Chapter Text
— “Ayumu-chaaan~!” Kasumi tapped her foot impatiently, hands on her hips as she pouted. “Uwah!” Ayumu looked up from the mirror, taken aback by Kasumi’s sudden shift in demeanor. “E-eh, did I do something wrong?!!” Ayumu paused, the sudden jolt from Kasumi’s whine having made her smear a bit of lipstick haphazardly across her mouth. “Are you paying attention?” Kasumi sneered, brows furrowed with an annoyed expression. “When cutie-Kasumin steps on the scene, it’s all eyes on me!” Kasumi said whilst shifting her attitude as if a crowd had just appeared in front of her; striking a pose dramatically and winking; her gaudy apparel draped across her entirety, bejeweled and bedazzled.
Ayumu just sort of sat there and blinked. “You look… Great!” Ayumu was pretty bad at this, she knew; but in spite of her lackadaisical reactions and underwhelming abilities to engage in anything remotely girly or, in her mind, childish; she was having fun spending time with her clubmate nonetheless.
Kasumi’s superstar façade drops in the snap of a finger, her face twisting back into an expression of ire. “C’moooon, Ayumu-chan, you’ve gotta do better than that~” Kasumi kneels down before Ayumu, pulling out a handkerchief from somewhere in between the enormous mess of pretentious glamor that Kasumi threw together to garb herself. Wiping away the bit of smeared lipstick on Ayumu’s lipstick, she spoke, eyes fixated upon the elder girl’s lips.
“At least pretend you’re amazed, sheesh!”
Ayumu could feel a bead of sweat drip down the side of her temple as her lips were caressed in such a manner.
“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to be this cute! If you wanna be the second cutest in the world, you’ve gotta have confidence, poise, and charm ☆” Kasumi got up, setting the handkerchief aside and posed, both hands pointing her index finger at both of her cheeks whilst she stuck out her tongue, and then motioning as if she were taking a selfie. “But always remember who the number one cutest in the world is~”
Ayumu rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, smudging the shoddy mess of foundation she put on. “Ehehe, sorry about that,” Ayumu said, a coy blush strewn across her face. “I guess I’m not really the best at this whole cutie thing.”
“Ehhh!” Kasumi drops her theoretical selfie phone, and glares at Ayumu with a disconcerted look. “Hey, don’t say that!” Kasumi pointed her finger at the girl before her, as if she were a mother scolding her child. “Look at you, Ayumu-chan. “You’re totally cute, okay?!”
Ayumu blinked, a mild expression turned slightly surprised.
“How can you expect to be my number two cutest if you say such things about yourself, eh? Think, Ayumu-chan, think!”
N-Number two cutest…? Ayumu had always been a bit self conscious, especially when it came to becoming a school idol and her ability to be some ideal girl with limitless charisma. But to know Nakasu Kasumi, of all people, had the capacity to view her as the second most cutest person in the world… It made her heart race.
“M-Me? Cute? Ahh, I dunno!” Ayumu rubbed the back of her head as she looked away, embarrassed.
“In fact,” Kasumi spoke as she got down, tossing aside the many gaudy and over exaggerated accessories, placing a hand on Ayumu’s cheek; emitting a soft gasp from the red haired girl as Kasumi used her hand to rub off the thin layer of makeup that Ayumu had comically tried to applied with substandard effort. “You don’t need to cover your face in beauty products. You’re already cute enough! ♡” Kasumi said with a giggle, partly in amusement at how dastardly Ayumu’s makeup skills are.
Ayumu was taken aback by the statement; her homosexual little neurons activating, forcing out a response before she had even realized what that totally un-straight thought was.
“You’re cute, too, Kasumin-chan.”
Kasumi froze up for a second, like her mind was processing the statement on Dial-Up internet. Then, it hit her; like a cupid had three-sixty-noscoped her right in the heart.
At first, Kasumi’s reaction is to jolt back and let out an exaggerated “Ehhhh~!” But, as the queen of cuteness, it is only natural Princess Nakasu respond to compliments with gracefulness.
