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“Oh, Mistress Tsubasaaaaaaaa! Where are yoooooou?”
It was around eight in the morning when Tsubasa heard it: the unmistakable sound of Darumi waking up and crawling out of bed and calling for her name in an eager whisper. Her shrill, giggly voice had a way of remaining perfectly audible no matter where you were standing in their shared apartment, even if she kept her volume low. It was lucky that Yugamu and Takumi were heavy sleepers, given that this was the kind of morning routine that Darumi had decided fit her best.
Tsubasa poked her head out of the bathroom to reply. “I’m in here, I just finished getting changed. Do you need me for anything? You’re up really early… by your standards at least.”
Darumi hurried over, rushing to throw her arms around Tsubasa’s waist and pulling her into an embrace that was just ever so slightly too tight to be comfortable before nuzzling into Tsubasa’s shoulder. “I always need you, Mistress Tsubasa! What kinda stupid question is that? Kyo ho ho!” She giggled happily, squeezing Tsubasa even tighter as she did.
Tsubasa stumbled ever so slightly from the force behind Darumi’s sudden assault of affection. “Ack, Darumi! Too tight! We’ve been over this!”
Begrudgingly, Darumi loosened her grip, but still held her arms around Tsubasa, clinging closely to her. “You’re no fun…” She whined, uttering her complaint in a pathetically low mumble.
“You know I can’t breathe when you hug me that tight! I’m plenty of fun when you’re not crushing my airways.” Halfway through her sentence, Tsubasa realised where that comment would inevitably lead her, but it was too late to stop herself, she had to face the consequences of her words.
“How could you?! You know it’s my life’s dream to be suffocated by a hot lady who wants to kill me!” Darumi faked a sob, wiping crocodile tears away from her eyes. “I’m just trying to give you a taste of what I love most is life! Is that so wrong?!”
Once upon a time, Tsubasa would’ve found this kind of display from Darumi off-putting or disturbing, but these days, all she could really do was chuckle at the absurdity of it. “I’m well aware of how much you like to be choked, Darumi, but this is neither the time nor the place.
“Kyo ho ho!” Darumi erupted into laughter, managing a perfect 180 from the tragic, downtrodden demeanor she’d embraced just moments before. “You’re even more vanilla than I thought if you’ve never even thought of doing it while having to keep quiet enough not to wake anyone up!”
Tsubasa let out a resigned sigh. “Does your libido have an off button? Maybe you’ve been spending too much time around Yugamu…”
“Alright, alright!” Darumi pulled her arms to herself and backed off. “You’re not in the mood, I get it…” She cast her gaze to the floor and paused for a moment before eventually throwing her hands up into a shrug. “I got carried away there, didn’t I?”
“Maybe a little, but…” A sly little smile crept onto Tsubasa’s lips. “You wouldn’t be my Darumi if you never got ahead of yourself like that. I guess it’s just part of your charm.”
Slowly but surely, the smile spread over to Darumi’s face in the form of a cheeky little grin. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was going through Darumi’s head, but no matter what there was one thing Tsubasa knew for certain, and it was that Darumi looked adorable when she was happy.
“Anyways, I was about to get started on my makeup, so…”
“Oh! Oh!” Darumi hopped in place, her grin growing even brighter. “Let me help, I’ve never gotten to do another girl’s makeup before!”
Tsubasa couldn’t help but cough out a nervous laugh. “Thanks, but… I don’t think your style of makeup really suits me. I’m sorry.”
Darumi stared blankly at Tsubasa, as if stunned into silence by her rejection of the idea.
After a few seconds, Darumi’s utter silence got the best of Tsubasa and she rushed to apologise. “Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply you’ve got bad taste or something, I just don’t think it’s really my style.”
“...Huh?” Darumi tilted her head sideways. “Sorry, I think I kinda zoned out there for a second. I hadn’t even thought of putting you in my scary clown bitch makeup but then you brought up the idea and my brain kinda shat itself after that.”
Tsubasa curled a wary eyebrow. “Is that a good thing, or…?”
“I’m gettin’ kinda hot and bothered just thinking about it!” Darumi fanned herself dramatically with her own hand. “C’mon what do ya say? I’ll make you look like the biggest red flag in the whole TRC! Kyo ho ho ho!”
