higuchimon | [fanfic] Digimon Adventure 02: It's The Blues

Title: It's The Blues
Characters: Yamato
Word Count: 2,930||Status: One-shot
Genre: Friendship, Humor||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: 2014 Advent Calendar Challenge, day #15; Diversity Writing Challenge, section F4, oneshot with at least two dividers; What-if Challenge: What if Yamato dyed his hair blue?
Summary: It's just a little truth or dare. It's not going to have any lasting effects. Do you call a few months lasting?

Yamato tried not to feel even a bit nervous with the way Daisuke's eyes slid over the group, trying to make up his mind on what he was going to do. He knew he shouldn't be that bothered by it, but throughout the night, Daisuke was the one who'd come up with some of the most interesting dares and embarassing questions when someone chose truth.

He still wished Mimi hadn't suggested that they all play 'truth or dare' tonight. Perhaps it wouldn't have mattered if half of them weren't sloshed to some extent or other, but they were. He wasn't; he needed to walk home and it was much easier to do that when he didn't have anything alcoholic running around in his system. He would also make certain that everyone else who didn't live here would make it home safely before he made his way home anyway.

He would see to this not just because they were all his friends, but because whatever condition they were in by the end of the night would make some spectacular blackmail material and he looked forward to every single moment of it. What he could get out of Taichi for wearing reindeer antlers alone would be absolutely priceless.

“All right,” Daisuke said, and that stabbing finger of his pointed at Mimi. “Mimi-san. Truth or Dare?”

Yamato held back a smile; once everything started to get too embarassing, they'd all made a point of picking Mimi at least once. She'd probably done more dares and told more truths than all the rest of them. She didn't show any signs of regretting it, though. If anything, she enjoyed it more than they did.

Now she toyed with the end of one long strand of hair, currently dyed a deep blue, and considered her choices. “Last time I picked dare, so, this time, truth!” A mischievous smile graced her features as she eyed Daisuke. “And no questions about my love life, either.”

“I think we already know more than we want to about that,” Iori muttered softly. No one was going to argue; that sort of question had comprised the first five that people asked of Mimi. Yamato had never, ever wanted to know that she'd actually gone on a date with a Numemon once. Not that he judged, but he just didn't want to know.

Daisuke stared down into his drink as if he expected it to deliver a good question that didn't touch on Mimi's social life at all. Finally he perked up. “Why do you keep dyeing your hair different colors?”

That was something else Yamato hadn't ever considered, but at least it wasn't in the same realm as which species Mimi checked under her romantic preferences. For now, however, she only laughed.

“Because I like doing it. It's fun reinventing myself all the time!”

A stream of laughter circled around the group, and Yamato rolled his eyes, more for how easily pleased they were than anything else. Yes, the blackmail would be delicious, but what he had to pay for it wasn't. Everyone's humor threshold seemed to descend about thirty steps the drunker they got.

Mimi now gave the assembled group her best gaze. This would've worked so much better, in Yamato's opinion, if she hadn't looked as if she were gazing somewhat to the left of each of them. If she asked why some of them had doubles, Yamato wasn't at all certain if he could have kept himself from cracking up.

“Who's next?” Mimi muttered, though she sounded more as if she were talking to herself than anyone else. That was fine with Yamato. If he could quietly slip out of there without being noticed, he would do so. The drunker his friends got, the stupider all the questions and dares got. He'd seen enough already.

He'd already put a little distance between Hikari on his left and Jou on his right. Neither of them seemed to notice. Jou wasn't as drunk as the others, though he wasn't as sober as Yamato was. He didn't often get time off from his work, and Yamato suspected he was going to enjoy the night as best he could without waking up with a serious hangover. He wished him luck.

Hikari was a little more sloshed than Jou was, but she'd mentioned having a very stressful week at school. Yamato doubted Taichi would let her out of his sight until they were both recovered. Which would take so much longer in Taichi's case, since he'd been putting away as much liquor as he could stand to drink all night. Yamato didn't know why, but suspected the wrenched ankle the brunet suffered from had something to do with that.

At any rate, neither of them gave him so much as a glance as he inched back a trifle more. Soon enough the game would end, probably once most of them dropped off into sleep, and he wouldn't have had to put up with more than a few truths and dares. Just the way he liked it.

“Yamato!”

Crap.

He lifted his hesd, plastering a quick smile on his features, and did his best not to look as if he'd been about to sneak away. “Me?”

Mimi gave him a fuzzy look that might've been sharp and hawk-like under other circumstances. “Truth or dare?”

