#Unfortunately they only talk to Fuuta once. Couldn't force them into a friendship.

[adipostsstuff]

My @milgram-valentines-exchange gift for @good-beans. Honestly I was worried about getting this finished on time but I actually got a couple of weeks to spare at the end of it. Once I got it to a fairly good standard I ended up putting it aside to focus on studies. While I'm not sure if it's as good as I want it to be, it's good enough. This is the first fanfic I finished and it's the first Milgram fic I've written (I have a Danganronpa fic I've uploaded but it's multi-chapter and really long, I need to get back onto that). Taking this from my notes app and reformatting it was hell, I hope I didn't miss anything. Hope you enjoy this and Happy Valentines Day! (Please ask me about the writing process please ask me about the writing process please ask me about-)

What a pain...

Yuno looks up from her navigation to check her surroundings. A client was going to take her to the bar in the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo and asked her to dress up for the day, so she is looking for a beauty parlour to help her get ready. It was a well paying client, so she couldn't refuse him, but it did bother her to have to mould herself into the desires of others. Whatever. She had chosen this work of her own accord, so she needs to just suck it up and do what she does best: lie and keep appearances.

Ah. This must be the place.

Yuno stands in front of parlour her phone sent her to. She pulls up the receipt from her booking and walks in.

"Excuse me," she says to the receptionist. "I have an appointment for 10:15."

"Alright. Can I have your name?"

"Kashiki Yuno."

The lady behind the desk checks some things on her computer before looking back up at her. "There you are. Would you like to come with me?" She takes her to one of the stations and settle her down. "Your stylist will be here shortly."

Yuno takes a minute to take in her surroundings. This place seems quite well run and professional, and the products high quality; not a bad deal for the cost.

"Ah, hello there. I haven't seen you before."

Yuno turns to her side to find the voice. Next to her, a woman with light brown hair and round face sat by the neighbouring station. She looked from be in her early twenties and she wore a warm smile that felt like the sun itself.

Yuno attempted to match her disposition with a smile of her own. "Yeah, this is my first time here. I'm Kashiki Yuno."

"Shiina Mahiru. Nice to meet you, Yuno-san. I come here all the time. Usually its just for advise from my beautician. She's like my closest friend right now. Today I'm going on a date, though, so I need to look my best. Even though my boyfriend never really pays attention to how hard I try for him. Hey, what are you here for?"

"I'm going to be going out to a fancy place tonight so I'm dressing up for the occasion." She leaves out a lot of details, having no interest in telling a stranger about her job. She didn't need anyone's judgement on it.

"Ooh, fancy. Is it for a date?"

"Hm? Something like that." Mahiru giggles in response.

"Found it! This one is sure to - ah! Were you two talking?" a woman on the other side of Mahiru, presumably her beautician, perks up.

"Ah, yes, we were just introducing ourselves. This is Yuno-san, it's her first time here," Mahiru answers. Yuno gives the woman an awkward wave. She sure loves talking, doesn't she?

"Hi. I'm Sayori, Mahiru-chan's beautician. Nice to meet you. Mahiru-chan, I found the thing. This one is sure to catch his eye," says Sayori, holding up a bottle of something Yuno can't identify.

"Ah, I wanna try," responds the brunette. Yuno turns back to her own desk, assuming the conversation to be over.

"Sorry for the wait. You must be Kashiki Yuno, correct?" A ginger woman in her early thirties walks to her side.

"Yes, that's me," Yuno replies.

"Oh, she's a good one. You're in amsafe hands with her," says Sayori.

"Thank you, Nanami-san. Ms. Kashiki, Is there a particular look you are going for?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe something a bit more refined?"

"Alright. First, I am going to wash your face and clean up your nails. Is that okay?"

"Sure. You would know best, after all.

"The woman, who Yuno assumes to be her stylist for the day, begins to apply a scrub to her face. It feels weird on her face, though her touch isn't too rough. She leaves it on and washes her hands before picking up a nail file and taking Yuno's hand in her own and getting to work on them.

"Hey, Yuno-san," Mahiru says, causing Yuno to face her slightly. "What do you normally like to do?"

