Beauty: Not Just Skin Deep

Eiichi had it all. Money, fame, beauty. Sure he was a little vain but he felt he had the right to be. After all, he had it all. He did have a bit of a problem with fans. Not fans per-say but ugly fans. There was this one that was just...hideous. He had to hold back the cringe he felt trying to surface. The woman was a. not his type, and b. ugly. Horribly ugly. He was talking pizza face, obese, crooked teeth, unfashionably ugly. And she wanted a hug?!

"Ugh, no. Stay away from me freak." Well his publicist didn't like that. But Eiichi didn't understand why considering the man felt the same as he did. Still, it wasn't good relations he supposed. On his way home though he was met by the fan again and this time he didn't hold back on what he thought of her. She said some things that he didn't understand...it almost sounded like a made up language. It wasn't until the next morning did he realize that he should have listened. He woke up to find that his eyes wouldn't focus. When his publicist came to help him out he found out some troubling things. He needed glasses, contacts weren't an option, his hair was now scraggly and flat, he had a mole on his neck, not to mention a horrible complexion. He even had black heads. Black heads!! And not just black heads but he had some pimples too! No matter what he did, it wouldn't change...well at least he still had something. His wardrobe hadn't changed.

Eiichi did find out though that most of it couldn't be taken with him. His publicist told him he couldn't go out as Eiichi like that. So here he was, being put in a small apartment and being told he was going to school. Not just school but PUBLIC SCHOOL. That was one thing he'd never had to go to. His family was always well off. This was new. Worst yet, he had to go looking like he did. It was ridiculous.

"Alright Eiichi. You know the rules. You can't let anyone know who you are so from now on you're just Shinya Sano, public school student." Yeah...that would work.

"Uh, no. Shinya Sano is the name of a little nobody. It's not cool."

"And at this moment neither are you, so either take the name or let the world know how Eiichi truly looks now." That shut him up. He had found the fan that had made him like this and was told of the curse and how he had become the most hideous person he could imagine. He would only become his regular self again if he could change his ways and find someone to love him. That would be easy, everyone loved him. Or so he thought. It didn't take long to realize that he was less loved then he thought. He was someone on a pedestal. Someone to look at but not to actual touch. So here he was...sitting in his own personal hell looking like hell, trying to hide the zits with his awful hair and hoodie. Who the hell was going to love him looking like some outcast dorky ugly person?

7AM had rolled around a lot quicker than Miku had wanted it to, he felt like he'd just fallen asleep not even an hour ago... With a soft sigh he hoisted himself from his comfortable bed, dragging himself through his usual morning routine. High school was so... boring. He wanted more, he wanted out of this small town and into the bigger cities. He wanted to be surround by art and the sounds of camera shutters... But this was the first step, do good in this high-end public school, go to an even better college, then start his dream life.

Another sigh escaped Miku as he wiped the shower fogged mirror to check over his appearance, again nothing changed. His skin was as flawless as ever. His hair, wet now, would dry straight and fluffy. And his eyes, though pitch black, were bright and made him appear ready to take on the world. "I wish I felt energized enough to take on the world..." He stalked from his bathroom and into his room to dress, good thing about this school? The dress was still casual.

Miku bid his parents goodbye and ran to the school. He was grateful that his class was close to the entrance, because he definitely would have been late otherwise. Though when he walked in to his classroom, he was as good as late. There was a new kid in his seat, and his teacher was VERY peculiar about where students sat... The teen in his seat looked fairly unhappy though, so he thought it best to just take the seat next to him and not mention it.

"Good morning class." All the students stood as the teacher walked in, each answering as he called role call, "Akiharu Tsukiyama... You're over one seat too many." Miku bowed his head low, "I'm sorry sensei... The new student was in my seat when I got here, I didn't want to make him awkward." Their teacher seemed to buy into it well enough. But motioned for Shinya to walk to the front of the class.

"Please introduce yourself, then you may return to your seat."

The kid that sat next to him in his first period reminded him of just how good he used to look. It burned him inside and he didn't like how low it made him feel...how ugly. When the teacher wanted him to come up in front of the class and introduced himself. The teen scoffed and shook his head.

