lend me your ears | bokuto kotaro

16 ' here for you

"We can talk about it upstairs if you want," he said and patted her head, occassionally caressing it.

"Okay, okay," she agreed in a soft and weaker voice. Another word and she knows her voice would crack, she was on the verge of crying.

"It's okay to tell me what happened, Nanao," Bokuto said as they walked towards her apartment unit. He's been in this building before, but not exactly in her unit. Not ever.

"But then again, it's also okay not to tell me. If you don't want to, I mean," he added with a reassuring smile.

They reached her place. Unit 307.

"You can go inside," she told him in a shy tone. She grabbed her keys and quickly unlocked the door.

"Ah, oh, okay," he spoke and nodded, "Well, excuse me for the intrusion," he politely said before entering.

She pressed on the switch to light up the dark living room and they both remove their shoes. She left the luggage near the sofa, while Bokuto looked around. Being in new places excited him, it made him feel jumpy and giddy, but he knew he had to behave for her sake.

"Well, do you want to talk about it?" he asked and took a seat, still swaying his head left and right to observe the place. It was neat and simple, a little minimalistic, even.

"Sort of, I have some explaining to do, Kotaro-san," she answered. Her bashful, almost ashamed, tone remained.

She removed her coat and sat right next to him. Her fingers fiddled and intertwined with each other, a habit when she's nervous.

"Want to start with why your hair is so long now, Nanao?" he chuckled and glanced over her long brown locks. She found his voice and carefree nature strangely relieving, like she was finally home. Well, she is home, literally.

"Ah, these are all fake," she answered and impulsively held on to them, "Just a bunch of extensions."

"Oh, extensions? What?"

"Extensions, like, fake hair," she clarified and pointed.

"Like, real human hair?!" he exclaimed, visibly shocked.

"N-No, I don't like extensions made from real human hair. They kinda have ethical issues, but that's, that's not the point."

"Then what is it made of, Nanao?" It peaked his curiosity, it's his first time seeing those in person.

"Synthetic stuff, I guess?" she answered, though quite unsure.

"You want to see?" she offered and pointed at her hair again.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, well, let me remove these," she murmured.

"I used to have very long hair before, but I cut it short. Really short," she added and successfully removed one of the extensions.

"Really? Why'd you cut it? You look pretty in long hair," he asked, surprising her. It's his first time calling her pretty. First time hearing it, that is. It's definitely not the first time Bokuto has labeled her pretty.

"They said I looked like Sadako. I scared them," she revealed. She slowed down on removing the extensions, processing the fact that he called her that.

"Can I try? Removing those? Or does it hurt?" he inquired.

"No. I mean, um, sure, you can try. It doesn't really hurt. It's just clipped on," she permitted.

"Ah, well, how do I do this, can you face the other way?" he asked and pointed at the other direction.

"S-Sure," she stammered. She placed the hair extension on the coffee table and did as he requested.

"So you, like, just press on it to remove it? Like a clip?"

"Uhuh," she hummed, along with a subtle nod.

He began stroking her hair, it really didn't feel all that real. "I got this," he muttered and tried identifying where the clips were.

He tried to be careful at first and play safe, pushing on the clip as gently as he can. But after a few trial and error, he already got used to it. As for Hoshino, the feel of his gentle fingertips and rough palms was strangely comforting.

A few moments later, the shared silence was broken by her soft voice. "Kotaro-san, remember what I said about my parents? The part about money?" she began.

"I was all ears, so, yes, I do," he answered.

"They had this big fancy party for their company and they wanted me and Nanaki to go."

"Oh, a party? That sounds fun, how was it?"

"Oh, it was far from fun, Kotaro. It's a formal thing, I didn't like it," she ranted.

"So why didn't you reply to any of my messages?" he asked without giving it much thought. That question was stuck on his head and he had been aching for an answer.

Upon hearing his inquiry, her mind went blank, perhaps out of guilt. She took a moment to pause and Bokuto was willing to give her all the time she needed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "It's also a bad habit."

"Habit?" he asked and looked at her side to check her wrist for a ponytail. As soon as he spots one, he holds her wrist and glances at her, "Can I have this first?"

She nodded and let him grab it. "Well, I'm not good at asking for help," she began, "So I, um, sort of, cut you off for a few days."

"Oh." She felt Bokuto's fingers card through her hair as he tried to style it into a half-up, half-down hairstyle. "Was it helpful for you?" he kept asking.

"Not really," she answered after a pause, "It makes me feel bad. Friends shouldn't just leave."

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"You didn't leave, just took a break, maybe," he reassured and moved himself closer to her. She was glad she's facing the opposite side, she didn't want him to see how vulnerable she was when with him.

"Nanao," Bokuto called. "Yes?"

"I'm always here for you."

"Oh." She ran out of words to say.

"So, when you take a break, you won't be lonely."