Before leaving school, Yukinoshita mentioned to her homeroom teacher, Miss Miwa, that she wanted to transfer classes. The teacher looked as if she'd just been granted a second life and promised it could be done in two days.
After getting into the family car waiting outside the school gate, Yukinoshita glanced at the money in her wallet and told the driver, "Take me to the nearest hair salon."
The driver asked casually, "Oh? Going in for a treatment, Miss Yukinoshita?"
Yukinoshita replied, "No. I'm dyeing it back."
Yes, she was going to dye her hair back.
This blonde mop was just too blinding to tolerate.
The driver nearly jumped out of his seat. "Eh?!"
The second daughter of the Yukinoshita family, the very one who'd once declared during her rebellious streak that she'd rather face the end of the world than dye her hair back, was now... actually doing it?
He was almost moved to tears. "Madam will be so happy when she hears!"
Yukinoshita: "..."
And just like that, she didn't feel like going anymore.
Still, after making the decision, she felt a slight mental boost, something like a +1 to her psyche. She had no idea what that even meant, but her memory, reflexes, and thinking seemed a little sharper.
The dark humanoid figure that always loomed near her well, maybe it had faded a little. Barely noticeable. But still.
Soon she arrived at a rather tastefully designed salon. One of the staff even recognized her, breaking into a wide grin as soon as she stepped in. "Miss Yukinoshita! Welcome, welcome~"
Enough with the tildes. Just talk like a normal person.
Of course, she wouldn't actually say something so snippy to a stranger.
In Japan, hair salons usually require reservations, but the rules clearly didn't apply to her. The stylist came out immediately with a bright smile. "Miss Yukinoshita, what color would you like to go with today?"
Yukinoshita froze. "Wait. Have I… changed colors often before?"
Blonde wasn't enough for you? What the hell, body-snatcher!
"Haha, you even tried a rainbow dye once. You really pulled it off."
Rainbow-haired Yukinoshita...
That really was a road not taken.
Her expression stiffened. "...Just black this time."
The stylist tilted his head. "Not trying something in the visual kei style?"
"Black, please."
The stylist was painstakingly meticulous, working through her hair strand by strand. As he worked, he chatted idly. "Your friend didn't come with you this time?"
Friend?
No idea who he was talking about.
"You know, the girl with the pink hair buns? Very cute, name's Yui Yuigahama, I think."
Yuigahama?
That sounded familiar. Wasn't she one of the girls whose boyfriend Yukinoshita had 'accidentally' stolen?
Honestly, all these guys and girls at school, messing around with puppy love instead of focusing on school. No wonder she had haters around every corner.
Was this really okay? No. It wasn't.
Young people these days, she thought, shaking her head. Control yourselves.
Yukinoshita responded flatly, "We've had a falling-out. She probably won't be coming anymore."
The stylist laughed awkwardly but politely. "Well, I hope you two make up soon."
"Maybe. If she can forgive me for stealing the guy she liked and calling her 'big boobs, no brain' a few months ago."
At least, that's what the online posts had claimed. There were even pictures of the pink-haired girl crying and running out of Sobu High, hands over her face.
Stylist: "..."
After getting a top-tier coloring and treatment package, she also removed her heavy makeup right there at the salon.
And just like that, the golden-haired, heavily made-up gyaru of a Japanese high school girl was gone, replaced once more by the pure black-haired, straight-cut schoolgirl.
In what felt like a single day and night to her but was a year and three months in reality she had waded through absurdity after absurdity to finally see her true self again in the mirror.
The stylist let out a soft gasp of surprise. He looked at Yukinoshita with genuine awe. "Miss Yukinoshita... You really do suit black hair best."
If the overly glamorous, blonde Yukinoshita ranked a 5 in beauty, then the black-haired version was a solid 10.
Her expression remained indifferent, but her eyes lingered on the mirror.
Welcome back, Yukinoshita Yukino.
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The next day, the news that Yukinoshita Yukino had returned to her black-haired, straight-cut look and her claim that she liked girls swept through Sobu High like wildfire.
As the top academic high school in the region, Sobu was a place that attracted the brightest students... and the most committed gossip enthusiasts.
The school forum, which had been pretty quiet for a while, completely exploded.
[Yukinoshita's gone back to black absolutely stunning! Loads of photos inside!]
[I never imagined she could look this good! The heavy makeup was really a waste.]
[Don't let her looks cloud your judgment, people. Yukinoshita's still a backstabbing cheater!]
[And I say, so what? Yukinoshita-san, cheat on me anytime (˘ε˘ )]
[Did you hear what happened in Class 2-F yesterday? Yukinoshita told the whole class she liked girls.]
[Wait a minute. A few guys told me she never even held their hands after getting together with them... Could it be...?]
[Here's my theory: Yukinoshita's not into the boys at all. She's into the girls they liked.]
Miura Yumiko put down her phone, eyes gleaming with the thrill of gossip.
That gloomy, stuck-up Yukinoshita into girls?
Unbelievable.
Her good friend, Onozawa Kei, was just as animated. She propped up a textbook like a barrier between them and the teacher, whispering excitedly with Miura and another girl, Kamizawa Junko.
"I've never heard of Yukinoshita being close to any girl before. Is it possible she's secretly crushing on someone? Who do you think it is?"
They still hated Yukinoshita, of course.
But this drama was way too juicy to ignore.
Kei, ever the one with the inside scoop, added, "Did you hear? Yukinoshita might be transferring classes she might be coming to ours!"
Yuigahama Yui was sitting with them, her expression weary as she listened to their amateur detective talk.
The four of them were part of the same friend group, a small tight-knit clique within the class.
Junko gasped. "Right after that bombshell about liking girls, she wants to transfer? That means the girl she likes is in our class?"
Kei nodded eagerly. "She only went after Hayama-kun and Hikigaya-kun in her class and she dumped both of them right after. I'm telling you, they weren't even her real targets."
Miura nodded solemnly.
Kei spread her hands dramatically. "So if Yukinoshita really does have a crush on a girl... it has to be one of you two."
Yuigahama stared at Kei's wild theory in stunned silence.
Then she turned and saw Miura Yumiko's face, which had gone from shocked to utterly crimson.