Once again, I sit on my bed with bleach on my roots.
Once again, I absolutely abuse my hair.
Once again, I prepare for the monthly blue dye.
Once again, I fiddle with my labret waiting for the bleach to process.
Once again, I make it so my past tormentors cannot recognize me after all these years.
Once again, I bend over the bathtub under the faucet and watch as the bleach goes down the drain.
Once again, I ritualistically slip into my shmata and gloves.
Once again, I squeeze my one of a kind colour mix into my gloved hands and work it through my roots and down the strands.
Once again, I apply my warpaint.
Once again, Pein walks into the bathroom and sees me making a mess.
Once again, he asks me why I do this to my originally "perfect" hair.
Once again, I reply the same reason as Kisame, Zetsu, Hidan, and himself.
Once again, he claims his colour is natural.
Once again, I point to the half-used container of his Manic Panic mix.
Once again, he denies the bottle's existence.
Once again, the area of my forehead where eyebrows should be raise to my hairline.
Once again, he insists I am imagining things.
Once again, I work the hair into a shower cap.
Once again, I rinse the gloves and take them off.
Once again, I push his hair flat and show him his dark brown roots in the mirror.
Once again, he does a faux peeved sniff of the air and walks out.
Once again, I wander to the kitchen for the saran wrap.
Once again, I set out my defenses on the bathroom counter.
Once again, I wrap my already shower capped head in the saran wrap.
Once again, I use a lot of it.
Once again, I put my layer of duct tape to it.
Once again, I make my way to the den.
Once again, Sasori and Deidara are fighting over art.
Once again, they ask of my opinion of it.
Once again, I tell them that I wish to remain neutral in their argument.
Once again, separation was required to keep them from destroying the place.
Once again, I flop onto the couch, careful of the dye.
Once again, there are lollipops and clay stuck to the couch.
Once again, Hidan is trying to kill Kisame's fish.
Once again, it's a normal day.
Once again, everyone buries their past.
Once again, Deidara is covered from head to toe to hide his wounds from his explosions.
Once again, Sasori has nicks and splinters on his hands from woodworking.
Once again, Kisame came home with a few more scale tattoos to cover his scars.
Once again, Tobi has unconsciously decided it best to revert to his five year old self, an age before it all began.
Once again, Kakuzu has immersed himself in financial missions, an unfortunate result from his mother's abusive, alcoholic boyfriend beating him whenever money was tight that week.
Once again, Itachi prefers blindness over sight, conditioned by society around him to stay away from glasses.
Once again, Hidan is cutting himself up with everything in sight be it knives or razor blades, letting physical pain overpower and numb his mental pain.
Once again, Zetsu's "other" is trying to protect him from the world.
Once again, I allow the dye to process overnight.
Once again, I get as much out of my hair as I can.
Once again, I see my voice to the world strengthened.
Once again, we try to heal each other.
Once again, we don't judge one another for their coping mechanisms.
Once again, we slowly get better at dealing with reality.