"Hell no. You'll have to kill me before I come up there only to embarrass myself in front of a bunch meaningless peers and I could really care less about. My name's Kanon and I'm staying right here. It's Sano on your chart." The teacher didn't seem to like his answer though and made him pull his hood off. It only caused the kids to chuckle and a few jocks to throw out names that he had once called others.

"At least I have something more then lint in my head neanderthal." Apparently that wasn't something the jock took kindly and promised to get 'four eyes' back later. The teacher didn't either. He gave Kanon a detention. Figures. What else could go wrong?

Miku stared over at his classmate, his face was filled with a mix of shock and curiosity. When their teacher made him pull his hood down, Miku didn't find himself joining his peers in their taunting. He was being quite honest when he had said he did want to make him feel awkward. Kanon now had detention though... and probably the whole crew of jocks on his ass... The blonde sighed and shake his head as everyone else sat down.

All throughout the class his mind wandered over to the grumpy student next to him... Should he befriend him? Maybe just be polite? Either way would probably lead to him getting his head bitten off... It wouldn't hurt to try though right? Maybe...

The bell was about to ring when an announcement rang through the room, 'Students will report to the seminar gym after their first period classes. I repeat...' Perfect timing! Though he was unsure what they were going for, it would be a good time to try talking to him. Miku looked over to the new kid and offered a polite smile, "Hey uhm... I could show you the way there if you'd like?" He wanted to offer Kanon company, and minor shielding from the jocks. He was fairly popular amongst the students.

Kanon groaned when the anouncement came over the intercom. Oh and of course the kid that burned him with the way he looked offered to show him the way. Ha. "Yeah cause all the students heading to the same place didn't tell me the way to go. You don't need to talk to me. I'm not a charity case or someone to pity. Beautiful people aren't nice to ugly people. It's the way of the world so no. Thanks for the offer but no thanks." With that he walked off. Someone that looked that good wouldn't be that nice to a guy that looked like he did. Yeah. Right.

Somehow he still ended up sitting next to Akiharu. Damn him. Turned out the siminar was to tell him that his one shining thing in life, his clothes, were no longer accepted. They were getting the most horrible thing in the world. UNIFORMS!

"Are you fucking kidding? Seriously...can this get any worse?" Kanon kicked the bleacher seat in front him causing the girl to turn around and glare at him. Like he cared. He was pissed. That witch would die if he ever saw her again.

Miku was and wasn't surprised by his answer. What threw him off was the beautiful part, Miku had never considered himself beautiful or even remotely above other. Kanon on the other hand did carry himself like a beautiful, higher than thou individual. Regardless of his harsh words, they still ended sitting next to each other. He respect Kanon's wishes though and didn't try talking to him again.

Though once the cat was out of the bag their was a general outcry of distaste for the idea of uniforms. it didn't seem like they would be persuaded otherwise though. Miku facepalmed and just shook his head. His mornings were officially going to suck now. On top of getting next to no sleep, now he had to keep up with a uniform instead of grabbing whatever was clean and looked good together.

The blonde jumped a bit at Kanon's reaction, but tried laughing it off "Well... they could be bright pink instead of blue and gray." The girl was still glaring, but her glare had softened a bit. Miku had that affect on people, making them mellow a bit anyways, he was so laid back it was hard not to.

"Your uniforms will be delivered to your homerooms Friday, so please order at the end of the day today while you're all in homeroom. Dismissed." Miku let out a sigh and stood, "You sure you don't want help?" His voice was genuinely filled with helpfulness and concern, not that Kanon would probably notice.

"At least if they were different colors we'd having something. Where the hell did individuality go to? How can you be so calm about that? You have good taste and a great brand of clothes and you're not outraged that you can't show it off?" Kanon didn't understand the blonde. What was up with him?

"Ugh...it even has a tie. God just shoot me." The dark haired rockstar groaned and put his head in his hands. The uniforms were as horrible as he thought. Bland and ordinary. Somehow Akiharu, or as Miku he found the other preferred to be called, was still managing to be nice to him. It made him wonder about the whole beauty being only skin deep. This guy was kind to him and other ugly people like him. How did he do it? How could he be nice like that without retching? So one day during lunch Kanon braved the beautiful crowd he used to belong to so he could talk to Miku.

