notes:
+ ahh, i love suzuki julietta's characters so much~
+ & enjoy ^_^
Dolce Kiss
Mayuri raced back to her seat, the news practically bursting out of her. "Mako-chan," Mayuri said excitedly, "Noriko-chan asked me to see a movie with her!"
"That's wonderful, Mayuri-sama," replied "Mako" with a bright smile. Though he regaled her with his usual composed gaiety, she knew that he understood the importance of it: it was the first time she had been invited to see a movie, much less been invited out by any person at all. And the person was a girl! A normal human girl!
Then again, maybe he didn't understand, because his next question was: "What's a movie?"
"A movie is...well, it has moving pictures. And watching it is a very fun thing to do," Mayuri asserted, and Mako smiled.
"In that case, I hope you have a lot of fun."
"Thank you, Mako-chan!" Despite actually being a devil called Mephisto, Mako's tact and sense of how to respond was impeccable and inwardly she wondered again how it was possible that Mako and Beaut, both demons, could be so different from each other — one practically a shining model of good behavior, and the other...well. Beaut still couldn't remember how to say "itadakimasu" before meals.
"It looks like your friend is waiting already," Mako said, pointing at Noriko, who was hanging by the doorway of the classroom.
"Oh, you're right. Thank you, Mako-chan! See you tomorrow!"
She dashed off.
:::
"Mayuri..." Noriko suddenly looked up from her donut, a half-eaten loop that still smiled up brightly with a frosted cat's smile.
"Mayuri," Noriko repeated, "are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh — yeah, yeah!" Mayuri fanned her face. "Oh yes, I'm perfectly fine!"
Mayuri began laughing harshly. Yeah, she wasn't fine at all.
"Did you like the movie?" Noriko asked cautiously. "I noticed you didn't really watch a lot of it..."
"I did watch it!"
"Really? To me it kind of looked like you were turning away and closing your eyes." And screaming silently, she thought.
"That's my special way of watching movies," Mayuri explained. She began eating fiercely, stuffing the cat-face donut in her mouth over before any more words could fall out.
Noriko watched, rubbing her brows lightly. "You've never kissed Beaut, have you?"
And, when Mayuri spat crumbs and frosting onto her plate, Noriko sighed. Yup. The first time that the couple on screen had kissed, Mayuri had given a little squeal and Noriko had turned to see her staring at the screen aghast, mouth agape and filled with partly-chewed popcorn.
"Is that stuff — that stuff —" Mayuri gestured as if the movie screen were right next to them. "Is that stuff normal? That's what couples do?"
"Well, human couples do those things," Noriko said. She felt exhausted somehow. "Come on, didn't you ever see your parents do those things?"
Mayuri's face squinched as she searched her mind. Noriko had just about given up on hearing anything when Mayuri finally said, "Well, they do dress up together to go out for Halloween..."
"Um…is that so. Well," Noriko said, coughing and using her straw to rattle the ice in her mocha, "human couples kiss and stuff pretty frequently, so maybe your parents just hide it. But, I don't really know if devils do those things at all..."
Did devils do those things? If not, would they? She imagined Beaut, smiling kindly like the love interest of the movie, cautiously taking hand of the protagonist. She imagined Beaut looking at her with eyes filled with longing. He leaned toward her, mouth opening slightly, whispering her name. "Mayuri..."
She jumped. "Huh?!"
"Maybe you should go home," Noriko continued. Her donut was finished already; so was her mocha. "You don't look like you're feeling well."
"Yeah," Mayuri agreed, relieved for the excuse. "I'm not feeling well at all."
:::
As she parted ways the movie returned to her, its key scenes replaying in her brain — like that very first accidental kiss — and the very last one, in the rain… Mayuri put her hands to her face and sighed, feeling as if her veins were being filled with warm fluff. As she reminisced, her body carried itself home more or less of its own accord, and when Mayuri returned to consciousness inside her house, she saw that she was in the kitchen, and had a bag of flour in her hands, ready to go into a confection. What would Beaut want today? She hadn't made cupcakes in a while; maybe she could bake some small ones, with lots of frosting. He would really enjoy that…and smile at her…and maybe lean towards her, and…
She felt her cheeks flaring and set the flour straight down. It was pretty late already — maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to see Beaut just this moment — or ever, until the thought of him stopped making her heart feel like it was trying to run marathons. She went to bed, but with the lights off the blanket around her made her feel awfully like she was being embraced, and she stayed up staring at the ceiling for a long time.
Her distraction persisted throughout the next school day, where she alternated between yawning and burying her face in her hands, not out of tiredness but lingering embarrassment. As time went on another feeling started to grow, a niggling sense of unfairness, a thirst for justice. Why hadn't Beaut kissed her yet? Would he ever? Was there something lacking in her? Or maybe…was there something lacking in him?
"Are you feeling well, Mayuri-sama?" Mako asked, and he jumped when Mayuri straightened abruptly and fixed him with a fierce stare. "Ma — Mayuri-sama?"
"Mako," he asked, "do devils kiss?"
"Kiss?"
"You know," Mayuri said, "put — put their lips together," and Mako smiled faintly.
