Chapter Text
“Girl, hold still.”
Karasu scoffed and muttered, “This is takin’ too long. At this rate, we’re gonna be late.”
Otoya stopped applying eyeliner to give her best friend a hard eye-roll. “I’m just doing basic stuff, ‘keeping it natural’ like you asked. So quit being so impatient when I’m the one doing you a favor.”
Karasu shifted uncomfortably in the plastic chair that Otoya’s mom had offered a cushion for. She had declined out of politeness, but boy was she regretting that decision. Plus, the angle she had to tilt her neck felt far from natural, and she felt a crick starting to form.
“Ugh, stop moving! Or do you want to look ugly?” asked Otoya.
Karasu could feel the annoyed huff of air from the girl hovering above her. She smelled the minty toothpaste the other girl used to brush her teeth from earlier that day and thought that it was nice. Definitely a way nicer smell than the overwhelming axe body spray of the boy who had tried (and failed) to ask her out to homecoming. Seriously, she could practically see the blue and black waves of funk that radiated off of him. It was a hard pass, and when Karasu had told him as much, she didn’t feel the least bit bad at the boy’s crestfallen face, the messily-scrawled sign drifting pathetically to the floor.
See, Karasu had standards. To her, they weren’t even that high, but none of the boys at her stupid school even came close to approaching them. And if that sounded harsh, well, she couldn’t care less.
So when her best friend pointed out that neither of them had dates and suggested they go together, Karasu had no reason to say no, other than the fact that she usually didn’t care to attend the sad excuse for a dance their school hosted every year.
And when Otoya asked Karasu if she could do her makeup, Karasu, who owned only a chapstick she bought from the grocery store, agreed.
At the time, she didn’t think too hard about exactly why she said yes. But as she sat silently letting Otoya do her thing, the thought crept into her mind and wouldn’t escape, no matter how hard she tried to mentally shove it back. She was the captain of the soccer team after all, known for her cool-headed decision making skills both on and off the field. The least she should be able to do is get her thoughts in line.
Karasu felt a quick tap of the eyeliner, now capped, on her forehead, pointing out the line that had formed. She blinked up at the girl above her who now had a mildly frustrated look on her normally impassive face. Emotion suited her, Karasu thought. But instead of saying something stupid like that, Karasu asked, “What?”
“Dude.” Otoya grabbed the corners of the seat while she looked directly at the internally combusting girl. Then, her voice softened a bit, “Seriously, chill. And try not to make faces, cause I haven’t set it yet. I’m almost done though.” That tone did the opposite of calming Karasu, but it was a good reminder to school her facial expressions. Shit, she should probably say something back.
But Otoya had already turned away.
“‘Kay, shadow time.” Otoya traded the pen and rummaged in the mini drawer in her desk and placed a couple palettes on its dark green surface. “This one matches the blue of your dress,” she said as she opened and raised the one with a beat-up case (it was missing a hinge). Inside, there were different shades of blue, and she pointed to a deep shade. “But this one…,” she set the first palette down to display the other one, nail tapping next to a singular shimmery blueish purple,”...has a really cool purple hue that almost matches your hair. It’s a little sparkly, but not too much. I think it’d suit you, like a lot.”
Truth be told, Karasu could have done without either. But she could tell that Otoya was having some kind of fun using Karasu as her doll, and decided to indulge her best friend.
Again, she didn’t wanna think too hard about why.
“Both look… nice. Do whichever ya think’ll look good. Yer the one with experience,” at this Otoya fist pumped, “Just don’t go overboard.”
“Yeah, yeah, who do you think I am? Trust, dude, you’ll look so hot.”
Karasu smirked at that and quipped, “Ya say that like I’m not hot naturally.” Yes, that was something closer to normal for her to say.
The white-and-green haired girl just scoffed and tucked back her bangs as she got to work. “Sure, whatever makes you feel better, crow. Now head back and eyes closed.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And shut up.”
Karasu smiled but complied, and a couple minutes later, after having her head be tilted from side to side to gauge enough of a similarity, the soft brush stopped berating her eyelids.
“Ok, I think that’s good,” Otoya said, and Karasu opened her eyes at the feeling of her best friend’s hands lifting off of her face. “Also I used both to blend together, and,” she whistled, “like I said, hot.”
The shorter girl took the small mirror from her desk to hand out to Karasu for her to inspect herself.
“Well?” Otoya asked expectantly, and though it would sound monotone to anyone else, Karasu could pick out the hint of pride in her low voice.
And damn, she looked good. The sleek liner and lightly blended shadow brought out the blue in her eyes, and made her look more striking than she normally did. Some concealer was added to cover minor blemishes, but Otoya stuck to her word; it was a noticeable difference but not overdone, just as Karasu had asked.
Before Karasu could compliment the other girl’s work, a spark lit up in Otoya’s eyes.
“Oh! Wait, hold on,” said the other girl as she picked the liner back up.
“No, it’s good. Seriously, Toya, I’m happy with it. Really,” Karasu said as she raised her hands in a placating manner.
Otoya just waved her off. “Dude, just trust me.”
Karasu sighed and let her do as she wished, and closed her eyes expectantly.
Then opened them again as Otoya gently cupped her face, and slowly pressed a small dot right over the mole beneath her left eye.
“There. The foundation was covering it,” murmured Otoya. At the sound of that tone, the one she usually reserved for flirting with guys, Karasu felt something weird curl her inside her gut.
For a moment, they both held a breath, gazing at each other’s faces. Up close, Karasu could pick out the two shades of green in Otoya’s eyes: bright peridot with darker streaks of emerald. They really were magnetizing, and Karasu could suddenly understand why so many guys asked her best friend out, despite how often she claimed she had no clue. The sparkly green shadow she’d applied on herself only brought the color out more, mascara and purposefully smudgy liner perfectly framing them. Karasu thought for a moment how she wouldn’t mind waking up every morning to see them first thing, even without makeup’s enhancement.
“Girls!” came Otoya’s mom’s voice from outside the door, “We should leave soon if we want to avoid too much traffic.”
And with that, alarm bells rang in her head at the more than friendly thoughts she just had about her best friend, and Karasu quickly looked away, breaking whatever moment they just shared.
She cleared her throat and turned in the chair to stand up, lightly shoving her best friend.
“Told ya we’re taking too long. I’m gonna use the bathroom first to change.”
And Karasu left the bedroom out into the hall to do just that, taking her dress with her.
She didn’t look back, but if she did she might’ve seen the way Otoya blew out her bangs in frustration.