TL: ntsugu

TLC: Kagefij

ED: Fractal

We arrived at the Tokyu Hands in the east doorway of Omiya Station . According to Mizusawa, this was apparently the best place to buy hair wax around Omiya . Actually, now that I thought about it, Mizusawa had already done this『get your suggestions accepted』thing twice . First with Beams and now with Tokyu Hands . Not to mention he had done it all too naturally . Is this is the ability of an active riajuu?

Using the elevator, the four of us headed straight to the area on the fourth floor that sold hair products for men . There were a variety of waxes stored inside fancily coloured boxes, all lined up neatly in a row .

｢I wonder which one would suit him?｣

Hinami said to Izumi .

｢I wonder . Hiro?｣

｢Hmm, I don’t think he has any from the series around here . ｣

Saying that, Mizusawa pointed at a series of waxes stored in tube-like containers .

｢What does this number mean? The firmness?｣

｢Right . Number 2 is soft, while number 10 is firm . ｣

｢Which is better?｣

｢Rather than one being better than the other, it really depends on the person’s hair type and the length of their hair . For example…｣

Saying this, Mizusawa picked up one of the『8』waxes that had the word “sample” written on it .

｢C’mere, Tomozaki . ｣

｢Eh?｣

Mizusawa beckoned me over . I did as I was told and stood beside him .

｢Oooh! Takahiro’s setting show!｣

Hinami urged him on while laughing .  Eh? Setting show?

｢Well, this is an example, ‘kay? In Tomozaki’s case, his hair is a lil’ bit long but it’s a soft type so I’ll use number 8, the second most firm wax . Well, to be honest, it’d be great if we could try them all . You should ask the salon to try them out for you, you probably won’t go wrong using the one they recommend . The hairdresser who cut Tomozaki’s hair seems pretty good, after all . ｣

｢U-uhm…?｣

｢Here, here, just listen . For this much hair, well, I suppose you’d use an amount about the size of the nail on your little finger . Put it on your hand and spread it evenly . Oh, by the way this is normally done with damp hair, drying it afterwards . You could even say that the majority of the final result depends on your drying method . So this is just something like an emergency measure . ｣

｢Heeeh~!｣

Despite having probably been aware of that information already, Hinami feigned a voice filled with admiration .

｢Here’s how you do it, ‘kay? You apply this until you have an even layer over all of your hair, not including your bangs . This is a point that often gets misunderstood, see . There’s people who think you’re only supposed to only put it on the part of hair you want to set, such as the top or side, but that’s wrong . Apply the wax so that it’s spread all over . Just be careful to not get too much on your bangs though, since they’ll look greasy that way . ｣

｢R-Right . ｣

Amazed, I earnestly listened to every detail of Mizusawa’s explanation .

｢Considering the length of your hair, setting it on a perm-style would look cool, I guess? While applying the wax everywhere, we’ll make a tuft by firmly scrunching it . ｣

I could feel him firmly scrunching away at my hair at a fast pace .

｢Oooh~!｣

Izumi raised her voice in delight . I wonder what’s happening .

｢Uuuhm, what does my hair look like right now?｣

｢Just you wait . Okay, this is the second important point . It’s something often forgotten when setting your own hair, or rather, it’s something you don’t realize . The truth is, an extremely important part in setting your hair is『the back』of it . You can’t see it in the mirror, though . ｣

｢Heeh! I see!｣ While saying so, Hinami was nodding very slightly . Which could also be seen as a signal that what he just said was correct .

｢The back of your head affects how you’re seen from the side and from the back . It’s said that the most important aspect of a man’s face is the side profile, so it’s crucial to set your hair in a way that looks good from the side . To be specific…｣

Mizusawa drew a semicircle in the air using his palm .

｢I’m gonna make the back of your hair stick out a little bit!｣

｢Stick out?｣

I’m gradually becoming drawn into Mizusawa’s speech . As expected, he’s skilled at talking .

｢Well, you’ll understand if you look at the profiles of foreigners or manga characters . Your side profile looks good when the back of your hair sticks out . Try doing an image search for foreigners or characters . The thing is, though, a lot of j.a.panese people have naturally flat hair, so they have to get their hair to stick out by setting it . ｣

｢I-I see . ｣

｢For some reason, Hiro sounds like a guy in a TV shopping show . ｣

Izumi interrupted playfully .

｢Shut up! Anyways, I’ll just raise this part up… I’d have also liked to make it firm by spraying it, but well, I suppose it’ll hold for some time so long as we’re inside . Here, it’s done . ｣

｢Oooh~! Amazing! It looks unexpectedly good on you Tomozaki!｣

Izumi said, her eyes sparkling .

