Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph (Seraph of the End). I write this for your enjoyment only. I would like to thank my readers for your support and encouragement so far ^^ I know you are all eager to know when Guren is going to find out the truth about Yuichiro but I want the big revelation to be good so I'm going to build up to it as best as I can. Keep in mind, my fic is AU so there will be different version of events from the canon story; please refer to the footnotes at the end. Once again, I would like to thank my beta reader and editor, ResidentialPsycho, for her help in making this fic possible. I had loads of fun writing this chapter so enjoy and please review!
Chapter 10: Strange and Awkward Behavior
January 3, 2017
"Ok, one more lap, boys!"
Yuichiro panted as she did her best to keep up with the other boys in her PE class. Today was her first day back in school after four years of absence and to be honest, physical education was her least favorite subject since she's always been more of a bookworm and computer geek. Yuu's genetic enhancements may have given her abnormal strength for a child her age but she still lacked stamina.
However, the girl knew that was going to have to change if she wanted to become a soldier and join the Japanese Imperial Demon Army to fight the vampires. If Yuichiro could not even complete a few laps around the school's track, how was she going last on the battlefield where stamina and endurance were just as essential for survival as being able to control one's emotions?
Even if she was the last one to complete what felt like her fifth lap, Yuichiro forced herself to keep moving, refusing to give up. Guren did tell her that it was better to finish something late than not at all and quitting anything worthwhile was probably the worst thing that anyone could do. And Yuichiro didn't think she could come home and face her guardian should she fail to complete her assigned laps. If Guren knew, he wouldn't teach her how to fight for sure.
So taking a deep breath, Yuichiro forced herself to pick up the pace and run to the other end of the track. As she predicted, she was the last one to finish but since everyone in her class were just as exhausted, no one paid her any heed except for her PE teacher, a young man in his early twenties. He took one glance at the stopwatch in his hand before shifting his gaze to the raven-haired "boy".
"Hmm… nine minutes and forty seconds. Not bad, Hyakuya but I still believe you can do better than that. Just keep trying, ok?"
Unable to answer right away, Yuichiro bent over at the knees and waited until she caught her breath while her coach waited patiently for her response. When she was able to speak again, the girl nodded.
"Thank you, sir, I will."
"Ok, good. Well, class is almost over so why don't you head on back to the locker room and change? You're lucky you have PE as your final class of the day so you can just go straight home and rest."
"I know. And I'm very thankful. So if you'll excuse me…"
The teacher nodded and made a gesture to the locker room but said nothing more. Yuichiro took that as her cue and went to catch up with the rest of the boys in her class. So far, her first day at Shibuya Middle School was going well; none of her fellow classmates have even suspected her secret and when she started her PE class, Yuichiro made sure to change in one of the bathroom stalls. The other boys were so busy changing to make it in time for class that they paid her no heed.
That is, until now that class was over and every one of them was sweaty and smelly. Looking around, Yuu felt herself growing nervous as she saw her male classmates start to strip before stepping into the shower to clean themselves off and cursed herself for failing to think of that when she started class today. After all, none of them required a shower before running enough laps to make them sweat buckets.
Crap, I can't take my clothes off here! What am I going to do? The girl thought as she frantically tried to think of a way to escape her uncomfortable situation.
Yuichiro's discomfort did not go unnoticed by one of her classmates, a young boy her age named Satoshi. Seeing the ravenette hesitate to take off her clothes, he asked:
"Hey, what's the problem, Yuu? Aren't you going to shower? There's no need to be embarrassed, we're all guys here."
Startled, Yuichiro turned and looked into her classmate's concerned face. Thinking quickly, she shook her head and said:
"Um, you know what? I think I'll pass and just wait 'till I get home to shower."
Satoshi gave a blank stare for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders.
"Suit yourself, Yuu. But I think you should eventually try and get used to showering at school since there's no guarantee you're going to have PE for your last class every year until you finish high school. And I don't think your teachers and classmates are going to appreciate you coming to your other classes smelling the way you do now."
Despite being annoyed at her classmate's unsolicited advice, Yuichiro knew he was right. But she'll cross that bridge when she got to it. For now, she just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible before the other boys started questioning her unwillingness to disrobe in front of them.
"I appreciate your concern but it's not your problem, Satoshi. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going. See you tomorrow."
