What Rules Cannot Hold (A Naekusaba story)

Chapter 4

Mukuro woke up exhilarated. Not due to the sun that had the entire sky for itself, nor because of the school day being shorter. The anticipation of meeting Makoto again was its cause. She felt as he changed her perception of other people and of the whole world to something more welcoming and real; both the army and Junko provided her with a vicious vision of the outside world, a vision stripped of hope and peace. Now things were bound to be different and she desired to commemorate this change. 

She took a look at herself in the mirror and thought about all the nasty comments Junko had made about her. They no longer inspired her with disappointment but with willingness to experiment and to, inwardly, question Junko's claims. 

Firstly, she covered her freckles with some foundation. Junko frequently ridiculed Mukuro because of them, so she thought that, at least in this case, her sister's complaint must've been justified. Then she rolled up her sleeves and unbuttoned the top of her white shirt, which, she hoped, made her seem less stringent and more relaxed. Junko usually looked like this at the end of the day, keeping a more formal look in the morning so as not to abuse the dressing code too much under which, despite being an ultimate fashionista, she was still subjected. To finalise her new look, she acquiesced to herself and donned a shorter skirt, although not as shirt as Junko's, and loosened the tie around her neck. The result was chaotic, but not too eye-catching when compared to the peculiar outfits of many other students. 

A loud knocking on the door stopped her thoughts. Her elated mood wasn't strong enough to prevent her from worrying about Junko's reaction. Obviously, her sister couldn't do much, but her opinion was still somewhat important to Mukuro. 

''Hello, Junko!'' She said, bowing, while Junko stood silent. Only her eyes moved up and down, carefully inspecting each change that Mukuro made in her outfit. The silence lasted for a long time, but when Mukuro wanted to speak, Junko suddenly burst in laughter, wheezing dramatically. 

''Is this the result of all my effort, of all my teaching?! You tried to dress like me but still managed to butcher the whole thing! Tell me, big sis, what did I do to deserve such an embarrassment? it's not like I abuse you or something. Whatevs!'' 

''I think that if my hair was like yours, we would look like twins,'' Mukuro said, resolved to stand against Junko's mockery. 

''What?! Has that Naegi guy inflated your ego so much that you are ready to believe such bullshit?!'' Junko laughed again, adding after she calmed down, ''though you always look like a pig in comparison to me, now you certainly are a prettier pig. Anyway, I don't want to waste any more time on this.'' 

Mukuro followed Junko to their first class, completely untouched by what she heard, rather glad that her new look gave Junko a fairly positive impression. Now the next, and last, person that she sought to impress was Makoto. 

*

''Makoto!'' 

''...Huh? Mukuro?'' 

They met outside the school. Makoto was sitting next to Chihiro who was working on his laptop. 

''What's with this change? You look quite different - in a good way, I mean!'' Makoto said, not adding anything else to avoid making a graver blunder.