|
"Hey Kuraiiro, why aren't you more feminine?"
The mutant Cybunny sharply sat up and looked
over at her sibling, a Christmas Lupe named Tahoshi.
"Excuse me?!" she asked rather indignantly, looking
in disbelief at him. Tahoshi sat up and sighed.
"Why aren't you more feminine like a lot of the
other female Cybunnies? Just strikes me as odd. You don't like makeup, you don't
dress up, and you wouldn't touch anything pink to save your life!" he explained.
Kuraiiro raised an eye at the Lupe and shrugged.
"And your point is?" she huffed. Tahoshi
shrugged and sat back down in the grass.
"I dunno, I guess I just wondered why you don't
do normal girl stuff. After all, you are a girl!" Tahoshi said. The Cybunny
pondered these words for a bit and sat up, hopping back towards Neopia Central.
"Where are you going?" Tahoshi yelled after her,
watching her run off.
"I have some errands to run!" Kuraiiro yelled
back as she ran towards town.
Kuraiiro looked with confusion at the bright
pink store. It wasn't that she was repulsed by it; it was just so horribly girly.
She never considered herself a tomboy, but people
always assumed she was. She just wasn't into all that girly stuff, it seemed
so odd. But after Tahoshi's words, she though that maybe she should try to be
a bit more feminine. After all, maybe she was just being narrow minded! It might
be fun!
Well, maybe not…
Kuraiiro opened the door slowly, bracing herself
as if she expected to find some unspeakable horror behind the door. Inside the
store, young pets were giggling and laughing as they picked out different colors
of makeup (what kind of make-up it was, Kuraiiro wasn't sure, she wasn't even
sure if it was make-up or not). Glancing around the room she quickly noticed
how she was the only mutant pet in there, sticking out like a sore thumb.
"May I help you?" Kuraiiro spun around to face
a friendly looking Uni covered in pink makeup over her sky blue fur.
"Erm, yes… hello," Kuraiiro quickly smiled at
the Uni, a bit nervous, not having the slightest idea what she wanted. "Erm…
do you sell that make-up stuff?" she asked. The Uni nodded happily and waved
a hoof all around the store.
"Of course! We sell over 900 different kinds
of makeup! We have concealer, eyeliner, mascara, blush…"
The Cybunny stared at the Uni as she prattled
on and on. What had she just said? It all sounded like a foreign language to
her. The shopkeeper noticed Kuraiiro's vacant expression at all the things she
mentioned.
"Are you new to the world of make-up, dear?"
the Uni asked kindly. Kuraiiro quickly nodded, rather embarrassed.
"Yeah, I haven't tried any make-up in… well…
ever," she admitted. The shopkeeper clapped her pink hoofs together and nodded.
"Oh well that's just FINE! I run a class for
those just beginning to use make-up! Why don't you join us there tonight?"
"Welcome to the 'make-up for beginner's class!'"
the Uni announced later that evening. The store was packed with young pets,
giddy and happy to finally learn the art of make-up. Kuraiiro looked around
the class and at the Uni as she began to speak up again.
"Tonight I will teach you the subtleties of make-up
and once we are finished, you will be make-up wonders!" she giggled. The class
began to whisper excitedly to one another.
"To start off tonight's lesson we will begin
with a makeover!" The Uni pointed to a dozen vanity mirrors off in the corner.
The girls all ran over to them and gasped at all the make-up. Kuraiiro glanced
nonchalantly at all the bottles, not sure if she was also supposed to be impressed.
"Now, you have 15 minutes to make yourselves
over!" the Uni explained as she turned on an egg timer. The class all set to
work quickly, dabbing themselves with the assorted powders and liquids.
Kuraiiro glanced over the make-ups, rather confused
of what to do with them.
"Hrm, I like that color!" Kuraiiro decided, picking
up a bottle of blue goop. She looked at the bottle for a while, trying to figure
out what it was supposed to be used for.