"Oh, I like shopping and going out with my friends. I'm also part of the theatre club at school, so you could say that's also a hobby of mine."

"Theatre sounds pretty exciting. I've been to a few shows. It looks like a lot of fun."

"It is. At least I think so. Very different from watching." Yuno is pretty used to playing a part, but at least with theatre it was entirely for fun, with no one assuming anything about her based on her role.

"Ooh, maybe I should try it. There's a theatre group at my university. I'm in my final year at Aoyama Gakuin University studying literature. Me... I also enjoy shopping. I'm into fashion and astrology, and I like reading magazines and watching dramas. I mainly do running and film watching because those are my lover's hobbies."

"You just copy your lover's hobbies?"

"Oh yes. In order to have a good relationship with your partner, you must adapt to them. Relationships are about compromise."

"Yep, yep. As said in the Lain magazine, a good relationship relies on shared interests. It is important to take interest in the things your partner likes and abide by what they desire," says Sayori.

"Even so," says Yuno, "to change your lifestyle for their sake... you have to leave something for yourself, right?"

Mahiru says, "No need. I'm ready to give all of me for my lover, and I only ask for him to do the same. Say, have you ever been in love before?"

Yuno thinks. "There was this one boy I had a crush on in middle school, Haruto-kun. I wouldn't really say I was in love with him, though. So, no, I haven't been in love."

"A shame. Don't worry, Yuno-san, I'm sure it will happen to you eventually. Love is like a time bomb that will explode one day. You can't stop it from happening. And when it does, you will understand just how beautiful it is."

To Yuno, this all seems a bit idealised. She has been empty for so long she can't remember what it is like to form close bonds with people. Sure, she cares about her friends and family, but even they don't fully understand her, so she cannot truly feel close to them. For someone like her, does 'true love' really exist? "I hope so." Yuno trails off. "Say, Shiina-san -"

"Oh please, Mahiru is fine."

"Mahiru-san, then. What's your boyfriend like? You've been talking about him a lot."

She brightens up at this. "My boyfriend is a really kind person. He takes care of me really well. We get into arguments sometimes, but we always come out of it closer than before."

"Uh huh. What else can you tell me?"

"What else... Oh! Do you want to see a picture of him?"

Yuno didn’t miss how she dodged the question. "Sure." Mahiru pulls up her phone and opens up her photos, showing Yuno a selfie of her and her boyfriend smiling together. He looked somewhat plain, but still cute. They did look happy, so Yuno may be overthinking their relationship. It wasn't like it was any of her business anyways. "He looks alright."

"I know. But it's not just his looks that make me like him. He has a charming personality too."

"Haha, that's nice to hear."

"Miss Kashiki, can you lean forward?" her stylist asks, gesturing to the sink in front of her. She does so and her stylist washes her face before placing her back and wiping it with a small towel. She then picks up a foundation from a shelf. "This is the product I am going to use for your face," she says, applying it on. Yuno suspects this is a way of trying to advertise it to her. Once she is done she takes a contour pen and applies to to different pats of her face, blending them with a beauty blender. "This is how you look so far. How do you think?" The beautician turns her to the mirror. Her face looks natural, barely as if anything is there, but she still appears to be somewhat older and more mature.

"Looks good so far," she says.

"Alright." The lady picks up a book. "You said you wanted a refined look. Do you have an outfit prepared?"

"Hm, I think I do."

"OK. Describe it to me and I'll see if I can come up with something that matches." Yuno opens her mouth to reply, but at that moment a voice calls from behind her drawing her stylist's attention.

"Natsumi."

Yuno turns to see what she is looking at and finds a man with bright red hair wearing a union jack hoodie running up to them.

"Futa? What are you doing here?" the beautician, apparently named Natsumi, asks.

"Dad called. He wants to talk to you."

She sighs. "Now? I'm in the middle of an appointment."

"He says it's urgent."

"Fine. Hand it over," she groans, taking the phone from Futa's hand. "I'm sorry about this, ma'am. Stay here, Futa, I'll be back."

"I'm not staying in a beauty parlour. That's gross."

"Maybe you should. It might make you less misogynistic."

