CH 44

“Eh? What is it? Is it that bad?”

“………”

Without answering my question or blinking, Kashiwagi-san kept staring at my face, the face of my supposed reborn self.

“Um… Kashiwagi-san? Yuri Kashiwagi-san? Beautiful genius doctor. Ramune Cigarette extremist. Actually kind and an awesome hard worker who also looks good in a white coat.”

I referred to her as I like, taking advantage of the lack of response.

After repeated calls, Kashiwagi-san finally came to her senses and responded by shaking her body.

And then she started blushing and breathing heavily.

Ignoring, red-faced, and heavy breathing… could she be…?

“Are you mad at me?”

“… H-hold on a second. I need a little time to gather my thoughts.”

Saying that Kashiwagi-san looked away from me and started mumbling something to herself.

“RIght… it must be that… no, but still… with this… any woman except me…”

Kashiwagi-san glanced at me again and then let out a loud sigh.

I wondered if she finally got in the mood to speak.

Then she said with her eyes averted from me.

“… I used to think it was okay if I never saw you. As long as you get cured. But I confess, I was secretly hoping, dreaming every night that by some chance I could see you again.”

Kashiwagi-san’s stories are always far-fetched, but this one was going to be another long one.

I should focus on what she wants to convey.

“I had memorized your face since childhood, no way I could forget it right? Then as I grew older, I used to fantasize – no, fantasize – what you would look like if I could cure your disease…”

As she said this, she glanced at me again and let out a big sigh.

“This has gone way beyond my expectations.”

“E-eh?”

W-what does she mean by that…?

Kashiwagi-san puffed out her cheeks a little and said grumpily.

“Let me be honest with you, for my part, I am very disappointed. It would have been very convenient for me if you had remained as you were before. You didn’t have to look like this. I wouldn’t want you walking around… with that look of yours.”

I understood immediately what she was trying to say.

She wanted to tell me in a roundabout way that I now have a “disappointing face” far beyond her expectations.

She doesn’t even want me to walk in the open like this…

“… Um, can I have a look at myself?”

“Oh, yes. You’ll understand the gravity of the situation when you see it. Here, I have a hand mirror for you to use.”

I looked at my face in the mirror she handed me.

There I saw a young man with a face I did not recognize.

“No way… is this me?”

In the meantime, I said a line like a girl reborn with her first makeover.

But I, an aesthetically insane person, honestly don’t know if this is a good face or a bad face.

I fearfully asked Kashiwagi-san.

“Erml, I’ve gone through life looking like that, so I can’t be sure… I guess this look is on the level of an average person… right?”

And she snickered.

“You call this the level of the average person? This is it! Ha, don’t make me laugh.”

“I see… hmm, no. I don’t really understand… I’ve only ever thought of judging someone’s facial qualities on the basis of ‘me or not me’.”

“What’s with that charismatic host mentality?”

Certainly, I have bigger eyes, longer eyelashes, smaller noses, and thinner lips than others.

Is this effeminate-looking feature not good?

Kashiwagi-san glanced at me again and let out a big sigh.

“Seriously… your face makes me sigh every time I see it. Don’t get too close to me, I’m not used to seeing you yet and I need to prepare myself.”

“Understood…”

I wailed inside my heart at Kashiwagi-san’s unrelenting and terrible phrasing.