And without another word, Yuichiro quickly gathered her things and ran out of the locker room, not even bothering to change back into her regular school uniform since she was going home anyway. It was also fortunate for her that Guren's house was close enough for her to walk so that she wouldn't offend others with her unpleasant odor by having to take a bus.
Another boy noticed Yuichiro's haste to leave and once she was gone, he turned to Satoshi with a questioning look in his eyes.
"What was that all about?" he asked curiously.
Satoshi shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows, Daisuke? Maybe Yuichiro's just really shy about stripping in front of others even though I told him there was no reason to be since we're all guys here."
Daisuke raised a brow. "Oh, really? Hmm…what a weirdo. The way he acts, you'd think he was a girl or something."
Satoshi laughed. "Well, he does look a bit girly so who knows?"
"I suppose. He wouldn't be the first girly boy I've ever seen."
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come around. Anyway, let's get into the shower before the other guys use up what's left of the hot water."
"Right on!"
SSSSSS
Despite the fact that she had just ran five laps around a track in almost ten minutes before that episode in the locker room, Yuichiro found that she had little trouble running back home without stopping much and while carrying her school bag to boot. When she finally made it to the front gates of Guren's home, the girl looked around to make sure no one was watching her before opening the gate and making her way through the front yard to the front door.
Fumbling through her pockets, Yuichiro finally found the key Shigure entrusted to her care since she knew everyone else would still be out of the house by the time the younger girl came home from school. And considering how unpleasant she smelled, Yuichiro was grateful that Guren, Sayuri, and Shigure were still at work and that she was the first one home.
After she opened the door and went in, Yuichiro finally dropped her bag as she found herself sagging against it and breathed a sigh of relief at the close call she just had. The question is, what was she going to do now? Although showering wasn't really a requirement for passing her PE class, Yuichiro didn't want to pick up a reputation for untidiness in the future by showing up to her other classes smelling the way she did now, especially when she could no longer go straight home after PE.
I still have time, I'm sure I can think of something before it gets to that point… Yuu thought as she finally made her way to her room where she set her school bag on the floor before finally stripping off her sweaty and smelly PE clothes and stepping into the bathroom to shower off.
As she felt the warm droplets of the shower hit her skin and wetted her spiky black hair, which she continued to wear in a boyish cut, Yuichiro signed in contentment. Her own shower at home was way more luxurious, convenient, and comfortable than the one at school which offered no privacy. But even if the shower stalls in the boys' locker room were separated by curtains, it still would have been too risky for her to use them since there was always a chance the other boys could catch a glimpse of her naked.
I can't ever shower at school, Yuichiro thought as she reached for the bar of soap and lathered herself with it. She had been to school for only a day so far and the girl feared that she was already starting to draw unwanted attention as well as rousing suspicion from among her male classmates. Not only that, Yuichiro was also trying to keep her true sex a secret from her own guardian as well. And as much as she hated to admit it, Sayuri and Shigure were right about it being impossible to keep up this charade forever; soon it would become more trouble than its worth.
As she began to shampoo her short raven locks, Yuu's thoughts went back to Akane and Shinya's suggestion about growing out her hair. Even though she had insisted on keeping it short, the girl was now genuinely curious to see how she might look with longer hair even though she knew there were some women who sport short hairstyles. Yuu also remembered seeing some men with long hair like the male vampires in Sanguinem or the rock stars on TV.
Strange, why am I thinking about this now? The girl thought as she rinsed out the shampoo and reached for the hair conditioner before rubbing it into her scalp with her fingers. Was being a girl really so bad? For the first time in her short life, Yuichiro found herself questioning her existence as a "boy". Even though she was used to it because her parents had forced it on her since the day she was born, Yuu wasn't sure if she was ever truly comfortable pretending to be something she was not.
After she had finished showering, Yuichiro stepped out to look at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Seeing herself without clothing reminded Yuu once again that her growing and changing body wouldn't pass for a boy's by a long shot. She may be able to hide it with male clothing but soon that may not even be feasible anymore, especially when circumstances arose that forced her to disrobe in front of others.
Like in the army she wanted to join.
Sighing, Yuichiro finally dried herself off with a towel and got dressed in a sweater and jeans after getting out of the bathroom. Looking at the clock on her table, Yuu saw that it was only three 'o clock and that Sayuri, who usually came home the earliest, won't be home for at least another two hours. And the older woman had made her promise not to start dinner alone. Not because she didn't trust Yuu, but because she felt it would be safer if there were at least two people in the kitchen when using the stove and oven.
