003 - Ends

Prompt: 003 - Ends
Rating: A
Characters: Amiyo and Makoto

"NOOOOOO!"

Makoto grimaced at the shill shriek and resisted the urge to cover her ears. She wiggled her fingers inside the handles of the small stylist's shears in her left hand. The navy-haired child sitting in front of the brunette thrashed about on the tall barstool within the palace's enormous kitchen, somehow retaining some kind of balance despite her arms flailing and legs kicking.

"Come on, Amiyo-chan," Makoto soothed, hoping to get the girl to settle down, "It's just a little trim. You want your long hair to look pretty, don't you?"

The response was another prolonged scream, mixed with a good helping of sobbing and yet more flailing. The woman took a step back to avoid being hit with a small hand or struck with a small foot. Her patience was quickly becoming exasperation. It had already been nearly an hour of the same temper tantrum—the one that repeated every few months on the day she trimmed the girls' hair. Amiyo made the others seem like absolute angels, even though Mako fidgeted constantly, Reika complained that she could do it better, and Minae whimpered the entire time.

"You need to be a big girl about having your hair cut, Amiyo-chan," Makoto continued, although she didn't know if the child could hear anything over her own screams. "Big girls don't cry about getting their hair cut. You could be playing with the others already if you would sit still and behave."

Her claims were issued to an inattentive audience, but the tall, lithe woman was determined not to give in. Amiyo's hair had gotten so long in the first place because Ami ignored even the slightest tantrum—and as Amiyo would throw one at the mere suggestion of a haircut, the actual cutting had been long-postponed. It had been almost a year since Makoto had offered to trim all of the girls' hair on a regular schedule, and the Mercury child's objections had not weakened even slightly.

The woman sighed and rubbed her temples with her free hand. She was starting to seriously consider enlisting Haruka to hold the girl from squirming to speed up the process and eliminate the verbal battle—but Rei had already tried to hold the kid still, and had received a lovely bite mark on her arm as thanks. The only unacceptable option was surrender. Makoto would be damned if she would encourage this kind of behavior; she especially didn't want any of the other girls to get the idea that acting like this was allowed.

The clock above the large, twelve-burner stove across the kitchen showed that it was nearly eleven o'clock—she had plenty of time to wait this out. If lunch was a little late, so be it. Amiyo's cries were already diminishing in volume, and she couldn't keep up that struggle without tiring herself out.

Makoto pulled out another stool and settled herself on it, directly in front of the little one.

"We're going to wait here until you let me cut your hair," she said simply, re-adjusting her hold on the scissors.

Amiyo stopped crying momentarily to glare at Makoto, who paid no heed. The girl couldn't understand why she wasn't WINNING this time! Ami-mama NEVER acted like this. She continued to kick and scream, but she couldn't maintain the same enthusiasm, and eventually the navy-haired girl lay limp, flopped across the cushioned seat of the stool. Her sapphire eyes kept glowering at her opponent, even though she could tell it was in vain.

Makoto stood up after an hour of resting on the chair, and lifted up the dreadful hair-cutting shears.

"Sit up straight, Amiyo-chan, or I won't be able to cut your hair evenly."

The defeated girl grudgingly did so, and within fifteen minutes the dreaded event was over. The split ends had been trimmed, and the sulky child was free to go. Amiyo shuffled out of the kitchen with a final rebellious frown towards the victorious Makoto, but it was over.

Makoto collapsed onto the barstool with a feeling of triumph and the promise of relaxation. However, some kind of scuffle outside in the hallway caught her attention, and she strained to hear the muffled argument echoing from just outside the palace's kitchens.

"NOOOO, Rei-channnn, I don't NEED a haircut! It's FINE!"

"Oh, for Heaven's sake, Usagi!"