Futa stares at her in disgust as she walks away. Nearby, Mahiru's stylist whispers "I've never heard Kajiyama-senpai speak like that before."

"I'm not misogynistic. I just think girl talk is boring," Futa complains.

Yuno comments, "That sounds pretty misogynistic to me."

Futa glares at her. "And who are you?"

"Kashiki Yuno. Nice to meet you. You are..." Sayori called her stylist Kajiyama and, from them appearing to have the same father, they are probably siblings. "...Kajiyama Futa?"

He rolls his eyes. "Why are you acting do friendly with me? Its weird to talk that way to strangers, you know."

"All relationships start with strangers."

"What makes you think I want to be friends with you?"

"How rude," Sayori whispers.

"Just ignore him. He's being a jerk," says Mahiru. "By the way, didn't you say you were in school? Which year are you in?"

Relieved to change the subject, she replies, "In my final year."

"Oh, that means exams and applications and all of that. How's that coming along?" asks Sayori.

"It's a struggle, but I think I'm doing well. I go to cram school, so that should help."

"That's good to hear. What universities or courses are you thinking of applying to?" says Mahiru.

"I'm not sure. To be honest, I'm not if I even want to go to university."

"Oh, you absolutely should! It's a completely different experience from school. You get to meet so many new people and try new things in a new environment. You might even find your true love there. I believe it's worth it."

"It really isn't," chimes in Futa. "You barely learn anything and all the people there are so lame. There's no point, most degrees are useless anyways."

"Didn't you say you didn't want to be friends with us?" Mahiru retorts. Futa huffs, looking away.

"Why did you go then?" Yuno asks. Mahiru gives her a look but Yuno shrugs. I'm curious.

He sighs. "My dad made me. Said I would never get anywhere without one. Not that having one would get me anywhere. Besides, it was what everyone else was doing, and I didn't want to start working immediately or do a vocational course."

Yuno hums. "Honestly, the main reason why I'm not sure is because I don't know what I want to do with my future. I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I don't want to choose a path and end up regretting it."

"You're probably better off than me, in that case."

Mahiru says, "What I did is choose a subject I liked in school and look up universities that offered it. I knew I wanted to move to Tokyo because it's a busy city with lots of things to do..." she trails off. Did the city not live up to her expectations? She brightens back up. "So I looked into universities here that offered courses in literature, and I really liked Aoyama Gakuin's course because it's really varied. Of course, there's also admissions tests and tuition fees to think about: they weren't particularly a problem for me but I can imagine you different people have different needs. You just need to think about what's important to you."

"Nice going, Mahiru-chan," says Sayori. "Personally, I knew I wanted to be in the beauty industry, so I went to a junior college and took a course in it."

"That was really helpful. I might have a better idea now. To be honest, it's figuring out what I like that's the main issue. Most of my friends are going to different unis, so it's not like I can just follow them."

Mahiru says, "You are going to make new friends at uni anyway. What about theatre?"

"Well, I'm not sure if after 3 or 4 years I'll still like it, and I don't think I can change my course half way through. I'm really worried about not having good time. It may be a bit self-centered, but I hate things that are boring."

"That's understandable. If you really can't think of anything, why not take a gap year? You can try lots of different things in that time and decide what you enjoy the most that way."

"That's a good idea, actually. You're like a dependable older sister who sounds very wise."

Mahiru laughs. "Really? That makes me so happy. I'm an only child, but I've always wanted a younger sibling to fawn over. Maybe I'll have that chance when I have a child of my own."

"Hoping for the traditional lifestyle, are you?"

"Yep. Isn't that the ideal?"

"You know some people would call you old-fashioned for that?"

"Not a problem. It's my dream, after all."

"Well, I wouldn't put that much stock in it. I have a younger brother myself, and it's really not super exciting."

"Don't you get along with him?"

"I do, and I'm glad to have him, but he can be annoying at times. That's just how younger siblings are."

"More like older siblings," Futa mutters under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Yuno is close enough to hear.

"What was that?" she asks.

He begins, "My older sister loves to get on my nerves. Every chance she gets, she keeps interrupting me whenever I'm doing something and going on about how I should try harder in life and make real friends. When I was younger and she first started out on here, she would try to test her stuff on me. Do I look like I'd be into that girly shit?"

