The Power of an Image Change!
As the most fun and most interesting summer vacation of my left ended, I greeted the second school term. While watching familiar people come into the cla.s.sroom, an unfamiliar gal-guy suddenly walked in. [1]
"Hey, Sanada, long time—"
"Ummm, who are you?"
"Hey hey, my man, forgetting mah face like that. What do yuh mean by that—"
Saying that, the gal-guy that was apparently my man sat down in Fujimoto"s seat.
"That"s Fujimoto"s seat though. Quite the boring virgin at that."
"Who are you calling a boring virgin?"
"… Huh? Are you Fujimoto?"
"Aren"t you way too late in noticing!?"
Hey hey, he said as he gave me a couple hits on my shoulder. He"s troublingly excited.
"Boring virgin man, what happened to you? That appearance. Did you get a failed remodeling by some random doctor from who knows where?"
"Who are you calling boring virgin man? It isn"t a failure. Rather, it"s quite a success. I realized, you see…"
As Fujimoto looked off with far away eyes, he began to talk about something, but since it seems long so I"ll omit it.
In short, the idiot Fujimoto decided to make his debut in his second year of high school during the second school term. It"s not a second-year debut, or a second school term debut, but rather a late bloomer"s debut after half of his high school life has ended.
Combining the fact that he thought of himself as good-looking, with his girlfriendless reality, it seems he decided over the summer break to change himself. He seems to think that this gal-guy look is what is good-looking, but that does not equal a cool and stylish Fujimoto.
I ended up bringing up that conversation with the three people gathered in the home economics room during lunch break.
"Hmmmm. Then, when is Nii-san debuting?"
"Haah? If I had to say, it would be an undebut."
"Sei… Sanadkun is fine without a debut."
While eating bentous, the debut talk became official.
"… Hiiragi-sensei, when was your debut?"
"Eh? Me… I wonder… I feel like I was always like this."
Aaah. It does feel that way. Sana and Kanata were also able to accept it as they nodded repeatedly.
"Why doesn"t Nii-san also try it out? You"re probably going to still be dull anyways."
"He"ll definitely be cool!"
Hiiragi-chan reacted even faster than me.
Losing to the two"s stares, I held myself back and closed my mouth.
Going back to the timeline where the past wasn"t altered, my debut was probably during my university time. It wasn"t at the level of an image change, or a change in character, but I was more careful about my hairstyle and clothing.
"…… If a person is cool, then people close to them can be proud of them."
"T-that"s how it is… Since Nii-san is messy like this, it"s hard for Sanna to call him my brother."
"Was I really such an embarra.s.sing existence?"
"I didn"t say you were embarra.s.sing! B-but, Nii-san… or, not that. If Sana were to have a cool family member then Sana would be very happy… so Sana was just thinking about that. That"s all."
Hiiragi-chan, who was silent during this time, took a glance at me, and after thinking for a bit, she nodded.
"I understand what Sanchan is trying to say. I don"t think Sanadkun is weird, but being particular about yourself and polishing yourself, really does add a bit to your appeal. It"s better, appeal wise."
Seems like Hiiragi-chan wants to convey that I"m already charming enough, but being a little more polished would make her happier. On the other hand, if Hiiraig-chan"s hair were to be all messed up while wearing a messed up shirt, her original charm would definitely be overshadowed—
I see, so that"s how it is.
"Okay, I get it. I"ll do it. I"ll also start my debut in the second year of high school during the second school term."
The care that I put in when I entered college, I"ll recreate it for you. That would seem to make Hiiragi-chan happier.
After school, I didn"t go to the usual salon that I went to, but rather I brought my feet to a more fashionable one located within the city. It was a store with gla.s.s windows that would allow you to look inside, and it seems a bit more expensive than one that you would normally go to.
Browsing the magazine to find a good style, I tell the hairdresser "Something like this," and ask for a similar cut.
This would be the second time that I would be polishing myself, so it"s not like I felt embarra.s.sed or anything. I know what suits me.
Since I know how I polished myself in the modern times, I decided to go with something like that.
When I returned home, my mother was the first to speak to me with a suspicious look, "What happened to you?"
At the dinner table when Sana saw my face, she hid behind something.
"W-who…?"
"I haven"t changed that much, have I?"
"If it"s Nii-san… he should be more unfashionable, you are, a person I don"t know…"
My change was enough to activate her shyness. I just picked something refreshing short hairstyle from the magazine, it shouldn"t have been such a big change though.
"O-Okasan!? N-nii-san turned into an unknown person!"
"You already know who I am don"t you?"
Still, if Sana is reacting like this, then my debut should be a success.
The next day, on the way to school, quite a few gazes gathered on me.
"The gazes towards upgraded Nii-san are quite amazing… especially from the girls."
"I don"t feel the gazes of girls, at least not to the point that you are talking about."
"They"re secretly glancing at you. Nii-san is insensitive…"
As expected, the version upgrade seems to have a considerable effect. I"m really looking forward to meeting with Hiiragi-chan.
