Skull had been stressed out of his mind. He truly didn't know what to do about the whole situation and his meltdown. Fon had even sat him down at one point to talk about his refusal to accept his childhood as traumatic. To his horror Reborn and Colonnello had sat in as well. The storm didn't even stop his preaching when all of the arcobalenos were in the room.
Skull himself was close to another breakdown, he knew he had gotten horrible snappish and had outbursts at the slightest irritance that made him flee the room.
How could he not when Colonnello had proclaimed that it didn't make him less of a man if he would admit and talk about his childhood. Naturally that didn't help Skull at all.
It was a wonder that no one lost their patience with him and his excuses or outbursts but the wonder went by the name Yuni. The young girl always stepped in before anything could explode and even under pressure she stayed smiling and firm.
The only way to stay sane in the madness was for him to crack up his obnoxiousness to the max. He didn't even say I anymore instead staying in third person and he sometimes just turned the radio up when Fon tried to talk.
His facade wasn't as good as before though. Anyone was clearly able to see that he was irritated and close to snapping utterly. His skull-samas weren't full of false confidence, instead they had a harsh bite. His normal goofy grin showed way too many teeth and not even his cowering in front of them seemed like his usual pusillanimity instead it reminded them of a wild animal stepping back to strike at the next opportunity.
The arcobalenos were slowly losing their patience though, they all knew Skull wasn't as obnoxious as he usually tried to be but his restless pacing and short fuse wasn't anything they had ever truly experienced, for once they could clearly see how cloudy he really was.
While they knew that you shouldn't corner an already agitated cloud, they were still wanting answers, partly because of worry and partly because they were losing any self-restraint they had forcibly built while dealing with the cloud over the years.
Yuni herself was feeling that the time was there, she knew any more postponement would result in disaster and so after lunch she grabbed Skulls hand to keep him at the table.
Skull had been spending more and more time in his room, not willing to confront more of his feelings while in the presence of the arcobalenos and therefore needed to be held back physically from disappearing.
Still Yuni had always been one of his ultimate soft spots and he didn't really protest when she kept him from going. No matter how much he dreaded another one of Fons lectures about feelings and how healing could only happen after acknowledging what had hurt him and how it mattered.
The others did feel that something was up and stayed seated as well, most of them still nursing some kind of beverage and soon casual bantering was going on. Skull stayed quiet but he did not push Yunis hand away, the one thatt kept him in place.
"Skull? When will you show me how you really look?"
He felt himself freeze and his breath stocked while looking at the sky.
Yuni smiled sweetly "Everything will be alright and I really want to see it for real, not just in visions."
Skull's heart was pounding. What was he supposed to answer? He had never even considered the fact that Yuni might have seen him morph in one of her visions. While it was true that she had never addressed him as he instead always went with his name, she had never even let anything in this direction slip, not even when they had been alone.
Colonello snorted "If you want to see him without makeup we could just get makeup removers and make him take it off. Not that I could understand why we would want that."
"True. I'm pretty sure you are not ready to see a makeup free lackey. While his makeup is horrid, it still makes people prettier. Who knows what is below that. Certainly nothing you would want to see." were Reborns helpful words.
Yuni just kept smiling, "Skull is way more skilled in changing his appearance than any of you know and you will be surprised how enchanting Skull looks."
The punk couldn't really decide if he should feel insulted by Reborns words or be impressed and panicked by Yunis. Instead he just sank lower in his chair, heart thumping over the fact that his problem was now being openly discussed and someone knew the truth.
A few examing looks wandered over his face. Especially Reborns was more than just probing "Yeah no. I can't see it. Are you sure your visions aren't wrong and you saw someone else?"
"Uncle Reborn I bet you everything that you are wrong and will be completely surprised"
"You mean shocked by how horrid he looks?"
Yuni just pouted "No! Skull is super cute!"
Colonello had to laugh at that "If he can't achieve that with makeup I highly doubt that he could do it without."
Skull was in a clear state of panic. Why were they even discussing this? "Yuni.. w-why?" his stutter was back again.
"Everything will go well, Skull. I promise."
"So you knew the whole time?"
She just nodded "My mother and grandmother didn't though. You never revealed it in their lifetime so they hadn't been able to see it."
Fon raised an eyebrow "Was your whole demeanour the last time about your bare face? Skull I'm not sure why no makeup should have such a reaction. I know you really like to cover up but there is nothing shameful or deceiving about not having shown us your natural face."
"It's not just makeup," he muttered, still way too tense.
Yuni just patted his shoulder "Believe me everything will really turn out alright. It's time, isn't it? You didn't know how but this solves it, correct?"
The stuntman wanted to vehemently refuse that, this was definitely not that easy.
Reborn sighed "All that trouble about something like that? Lackey just go and take it off. Don't waste more of our time."
"B-but" he stuttered out, still distressed and panicked about the sudden situation.
The sky just squeezed his hand "You can do it, I promise. I saw all of it. They will have to get used to it but nothing you fear will happen."
He stared helplessly at her.
"Lal, would you mind assisting Skull? I have a bag in my room with the stuff Skull will need. It's on my table"
Lal bristled "Why would he need help?"
"You will see and he will try to bail if you're not there. Oh and just focus on Skull's flames. It is truly Skull and you know how Skulls' flames feel."
The former soldier was slightly ticked at that but she knew that when Yuni was that cryptic she should better do what she wanted and by the looks of their cloud it was obvious that he apparently needed a bit of a push and if she was good at something than it was kicking reluctant people towards the right decision, so she stood up, grabbed his arm and just pulled him up to his room.
If they could hurry this up they might be able to go back to their more pressing matters and maybe even have a calmer cloud, which would greatly be appreciated.
The bag was retrieved on their way and the door closed behind them.
There was a moment of silence before she pushed him in his bathroom, taking a seat on his bed and silently watching him.
Skull himself was trembling when he slowly started to take off his makeup. Lal herself didn't really understand all the fuss. He didn't look in any way surprising beside the scars that slowly appeared. She wasn't happy that he had even more but it's not like she hadn't expected it and it was the reason for all of them working together for Skull to finally talk.
It might be a bit ridiculous that the cloud was that strongly panicking about his bare face but she would ignore it. It might have deeper issues that needed to be addressed. Who knows maybe he had always been treated as ugly as a child and some of his issues stemmed from that. She couldn't be sure but in the end Skull just looked like a normal twenty year old and therefore she was still lost about how this was in any way important.
She could see him fiddle with the chain that connected his piercings and lost interest in watching him. Afterall he did what he was told and while his shaking wasn't reassuring she could ignore it for now.
She curiously started to unpack the bag from Yuni instead. After all, there was no reason for Skull to need anything special. So the real question was what was in it.
A quiet "here we go" sounded from the bathroom when her eyes widened in confusion about seeing a few pairs of female underwear in front of her.
"What?" she said and looked up at Skull to maybe get an answer but what she saw literally made her fall off the bed, loudly cursing in her native language.
Skull himself had not noticed her distraction and as soon as he had gotten rid of the makeup, he had been fiddling with the chain that kept his appearance stagnant. He immediately changed back the second the chain was lifted off the piercing. His whole body had wanted to morph and being forced into a stasis for so long was unnatural for any Metamorphmagus, therefore it was natural for him to transform as soon as the pressure vanished.
She only had a few seconds to stare at her original face when Lal startled her.