Yeah. This just might not be his night after all. He considered it quickly. He really didn't want to start talking about whatever hidden mysteries in his past that she might want to know. And so far, the really embarssing dares had come from Daisuke or Takeru, not Mimi. He could do this.

“Dare.” Bring it on.

Mimi twirled the end of her hair once again, and started to say something when she appeared to be distracted by the blue. She blinked a time or two, then grinned. “I dare you to dye your hair blue.”

Yamato blinked a few times himself. That certainly hadn't ever occurred to him. “What?”

“You heard me!” Mimi giggled, as did Sora and Taichi. Koushirou eyed him thoughtfully, probably trying to compute if it would be an absolutely horrible look on the blond or not. Daisuke actually fell over backward off of the fluffy cushion he'd been perched on, laughing so hard that he couldn't stand up. Ken and Iori both looked as if they wanted to do the exact same thing.

“You want me to dye my hair blue.” Yamato repeated it cautiously, wanting to be certain that he hadn't actually misheard somehow. At that moment, he'd never been so glad that their Digimon were spending the weekend in the Digital World. He didn't think he could've looked Gabumon in the face right now. And V-mon would probably be having the exact same reaction that Daisuke was right now. One of that was more than enough.

Mimi nodded firmly, then flicked the ends of her hair at him. “I still have some of what I used left. You can use that. Trust me, it'll look great on you!”

Yamato hesitated; he'd never really thought about dyeing his hair before, not seriously. Sometimes when he'd been very little and the kids teased him for being blond, he'd thought about it. But more in the sense of wishing that he'd had black or brown hair, like virtually all of them had, not wanting blue.

Taichi leaned over and poked him in the side. Yamato had to give it to him for actually making contact. “You should do it. She's right, it really would look good on you.” His eyes glittered a bit with mischief. “Maybe you'd even be a little smarter?”

“If you start trying to pull that 'blonds are dumb' routine on me, I'm going to have to pull out my last semester grades compared to yours,” Yamato snapped a little. Taichi only laughed harder, trying not to fall off of his own cushion. Daisuke still hadn't managed to get himself back on his, even with Ken lending him a hand. The fact he kept laughing any time he looked at Yamato probably had something to do with that.

Mimi shrugged some as Yamato turned back to her. “You don't have to, you know. You could always try truth instead.” A very wicked smile, something worthy of Lady Devimon, crossed her lips. “I have some interesting questions that I could ask.”

And from the way her gaze slid not only to him but to Sora as well told Yamato that he really didn't want to start telling truthful answers to some of what Mimi could ask. Even if she didn't get into their personal lives, it would be embarrassing, and all things considered, he really didn't want to have to deal with that. At least blue hair dye would wash out.

He hoped.

“How long does the dye last?” he asked, wanting to find out before he committed himself. He'd go to the nearest open drugstore and buy a washable dye if he had to.

Mimi frowned thoughtfully. “I can't remember. It's not washable, though. I don't like those, I want my hair to last a while.” She flicked her hair one more time. “But it shouldn't last more than a couple of months, I think.”

“Right.” Yamato started to get up. “I'm going to get washable hair dye if I'm doing this.”

Miyako coughed and cleared her throat. “It's almost midnight. There aren't any open stores around here.”

Of course there weren't. Why should something be easy for him?

Mimi got up and headed toward her bathroom. Yamato closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. He could always argue for a different dare, but whatever Mimi came up with might be even worse than this. Better to do it and get it over with. Maybe he could pretend he'd been drunk too.

Damn it, he liked being blond! He hadn't always, but it worked for him these days, and he didn't really want to change it.

This was the last time he ever took part in truth or dare, he promised himself, dragging himself up and heading for the bathroom.

All right. That hadn't been as bad as he'd thought it would be. He took a long look in the mirror, trying to get an idea for what it would look like when it settled. He kind of reminded himself a little of Ken, really. Not close enough so someone would think they were related, but just a little bit.

It's the hair, he told himself, trying hard not to snicker at it. He didn't do a good job of not snickering.

He could hear the others chatting back in Mimi's living room. The game had gone on while he'd been busy in here, for which he found himself grateful. He didn't want to take the chance of daring Mimi to do something when he was still a bit annoyed with her for doing this to him in the first place.

He took another look. It really wasn't that bad. He wasn't sure if he liked it, and he could hardly wait until it faded out, but it wasn't as horrible as some other color would've been. He really wasn't set up to be a redhead. And the thought of hair like Miyako's...

Well, actually, that wasn't so bad either. It wasn't him, but it worked for her, and Koushirou seemed to like it well enough. Not that he'd pry.

A knock sounded. “Are you done in there yet?” Taichi asked. “How long does it take to dye hair anyway?”

