First day of the spring break.
I was worried for a second that Umi didn't give me a wake-up call this morning, but that worry went away when I heard the doorbell ring.
{Good morning, Maki. I know that it's school break and all, but my feet carried me here by reflex, hehe~}
Umi, dressed in her usual attire, a cap and a hoodie, grinned at me through the monitor.
No wonder she didn't call me.
I promised to hang out with her last night, but Umi, being Umi, arrived much earlier than the promised time. Well, since she's here already and I just woke up, I might as well ask her for some help.
"Yo~ Jeez, look at your bed hair…"
"I just woke up, cut me some slack… Breakfast?"
"Sure. Wash your face first though."
I splashed some cold water on my face, then I went back to the living room.
"Maki, come here."
"Hm? 'Kay."
I sat down near Umi as she started to comb my hair.
"You know, your hair is getting longer. Aren't you bothered by your bangs?"
"Not really… I just need to part it to the side…"
"Lame! Maki, you should consider cutting it. If you keep them as they are, people will treat you like a gloomy person."
"Eh… Getting a haircut is troublesome, it costs a lot of money too, and besides…"
"You don't want people to touch your hair?"
"…Yeah…"
I still tried to follow the school rule regarding hair length, so I visited the barber shop occasionally, but I couldn't say that I was used to it.
I always got jumpy whenever a stranger touched my hair and neck. The barber always warned me about it and occasionally people who witnessed it would laugh at me. I didn't have many good memories when going to the barber because of this.
But that only applied to strangers. If someone close to me like Mom or Umi were to touch me, I wouldn't react like that.
"I see. Then, should I do it for you?…"
"Eh?"
"I can't give you a clean cut, but I can trim the ends of your hair and lighten the volume. Mom always cuts Dad's hair so I learned a thing or two from her."
I imagined the scene of Umi messing around with Daichi-san's hair. Well, he had short hair and his side bangs were trimmed, so even if Umi were to mess up, they could just cut his hair shorter to fix it.
Now that I think about it, Daichi-san had it tough, huh? Having to deal with his daughter messing with his hair.
"So, what are you going to do? If you let me do it, you don't need to pay. Instead, use the money for our date instead… Wait, that's actually a good idea… Let me do it for you!"
"Hmm, well…"
That could work. Besides, using the money for our date could count as me paying for her service, right?
Since the price would be the same whether I got a light or normal haircut, I might as well let Umi do it.
Also, I wouldn't get as jumpy if Umi were to touch my hair.
"Alright, I guess I'll be counting on you…"
"Okay. Let's go to my home after breakfast. I'll give my mom a call."
I still had my reservations about letting her do my hair because she was an amateur, and my worries doubled after hearing Sora-san's excited voice over the phone.
…Day by day, I felt like I was becoming more like Daichi-san…
* * *
"Welcome, Maki-kun~ I'm ready to cut your hair~ Sorry that we have to do it in the garden, though."
"Hello, Sora-san… Sorry for troubling you so suddenly."
"Hehe, it's fine, I don't mind. I haven't had many chances to cut my husband's hair lately. Getting a chance to do yours made me feel excited~"
After we finished breakfast, we immediately went to Umi's house. There, Sora-san greeted us with a passionate smile and voice.
She looked so happy and that made me happy too, but her smile, combined with the scissor in her hand, seemed very ominous.
"Mom, no! I'm going to do his hair on my own, okay? You should just watch over us, Mom!"
"Ehh…"
"Come here, Maki."
"O-Okay…"
I steeled myself and sat down on a chair in the middle of the garden. As soon as I sat down, Umi immediately stroked my hair.
"Do you have any requests?"
"Uhh…"
Honestly, I knew nothing about hairstyles. Whenever I went to the barber, I just told them how long I wanted my hair to be and be done with it.
Doing that now would be tasteless though.
"…I'll leave everything to the professional."
"Now that's a troublesome request… You sure you want to leave everything to me?"
"Yeah, I believe in your judgment."
I don't really care about my own hairstyle, I'm fine with whatever would make Umi happy.
I'm doing this so she would compliment me, so this was the best choice.
"Got it! Then, I'll turn you into my ideal boyfriend… Why are you grinning, Mom?"
"Hm? Hehe… I'm just reminiscing about the old days. Ah… Youth…"
"You're talking like an old woman, Mom…"
"I am one~"
I felt Sora-san's warm gaze on me. I closed my eyes and left everything to Umi.
"Umi, don't just rush in, okay? Think about your goal first, then do everything slowly so you won't mess up half way through."
"G-Got it."
After receiving advice from Sora-san, Umi started cutting my hair.
As more and more of my hair fell into the ground, the lighter my head felt.
"This will tickle you a little, so bear with it."
"Okay."
I thought I would be more jumpy, but if it was just this much, I could bear it. This much skinship was normal for us.
Letting her do my hair felt nice. I guess I wouldn't go to the barber unless I wanted to dye my hair or something.
Eventually, the hour passed and the haircut-session was over.
"This should be good enough. What do you think?"
"…Hmm…"
The overall length of my hair was shorter than expected, but it felt refreshing to see.
It was the perfect hairstyle for the warm climate we were currently having and if I were to put in a little more effort, my overall appearance would be neater than usual.
"…This looks really good. Thank you, Umi."
"Hehehe~ It's the first time I did this on my own so I'm actually feeling kinda proud of it… What do you think, Mom?"
"You look dashing, Maki-kun. You're the second most handsome man I've ever seen in my life, just right below my darling~"
They seemed to be enjoying this, so I guess there would be no problems if I were to ask for their help again.
Still, I didn't want to impose on them every time, so I should try to go to the barber by myself.
I'll probably ask Nozomu to introduce me to a good one.
"Hehe… Watching you two, I got the urge to cut someone's hair. Ah, right, Riku's going job hunting, alright, time to cut his hair~"
"Mom?! Wait, I'm going to go to the barber on my own! Leave me alone! No no! Stay away from me! Put those scissors away–"
The scuffle between the resisting Riku-san and the unyielding Sora-san continued for about an hour.