CH 77

Chapter 9 – Change (9)

Translator – Vodka

A happy new year to all you wonderful fellas. I wanted to wish you guys on the D-day itself, but the site still had issues. It still does. I got late with this chapter too. Damn you Rum, drink some vodka.

Anyways, I wish all of you a very vodka year. Remember, vodka can make things happen. Last year it made me start translating this novel. So, believe in it.

This chapter is the first one of this year. Enjoy.

“It’s is somewhat different from the image, isn’t it?……”

Kaede, who was more excited than myself, who was going to be in the photograph, was comparing my face to that of the images in the magazine, looking for a hairstyle that would look good on me.

It must be tough to try and find a style that suits my long hair that has been grown out in a half-baked manner.

I was enjoying my after-meal dessert fruit alone while looking at her racking her brains and trying to figure out a solution. As if it was someone else’s affair.

However, I wanted to say this.

When students who didn’t have the tiniest bit of idea about hairstyles, suddenly get psyched up for events like the school trip or the graduation ceremony and appear at school with a new hairdo, there was a high probability of being met with people’s cold gazes.

Just by being too different from one’s usual self, a person could invite a sense of discomfort from the people around him.

Added to that was the fact that today was just like any other day for everyone besides the members of the student council. An uneventful ordinary day.

We would be standing out even more.

In these cases, it’s best to stay the same as usual.

I ignored Kaede, who still couldn’t decide on a hairstyle for her brother and started to get ready.

I changed into my uniform, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and fixed my bed hair to the bare minimum.

There was a single strand of hair that had broken free from the herd and swaying horizontally beside my ear, but it wasn’t something to be worried about.

With this, the preparations were in place. All that was left was to wait.

I turned my heels and started walking back to the living room, but then, suddenly, the sound of flustered footsteps running down the corridor entered my ears and stopped me in my tracks.

“Please wait, Nii-san! I will do it!”

“No, well, I am already done, so……”

Kaede rushed into the bathroom and screamed as soon as she saw my hair.

It was troublesome to start over.

I exited the bathroom to run away from a flustered Kaede, but suddenly, the figure of a person appeared before me and impeded my escape.

“This won’t do, you know. You need to properly take care of your appearance today”

“……Why are you here?”

Standing in front of me like it was only natural for her to be here, was Shizuku.

On the contrary, it could even be said that it felt too natural and didn’t feel uncomfortable at first.

The fact that Kaede didn’t say anything must have either meant that she had already known about it, or that she had permitted Shizuku to be here.

The expression “Unauthorized Intrusion” crossed my mind. I drove it away to a corner of my mind, and once again, looked at her appearance.

Shizuku had tied her black hair, that had grown till her waist, and had it flow over her shoulder.

With that alone, the impression she gave off was quite different from that of her usual self.

She looked outstanding as usual, but there were times when her tender age was apparent on the face of it.

Do people look this different just by changing their hairstyle?

Is this impression manipulation?……

As I was having these silly thoughts, Shizuku grabbed my right hand, and Kaede grabbed my left. Like that, they forced me to go back to the bathroom again.

“Please stay still! It’s okay to prepare just a bit more than usual!”

“That’s right, Minato-kun. Let’s bear with it, ok?”

“Am I a kid?”

A 16-year-old high school boy being pinned down by two beauties. What else could he want?

Besides, since they were only trying to give me a different hairstyle, I wasn’t a kid who would desperately struggle against something of that level either.

At the very least, I would be complaining continuously about it later.

You better be careful with people like me. We don’t let things slide easily.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the two girls giggling and happily playing with my hair, like sisters. I spent this duration, counting the number of birds passing by the window while feeling bored.

“Well then, Kaede-chan should also be careful”

“Yes! I will leave Nii-san to you, Shizuku-san!”

We parted with Kaede in front of the entrance, since the girls’ high school she commuted to, was in the stark opposite direction of Sakuranogaoka.

Kaede advanced a little and took a turn at the end of the street. We saw her off until we could not see her anymore and then started to walk down the school route.

At this time of the year, with summer approaching, we would usually be sweating. However today, a pleasant breeze was blowing.

Summer in this area, which was close to the mountains, was colder than in the cities.

We advanced through the residential area. We left the shopping district behind, and as we got closer to the high school, we could see figures of students popping up from here and there.

“Good morning, Kanzaki-san!”

“Shizuku-chan, good morning!”

With the appearance of Shizuku, everyone jumped into the fray of greeting her. It was as if everyone wanted to assert the fact that they were the first person to call out to her.

It isn’t something you had to be first at, you know……

“Good morning”

One by one, Shizuku politely replied to everyone.

However, since the vicinity already had more than ten people in it, and the students were surrounding Shizuku, I couldn’t see her figure anymore.

It went without saying that I, who was walking next to her until just a while ago, had piqued no one’s interest.

There were none who greeted me or spared me a look.

Although I had been walking next to her, I must have simply served as the background or seemed like a mere object in their eyes.

With more students approaching Shizuku, the gap between us kept getting wider.

Shizuku too couldn’t push away the students who were gathering around her, as she repeatedly kept glancing at me. However, she couldn’t make her way to where I was.

To be honest though, I was feeling a little relieved because, now, I could walk without having to worry about my surroundings. Then suddenly, a hand as white as snow touched my neck. This act had been carried out in silence.

“Guess who”

“……That’s something you say while covering the eyes. Don’t say it while you are forming a katana-like shape with your hand and aiming it at my neck”

The mood was entirely different from when mom did it.

Judging by her voice alone, the tone was high, and she sounded like she was in a good mood, but she was an exception.

I involuntarily felt a chilling sensation that could freeze my spine.

Kirasaka had appeared silently, without giving off the slightest hint of her presence. She stood behind me while forming a katana-like shape with her hand and aiming it at my neck.

I moved my head to look to my side. She was looking at me with frozen eyes. Those pupils embodied a serious intention to kill.