Monotonous | Nanami Kento x Reader

10 | Kento | What is wrong with me?

Kento was a man of routine.

And of course, that routine includes going back to the bakery after work ended at 6 on the dot. He already went in the morning, buying a new dessert for once, but that didn't stop him from going again, the door chiming as he entered the small shop.

There wasn't a line at this hour. There rarely was. Lazy days that had the atmosphere cozy without the presence of others. 

His thoughts from his morning came back to him as he looked at Y/N, his eyes examining the curse around her shoulders. If he had to guess, he would estimate it got a little bigger than this morning. 

His frown deepened.

"Don't tell me you had another bad day." A voice rang out, attracting his attention.

Y/N looked at him with the same eyes from the morning. E/C enveloped in a sclera like an island surrounded by a white ocean. Her flyaways were currently being tucked behind her headband, her fingers swiftly up to her head as she tried to fix her hair clumsily.

Kento walked closer to the counter, placing his forearms on the surface. He noticed that despite her attempts, she still had a few prominent strands of hair peeking out from that band. "No. Not a bad day." 

That was a lie. 

Kento had just uttered a lie.

And both of them knew that.

"Yeah, and I live at that house I fencehopped." To his surprise, instead of the baker calling him out directly, she matched him with a sarcastic remark. 

Kento didn't respond to that comment. "My day was the same as ever." He corrected himself. How detailed. "Office work."

"Ah, I hear you." Y/N nods. "That must be exhausting."

She looked just as exhausted as her words. Shoulders slumped, presumably by the weight of the curse lazily perching on top. Yet that didn't stop the spirit in her voice from shining through, although forced. 

His eyes kept drifting back to her hair, and the locks that she couldn't tuck back without a mirror. His hand twitched, and without thinking, his hand reaches up, freezing just as the pads of his fingers brush against the skin of her forehead

Y/N freezes, her mouth opening slightly in surprise. E/C eyes widened as they looked into brown eyes. She looked so cute when she was taken off guard. 

Kento's heart skipped a beat at his forward action. In a soft tone, he utters, "May I?"

For a second, he thought she wouldn't answer, leaving them stuck in a tableau like stone statues, when she nodded, swallowing thickly. 

With a brief air of hesitation, he curls a strand of her hair around his finger, the same one that stubbornly peeked out like a cow's lick. Once he coiled it, he tucked it by her ear, under the headband so it wouldn't come loose.

"There." His voice came out quiet.

He was closer than before. Close enough to see the cursed spirit with more detail. 

It sensed the sorcerer, and although it was harmless, it's reaction to Kento didn't go unnoticed, Y/N shivering as the ache in her shoulders deepened as it squirmed, muttering incomprehensible gibberish "Stupid, stupid, study--".

Kento flinched, pulling his hand back as he thought he hurt her. "Are you alright? My apologies." 

"No, no, it wasn't your fault." Y/N dismissed with a wave. "Thank you for that. My hair never behaves." She gives a nervous laugh accompanied by a smile.