Before reading this story, it's only presented as humour, so don't take it too seriously, there is no hate or anything here.
And sorry for my bad english, if you think I should correct something, please let me know, and of course enjoy.
Summers are getting hotter those past years in Southtown, training is a lot more difficult for our favorite fighters, passing a day without fighting with your relatives and friends, in the literal sense, is harder when you are all sweaty and hot (and even sweat and tears for that matter).
In front of the bathroom mirror, a young woman is standing with a white towel around her body, hair still damp from the shower, and an icepack held on her nose. It's already past noon, and training is out of the question right now, she did all the morning anyway, the thing is that she had a little problem.
Here, alone, she was unhappy with what she got, and gathering many hateful words in her mind to describe how uncute she looks, only because she got a little scratch on her nose, a few days ago.
This detail never bothered her that much, but now, the shape of it is not so attractive to her anymore, it's too big for her liking, and the ice put on it is to make the "swell" decrease.
"Jeez…I hate my nose…Yuri, you are an ugly duckling, the black sheep of your team…" for some reasons, from the day she got compared to her teammates by other people, she was always looking to be better, they were friends, but always in competition with each other's, the blemish on her nose was the last strike, she didn't even notice how "ugly" her nose really was before, it's not the scratch by itself that made her think so, she got other cuts and scars and it was never a problem, it's more because of the spot where it was situated.
Yuri Sakazaki, was in fact a really cute girl, her harmonious face framed by silky short brown hair, big and bright brown eyes, a very nice smile, a petite yet gracious figure to die for, she has everything any girl would want, yet, compared to King or Mai, she was not good enough, well in her mind at least, and to her she had to find a solution to her problem, this is exactly why she was heading to King's bar for a meeting.
"Hey Imouto, why are you still here in front of the mirror still in towel, and what are you doing with this icepack?" Ryo looked half worried, half amused by his sister's attitude.
"Leave me alone Oniichan okay? Isn't it obvious? I am readying myself to go out" she was doing the serious face, something that amused him since it does not work with him at all.
"I didn't know that putting ice on your nose was part of a girl's vanity?" he answered teasingly "what's the problem?"
"I can't talk about it with you, you're gonna make fun of me, and tell Robert"
"Come on, don't you trust me anymore? I know that at your age, you want to keep things to yourself, but if you want to tell me something, just do it"
"Fine, I think my nose's like a potato in the middle of my face, happy?"
After this weird confession, Ryo was unable to hold his laugher any longer; he was in fact stunned by his little sister's imagination.
"See? I told you, I can't trust you enough to tell you anything"
"Sorry baby sister, but…that's too funny… a potato? Why not a carrot while you're at it?"
Yuri was not pleased by his not so funny joke; maybe if she kept her lips locked, she wouldn't be mocked like this.
"That's not even funny, it's serious and all" her serious face mode appeared once again.
"Well, I don't know how you can compare this nose with a potato, your nose is small, and how do you want it to look like? Even tinier? that's ridiculous"
"Come on, it's anything but tiny"
"I think you need glasses, if your nose is big, then Sensei's nose is a planet"
"His nose is okay, Gonna get dressed, See you later Oniichan"
"Don't be ridiculous Yuri, and be more serious okay?"
"Kay"
0o0o0o0o0
In the other side of the counter, a young lady was preparing a cocktail, not to drink it, but more for the test, to try different flavors, it looks easy like this, but working as a bartender is more complicated than it looks.
"What a waste…why can't I just drink all of this?"
"Because I don't need to have you drunk in the middle of the afternoon?"
"Who cares?"
Before the end of their discussion, another girl made her way inside.
"Hi King, I am sorry for being late…" right in front of her, the ninja girl sitting on the long stool was looking at her with a smile "MAI YOU ARE HERE?"
"YAAAAY, OF COURSE I AM, MISSED ME GIRL?"
They were all smiling and hugging each other's, jumping like little ten years olds in their spot, as if they didn't see each other's in years, well, to be fair, it was few months before they get another chance to meet.
"Oh my god, when you're together, it's impossible to predict what will happen, especially when you're drunk"
Mai was standing here in all her glory, always overdressed compared to Yuri's casual clothing, and King's formal, but it was something that didn't bother anyone, her hair was tied yet again in her signature ponytail, but her attire was more Rockn' Roll, a mini black skirt with a white crop top and a black choker, a style that contrasted completely with her fighting attire, confident with herself, she didn't care about other's comments, she knows how to highlight her strongest assets.
In the other hand, Yuri was only wearing jeans, a white crop top as well, but nobody can tell because she was wearing an oversized button up shirt on top of it, it was still open, but yeah, she was too shy to show up her belly button without anything to cover the back or the sides, unless they were in the beach, she wasn't wearing any jewelry except for her mom's earrings she wore often out of her trainings and fighting tournament.
King's look was as usual, very masculine yet, still feminine, everything was too clean, too well presented, her eyeliner on, and her classical earrings were the only feminine touch she added.
"Don't be too strict on us, it's her first day here…right?"
"My second actually"
Yuri sat beside Mai, and took the glass of alcohol that was nearby and drank it in one shot, she didn't like the taste of it, and her eyes were hermetically closed.
"Too strong…awful…I want more"
"That's out of question"
"But…but"
"No buts, tell me why were you upset those last few days?"
Yuri didn't want to say anything to her friends, yes, her little problem was not a big deal at all, there is more important matters to discuss, and after her brother mocked her, she was not too keen to share with anybody anymore.
"Come on, just tell us, you know that we're never gonna judge you right?" Mai was looking at her friend touching her arm gently, trying to make her comfortable enough to talk.
"Well…you know how we can all think something is wrong with our outer appearance?"
"What do you mean?" Answered king, wanting to hear more.
"Well…I am not confident enough with my looks those days, that's it"
"Don't listen to yourself too much, we can be our worst enemy, and we're seeing stuff nobody sees" Mai added
"Really? I don't think there is anything wrong with the way you look, you are gorgeous, and King as well, look at her slender and tall nose"
King wasn't really sure why Yuri was so focused on that.
"But your nose's too cute, why do you think it's not?" Mai didn't understand why Yuri thought that about herself.
"Well it started with the training, when I got a scratch on my nose, I feel like its worst now"
"It does not even look that bad, if you didn't tell me, I wouldn't be able to tell"
"Oh yeah? You are not the one called "Rudolf" on a daily basis"
"Cut out the Bullsh*t , Rudolf doesn't have this nose Yuri" Mai said seriously tired of Yuri's delusion.
"Really, you're the only one bothered by this, your nose is fine, and the scratch is almost invisible"
It was so funny they started to laugh, and King joined them. "Rudolf" really?
After a while, they talked, and all of them got something they don't particularly like about themselves that does not look as bad as they think, that shows how much everybody's human, even if you look good, so the key is to accept yourself, and be confident no matter what.
Let me know if you liked this story, and of course if you have anything to add, and no I don't think there is anything wrong with the size of anybody's nose, it's again only for humour and showing real girl's talk and struggles with standards, so I genuinely think every features can be beautiful if we accept ourselves the way we look. ;), and Yuri does not have any problem with that too ^^'.
