Kaiwa mo shinai tsurekko no imouto ga, naganen issho ni baka yatte-kita Netoge no friend datta

And when I saw that to the ends of her gaze was not at Shiyori, I breathed a sigh of relief thinking that she didn’t fall in the end of her sight, but that instead made this even more confusing.

“Minami—wai—”

“Wow, Yoshida-san, you’ve got a makeover! Are you dressed the same as last time? You’re so cute!”

“Eh, ah, na, Nanjo-san, uh… ah, thank you…”

I was about to question her as to why she said that, but Nanjo Rin immediately put in her usual air, as she rushed over to Shiyori, who was the center of her conversation, and took hold of her hand.

“If you do what the beauty salon says to do about your hair, you can easily manage your curly hair somewhat, right?”

“Eh, yes… I tried it several times, and now… I got the hang of it.”

“That’s right! Let’s go shopping for clothes together next time.”

“Huh!? Is it really okay…?”

“Un, I’d like to see something else that might look good on you~.”

As for Shiyori in question, she seemed to be perplexed by Nanjo Rin, who had pushed her way through the other girls. However also couldn’t hide her joy of being confronted by her. …Well she’s the girl that Shiyori admires and idolizes, so if I were to say it’s natural, well yeah, I guess it’s only natural.

“There are times when you suddenly want to dress up cute right~!”

“Uh-unn…”

And with that Nanjo Rin, as if to convince everyone, declares that her actions had no hidden meanings behind it. It rather seemed to me as an action trying to protect Shiyori altogether.

However, for Nanjo Rin, it was also a very natural behavior for her. But even though she showcases her smile around like that, it somehow felt to me as if her eyes weren’t actually/necessarily smiling in reality at all. I was pretty sure it’s her cat-mask that she had perfected over the years.

“Kuuuu, looking at two beautiful girls standing side by side looks just like a painting, right Subaru!”

“… I’ll be right back.”

“Eh? o~OH…?”

Somehow, I felt uncomfortable being around her.

Besides, even if I were to leave everything to Nanjo Rin right now, this place will somehow be fine.

I just couldn’t handle the unpleasant feeling that was brewing inside me. I hurriedly left the place as if to deceive and calm this feeling.

Rumors of Shiyori’s new makeover quickly circulated throughout the school.

The rumor of a girl who was sober and inconspicuous until just yesterday had suddenly transformed into a neat, clean and beautiful girl overnight. Well, there’s no way it wouldn’t go unnoticed and be a topic of conversation with all that has happened by now.

“As I thought, it must be a man after all, otherwise it’s strange to suddenly have a makeover at this time of year.”

“Well, her trying to get serious in her expression makes her appeal more to the boys after all. I guess even she could also get pretty sly when time calls for it.”

“But who the h**l is that guy after all? I’ve never seen Yoshida-san together with a boy before.”

“It really feels like they are completely under the bushes? Well, if it was the present Yoshida we are talking about, I can really go and have fun with her.”

“Hey, don’t you think that if we push her far enough, she would eventually concede and go out with us?”

“Nope, I think there is already someone beside her already. That level is something not to kid around or is found normally, you know?”

Even in my class, both the boys and girls were discussing funny, crazy and critic analysis of the situation. Most of the talk that was going on even in that was about the unusual change of appearance that took place on Yoshida. Every time the topic pops into my ears, I can feel my heart cry and pound.

—- Are you all just about appearances…

I unintentionally curse them within my mouth.

I know that appearance of her’s will be a topic of conversation. I know it will pique their curiosity. However only the surface of her change was what was getting talked about and criticized, while the rest of her personality, how she actually is, has not been mentioned at all. Even though they were discussing about Shiyori, they really resembled people in a zoo. I feel like I was made to listen to a topic of an especially rare beast, and get irritated as it goes on.

In fact, I also don’t know what kind of change caused Shiyori’s mind causing her dress like that all of a sudden. But this fact was clear to me, that she was desperately trying to change herself and her image around for good. However, was this really the change Shiyori wanted after all?

I looked at the reflected image of myself from the window glass, my face already had wrinkles between my eyebrows.

And then, it was lunch break.