"I know what you meant, I was just surprised. Yes, demons kiss...though more selectively than humans."
"Selectively?"
"Well," Mako said, "humans don't often decorate each others horns and wings, do they? Similarly, demons don't often kiss each other."
"I...I see..." She imagined herself pasting paper horns on her head. What would Beaut do then?
Probably just flick them away with his finger. She could almost feel his nail clipping against her forehead. She could almost feel how soft his mouth would feel if he…
"Does that...answer your question? Mayuri-sama?" Mako asked, and Mayuri gasped, "Oh! Oh, yes. Thank you, Mako!"
She slumped down on her desk thoughtfully. So demons didn't kiss often. So how could she get him to…
"Ah!" An idea struck her, and she straightened sharply. Her eyes, previously dull with sleep, flared to life. Mako laughed. It looked like Beaut-sama was going to have a very interesting afternoon.
:::
Finally.
Lounging on a divan at his demesnes, Beaut felt his magic circle being lit; it felt like something was tugging on one of his ribs, and, perhaps out of habit, his stomach began to rumble. He stood, licked his lips, and answered, crossing the chasm between them in a flicker of glittering light.
The instant he materialized in the human world his nose was filled with a lovely smell, and he searched for its source as soon as the glittering debris of his teleporting magic faded away. He didn't have to look too hard: Mayuri was there in front of him, holding out a plate.
"It took you long enough," Beaut told her with irritation. "You didn't call me yesterday."
"Sorry, Beaut, I was busy. I went out to see a movie with Noriko-chan! Isn't that great?"
"Sure…" He looked down at the plate she was holding. On it were two cupcakes. Beaut frowned.
"That's it?"
"Each cupcake stands for a request," Mayuri declared brightly.
"Two today, huh?" Beaut's tail curled around and he reclined in midair. "They better be serious ones this time."
"They are! First — do you think you can get me another plant? I think this one is getting pretty lonely."
She gestured at the windowsill, where the little saw-mouthed plant that he had given her some time ago did somehow look to be a little bored and isolated-looking.
"Alright," Beaut said, waving his hand impatiently. "What's the other thing?"
"I have somewhere I want to go with you today!" Mayuri exclaimed, and reached for his elbow. She tugged him, still floating, to a table, and then pushed him into a chair. The cupcake plate rattled as she dropped it in front of him. "Come on, eat, eat!"
"You're certainly in a rush," Beaut muttered, securing a napkin to his collar. He didn't like it; after not seeing her for a while he had thought that they would enjoy some relaxing time together, but now he found himself trying to stifle his anxiety. Well, at least there was food. He took a deep breath to let the fragrance settle into his lungs. He picked up a cupcake, opening his mouth. And —
"Wait — Beaut, wait! What do you say before eating?"
Beaut sighed and thought. "I..ita-something...?" And when she just waited expectedly for him, he sighed. "Ita…I don't remember."
"Come on, do your best!"
"Ita…" He waited a little longer and then shook his head. "I don't remember." Stupid human words. Mayuri sighed as he started eating.
"So where is it that you want to go?" he said, dabbing his mouth with the napkin.
"I'll tell you when you're done!"
The tip of his tail twitched back and forth with irritation as Mayuri stared at him intently, but his annoyance at her ambiguity and the small amount of food she had for him vanished as soon as he ate the cupcake — peach-flavored, with chunks of candied fruit, and the entire thing topped with a swirl of buttercream frosting. He closed his eyes to savor it. He felt the sweetness fill his entire being. It was so —
"Hurry, hurry!" Mayuri cried, and Beaut frowned.
"There's only a couple, I want to savor them!"
"I'll give you the rest afterward! Come on, Beaut, we need to hurry to catch the next show!"
"Show?"
"Just come on!"
At her insistence Beaut rushed on, shoveling the cupcakes past his grimace. Such a waste. As soon as the last crumb was swept into his mouth, Mayuri grabbed his arm and tugged him upright, still chewing, to her front door.
"Get your human disguise on, we're going!"
:::
It turned out that she wanted to take him to something called a movie. It was housed in a large building that smelled foul.
"Mmm, popcorn," said Mayuri. "I can't help getting some when I smell it. How about you, Beaut?"
"The only human world food I'm interested in is your baking," Beaut muttered, noise wrinkling at the white puffs behind the glass. Mayuri beamed until he continued: "How long is this going to take? I want those other cupcakes."
"Just an hour or two," Mayuri answered. "Don't worry, just enjoy it."
She retrieved food and they walked together into a large chamber lined with velvet. Soon it became clear that a movie was a sort of two-dimensional illusion that depicted a series of events. History? Beaut watched, skeptical, as a human girl stumbled upon a shrine inhabited by a devil fox, and brought him into servitude by kissing him.
Suddenly he felt a chill. He glanced over and jumped when he saw Mayuri's eyes boring into him.
"W-what?" he asked, and was immediately hushed by the other humans around him.
"Nothing," Mayuri whispered back, but her lips were pursed, and some time later, when the devil fox abruptly kissed the human girl to bond himself to her once more, he noticed Mayuri staring at him again.
"What?" he asked, this time in a quiet voice, and again she said, "Nothing," and looked back at the screen.
