Archive of Our Own ^beta

Killua's hair was a curious mystery, one that only his father and his fathers before him knew how to deal with, and very unfortunately, Killua left before he could get all the secrets of the hair world that the Zoldycks kept.
So here he was, finally at a loss and unsure what he should do with this...mop...of matted hair that he could no longer make look nice.

When he had woken up and looked over at the bed across from him, he realized Gon was missing, and had been for a bit. The clock on their shared nightstand read 8:00 am, which on any normal day was odd for Gon to wake up at. Gon didn't sleep in like Killua did, but with summer and no classes from Aunt Mito, he'd begun to splurge a bit, which Killua strongly encouraged. Yes, he wanted his best friend to join the cat nap life.
With the feeling of confusion washing over Killua, he decided to investigate, but one peek out of the door and seeing the kitchen light on made him backpedal down the hall to brush his teeth; who wanted a mouthful of complaints from Kurapika so early in the morning? Stepping into the bathroom and taking one glance in the mirror is what started this all.

Was it horror? Was it panic? Was it....blehhhh...? Oh god, he could really start to feel sorry for himself right about now, he looked like those sad mangy strays that had patches of matted hair..but the issue was, he wasn't a dog! He was a human that definitely had to have some sort of good impression!
Why was Killua acting so surprised? This was a glaring issue for a while now, his whole hair situation, but maybe it was just extra shocking this time around....looking like a distant relative of a Yeti, or maybe the twin brother of his dog Mike's hair mats from his brush...
This could no longer be fixed with water, a comb, and a bit of shampoo...so going bald it was, which most definitely was tuff looking.

With great misery in his steps, he threw his hood up to cover his hair and waddled to the kitchen, where Kurapika was propped against a corner of the counter, eyes closed holding a mug of coffee, head in the direction of the window which had full display to a storm raging on.

Kurapika's eyes fluttered open when he heard Killua.

"Good morning, you're up early." He commented.

Killua wanted to grumble, but really, he was too distressed with the mess of hair on his head to be angry, so he gave a sad little frown and rubbed his eyes before taking a seat at the table and resting his head.

"Where's Gon at?" Not only was Gon gone, but Alluka and Leorio as well.

"Off to get car parts a few towns over." Kurapika replied, setting the mug down on the counter behind him.
The mug had a Muppet on it that Killua didn't recognize, as well as visible breaks from where the cup had to be super glued back together. Gon broke it on accident, if Killua remember correctly.

"Car parts? For that old beater? Leorio outta just send that thing to the dump!"

The vehicle in question that Killua was vehemently hating on was an old pick up truck, one that was a pine green with a single white stripe on the right side. The thing had to have been older than Bisky, hell, maybe it was older than Killua's great grandpa Maha!
In any case, there was no reason to keep the raggedy thing, especially when everyone barely fit in it. They weren't poor...they could always invest in a better car.

"Why that's his grandfather's, Killua...it's old, but it's important to Leorio, and I would never force him to get rid of something as special as that, It wouldn't be right, evsn if the thing is an old piece of junk...." Kurapika sighed.

Killua shrugged his shoulders and watch the rain droplets that raced eachother down the glass of the window.

"Why would Alluka want to go?" Killua murmered the more he thought of it.

"She heard them getting up and wanted to come with...I'm surprised you didn't hear them, all that noise they were making..." Kurapika clucked his tongue, mixing something in a pot on the stove.

It took whatever it was only a few moments before he turned the burners of the gas stove off, before retrieving a bowl.

"Sorry...was pretty tired." Killua said, taping his fingers rhythmically to the sound of rain hitting the gutters outside.

"Tired from all that late night snack eating and video game playing...you know if I wasn't a night owl myself, I would put a curfew on you..."

Killua promptly stuck his tongue out and blew raspberries at the notion.
Kurapika chuckled and moved past Killua to grab a few things from the fridge.

"Once you finish eating breakfast, you should shower and get ready." Kurapika instructed as he globbed cottage cheese on top of whatever was in the bowl, as well as nuts (cashews?) and blueberry syrup from a while ago that they'd all made together.

"Why?" Killua groaned, pulling at his eyelids and leaning back in his chair.

"Sit up, you could fall...!" Kurapika sighed, "We need to go to the market and stock on groceries."

A bowl of oatmeal with a large array of toppings, as well as a small plate of deli chicken and a piece of bread with a tomato sprinkled with salt and pepper slid right in front of Killua. With that, a prebiotic drink was also set in front of him.

"Out of everything for pancakes, as well as that freshly made maple syrup...I've stretched all I could from the pantry and the fridge, and I'm sure you and Gon want more snacks then just pretzel sticks. Alluka complained to me about a criminal lacking of princess fruit snacks as well."

Killua noddedin agreement. "Yeah pretzels sticks suck."

Kurapika scoffed.

"All this complaining from people that don't even make or buy their own food!" But he immediately felt bad for saying it, as food in general was a sort of touchy subject for Killua.

Kurapika's face softened.
"As much as I can complain, I wouldn't have it anyway...I'm sure I'd go some sort of crazy if I couldn't provide for my family..."

Family.

Killua smiled and nibbled at the food in front of him, before a scowl erupted on his face.

