Time Setting: Hazuki Nagisa, age 17, Ryuugazaki Rei, age 17 (High School 3rd Year, Summer)

They were hidden behind the wall of an abandoned temple, their arms around each other, their eyes closed, their lips brushing against each other's over and over in a series of kisses. As they grew in number, they turned from feathery light to more heated, intense, drawn-out ones. Before Rei even realized it, his hands were drawing the front of Nagisa's yukata slightly open, his mouth trailing kisses down the blonde's neck as his boyfriend let out a small squeak of pleasure. In the heat of the moment, the blonde's arms looped around Rei's neck as he twitched slightly under the feathery sensations, his hands burying themselves in the brunette's dark blue locks. Feeling the blonde's fingers tug at his hair, Rei pulled Nagisa off the wall he had been leaning on and reached around behind, starting to place kisses along the nape of the older boy's neck as well.

It was at the moment that the light of the festival lanterns hanging above highlighted a sliver of skin on the back of Nagisa's neck—and Rei caught a glimpse of something pink peeking out from under the blonde locks. Blinking, he drew back from kissing Nagisa, despite the blonde's whine of protest at his action.

"Rei-chan~! We were just getting to the good part!" Flushing at this comment, Rei shifted his glasses up his burning face before he opened his mouth.

"Nagisa-kun, you have something on the nape of your neck. Although I have no idea how it ended up on that part of your body, it's probably the cotton candy you were eating thirty minutes ago—"

"Ehh?" The shorter boy's wide burgundy eyes blinked, puzzled. "How did that get all the way back there?"

"…Are you really asking me that question?" With a sigh, Rei opened his mouth. "Come here, Nagisa-kun—I'll remove it for you." After Nagisa happily stepped forward, Rei reached behind the blonde's neck and removed the tuft of cotton candy, slightly ruffling Nagisa's hair and brushing the nape of his neck as he did. The sensation made the blonde purr happily as he nuzzled his head against Rei's hand, which made the younger boy blush every time it happened and did not fail to have the same effect on the brunette now.

"So, can we go back to making out now?" The blonde's blunt question was all it took to ruin the sweetness of the moment.

"Nagisa-kun!" Even after they had been dating for almost a year now, Rei was still not used to the way Nagisa seemed to switch from being perfectly adorable one moment to—well, being so forward (if that was the right way to put it). Not seeming to mind the exclamation, the blonde let out a cheery laugh that almost made Rei forget his indignation. Clearing his throat in an attempt to recompose himself, the brunette tried to cover up his embarrassment with a lecture.

"A-anyhow! Please refrain from running around with your food and bumping into people—that is probably how that piece of cotton candy got in your hair!" At this phrasing, Nagisa's burgundy eyes suddenly perked up.

"Hm—where have I heard those words related together before…?" After a few seconds, his eyes lit up. "Oh, right! That was when!" He clapped his hands together cheerfully. "Say, Rei-chan, before we go back to making out, wanna hear a story?"

"Nagisa-ku—how many times do I have to—!" After a while, Rei gave up and threw his hands up in defeat "…What story is it that you are talking about?"

"The story of how I dyed my hair pink in junior high!" The words came out of the blonde's mouth casually, as if he was talking about how tree leaves turned red in the fall. But Rei knew Nagisa was not a tree leaf, nor a plant for that matter, and after he had processed the words 'pink' and 'dye' and 'junior high', the brunette's mouth fell open in surprise.

"You…dyed your hair? Pink?" he repeated stupidly. Then again, he wasn't sure if he was so surprised. This was Nagisa they were talking about.

"Yup! I dyed it on the day that entrance exam scores were out for Iwatobi High!" The blonde's burgundy eyes sparkled mischievously at the memory. "Although my mom went ballistic when she saw me at home and she made me remove the dye almost right away. Nadeko-nee actually found it hilarious, though—she thought my head looked like cotton candy and she couldn't stop laughing for nearly ten minutes!" Suddenly, he rummaged in the pocket of his yukata and took out his cell phone, flipping it open. "I know I have a picture of it somewhere—aha! Here it is!" He flashed the screen at Rei, who leaned down, his eyes landing on the photo. In it was a younger Nagisa, triumphantly making a victory pose with his hand, a wink and a mischievous grin on his face. And as he had said, his hair was pink. Very, very pink. Feeling very thankful that the blonde was now—well, blonde, Rei studied the picture with half-curious, half-apprehensive violet eyes.

"What in the world…" the brunette started to murmur. "Why did you suddenly decide to do something like this?"

"Well, I was practically out of junior high by that time," Nagisa began. "This was the day I went to Iwatobi High to see my exam results. I was so psyched that I got in, I dragged Komura with me downtown to celebrate. And well, this is what happened!"

