according to lena, shiro's okay. his sister told her that he's barely been leaving his room. sumiye knew he was curled up in his bed playing otome games, so she wasn't that worried about him. lena promised the redhead that she would knock some sense into shiro.
currently, it was monday morning and the girl was on her daily walk to school from the dorms. it was week two of being partnered with ushijima, so they were moving on to outlining the research essay.
as she sat down, ushijima stopped setting up his laptop to greet her. "good morning, hashimoto-san."
"good morning, ushijima-san. i'm kind of salty though– you didn't text me this weekend." a playful pout formed on her face.
"oh, i'm sorry."
waving her hand dismissively, she responded. "i'm just messing with you, ushijima-san."
the boy noticed an amused smile resting on her features. ushijima wondered if she ever got annoyed with his inability to read social situations. his eyes then scanned the rest of her figure, noticing something off about her appearance. she was wearing the usual patch jacket and combat book combo, and her half-tucked blouse with no bow was how she normally wore her uniform. the heavy eyeliner was the same shape. staring at the pieces of silver looped in her ear, he didn't think there was a new piercing.
after a couple of minutes, sumiye became hyper aware of his staring. her face flushed under the ace's gaze, "can i help you?"
"no, you just look different." his olive eyes didn't leave the girl as he explained.
the embarrassment disappeared from her body under his intense gaze. resting her chin in her hands, a smirk made its way onto her face. "do you really want me to tell you what changed?"
"yes."
a chuckle escaped her lips at his bluntness. "i redyed my hair." sumiye's free hand ran through her long locks.
now that she mentioned it, ushijima did notice that the fire truck red seemed brighter. her once black roots now matched the rest of her hair.
he nodded, feeling satisfied with getting his question answered. "it looks nice."
~ ✿~