iori-san."

"Don't thank me just yet, Vy," Iori muttered, testing out a few broad strokes before starting to brush Vy's long hair properly. "I need to see if I can fix this…"

Robin, looking amused at the whole thing, reached towards the travel bags sitting behind him. "Need a mirror, Berserker?"

"As long as you don't blind me with it," Iori said, ignoring the urge to grab a sword handle for rattling in favor of focusing on the brown head of hair in front of her. Soft, smooth, barely curled from the heat, and —

Vy let out a small "Muu…?" noise when it became obvious Iori was lingering on one spot for too long, and Iori shook her head vigorously.

Concentrate, concentrate… don't think about how cute she looks!

The small bit of exposed nape on the back of Vy's neck didn't help Iori much. No wonder Vy kept her hair long to cover that part up. It was too smooth and soft and unblemished and — ARGH. Mash was right there, dammit! What was she thinking?!

Robin gave Iori a knowing look of some kind before holding up a small hand mirror for Iori to take, and from over his shoulder, Oui watched the whole scene play out with a raised brow. "Is this really necessary, guys?" Saber eventually said, glancing between Robin and Siegfried. "We could've waited to go inside a casino for this."

"You say that, but what will everyone else in Las Vegas think, seeing our Master with a bit of hastily cut hair?!" Iori didn't realize how vehement she could sound outside of swordsmanship until she said the words, turning her attention back to the top of Vy's hair and starting another stroke with her hairbrush to take out some of the apparent heat in her voice. "I don't know about you, Oui-chan, but appearances can make for a good or bad impression in the incoming Swordbeauty fights!"

Oui winced but conceded the point with a vigorous nod. Considering Mash's own flowery background that popped up from Iori's words, it was obvious she agreed too.

"Just stay calm," Robin said peacefully, tapping a finger against his knee. "We have about 3 weeks to conquer all these 'Swordbeauty' fights, and knowing the little sparrow, we'll probably be done in two-thirds of that time."

"Thankie for the faith, Big Robin," Vy replied with her eyes closed. "Though, um, Iori-san?"

"H-Hm?"

"You don't have to brush that hard. No offense intended, it's just starting to hurt a little."

Oops. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking." Iori did her best to ignore Siegfried's piercing stare in favor of taking a hairband out of her pocket. "Don't move, Vy, okay?"

"Aye…" Vy proceeded to yawn mid-nod to Iori while covering her mouth with her hand, and Iori ignored the sudden urge to stare. So, how did braids go again?

"I think that about does it…" Iori made one last twist of the hairband before letting it go, and once it sat in place in Vy's hair, Iori leaned back to exhale. She could put away the hairbrush later. "Let me know what you think of it, Master."

Vy slowly blinked her eyes open, glancing around at everyone in the group to reorient herself from what was looking like an unplanned nap before rocking her head back and forth. Only a few strands of hair brushed her neck as she did this, and Vy blinked again, raising a hand to touch the back of her neck. "…You put my hair up in a bun, Iori-san?"

"H-Hey, it works and we match!" Iori flubbed, doing her best to look at everything but Vy in the heat of the moment, crossing her arms over her chest. Maybe she shouldn't have put that small pink flower in Vy's hair — even if Iori had found it on the way to meeting everyone from Chaldea in the desert, it was still just one flower. It shouldn't have made concentrating on something else harder to do. But then again, past Iori saw it and thought of Vy. Pink was a cute color, but uh— "No one should be able to shoot your hair now if it's all put up!"

Fuck fuck fuck, don't look—

Then again, Iori would probably have to fork some cash over to that one Emperor Nero if she ever caught wind of Vy having a similar hairstyle to her. Maybe.

Oui had put a hand to her chin, leaning to look at Vy a bit closer, and Vy blinked at the former Foreigner Servant. "Hm," Saber said, a teasing glint in her eyes, "it fits you, Master. Like a regal Princess."

"P-Princess?" Vy squeaked, her ears flushing a light pink at the title, and from the side, Iori could see Siegfried visibly turn his head away, shoulders shaking from barely concealed laughter. Iori honestly didn't get it. The Knights of the Round Table already threw that name around Vy enough to make it a local name. Why be embarrassed? Then again, the sight of Siegfried's laughter matched Robin Hood's own visible flush as he stared in Vy's direction with an approving smile, and Vy glanced at Robin with a look of false betrayal. "Please don't get onto that train, Big Robin," she said slowly.

"I dunno, little sparrow," Robin was then whistling, crossing his arms behind his head with a carefree grin, "I think Saber has a point. You could give that pushy red Saber back in Chaldea a run for her money when it comes to Venus's good looks. Maybe that future King of Britain too, and she'd probably be proud of it."

Ah, the hearts were easy to see in his eye even with half of his face covered up by hair. Iori didn't know what to make of that either.

"Oh, you flatterer," Vy rolled her eyes, jutting her chin upwards with a visible pout. "Musa—, I mean, Iori-san did all the work."

"Still, Master, it works," Iori interjected, forcing a smile onto her face. Had Vy tried to call her that name again? "And you look pretty enough for a girl your age!"

Vy giggled in time with her fading pout, and Iori found herself memorizing the sound of it. "Thankie, Iori-san. You have good hands."

H-Hands—

"Y-You think so?" Iori said hurriedly, refusing to look in Vy's general direction now as her smile began twitching at the edges. "W-Well, I am a Berserker now, so there's more to me than just swords and all that—"

All it took was a single tug of Iori's sleeve.

Iori turned her head on instinct, and found herself blinded by Vy's warm smile. One smile shouldn't have had such an effect on her, but Iori felt herself freeze up anyways once Vy tugged on Iori's sleeve for extra emphasis. "And again," Vy said in a softer voice, "thankie, Iori-san. Having my hair played with was, well, nice."

Iori blinked before realizing her face was flushing with heat to match the desert air. Maybe now was a good time to go find a waterfall to dunk herself into… "Y-You haven't had your hair played with before?" she flubbed instead, masking her sharp intake of breath with her response as she reached over to gently take Vy's hand off her jacket. "I would've thought Oui-chan or Mash would've."

"They do, plenty of times," Vy elaborated, her smile turning more contemplative and wistful, funny enough, when Iori looked closer. For a moment, it looked like Vy's brown eyes glazed over a little past her glasses as she finished with a tinier, "It's just… It's the first time in a while that I remembered Mom. She liked braiding my hair like you did, every now and then."

Oh.

Mash made a soft noise of what vaguely sounded like concern, reaching over to rest a hand on Vy's shoulder just as Robin wordlessly took one of Vy's hands in his. The sympathy running through the air between Oui and Siegfried made sense too. Heck, even Toto-sama wasn't gurgling his usual octopus-language.

Iori didn't blame any of them. Even here, when on vacation, you still—

Iori forced her blush back as best as possible while putting on another smile. "I can play with your hair again another time, Master?"

Vy gently grabbed her sunhat to put back up on her head, taking extra care to not disturb the bun Iori had made while turning her neck to smile. "I'd like that."

Note: It feels weird writing a crush realization when I never had those moments myself. That is, until people confessed to me outright. All three times I was confessed to in my life, I didn't have those realizations until after they said their bits. So this was interesting to write, more so for someone like Musashi. I hope you all enjoyed the fumbling and the little crumbs of Vy lore too.

Now to watch Medical Microbiology lectures and sleep. I'll see you all next time.