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"Hey, mum…”
The voice made Yoko look up from the engine of the motorcycle in front of her and turn to see Yuto standing beside her. He was looking steadily down at the floor, hands in his pockets and shuffling his feet. In early teenage speak, that meant that he had something on his mind. Yoko tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, unwittingly smudging oil across her cheek, and smiled brightly. “What’s up?”
Yuto took a while to answer, and Yoko started absentmindedly twirling her spanner in one hand, letting him take his time. When he spoke up again, he sounded contemplative. “Shun got a piercing today. In his ear”.
“Oh?” Yoko could feel the amusement in her own voice.
“Yeah”.
When he didn’t elaborate, Yoko decided it was time to help him along. “Do you want a piercing in your ear, Yuto?”
He glanced up at her quickly before looking back down again, shuffling his feet before nodding. “... Yeah…” Then, peeking at her with eyes framed by thick eyeliner, he added uncertainly. “Is that okay?”
“Sure, go for it!” Yoko almost laughed at the obvious surprise on his face.
“... Seriously?”
Yoko snorted in amusement. “Yuto, my darling son, I have had more piercings than you can count, did you really think I’d stop you from piercing your ear?”
Yuto looked a bit sheepish at that. “Fair point”.
Chuckling, Yoko stood up to boop Yuto’s nose, smearing engine oil on it in the process. “You go get as many piercings as you like. Your body, your choice”. She winked and Yuto smiled before turning to scurry off, presumably to update Shun and Ruri on the news. After stretching her back, Yoko crouched back down to resume her work, satisfied with having condoned this latest act of teenage rebellion.
~~
"Hey, mum".
Yoko gave the old engine a loving pat before straightening up to look over at her son leaning against the doorframe.
Yuto fiddled with his nose piercing, tilting his head so that the garage lighting glinted off the array of piercings in his eyebrow and ears. "I've been thinking about getting a tattoo".
Yoko grinned up at him. "Then go for it. You're eighteen, you can do whatever the heck you want".
Yuto shot her a smile and turned to walk away.
"Just make it a good one", she called after him. "You don't want to end up with an anatomically incorrect hippo on your left buttcheek from losing a bet".
Yuto stopped dead in his tracks, spinning on one heel to stare at her suspiciously. "... I thought you loved the hippo one?"
She laughed. "I do! That doesn't mean it was my idea, though". She gave him an exaggerated wink, to which he responded with a roll of his heavily contoured eyes before stalking off. Yoko smiled down at the engine again, happy that her son had found a way to express himself, when the door slammed open and Yugo practically flew into the garage.
"Mum, I just had the best idea! What if I get a tattoo of Jack Atlas's and Yusei's autographs on my butt? That way- Mum, stop laughing, this is serious-"