Since she had nothing else to do until at least Sayuri got home, the girl chose to do her homework instead. Guren had also, thankfully, decided to cut back her cleaning duties now that Yuichiro was back in school so that she would have enough time and energy to study. And though Yuichiro was by no means lazy, she would much rather read and study than do housework. But even with two hours of alone time, the girl found that she had finished all her homework with still an hour to spare and quickly became bored.
Trying to think of what else to do after she had put her books and finished homework away, Yuichiro looked around her room and remembered the gift bag Shinya had given her over two months ago. She never had a chance to look over the bag's contents in all that time since Guren had been keeping her so busy with housework but now Yuu thought it wouldn't hurt to try using them. Especially since both Sayuri and Shigure had been trying to persuade her to get more comfortable with being a girl and she did promise them that she would give it a try.
And what time would be better than the present? Since Yuu had finished her homework early, she needed something else to do to pass the time until Sayuri came home so that they can get started with dinner.
Opening her closet, Yuichiro reached for Shinya's gift bag that she had placed in the bottom right corner and dumped their contents on her bed before taking a magazine from her desk and flipping through the pages for some head shots of pretty female models. Although nobody in Guren's house cared much for magazines, Goshi adored them and Shinya had persuaded him to part with a least a few to give to Yuichiro.
Looking in the back of the foundation, blush, and eye shadow compacts, the girl found instructions as she had expected. Even though she usually didn't have a problem following directions, this was the first time Yuichiro had ever attempted to put on make-up and she honestly didn't know what to expect.
Well, it's like Mika used to say, you'll never know until you try! Yuu thought with determination as she opened the foundation compact and dabbed the pad that was included into the creamy substance before smearing it all over her face and trying her best to make it blend in. The foundation was slightly lighter than Yuu's natural skin tone but not such much that it looked unnatural on her.
After she had finished applying the cream foundation, Yuichiro opened the small round container holding the finishing powder. As she was impatient and forced the container open, the girl found herself sneezing when some of the finishing powder flew into the air and into her nose. That was when Yuu realized that Guren's lessons on patience applied to all aspects of life, not just fighting. Taking the little powder explosion as a lesson learned, the girl quickly moved on and dipped the end of one of the larger make-up brushes Shinya bought for her into the powder container and made sure to do it softly and slowly to avoid another accident. *1*
As soon as the tip of the brush was covered with powder, Yuichiro slowly brought it to her face and softly patted it against her skin, starting with her cheeks before moving to her forehead, jawline, eyelids, and nose. The space between her eyes and the bridge of her nose were the hardest to fill but Yuichiro managed to successfully apply the finishing powder to those spots as well.
After she had finished applying the base for her make-up, Yuichiro pried open the blush and eye shadow compacts. Since she was only experimenting for now, the girl wasn't too picky with the colors and chose a rose-pink color blush for her cheeks as well as some light purple and blue eye shadows for her eyelids. Shifting her gaze from the magazine to her mirror and back, Yuichiro tried her best to imitate the make-up looks she saw on the models in Goshi's magazines. She also remembered seeing Sayuri and Shigure apply their own make-up enough to get the gist of it.
The blush and eye shadow seemed easy enough to apply but Yuu found that eyeliner and mascara were a bit more difficult and tricky to put on since they required more precision. Since this was her first attempt at putting on any kind of make-up, the girl found her eyeliner application a bit crooked and a little of the mascara ended up under her eyes which she used a q-tip to remove. Thankfully, the lip-liner and lipstick were much easier to apply. Yuu simply tried her best to draw directly on her lip lines before filling them with a cherry-colored lipstick.
Once her make-up was done, Yuichiro looked at herself in the mirror and found herself giggling in delight. For her first time putting on make-up, she didn't do too badly or at least she thought. Yuichiro knew she still had to work on blending the colors a bit more but that should come easily with time and practice. Next, she wanted to try painting her nails starting with the ones on her toes before moving on to her fingernails.
Humming happily, Yuichiro tried to pick a color among her half-dozen bottles of nail polish. Since this was also her first time painting her nails, the girl thought it best to use a light color and chose the bottle with the lightest shade, coral pink.
