Title: Being Different Isn't so Bad
Rating: G
Genre: General
Pairings: None
Word Count: 537, according to the word processor
Summary: Hakkaku wonders why his hair is so different.
Sometimes, he really hated his hair.
Hakkaku looked down at his reflection in the stream. His white mohawk jutted out wildly from his scalp, bringing attention to him wherever he went. In all his years, he had never seen another wolf youkai with hair like his. Most wolf youkai had dark hair, some had two tone hair like Ginta, and a few were bald. His hair had always been somewhat of an abnormality, no one really knew why Hakkaku had his mohawk. He remembered all the times during his childhood where the other young youkai taunted him, calling him names like "rooster" and joking on him.
"It's not fair that I've got to be cursed with this stupid thing." Hakkaku splashed his hands in the cool water and tried his best to part his hair and slick it down. When he did though, it just didn't look like him. He sighed and straightened it back out. He decided he was going to be stuck with his crest the rest of his life, he might as well get used to it.
He went back into the den to discover that Kagome was there. The dark haired girl was talking animatedly with Kouga's mate, Ayame, telling her about something called a "wedding". After listening for a while, Hakkaku figured out that a "wedding" was what mortals called a formal mating ceremony. Despite his bad mood, he smiled knowing that Ayame would probably want some formal ceremony as well, and she'd demand that Kouga let her have one.
"Hi Hakkaku, what's up?" Kagome looked up at him and smiled.
"My hair, as usual." He plopped down on one of the wolf skin mats that the pack used as a bed. Not that he didn't like talking to Kagome, she was a member of the pack in a way, but he didn't think she'd want to hear about his hair problems.
"What's wrong with your hair? I think it's cool."
"No offense, Kagome, but no one else has a mohawk. It makes me stick out. I wish I could have hair like everyone else."
"Why? That's boring. Here's something that might change your mind." Kagome rummaged around inside her bag that she always carried. "Aha!"
She pulled out something with bright colors and weird writing on it. "It's a magazine," Kagome explained as she flipped through its pages until she came to a particular one. The picture showed a man holding some sort of instrument. He wore tight clothes, but that wasn't what caught Hakkaku's attention. It was the man's hair; he had a mohawk just like Hakkaku!
"See, mohawks are what all the famous rock stars have. Mohawks are cool because they're different, and rock stars want to be different. Everyone wants to look like a rock star, so they have mohawks, too." Kagome grinned.
"So by having a mohawk, I'd be cool to the people from your time?" Kagome nodded and for the first time all day, Hakkaku smiled.
Later on, as the pack was eating, Ginta came up to his friend.
"Hakkaku, what are you so happy about? I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time."
"Just realizing that having a mohawk isn't so bad."