Haruichi should have known that nothing was wrong, but the caution was warranted, considering the squeal was rather sudden. See, it isn’t Eijun’s fault that he tends to attract the mischievous kids of the groups they watched at the daycare, but it certainly was his fault for being too soft that he sometimes was putty in their hands. However, despite that fact, he wasn’t one to let a trickster go free without some kind of punishment.
The word punishment varies around the world, but the stark contrast between Haruichi’s definition and Eijun’s went further than it really needed to. The former stuck to the more traditional definition, while the latter split away from it’s roots completely and made it his own. It’s how Eijun seemed to do everything; he makes whatever he does his, and does it that way.
“Come here, you little─ GOTCHA!” Eijun announced proudly, holding the little girl despite being faceplanted against the wooden floor boards. The child in his hands had been the cause of the shrill squeal, before she dissolved into giggles at the silly position Sawamura ended up in. The rest of his group, who happened to usually be all little trouble makers and overly energetic kids, took the advantage of the situation. He’s used to this by now, but that doesn’t mean the tiny feet feel any lighter on his body, nor does it mean that he’s okay with being used as a jungle gym or that he’s okay with being pinned to the floor by little kids.
Haruichi thought that he was entertaining the kids, and he was sure they were entertained, but only because he was the only one that actually let them be themselves without trying too hard to change their bad behaviors. “Alright, alright, ALRIGHT!” Eijun hissed in slight pain through his teeth, his words whispered slightly harsh to get their attention. It worked, and they all turned to him. Somehow, the little girl he had managed to catch got out of his grasp during the parade of children ontop of him.
“Last one to get into the ponytail train has to clean up our side of the daycare at the end of the day!” He prompted his group, his voice a little low so he didn’t wake the napping kids on the other side of the room, who were closer to Haruichi. His entire group perked up and then eyed each other. He opened his mouth to prompt that he’d start counting to 10, but they all suddenly got up and quickly made their way into the ponytail line. He didn’t even have the time to get up onto his knees before everyone was ready, his spot in the middle saved like always. He couldn’t help but laugh at his group, since they weren’t as bad as they were made out to be. They just needed motivation, and he always managed to give them that. “Guess I’m cleaning up our side, Jeez. Couldn’t you guys be nice to your caretaker for once?”
His entire group whispered among themselves, before they turned to him all at the same time ( while he grabbed the bag of ponytail bands ) before they stuck their tongue out at him. “Nope!” They chanted, which caused him to pout like a puppy. It only lasted for a second, however, before he made his way to his spot in the line. There were three kids behind him instantly, ready for the supplies to be put down. Eijun rolled his eyes at their enthusiasm, glad they were happy to play with his hair and put it into different styles. He unzipped the plastic bag and dumped out about two thousand hard bands. He grabbed a few to himself, got into a comfortable position and patted the empty space infront of him. “Alright, who’s hair am I doing first?” Hands went up, and he chose the girl he had caught earlier. She sat down infront of him, and the rest of the class either got into pairs to work on their own hair, or went behind him to examine both his work and their peers work.
By the time Haruichi has come over with another student, Eijun has miniature ponytails sticking up on the back of his head, while he began to finish up the braids he made into the little girls hair. “Another?” He asked with his teeth clenched down onto a few hairbands, his hands diligently moving with slight grace. His gold eyes lifted to meet the pink that looked down at him. His lips involuntarily twitched into a smile at the sight of his crush. “Alright, give me one second. I’ll finish this braid for her, and then I’ll do her hair as well. Who would have known my artistic nature went further than drawing?” He was referring to how he managed to be good at cosmetics and hair, while he studied Art in the university they were attending, for their last year in fact.
