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"Kuroo what the fuck."
"Hmm?" said boy blinked and paused in his quest to clean the mess they had made of the bathroom. Granted it was a lot neater than the first time they had done this, but anything would have gone smoother than their first bleaching session. After receiving no reply from the other, Kuroo shrugged and continued sweeping the floor, gathering the fallen hairs into a dust pan to be thrown away later.
By the time Kuroo had finished, Kenma was still standing by the sink, looking at his reflection, gold eyes wide with disbelief.
Unable to suppress a smug grin, he snuck behind Kenma and buried his face in the hair in question. "I'm good aren't I?"
"I..." Kenma breathed, finally tearing his eyes away from the mirror to face his horrible stupid surprisingly-talented-with-hair-care boyfriend.
"I...?" Kuroo prompted, bringing a hand to card through the now fully blonde locks; overgrown roots nowhere to be seen. "Love it?"
"I..." he started again, bringin a hand up to meet Kuroo's.
"What is it Ken?"
"I look like one of those pretty boys from your perverted anime."
x
The cool spring night was calm, except for an occasional breeze… And a boy of 17 tossing and turning in his bed due to anxiety. Kenma really regretted allowing Kuroo to do whatever he wanted to his hair. But it was too late to do anything because school started in- he chanced a quick glance at the clock, knowing that the number wouldn’t please him one bit (12:42AM it shouted at him in big angry letters)- seven hours and it was too late to go run to the drugstore to buy a hair dye kit to cover up this… this mistake.
He seethed. Kuroo just had to pull the “your beloved boyfriend is leaving for university so please let me do your hair as a going away present!” card, didn’t he? He just had to buy the big tub of bleach and developer (“It says here that this developer is for people with sensitive skin, I got it just for you!”) and the hair masques with protein supplements for over processed hair. He just had to force kenma into the bathroom every week and a half three times to achieve the perfect level seven golden blonde that he had now.
And he couldn't even complain about it because Kuroo had left for university several days ago to get himself settled in the dorms before the first semester began. He considered calling his stupid boyfriend, but he couldn't bring himself to bother Kuroo. He knew the older boy had worked extremely hard balancing volleyball and his studies to get into his dream university.
Ugh.
Kenma sat up slowly, giving up his quest for sleep to run a hand through his hair. It really wasn't bad at all. Kuroo did really well with the bleach and evened out his pre-lightened hair. The impromptu haircut (though how impromptu he couldn't really tell. Something told him that Kuroo had been planning this for a long time and had already picked out a haircut in advance) wasn't bad either. It would have looked flattering on anyone… Well, anyone except Kenma himself.
Flopping face-first onto his pillow Kenma groaned. He looked like a girl! He thought back to the day in the middle of break when Kuroo had first finished his masterpiece. It took a long discussion and quite a bit of convincing from Kuroo that he still knew Kenma was 100% man to accept his fate hair.
But now he was really starting to regret all of this. He could almost imagine Taketora and Lev's teasing, or worse- Inuoka telling him he was quite a pretty girl. Kenma shuddered and crawled under the sheets. It was too late now. Nothing short of skipping the first day of the new semester could save him from his fate.
x
As he walked from the club room to homeroom, Kenma could almost feel the weight of the other students' stares on his back. He had only seen the rest of Nekoma at the beginning of spring break, and that was before Kuroo got a hold of him and his hair so his new style was completely new to the students of Nekoma. Self consciously, Kenma hunched his shoulders and pulled at his backpack, repeatedly tightening and loosening the straps.
Nearing the entrance to his classroom, Kenma steeled himself for what was sure to be a room full of classmates eager to tease him for his new hair and-
"KENMA!"
Kenma flinched, stopping in his tracks and looking up in time to see Yamamoto barreling towards him with Fukunaga following at a more sedate pace. He nodded to the his two teammates, tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear when it slipped forward (but it was a wasted effort because the hair was so fine after the multiple lightening sessions and so soft from his frequent use of hair treatments that it slipped back towards his face). "Hi Tora, Shouhei."
Yamamoto stared at him for a moment before grinning wickedly and sticking a large hand in his hair, ruffling it wildly. On his other side, Fukunaga stared with interest and ran a hand through the light blonde locks. Frowning, Kenma tried to bat his friends hands away, grumbling about how it would've been better to put it in a ponytail for the day.
Thankfully the warning bell rang and his friends scurried off to their own classes and Kenma was left in peace.