The movie was long, but reasonably interesting. The devil was implausible but someone that Beaut thought he might ally with, or at least try the cooking of. The illusions were sometimes confusing in how they switched back and forth and he was just getting the hang of it when the screen faded to black.
"What? What happened?" Beaut asked. Human words began to scroll down the screen. The lights turned on and people were standing and talking. "Did it end?"
"It's a multiple-part series," Mayuri said, smiling brightly. "It ends on a cliffhanger so you'll want to see the next one."
"Well, what happens?" Humans were glancing at him curiously but he ignored them.
"Um…I don't know what happens. But we can come back when the next movie comes out and watch it together."
Beaut fumed as they exited the theater. "How can you just end like that?"
"It's what movies do, Beaut. But I'm glad that you enjoyed it enough to see what happens next! I chose that one because I thought you might be interested…you know, it has a demon and a human girl...and I thought maybe...it would give you some ideas..."
Beaut wasn't listening. "How annoying," he was muttering. "Humans make things that intend to frustrate you. I'll never understand it."
He rubbed his forehead; then brightened at another thought. "So is this the thing that you wanted me to do with you? And now we can go back and I can have the cupcakes?"
"Not quite yet," Mayuri said, troubled. This was not going right at all. Beaut seemed to have come away with the wrong ideas. Hadn't he noticed the kissing at all? Hadn't the movie been painfully obvious to him? The whole time she watched she had been squirming around in her stomach, touched by the love between the demon and the girl on screen, and thinking, A demon and a human girl — that us! US! As the movie went on she felt like she could imagine Beaut's lips on hers, gently — his hand curling perfectly around her waist —
"Mayuri? Are you alright?" Mayuri opened her eyes and jumped when she saw Beaut right in front of her, examining her closely. She stared at his pursed lips. "You look a little red."
He perked. "Maybe we should hurry home. So that we can relax and have the cupcakes."
"I — I want to get some noodles first!"
"Noodles?"
"You know — the long things, in broth."
"Oh, that. I'm not interested in that."
"Please? Won't you come with me?" Mayuri pleaded. "Just this last thing," and Beaut sighed.
"Alright."
But on the way to the noodle shop, Mayuri tripped. When Beaut bent down to help her up she suddenly straightened and brought her face close to his.
"...huh?"
"Nothing," she muttered, standing and brushing herself off. They continued on to the noodle shop, Beaut absently rubbing his grumbling stomach and thinking of the cupcakes. He could practically taste the buttercream on his tongue. He sighed with delight and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the strong salty smell steaming from Mayuri's noodles.
"Oh, Beaut!"
He cracked open an eye. "What is it?"
"My cheek." She pointed. There was a bit of noodle on it. Beaut raised an eyebrow at her and pointed at her napkin. She finished the rest of her noodles without event, but then wanted to stop by a shaved ice stand. Beaut snorted but followed her. What was with her today? She just kept dragging him left and right.
"Beaut!" This time a bit of shaved ice that had gotten stuck in the corner of her lip. He grabbed a packet of tissues a human was passing out and handed it to her.
"Beaut!" Now the icing from a cheap frozen cream puff smeared on the other corner of her mouth. Impatient, Beaut grabbed her sleeve and swiped it across her face.
"You are awfully incompetent today," he remarked. "Maybe you should rest. Rest at home," he clarified, in case it wasn't obvious, and Mayuri sniffed. He looked at her.
"Stupid Beaut," Mayuri murmured, and suddenly she was crying.
"Wh-what? What did I do?" he demanded, and Mayuri snapped, "Nothing!"
Nothing. She swiped her hand across her face angrily. Maybe Beaut didn't like her after all. It was so painful, to be the only one feeling the things that she did — wanting to be close, wanting to feel his warmth, wanting to kiss him and feel him. But maybe it was hopeless. He was a devil — and the only thing that he wanted from her was her baking.
"Stop lying," Beaut said angrily. "What did I do?"
"Nothing." She turned away and squeezed back the rest of her tears. She felt loneliness grip her — she realized suddenly how alone she was — that, even though Beaut was beside her, he was in a completely different world. Well, that had always been true — but now she could see it, the chasm between them, much like the gap between her and the students at her school that shunned her as a witch. They were too different. They thought too differently.
"Come on, let's go home," she said quietly, and her words were strangely flat and detached. Beaut followed, disturbed, trying to make sense of what had happened. Wasn't she enjoying herself? Hadn't he done all the things she wanted him to do, tagged along with all her requests?
He waited for her to perk up once they reached her house, but she only retrieved the cupcakes, which she had set aside under foil. "Here you go," she muttered. "You should just take them back to the other world and eat them there."
"Why not here? What's the matter?" he tried again, reddening with frustration, but she ignored him and jabbed the tray at him, so fiercely that he was afraid she would let go and let it fall. He took it and she turned around, putting her back to him.
"Bye, Beaut," she said, and added firmly, "see you later."
"Mayuri," he called after her, but she was already headed up the stairs. Angrily, he stormed off through the circle. Mayuri made it to her room and, once the crackle of magic dissipated completely, curled up and stared at the wall.