Title: It Starts With A Zit
Pairing(s): None
Rating: K+
Words: 1,783
Author's Note: I don't know why this came into my head, and for a while, I wasn't sure if I was going to write it as Mokuba being trans or just a makeup is neutral kind of thing, but as I kept writing, it ended up as the latter. I made up a few OCs for him to be friends with (at his own age) and GASP! Wondergirl actually used Japanese names in this one. I tried, guys. You gotta give me credit, it wasn't much but it was something. Though I'm still not sure if Yugi is supposed to be Yuugi or not because different sites give different spellings. Anyway, I hope you enjoy (and thank you for the favorites/reviews on my other fics! Much appreciated!)
It starts with a zit. He's thirteen and it's the last day of summer, and he really doesn't want to go back to school with a zit on his chin. He convinces Isono to take him to a pharmacy, buying what the guy behind the counter says is the best zit cream in town. The next day, when the cream proves to not have been an overnight miracle, he's pouting at breakfast and the chef gives him a sad smile. She leaves for a moment, coming back with a small red bag, and she lets a few products spill out onto the kitchen island.
She picks up a tube of nude liquid, squeezing out some onto her finger and dabbing it onto his zit. She wipes her hand on a napkin before taking some powder and what looks like a piece of triangular foam, putting the powder over the liquid and brushing the foam around it. "There you go, Mister Mokuba," she says softly, opening the compact mirror and handing it to him. The zit isn't invisible, per say, because he knows it's there and can see the raised bump if he looks at it, but it's basically blended into the rest of his face and he's confident no one will really notice it.
"Thank you," he tells her with a very wide smile. She smiles as a you're-welcome as she finishes packing her makeup back up and he hears Seto say the driver's ready to take them both to school.
Later that night, as she prepares dinner, he gives her some of his allowance to go buy some more of that stuff for him, which she does quietly and gives to him the next morning. It comes in handy when he stays up all night waiting for Seto or playing video games, or when the next few zits pop up to let him know he's officially about to hit puberty.
The next time Mokuba wants makeup, it's mid-September and he's at Yugi's house. They'd decided on having a guys' night, but he had a feeling it was less of a decision and had more to do with the fact that the only girls who ever really hung out with them either no longer lived in the city or hadn't to begin with. He liked hanging out with the guys, despite being younger than them, he never felt like they were treating him like a child.
Before that night, he'd never paid much attention to Otogi. Yeah, he was often there, hanging around with the group, usually beside Honda, but they'd never really interacted like he had with the others. He didn't even notice he'd been staring until the older boy did and asked, "Hey, Mokuba, are you okay?"
He snapped out of it and shrugged, blushing a bit at being caught staring. He gives a sheepish smile and asks, "I was just wondering…does that take you a while to do? To get it so perfect?"
It takes Mokuba motioning to his own eye for Otogi to realize he means his eyeliner, brought to a point down his cheek. He shrugs in response, explaining, "Sometimes, but I've mostly got it figured out now. The only times I really mess up anymore is when I'm tired or my hand gets shaky. Practice makes perfect."
On the ride home, Mokuba makes the driver stop by one of those drug store chains, and picks up a tube of black eyeliner. He gets home and hides away in his room until he hears Seto retire for the night, flicking the light on and carefully applying the makeup to his bottom lid.
After a few tries, he decides he only likes the simple line and really, Otogi and Marik and anyone else who did designs and such all the time had too much time on their hands because this is hard work and he can't imagine working to make it look the same, day after day, or match on both eyes.
The next morning, while saying goodbye to Seto before he heads to work, Mokuba is unsure if his older brother doesn't care about the darkness lining his eyes or if he just doesn't notice. Something tells him it's the former, but maybe that something is just hope.
It's lunchtime in late October the next time he thinks about it. The conversation has nothing to do with makeup at all. They're talking about their biology quiz they have the next day and if they can form a study group at the library when one of his friends changes the topic.
Her name is Ami and Mokuba thinks she may just be his best friend of his own age, but she has this tendency to spew a random thought here and there with no context or filter. This time, it's that he has such nice eyelashes and she wonders how they'd look with mascara.
The two others in the group roll their eyes but Mokuba just shrugs. "If you want to see, I don't mind," he admits and Ami smiles as though she's won a prize. She takes out a pink tube of the mascara and instructs him to keep his eyes open but don't look at the brush. He gives in while she's finishing the second eye and looks at the brush, blinking in defense and smudging the black goo onto his cheek. Ami giggles and wipes it off with a napkin she wets with her water bottle and nods. "You look good."
