She backed away from me, studying my reflection in the mirror in front of us before her eyes lit up once more.She vanished around a corner before coming back with some different-colored hair extensions. I held my breath as she held them close to my face as if she were gauging all the different colors. There were a few different shades of red, pink, and purple too.
Sachiko went back and forth on a few of the shades of pink before settling on a hot pink one. “How do you feel about dyeing your hair?” she asked.
While I wasn’t against it, my hair had always been on the fragile side, that's why I had mostly maintained my natural color.
As if sensing my unease about the question, she redirected. “I’m not saying we dye the whole thing, just... maybe a few streaks here or there. Let me show you.”
While the colors weren’t all the same, she laid a few of the extensions in different spots, and I saw the vision. It solved what was missing from the outfit, and maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the world to add some color to my hair. I loved pink as well. It was one of those things I’d always wanted to do, but hadn’t ever tried.
“Okay.” Giving permission lifted something heavy off my chest. It was so strange. Like I’d spent so much of my life trying to fit into this little bubble that didn’t define me in the slightest. I’d never fit in, and at some point, I’d given up trying. For the most part, I was comfortable in my skin, but there were days when I questioned it. Sort of like my hair. Like something was missing and needed to be changed. I just didn’t know what that was.
My heart still hammered just a little harder as Sachiko helped me out of the new dress and then led me down the hall to work on my hair.
“Yasu...” I took a deep breath, preparing to tell my best friend what I’d done.
The hair coloring had gone perfectly. Thankfully, my hair hadn’t broken when we bleached it to add the colorful pink streaks, and I liked the way it made me look even more vibrant.
“Is something wrong, Istu-chan?”
Little butterflies danced in my stomach any time he called me that. We’d always been close, but there was always that need to be closer.
I pressed my cell phone into my ear a little harder as I looked up and down the street before crossing it to get to the little cafe I wanted to get an iced coffee from.
“Nothing is wrong. I just did something today, you were the first person I could think of to tell.”
Though the words wouldn’t process because the second I walked inside the cafe, I spotted a shock of bright red hair sitting at a table in the far corner. I’d never run into Ryosuke in the wild before, he looked so lost in thought scrolling through his phone.
“Itsu?”
I shook my head because, how long had Yasu been trying to get my attention?
“You’re going to be so surprised the next time you see me.”
My friend laughed. “Oh yeah? What’d you do this time?”
It wasn’t as if I routinely did unusual things, but I’d made a joke or two about chopping off my hair when I’d gotten exceptionally frustrated with it. That was strictly a joke; however. My hair meant the world to me, and the thought oflosing it was terrifying. It was why I’d been so worried about dyeing it.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.” I would have told him. I really would have, but Ryosuke had spotted me, and the way his dark, smoldering eyes burned a hole into my body made me want to get off the phone so I could talk to him.
Maybe it was a little rude, I’d catch some hell for it later, but I disconnected the call before Yasu could say anything else. I made my way across the cafe, plopping into the chair across from Ryosuke, not even bothering to order my coffee. That took some talent. To make me forget about my need for caffeine.
“Pink?” The question rolled off Ryosuke’s tongue, coating me in goosebumps. It was such a weird response because I expected people to notice. It was hard not to.
“Do you like it?” Why did it matter whether he did or not? He was such a new person in my life, but I wanted to impress him just as much as anyone I’d known my entire life.
Ryosuke’s eyes burned a path over my body, making me feel like a wildfire had been set against my skin. I liked the way he looked at me. It should make me feel dissected. Taken apart. But I craved that feeling. It was new that it was something I wanted from someone other than Yasu.
“I think it’s perfect for you.” Ryosuke picked up his coffee cup, taking a sip. The bitter smell of the coffee reminded me of what I’d come in here to begin with. I looked over at the counter, but before I could get up, Ryosuke beat me to it.
His long legs carried him across the cafe, and it was probably inappropriate the way I watched how the snug denim of his jeans cupped his ass. Part of me worried that he wouldn’t know what to get me, but when he returned to the table with a cup of iced coffee with the perfect amount of cream, I had to force back the smile that wanted to split my face in half.
Chapter 16
Yasu
Icouldn’t shake the odd feeling I’d gotten from the phone call. It wasn’t like Itsuki to space out like that while he was talking to me. Something must have distracted him. While I had a good idea what it was, my gut churned, praying that it wasn’t the case.
Ryosuke was supposed to back off. Chances were high that he hadn’t listened to me. Itsuki was his own person—I couldn’t stop him from doing what he wanted to do, but I still wanted to protect him