The day proceeded normally enough, but Kenma did catch a few girls looking his way as he walked to the usual lunch spot he and his friends shared. As he neared the doors leading out to the courtyard, a second year girl stepped in front of him, looking at her feet and fidgeting.
"Um…" Kenma looked away. Well shit. He was right, this new hairstyle was getting him attention. God dammit Kuroo this was the exact opposite of what Kenma wanted!
"Kozume-san um," the girl snapped her head up to look at him, revealing a deeply flushed face, "your hair looks very nice!" she practically shouted at him before running back to her friends further down the hall.
Oh. That was new.
"Thanks," he muttered, but the girl was already too far away to hear.
x
The rest of the month followed in a similar fashion. The team got used to his new hair fairly quickly, and after that first lunch they stopped ruffling his hair for the most part. But almost daily Kenma was stopped in the hallways, sometimes twice a day, by girls (and on a particularly balmy day when he had tied his hair up into a ponytail, a boy) complimenting him all with the same flushed expression.
In the last weekend of April, Kuroo rode the train down to visit. The two spent it glued at the hip, eating dinners and spending nights wrapped around each other as if attempting to meld into one being. Neither complained about the close proximity despite the unusually hot weather because they were both glad to have the company. Ever since they met they had never gone so long without seeing each other- though they did text almost constantly and held frequent video calls, the physical contact was very much appreciated.
It was Sunday afternoon when it happened. They lay on Kenma's bed, much too small for two almost grown men (but just right for cuddling), passing the time before Kuroo had to leave for to catch his train back to school. Kuroo absently ran a hand through Kenma's hair as the other boy occupied himself with a handheld game. They had just gotten back from an morning wandering around the city, buying too-sweet snacks and sharing them while sitting under a tree in the park. It was cliche as all hell but neither of them could ask for anything more. But there was that one thing that bothered Kuroo…
"Hey Ken did you notice?"
"Hmm?"
"While we were walking in the city."
"Be more specific, idiot."
Kuroo frowned and leaned away as he propped himself up on his elbow. Curious, Kenma spared him a quick glance before going back to his game. "People were looking at you."
Frowning, Kenma focused even more of his game. If there was one phrase that always sent pangs of anxiety to his stomach is was that. But he ignored the feeling and willed himself not to care. "So?"
"You don't know how many people I caught checking you out today!" Kuroo raved, tugging at Kenma's shoulder like a petulant child.
With a sigh, Kenma saved his game and set it aside, turning to face Kuroo.
Oh, it was that. He realized after the first week that that was what was happening. He still didn't like the attention, but he guessed it was better than being ridiculed. He always politely thanked the people who complimented his hair and thankfully and that was that. He didn't really see a reason to tell Kuroo because when he walked away that was that. He pushed the compliments to the back of his mind.
"It's okay Kuroo, I'm used to it."
Kuroo's eyes widened and his mouth gaped. Kenma sighed once more and stuck his fingers in his hears to prepare himself for the inevitable-
"WHAT!?"
Kenma removed his fingers and rolled his eyes. "You're so dramatic. It's your fault, I think. It's because of this haircut you gave me."
Again Kuroo looked as if he were about to have an outburst when Kenma slapped a hand on his mouth. "Kuroo it's okay, it's not like I care. I just thank them and go to my next class."
When Kenma released Kuroo's face, the older boy's lips were set in a childish pout. He rolled his eyes, so mature Kuroo. But after a solid two minutes of staring, Kuroo's pout had increased in strength tenfold as his eyes began to water.
Really, really mature.
Kenma rolled his eyes once more before leaning forward to plant a kiss on Kuroo's lips, if only to distract him. He didn't expect Kuroo to pull him into his arms to prevent him from pulling away completely. "Wha-"
A pair of lips and a set of teeth latched onto the juncture between his neck and jaw, sucking and licking in the way Kuroo knew would make Kenma melt.
"K-Kuroo-"
x
Come Monday morning the marks had yet to fade, and there was no way to cover it up. It was much too hot for spring and Kenma trudged to class with the first two buttons on his summer uniform shirt left done, tie loosened ever so slightly.
Yamamoto snorted and Fukunaga suppressed a laugh.
"Pff- I gue- PFFT-" Yamamoto pointed at Kenma, clutching at his stomach as he bent over with the force of his guffaws. Kenma frowned and kicked at his shin.
Fukunaga smirked at him, "Well you already knew that Kuroo was the jealous type."
