“Come on,” Onee-Sama said. “You can sit on my lap.” She patted her lap, one hand on each leg.

Poppu only hesitated for a moment before shuffling over and plopping herself down on Onee-Sama’s lap. This was a great honour. The greatest. It was like being asked by the emperor to sit upon his throne. Only no emperor had ever been worthy enough to sit upon Onee-Sama’s lap, because that lap was for her imouto.

She looked into the mirror before her, having to stretch her neck a little to look over all the unused beauty things left on Onee-Sama’s vanity. None of the make-up stuff looked used, which made sense. Onee-Sama did not need them to be pretty.

Poppu met Onee-Sama’s eyes and she felt her cheeks warming a little before she looked back down and away from her eldest sibling’s soft smile.

It was a very un-ninja moment, but Onee-Sama would forgive her. She always forgave her imouto.

“You know, of all my sisters you’re the only one with hair that’s similar to mine,” Onee-Sama said. Her voice then turned a little softer. “Similar to mom’s.”

Poppu nodded once. “I will wear it with pride,” she declared. She would. Next time Crochet snipped her scissors at her, she would make her foolish nee-chan suffer for threatening her hairy heritage.

Onee-Sama laughed and it was the best laugh because it made her jiggle a little and that made Poppu bounce on her lap. “I would hope so. Do you mind if I comb it while we talk?”

“I do not mind, Onee-Sama,” Poppu said.

There were a few moment’s confusion as Onee-Sama undid the oni-mask clasp that held her hair in a ponytail, but she succeeded as she did everything else and gently placed the porcelain clasp on the vanity before taking up a bristle-y brush.

Soon, Poppu was standing tall and stiff as Onee-Sama ran the brush along her head and pulled her long hair back in a loose cascade of inky blackness.

It was nice.

At first it was just the slow, rhythmic swish-swish of the brush passing through, but then Onee-Sama ‘tsked’ and started combing her fingers across Poppu’s scalp. Her nails dug into Pop’s head, and at the edges she would brush her fingers out and through her hair, like a constant, rotating, scratchy head pat.

Every gentle pass tugged her eyes closed, and for just a tiny moment Poppu forgot her duties as Onee-Sama’s ninja because she was safe and cuddled and warm.

“You’ll need to shower soon, maybe use a bit more conditioner,” Onee-Sama said, breaking Poppu’s reverie with a start. She was passing her fingers through the longer locks of her hair now. “Your hair is very pretty, but it’s a bit dry.”

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“But Onee-Sama, the conditioner smells,” she said. The smell might give away her position to an enemy nin who was trying to track her, and that would be unforgivable.

“You don’t like it?” Onee-Sama asked. “Well, I’m sure we can find some scentless conditioner at the pharmacy, just for you. I need a few toiletries too. I think Cheshire’s been rummaging through my things.”

Poppu did not say that it was she who had ninja-borrowed Onee-Sama’s anti-bleeding pads. After all, she was the one that would be there if Onee-Sama got a cut that needed fixing, not one of the other, slightly lesser imouto.

“Oh well, we’ll find the money, one way or another,” Onee-Sama said. She sounded a little bit off, as if something was wrong.

That could not be allowed to continue. “What is wrong, Onee-Sama?”

She saw the sad smile on Onee-Sama’s face in the mirror for just a moment before the brushing resumed and her eyes closed themselves again. This whole brushing thing was very bad if it meant she was not on-guard whenever Onee-Sama did it.

“Nothing.” More brushing followed, a few more strokes before Onee-Sama sighed so hard Poppu felt the brush of air behind her neck. “Well, not nothing. We’re a bit tight. But we’ll pull through, I’m sure. I have some ideas, but they’re not safe and, well... I just, I just don't want anyone to hurt any of you," Onee-Sama said.

Poppu, being a good ninja, saw underneath the underneath. Onee-Sama wanted her to kill anyone that could hurt her imouto.

“I will take care of it, Onee-Sama,” Poppu said.

Her Onee-Sama snorted, then giggled as she met Poppu’s confused gaze in the mirror. “You know, you might be one of my quietest little sisters, but you’re also one of the most earnest. It’s very cute.” She reached over and pinched Poppu’s cheek.

She resisted the pain and humiliation of the cheek pinch with the grit and determination of a proper nin. The warmth in her cheeks was her body fighting off the pain and nothing else.

“It is true, Onee-Sama, I will help, and protect my Onee-Sama. And the others too, if they are not bothering Onee-Sama too much. And then things will be okay,” she said. Because if all of their enemies were dead, then there was nothing to make things not okay.

“I don’t think you can protect us from poverty, Pop,” Onee-Sama said. “But I’ll take all the help I can get. Thank you.” Warm arms reached around Poppu and pulled her into Onee-Sama’s chest.

She swore then and then, that she would find poverty and slice its throat.