A boy with fluffy black hair and square glasses was sitting on the train ride towards Kyoto as a part of a school trip. He had just recently woken up and was hearing his childhood friend argue with some rebel from his grade who was known as Fuutarou.
Fuutarou:"Come on, Takebayashi. Instead of being a wet blanket, you should join in too!"
Takebayashi:"Stooop! Geez, I guess I will. But in exchange, you have to invite Sanada-kun as well. Since the five of us are a team."
Sanada:"Huh? I don't really…"
Fuutarou looked at the papers Sanada was holding and threw them up once he saw the contents, being arithmetics. Sanada didn't act on it as he was scared of the delinquent. But, as Fuutarou was bragging about his camera, Takebayashi helped him pick up the papers.
Sanada:"T-Thank you."
Takebayashi:"No problem. You really need to stand up for yourself, you know?"
Sanada:"..."
Sanada and Takebayashi had lived close to each other since they were little kids. They would get along great, even going on family trips together. Over time, Sanada grew to like her, even becoming a class representative for her sake. However, one day…
Sanada:"Hey, Take~"
Sanada knocked on her door.
Sanada:"No response?"
…
Sanada:"She moved out!?"
"Yeah, apparently she's not in the school records anymore."
Sanada:"That's...too sudden."
"hey, Uesugi, do you know what happened?"
Fuutarou:"..."
"What's up with him?"
"Let him be, he's been like that ever since we got back from Kyoto a few months ago. He would only ever talk with Takebayashi."
"Studying now? What a weirdo."
Sanada:"..."
The boy with glasses went up to Fuutarou.
Sanada:"You didn't do anything to her, did you?"
Fuutarou:"..."
Sanada grabbed his collar.
Sanada:"I'm asking you a quest-"
In the middle of his sentence, Sanada's vision went blurry, having been hit by Fuutarou without looking up from his work. Fuutarou wasn't even aware of what he had done, he was simply too focused on what he was doing.
"Are you okay!?"
"Let's tell the teacher!"
Sanada:"It's fine."
"Huh?"
Sanada:"I said it's fine."
…
Sanada:[I think he left a mark.]
The reluctant boy was standing in front of his door. Hiding his bruise, he went inside. As soon as he did, he was bombarded by both his parents. Both parents were wearing lavish amounts of makeup.
"Oh, Sanada! We must clean you up!"
"The dirt from outside will ruin your beauty!"
The two parents quickly cleaned off any semblance of dirt off him.
"Hm? Remove your hand so we can clean your face."
Without Sanada even answering, the mother removed his hand forcefully, showing the bruise.
"What the hell is this!?"
Sanada:"This is…"
Suddenly, the mother rubbed the cheek as hard as she could.
"Dirty! Dirty! Dirty! We must get rid of this!"
Sanada:"Mgh, mgh!"
At this point, the boy was pushed down as his mother continued relentlessly.
Sanada:"Y-You're hurting…"
…
Once it was over, Sanada had to hold his tears back from the pain he just experienced.
Sanada:[Now it hurts even more.]
"In any case, I can't believe that family left just like that."
"Here I thought we could get a piece of the pie, but I suppose karma caught up to that man."
"Yes, the father was never home, but he always kept contact."
"Whatever, at least we don't have to deal with that ugly mom and both of her ugly daughters. Especially the one that hangs around our son."
"Truly ugly. Not that I'd ever trust them after that woman lost her second child!"
Sanada:[Don't...talk about her like that…]
…
One day, Sanada went over to the kitchen, seeing his mother in distress. Her makeup was gone, showing a face twisted with anger.
"Why!? Why am I not beautiful? Huh?"
His mother turned to the boy.
Sanada:"I...Um…"
"And you! Why aren't you more beautiful!? You think being class representative will help us!?"
…
Sanada was writhing in pain on the floor, having been attacked by her mother with boiling water. His father came in, wondering what the noise was about.
"What's going on here?"
Sanada struggled to the floor, grabbing his father's leg.
Sanada:"Help…"
"I can't take it anymore. I'm going to fix his face until it's perfect!"
Sanada's father looked towards his wife and then down to his kid. Soon, he developed a grin.
"Finally."
Sanada:"Huh? No. Please. Stop."
…
"Hey, why is Sanada-kun wearing all that makeup?"
"His parents wear it too, right? Maybe it's a family thing."
During the next months of middle school, Sanada would sit in complete silence. No one really noticed anything wrong, as Sanada was already kind of a loner, only talking to Takebayashi when she was still here. He would eventually be kicked out of the student council due to attendance issues. Every day, Sanada would stare in disbelief as he hesitated to go inside his own house. It wasn't until his third year of middle school that Sanada couldn't take it anymore and ran away once his parents brought hot coals. The parents tried to chase him, but they didn't get far in fear of getting dirty. His parents would eventually be arrested from suspicion of child abuse.