Pulling a chair from her desk, Yuichiro sat down and pulled her right leg against her chest while letting her left leg hang off the seat's edge before twisting open the bottle of nail polish. She remembered her mother using this position to paint her toe nails from years back and it worked wonders, not to mention saving time and money on salon visits.
With shaky strokes, Yuichiro managed to paint the nail of each toe on both of her feet. The color appeared slightly streaked from her lack of experience but like with her make-up, the girl was sure she would get better with time and practice. If her memory served her right, Yuu recalled her mother normally using two coats of polish before adding a topcoat to preserve the color. But since she didn't have any top coat, Yuu figured she would have to ask Shinya to get her some later.
As she was nearing the completion of applying a second coat of polish on the baby toe of her left foot, Yuichiro heard a knock at the door. Thinking Sayuri must be home and had come to request her help with preparing dinner, the girl happily gave her permission to enter.
"Come in!"
Unfortunately, the person on the other side of the door was not Sayuri like she had expected.
As soon as Yuichiro looked up, her expression changed from cheerfulness to absolute shock when she saw Guren himself standing in the doorway, staring at her with a bewildered expression on his face. How could he be home now? He wasn't supposed to be off of work for at least another three hours!
For a moment, the lieutenant colonel had no idea what to say as his mind slowly tried to process the surreal scene before him: a pre-teen "boy" with his face covered in make-up painting his toenails. When he finally did find his voice, Guren asked the most logical question anyone in his place would have asked:
"What are you doing?"
Yuichiro found her cheeks growing hot with embarrassment as she stared at her guardian. She knew there was no point in lying since what she had been doing was so obvious; it was literally plastered all over her face (and toenails).
"Umm…putting on make-up and nail polish?"
Guren blinked. His expression made it impossible for Yuichiro to tell what he was thinking and it was killing her to guess what must be going through his head at the moment.
"Yes, but… why?"
Yuichiro was silent for a moment as she desperately tried to think of how to answer her guardian's question.
"Umm…I was bored?"
"Well, why didn't you do your homework, then?"
"Because I already finished it."
"Ok" Guren answered slowly as his eyes wandered from Yuichiro to the make-up brushes, foundation, blush, eye-shadow compacts, and lipsticks, as well as bottles of nail polish spread across her bed.
"So where did you get all that stuff?" he asked. "Are they Sayuri's or Shigure's?"
"No, they're mine. Shinya gave them to me as gifts."
"And why did he do that?"
Yuichiro shrugged her shoulders. Maybe she could try playing dumb.
"I don't know."
Unfortunately, her guardian wasn't buying it.
"Yuichiro, is there something you're not telling me?" he asked suspiciously.
The ravenette found her current situation even more nerve-wreaking than the time Shinya pressed her about her true sex when he took her out for ice-cream. Hoping that Guren had not come to the same conclusion, Yuichiro tried telling a partial truth since lying was not an option.
"Of course not! I was just bored and wanted to do something fun, that's all!" she insisted. "Why, is that a crime?"
Not knowing what else to say, Guren sighed in slight frustration.
"Ok, fine, whatever. Anyway, I came to check up on you and ask how your first day of school went."
"It was good, thank you. Will there be anything else?"
"Actually, yes. Sayuri told me she'll be coming home a little later than usual today so you can get started on washing and cutting the vegetables and I'll take care of the rice, ok?"
"You're actually going to help with dinner?"
"Is that a problem?"
Yuu shook her head. "No. It's just that I didn't know you can cook."
Guren rolled his eyes. "Yuu, I'm not Goshi. I may not be the greatest cook in the world but I can still make something edible so that I won't starve if I didn't have Sayuri or Shigure. Being able take care of yourself is also a quality of a good soldier."
Relieved that her guardian wasn't going to pursue the subject of what she had been doing earlier, Yuu's cheerful mood returned.
"Sure. Whatever you say, Guren."
"So I'll see you down in the kitchen soon?"
"Yes, sir."
"Ok. Don't keep me waiting then" Guren said simply as he turned and left the room. From what he had just witnessed, it looked like he and Shinya were going to be having a very long talk.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do, old friend…" he mumbled under his breath.
SSSSSS
"ACHOOO!"
Shinya Hiragi wiped his nose on his handkerchief. He had hoped the old superstition that sneezing meant that he was the subject of discussion by someone who might cause him trouble wasn't true before returning his gaze to the object of his interest. *2*
A small bottle of French perfume behind a display glass, a western brand called "Chanel" that had been popular in the United States and Europe before the apocalypse.