"Miku? I-...I was thinking that maybe I could try that whole being nice thing you were talking about last week. Don't get too excited since I've never been good at it but if you'd like to try teaching...I'd be willing to attempt to learn." The girl next to Miku scoffed and laughed.

"Why would Miku ever want to do that with a greasy faced ugly loser like you?"

"Oh believe me, I'm not thrilled, but what else can you do? I need what they're gonna teach me here... I can give up a little flair seven hours of the day, anymore than that might push my limit." He smiled at him before turning to leave, he wasn't sure if Kanon wanted his help per-say, but that didn't mean he was gonna go out of his way to avoid him. Miku was generally nice to everyone unless they gave him reason to be otherwise.

From what he could tell of the first couple weeks around Kanon though, the teen wasn't well like. Most of their peers scoffed at his looks and hated his attitude. Miku on the other hand could care less what he looked like and found his sarcastic point of views humorous. He just wished Kanon would drop his views about 'beautiful' people. For a moment he almost thought his wish had been granted, but then his stalker of sort spoke up. Miku stood abruptly and glared down at her, "I don't need you speaking for me." The intensity in his eyes was gone just as quickly as it had came, his attention was back on Kanon, "If that's your way of asking to be friends, sure~ Let's go!"

Miku simply shrugged and started walking past everyone, sure his friends would probably give him hell later for behaving so harshly to the prettiest girl in school... But he didn't care. He didn't like her. "Sorry about that, back to what you were saying... I can't just teach you to be nice, you have to want to be nice. Even if it's just one or two people. Heh... Boy that sounds text book written, maybe I should be a writer instead of a photographer?" Miku had led them outside, under an old tree on the grounds, at least they didn't take away their roaming freedoms during lunch. "I love this spot, it's peaceful."

Kanon would've dated that girl in a second before he'd been cursed. She had the same view of the world as he did when it came to people. But Miku made him want to change that. A beautiful man like him wasn't one that he knew existed. Not when he was nice like just because he was nice. The teen lead him out to an old tree and sat down. Kanon couldn't help but smile.

"You should be in front of a camera not behind one. This place is nice...so uh, what's my first lesson about being kind? It's amazing you can be like you are. If I was more like that then I wouldn't look like this. Ugh...it's an impossible task the one I got." How could ugly people find love? Let alone find someone to love them? But if there was any chance at all Kanon had, Miku was it.

Miku smiled at Kanon's words, he wasn't the first person to tell him this, nevertheless he shook his head, "I like being behind the camera though, taking pictures of beautiful things or things people take for granted in there everyday lives..." He shifted to lean against the tree. The first lesson in being nice... Where should he start? He'd never been truely mean a day in his life, so how could he really explain it?

"This is a first for me, but I'm willing to try. So your first lesson is..." The thought on it for a second, then snapped his fingers and pointed towards the other, "being happy with yourself. There's a lot more to people than just their looks, underneath your cold exterior is a fairly likable guy. In fact, I find you quite humorous when you finally let your guard down enough."

Had Kanon really never been nice even once his entire life? Surely there had been others who tried... He couldn't be the only one to have finally cracked his higher than thou views, could he? "So... If I may ask, why the sudden change of heart?"

Kanon looked at Miku like he was nuts. Love himself for how he was? Was he kidding? "Uh, have you seen me? I mean look. Really, how could I love myself when I look like some hideous beast." The teen shook his head and laid back. He was going to have to make an effort. So he thought about what he could like about himself...

"I want to be a better person I guess. I was told awhile back that I was ugly because of how I treated people...that inside beauty comes through on the outside too. I don't know. She was a stupid witch but she might have been right..." Kanon was still looking out at the courtyard when he found something he didn't hate about how he looked.

"I like that I'm small...it's good. Being thin is better then being obese. A-and my eyes. I like my eyes...even if they aren't that great, they have a decent color. Is that a good start?"

"Looks aren't everything you know?" He gave Kanon a gentle look. He understood that he wasn't happy about his looks, but Kanon needed to see that just because he wasn't flawless didn't mean he was a beast.