“I-Is that supposed to be a good thing?!”
Darumi shrugged. “Probably not, but come on! You’ve gotta make a few bad decisions on purpose if you wanna see all the endings! Don’t you know how these things work?!”
“I’m not sure I follow, but…” It was then that Tsubasa came to a realization. Normally, if Darumi was just trying to get a rise out of people, she’d back off pretty quick and move onto something else when she received pushback. Only when she earnestly wanted something did Darumi get stubborn. “You’re really set on this, huh?”
With a snicker, Darumi began to sway from side to side. “Come on, pleeease, Mistress Tsubasa? I’ll be a good girl and behave myself from now on if you let me do this, I promise!”
Tsubasa rolled her eyes, knowing very well that kind of promise meant nothing, more or less. Still, for Darumi’s lack of persuasive skills, Tsubasa found herself won over by her enthusiasm if nothing else. “Alright, what if we make a deal? I’ll let you do my makeup for me however you’d like…”
Darumi jumped for joy, letting out a loud cheer of excitement. It was truly a miracle that Takumi and Yugamu could manage to sleep through such a thing.
“... Buuuuuut, I get to do your makeup however I’d like in return!” She extended her hand out toward Darumi, offering a handshake. “Deal?”
“What?!” Darumi reeled back. “Ugh, but you’re just gonna make me cute and approachable like some kinda normie.” She folded her arms tightly and growled, refusing to look Tsubasa in the eye as she pouted.
“How do you think I feel when you’re talking about making me into a massive red flag?” Tsubasa chuckled.
“Ugh, fiiiiine!” Darumi breathed an exasperated groan. After a moment’s more consideration, she brought her hand halfway toward Tsubasa’s own… but then hesitated. “Just don’t make me look too girly, alright? I think I might take fatal psychic damage.”
Tsubasa nodded emphatically. “I promise. It wouldn’t be any fun seeing you hating how you look, anyway.”
“Alright…” Darumi tentatively inched her hand closer… then grabbed Tsubasa’s and gave it a firm shake. With her decision made, her face lit back up into her trademark devious grin. “My turn first, since it was my idea! Kyo ho ho!”
What happened next was an absolute whirlwind of motion as Darumi sat Tsubasa down facing away from the mirror and began the task of laboriously coating Tsubasa’s face in her, according to her own words, “scary clown bitch” makeup. Throughout the whole endeavour Darumi radiated an excited, manic energy, but in spite of her palpable enthusiasm her hands remained steady and precise. She resembled an artist slaving away at her magnum opus, not making much sound except for the occasional devious chuckle.
For her part, all Tsubasa could do was sit still and wait for Darumi to finish her work. Initially, she dreaded what Darumi would do to her, maybe even to the point that it made her feel a bit nauseous. For a while, Tsubasa remained hung up on the “red flag” comment, but as the minutes ticked by she soon found herself with a growing sense of anticipation. It became increasingly clear as she worked that Darumi had no intention of half-assing this and that she was pouring a great deal of effort and passion into her work. Perhaps, Tsubasa realised, it was wrong of her to reject the idea so readily as she had.
“Alright, aaaaaaand… done! Kyo ho ho!” Darumi cheered joyfully as she stowed away each of her beauty supplies. “Now, are you ready to see my masterpiece? My magnum opus? ” Her voice and smile both brimmed with utmost pride.”
Gulping down the last of her anxieties, and whatever else might be in her throat, Tsubasa nodded her head. “I’m ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
“Alrighty!” Darumi clapped her hands together. “Just close your eyes and don’t open them till the count of three or…” her voice trailed off into a mumble just under her breath.
“Or…?” Tsubasa asked, her voice quivering as a pit sank into her chest. Though she’d believed she’d gotten over her anxieties about this little game, it hadn’t taken much prodding to put her back on the verge of panic.
“Kyo ho ho…” A dark chuckle escaped from Darumi’s lips. “Come on, just close your eyes! It’s no fun to mess with you if you don’t play along!”