"Are you finding everything all right, sir?" a young store clerk asked when she noticed Shinya examining the perfume bottle with interest.
"Ah, yes! I'm interested in this pretty piece. How much does it run?"
"Oh, that? It's about 12,000 yen. *3*Is it a gift for your special lady?"
Shinya laughed softly before answering.
"Well, she's not a lady yet but she is indeed very special."
The clerk was confused at his answer for a moment before her brows finally rose in understanding.
"Oh, I see! A little girl! So who is she?"
"My friend's new ward."
"What's the occasion? Her birthday?"
"No occasion, I just wanted to get her something nice since she's such a sweet girl."
"I understand, sir. Would you like me to gift wrap that for you, then?"
"Yes, please."
After he had paid for the perfume bottle and waited for the clerk to gift wrap it, Shinya took his new purchase and was about to leave the store when he came face to face with a familiar scarlet-haired woman whom had he riled up two months ago by revealing Yuichiro's existence to her.
"M-Mito? What are you doing here?" he sputtered.
"Me? I came here because I needed some new clothes. What are you doing here? This is the women's department."
"Well, I…" Shinya trailed off as he tried to think of how he should answer his childhood friend before her gaze wandered to the gift bag with the handle looped around his forearm.
"What's that?" Mito asked before bending over slightly and giving the bag a whiff. "Perfume? Who's it for? I didn't know you were seeing someone, Shinya."
"I'm not, Mito."
"Then who? I know Sayuri and Shigure prefer Japanese to western perfume brands. But there is someone in Guren's house who really is fascinated with western things, isn't there?"
Knowing that Mito wasn't going to let him off until he gave her an answer, Shinya thought he may as well oblige.
"You're right, Mito. It's actually for Yuichiro" he confessed.
Mito stared at him. "I know you love joking about leaning in that direction when we were teens, but I can tell you really don't, Shinya. Not once have I ever seen you make a serious move on Guren or any other guy."
"Yuichiro is a very special child."
"Special? How so? You do realize the perfume you just bought is meant for a woman, don't you? Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless Yuichiro, if that's his real name, isn't really a boy, is he?"
"And what makes you say that?"
"Because I doubt you would buy an expensive woman's perfume for a little boy, Shinya."
The white-haired man sighed. "Mito, what if I told you that you are absolutely right, that Yuichiro is actually a girl disguised as a boy, and that out of our entire squad, Guren is the only one who doesn't know?"
"I'd say you were pulling my leg if not for that perfume you're carrying."
"You're right. But I'll have to ask that you not go around telling everyone that, especially Guren himself, or Sayuri and Shigure will kill me."
Two months ago, Shinya would have been happy if Mito had unwittingly made Guren realize the truth about Yuichiro. But now he could no longer use his scarlet-haired friend as an advantage in his bet with Goshi because he already promised Sayuri he wouldn't.
And like he told Yuichiro, Shinya Hiragi was a man of his word. Even if keeping his word did not make things work in his favor.
"Even if I did, I doubt anyone would believe me and Guren would probably think I'm crazy," Mito answered.
He already does… Shinya thought silently but held his tongue because he preferred not to show up at Guren's house tonight with a black eye.
"Anyway, I don't mean to be rude but I really must get going. I still have some work to do before dropping this off for Yuichiro. She's a really nice girl once you get to know her. Good day!"
Before Mito could say another word, Shinya calmly, even if quickly, walked passed her without looking back until he was out of sight.
SSSSSS
Yuichiro tried her best not to notice the awkward glances Guren, Sayuri, and Shigure were sending her way as the small "family" sat together at the dinner table. Because Sayuri came home later than usual today, Yuichiro and Guren had started on dinner preparations without her. Which allowed the girl no time to remove her make-up and nail polish. Yuichiro knew the purpose of cosmetics were to make a woman or girl supposedly more attractive but this wasn't exactly the kind of attention she intended or wanted to draw to herself.
As for Guren, the look on his face told Yuichiro that he must have dozens of questions on his mind but didn't know how to go about asking them, especially in front of Sayuri and Shigure. And looking at the two older women who pretended not to notice anything out of the ordinary with the youngest member of their "family" gave Guren the nagging feeling that everyone was keeping something from him.