"Don't 'And well this is what happened' me!" Rei croaked. "Didn't your school have regulations against dying hair? Although you said you dyed it on the day your exam results came out, you still must have had some school left before graduation—"

"That's just the thing, though, Rei-chan! When you think graduations, you automatically think cherry blossoms, don't you? I was just getting in the graduation spirit a bit early on!" the blonde replied cheerfully. "Sure, it did turn out a little more cotton candyish than sakura-ish, but don't you think the point would have gotten across?"

"How on earth would reasoning as ridiculous as that have gotten across?!" Rei burst out, putting both hands on his head and throwing it up in the air. "To do such a thing as dye your hair that color—that is definitely not beautiful!" Of course, Rei's standards of beauty were stricter than most people's, but at the moment he thought he was speaking with considerable objectivity, even for his own standards. The pink in the photo was almost a hot pink, and it hurt Rei's eyes from just looking at the color in the picture. And of course, Rei's own principles dictated that, while dying one's hair a natural color was nothing to be frowned upon, dying one's hair…well, pink, or green, or any of those unnatural colors was an action that he could not understand.

"…You think I look ugly in that photo, Rei-chan?" Upon hearing the blonde's disheartened voice, Rei immediately turned his attention back to Nagisa, who was staring at the ground with sad burgundy eyes and a small pout on his face. "I thought you said I was beautiful…" Growing flustered, Rei quickly grabbed the blonde by the shoulders.

"That—of course not!" he burst out. "Of course I think you're beautiful, I can never think you look anything less than that, Nagisa-kun! I was only referring to the action of dying your hair that color—it is simply that I prefer your hair the way it is now—and although the color in the photo is a little too garish for my tastes, you could never look ugly to me—"

"Pft…!" Rei stopped in midsentence when a small sound escaped the blonde's lips. As Nagisa burst into laughter before him, the brunette could only gape for the next few moments, his face growing beet-red and his violet eyes blinking in what was first confusion and was now embarrassment. Realizing that the blonde had been putting on an act again, the brunette reacted indignantly, his voice cracking slightly.

"NAGISA-KUN!" Wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes, Nagisa grinned brightly at Rei.

"So you really like my blonde hair that much, Rei-chan?" he teased, a mischievous spark in his burgundy eyes. "I thought you liked patting my head a lot—so your perverted hair fetish was the reason!" Upon hearing this remark, the younger boy nearly choked on his spit.

"I have no ide—I most certainly do not—that is ridiculous, Nagisa-ku—" Rei's sputtering was cut off by a pair of lips that brushed over his. In the middle of his rant, Nagisa had gone on tiptoe and silenced Rei with a soft kiss. When the blonde eventually pulled away, his burgundy eyes were twinkling with delight and affection for the younger boy.

"Just how is it that you can sound so panicked and flirt with me at the same time—and how is it that you can be completely oblivious about it?" he asked teasingly, as he watched and secretly enjoyed the second and third shades of red that Rei's face turned at his question. Somehow, the brunette managed to pull it off every time—every time he told Nagisa that he was beautiful, the butterflies always returned to the blonde's stomach without fail. Even though it had been almost a year since they had confessed to each other. Even then. Although Nagisa had only been trying to tease the younger boy a little, perhaps he had unconsciously put on his act because he had wanted to hear those words from Rei's lips.

"…You knew I would react the way I did." As if he had read the blonde's mind, Rei looked down at Nagisa with a frown, the flush still very noticeable on his cheeks.

"Hm~? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Rei-chan!" Fighting to keep the smile off his face, Nagisa feigned ignorance, blinking his large burgundy eyes owlishly.

"…Really?" Suddenly, Nagisa felt strong fingers encircling around one of his wrists. Before he knew it, he was pushed back against the temple wall, his and Rei's bodies only a few inches away from each other. Seeing the brunette's face so close to his all of a sudden, his violet eyes boring straight into his own burgundy ones, made Nagisa freeze with surprise. As the blonde's eyes widened, Rei leaned over next to Nagisa's ear. His next words came out in a husky whisper.

"You still don't know what I'm talking about?"

The sensation made shivers run down the blonde's back. Instantaneously, Nagisa was hit with a rare strong blush, his cheeks turning scarlet and the color spreading to the tips of his ears. For a few seconds, he could not find any words to respond with, and he stood there rooted to the ground, his mouth gaping open and closed and letting out nothing but air.

And then, he heard the laughter. Nagisa's eyes blinked before he registered that it was Rei. The brunette was leaning his arm against the wall of the temple, his head down, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. Once he realized that Rei had just turned the tables on him, the blonde stared at Rei in horror and disbelief. Then, he drew himself up indignantly, a very deep pout settling over his still-pink face.

"Rei-chan!" Feeling torn between wanting to be mad at the brunette and wanting him to continue what he had been doing earlier, the blonde crossed his arms as Rei finally stopped laughing. "You totally used my own trick on me! That's so not fair!"