Miku listened intently as Kanon listed things he liked about himself, nodding when he asked his question, "It's a good start, now... look at me, look me in the eyes and try to see past my looks. I wanna know what you see." A persons eyes were the gateway to the soul, and while Kanon looked into his he would do the same. If he could just get Kanon to see past peoples looks, the other just might have a chance at succeeding at being nice and half way likable by others.

Kanon looked into Miku's eyes...beautiful honey brown eyes...how was he supposed to look beyond them? But the more Kanon looked, the more he saw. "I see...kindness...knowledgeable but humbly so...I see...beauty. A beautiful soul. Warm, caring...I-...I see a remarkably rare creature." Blushing the teen looked down. He wondered if he had done it. Somehow it was easy to be nice to the blonde. He didn't understand it. How could a person like him exist? All Kanon ever knew was physical beauty. Was there really such a thing as a beautiful soul? Someone who was just...kind? It boggled his mind to think that all he had known wasn't true, or at least only half the story.

"W-what do you see? When you look at me I mean. It's probably not very good. I was never known as being a good guy."

Miku gazed into Kanon's eyes as he spoke, taking in his words and the story that only his eyes could tell, "A lot of doubt, it's weighing heavily over you, but I can also see a lot of pride. You want to be accepted, but under it all I can see a tiny bit of gnawing fear..." The blonde tilted his head a bit as he studied the person before him further... it felt like there should be more, like he was trying really hard to keep something hidden.

"Let's just say... There's a lot more to you than what meets the eyes. We'd be here all day if I was going to 'study' you!" The teen left out a short laugh just as the bell ring, "Well damn... That just didn't last long enough. Wanna walk to class together?" Miku was already standing and offering Kanon a hand up. As they walked back he couldn't help but to notice his group of friends just staring him and Kanon down... He didn't like their looks per-say, but he didn't much care either. They knew he didn't just fit in with one clique, he mingled amongst them all. Kanon wasn't really any exception, other than he felt the closest to him. The teen next to him was the most... real of all of his friend, it was refreshing and he liked it.

Fear. Yeah he had that. He feared he'd never be like he was before. It was a great fear he had. The pride he'd had since forever but maybe the witch was right...maybe he could find someone to love him. Hell if Miku could be nice like this then maybe he could find someone else who could. Not that he wouldn't have adored having Miku be that person but to just expect it of a guy was stupid. Especially when being gay was NOT something that his father considered good nor was it something the world accepted. So he would try to find a girl. He'd try to continue hiding that part of him, even if it made him completely miserable in the end.

"Uh, yeah. Hey...w-what are you doing later? Like, after school. I wanted to show you something. Something about me. Something real and not just...not a mask." Though he seemed fairly calm on the outside, inside his nerves were going haywire. He wouldn't blame him if he said no but-but what if he said yes?

The way Kanon fumbled his words was... kinda cute. Though somewhere in the back of his mind this screamed b-rated horror film intro or something, he knew it was just his mind wandering and being eager for the day to be over. "Hmm... I'm pretty sure I'm free, so we can do whatever after school." Miku was nervous but excited about hanging out after school with Kanon. Perhaps the other really did wanna turn over a new leaf... He could only hope!

And of course, after their plan was made the day dragged on forever. He swore the clock continued to set itself back five minutes every time he glanced towards it. He wanted to know what Kanon was going to show him. Surely it wouldn't be anything too life changing, but Kanon seemed so nervous about it... When that final bell rang, Miku all but bolted to his locker. He was excited, there was no hiding it. B rated horror film or not, he was all for getting to know Kanon better. As he waited for Kanon by his locker and girl from year book had walked over to him and started chatting with him. Her camera was acting up and he was trying to help her fix it all while keeping and eye out for Kanon. Just as he spotted Kanon rounding the corner, the tiny girl squealed happily, "Oh my goodness, thank you Mi-chan! I was so worried Sensei was going to scold me for ruining another camera!" Without a thought the girl jumped up and hugged him, to which Miku awkwardly returned the hug.

"Y-you're welcome... Hey Kanon!" Oh thank Kami he was in earshot. He wanted this awkward moment over.

Kanon couldn't wait to show Miku his favorite thing in the world, which despite what the public thought, wasn't a mirror. When the final bell rang the teen tried to walk normally but found himself moving slow. His attempts at calming himself didn't work until he saw Miku. His...friend? was getting an awkward looking hug and it seemed that he was quite relieved when Kanon showed up. The small brunette however didn't seem very happy about Kanon and scurried off in a hurry.