Exhaling a troubled, uneven sigh, Tsubasa decided to relent, pinching her eyes just and deciding to just hope for the best. She felt Darumi turn her around and nearly flung her eyes open on instinct, but managed to resist the impulse, knowing deep down that Darumi would never actually do anything to hurt her.
“Alright! Get ready in one…”
Tsubasa took a deep breath…
“Two…”
She balled her hands into fists…
“Two and a half…”
And then she… Wait, what?
“Two and three quarters…”
Was Darumi really doing this?
“Two point nine…”
Tsubasa wasn’t even supposed to say anything but she was still left speechless.
“Two point nine nine nine nine nine nine nine…”
“Oh my god I can’t take this anymore!” Tsubasa shouted, prying her eyes open purely out of frustration. She was just about to say something to tell Darumi off, when.. She saw it: Her own face staring back at her in the mirror, hardly recognisable.The truth was, Tsubasa really hadn’t had any idea what to expect from a makeover by Darumi, maybe something similar to what Darumi herself would typically put on, but whatever mental image she’d concocted in her own head was certainly not what she came face-to-face with.
The first thing Darumi had done was apply a layer of pale foundation, giving her face a vaguely sickly, maybe even ghost-like quality to it. Then she’d moved on to painting a dark ring around each of her eyes, letting traces of the eyeliner trail down onto Tsubasa’s cheeks as if it had bled from crying. She’d coated Tsubasa’s lips a pale blue colour and marked faux cracks in dark grey intermittently around them, making them appear far drier than they actually were. On one hand, Tsubasa had ended up looking rather ghoulish for her lack of any better words, but on the other, it truly felt like she was owning the look.
It wasn’t long before Tsubasa couldn’t help but smile and giggle, laughing at herself for worrying so much and enjoying the rush of seeing herself in such a different way. Darumi had done a wonderful job in her own special way, just as she always did.
“Welllll?” Darumi leaned over her, an expectant gleam flashing in her eyes. “How did I do, Mistress Tsubasa? Did I make you like the best bad decision a girl could ever hope to make?!” Something was off. Darumi’s breathing grew more frantic with every word, and though her expression radiated with eager joy, none of it reached her eyes. She was putting on a good show, but it wasn’t hard for Tsubasa to tell that Darumi was seriously worried about what she thought.
“It’s… actually really nice!” Tsubasa felt her face light up into a joyful smile. It was, perhaps, an expression that didn’t quite fit the makeup she was wearing, but it was one that came straight from the heart. “I don’t think it’s the kind of thing I want to wear on a day-to-day basis, but… I like it!”
“You do?!” Darumi perked right up, tapping her feet on the ground and throwing her arms in the air. Her entire body radiated with elated, childlike joy. “As if she couldn’t get any better, now Mistress Tsubasa is even more the woman of my dreams!” She erupted into an uncontainable fit of giggling, peering at Tsubasa over the hands she held close to her face.
Darumi’s laughter infected Tsubasa, lifting her already good mood to even greater heights. It was moments like these that made Tsubasa starkly aware of just how deeply she’d fallen in love with this girl. The days where she saw Darumi as off-putting, creepy, or even dangerous felt so far away now, almost as if they never happened at all.
After what must have been a sustained minute or so of giggling, the pair finally managed to get themselves under control. Breathing out a warm, joyful sigh, Tsubasa looked up at Darumi with a devious glimmer in her eye and stood up from the stool she’d been sitting on.
“Alright!” Tsubasa declared. “That means it’s your turn, now.”
Darumi blinked, staring at Tsubasa blankly, not speaking a word. In an instant, the joyful life in her eyes had vanished.
“...Darumi?” Tsubasa tilted her head.
“Kill me now…” Darumi mumbled under her breath.
With a roll of her eyes, Tsubasa grabbed her motionless girlfriend by the shoulders and sat her down in the stool, facing away from the mirror. “You’re not getting out of this that easily, Darumi. Now hold still, this won’t take long!”
Rather than make any sort of sensible reply, Darumi insisted on continuing the ominous whispers. “Death… Dismay… Soul-crushing emptiness…”
“You don’t have to be so dramatic…” Tsubasa let out a dry laugh and reached for her own makeup kit. Hers was significantly smaller and simpler than Darumi’s, a given since Tsubasa was nowhere near the level of Darumi when it came to this kind of thing, but she figured she could make it work anyhow.