"Sana should never have pushed for a debut…"
"W-why is that?"
"N-nnn-nothing! It has nothing to do with Nii-san!"
Looking away from me, Sana ran off towards her own shoe locker.
While tilting my head to Sana"s reaction, I entered the cla.s.sroom and the reaction was remarkable. Especially the from the girls.
The conversation topics about Fujimoto"s debut from yesterday, moved to my one-day image change. The girls were making a fuss, similar to how boys would be during Valentine"s Day.
Even when I distributed the homeroom printout to the girl behind me, she responded with a "T-thank you…" her face red face while looking down. Until yesterday, she had never even spoken a word of thanks.
Once break started, the girls from the cla.s.s next door casually came over to peak through the door. It felt as if a beautiful girl had transferred into the protagonist"s school.
"Sanada… you… you"re standing out more than meeeeeeeee!"
The boring gal-guy next to my finally snapped.
Once it became time for first period, the teacher in charge came in.
"Alright, everyone take your seats. World history cla.s.s… will… now be—gin…"
Taking a glance at me, Hiiragi-chan was surprised before taking another three glances.
"SSanadkun… D-did something happen?"
Hiiragi-chan, who was looking at me, started turning shy. The effect of this polishing can"t be underestimated. Hiiragi-chan was one who even pushed for this. It seems that my second school term debut has surpa.s.sed her expectations.
"No, it"s nothing… just a little bit of a second school term debut."
"I-is that so…?"
The girls started to tease the shy Hiiragi-chan.
"Even Sensei is curious?"
"An existence is that even an adult female is interested in? Sanadkun is kind of amazing."
"He looks kind of like that young actor…"
"I mean, there were about 20 girls that came to look after homeroom had ended…"
"People who move fast might even try to appeal after school."
Listening to the girls" evaluation, Hiiragi-chan"s expression stiffened.
"T-today is s-self-study… S-sensei will be doing various things in the reference room."
Taking one last backwards glance at me, Hiiragi-chan walked out while carrying the attendance sheet and a textbook.
Going to the reference room… does that mean she wants me to go as well…
"Why is it all Sanada!?"
Baan, while hitting his desk Fujimoto began to cry.
"Hey hey, gal-guy man, calm down. Wipe your tears."
"Who"s a gal-guy man!? My stomach is gonna hurt! You"re making me look stuck up."
"Your character was quite outstanding. Don"t complain to me just because you didn"t stand out that much on the second day."
"Dammit! I can"t say anything back…!"
Leaving aside the seriously crying gal-guy man, I stood up from my seat in order to go to the restroom. Making a slight detour, I arrived at the world history reference room. Then, after confirming that no one was around, I headed inside.
"Haruksan, having a self-study so early in the second school term, is that okay?"
Hiiragi-chan was hiding behind things on the desk, while secretly peeking at me.
"… Seiji-kun, is fine, right?"
"Yeah. It"s the Sanada that Haruksan knows very well. Rather, I haven"t changed enough for you to say that, have I?"
"Y-you did change! You became super cool! Didn"t the girls from cla.s.s also say it!?"
"Success in that part is good though, I thought."
"I-it"s not good!"
"Why!?"
"I"m all for it if Seiji-kun becomes cooler, but I"m super against you getting more popular with the girls at school!!"
It was a loud voice that seemed like you would be able to hear it around the world.
Mou, Hiiragi-chan pouted.
"Certainly, I did say you could be more charming, but there"s a limit. Didn"t you become cooler than any other high school student?"
"Even if you make that claim… it was only a slight change in hairstyle. You"re exaggerating."
"The feeling of confidence that"s overflowing is amazing! There are like pheromones coming out!"
"R-really…?"
"That"s right. It"s unfair… For me, even now, meeting your eyes is a little embarra.s.sing…"
Yeah. She hasn"t been meeting my eyes at all for a while now.
Approaching her, I grab Hiiragi-chan and force her to look at me.
"… N-nooo…"
Her face shone and turned bright red.
"I"m normally worried already… so it"s now even more worrying… a bunch of girls will probably end up liking Seiji-kun…"
Ah, I see. Since I have Hiiragi-chan, it"s fine to not become popular. I tried going along with Hiiragi-chan and Sana by changing my hairstyle, but since they now know how it could be now, it should be fine to say that they"re satisfied.
"Alright, I"ll stop it."
I can"t do anything about the hair that was cut, but if I just wash out the wax that is in my hair, the impression should revert back to the original.
"Yeah. Sorry, I went back on it even though I told you to do it."
"No. It"s fine. I"m happy to get Haruksan to compliment me by calling me cool."
"M-mouuu… Seiji-kun… I love you ♡"
I accepted a hug from Hiiragi-chan.
"I"ve always, always understood this from before. Seiji-kun is cool."
It"s the usual foolish girlfriend, Hiiragi-chan.
After that, I went to the restroom and washed out my hair, returning it to the way it was before. Once I did that, I greeted the end of my popular period which disappeared instantly after just two hours.
TN:
Male version of a gal (or gyaru, however you would like to call it) character.