"Well didn't she look like a peppy one? Wonder how she's not a cheerleader. Probably has something to do with her hips being too wide. The cheerleaders are all petite and have no curves. I may not like disproportionate and/or fat people but damn give a little vivaciousness to the cheer leading squad. No one wants to watch a bean pole jump around in a kid's sized cheer outfit because they don't have the breasts or butts to fill out a normal one. That or the guy hasn't hit puberty yet. Some people are extremely late bloomers. So, ready to come see my pride and joy?" Kanon had all the while been getting his things during his rant. When the locker closed he turned to Miku with a slight smile. It occured to him that he never asked Miku what music he listened to. Would he recognize his guitar? Would he even know about Eiichi. Well duh, of course he would. Stupid Kanon. Everyone knew Eiichi, and that the rockstar and gone into an undisclosed rehab place for his addiction to, get this, drugs. Like he would put ANYTHING in his body that could possibly harm it. Yeah, fucking, right. Kanon wouldn't even touch doughnuts because of the carbs and sugars the thing held.

The blonde snorted as he listened, nodding his head in agreement despite Kanon not being able to see him. "Ready as I'll ever be~" Miku smiled and followed his friend out from the school, ignoring all the odd looks and scoffing as they went. He didn't care anymore, his friends were all fake and if they couldn't accept Kanon, they weren't worth having... It was truly amazing what a few weeks of Kanon had done to him, he was still his usual kind self, but he found himself not too overly worried about what others thought.

Miku observed the area they were walking to, most of the kids who lived alone lived in this area. "You live alone huh?" He looked up to Kanon questioningly, finally noting their height difference. "Sorry, a couple of my friends with parent issues moved here..." Now he felt bad and wished he hadn't said anything at all.

Kanon scowled as he heard all the people around them...they didn't think he was good enough to be near Miku. Truth was, he agreed. Miku was a way better person then he could ever hope of being in the same league with. Still, he wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to hang out with the guy he was beginning to crush on and want to change for. At the mention of no parents he stiffened.

"Uh, yeah...my dad didn't want me causing too much of a stir where we lived. So he sent me here. We live in a different district that had a prestigious private school. Private school is for beautiful people only. So he found your school which has decent marks on all counts and put me in an apartment here. It's alright though. I haven't even talked to my dad in what...I'm 17 now? So...four years? Almost five. He isn't really a part of my life. Here we are. Home sweet home." Despite the neighborhood he lived in and the size of his apartment, Kanon had done well in decorating the place. It exuded his high society upbringing and his own style. The 'smaller' bedroom the apartment had held his old life. A shelf of his most favorite music, some songs he was writing up, his keyboard and guitars...and his baby. The royal blue guitar his mother had gotten him for his eighth birthday. It was a renowned guitar to fans of Eiichi since it was his favorite one to play with on stage. He had others but he found himself always going back to the last birthday present his mother would ever give him.

"Here she is. This, is Tsuki. My pride and joy. W-would you like to hear me play a bit?" Kanon was fingering the guitar lovingly. He wondered if Miku was even into music. There were some really odd souls that didn't. How anyone could live without music was beyond him. Surely Miku wasn't one of them.

So Kanon didn't have a good relationship with his father... Huh. Might explain his coldness toward others even more. Kanon didn't however bring up his mother... something he guessed he shouldn't ask about since the information wasn't offered. Miku honestly hoped he would never have to meet the guy after just the short bit of insight he had on the guy.

Miku followed him into his apartment, taking in how neat and well decorated the place was. He felt like he was getting to know him better just by seeing the things he collected... The guitar definitely caught his attention though. He'd seen it somewhere before... but where?

"I didn't know you could play guitar or all these other instruments! Why aren't you taking any music classes? Wait... never mind. Silly question. Yes, I'd love to hear you play something." He smiled at him as he sat down at the foot of Kanon's bed. He'd seen this guitar, he just knew he had. He wracked his brain as he listened, they sat there for a good five minutes until he saw a flash of handwriting and everything clicked, of course! He grabbed his back pack and dug out his camera case, turning it on and shifting through the pictures expertly until he found the set he was looking for.

