Toranoana Special: To Tease, and to be Teased

"...Amane-kun, your hair has gotten longer."

While they were studying independently, Mahiru saw that Amane used her hairpin to pin up his bangs, Mahiru murmured with a lot of emotion.

"Yeah, it has," Amane responded as he pinched the long ends of his hair.

Amane usually went to the salon to have his hair trimmed, but it had been almost two months since he had last been there. Hair that hadn't been trimmed for two months would inevitably look bad, and Amane felt that it was about time to get a trim, so he just made an appointment at the salon not long ago.

"It can't be helped. As long as you're alive, your hair will grow longer. I'm going to get my haircut in a few days, so I'II hold off until then."

"Huh...? You're going to cut it off?"

"What's with that disappointed face?"

"No. I just think it's rare to see you with long hair, Amane-kun."

"If my hair gets too long, it starts looking untidy, so I don't like keeping it too long."

In principle, Amane always kept his hair long, so maybe he wasn't in a position to talk about cleanliness or anything like that; but if his hair were cut short, Amane wouldn't be too uncomfortable with it, so he always kept it at a certain length to maintain that fresh feeling. Also, he thought it looked better.

'Why would Mahiru want to see me with long hair?' Amane wondered, and he looked at Mahiru to see her coyly whispering, "It would be fun if I could style your hair."

"...Do you think I should change my hairstyle? Does my hair look bad?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just that it would be nice to see you with a hairstyle that you don't normally use. I think you'd like to see me with a different hairstyle too, no?"

"That's... right...It'd be worth it to see you with a different style..."

"Me too. I want to occasionally see you with a different style, too. Of course, I'm not tired of seeing your usual look. I just think it would be fun to have a little variety every so often."

Mahiru sounded very excited, and now, Amane was even more embarrassed to refuse.

However, Amane wasn't good at making a new hairstyle from one that had already been trimmed and shaped, so he didn't feel he could fulfil Mahiru's expectations.

Amane was unsure if Mahiru saw through his thoughts, but she smiled and asked, "So, would you let me style your hair?" Mahiru appeared so motivated that Amane couldn't resist her aura and had to nod his head in approval.

After that, the situation developed fast.

Mahiru began to blow-dry Amane's hair, and her technique was so skilled and smooth that Amane was both surprised and puzzled and couldn't help but want to ask why she was so good at fixing guys' hair for a girl.

After finishing, Amane's hairstyle was now completely different from his usual crisp hairstyle, and had turned into a light hairstyle complete with many strands. It looked stylish enough, and at the same time suited Amane's temperament quite well; it was natural and didn't appear to be artificial. Mahiru was very skillful, which made Amane admire her.

"This hairstyle suits you very well, Amane-kun. Could I take a picture later?"

"It's okay. ...Then again, you really can do anything."

"Actually, that's because...I've been looking for a chance to do this, so I've done a little homework beforehand. Although it was a little rough this time, it seemed to come out quite well."

"You have amazing skills...However, it's good that you're happy. But since you've done my hair, I want to do your hair too."

Being on the receiving end of manipulation so one-sidedly didn't match up with Amane's personality. He felt that, sometimes, he too should be able to get away with messing with Mahiru.

However, tying her hair into braids was the limit of Amane's skills.

"Fufu, I don't mind if you do my hair, but if you do, I'll be looking forward to seeing how you do it."

"...I'll get back to you once I've done enough research."

After Mahiru said that Amane felt that he couldn't give her a subpar hairstyle, so he decided to ask Chitose for advice on how to style women's hair. Amane could only direct a bitter smile as Mahiru giggled lightly as his words.