A/N:
Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
The door to Lily White opened, and in stepped a familiar face. Rin looked up, and her eyes widened to the size of dishplates.
"Kayo-chin!" Rin was ready to bound forward, but she remembered where she was and what she was doing.
The apprentice turned off the tattoo machine and carefully stepped off the chair, and then skipped over to Hanayo.
The day-care worker smiled as Rin glomped her around the waist.
"Hello, Rin-chan," Hanayo gently patted the top of Rin's head as Umi walked out of the breakroom.
"Hanayo! It's so nice to see you!" Umi greeted and tapped the computer to life.
"What can we help you with?"
"W-well, I wanted to g-"
"Kayo-chin is getting a tattoo!" Rin interrupted, while Nozomi walked into the shop from the front door.
"Hanayo-chan!" she also greeted her youngest friend.
Umi flicked through their schedules, and her pierced eyebrows flew into her bangs.
"Hanayo…you are here for a tattoo but-"
"But what? Wrong day?" Rin peered at the screen, and she physically jumped away as if the computer made an attempt to bite her.
Umi whirled around to glare at Nozomi.
"Why is Rin tattooing Hanayo?!"
"Of course," Nozomi smiled and clapped a hand on Rin's shoulder.
"The design is small and simple, and since this is Hanayo-chan's first tattoo, why not Rin-chan be her first?"
"And…last…"
Hanayo looked at the ground, her voice small.
Rin's mind ticked away, trying to process what was happening, then practically threw herself at Nozomi. Grabbing her by the shoulders, she pleaded to her boss.
"I'm not ready to tattoo Kayo-chin! You can't make me tattoo her!"
"You're right, I can't make you tattoo Hanayo-chan," Nozomi grinned, ignoring the grip Rin had on her shoulders.
"If you really don't want to tattoo Hanayo-chan, I will do it. However," Nozomi peered at Rin's current project: small flowers on more pigskin.
"You are coming along quite nicely with your training, and it's not like haven't done a real tattoo before," Nozomi shifted her hair to show Rin the back of her heavily pierced ear.
"Remember?"
Rin's eyebrow twitched as she let go of Nozomi's shoulders. Hanayo just looked on, awkwardly fiddling with the belt-hole of her jeans.
"Hanayo," Umi turned to look at the youngest girl.
"I know you wanted Rin to tattoo you, but if she cannot, would you mind if Nozomi did?"
"I…I don't mind at all," Hanayo glanced up at the artists.
"I…I wanted to be one of the first people Rin-chan tattooed, but if she's too nervous, then Nozomi-san can d-"
"Kayo-chin, I don't want to ruin it!" Rin interrupted, her hands balled into fists.
"I'm still learning to get over the nerves of holding the machine…I could barely do Nozomi-senpai's tattoo, and it's not even the size of my first finger! I don't want your first and only tattoo to be a sloppy mistake!"
Nozomi looked at her apprentice. Rin was breathing heavily, her knees knocking together with her eyes watering.
The tattoo artist turned her gaze to Umi, leaning her back against the counter with her arms folded.
"Rin-chan," Hanayo spoke up, fumbling in her bag for something. She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the apprentice.
"This is the design I wanted,"
Rin observed the paper that was trembling in her grasp.
Nozomi peered over Rin's shoulder: the design could easily be done in under an hour, and looked like it could be drawn in one fluid motion.
Nozomi instantly recognized what the design was by the curl at the end.
"This is Capricorn symbol," Nozomi grinned. Hanayo smiled and fidgeted with her glasses.
"Y-Yeah, it's my zodiac sign,"
Rin was still staring at the sign on the paper: the symbol was quite small, and a single black tone.
"Rin-chan, you could easily do this," Nozomi smiled and took the piece of paper from Rin's hands to place flat on the counter. She took out a pencil from the stationary cup and placed it against the paper.
"Hanayo-chan, did you want that exact design?"
"I'm sorry?"
Nozomi beckoned the day-care worker over to show her what she meant.
In one swift and fluid movement, Nozomi drew the symbol again underneath it.
"That is how I draw the symbol, and now Rin-chan will draw it," Nozomi handed the pencil to her apprentice.
"Y-You want me to free hand it?" Rin blinked, and Nozomi nodded.
"You'll see what I mean,"
Rin gulped and slowly redrew the symbol next to Nozomi's.
The owner of Lily White then moved the paper over for Hanayo to see more clearly.
"Everyone has a different style of drawing, see? You can tell who drew which symbol."
Umi also peered over Nozomi's shoulder: the artist was right.
"Rin has bolder lines with neater end, and Nozomi has smaller lines with curled ends," Umi noted out loud. Hanayo peered at the three symbols on the page, and then looked at Rin with a smile.
"Your symbol is so beautiful, Rin-chan," Hanayo then gently took the apprentice's heavily tattooed arm, and smiled.
Rin took a deep breath, then looked from Hanayo to Nozomi.
"Do you really think I can do it?"
"You are under my supervision, and the design is within the legal measurements for you tattoo, so," Nozomi shrugged with a grin.
"If you think you can do it, then by all means. I will be with you as well,"
"And me, too," Hanayo interjected, then sheepishly realized what she had said.
"O-Oh, I mean…you know, I'll support you and all…I'll of course be there, since I'm the one getting tattooed and all…"
Rin gave one final look at Nozomi, and gulped.
"Okay. I'll do it."
"Fantastic!" Nozomi smiled and clapped a hand on Rin's shoulder.
"You can do it, Rin," Umi nodded from the counter.
Hanayo hugged the apprentice tightly as Nozomi turned to Umi.
"She'll to a great job,"
"She better, I don't want Hanayo to sue us."
Nozomi chuckled at the statement as Rin took the paper and started to just out her Capricorn symbol.
"Hanayo-chan cannot sue us if Rin-chan messes up, for two reasons: One, Rin-chan is not going to mess up the tattoo, and two, even if Hanayo-chan doesn't like the final product, she cannot sue because that reason is far too subjective."
"How do you know all of this?" Umi stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets. Nozomi's grin faltered instantly while she watched Rin prepare to turn the drawing into a stencil.
"Because when your father tries to shut down your shop, you have to know the laws of tattooing and business management."
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