Chapter Fourteen: Fake
Disclaimer: I don't own PoT or any of its characters.
I learned something new. I can't use makeup.
Sitting in front of a mirror, foundation on my hands, I tried to apply it to my face. Weirdly enough, I looked like a tangerine.
I should ask for help… The thought crossed my mind. But who should I ask?
"Why did you ask us for makeup advice?"
Before me stood the Rikkai Dai regulars, looking a mixture of confused and irritated. "I don't have any friends that are girls?" Honesty felt like being stung by a hoard of bees.
"I see…" A few of them laughed at me, others looking sympathetic, whereas Sanada looked at me as though I was an alien.
"I thought girls automatically knew about this stuff." Akaya mocked me.
"Sorry, but my life isn't a shoujo manga."
I don't think I've ever laughed so much in one day. We had a dress rehearsal in drama, so I now have a picture of Sanada in his costume with Yukimura me stood together as my wallpaper.
After that, Niou and Marui went and asked their fangirls about makeup, making them all very confused.
Lunch was the highlight of the day. We all sat, looking rather amazed, staring into a girl's magazine with makeup tips in it. Honestly, I didn't think it was possible for them to do something like that.
"So this is what you do?" I said, holding the brush in one hand, foundation in the other.
"At least look in the mirror whilst you do it…" Marui said, eating doughnuts.
"You're doing it wrong."
On the down side, I think they knew more about makeup then I did.
After about an hour, I gave up and went to a cosmetic shop.
"It's okay, you'll learn with time." The lady said, smiling.
I've been reborn. The blemishes on my face were concealed, the redness covered up. But…
I didn't look like me. It was as though the makeup covered my flaws, but masked part of my identity as it did so. I looked fake.
"Do you have skin care products?" I asked, hoping that it'd be a better solution.
I don't know how many times I'll mention this, but I hate mornings. What I hate more than that is having to put skin care products on…. In the morning. It seemed as though I was going to be stood in front of the mirror applying toner and moisturizer forever. Seriously, forever.
My hair was held back by a hair clip, my chartreuse eyes in full view. Just doing that was enough for me to feel 'reborn.'
"I like your hair." Yukimura pointed out, "Looks cute."
I would've blushed like crazy or died from happiness… but I still had some sanity left. Also, part of the magazine we all read said 'if a friend is trying to have a makeover, compliment them to boost their confidence.'
"Thanks… I'm going to play the piano."
The tune died out as my phone buzzed, my instinct being to check the photo sending app. 3 messages…
One of them was from Niou, being a picture of a tennis ball. The other was from Shiraishi, a picture of a daisy. And the last was from Yukimura, a picture of Sanada and Jackal, with a note saying 'how is piano going?'
I took a picture of the keys, sending it off to Yukimura. Na-kun also texted me, saying how 'amazing' it was at Hyotei.
As a sigh escaped my lips, my mind concentrated on playing the music I had composed, making sure to express the innermost feelings locked within it.
…
People seemed rather shocked about my face. I don't really know why, since my face had always looked the same as any other day. They were also amazed about my eye colour (once again, I don't know why.)
Just by clipping up my fringe, I had gotten so much attention…
I didn't like it. Girls muttered things, judging my complexion as boys muttered on about how my face was a let-down.
"I don't know what they were expecting." I said to Yukimura, irritated.
"Ignore them; you look fine."
"Don't get me wrong, I'm curious as to what they were expecting, but I couldn't care less what they think." Was my automatic response. "Uhm… Sorry, I'm not exactly 'feminine.'"
Yukimura laughed, smiling. "It's fine."
One of the many mysteries of the world is how I can collapse onto the floor whilst clapping like a seal, without the faintest clue what I'm laughing at.
Basically, that's what happened.
"What's so funny?" Yukimura wondered.
Thank goodness we were in the music room, where people could see my laughing fit.
"Your face?" I said, hoping to remember how to breathe as the laughter wouldn't stop. "Shall we get to actually practicing?"
…
Walking home seemed to be a relief, and staring at the sky was even better.
