The Pain of an Inferior: A Blistering Love Comedy That Begins After a Broken Heart - Chapter 92

Chapter 92 – [Cancel Awakening]

Reika visited the Obi family house on Saturday before sundown.

The reason for her visit was, needless to say, to have her hair dyed.

It may sound like she was reluctant to do so, but for Reika, who wanted to change herself but could not do so because she didn’t have the courage, this was definitely a welcome push.

Besides, she was secretly looking forward to meeting Haruka.

“Welcome, Reika-chan!”

“Hello, Yuzurika-senpai”

Yuzurika greeted her in a cheerful voice.

Reika greeted Yuzurika back, although she was a little nervous.

Yuzurika invited her to come inside the house. When Reika entered the living room, she found Haruka and Ria sitting side by side on the sofa.

“Hello, Reika-san.”

“Greetings.”

“Hello. I see you’re here too, Ise-san.”

“Just to see how it goes, right?”

It was more accurate to say the Ria actually lived in the Obi household, but Reika was not aware of her relationship with Haruka yet, so they kept quiet about it.

“Reika-chan, you look so cute all dressed up.” (Yuzurika)

“T-thank you very much.”

Today, Reika was dressed in a cream-colored shirt with a long pale green cardiagan and a long white skirt underneath.

She wore small raspberry earrings in her ears.

Reika wanted Haruka to see her in a different way from her usual appearance. She wanted to style her hair too, but gave up this time since she would just undo it when she dyed her hair.

“Well then, let’s get started. I’ve prepared everything for you.”

Yuzurika pulled Reika’s hand and took her to a large space between the living room and the dining room.

She smiled with the colorant she has already prepared for Reika in her hand.

“Well, I’ve already mixed the colorant that suits you, Reika-chan.”

“Uh… Y-Yes…”

Reika had only requested a warm color that was not too flashy at first, since it was her first time to color her hair.

Yuzurika’s not too flashy coloring seemed to be too flashy for Reika, so she was a little intimidated. She had to make up her mind that there was no turning back now that she had come this far.

Besides, she doesn’t care if it turned out too flashy or not. It had always been her dream to do it by the time she grows up.

“Ahaha. You don’t have to be so cautious. I’m not going to bleach it this time, so it won’t be that bright. (Yuzurika)

“Nee-san is telling you the truth,  you don’t have to be scared.”

Haruka reassured her. She felt a little relieved.

Yuzurika made Reika sat on the seat, took of her long green cardigan, and handed it to Haruka, telling him to fold it up. Reika felt strangely embarrassed and turned her head down, even though Haruka was only folding the clothes she had been wearing.

A cape was put on her to prevent stains, and Reika’s hair is blocked in a skillful manner.

Protective cream was applied around the hairline, Reika’s hair was now ready for coloring.

“Hey, Haru. Stop staring at her!”

“Aye sir.”

Yuzurika reprimands Haruka. It’s because Reika was fidgeting when she noticed that Haruka was staring at her.

Haruka was somewhat curious about the process of coloring Reika’s hair, but he noticed Reika’s beautiful neck, which he ended up staring. In the end Haruka took off and invited Ria to join him in a tabletop game.

Yuzurika carefully applied the colorant to Reika’s hair after whisking it.

In a very real sense, there was no turning back now. Breathing quietly, Reika wondered on what to do about the questions and answers she was about to have with her classmates.

The problem that usually came when changing their image was the reaction of those around them.

If she was a cheerful and positive person like Yuzurika, this was not a problem. But unfortunately for Reika, it was not easy for her.

It even took a lot of courage for her to get a piercing, and in the end she hid it with her hair for fear of being discovered.

Some time ago in a chat, she had heard that Haruka used to have a slightly darker hair.

Reika wondered how he felt. When Haruka changed his hair color, got tattoos, or tried to change himself. She wondered if he was afraid of what other people would think of him.

“Fufu?. Reika-chan’s hair is becoming pretty?”

Humming a tune, Yuzurika looked really happy as she did her work.

Although she doesn’t have any achievements as a beautician, Yuzurika was doing her work so smoothly that Reika thought that she was a professional.

“It’s easier to dye your hair when you’re a rank B citizen though.” (Yuzurika)

“All we have to do is to install mods, right?” (Reika)

“That’s right~”

The Talisman are present in every part of the body.

If one was a rank B citizen, they can change their hair color directly using their Talisman.

Hair color that would normally have to be re-dyed overtime can be permanently dyed with the help of a mod.

“By the way, there’s a girl with red hair in Reika-chan’s class, isn’t there?”

“Ah, you mean Yunika-san?”

“She’s amazing, isn’t she? Her hair color is altered on a genetic level.”

“Yunika-san’s ancestor attained Rank S citizenship five generations ago.”

“That’s pretty cool. I also want to be a Rank S someday.”

According to a rough calculation based on statistics, S-ranks were born only once in every 44 million.

Rank B can be attained eventually through hard work, meanwhile Rank A required talent. Rank S was the one the can’t be attained without a miracle.

Reika peeked at Ria who was playing with Haruka with a sideways glance.

Ria was a Rank E citizen because she was born through genetic manipulation, but still her ability was definitely divine.

Reika watched some of her streams out of curiousity, the way Ria defeated her opponents with her formidable strength had attracted many viewers. Sometimes she would be beaten, but it was usually due to difference in knowledge. Ria’s technique was clearly at the top level.

