Note from the Author: So this is a reworking of Furuido's story "Kaaramari," written with her permission, of course.
This is the second story I've written with a character obsessing over his reflection. -.-
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Gaara stared at his reflection, watching his expression for any sign of anything, any revealing facial tick, any assurance or lack of assurance in himself.
He sat before his brother's mirror, as he had never seen any use for one of his own. But, suddenly, it seemed so necessary. He needed to know for himself, to understand why –
"You're not going to find it, Gaara." Kankurou leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, his hat hanging from his hand, brown hair frazzled. "It's not there."
Gaara didn't flinch when he sat down beside him. Flinching wasn't even in his system of responses; he had never had to defend himself, after all. "Kankurou," his voice was low.
"Don't even say it." Kankurou spun his chair to face him, purple hips frowning at his little brother's stoic face. "I say the same thing every time you ask." Gaara didn't even blink when the older boy picked up a brush soaked in purple paint and smeared it carefully across his pale cheek.
They sat there for more than an hour, by Gaara's reckoning, as Kankurou slowly applied his make-up to his brother's face, with the precision of an artist perfecting a masterpiece. Gaara's eyes remained fixed on his face, his own expressionless, and, somehow, he didn't wonder why his brother was doing this.
Finally, with a satisfied sigh and a grin, Kankurou leaned back, turning Gaara's chair back to the mirror. He looked foreign to himself, with the make-up, but at the same time, he looked so much like his brother he didn't understand how he'd never seen it before. It only prompted the question that continued to nag his mind.
Kankurou stood up, smiling slightly as he saw for himself with his face next to Gaara's just how obvious it was, in their mouths and the shapes of their eyes, that they were brothers.
Gaara's eyes dropped, and the crease around his lips that was sadness showed itself.
He looked up again when Kankurou's hand settled on his shoulder. "No, Gaara," he answered the unspoken question. "You don't look like a monster."