"I knew I'd seen this guitar somewhere before. It was in the museum last month and was the focus of my last photography project! It was so beautiful, even without ever hearing it being played I knew that it had soul and a wonderful sound. Sorry... I get excited over nothing sometimes. You play beautifully..." He was blushing softly as he looked down at his camera, "Do you... want to see?" Miku offered his camera to Kanon, "That belonged to a recently famous rock star right? His name... was Eiichi I believe? Ren, that girl from lunch, listens to him."

Kanon played a new song he was working on. He didn't have the lyrics to it yet but he wanted to see how someone would like it...how Miku would like it. When he finished, the teen was happy to find that Miku enjoyed the song. He had seen his guitar? "O-oh yeah. It was...I'm happy to have it." How was he supposed to say 'Yeah, that's my guitar. I was that amazingly handsome rockstar before I became this.'? There wasn't so he just left it at that and moved to look at Miku's pictures.

"Wow...maybe you should be behind a camera. These are amazing." The teen was looking through the pictures that his friend had taken. It amazed him that someone could have such a talent as taking photos like that...to find such beauty in everything.

"Too bad you can't find the beauty in me. I'd love to actually have a good photo." One that wasn't from his previous life...before this wretched curse.

Miku smiled proudly at Kanon's approval, "You really think to hard on all this beauty stuff you know? There's more to people and yourself than just outward appearances. Like my photography skills or your guitar playing skills, you couldn't tell that by looks. Besides... you haven't been around me long enough, just wait, I'll get some amazing pictures of you without you even knowing it was happening."

Why was Kanon so fixated on this 'beautiful people' thing? Didn't he realize that beneath everything he hated about himself he was probably very attractive? It all went back to what he'd said at lunch, Kanon needed to see beyond outer appearances. He wanted to ask, Kanon had mentioned a witch and with some of the things he said about his father... Those kind of questions would have to wait until he knew him better, well more like when Kanon was more open to him.

"So... what do you like to do for fun? I'd like to hang out with you more..." It was odd, but Miku was finding himself liking his new friend more and more and quickly becoming attached.

Kanon shrugged. It was hard not to focus on outward appearances when that was all he'd ever known. "Fun? You're looking at it. This is my sanctuary. Where I can go and no one judge me...it's my only safe place. I used to dance a lot too but then I had to wear these stupid glasses and quit doing it. I can't wear contacts and when I dance they just fly off and then I'm blind. What about you? What do you do for fun?" Kanon was a great dancer. Everyone knew Eiichi was skilled. He started playing his guitar again softly before laughing.

"Go figure you know? Eiichi's fans are as stuck up as he is. Should've seen that one coming."

"I can't really say I know the whole Eiichi scene too well. I kind of avoided it when Ren started trying to shove it down my throat... But from the tid bits I have seen... well he just doesn't seem real? Like he's living up to what everyone else wants of him... and then this whole rehab thing, I can't really believe it." Eiichi was a hot topic among his other friends. All he knew came from what he heard from them and then his own opinion formed from there...

Miku lifted his camera, "Same for me too, I guess. I'd rather go out and take pictures than shop or see a movie any day. It annoys my friends sometimes, but sometimes I just see a shot and have to take it, ya know? I really like traveling too, more picture opts. If I want any chance of getting anywhere I'm gonna need a healthy portfolio..." The teen smiled down at his camera before putting it away, "Guess I'm pretty boring, considering I'm already focused on my career."

"Don't believe that for a second. There's no way someone like him would ever thnk of destroying their body that way not to mention career. I want to have that life. Being a rockstar...I don't really fit the bill though do I? I'll get back there eventually. It looks like we're both focused on our careers." Kanon smiled at the other. He looked down at his clothes and scrunched his nose.

"I'm going to go change. Want to see my amazing wardrobe?" Despite how his face looked, Kanon wasn't afraid to show off the rest of him. So when he reached his room Kanon stripped off his shirt, showing his toned body off. Even if Miku saw him he didn't care. At least the curse let him keep his physique.

"You can try on some of my clothes if you like. We look around the same size...my pants might be a bit long on you though."