｢T-That ‘unexpectedly’ wasn’t necessary!｣

As expected, if it’s retorting when insulted, I can do it . Please ignore my loss for words there .

Hinami grinned as she looked at us .

｢Heeh! So even Takahiro has a speciality, huh?｣

｢Yeahh, Aoi sure is noisy…」

As expected, these two get along .

So in other words, I got my hair set by someone who wishes to be a hairdresser…

｢Uhhhh, so how does my head look now?｣

｢Why don’t you go to a restroom later and take a look!｣

Mizusawa said while grinning .

｢But it looks really great, you know? I think you should try setting your own hair when going to school too!｣

｢But it looks really great, you know? I think you should try setting your own hair when going to school too!｣

Izumi said while staring at my hair, her tone relatively serious .

「Eh, y-yeah . 」

I ended up feeling embarra.s.sed by her sudden praise . Anything that isn’t an insult, I can’t handle it .

｢U-uuhm… ah, the present…｣

Because I got embarra.s.sed all of a sudden, I quickly changed topic .  Right now we’re doing Izumi’s shopping!

｢Ah, right! Which one do you think would be the best for Shuuji?｣

｢Hmmm . Well, that guy has short hair, so I guess it has to be this one . ｣

With this being said, he took the『10』wax and handed it to Izumi .

｢Then I’ll go with this one! I’m going to buy this! Wait here!｣

Saying this, Izumi rushed over to the counter . I could kind of tell that she was trying to reduce the time we would spend waiting for her to a minimum . Someone like Konno Erika would have definitely taken her own sweet time walking to the counter .

｢Even so, your hair was very easy to set . It’s freshly cut, right?｣

｢Uuhm, around two weeks ago, I guess?｣

｢Heeh! Where did you get it cut?｣

｢If I remember correctly, the shop’s name was──｣

At that exact moment, Hinami lightly tapped my shoes with hers . Even so, I continued saying the shop’s name . Then, in an instant, I realized, ‘Huh? Was that a signal to not say it?’

｢Right, right! I told him about it~!｣

Hinami broke into the conversation naturally as soon as I mentioned the name, not giving Mizusawa a chance to react .

｢Ah, that makes sense . I was even thinking to myself, ‘isn’t the same place Aoi goes to?’ just now, you know . So you introduced the place to him?｣

｢That’s right! He told me that he was looking for a good hair salon so I told him about it! Also, you earn points by introducing someone!｣

｢What a shrewd person!｣

｢What a shrewd person!｣

Then, the two of them laughed . I also laughed, albeit a bit late .

Uhhhh . Yeah . I just screwed up, right?

Going to the same hair salon as Hinami is weird . It’s also a bit unreasonable to insist that it’s just a coincidence .

With that being the case, mentioning the name of the hair salon without also saying that Hinami introduced it to me would be unnatural .

Which is basically why the moment I told him the name of the shop, Hinami had mentioned it herself before he could suspect anything .

Saying it after Mizusawa reacted with「Eh? Isn’t that the same place where Aoi cuts her hair?」would have been too late, as not mentioning it in the first place would be unnatural . Let’s especially not forget that Mizusawa possesses a mysterious deduction skill .

While reflecting, I realized yet again how scary it was that Hinami came to that conclusion in an instant .

｢I’ve bought it!｣

Izumi returned with a pleased face .

｢Let’s go, then!｣

Perhaps to prevent the issue from being pursued any further, Hinami quickly took the lead . Since there was an escalator nearby, we used that to head back .

And then, it was at that very moment .

Next to the escalator, there was was a mirror that ran alongside it, large enough for one to see their whole body .

Because I rode the escalator unaware of this fact, the mirror entered my vision without me being conscious about it . It was then that I caught sight of my reflection .

I think I’m quite strict with myself . That’s the reason why I’ve become so good in AtaFami . In particular, when it comes to my appearance, I’ve been taking care to avoid getting the wrong idea and embarra.s.sing myself, and have been strictly judging myself based on objective indicators . At least, I take pride in doing so .

That was why I considered it unlikely to be a misunderstanding .

This full-body reflection of myself in the mirror .

Of course, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I looked like a riajuu . However, what I saw was the figure of a person walking alongside good-looking boys and girls, using the strength in his hips to straighten his back . With the corners of his mouth proudly turned up in a smile, wearing reasonably fas.h.i.+onable clothes bought with a mannequin for reference . His eyebrows orderly, and his head sporting a hairstyle his schoolmate pursuing hairdressing had set for him .

At the very least, to my eyes, that figure looked nothing like a gross otaku .

