Life quickly settled into a routine; they both found jobs where the hours were sporadic, but at least longer-term. No one recognized them, and their savings actually increased since all they had to buy was food.
Their little blue shelter began to look and feel more like a real home, with secondhand rugs, cushions, and battery-powered lights. They made acquaintances with other residents of the area, but it never went much deeper than that - Kanade quickly realized that everyone had some personal shame or tragedy that brought them here, and nobody wanted to share their past or push too hard into anyone else's.
For a few weeks things became, if not perfect, than at least livable.
The scratching began soon after.
Yukino wasn't even aware of it at first - she was simply reaching behind her head to itch when she noticed that no one was sitting around her on the train, although there were several people standing.
And one or two of them were looking strangely at her, she thought, as she reached behind her head again... and stopped.
She tried to avoid scratching for the next few minutes, even as the itching became more and more intolerable. She made it through the rest of the train trip by concentrating on her breathing and biting the inside of her lip when necessary, and practically ran home - that's what the tent was at this point - as soon as she got off, only to find Kanade sitting outside, scratching at her own head.
They consulted the Internet almost immediately, and manually searched each others' hair as soon as they understood their symptoms.
The little bugs crawling on their pale white scalps were unmistakable.
Yukino begain to cry. "I'm so sorry, Kana... the blankets and pillows, I bought them second hand, but I never thought that they'd be infested, I never thought that..."
Kanade shook her head. "It's not your fault, Yuki. I didn't think of it either. It's just... it's just bad luck, is all. What we need to do now is figure out how we'll deal with this. It looks like our treatment options are to buy a special treatment shampoo, use it, wash everything, use it again in ten days, wash everything again..."
"That might be... difficult, right now..."
Kanade nodded. "Or... we can just shave our heads for a few weeks."
After a moment Yukino burst out laughing, which turned to crying in a few seconds. Kanade reached over to hold her, then stroked her hair, rocking back and forth.
"It's just... I thought to myself that all this started because of that stupid video, when you wouldn't shut up about my hair, and now..."
Kanade chuckled, and kissed her forehead. "I do love your hair, I really do. But it will grow back, and, looking on the bright side, nobody will recognize us from the video with shaved heads..." Yukino laughed. "And besides," Kanade continued, "after all this, your hair is pretty far down on my list of my favorite things about you..."
Yukino made a face. "Is it... is it my boobs? At the top of the list?"
Kanade laughed, and shook her head. "No, your lips," she said, and kissed her passionately.
They borrowed scissors from Kyoko, stopped at a convenience store for other necessities, and did what they needed to do by that early that evening; the cold air felt strange on their scalps, but the itching died off almost immediately.
"You still look beautiful to me, Kana," Yukino said softly, after it was over.
"You too," Kanade replied, as she closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to Yukino's for a moment.