“Why don't you try it and find out?” Yamato snapped back. He'd been in here probably ten or fifteen minutes more than he really needed to be. No one had ever said he actually had to show himself to them anyway. But if he didn't, he'd never hear the end of it.

Not to mention that he couldn't live in Mimi's bathroom for the few months it would take for this to wear off. He didn't have his laptop with him and his dad and the other members of the Wolves wouldn't like it all that much either.

“No thanks. I'm the rough and tumble athlete, remember?” Taichi teased. “Not the pretty boy former blond.”

“You are asking for a punch, Taichi,” Yamato growled. Normally he did so only when Taichi needed to be brought down to reality. But he was willing to make exceptions on occasion. He sighed. Might as well get this over with.

He swung the door open and stepped outside, head held high. He knew it didn't look bad, but given the lateness and how drunk they were, he knew better than to expect sanity. Once they sobered up (and got over their hangovers) they'd give him a better reaction, but for now? Better to hold onto his pride with both hands.

As soon as he came into view, everyone stared at him, with varying attempts at laser-like focus. Daisuke, it seemed, had managed to get back onto his cushion. But as soon as he got a good look at Yamato, he started laughing again, and once more tumbled off. Yamato pretended not to notice. He also pretended not to notice Miyako taking pictures of his unintended imitation of a turtle on its back and wondered what she would be asking not to post those where the world at large could see them.

“I want a picture,” Takeru said, unholy mischief written all over his so-called angel's face. “I want to show mom.”

Yeah. This kid was the living devil. Yamato had never expected anything less once he'd started to grow up.

“That... actually looks really good on you,” Taichi said, his voice hitching a little. Yamato cast him a quick glance, but there was nothing but honest appreciation in his expression.

Jou and Ken both gave him careful, appraising glances before they looked at one another. Jou seemed to have sobered up some, at least compared to what he'd been like before Yamato got down to doing his dare. “What do you think?” The older man asked. “Is he allowed in the club?”

Ken, who had the rare ability of being able to drink anything alcoholic and not only never get drunk but not even get a hangover, mused over the question.

“Club? What club?” Daisuke rolled over and stared at them both in suspicion. “What are you talking about?”

Jou gestured first toward himself and then toward Ken. “The Blue-Haired Men's Club, of course. It's very limited membership, and we're still trying to determine if people who dye their hair are allowed in or not.”

Yamato tried once again to keep himself from laughing and this time failed even more severely than he had before. “I think I'll pass. I don't want to keep this, anyway.” He made his way over to where he'd sat before. “So, are we done for the night?”

Various answers came back, more or less divided evenly between those who insisted that they could go on until dawn and those who wanted to go home, deal with their hangovers, and get some sleep, in whatever order seemed right at the time.

“You guys can stay here if you want. I've got enough room,” Mimi offered. These days she divided her time between Odaiba and New York City, since one of her cousins signed over an apartment into her control, giving her even more of a foot in both parts of the world. Mimi had been known to say that she needed to grow another foot, so she could have one in the Digital World as well.

Yamato wasn't going to argue no matter what they decided. It wasn't a bad night, and his dad was off on a trip for the weekend. So no one was waiting for him and he could take his time if he decided he wanted to go home instead.

“Yamato?” Mimi prodded at his shoulder. “What about you? Are you staying or going home?”

“He should stay here,” Taichi said, flopping down next to Yamato and throwing an arm around him. “Where we can all admire his new look. What do you think Jun would think of this, Daisuke?”

“I think if she weren't engaged, she'd probably start chasing you again,” Daisuke replied promptly. His eyes gleamed with a sharp bit of mischief. “Who knows, maybe she wants blue-haired kids of her own!”

Yamato could see Jou trying actively not to bury his face in one hand. “Daisuke,” the young medical student asked, “could you try not to imply that all your sister wants my brother for is his genetic coding?”

“I could try.” Daisuke nodded sagely, “but I don't make any promises!”

Taichi snickered, turning to Yamato. “How can you want to go home when we're all still here? You'd miss out on this!”

Yamato's lips twitched a fraction. “I suppose you're right. I guess I'll stay too.”

“Great! Let's get some beds made up!” Mimi headed for one of the closets, Iori and Miyako going along to lend a hand. Yamato covered his mouth with one hand as he yawned. It probably wasn't a bad idea to stay here. He was a lot more tired than he'd thought he would be.

He still was a little worried about what his dad would say about his new look, let alone the rest of the Wolves. But that last didn't worry him too much. Knowing the guys, they'd probably all decide to dye their hair blue and insist it was their new look.

They did.

The End