TL: ntsugu. TLC: Kagefij. ED: Fractal.

 .

We arrived at the Tokyu Hands in the east doorway of Omiya Station . According to Mizusawa, this was apparently the best place to buy hair wax around Omiya . Actually, now that I thought about it, Mizusawa had already done this『get your suggestions accepted』thing twice . First with Beams and now with Tokyu Hands . Not to mention he had done it all too naturally . Is this is the ability of an active riajuu?.

Using the elevator, the four of us headed straight to the area on the fourth floor that sold hair products for men . There were a variety of waxes stored inside fancily coloured boxes, all lined up neatly in a row

｢I wonder which one would suit him?｣.

Hinami said to Izumi

｢I wonder . Hiro?｣.

｢Hmm, I don’t think he has any from the series around here . ｣.

Saying that, Mizusawa pointed at a series of waxes stored in tube-like containers

｢What does this number mean? The firmness?｣.

｢Right . Number 2 is soft, while number 10 is firm . ｣.

｢Which is better?｣.

｢Rather than one being better than the other, it really depends on the person’s hair type and the length of their hair . For example…｣.

Saying this, Mizusawa picked up one of the『8』waxes that had the word “sample” written on it

｢C’mere, Tomozaki . ｣.

｢Eh?｣.

Mizusawa beckoned me over . I did as I was told and stood beside him

｢Oooh! Takahiro’s setting show!｣.

Hinami urged him on while laughing .  Eh? Setting show?.

｢Well, this is an example, ‘kay? In Tomozaki’s case, his hair is a lil’ bit long but it’s a soft type so I’ll use number 8, the second most firm wax . Well, to be honest, it’d be great if we could try them all . You should ask the salon to try them out for you, you probably won’t go wrong using the one they recommend . The hairdresser who cut Tomozaki’s hair seems pretty good, after all . ｣.

｢U-uhm…?｣.

｢Here, here, just listen . For this much hair, well, I suppose you’d use an amount about the size of the nail on your little finger . Put it on your hand and spread it evenly . Oh, by the way this is normally done with damp hair, drying it afterwards . You could even say that the majority of the final result depends on your drying method . So this is just something like an emergency measure . ｣.

｢Heeeh~!｣.

Despite having probably been aware of that information already, Hinami feigned a voice filled with admiration

｢Here’s how you do it, ‘kay? You apply this until you have an even layer over all of your hair, not including your bangs . This is a point that often gets misunderstood, see . There’s people who think you’re only supposed to only put it on the part of hair you want to set, such as the top or side, but that’s wrong . Apply the wax so that it’s spread all over . Just be careful to not get too much on your bangs though, since they’ll look greasy that way . ｣.

｢R-Right . ｣.

Amazed, I earnestly listened to every detail of Mizusawa’s explanation

｢Considering the length of your hair, setting it on a perm-style would look cool, I guess? While applying the wax everywhere, we’ll make a tuft by firmly scrunching it . ｣.

I could feel him firmly scrunching away at my hair at a fast pace

｢Oooh~!｣.

Izumi raised her voice in delight . I wonder what’s happening

｢Uuuhm, what does my hair look like right now?｣.

｢Just you wait . Okay, this is the second important point . It’s something often forgotten when setting your own hair, or rather, it’s something you don’t realize . The truth is, an extremely important part in setting your hair is『the back』of it . You can’t see it in the mirror, though . ｣.

｢Heeh! I see!｣ While saying so, Hinami was nodding very slightly . Which could also be seen as a signal that what he just said was correct

｢The back of your head affects how you’re seen from the side and from the back . It’s said that the most important aspect of a man’s face is the side profile, so it’s crucial to set your hair in a way that looks good from the side . To be specific…｣.

Mizusawa drew a semicircle in the air using his palm

｢I’m gonna make the back of your hair stick out a little bit!｣.

｢Stick out?｣.

I’m gradually becoming drawn into Mizusawa’s speech . As expected, he’s skilled at talking

｢Well, you’ll understand if you look at the profiles of foreigners or manga characters . Your side profile looks good when the back of your hair sticks out . Try doing an image search for foreigners or characters . The thing is, though, a lot of j.a.panese people have naturally flat hair, so they have to get their hair to stick out by setting it . ｣.

｢I-I see . ｣.

｢For some reason, Hiro sounds like a guy in a TV shopping show . ｣.

Izumi interrupted playfully

｢Shut up! Anyways, I’ll just raise this part up… I’d have also liked to make it firm by spraying it, but well, I suppose it’ll hold for some time so long as we’re inside . Here, it’s done . ｣.