"Excuse me, Nagisa-kun?" Rei's violet eyes twinkled as he replied, wiping the tears of laughter from their corners. "I was under the impression that you never fight fair yourself. I was simply returning the favor." At this response, Nagisa's pout deepened.

"To think that the whole thing was a joke, when you were finally sounding so sexy—you can't blame me for being disappointed!" He stomped his feet a little on the ground, while Rei started to blush upon hearing those words.

"Just what do you mean by 'finally'?!" Sighing, he looked off to the side, pushing his glasses up his nose and pretending he wasn't flustered by the comment. "W-well, I did read up a little on the theory of—of setting the mood for situations like this—" Nagisa stared at Rei, suddenly remembering that Gou had been handing something that looked suspiciously like a teen magazine over to Rei in the club room when he had walked in after changing just the other day. Before he could ask what it was for or tease Rei mercilessly about it or both, their underclassmen from the swim club had also entered the room after changing, and by then Gou had already whipped out her itinerary for the next day's practice and was drilling the details into the boys' heads. He had forgotten about that happening for a while, and now that he remembered it, he thought he knew what that magazine had been for. The blonde's lips twitched up into a grin as he silently blessed the muscle-loving swim club manager for her kindness. To think that some cheesy tips from a bad teen mag had actually worked on him—he really was in love with this dork after all. The blonde imagined how Rei must have sat at his desk after finishing his homework, poring over the magazine on his desk with a look of concentration—maybe he had even practiced those moves in front of a mirror. And just as Nagisa had started to think that Rei couldn't get any cuter than he was—his looks that only portrayed him as a serious, stuck-in-the-mud (and rather attractive) nerd were very much deceiving, indeed.

"You're adorable." Nagisa's sincere words caused Rei to become flabbergasted.

"Wha—'adorable'?!" His violet eyes glinted with shock. "That was not how I was supposed to come off!" Clenching his head with both hands, he dramatically threw it back in horror. "This is so not beautiful at all!" he wailed. At this, Nagisa laughed a little while rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

"Oh, Rei-chan—your boyfriend is calling you adorable and that's how you react?" But of course—this was Rei he was talking about here. "You're sexy and cute and beautiful—the whole once-in-a-lifetime package deal, 'kay? So don't sweat so much over the details!" He watched with satisfaction as Rei flushed for the xth time that day—though he loved the Rei that was in charge and took control over him and pushed him up against walls, he would always have a soft spot for the Rei that was flustered and blushing and pushing his red glasses up the bridge of his nose when, literally, there was no nose space left above for the frames to rest on. Meanwhile, the brunette before him struggled to find a response for the older boy's words.

"I…" He hesitated before opening his mouth again. "I feel the same about you," he said simply, in a slightly embarrassed but sincere voice. "Pink hair or no pink hair." The blonde's face lit up promptly at this confession, and he immediately launched himself at Rei, laughing in delight.

"Rei-chan!" "Na-Nagisa-kun! Stop—I'm going to topple over!" As the two were making a lot of noise, a sarcastic voice came from behind them.

"Did I ever mention that you two should get a damn room?" Both Rei and Nagisa turned to see Rin, who looked at them with less than enthusiastic red eyes. "Tch, why did Makoto have to send me over to fetch you two, when it was obvious you came over here to suck each others' faces—"

"Rin-chan!" Grinning, Nagisa released Rei and skipped over to the red-haired boy. "Guess what move Rei-chan just tried to pull on me!"

"Nagisa-kun!" Rei croaked, simultaneously paling and flushing beet-red at the direction this conversation was going. "Rin-san—don't listen to a word he says!"

"What's that you're talking about?" Upon hearing the voice of his senpai, Rei froze and his face paled even further. Makoto and Haru had appeared behind Rin, the taller boy casting a curious look at the three of them. "The fireworks are going to start soon, so we sent Rin over to get you guys—we were wondering what was taking so long—" Rin grunted slightly, choosing not to reveal that he had pretty much stood behind an abandoned stall nearby and overheard his two younger friends' conversation from the point where Nagisa called Rei adorable—the redhead was extremely glad he hadn't arrived earlier, when he was positive that the two of them had been making out, and that was not a sight that his poor eyes needed to see again.

"Mako-chan, Haru-chan!" Perking up, Nagisa now ran over to the older boys with an excited grin on his face. "Guess what Rei-chan did to me just no—"

"YES, MAKOTO-SENPAI, WE SHOULD HURRY AND GO WATCH THOSE FIREWORKS!" Rei shouted in a loud voice, interrupting the blonde. "IMMEDIATELY!"