“O-Of course I am, it’s true~ Tell me something I don’t know ☆” She said, voice slightly aquiver; doing one of those weirdly pretentious and smug acts that she always does. You know, the insane gremlin-esque behavior that rivals even the most conceited of school idols.
Ayumu put her hand up to her lips, unable to stifle a giggle. It’s true. She thought Kasumi was cute… But she didn’t have to dress up like a gaudy superstar or put on makeup to be cute. It was everything about her; her personality, her quirky behavior, all of the little things that made Ayumu want to spend more time with her and learn about what it means to be cute. What it means to be an idol; at least, in Kasumi’s eyes. For Ayumu, she cared not for what a crowd of strangers thought of her, or how to be appealing or charismatic. For Ayumu, she only craved the affirmations from the one and only cutest girl in the world.
“Ehehe ♪ You don’t need to wear flashy outfits or makeup to be cute, either, you know.” Ayumu stood up, bringing the mirror to her face; her mug caked in an atrocious dumpster fire of beauty products.
Kasumi paused mid-imaginary-photoshoot and thought for a second. “Ehh, you’re totally right, Ayumu-chan! I’m cute enough on my own! ♡” Saying that, she tore off the rest of her overbearing accessories and left herself in a plaid dress, devoid of tacky scarves, purses and other menial knick knacks that made her look like a circus act.
Even though she already knew she was the cutest in the world, she had secretly wanted Ayumu to tell her that she was indeed so; and with that sentiment, she looked away, her lips curled in a coy expression as she asked. “Y-You think so too, right?!” Both of her index fingers pointed towards each other, a blush across her pale cheeks.
Ayumu put the mirror down and instead focused on Kasumi; where as earlier, such a showy and intricate outfit had not caught the attention of the lackadaisical Ayumu-chan; this time, with less of an eyesore to look at, Ayumu finally got to see Kasumi in all of her cute simplicity; no accessories to obscure her image. Just cutie Kasumi in a cute dress.
“Sugoi desu ne,” A sweet smile adorned Ayumu’s face as she exclaimed, hands together as she admired the cutest girl in the world.
“H-Hontou?” Kasumi was a little shook, to be honest! And here she had thought the key to cuteness was to garb yourself from head to toe in the most glaring fashion; but for Ayumu-chan, the true puzzle piece to total cuteness was to just be yourself, unapologetically and earnestly.
“I-I mean of course I’m the greatest, no matter what~ ☆” Kasumi snapped back to her overly confident demeanor and brought out her (probably now destroyed and cracked to all hell) imaginary selfie phone and snapped photos of her unfiltered, perfectly pure cuteness.
“See, Ayumu-chaaan~ with some major confidence, there’s no doubt you’ll become the next biggest cutie ever!”
Ayumu let out a gentle laugh, and tilted her head just a bit; admiring Kasumi, for all of her sweetness, Ayumu’s eyes filled with affection. Even if she herself wasn’t the most flattering girl, for all of her imperfections, she loved herself because she knew that Kasumi loved her for her worth; for all of what made Ayumu her. For her sincerity, and hard working nature. For the first time in a long while, Ayumu felt cute. Not on the outside, but on the inside; where cuteness was in your personality, your words, your love.
“O-Oh, but even if you’re cute without makeup, it’s still fun to try out different looks, right~?” Kasumi shoved the lot of her accessories into the drawers and motioned towards the makeup products scattered about.
“Of course,” Ayumu spoke, picking up the mirror once again. “Do you mind if you… Help me practice a bit more…?”
“Hai!” Kasumi exclaimed, taking a makeup brush and holding it like a microphone. “We’re gonna teach you the cutest beauty routine ♪”
Ayumu giggled before taking a look in the mirror. It’s true she wasn’t really good at the whole makeup biz or whatever. She just sort of stared at her reflection.
“Uuu… I look like a clown,” she said, voice devoid of any complex emotion and-- if it were possible, she would have verbally manifested whatever the clown emoji sounds like at the end of her statement.
Kasumi burst out laughing.
“A cute clown! ♡”