｢Oooh~! Amazing! It looks unexpectedly good on you Tomozaki!｣.

Izumi said, her eyes sparkling

｢T-That ‘unexpectedly’ wasn’t necessary!｣.

As expected, if it’s retorting when insulted, I can do it . Please ignore my loss for words there

Hinami grinned as she looked at us

｢Heeh! So even Takahiro has a speciality, huh?｣.

｢Yeahh, Aoi sure is noisy…」.

As expected, these two get along

So in other words, I got my hair set by someone who wishes to be a hairdresser….

｢Uhhhh, so how does my head look now?｣.

｢Why don’t you go to a restroom later and take a look!｣.

Mizusawa said while grinning

｢But it looks really great, you know? I think you should try setting your own hair when going to school too!｣.

Izumi said while staring at my hair, her tone relatively serious

「Eh, y-yeah . 」.

I ended up feeling embarra.s.sed by her sudden praise . Anything that isn’t an insult, I can’t handle it

｢U-uuhm… ah, the present…｣.

Because I got embarra.s.sed all of a sudden, I quickly changed topic .  Right now we’re doing Izumi’s shopping!.

｢Ah, right! Which one do you think would be the best for Shuuji?｣.

｢Hmmm . Well, that guy has short hair, so I guess it has to be this one . ｣.

With this being said, he took the『10』wax and handed it to Izumi

｢Then I’ll go with this one! I’m going to buy this! Wait here!｣.

Saying this, Izumi rushed over to the counter . I could kind of tell that she was trying to reduce the time we would spend waiting for her to a minimum . Someone like Konno Erika would have definitely taken her own sweet time walking to the counter

｢Even so, your hair was very easy to set . It’s freshly cut, right?｣.

｢Uuhm, around two weeks ago, I guess?｣.

｢Heeh! Where did you get it cut?｣.

｢If I remember correctly, the shop’s name was──｣.

At that exact moment, Hinami lightly tapped my shoes with hers . Even so, I continued saying the shop’s name . Then, in an instant, I realized, ‘Huh? Was that a signal to not say it?’.

｢Right, right! I told him about it~!｣.

Hinami broke into the conversation naturally as soon as I mentioned the name, not giving Mizusawa a chance to react

｢Ah, that makes sense . I was even thinking to myself, ‘isn’t the same place Aoi goes to?’ just now, you know . So you introduced the place to him?｣.

｢That’s right! He told me that he was looking for a good hair salon so I told him about it! Also, you earn points by introducing someone!｣.

｢What a shrewd person!｣.

Then, the two of them laughed . I also laughed, albeit a bit late

Uhhhh . Yeah . I just screwed up, right?.

Going to the same hair salon as Hinami is weird . It’s also a bit unreasonable to insist that it’s just a coincidence

With that being the case, mentioning the name of the hair salon without also saying that Hinami introduced it to me would be unnatural

Which is basically why the moment I told him the name of the shop, Hinami had mentioned it herself before he could suspect anything

Saying it after Mizusawa reacted with「Eh? Isn’t that the same place where Aoi cuts her hair?」would have been too late, as not mentioning it in the first place would be unnatural . Let’s especially not forget that Mizusawa possesses a mysterious deduction skill

While reflecting, I realized yet again how scary it was that Hinami came to that conclusion in an instant

｢I’ve bought it!｣.

Izumi returned with a pleased face

｢Let’s go, then!｣.

Perhaps to prevent the issue from being pursued any further, Hinami quickly took the lead . Since there was an escalator nearby, we used that to head back

And then, it was at that very moment

Next to the escalator, there was was a mirror that ran alongside it, large enough for one to see their whole body

Because I rode the escalator unaware of this fact, the mirror entered my vision without me being conscious about it . It was then that I caught sight of my reflection

I think I’m quite strict with myself . That’s the reason why I’ve become so good in AtaFami . In particular, when it comes to my appearance, I’ve been taking care to avoid getting the wrong idea and embarra.s.sing myself, and have been strictly judging myself based on objective indicators . At least, I take pride in doing so

That was why I considered it unlikely to be a misunderstanding

This full-body reflection of myself in the mirror

Of course, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I looked like a riajuu . However, what I saw was the figure of a person walking alongside good-looking boys and girls, using the strength in his hips to straighten his back . With the corners of his mouth proudly turned up in a smile, wearing reasonably fas.h.i.+onable clothes bought with a mannequin for reference . His eyebrows orderly, and his head sporting a hairstyle his schoolmate pursuing hairdressing had set for him

At the very least, to my eyes, that figure looked nothing like a gross otaku