#like. youre telling me i could have saved 2 years of identity crisis if id just let myself use these beforehand

[kythen]

Haikyuu!! - Bad/Bed Hair Day

Pairing: Kurodai

Summary: After Kuroo moves into Daichi's dorm room, Kuroo's hair undergoes a transformation. Cue an identity crisis and Kuroo and Daichi's many attempts to make things right again.

My piece for the Domestic Kurodai Zine: Midnight to Morning Coffee!

Also found here on AO3.

Word count: 2,671

"Kuroo Tetsurou?"

"Here." Kuroo raises his hand and yawns, slumping down in his seat. It is 8 in the morning, way too early for class, and Kuroo daydreams longingly of slipping back into bed with Daichi.

Instead of marking him off as present immediately like she always does, the TA looks confused, looking between Kuroo and the namelist, and Kuroo sits up, equally confused.

"Is something wrong?" he asks and the rest of his bleary classmates perk up in interest.

She frowns, looking at him disapprovingly. "It's against the school regulations to stand in for another student in class."

Kuroo straightens up, wondering if this is some weird dream he is in. "What are you talking about? I'm Kuroo Tetsurou. You know me. I just talked to you about our current assignment last week."

The TA looks wary as she looks him up and down. His classmates turn their attention on him and it is as if they are seeing him for the first time. Kuroo looks around desperately for a reflective surface. This feels like a nightmare and Kuroo hopes that whatever he sees reflected back at him will shock him into waking up. Maybe he is still in bed and getting cuddled by his boyfriend. Kuroo has only recently started sleeping over in Daichi’s dorm room and Daichi has started to warm up to having Kuroo in the same space as him in his sleep.

But when he checks his reflection in his phone, he is all there, Kuroo Tetsurou, hoodie thrown over his pyjamas and hair flattened down into something that isn't his bedhead. He tugs at the limp strands. He hadn't noticed that his hairstyle had changed. Maybe it was because his sleeping position had changed to accommodate one clingy boyfriend.

Kuroo looks up and sees the rest of the class staring. Acting on a hunch, he sweeps his hair up with his hands and holds it up in an approximation of his usual bedhead.

The TA blinks and checks him off the list. "Oh."

---

Daichi laughs, his head thrown back and his feet kicking the sheets on the bed, his grin as wide as the sky. It is the cutest thing that Kuroo has ever seen.

"Don't laugh," Kuroo whines, tottering over to Daichi on defeated feet and dropping onto the bed with him.

"I can't believe no one recognised you." Daichi reaches for Kuroo as Kuroo crawls over to him and drops into his lap, pillowing his cheek on Daichi's thigh. Daichi cards his hands through Kuroo's hair, the motion gentle and soothing, and Kuroo closes his eyes blissfully. If he were a cat, he would be purring now.

"I can't believe it either. I even had to show a professor my student ID," Kuroo complains. "Do I look that unrecognisable with my hair down? Is Kuroo Tetsurou all in the hair?  Who am I without the bedhead? Daichi, I'm having a major existential crisis right now."

Daichi sweeps Kuroo's hair back from his forehead, leaning down to press a kiss to his exposed forehead. "You're still my boyfriend."

Kuroo smiles dazedly at him, blindsided by the affectionate gesture, before his smile morphs into a scowl. "You didn't recognise me either when I came in. Nice try, mister."

Daichi pats Kuroo's hair back into place as he admits, "You do look different with your hair down."

Kuroo looks accusingly at him. "You do know that this is probably your fault, right? For being so cuddly and warm and nice to snuggle that I can't style my hair while I sleep."

"Is that what you call it?" Daichi raises an eyebrow. "I thought it was just bedhead, not some time-efficient strategy for hairstyling. Anyway, if it is my fault, you could always return to sleeping in your room."

"And miss out on the chance to spend more time with you? No way." Kuroo frowns. "There has got to be a way to get my hair back to its usual handsome style."

"I think you're pretty handsome with your hair down," Daichi tugs at the loose strands of Kuroo's hair, "but if it bothers you that much, why don't you try styling your hair in the morning?"

---

Solution 1: Hair gel

Kuroo slides into the seat Yaku had saved for him at the cafeteria and all conversations at the table immediately end. A shit-eating grin spreads across Yaku's face and Daishou looks like Christmas had come early for him. Kuroo immediately, and not for the first time, regrets that Yaku and Daishou had put aside their enmity in university to form a friendship built on roasting Kuroo.

"Hey, I didn't know that Yu-Gi-Oh got a new protagonist," Yaku says loudly, his eyes fixed on Kuroo's head. Or approximately five centimetres above Kuroo's head.

The both of them burst into laughter.

"Ha ha, guys," Kuroo deadpans, stabbing at his lunch with his chopsticks.