"Hello, Akiza-chan." Yukimura smiled, sitting beside me on the grass. Blue skies filled with clouds were always the best, the gentle breeze being the cherry on top.
"Seiichi-kun, can I ask you something deep?"
"Of course."
"What do you consider a 'transformation'?"
Birds chirping was all that could be heard, as Yukimura thought hard about the question. "Changing; either physically or mentally. Just changing."
"How do people change, though? Does shoving makeup on supposed to count as changing?"
"Perhaps it depends on the person. I'll walk you home, I'm sure your brother's missing you."
"He's having a ball at Hyotei… no pun intended. He's staying at Tamaki's place since it's close to the school. I'm home alone."
I smiled, jokingly saying. "Want to come round for tea, just the two of us?" I winked, sarcasm ringing deep in my voice.
Yukimura doesn't know, or couldn't tell that I was being sarcastic. Perhaps it's my fault for being fluent in it, but still, you don't expect them to say "yes," unless their crazy.
In case you didn't know, Yukimura Seiichi is crazy.
…
"Sorry for the intrusion."
"It's fine. Give me a hand with watering the flowers?"
"Okay."
Being alone with Yukimura was probably supposed to be awkward, but instead, we laughed a lot. I was my weird self, but Yukimura didn't mind, just smiled and laughed with me. Or was he laughing at me?
"Can I ask you a deep question, Akiza-chan?"
"Sure."
"What's 'love'?"
I laughed, gripping the watering can tight. "Damn, that's deep." I wondered. "Don't know I've never been in love… I think. Shall we look it up on the internet?"
"Creepy… 'Tender affection?' 'Desire?' 'Lust?'" I read out some of the words. "I don't think I 'lust' for anyone."
Yukimura looked with me, smiling as he did so. "Really? Look at this other description of it."
'A person whom you can be yourself around, without having to worry about appearances. Someone who's the equivalent of your best friend, but you think about them and worry about them more than you do yourself.'
"Yeah… Still nope. Well, I love my brother Na-kun, but just as a brother, of course. I love Sana-chan and the others like I would family."
"What about me?" Yukimura wondered.
"Hmm… I've never thought about it." I thought about it for a second, but decided against thinking too hard, so I changed the subject. "Can you cook? If not, we'll have to eat out. I can't cook to save my life."
"I'll cook."
Awkwardness has a way to bite you when you think it's not there. It is always there, waiting for its chance to strike.
"I'm going to go change from my uniform. Do you want to borrow some of Tamaki's clothes?"
"I'll change after this is ready to simmer."
"Be back in five then."
…
"WHY DO I HAVE SO MANY CLOTHES?" I yelled. "AND THEY'RE ALL THE SAME…"
My wardrobe, filled with crap items that were in the way. Sweatpants and Hoodies were the only clothes, my only 'going out' clothes being in the wash. "Why do I have five pairs of identical track suit bottoms?" I thought aloud.
"Are you okay, Akiza-chan?" Yukimura called from downstairs.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Stupid wardrobe… Grabbing pen and paper, I wrote: 'Transformation to do list: Get haircut, new clothes.'
Without a thought in the matter, I grabbed the first thing my hand touched, not particularly caring all too much what it was.
…
"Seiichi-kun, how about this?" I said, pointing to a blue jumper.
We stood, rather amazed, in Tamaki's room. I thought that I had a lot of clothes, but Tamaki's walk in
wardrobe was more like a department in a store.
"Okay, I'll get changed then." He wondered off into the bathroom near Tamaki's bedroom.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to borrow these?"
"Yeah, there's plenty of them, and this is just the stuff he couldn't keep at his place."
"You what?" The words came out in English, confusing Yukimura. "I meant… You what?" I repeated, this time in Japanese.
"I made dinner."
"How? Seriously, are you sure you're not a wizard."
"Can we talk?" Yukimura's tone was calm, his eyes not averting my gaze. I smiled, pretending not to notice the change in atmosphere.
"Sure~"
"Seriously, Akiza-chan, can we talk?"