"Eh..?!" Taken aback for a moment, Makoto studied Rei's face—then, he smiled in a slightly puzzled but understanding way. "Rei's right—they're scheduled to start in just a minute. Let's go to the area by the riverbank!" With that, the boys began heading over to the area, Nagisa chatting animatedly with Makoto and Haru in the front while Rei and Rin brought up the rear, walking in silence.

"So, Speedo Glasses—what fantastic move did you try out on him, eh?" Jumping at Rin's voice, Rei turned mortified violet eyes towards the red-haired boy, who was smirking at him.

"Wh-wh-wha—" The brunette's face turned a dark shade of red. "I—I don't know what you're talking about, Rin-san!"

"Oh, please. It's still open in the front, Nagisa's yukata." Rin rolled his eyes. "If you're gonna go make out in public, at least have the decency to hide the traces." At this comment, Rei's face paled.

"NAGISA-KUN!" As the brunette ran forward to Nagisa and straightened the blonde's yukata, Rin let out a snort of laughter before he naturally caught up to Makoto and Haru. Now it was Nagisa and Rei walking together at the back—from what he could hear, they were having some conversation about pink hair and teen magazines. Wondering if they had read some article about Pink, Rin turned his attention back to the two boys in front of him. He found Makoto looking back at Rei and Nagisa with a motherly smile on his face.

"They're still as sweet as ever," he remarked. "Although it's been a while since we've went off to college—" At this comment, Rin snorted.

"If by 'sweet' you mean 'gross', then yeah, you've hit the mark."

"Now, now, don't be like that, Rin!" Makoto chided the redhead, his voice placating. "It's great to see them getting along the same as ever—"

"If you like seeing them getting along so much, then you should've gone and fetched them from their make-out session, Mother."

"Rin!" As Makoto sputtered and Haru rolled his blue eyes next to him, they heard a faint whooshing sound, followed by a crack! Turning around, the Iwatobi boys found that the fireworks had already started. Behind the three older boys, Rei watched as Nagisa tilted his head up towards the sky, his burgundy eyes sparkling as he took in the colorful bursts of light against the black canvas of the night. His lips settling into a soft smile, the brunette silently reached over and grabbed Nagisa's hand. As soon as he felt Rei's touch, Nagisa squeezed the younger boy's hand with his own and linked his fingers with Rei's. As the fireworks continued to explode in the sky, the blonde momentarily turned his head towards Rei. His burgundy eyes glowed with warmth as he mouthed some words at the younger boy.

'You're beautiful.' When Rei processed these words, a new blush blossomed on his cheeks, as well as a warmth in his heart. Silently, he squeezed Nagisa's hand back in response, his violet eyes melting at the edges with a soft look of adoration for the blonde as he mouthed back the words 'You too'. They both turned back to watch the fireworks paint themselves across the night sky.

…

Just a little after Rei got home that evening and finished changing, he heard his cell phone beep on his nightstand. Walking over to the table, he picked up his phone and saw that a new message had arrived from Nagisa. Gulping slightly and wondering if it had anything to do with the conversations they had had earlier at the fair, the brunette hesitantly flipped open his phone.

When he opened the message, a photo popped up onto the screen. It was the one of Nagisa in junior high with pink hair, the one the blonde had shown to Rei at the squid festival. Blinking, Rei scrolled down the message and found the rest of Nagisa's text beneath the photo.

[Since you said I'm beautiful no matter what! ;D] Reading the words, Rei gave an affectionate roll of his eyes before typing out a reply: [Good night, Nagisa-kun.] Hitting send, he yawned and, placing the phone back on the bedside table, headed to the bathroom to wash his face.

Rei looked at that photo again before he went to bed that night. He looked at it once more in the morning when he woke up, and the next day, and the next day as well. And every time, he actually found the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile.

Regardless the hair, he did look a little cute in the photo. Only a little, Rei told himself. But all the same, he found himself saving the picture into the growing collection of Nagisa's photos on his phone. And he only regretted his decision none at all.

Once he realized some years later that he had never heard the full story behind the pink hair, Rei decided that he would ask Nagisa about it that evening when the blonde would come home to him from school.

End Notes

Yes, I know this drabble could have been a little random (but as I have no set rule for what I choose to drabble about, so it shall be xD). *cough*it'snotbecauseijustwantedtoshowthemmakingoutnopenotatall*cough* I was in the mood for a little fluff *cough*andsomedegreeofaction*cough* and I suddenly got the urge to turn Nagisa's hair pink somehow (I was going to make it a hidden tattoo instead, but then I realized he's still underage in the present setting of the drabble), so this happened. And I also had wanted to include a little of their dating life before their college years, so I placed them in this time setting. I hope you guys still liked it! ;v; *cough*Rinissuchatsunderereigisashipperlol*cough*Ithinkthelastsentencecouldbereadasafuturespoiler*coughcough*