He doesn't think he looks that bad. Daichi and him had tried their best with the hair gel but neither of them had any previous experience with hairstyling considering that all Kuroo had ever used were two pillows to get his hair into shape and Daichi had never bothered learning to style his hair. Okay, maybe Daichi had gotten too enthusiastic with the gel to get Kuroo's spikes to stand up and Kuroo had been too much of a useless, smitten boyfriend to tell Daichi his spikes didn't stand that tall. They were soft spikes, nice to touch and friendly to stroke. Not spikes of doom that could take someone's eye out if he wasn't careful.

"Seriously, what happened to your hair?" Yaku wheezes, once he finally gets a hold of himself.

"My hair hasn't been right lately so we tried styling it a bit," Kuroo says, self-consciously prodding the stiff spikes on the top of his head.

"Honestly, I think I preferred it when I couldn't tell who you were with your hair down," Yaku tells him, still grinning.

"Daichi-kun isn't very good at hairstyling, is he?" Daishou remarks with a sly smile.

"Daichi has other strengths." Kuroo glowers at him, defending his boyfriend loyally. "Just not... hairstyling."

"I'd say he has a talent for it, considering that he's the one who finally defeated your bedhead," Yaku comments. "Weren't you trying to get rid of it?"

"I was, until I found out that my personal identity was inextricably linked to how my hair looked." Kuroo slumps down in his seat mournfully.

Yaku pats him on the shoulder sympathetically. "Well, you better find out how to get it back because your friendships are also inextricably linked to how your hair looks. I'll tolerate it this one time, but I'm not gonna be seen in public with you if you keep this up."

---

Solution 2: Don't cuddle Daichi

"That's harder than you think it is." Kuroo looks pleadingly at Daichi. "Don't cuddle you? That's like asking me not to breathe."

"Considering how you normally sleep, I thought you'd be an expert at not breathing," Daichi retorts. "I'm technically saving your life by sleeping with you."

"Yes, you are," Kuroo says reverently. Ever since he started sleeping with Daichi in the same bed, he swears he feels more rejuvenated in the morning.

"Look," Daichi props his hands on his hips as he looks down at Kuroo in his bed, all tucked in and waiting for Daichi to join him, "I don't like being apart from you either but if you want to get your bedhead back you should go back to sleeping in your room."

Kuroo props himself up on an elbow and peels back a corner of the blanket, patting the Daichi-shaped empty space next to him. "I'll keep my hands to myself this time." When Daichi doesn't budge, Kuroo gives him his best puppy-eyed look. "I mean, who's going to rescue me if I stop breathing in the middle of the night? I can't sleep peacefully without you, Daichi."

"You managed just fine without me for eighteen years," Daichi grumbles but he gets into bed with Kuroo, shoving at Kuroo's lanky body until there is a clear space between them. It isn't much of a gap, seeing that they are two broad guys on a dorm-sized mattress, but Kuroo appreciates the thought and he leans over to give Daichi a peck on the cheek before he turns off the beside lamp.

"Goodnight, Daichi."

Lips brush against Kuroo's in the dark before Daichi returns to his side of the bed. "Goodnight, Kuroo."

---

When Kuroo's first alarm goes off in the morning, he comes into consciousness warm and comfortable, his body moulded perfectly against Daichi. Kuroo blinks dazedly and reaches over Daichi to turn his alarm off before burying his nose back into Daichi's hair and shutting his eyes until his second alarm goes off.

---

Solution 3: Drastic measures

"I have no choice, Daichi. I have to do this," Kuroo says grimly.

"Just go back to your room, Kuroo," Daichi sighs. "I know I joked about you not breathing in your sleep but this might actually stop you from breathing entirely. Forever."

"It won't hurt me," Kuroo says confidently. "I've been doing this since I was a kid."

He holds out his two pillows. If he can't stop himself from snuggling up to Daichi in the middle of the night, then he wouldn't stop it. He didn't need his hands for this anyway, all he needed were for the pillows to be on either side of his head for the entire night.

Kuroo lies facedown on Daichi's bed and pulls his pillows into the optimal sleeping position before getting to work fixing them on either side of his head. It takes two elastic bands to secure the pillows to Kuroo's head and he turns his head from side to side and takes an experimental breath. It feels like his usual sleeping position and he reaches out blindly beside him, groping the sheets as he searches for Daichi.

"Kuroo, this doesn't look safe at all," Daichi says as Kuroo snakes a hand around his waist and tries to tug him down next to him. "I'm serious. You might actually suffocate in the middle of the night."

"'M fine," Kuroo mumbles out, his voice muffled by the two pillows secured to his head. He turns to the side so he can see out of the gap between them and he sees Daichi's worried face peering down at him. It takes a few more coaxing tugs before he can get Daichi to lie down beside him and he wraps his arms snugly around Daichi's waist, beaming at him. "See? Hands-free."

