Kuroo dies in his sleep from trying to find a position that feels comfortable and won't make his hair stick up like a rooster and finding one that just so happens to also be deadly. Who knew?
"Kid, people think your hair is cool. It's not worth killing yourself to get rid of it. Have you tried getting a haircut?"
"But I don't wanna cut it!" Tiny eight year old Kuroo whines, feet swinging back and forth at a concerning speed. "And I can't fix it when I sleep like that!"
"Okay," The person behind the desk sighs, pinching the bridge of their reddened nose. "Have you considered showering after you wake up, instead?"
"...I can do that?"
"If your dad says so, I guess." Their hand went to a small bowl of lollipops stationed just far away enough that tiny prying hands couldn't steal the whole bowl. "Here, have a strawberry lolly. I'll have you back to life in a jiffy."
"Mommy says death is permanent," Kuroo muttered, struggling with unwrapping the sweet he'd been handed. "Sooo..."
"Your mommy doesn't know everything. Though she knows a lot of things," the person cautioned when Kuroo suddenly brightened, "including that too many sweets will send you right back here to the office between life and death. Please don't do it again."
"But now that I know I won't die forever, what's stopping me from being crazy?"
"One Kenma Kozume, I've been told. And it's conditional, Kuroo, you have something to do before we let you through, but once it's done you're fair game." They smirked with just a hint of teeth that were too sharp and too many. "Have a good life, Kuroo."