And so, Tsubasa got to work. Immediately, she was confronted with the issue that her lightest shade of foundation was actually a shade or two darker than Darumi’s particularly pale skin, but she pushed the worry aside, reminding herself this was just for fun, that getting this perfect on the first try wasn’t the goal. The entire time, Darumi remained entirely silent and still, save for the occasional muttering about the futility of life and its struggles.
Once she had finished the foundation, or rather, when she decided it was good enough, Tsubasa decided a bit of blush on the cheeks couldn’t hurt, despite what Darumi might have had to say on the subject. After that, she found herself already out of ideas and began to pack her makeup back up… until she remembered at the last moment that mascara exists and decided that would be her finishing touch.
“Okay…” Tsubasa hummed, coming to the conclusion that she was finished at last. “There! All done. Now… close your eyes.”
Darumi was defiant, grumbling something or other about the insignificance of human life.
“Come on, Darumi, you promised!” Tsubasa put a hand on Darumi’s shoulder, giving her a gentle nudge in a meek effort at encouragement.
For a moment, it seemed like Darumi might remain firm in her refusal to participate, but eventually she faltered, glancing in Tsubasa’s direction, up at her face… and let out a sigh. “Fiiiiine, whatever!” She folded her arms in a huff and pulled her eyes shut.
“Thank you, Darumi.” Tsubasa smiled, and spun her girlfriend around to face the mirror. “Alright, on the count of three, you know the deal.”
‘Yeah, yeah…” Darumi retorted, her tone doing the complaining where her words didn’t.
“Okay… three…”
Darumi visibly tensed up.
“Two…”
She took a shallow breath.
“One!”
Darumi grit her teeth, let out an anxious, uneven sigh… and slowly pried her eyes all the way back open. When she got a good look at herself in the mirror, she just sat there for a short while, observing herself in wordless silence without so much as a smile or a frown.
“Well…? Do you like it?” Tsubasa found herself fidgeting in place, overcome with nervous anticipation. Makeup wasn’t really her area of expertise, of course, but she had tried her best.
“It…” Darumi hesitated for a few seconds then donned a wide, cheshire grin. “Kyohoho! It makes me look like I’m a… u-uh…” She stumbled over her words, the smile falling from her lips as her eyes began darting around the room. “You know… some kinda nasty… fucked up… thing… ”
Tsubasa felt herself begin to frown. “You don’t like it, do you?”
Darumi’s shoulders slumped and the last vestiges of the false smile she was wearing faded away. “Yeah, I kinda… hate it. Sorry, Mistress Tsubasa...” Her gaze dropped to the floor, not unlike a child who was just caught misbehaving.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tsubasa reassured her. “I’m just glad you let me give it a try. Maybe I should just stick to machines, huh?”
“Huh?” Darumi tilted her head. “That’s not the problem, I just hate looking all girly and… normal.” Without warning, she shot up out of her seat and brought her arms around Tsubasa, holding her tight. “No beating yourself up, okay? This tiny-ass apartment only has room for one self-loathing creep and that’s me, alright?!”
Of course, Tsubasa had once again found herself cheered up just as quickly as she’d made herself upset. That’s just how things went with Darumi around she supposed. “Alright, alright.” A giggle of renewed joy worked its way out of her chest. “We should probably get all this makeup off now, we do have a bit of a busy day coming up…”
“Suuuure…” Darumi stopped herself with a gasp, a devilish look lighting up her face. “Wait! We should show this off to the boys first! The look on Takumi’s face… He’ll probably have a heart attack and die on the spot!”
A half-nervous laugh made its way out of Tsubasa as she decided to simply step past Darumi’s morbid comment. “Are you sure? I thought you said you hated yours.”
Darumi threw her hands up, quite literally shrugging off Tsubasa’s words. “Eh, it’s all worth it if it freaks Takumi out!”
Tsubasa stifled a laugh, trying and failing to stop herself from getting caught in the mischievous mood. “Okay, I’m in. Let’s do this.”
