"Is an apology going to fix this, or...?"
Those close to them knew how tight the bond between Honoka and Shizuka was, but Honoka's connection to the Kitayama family often made her a potential target for kidnapping. Shizuka's attentiveness toward her friend was never wasted effort. Miyuki let out a soft giggle as she watched Yugen sigh while Shizuka continued to playfully torment him.
"Besides," Shizuka continued, "you're covering the makeup for this event."
"Take that up with my mother, not me... Wait, you look like you have something else to say, Shizuka."
"I heard it from Chihime-san. Apparently, your makeup skills once left a top-tier actress speechless?"
Yugen winced. "...I'm going to have to call Brother Mototsugu later and ask him to have a 'talk' with Grandfather."
The story Shizuka had caught wind of happened in France. Through a connection of Gozo's, Yugen had visited a film set where the lead makeup artist had suddenly fallen ill. Yugen had stepped in to handle the lead actress's makeup. As fate would have it, the scenes filmed with his work became the highlight of the movie. The film swept the awards, and Yugen even received a thank-you letter from the Best Actress winner.
His proficiency came from a practical, if slightly forced, education. Growing up in a female-dominated household, he was often roped into helping. His birth mother, Shiho, had taught him the techniques as a matter of course. After helping his sister Shina once, his mother had remarked, "Yugen, you could be a professional. You changed her entire aura with a single brush." At the time, he'd dismissed it as motherly bias.
He had no intention of pursuing that career path—he had a bad feeling about where it would lead. His heart had nearly frozen when he saw the name "Yuno Longfield" (a clear play on his name, Yuto Nagano) in the film's credits. He only discovered this because Shizuka and Honoka had invited him to see the movie. He considered it a stroke of luck that Shizuka hadn't seen his face in the dark theater at that moment.
But now, the secret was out. If Shizuka knew, Chihime knew, and if Chihime knew, Gozo had clearly been talking. Naturally, Miyuki's eyes were now sparkling with anticipation.
"In that case, Yugen-sama, please... you must do my makeup."
"Look, I'm not a professional. I'd hate to diminish your natural beauty with amateur work... Shizuka? Why are you looking at me with those pleading eyes?"
"Because we can trust you, Yugen," Shizuka said softly.
"Sigh... (My mother set this up, didn't she?)"
Recognizing that he couldn't win against his two fiancées, Yugen surrendered. When he reported his "defeat" to Chihime, she simply smiled. "You certainly are soft on your fiancées, Yugen-kun." He agreed to do it on the condition that a professional would double-check the work afterward.
When he told Tatsuya, the latter simply placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "You certainly have your work cut out for you."
The makeup session took place at the hotel where Shizuka's group was staying. Yugen worked with intense focus, calling upon his muscle memory. It required a level of concentration comparable to controlling the "Tenjin Invocation"—one of the highest difficulties in Tenjin Magic. While a professional might take an hour, Yugen finished both girls in thirty minutes.
His efficiency—fifteen minutes per person—left the professional artists Chihime had hired in awe. When one of them asked if they could apprentice under him to learn his "speed-work," Yugen felt a cold sweat break out.
"...I'm sending the bill to my father," Shizuka declared, checking the mirror.
"Do whatever you want," Yugen muttered, exhausted.
He had never imagined that skills honed on his family would translate so well to the "real world." He had aimed for a "natural look," but lately, his internal gauge for what qualified as "normal" was becoming increasingly skewed. He decided to stop worrying about it. Both Miyuki and Shizuka were more than satisfied, with Shizuka insisting that her father, Ushio, would pay him a proper reward.
Furthermore, Chihime had insisted that both Yugen and Tatsuya receive professional grooming as well. As the head of the Kagurazaka group and the future head of the Yotsuba appearing together, she argued they needed to look the part so as not to be overshadowed by the radiant Miyuki. Fortunately, Yugen was allowed to leave his own grooming to the hired professionals.
"...Say, Miyuki. Who is this handsome man standing in front of me?" Yugen joked, looking at Tatsuya.
"It is a mystery, isn't it?" Miyuki teased. "If he always put this much effort into his appearance, my heart would have a much harder time finding peace."
"You two..." Tatsuya sighed.
Despite Tatsuya's self-assessment as "average-looking," the polished version of him had Yugen and Miyuki tilting their heads in mock wonder. Honoka and Lina, however, were less teasing; both had turned bright red at the sight of him and vanished onto the balcony, claiming they "needed some air."
The West Side New Island (Nishihate Shinijima) was a semi-submersible mega-float. Its base consisted of a grid-like undersea resource extraction facility, supported by sixteen massive columns—twelve acting as floats and four as ore transport shafts. Atop these columns sat a regular octagonal artificial ground. This structure housed five levels of residential zones, including luxury hotels for VIP guests.
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