Yuzurika applied the colorant evenly, and finally Reika’s hair was gathered up and capped.

“When the timer reaches zero, wash it off in the bathroom.”

“Eh? Ah! Y-Yes…”

“And after you rinse off, wash your hair once with the shampoo and conditioner I highlighted. If you don’t use them, your hair will be damaged.”

“I-I understand.”

Reika was blushing at the thought of taking a bath in the house of a boy that she had only known for half a year. Naturally, she had to rinse off the colorant, so after confirming that the timer had reached zero, Reika quietly went to the bathroom.

Towels and a hair dryer were already prepared, everything was already taken care of.

Reika took off her clothes, and opened the door of the bathroom.

Yuzurika told her that the shampoo and conditioner she had to use were highlighted, so she could find them without any problem.

What surprised Reika was the number of shampoos, treatments, and conditioners.

Even if Yuzurika and Haruka were fashionable people, there were too many of them in the bathroom. There were nine kinds of shampoos, which was particularly a large number.

In fact, it was because Yuzurika, Haruka, Miyako, and Ria had each purchased their own shampoo, but there was no way for Reika to know that at the moment.

She sat down on a chair and composed herself. She removed the cap and started the shower to rinse off the colorant with warm water.

When most of the colorant had been rinsed off, Reika opened her tightly closed eyelids, her heart racing with nervousness, anxiety, and anticipation.

“Ah…”

Reika’s black hair was dyed a dark pink glaze.

The color pink itself was flashy, but it doesn’t look that flashy because it hasn’t been bleached and the color was dark enough.

Reika turned her face to the left and right and lifted her hair at the back to check the result.

There was no unevenness in color. Yuzurika’s coloring was perfect despite the fact that she was not a licensed beautician.

A feeling of elation filled Reika’s chest.

With a sense of excitement, she took care of her dyed hair with the shampoo and conditioner that Yuzurika instructed her to use.

Reika left the bathroom, wipe herself off, put on her clothes, and picked up the hair dryer with an irrepressible smile on her face.

Reika stared at her reflection in the bathroom. She could not hide her loose smile.

Yuzurika had done her best to accomodate Reika’s preference.

The color was exquisite, neither too subtle nor too gaudy.

Reika liked the slight purple color of her hair.

“Wavy hair would be good…”

Wavy hair would definitely suit her better than straight hair, she thought.

On Monday, Reika decided to go all out and curl her hair.

?

“Wow?, that looks great!”

“It looks good on you, Reika-san.”

“Indeed, it looks great on you.”

When Reika returned to the living room, she was greeted with positive feedback.

All of them looked at Reika’s new hair color with great interest and smiled.

Reika grinned bashfully.

“Yuzurika-san, um… Thank you very much. I really like this color…”

Reika said happily, lifting her hair on both sides.

Seeing this, Yuzurika laughed and replied, “I’m glad.”

“Well then, let’s celebrate the success of Reika-chan’s image change and have a party!”

“E-Eh?!”

Yuzurika made the puzzled Reika take a seat, Haruka heated up the dishes he prepared in advance, and placed them on the table.

Reika was surprised at the magnificent dishes lined up in front of her.

Considering Reika’s small appetite, each person can decide their own portion.

“Dyeing your hair makes you feel better, doesn’t it? So here it is!”

Yuzurika prepared a can of sake.

“S-sake…”

“It’s fine, it’s not that strong. I won’t force you to drink a lot, so don’t worry.”

Since Yuzurika said so, Reika eased her tension. For some reason, she trusted her completely.

After finishing the dishes, Haruka sat down on the floor, and Ria sat opposite of him.

When all four of them were seated on the four sides, Yuzurika led the group.

“All right! Let’s have a toast in celebration of the new Reika-chan!”

“”Cheers!”””

Haruka and Ria happily raised their cans.

“C-Cheers.”

Reika shyly imitated them.

The food prepared by Haruka was delicious, the chopsticks went well with the food.

The fact Reika’s hair was successfully dyed helped lift their spirits, they drank more and more alcohol.

“People often say I am modest, but I usually think I am beautiful though! Do you know what they think about me?! They call me a slipshod! Isn’t that terrible?! It’s true that I’m not as good looking as Miyako-chan or Shinku-san, but still….”

“That’s not true, Reika-san is very beautiful.”

“Ria’s right. You’re very fashionable, those people don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Ufufu…Thank you very much. I’m so happy.”

All of them were drunk, Haruka and Ria smiled wryly as they listened to Reika’s complaining.

Even after the food was gone, Yuruzika added more cans of sake so they ended up drinking more.

A horror movie was played in the background, but they didn’t paid attention to it much and treated it as background music.

Reika was smiling happily, her face red due to the alcohol.

The party continued until midnight.

Finally, it became quiet.

?

“Ugh, my head hurts…”

The next morning, Haruka woke up in his bedroom with a severe headache.

It was a hangover from drinking too much.

His head felt wobbly and queasy.

Dazzled by the bright sunlight, he slowly sat up, and finally realized something was wrong.

Haruka was lying on the bed completely naked.

He might have gotten drunk and slept with Yuzurika or Ria.

In fact, someone was wrapped in the sheets right next to him, and he could hear her soft breathing.

Haruka pulled off the sheet covering her head to watch her sleeping face.

“Eh?”

Reika was sleeping next to Haruka, completely naked.

Her pink-glazed hair, which had just been dyed yesterday, was spread on the pure white sheets, she was sleeping peacefully.