Prologue: Twintails and MeI love twintails. The world is beautiful because it has twintails in it. I have known that ever since I was old enough to understand these things.
The sun for me isn’t the bright round thing in the sky, but the hairstyle that catches its light.
It would be an exaggeration to say that they are the world to me, but... no, it’s no exaggeration. In any case, twintails mean so much to me that nothing can ever replace them.
Twintails, in layman’s terms, are two ponytails that are tied up on either side of the head. They look better with long hair, but short hair collected in little ties is also a cute and simple feminine style. There are a broad range of variations, and endless possibilities are hidden within.
I think that most readers have a picture in their mind after that explanation, even if they haven’t heard the word before. But twintails seem to be a mark of childishness all over the world.
Girls in adolescence usually want to show everyone that they’re growing up, and they let go of everything childish and everything they feel insecure about. Unfortunately, twintails are one of those things. They are weighed and discarded in the process of adulthood.
And women who look good with a twintail as adults are rare. And it’s silly for guys to make unreasonable requests and irritate their loved ones. And so twintails leave you behind as you grow up.
That’s fine. That’s the normal course of life. But it’s different for me.
I don’t know if I should call it a longing or an inability to let go, but the more grown-up I become, the more of an adult I become, the more uselessly intense this feeling gets.
I search unconsciously for twintails when there are many people around, and the image editing software in my head has reached the point where it can instantly add a twintail layer with just one keystroke. It’s unconscious, so it doesn’t bother me, but still, twintails make up the majority of my life.
...Well, I’ve said twintails over and over again. At this point in the conversation, even people who seemed like they would become good friends start to remember other things they have to do and make a quick exit. It has always been like that.
Even so, I don’t hesitate. And I have no regrets.
I want to live in a world where I can live loving the things I love. I don’t like the idea of trying to change your tastes, or lying about what you like just because it’s unpopular.
And that makes it all the more frustrating.
I love twintails so much, but as a guy, I can’t have a twintail. Even if I grow my hair out for many years before finally tying it up, that will not be a twintail.
All I have is a heart that loves twintails. Maybe I cannot understand twintails, in the true sense.
So, I wish for this heart to take form. I want my feelings -- my heart to be real. I want it to appear before me.
I know it would have my ideal twintails.
If that were to happen, how wonderful it would be.
I was always, always dreaming of it.
Until the day that I met her ―