Kevin opened his closet, surveying the options of clothing for a few minutes. After all, it was the first day of school, and he wanted to make a good impression. Or, at the very least, an impression, if not a good one. After a few minutes, he opened his drawers and pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans, a black pair of socks, a black and white Pierce the Veil T-Shirt, and.. Sighing, he shook his head and grabbed his lucky red boxers. Old habits die hard.

A few minutes later, he stepped to the mirror on his wall, running his hands experimentally through his snow-white hair. It was an absolute mess. One half was flattened to the side of his head with static, and the other side was a curly mess. He looked at his dresser, contemplating. After a few minutes of thought, he grabbed the things he had begged Rosa to buy him just a week before. Hair products. He was about to start taming the mess, but he stopped.

I have absolutely no clue how to use any of this shit. Sighing, Kevin abandoned the mirror and stepped across the hall.

"Kanaya?" he called, knocking on the plain bedroom door. Soft footsteps approached the other side of the door, and it was opened from inside. Kanaya stood there, perfectly dressed and ready with impeccable appearance as always.

"Yes?" she looked at him with an air of expectance. "What do you need?" Kevin looked down uncomfortably and shifted his feet.

"Um." Before he could get any farther, his sister smirked and laughed slightly.

"You need help with all of that stuff you bought last week don't you?" she said. Before he could answer, she brushed past him into his room and regarded the assorted hair products and tools on the dresser. "Okay, first we need to actually brush out your hair." She picked up the brush and swiped it roughly through the short white tangles as Kevin stood there grumpily. Ironically, at only 5'2" to Kanaya's 5'4", he was the perfect height for her to do his hair. After the tangles were dispelled, Kevin felt a strange tingling sensation on his scalp. He gave his sister a confused look as she struggled not to laugh.

"What?! What is it? What the hell did you do!" he shouted, becoming increasingly distressed. Kanaya giggled.

"Oh, nothing, don't worry" she said, but burst out laughing at the end of the sentence. Angry, the short boy pushed past her to the mirror only to stop short in shock.

His hair had been charged out with static electricity until every single hair was standing on end. At the moment, he looked like an angry, poofy, albino, porcupine. Kevin opened his mouth and let out a strangled cry as Kanaya struggled to regain her composure from behind him.

"S-sorry" she managed to gasp out, still giggling. "We can fix it, don't worry." Shaking her head, she grabbed a bottle from the dresser. "This is Mousse, it'll take the static away and make your hair softer." She squirted a small amount of the product onto her hand and rubbed it through her brother's hair. After the static had been dispelled, she regarded the other products on the dresser. "Now you will probably want to straighten it, right?" Kevin nodded, his head of hair was still a curly mess although the tangles and static had gone. Kanaya grabbed the straightener and plugged it into an outlet nearby. "Once it heats up, you can use it. It should only take a few seconds." Sure enough, the tool was ready shortly. The tall girl picked it up and began showing Kevin how to use it on his hair. After a few minutes, the curls were gone, and in their place was soft hair that fell neatly over one of Kevin's reddish eyes. He experimentally touched it a few times, nodding at his own reflection in the mirror.

"Okay, so now what? We haven't touched-" he looked at the various bottles in front of him and pointed at a black bottle with a spray nozzle. "That one." Kanaya nodded and picked it up, twisting the nozzle tip a few times.

"This is hairspray. It will keep the style in place for the day. Cover your eyes." The boy complied, and Kanaya sprayed the product over his hair. "There we are. You look good! Now finish getting ready, we will most likely have to leave soon." She put away the hair supplies that had been used, and began to exit the room.

"Wait, Kanaya.." Kevin called from where he stood, and the girl turned around to face her brother.

"Yes, Kevin? I know there's been something on your mind. What is it?" she reentered the room and sat on the edge of his bed, patting the blanket beside her. Kevin joined her.

"Well, it's just that…" He paused, not entirely sure how to say what he wanted to. "I-" his voice caught in his throat and he bit his lip, looking down.

Kanaya regarded her brother. This wasn't a side of him he showed very often. "You're scared, aren't you." It wasn't a question, and Kevin took a breath and nodded.

"A little. I mean, in Elementary School, everybody pretty much got along. It's just… I don't know how people are going to react. Like, to how I look." He bit his lip and looked at his sister. "I want to be able to make friends. What if I scare people away?"

"Kevin." Kanaya spoke in her no-nonsense voice. "You aren't going to scare anyone away. And if anyone judges you by how you look, they aren't the kind of people you want to be friends with anyway." She wrapped her arms around the smaller boy and hugged him close to her. "And besides, even if something bad happens, you have close friends already. You have Gerard, and Rezi, and of course Paris and Kankri will always look out for you." She closed her eyes and lowered her voice slightly to a soft whisper.

"And no matter what, you will always have me."