Chapter 20: CH 20

And your clothes look lame.

Translated by Dawn

And your clothes look lame.

It was early afternoon on the weekend.

I was in front of Ozawa Station, the nearest station to the school.

This was the result of a promise I had made with Satomi.

I was in my uniform because I was told by her.

I didn’t know why.

Well, she had her own reasons.

Apparently, Satomi’s house was close to the school, though I did not know it.

It was also for her convenience that she chose this meeting place.

She was going to cooperate with me today, so that was good.

However, I had one bad feeling about it.

She wanted me to bring as much money as I could.

I wonder if she was trying to get me to cooperate with her, or if she was just trying to rob me.

I hope the money would be used for something decent.

“Wow, you’re here, Aizawa. You look as dull as ever.”

Suddenly, I heard a voice from ahead.

I looked up to see Satomi, dressed in her school uniform, approaching.

She was the kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to use a bad word as a greeting.

“Mind your own business.”

“What? Is that the attitude of someone who is supposed to be getting help?”

“…I’m going home.”

“W-well, well, don’t be so angry, Aizawa. It’s a joke, a joke!”

As I made a U-turn and walked toward the ticket gate, Satomi tapped me on the shoulder from behind.

It was fine to comfort me, but the tap was too strong, you know.

I had no choice but to stop and turn around to look at Satomi.

“So where do we go from here?”

“Before that… what part of yourself do you think you should change first?”

“…come on, don’t ask me that.”

I hardly pay attention to my appearance these days, even if it was in middle school when I was working hard on those things. Therefore, I didn’t even know what I should fix about myself. I knew that I look a little like a potato in general when compared to fashionable people, but I had no idea what to do about it.

As I tilted my head, Satomi revealed something to me.

“In situations like this, the first thing you should worry about is…your hair, your hair.”

“Hair?”

“Yes, hair. To be honest, with that face, it will look better as long as you have a good haircut. For example, Your bed hair kind of stood out, and it’s making you look messy…anyway, from my point of view, it’s no good. Also, your face is not that bad, so if you do a better job in that area, you should look a lot better. So let’s go to the hairdresser’s for now.”

“…my face is not that bad?”

It probably had nothing to do with the whole thing, but I couldn’t help but be surprised by that assessment.

I thought I was more on the ugly side, not the good-looking side.

I’m glad to hear that….

“S-shut up! Don’t get carried away, you Aizawa! …I mean, let’s go quickly! You never know who might see us wandering around in front of the station in uniform!”

“…why are you suddenly so mad?”

“What? …I’m not mad at all.”

Satomi looked away and said.

What’s with this girl? Is it because it’s that girl’s day?

I did not want to ask. I’d probably get beaten up if I asked.

“Also, it’s you who told me to come in uniform, no?”

“T-that’s because…”

Satomi was somewhat flustered by my straightforward rebuttal.

—You’re not that kind of character.

Just as I was about to do a tsukkomi on her, Satomi said, as if she had made up her mind.

“And your clothes look lame.”

“…..”

Ah, now this is right.

*****

As I was walking along with Satomi, I took another objective look at the current situation.

Today was a holiday. It was late afternoon.

The girl walking with me now was a girl from the same school, even though we were not that close.

…Huh? Isn’t this a bad situation when I think about it?

I’d never had a girlfriend before, so I didn’t think too much about it, but…this was, in essence, a date, right? I wonder if it was okay for me, a guy with a girlfriend, to go on a date with another girl without my girlfriend’s permission.

No, it’s okay. I wasn’t Mizutani’s real boyfriend.

In fact, if I tried to get her permission, she might be confused.

“I don’t mind, but…why are you going out of your way to confirm that with me?”

Like that. I could already picture Mizutani’s eyebrows furrowed.

I was glad I didn’t ask after all.

Besides, the purpose of today’s go-out was also for Mizutani’s benefit in a roundabout way.

If I went to the trouble of reporting to her, I would feel like I was condescending.

So, I was sure I had made the right decision.

Okay, let’s change my way of thinking

“Here we are.”

At Satomi’s words, I looked around and found a stylish-looking store on my right.

From the view of the interior through the window glass, I knew it for sure was the hair salon we were looking for.

“This is a high hurdle.”

“? Why?”

Satomi tilted her head, looking like she really didn’t get it.

Come to think of it, this girl was a gal.

I almost misunderstood her because she talked to me so casually the other day and today, but I knew she was a different kind of person from me.

Apparently, Satomi had made a reservation for me.

When I stepped into the salon with her, Satomi explained to the hair stylist, who seemed to know her, with gestures. Then that hairdresser came up to me and said

“You must be Aizawa-sama, who has a 1:00 p.m. reservation.”

What a surprise.

I had never bothered to make an appointment to get a haircut, so at this point, I was shivering.

Anyway, I followed the hairdresser’s directions and sat down fearfully in the chair for a haircut.

When I followed the hairdresser away from the chair, I saw her chatting with Satomi at the counter.

The hairdresser asked Satomi something with a smile, and Satomi denied it with a wave of her hand, saying she was not joking.

Now, let’s try to make an imaginative commentary on this conversation.

“Is he your boyfriend~?”

“Of course not! There’s absolutely no way he’s my boyfriend!”

This was probably it. What am I doing.