"Well, it's got a brush thing on it, so I guess
it goes on your eyes!" Kuraiiro sloshed the brush around the blue goop, taking
liberal amount as she drew circles around her eyes. She picked up a compact
of bright red blush and gently applied it to her cheeks. However, with her stormy
dark fur, a small amount just wouldn't do the trick. She kept apply layer after
layer of makeup to her face, convinced that she was finally getting the hang
of it.
"So how are you doing ARGH!!!!" the Uni hollered
as she looked in Kuraiiro's mirror. The Cybunny quickly spun around and looked
at the shopkeeper innocently.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked. The Uni
looked down at the mutant with horror.
Kuraiiro's dark fur was pearly white in random
places. Around her eyes were odd, electric blue circles which didn't look natural
at all. Her cheeks were a clown red shade, and all over her lips were three
different shapes of lipstick, her yellow buckteeth covered in each layer of
the lipstick.
"What did you do wrong?! EVERYTHING!" the Uni
shrieked "You used WAY too much blush! You have LIPSTICK ON YOUR TEETH! And
you PUT NAILPOLISH ON YOUR EYELIDS!" the Uni hollered. Kuraiiro looked into
the mirror and mused for a second.
"Oh, I though that blue stuff was that eye color
stuff, oh… what is it called?" Kuraiiro racked her brain for the name.
"Eyeliner?" the Uni asked as she grabbed a nearby
pencil. The Cybunny opened her eyes widely at the pencil and then at the nail
polish.
"Oh, see… I thought it was…"
"Nevermind!" the Uni sighed exasperatedly as
she sat down in a chair, slowly trying to regain her composure. Following a
few seconds of silence she quickly stood up, as bright and chipper as before.
"OKAY! Next we will try nail polish! Hopefully
that will be easy enough for you all," the Uni directed to the class, but Kuraiiro
knew it was directed at her. The class went back to their vanity mirrors and
began to pick out their colors. Kuraiiro sat down at her mirror (wishing now
that she could have just forgotten this whole thing) and looked over the colors.
Delicate pinks, deep blues, luscious greens and all kinds of beautiful colors
were there, but there was one simple problem. Kuraiiro stared down at her black
nails and started to wonder how could she paint them? They were… well… black!
She thought for a second, trying to avoid asking
the teacher for help at all costs (she felt by now that she had been enough
of a nuisance, and should just figure these things out on her own). Kuraiiro
looked through the colors and picked out a white polish. Of course! she
thought. If she just drenched her nails in WHITE nail polish, then the black
would be hidden and she could use the colors!
She delicately dabbed the small brush in the
vial of nail polish and applied the paint with care. However, after only half
of one of her claws was painted, Kuraiiro realized that her bottle was empty.
She felt a little surge of panic as she tried to realize what to do next. She
looked at the other students, all busy and at work painting their nails, none
of them seems to be having the trouble she was having!
Maybe I can just, wipe it off! Kuraiiro
thought.
She grabbed a sheet from a paper towel roll
and tried to wipe off the nail polish, but the polish had already become sticky
and somewhat dry. The paper towel was doing more harm than good, getting bits
of paper stuck in her messy, half painted claws.
"Okay Class! 3 more minutes before you
show off your nails!" the Uni declared giddily. Kuraiiro started to panic. 3
minutes?! She had to fix this mess, NOW!
She scanned the colors trying to pick
one that looked remotely like the white, she took a light pink and began to
quickly paint her nails, missing many spaces and dripping the nail polish all
over the counter. She quickly picked an electric blue color and began dotting
her nails, but out of her nervousness she spattered pain all over her paws.
Kuraiiro started to whimper, vainly splashing on a few more colors to make her
nails look halfway decent before it was over.
"Time's up!" the storekeeper happily chirped.
The group slowly turned around in their chairs and faced the teacher. Kuraiiro
spin around to face the Uni, but kept her claws firmly behind her back.