Daichi looks unimpressed as he mutters, "I don't know what this says about me that I'm dating someone like you."

"Hrm?" Kuroo asks, the pillows having muffled most of Daichi's voice.

"Nothing," Daichi sighs. "Just keep breathing until the morning please, Kuroo. I don't want to have to find a new boyfriend."

Kuroo tangles his legs with Daichi's, a wave of affection surging in him at how concerned Daichi is for him. "You won't have to. You're stuck with me, darling."

---

He can't breathe.

Kuroo opens his eyes but it doesn't make any difference when all that fills his vision is darkness and an oppressive force covers his nose and mouth. Panicked and still half-asleep, Kuroo reaches up and his hand meets something soft over his face. With a burst of desperate strength, he rips it off his face and gasps, gulping down quick breaths of air.

His clothes are sweat-soaked and his hair one matted mess as he shoves off the rest of the suffocating tangle surrounding his head and clutches Daichi close, seeking out the protective warmth of his boyfriend in the aftermath of his near-death experience.

"That was so scary. Daichi, I nearly suffocated," Kuroo whimpers, pushing his face into Daichi's soft hair and breathing in his comforting scent.

Daichi stirs, sighing against Kuroo's neck as he mumbles drowsily, "I told you so."

Daichi's hands stroke up and down the length of Kuroo's back absently, soothingly, and Kuroo lets their steady rhythm lull him back into sleep.

---

Conclusion: Failed

"I'm not letting you try out anything new after your previous attempt with the pillows," Daichi declares, folding his arms across his chest. He is planted solidly at the edge of his bed as Kuroo paces the room before him, thinking up some other way to get back his bedhead without having to give up on sleeping with Daichi. "You almost hurt yourself, Kuroo."

"But, Daichi," Kuroo says, aghast. "Nobody knows who I am without my trademark bedhead. I can already feel my identity slipping away from me, one limp strand at a time."

"You'll just have to live out your new life as not-Kuroo then," Daichi says firmly. He reaches up, beckoning, and Kuroo leans down to meet him, letting Daichi card his fingers through the loose strands of his hair. "Besides, it's not like I'm dating you because of your hair or anything."

"I distinctly remember you insulting my hair a couple of times before we started dating. And even after we started dating," Kuroo points out, moving closer and closer to Daichi until he gets Daichi flat on his back on the bed. Kuroo climbs onto the bed, bracing himself over Daichi and boxing him in with his arms as he looks him in the eye suspiciously. "Maybe this was your dastardly plan to get rid of my bedhead all along."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Daichi says lightly with a teasing gleam in his eye as he tucks Kuroo's hair behind his ear, letting his fingers brush against the shell of Kuroo's ear lingeringly. "So? What are you going to do about it?"

Kuroo can't let Daichi get away with this so he leans in to show him.

---

At the cafeteria, Yaku waves him over to their table and Kuroo slides into his seat, blissfully dazed and drifting on cloud nine after a good night. Yaku looks him up and down and Daishou takes one look at Kuroo before he goes back to texting on his phone.

"Hey, you managed to get your hair back to normal," Yaku says approvingly. "Congrats—if that was what you were going for."

"Normal?" Kuroo blinks and reaches up to touch his hair. He hadn't looked in a mirror before leaving this morning, his eyes glued shut by the early hour as he rolled out of bed, put on his clothes, and shuffled right out of the room.

Daishou turns his phone towards Kuroo and Kuroo finds himself looking at himself in the front-facing camera. His hair is back up in its natural, messy spikes, just as they had been before he moved into Daichi's room, and when he flattens them with a hand, they just spring back up into shape, untameable as always.

"Hair gel?" Yaku asks.

"Or did you finally move out of Daichi-kun's room?" Daishou suggests.

"Neither." Kuroo prods his hair in confusion, trying to figure out the logic behind his bedhead. "I just went to sleep as usual..."

He had fallen asleep and woken up in Daichi's arms, without bothering to think of a solution to tackle his hair. It had been late and the both of them had been exhausted after—

Ah.

"Ah," Kuroo blurts out loud, realising what exactly had shaped his hair last night.

Yaku and Daishou look curiously at him and Kuroo snaps his teeth shut, trying to will down the sudden burst of heat in his face. As much as he considers them his friends, he doesn't think he wants to reveal to them everything that happens between Daichi and him.

"I must be having a good hair day," Kuroo says as nonchalantly as possible, suppressing a shiver as he thinks about the grasping hands that had tugged at his hair last night. But he can't hold back a smirk as he thinks about what this says about Daichi's hairstyling skills. Maybe they weren't so bad after all.