Makeup, Darling!!

Before Kyohi could ask what her friend was talking about, Helia suddenly spoke very fast in her mother tongue, English, to her grandmother. It was so fast that Kyohi couldn't catch up with the words. Maybe part of the reason why she couldn't get any of it was that her friend had an accent that was considered thick.

The grandmother replied with a simple okay and walked out of the kitchen to someplace else while Helia was staring at the girl with widened eyes as if she was high.

A few moments later, the grandmother came back with several pouches in her hand, all different colours.

Helia excitedly jumped up on her feet, "Come on." She also helped her friend up and led her to the bathroom. She then brought a stool out of nowhere and let the girl sit in front of the mirror.

While the girl was confused about what was happening, the duo behind her speedily set everything up.

"I haven't used this in years, but I hope this works," Said the grandmother. From Kyohi's line of sight, she couldn't see what the old woman was talking about.

"Ahh, it's fine. Thank you." Helia replied happily.

"Well, I planned on giving you these and teaching you how to apply when you came, but you seemed to like natural style more, so I stopped."

"Is that so? I think now is the perfect time. Teach me!"

"Of course!!"

Helia and Suzu talked in their world, leaving Kyohi lost and stunned.

Her friend turned to her with a full smile and asked, "Are you ready?"

"For what?"

Helia removed a finger-sized stick from behind her and wiggled it in her hands. "Makeup,

darling!!"

----

"Kyohi, don't open your eyes right now. It's gonna spoil everything. My blood sweat and tears are going to be washed away if you do."

"Okay..." The girl answered as she felt another brush softly caressing her closed eyelids. She didn't know how much time had passed ever since she closed her eyes.

Never in a million years, had she thought of applying makeup on her face to cover up the scar from that time or her whole ugly face. She was scared of being picked by Momo and her group and scared of her now shielded mind being penetrated easily by just some words. Although she had walls, those walls were made of paper, breakable and easily damaged.

So when Helia showed her the red lipstick, she immediately stood up from the stool and protested with all her might. No matter what, her ugly face wasn't going to change and people were going to call her catfish if she applied.

But before Kyohi turned into a crying mess, a calming voice soothed her and said the words that made some sense.

'This was just a trial. No one apart from the two was going to see her in makeup. If she thought it didn't suit her, she could just remove it in a flash, and they'd think of something else. Maybe doing this was going to make her confident and change her timid and naive personality. She wasn't going to lose anything.'

Convinced by Suzu's words, she let the two apply makeup on her for the first time. While her friend did the hair, the grandmother did her magic on the face.

Surely, they must have seen the big slash scar on her forehead but pretended that they didn't notice it by not talking or showing an obvious reaction to it.

Kyohi was grateful for those kinds of little actions they made in trying to keep her open-minded and not let her feel uncomfortable. Helia also frequently spoke to her, making sure she wasn't left out.

"We are almost done..." The girl heard Suzu tell her as she felt her lips being coloured. "Helia, are you done?"

"Wait, wait. Almost." At the same time, Helia sprayed some gas to finish up. "You can open your eyes, Kyohi."

The girl did as she was told but instantly closed her eyes from the brightness of the light in the room. But once she opened her eyes again and saw the person in front of her, her cheery-pink lips parted cutely naturally.

All she could see was the person staring back at her with the same expression she had. Her focus was so focused on her reflection that she couldn't comprehend the people standing behind her with full smiles and Helia almost flying with excitement.

The girl in the mirror still had short hair but was in half-up with some parts braided with colourful hair bands at the ends. Her heavy bangs that were covering her scar turned into see-through, giving her a fresh and youthful image.

The make-up looked natural yet stunning. Her usual colourless and sank cheeks had colours and tones to make them look lively and lovely. They were pink as her eyelids, matching adorably. But there wasn't only one shade of pink. It consisted of three pinks, not too much, not too faint, but just enough to be noticeable.

Pearl pink was on the beginning of the eyes followed by baby pink in the middle and the end with mauvelous pink. There was no need for eyeliner or mascara to make her eyes look big since they were already big and round. The thing Suzu added was some glitter around the head and under the eyes to give some magical image.

Kyohi's lips were shining with the clear gloss on top of the baby pink, heart-shaped lips. There was no mask, no heavy bangs or fake thick glasses that were used to cover eighty per cent of that face. She looked like she came right out of a fantasy book. Of course, the main character material.

From behind Kyohi, Helia asked, "So? So? What do you thiiiinkkk?" She couldn't just wait there and let her friend admire herself silently. Also, it was her first time doing someone's hair apart from hers and Vesper (when he had long hair for a boy back in the day) and needed to know how she felt about it.

The girl in the mirror didn't say anything, instead, she slowly, reached for her face with her hand and confirmed that the person she was seeing right now was indeed herself.

Right at the time Suzu was about to comment, a loud beeping sound echoed in the house, bringing the three of them back to reality.

The grandmother rushed to the kitchen, "My spinach!!"

Helia watched her grandmother, running to save the veggie and turned her attention back to her friend blinking rapidly touching her face carefully.

So she leaned into the girl's ear silently and asked, "So, what do you think?"

"Hiii!!!" Kyohi shrieked, seeing another person in the mirror except her, but realised soon after that she wasn't alone and was at her friend's house. "Oh..." She thought she was a goner by the way Helia spoke to her like a ghost.

"You look more than amazing, right?!!"

"I... do..." Kyohi answered unsurely. She somehow looked like her normal self and somehow didn't. It felt like she was in someone else's body.

"Come on!" If you go out with this killer look, you are going to make everyone's heart stop!" Helia complimented as she jumped around the girl.

Kyohi turned to her friend confusedly and asked, "Why do you saying that? I don't look like a criminal and not everyone has heart disease."

The friend stopped at once and gave her friend a look but stopped when she realised that Kyohi was serious and just sighed. "I'm just saying that you are beautiful and breathtaking. You surely nailed this look and I'm confident that no one would look as cute as you with the same makeup. My grandmother must be a wizard to putting such a spell on you."

The girl blushed and lowered her head down. Unlike usual, her hair didn't cover her face which she felt more embarrassed about. She felt a little exposed but remembered how she looked so confident and the style suited her, she liked it.

"Do you like it?"

Kyohi raised her head as she heard the question and had eye contact with herself in the reflection. "I do." Her answer this time sounded certain and satisfied.

Helia dramatically placed a hand over her heart and said, "That sounded like an answer for a proposal. Shoulda recorded it." The girl pouted and squinted her eyes at the floor.

The girl chuckled at her friend's childish and cheeky behaviour, "Don't you worry. No one would want to propose to me."

Helia immediately stopped her gloomy mood and gave her friend a look just like she did earlier in the living room. "Girl, don't make me mad."

"Did I make you mad?" Kyohi asked back with a worried frown.

"Well, hell yeah." She then crossed her arms. "Everyone will want to propose to you. I mean have you met you? You have an adorable personality and stunning look. If people expect more out of you, that's their problem and tell them that is the reason why they are single and pathetic. If I was a guy and adult, you'd be my wife by now."

Before Helia could give more compliments, Kyohi stopped her. "Thank you." She stood up and hesitantly hugged her friend. It was the first time she was going for a hug for anyone, but it wasn't awkward as her friend was used to it.

"Your welcome."