"If you will all please extend your paws
I will look at how well each of you did and offer some tips," she explained.
They all help out their paws as the Uni went around and looked at them.
"Very nice, lovely use of the passionate
pink!" she nodded to one Aisha. Kuraiiro kept her paws tightly hidden behind
her back, they were such a mess! She silently hoped that Sloth might come into
the shop, it might be a better option to be one of his slaves, then to show
of her horrible creation.
"Kuraiiro..." Kuraiiro's floppy ears drooped
as the Uni stood in front of her. The class all turned to her and started to
snicker as Kuraiiro slowly unveiled her nails and braced herself for the explosion
which was to come.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" the Uni hollered as
soon as she set her blue eyes on Kuraiiro's nails. Bits and pieces of tower
paper were attached to the haphazardly painted nails. Blue, purple, yellow,
white, all these colors (and some other colors mixed together) were splashed
on to her nails in no particular order. Her paws were also spotted with the
colors (her paws receiving more of the paint than her nails, it appeared).
"Well, I uhh… was going for a… a… erm…
you see," Kuraiiro sputtered. The Uni looked at her nails and then at her.
"How many vials of nail polish did you
USE?!" she asked bewildered. Kuraiiro turned around and counted the empty vials.
"One, two, three, four, five… five," she
explained.
"FIVE?!" the Uni gasped. The Cybunny frowned
and clicked her claws together.
"I-I'm sorry I…"
"No need, lets just move on here…" the
Uni gruffed. The group of pets all gathered around their teacher, while trying
to get discrete looks at Kuraiiro's abomination.
Kuraiiro slowly hopped off her stool and
trudged towards the rest of the group. This wasn't her type of thing, she was
better off with books and video games, not nail polish and… that-that… eye-liney
stuff…
"To conclude tonight's class you will
each be required to put an outfit together and model it off to the class. Point
will be given for color coordination and attention to this seasons fashion styles!
After the given time is over, I will grade you on your outfit!" the shopkeeper
explained. The Uni led the anxious group to a back room, filled with skirts
of all colors and lengths, blouses, dresses, anything which a girl might wear.
The class erupted into squeals of "how CUTE!" Kuraiiro merely wrinkled
her blue nose in disgust at the outfits.
Oh, why should I even bother? She thought.
I just can't do this sort of thing…
Kuraiiro quickly scolded herself for thinking
that. Anything was her thing; she just had to try at it! And try she would…
Kuraiiro huddled behind the curtain which
led out to the makeshift ramp (really just a black role of carpeting). Each
one of the pets walked out onto the isle, the Uni examining their outfits and
giving each an approving smile. The mutant Cybunny played with one of her claws,
wondering if the teacher would like her outfit…
"Next up… Kuraiiro," the Uni called, rather
hesitantly, from the other side of the curtain. Kuraiiro peaked out from behind
the pink curtain at the Uni sitting in a chair outside the curtain. She took
a deep breath and slowly wobbled out…
Kuraiiro's large clawed feet were much
too large for the sandals which she had chosen (which were the biggest shoes
in the store), and she was not at all used to walking on her two back feet.
Her outfit was a mismatched creation of a long puffy teal skirt adored with
a Doglefox on the side; a glittery belt loosely attached to the skirt. She wore
a dark pink ruffled shirt which was covered with a horrible yellow and green
plaid vest. Her large floppy ears were tied together with a pink bow, and around
her neck was a string of fake pearls.
She slowly made her way towards the teacher
and then stopped. The Cybunny turned around and modeled off her outfit (missing
the Uni's look of utter revulsion) and then stood there, waiting for her praise.
The Uni just sat there, flabbergasted.
She slowly got up from her chair and looked over at the mutated Cybunny.
"What... what were you… what…" the Uni
grasped for words and finding none simply pointed at Kuraiiro.
Kuraiiro missed the nausea of the Uni
and put her (still oddly painted) claws her to mouth.