"Do you not like her very much?"

Futa pauses. "Somewhat. She did take care of me when I was younger, especially after mum left. It's just sometimes, she can get real grating. H-Hey, don't tell her I said any of that!" he nervously tacks on at the end.

Yuno giggles. "Don't worry. I won't. Say, did your parents get divorced as well? For me it was my father, instead."

"Really? Yeah, they did."

"Guess we are more similar than we thought."

"Don't even try that. We're nothing alike. Besides, you're probably more like my sister."

"Yeah, Yuno-san, don't insult yourself like that," Mahiru adds, which Futa tries to ignore. But Yuno could tell. While their outward appearances were very different, they had things in common. His apathetic attitude to life, his fickle and shallow relationships, all were things he shared with her. Yet in some ways they were different. He didn't hide the way he thought about things the way she did, yet he appeared to care more about what people think about him. In a way, they were like fire and ice.

"Sorry for the wait," Ms. Natsumi hurries to her side.

"My phone," says Futa, extending an arm.

"You're so addicted to that thing," she retorts, handing it back."I'm not addicted. It's the 21st century, everyone's on their phones these days. You're not in the 90s anymore."

"You say that as if I'm some old woman. You're only, what, 13 years younger than me."

"Exactly. Ancient. Besides, you flaunt that around all the time when it's convenient, so you have no right to get mad when I bring it up. Whatever, I'm getting out of this dumb place with all of it's dumb people." Futa turns away and walks out, not taking a second glance back.

Natsumi sighs. "That boy. I'm sorry if he disturbed you in any way. Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes, you were going to describe your preferred look. Would you please continue?" Yuno starts explaining what she's planning to wear. Mahiru watches her for a moment before turning back to her own stylist for her own job.

The rest of the session passes smoothly with little interruption, and by the end her stylist turns her to the mirror. "What do you think?"

Yuno watches herself in the mirror, hardly able to recognise herself. She has not changed much, but she gives off a subtly sophisticated aura. "It's perfect," she breathes.

"That's good. That would be time, so you are free to go. If you liked any of the products used today, you can purchase them at the counter. Have a nice day, I hope you come again."

"Thank you." She moves to leave, but gets stopped by Mahiru.

"Wow. You look great," she says.

"Thanks. You look really good too," Yuno says. And she did. She was given a more youthful appearance that really brought out her features in a very flattering manner.

"Thank you. I hope my boyfriend sees this as well."

"Did your session end just now as well?" asks Yuno, surprised she's still here. Mahiru was here before her, so surely her session would have ended earlier.

"Nope, ended a while back. I waited for you."

"Really? Why?"

"I wanted to talk to you again," she says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Are you heading to your outing now?"

"I'm going home first to change. What about you? Are you going on your date?"

"Hehe, yep. Do you live nearby?"

"Uh huh. I'm assuming you do as well."

"Yes. Hey, do you want to exchange Lines?"

"Huh? Sure, why not?" Of all things to happen, Yuno didn't expect to make a new friend here. They exchange Line numbers and Mahiru promises to keep in touch with her before leaving. Yuno stands there for a second watching her go, before turning away herself. In a sense, Mahiru was different to Yuno as well, in a way that made her similar to Futa, though neither would admit to it. They were earnest, willing to be genuine with others and trust them with their hearts, while Yuno could only lie her way through life to be accepted. If Yuno was ice, Futa would be fire and Mahiru the sun.

She walks off; she needed to get back to work anyway. Whatever friendship Mahiru thinks will come out of this, it probably won't happen. By the end of the day, they'll forget about each other. Not like her compensated dating gives any warmth either, but it's not like she can quit it now. She goes home, gets ready, lies to her family about where she's going again and heads out to another lonely luxury date with a client who will refuse to see her as she is and spend the night with her to offer her temporary warmth that will fade just as quickly as it came, leaving her empty once again.

When she arrives home that night and is about to tuck into bed, she gets a message.

Hi Yuno. How was your day?

And, for a moment, she feels slightly warmer.