…
A few days laters Sanada had wandered into a festival. Despite his desperation, people didn't mind.
"Hey, it's another clown."
"That makeup looks dirty."
"Maybe that's the skit they're going with."
Sanada would eventually pass out in the middle of it all. Once he opened his eyes, he found himself in a tent.
"That's a lot of scars. You another clown?"
Sanada looked to his right to see a fat clown.
"Sorry I'm not a doctor. But, I can at least give you something to eat."
Sanada:"Why...are you helping me?"
"What's wrong with helping a child in need? I have two other adopted kids, I guess I can't stand to see them alone. Here's a picture of us."
As the clown showed him the picture, Sanada widened his eyes and yelled at teh picture.
Sanada:"Takebayashi!?"
"Oh, you know her? Would you like to meet her?"
Sanada nodded feverishly.
Sanada:[I can finally see her again!] "Oh, but first…"
"What's wrong?"
Sanada:"Can you reapply my makeup? I can't see her like this…"
"...Alright. After a shower!" [This boy...He's gone through some shit, hasn't he? Maybe he can…]
…
The few days after she saw her again were some of the happiest in his life. Takebayashi asked about the makeup but he simply said it was the newest fad. She didn't think much of it and they were able to hang out together again. He was allowed to stay by the father, apparently a politician. Despite his happiness, he noticed something pretty quickly.
Sanada:"Hey, Take-chan? Yae-chan isn't your biological sister, isn't she? What happened to -?"
Takebayashi:"Ah, well. You see, she -"
...
Takebayashi:"Hey, why don't you join our family? Your old one was horrible, wasn't it?"
Sanada:"Uh...I don't know…"
Takebayashi:"Come on! Let's hang out together again!"
The sudden preposition made Sanada ignore Takebayashi's pure black eyes. For the first time in a long time, Sanada blushed.
Sanada:"Um, okay."
Takebayashi:"That's great!"
Sanada was now living with a new father and two sisters. A couple of years later…
Takebayashi:"Hey, Sanada. Wanna go out with me?"
Sanada:"E-Eh? A-Are you sure?"
Takebayashi:"Yep! After all, it's normal to want to experience love!"
However, he would notice something was wrong. It was clear she didn't love him and only dated him to say she experienced it. But, instead of breaking up with her, Sanada came to one conclusion. He was at fault. She didn't love him due to how ugly he was. He would only taint her beauty. After that, he would indulge in constant chemicals applied to his face.
Sanada:[I have to be prettier. That's the only way I can get her to love me! I'll fix myself! I'll make her proud to be next to me! I'll even change my name to be more cute! Sanada is a dumb name, Sandy is much cuter!]
…
…
Back to present time.
"Sandy, that's way too much!"
One of the girls receiving the makeover got up and got out of the dust cloud created by Sandy.
Sandy:"What's wrong? I'm not finished. You're still not fully beautiful!"
Nino:"Hey, that's enough!"
Sandy:"It's never enough! The world requires more beauty! You can't make anyone proud without-*cough* *cough*"
Sandy couldn't stop coughing.
Nino:"That guy!"
"What's happening to him?"
Nino:"He's poisoning himself. He already had an aura around him, basically doubling that is too much!"
Sandy:"*cough* No, it's never enough…"
Sandy fell to his knees, coughing uncontrollably.
"The nurse isn't here anymore! Should we call a hospital?"
Nino:"No, we can fix this quickly. I brought some items with me."
Nino took out her supplies. Before he passed out, Sandy looked to the girl Nino was working on. To his surprise, her makeup was nowhere near as much as him.
Sandy:"Why?"
But, for some reason, she looked incredible.
Sandy:"How does she look so good?"
Nino:"I used her natural beauty. Makeup is great and all, but putting on too much will do nothing but turn you back around to the uncanny valley."
Sandy:"Why you…Ah, no, don't take off my makeup."
Sandy was stopping Nino from wiping his face.
Nino:"Eh? Why the hell is that?"
Sandy:"...I have scars. I'll just look ugly."
Nino:"Oh, shut up. What's a few scars?"
With no delay, she began wiping his face. Much to Sandy's surprise, it didn't hurt a bit.
Sandy:[This feeling is…]
Nino applied first aid with no mistakes.
Nino:[I like makeup too, but I know to limit the intake. I'll get through this little obstacle. If I truly want to become a doctor, then something like this…] "...I can't let it beat me."
…
Nino:"That should do it. He just needs some rest in fresh air."
Nino looked at his scars.
Nino:[So that's what you were hiding. Honestly, it's not like others will discriminate against you. And if they do, I'll beat them up myself. Thankfully, your tears will make it hard to apply another layer. As your doctor, I'll stay until you're healed. Physically, just like my dad would do...and mentally, just like Fuu-kun would do...Ah, I forgot about the information I was supposed to beat out of him.]
End of Chapter 114