“Woohoo!” Darumi ran to the door with a cheer and pulled it open. “After you, Mistress Tsubasa.” She beamed proudly in spite of her makeup, ushering Tsubasa through the door ahead of her.
Still not entirely sure this was such a good idea but nonetheless ensnared by Darumi’s eager enthusiasm, Tsubasa stepped out into the shared bedroom. Much to her surprise, Yugamu and Takumi were both still sound asleep, holding onto one another in their slumber. “You know, they actually look pretty happy, maybe we shouldn’t—”
Before Tsubasa could finish her sentence, Darumi had already lurched forward, grabbing hold of the bedframe and shaking it vigorously. “Takumi!! Yugamu!!” She shouted. “It’s an emergency! Wake your sorry asses up already!”
Yugamu was the first one to stir, sitting upright with a yawn, not an ounce of urgency to speak of. “For the love of murder, Darumi…” He chuckled in a low mumble, his voice trailing off when he managed to get a good look at the girls. “Oh, I see what happened here. Well, isn't this charming? I’ll be the first to say it, you look adorable this way, Tsubasa, I really mean it.” He flashed a dishearteningly warm smile.
Tsubasa shuffled with equal parts uncertainty and embarrassment. She was never particularly great at taking compliments, but getting one of this kind from Yugamu of all people felt almost suspect. Before she could ruminate much on it, though, Takumi finally began to pull himself out of his deep slumber.
“Alright,” he grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “I’m awake, just give me a second, just let me…” His voice tapered off suddenly when he opened his eyes. For a few seconds, he just stared blankly, stupefied by what he was seeing, only for him to let out a guttural scream and nearly fling himself out of the bed when it finally caught up to him. “AAAAAAAAH! What the hell is going on?!”
Darumi burst out into unstoppable laughter, doubling over and placing a hand on the bed to support herself. “Kyo ho ho ho ho!!” she giggled, tears of joy running down her cheeks and smearing the blush Tsubasa had dusted them with. “You just got Darumi’d!! Hahaha!!”
“Do I really look that horrifying?” Tsubasa wondered aloud.
“Huh?” Takumi shook his head emphatically. “No, no, that’s not it! I just… I really wasn’t expecting Darumi to look like… that!”
Tsubasa blinked. “Huh? Wait, that’s what scared you?”
Darumi shrugged. “Guess I’m really not cut out for this kinda look after all? Ah well, back to being an emo bitch, I guess!”
“Please,” Takumi pleaded in her direction, his hand pressed over his chest. “I don’t think my heart can take another shock like that…”
“Well if you put it that way…” Darumi giggled. “Maybe I’ll just have Mistress Tsubasa do my makeup every morning from now on!”
Tsubasa’s eyes widened. “Wait, I thought you said you hated looking like this!”
“Well… it might be worth it if it freaks Takumi out this badly! His reactions are priceless!”
“Hey!” Takumi growled. “What’s your problem?! What did I do to deserve this?!”
Yugamu raised his hand. “I’m afraid I have to side with Takumi this time. I’m gonna have to ask that you go easy on him, Darumi.”
“Thanks, Yugamu.” Takumi grinned, all too eager to let someone come to his defense.
“After all…” Yugamu continued with a dark chuckle. “If you give Takumi a heart attack, how else am I supposed to take my turn tormenting him? It’s just not fair!”
“Oh, come on!” Takumi hurled a pillow in Yugamu’s face, growing progressively redder in the face. “Tsubasa, come on, back me up on this!”
“I don’t know… I think you’re on your own with this one…”
Takumi’s voice fell into a flat, unamused grumble. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
And so the bickering and teasing continued all throughout the morning as Yugamu and Darumi continued to compete for the privilege to drive away the last vestiges of Takumi’s sanity. Through it all, Tsubasa couldn’t help herself but to smile as she watched the chaos unfold. Her life might not have ended up as the typical happily-ever-after romance she once dreamed of, but honestly, she couldn’t help but feel it was even better this way. Despite everything that had happened to them, they were all happy, in a way Tsubasa never let herself imagine they might be.
She loved all of them.
And they all loved her.