Tadashi should have known better than to let GoGo touch his hair. Otherwise, he wouldn't be staring at the bleach-blonde mess that it currently was.
"I…I thought you said you've done this before?" He lightly touched the still-damp yellow-ish strands that seemed so mismatched with his features.
GoGo shrugged. "I have. I just went a little overboard it seems. Besides, it will look better if you put color over it. Remember: purple."
He rested his forehead on the bathroom counter and groaned.
It had all started with a bet (doesn't it always?). Though to be fair, he felt he should have known better than to be over-confident when entering any kind of competition with GoGo. Even if it was DDR.
"Tadashi, I'm gonna warn ya, I won't go easy on you."
"Pfft, I wouldn't expect you to," he said with a grin. He shrugged off his cardigan; clearly, things were about to get heated.
"Just don't expect me to go easy on you."
With a cocked eyebrow she blew and popped her bubblegum.
"Oh really? You think you can win?"
"I think I got a pretty good shot," he chuckled. He didn't mention he had been playing since he was 10, dominating the top score list at his local arcade for years. Last he checked, the old machine still had 'TAD' with the top score. It left him a little bit smug.
GoGo laughed through her nose, more a snort than anything (though coming from her tiny nose, it sounded more cute than anything to Tadashi).
"Then you won't mind a little wager then?"
Suddenly, their friends who had been on the side, watching them wait for their turn at the machines, decided to butt in.
"Tadashi you might want to be careful about that," Honey warned. "When GoGo wins a bet, she will make you follow through."
He laughed again. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
He turned back to his soon-to-be-dance rival. "So what shall it be?"
"It shall be a fight…to the death!" said Fred with a booming voice. Everyone looked at him for a moment, before shaking their heads. Tadashi then got a brilliant idea.
"Ok, so if I win-"
"If."
"-you will have to ride around on campus on a Segway-"
"What? Those things go like, 4 miles per hour!"
"AND, you have to do it in costume. Princess costume."
Everyone fell silent. Asking GoGo to travel with the slowest possible vehicle was one thing, but to ask her to dawn a puffy, sparkly gown was a whole new level. They would be impressed with his boldness if they were not cautiously waiting for the other participant's reaction.
But all she did was take out her gum, and throw it behind her to land somewhere on the (already filthy) arcade floor.
"And if I win-," she began, cool as ever.
"If."
"You have to have purple streaks in your hair. For a month. And no covering it with that hat."
The group then turned to see if the offer would be accepted: Tadashi had something of a serious reputation, and colored streaks, well…they wouldn't really help with that.
He took a moment to contemplate, before bringing on his crooked grin. He stuck out his hand.
"AND I'm the one that does your hair."
A slight twitch came to Tadashi's eye; trusting GoGo with chemicals did not seem to leave any remotely positive outcomes. But he kept his arm extended, and wiggled the fingers.
"It's a deal."
She pushed her hand in his, shaking vigorously and with a fire in her eyes.
"Deal."
The two then climbed onto the dance-pads and picked the highest level of difficulty.
It was almost no contest, at least appearance-wise. GoGo's light feet and toned legs seem to be able to predict the moves before they even came onto the screen. She barely broke a sweat.
Tadashi, on the other hand, had given it his best shot, but once witnessing how swiftly his partner seemed to move, his awe and surprise threw him off balance. His moves became increasingly erratic, only getting the step at the last nano-second. He chalked it up to being rusty, but knew it was too late for excuses. However, the competition was stiff enough that a small crowd had gathered while the two danced.
Despite Tadashi's slight lag behind GoGo, and a certain lack of the same grace, they had the same score for most of the game.
That was, until the last minute. On a complicated combo she managed to not only nail it, but do a twirl before hitting the next one perfectly. The crowd burst into cheers. In his struggle to keep up, Tadashi's feet were skidding a little too much. On one combo, his left foot slid so much it just barely missed the pad. He quickly attempted to stamp back on it, but the damage had been done: he had missed the step, and was late to the next one. He hadn't lost by that much, but his face was red from more than just the physical strain.
Barely looking at her screen that was congratulating her with flashing lights and little song, she stepped off the pad and reached into her pockets for gum. She was already chewing when Tadashi came to face her, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.
"Not a bad game Hamada," she smirked.
"Alright fine. You win. I'll do the streaks."
"Oh no Tadashi, In case you forgot, I will be the one doing your hair. So there is no weaseling out of it."
He groaned and rubbed his temples. The rest of the group giggled.
When the two emerged from the bathroom, Hiro did a double take.
"Oh my god. You look like you dipped your head into one of Honey's experiments."
Tadashi winced and GoGo chuckled.
"That was the plan dude," she said.
Hiro hopped off his chair to closer inspect his brother's new look.
"Unbelievable. Remind me to never make a bet with you Gogo."
"Duly noted."
For what was probably the hundredth time that day, Tadashi groaned. No one, but certainly not Hiro was going to let him live this down. His brother was already taking pictures with his phone and (probably) sending it to all their friends.
"Well, as much fun as it was playing beauty shop with you Tadashi, I'm gonna get going."
"Let me walk you down." Anything to escape Hiro's picture taking and snickering.
In front of her bike, he finally had the guts to ask.
"Why purple?" She had been pretty adamant about the color.
GoGo smirked, and stepped closer to him. With a swift grab of his shirt, she yanked him down to her level and kissed him hard on the mouth. When she pulled away, she slapped his butt, resulting in a slight yelp.
"So that everyone knows who owns you. In both senses."
Tadashi blushed, but grinned. "As if there is any doubt."
"You can never be too careful," she said with a wink. She put on her helmet and gave her salute.
"See you at school dork. Don't you dare try to wash it out."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
As she rode off, Tadashi touched his hair again: it had gone through a lot today. He sighed and turned to look at his reflection in the café window.
He knew he looked ridiculous, but laughed anyway. Yet another reminder of how he would always lose against his girlfriend. His gorgeous, talented, competitive, slightly possessive, girlfriend.
The entire month with dyed hair was full of endless teasing from Hiro and just about everyone else.
But whenever he looked over at GoGo, seeing her push back her own purple bangs and throwing him a smile, he didn't really mind as much.
A/N: I should be working on A to B but I had this idea for a one-shot and it kind of just…ran away from me? My Tomadashi feels have been a little more intense lately. Enjoy!