"Well, I like the color teal! So I found
a teal skirt, and it has a Doglefox on it because I think they're really wonderful
pets," Kuraiiro beamed. The stunned Uni pointed down at Kuraiiro's shoes. Kuraiiro
believed she was pointing behind her and sharply turned around.
"Did I drop something?" she asked.
SMACK! The Cybunny's large, fish like
tail smacked into the Uni's face. The poor Uni fell over from the force of the
tail, gingerly rubbing her face with her hoof.
"Oh my! Are you okay?" Kuraiiro rushed
over to help the fallen teacher until she began to back away from Kuraiiro,
a look of pure terror in her eyes.
"NO! JUST STAY THERE!" she yelled, pointed
at Kuraiiro. Kuraiiro raised a confused eyebrow. The Uni pointed back behind
the curtain and waved a hoof.
"Just… just go back there!" she pleaded.
Kuraiiro nodded and hopped back to the curtain, behind which all the students
were gathered together watching the mayhem. Kuraiiro looked at their confused
(and somewhat horrified) faces with a smile.
"Do you think she liked my outfit?" she
asked earnestly.
"It's been a tough journey, but eventually
we all got here!" the Uni proclaimed to the class (shooting a furtive glance
at Kuraiiro near the end of the line).
"You are now all superiors in your knowledge
of makeup, outfits and all that cute stuff!" The Uni clapped as the class joined
in as well. Finally the end of the course had arrived and not a moment too soon
for Kuraiiro. She was a complete failure, maybe even more than complete, just
an utter failure.
"When I call your name, please come up
and get your diploma as well as a free gift!" The Uni held up a small, brightly
wrapped package. She called out each name slowly as each pet scurried up to
receive their diploma and an pat on the head by the Uni followed by a large
round of applause by their classmates.
"Kuraiiro…" the Uni read rather half heartily.
Kuraiiro slowly walked up and took the diploma and the gift. The Uni stuck out
her arm as far as it would go and quickly patted the Cybunny on the head and
retracted as if she carried some horrible disease. Kuraiiro filed back into
line and looked at the package, not truly in the mood to open it.
"Well, I hope to see you all again sometime!"
the Uni announced cheerfully. The class erupted into a storm of talking as they
all walked out of the grooming parlor and into the night. Kuraiiro hopped off,
saddened by her disappointment.
She looked into the dark storefronts as
she passed them on her way home. Why did she try so hard at this anyway? It
wasn't her thing! Besides, she didn't have to impress them, it only mattered
what she thought, right? She tried to think of things that consoled her obvious
failure as she walked the quiet city streets.
She suddenly stopped and realized she
never opened the gift! She looked down at the small parcel and slowly opened
it. Inside was a small white box, and inside that box was a delicate gold vial.
Kuraiiro opened up the top and twisted it, revealing the dark red lipstick concealed
within. She smiled and continued towards her home.
"KURAIIRO! Lets go! The movie starts in
10 minutes!" Tahoshi screamed up the stairs.
"I'll be right there!" Kuraiiro yelled
from her room, looking at the small gold trinket she received last week. Her
family sat around the main room, ready to go out to a movie, but held up by
the Cybunny. Tahoshi huffed and tapped his paw impatiently.
"Girls," he muttered, earning him a glare
from his owner.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she barked.
"I'm ready! Let's go!" Kuraiiro hopped
down the stairs and towards the door. She stopped near the group and smiled
apologetically.
"I'm sorry I took so long! I was doing
something, and I got caught up!" she explained before starting towards the door.
The family gawked at her not moving towards the door but more intent on knowing
was on her face…
"Kuraiiro is that… is that... lipstick?"
Tahoshi gawked, pointing at her. Kuraiiro turned from the door to the Lupe and
nodded.
"Maybe... now come on! We'll be late for
the movie!" she yelled before dashing out the door.
The End
| 