It's said so matter-of-factly that no one else in the group argues, instead Sora just groans and asks if they can get back to studying the heart.
When Mokuba goes to the store in sunglasses and a hat, he's a bit overwhelmed by the amount of types of mascara out there, but he recognizes the one Ami had and he buys two tubes.
It's a hot craze at the start of December when one of the top makeup brands starts a Duel Monsters collection, with palettes and beauty books inspired by some of the most iconic cards. His group of friends are at the mall after school one day and Ami practically begs the guys to stop into the store. Mokuba watches her eyes go wide at the ones for Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, and the teen briefly wonders if they have these in New York or not and if not, if Anzu would appreciate one as a gift.
Lamenting that she could only afford one with her allowance, Ami finds one of the girls working in the shop and asks her opinions on which one would go better with her skin tone and look. After the worker explains that Ami's light features would be best complimented by the Dark Magician Girl beauty book, Ami somehow finds it a necessity to clarify that by that standard, Mokuba would look best with the Dark Magician one. The worker seems a little surprised at first but then nods.
Mokuba buys it out of curiosity, standing on line with Ami as Sora and Takumi try to figure out how an eyelash curler works. He's never tried eyeshadow or lip gloss or even bronzer before, but he figures there's no harm. If he looks terrible, he just won't use it anymore.
When he gets home, Seto is still at work, and instead of getting to his homework like he should, Mokuba goes up to the bathroom and starts trying out the book. One of the maids glances into the open door as she hears him curse, and is greeted with the sight of her young boss with far too much purple all over his eyelid and sprinkling onto his cheek.
She smiles softly and at first, Mokuba's scared she's going to tell his brother but instead she just walks in and gently taps the brush on the sink, getting some of the excess shadow off. "It's less likely to spill onto the rest of your face this way, Mister Mokuba," she explains, and he thanks her and ends up asking for help with the rest of the book.
The first time Mokuba lets his brother see him in a full face of makeup, it's after Christmas. He had been wearing basically all but eyeshadow and colored lip gloss every day and his friends had easily gotten used to it. Sora and Takumi didn't seem bothered by the fact that their friend liked makeup, and Ami had been more than excited to have someone to be able to try out new looks with (and she'd squealed quite loud over the Mystical Elf eyeshadow palette he'd gotten her for Christmas). He'd dealt with some bullies because after all, he was a teenager and some teens would always think they had a right to make fun of someone different, but he managed to shrug them off and being a Kaiba meant it never got too bad.
He walks downstairs, heart beating in his chest about a mile a minute, decked out with his full face – eyeshadow and peach gloss included. His brother leans against the kitchen counter, flipping through the mail and sorting it. Mokuba notices the pile for him, starting to look through it before Seto's even done sorting. He smiles at some of the familiar names, deciding first to open Anzu's (which was a very sweet card, explaining that she loved the DMG makeup he'd sent her and no, they hadn't made those available in the states yet, and told him all about Christmas in New York and the next time she'd be in Domino).
When Seto had finished flipping through the papers, sighing at the quite extensive pile of New Year's party invites they'd received, Mokuba looks up and meets his eyes for the first time that day. He watches his older brother's eyes scan his face and wonders if Seto had noticed the slight changes the last few months or not. To his surprise, the elder of the two doesn't say anything in response, just slides the pile of invites closer to the younger.
"Your pick," he mutters, and then walks away. Mokuba smiles because he knows his brother well enough to know words of encouragement aren't his strong suit but if he'd disapproved, he'd be sure to tell him and do so bluntly. He knows in his heart that the support of his brother was the most important thing and since he had that, nothing else seemed to matter. Maybe he'd bring Ami to whichever of these parties they went to and the two of them could even do their makeup together.
And to think – it all started with a zit.
Ending Notes: Okay, there it is. I was thinking of making Mokuba have chosen Otogi's party for them to go to and show off his makeup to his older friends as well but I'm not sure. If I get a bug for it, I'll make a short sequel. Also, the idea of Duel Monsters makeup palettes was inspired by actual palettes makeup brands make for like, Disney and things. (I recently splurged on Walgreens' Wonder Woman Collection and I'm in love) Seriously, though, I need a Dark Magician Girl palette in my life. Also, I felt the need to include Anzu/Téa in here because I think she is a way underrated character and I actually adore her, so I gave her a shout out. She and Otogi/Duke haven't come up in any of my other three fics yet, so here we go. I also wanted to fit Mai in, but I couldn't think how for this one so, maybe next time. I'll stop rambling in this box now, thank you for reading my story and extra thank you if you read this long author's note.