"If you've been up so early, why aren't you ready!"

Kurapika was in a red shirt that fit very loose and a pair of grey sweatpants he surely stole from Leorio at some point, now adorned with stains from cooking.

"Showered already. I was going to head back to bed, but I wanted to watch the storm...decided I would wait for you to wake up and I'd make you breakfast rather than cleaning the dishes."

They were going to go to the open air market while it was storming...?

He opened his mouth to complain, but maybe this could work in his favor. Killua could hide his hair until something was figured out.
Quickly, he took in his last few bites, handing the dishes over to Kurapika before running up to shower, and in the shower, he tried as desperately as he could to get his hair a bit loose.

It did not work.

Actually, it must've done worse.
If he could scream, a good, proper, horror movie scream, he would.
The hoodie from earlier was thrown right back on, and he discreetly made it back downstairs, praying more prayers than he thought humanly possible that Kurapika wouldn't notice-

"Did you shower." Kurapika asked sternly.

"Yes." Killua nodded, trying to move past him.

"Take off your hood."

Killua felt squirmy.

"No can do."

Kurapika was promptly annoyed, and this led to a cat fight of sorts where Kurapika had skillfully won and...

"Oh my." He looked at the rats nest on Killua's head.

"Its bad! I know it's bad!" Killua whined.

For a few moments, Kurapika studied Killua, and this studying felt sorta like judging.

"My hair just...changed? The texture and everything! I haven't been sure what I should do with it these past few weeks."

"So you've just been..."

"Slicking it I guess."

Kurapika rapidly blinked for a moment before sighing. Without a word, he left the room then re-emerged with a stool a small woven basket of things.

"You could've just asked for help. I do Alluka's and Leorio helps Gon with his."

But asking for help was hard. It was really hard, and maybe Killua just wasn't ready to set challenges like that in his path.
The stool was settled down, and then Kurapika threw a pillow down, motioning for Killua to sit on it while he got behind and positioned Killua's head correctly.

"I heard from Izunavi that nen could sometimes change your physical attributes depending on your scaling. With abilities such as yours focused on electricity, your hair has grown thicker, and slightly frizzy if not cared for correctly, or maybe that's all a myth and this is your genetics." Kurapika shrugged.

A few clicks from a spray bottle came from behind Killua, and then he felt steady fingers pulling his hair into sections.
From the bottom and working his way up, slowly the hair was unmatted and brushed gently (or as gently as Kurapika could).

The only noises that echoed in the house included:

-rain from outside that patted gently against the window

-thunder echoing off the coast and fields

-the brush going back and forth

-and Kurapika humming a tune

Killua could mention Kurapika's steady heartbeat, but only he could really hear that.

"Is brushing hair therapeutic to you, Kurapika?" Killua asked as he felt his hair grow lighter somehow.

Kurapika, his eyes now closed as he didn't need them open, hummed in agreement.
"Yes. When I was young, I loved when my mom would brush my hair. I had long, blonde hair, went past my hips, and I loved it when it was braided up. Even when I got it cut, she still loved to brush my hair and it would lull me to sleep successfully each time..."

"Why did you cut it if it was so long?" Killua asked.
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"Your hair...it's so soft and long! And it's especially golden! Why? Why did you cut it?"

The hair laid in clumps on the floor, with Kurapika standing over the mess, guilty expression evident.

"I..."

The tears fell before words could be made out.

The woman in front of Kurapika, the mother that loved Kurapika so dearly, she seemed to be angry when she first saw the mess of hair, but she was more worried now when Kurapika refused to speak.

"Come here..." She spread her arms and Kurapika stumbled over, small hands covering rosy cheeks stained with tears.

"I..I think I'm a boy. A boy like all the other boys in the village." Kurapika muttered.

Above him, his mother pulled back, an astonished face.

"Well wanting to be a boy gives you no reason to cut your hair past your ears! Why, you look like a-a-a!!!" She couldn't even fathom words to describe the atrocious hair cut.

"Why, you should've just told me then...I would've taken you to Sir Hernolo....he would've cut your hair just like Pairo." His mother said, patting his head as she gently held him. A smile graced her face.

"But we will wait on that then...hair will grow back eventually, my....son."

Kurapika put Killua's hair into two braids that bended up like Pippi Longstocking; Killua would certainly be horrified if he saw it, but thankfully, the hair wasn't going to stay like that.

"Short fit me better."

Killua nodded. Short did fit Kurapika better, anything past the bob would look odd.

The twin braids were taken out and Killua's scalp was finally seen.
The moment felt tender. All of it. The way Kurapika gently combed away at Killua's hair, and the feeling of this...mass of panic lifted from Killua over such a simple thing. It felt intimate, but Killua didn't know how to properly phrase it, and he felt too embarrassed to try and explain it to Kurapika.
It's what he imagined having a mom was like, or maybe how he imagined the way his father and him could be. It reminded him of when Illumi wasn't so awful, or how Killua himself would help Alluka or Kalluto with their hair.

A boom erupted from outside.

"Loud thunder." Killua commented.

"...very loud thunder..." Kurapika agreed.

"This trip to the market will be interesting..." Kurapika mumbled.

Killua would be really happy with that junk, beater pick-up truck right about now...