Muse

Chapter 30

The business district of Otemachi was rife with nightlife, illuminated by the countless windows of office workers pulling overtime for the sake of their companies, and I had never felt so uncomfortable in my life. I tugged at the back of my dress and sighed. I should have fought harder for my appearance. I had only been doing it my entire life, but like usual, that little voice inside my head that sounded so much like my mother started talking. 'People should wear something nice on a date, not just something formal you wear all the time to work. People who care about their appearance would hate if they saw their clothes were wrinkled when they left the house. Most people who wear dresses would shave their legs before going out- scratch that, should shave their legs all the time.'

Which was why I was wearing a black, knee-length dress that was drenched with Downpour Wrinkle Release and a pair of Spanx that went so high up my waist, it could've been a second bra. Sweat was already creeping down my back as I listened to the slap-slap of my gladiator sandals on the pavement. They were flat and largely uncomfortable for a long duration of time, but anything was better than heels. Like I needed to add 'clumsy giraffe' to my growing list of faults. An acrid, chemical odor of hairspray hung on me like a dark cloud while I fought the urge to touch my hair, either to push it out of my face or cool off my neck. I had a time limit of three hours at max for my curls and wasn't particularly eager to hear complaints of ruining it because I was being fussy. Having had kept it in a ponytail or bun for so long, I had forgotten exactly how long and massive my hair was. My sister was a well-meaning fairy godmother, but she had our mother's tastes, and their idea of dolling me up felt suffocating and totally not my style at all. At least this time around I had convinced Jo-Elle not to use the straightening iron after the last time. I could still feel the burns on my right temple.

"I can't believe I allowed you to do this to my hair," I said, running my hand tentatively through the end of a spiral strand.

"I know but just think of how pretty you'll look on your date with Izuku," Jo-Elle said, not looking remorseful in the slightest. Walking past a window display, I paused at the cute, curly-haired stranger in the reflection. As much as I hated to admit it, I looked hot. The drastic transformation into this beautiful young lady that I knew existed and often self-projected onto myself, was also a constant reminder of how little effort I put into my own appearance. 'See? You could look like this all the time if you weren't so lazy and put more effort into your appearance like normal people,' I heard my mother's voice say, putting a damper on my mood.

"It's not a date. He invited me to his friend's birthday party."

"Yeah, speaking of which, remind me why I'm here again?"

"Moral support."

"Riiight."

"Look, if you want to bow out later, just remember to say you have a Tinder date or something you need to get to and that you were in the neighborhood to kill some time. I'll make up an excuse for you if you can't find the words."

"...You are so lucky that I like show-tunes."

"Thank you. I love you," I gushed in an overly saccharine voice, rebuffed the instant I went in for a hug.

"Yeah, yeah... Just remember that he invited you to his friend's party. Izuku's there to celebrate being with his other friends. That means not dominating the entire conversation or monopolizing his attention."

"I know..." I mumbled, feeling a flicker of irritation and melancholy. I hadn't considered not being able to talk to Izuku. It had been years since I had been invited to a birthday party, let alone one where you only knew the host and no one else. He was probably going to have most of his attention on his other friends, people he'd known for years. Maybe it really wasn't a first date. Why was I even here then? I should have been working on my next chapter. I still had until Friday evening to post it and doing things last minute was never a good practice to keep.