But what can it be?
Trying to break the awkward silence at the dinner table, Sayuri turned to Yuu and asked:
"How was your first day at school, Yuichiro?"
Relieved that the older woman made no mention of the make-up on her face, Yuu smiled and said:
"It was good, thank you."
"Did you have any trouble with your homework?" Shigure asked, making her own attempt to distract Guren's attention away from Yuichiro's make-up. Both she and Sayuri had wanted the younger girl to try looking like one but not while Guren still thought she was a boy.
Such a thing would only cause the poor man confusion and misunderstanding.
"It was no trouble. I actually finished a little early," Yuichiro answered as she took a sip of her water glass. For some reason, the girl was finding it a bit difficult to swallow anything tonight. She just wanted to be done with her meal so that she could excuse herself until Sayuri needed help cleaning the dishes.
In fact, she'd rather be anywhere doing anything but sitting at this dinner table with her guardian's eyes glued to her face.
Not knowing how much longer she could put up with Guren's staring, Yuichiro quickly finished her dinner and downed the rest of her water glass before asking to be excused. After getting the older women's approval, the girl quickly rose to her feet and ran to her room upstairs.
As soon as Yuichiro was gone, Guren finally found his voice and spoke for the first time since he caught his ward painting her toe nails in her room. He had been silent the entire time they spent in the kitchen cooking together as well as during dinner.
"Sayuri, Shigure, is there something about Yuichiro that I should know?"
Shigure cleared her throat before answering.
"Well, that depends, sir. What do you want to know?"
The raven-haired woman knew she had promised Yuichiro that she would keep her secret but the younger girl had put her as well as Sayuri in a difficult position today. Even so, Shigure would still try her best to cover for Yuichiro for as long as she could.
"Well, for starters, why did Shinya give him make-up and nail polish as gifts?"
Seeing a chance to distract her superior from asking about Yuichiro's true sex, Sayuri quickly took it.
"I really don't know, sir. I think that's something only Shinya could answer. Maybe you should ask him."
"I think I will first thing tomorrow."
Fortunately, the lieutenant colonel did not have to wait until the next day for as soon as those words left his mouth, the doorbell rang. Since Yuichiro was already upstairs, Guren decided to answer the door himself, especially if the visitor was who he thought it was.
"I'll get it," he said. "You two just stay here."
Sayuri and Shigure looked at each other before turning to Guren with a questioning look but obeyed and did not move from their seats as he stood up and left the dining room to answer the front door. And as Guren had predicted, he found his best friend on the other side.
"Good evening, Guren, how was your day?" Shinya asked pleasantly.
"It was… interesting. I'm sorry but if you've come for dinner, I'm afraid you're a little too late; most of the food is already gone."
"It's alright, I've already eaten, so I'm not hungry. Goshi isn't with me either, so don't worry. I just came here to drop something off for Yuichiro."
"Really? Like what?"
Shinya smiled and handed over the gift bag he had been carrying. Although Guren did not look inside, he could smell the content within.
"Perfume? What use would Yuichiro have for that? In fact, what use did you think he had for cosmetics as well? I found him in his room earlier today with make-up plastered all over his face while painting his toe nails. What ideas have you been putting into my ward's head, you bastard?"
At the mention of Yuichiro's experimentation with the gifts he gave her two months prior, the white-haired man grinned.
"Why, whatever do you mean, Guren?" he asked innocently. "Kids are curious creatures; they love to try out new things!"
"Funny, I don't ever remember us experimenting with make-up and nail polish as kids, Shinya."
"Well, Yuichiro is different. For God's sake, the child is living under the same roof with you and you haven't noticed anything unusual about him?"
"Like what?"
The other man shook his head. "Sorry, but that's something you're gonna have to figure out on your own, Guren!" he said with a wink before turning to leave.
"Hey wait, you still owe me an explanation, Shinya!"
But instead of an answer, all Guren got was a good-bye wave and a laugh from his best friend before the white-haired man disappeared into the night.
Footnotes:
1. I wrote Yuichiro's first attempt at putting on make-up and nail polish based on my own experience as a young teen. Naturally, a young girl's first attempt will not be perfect; that can only come with time and practice :D
2. In Asian culture, it is widely believed that someone who sneezes out of the blue is being talked about by other people not near them. If you sneeze once, someone is definitely saying something about you. If you sneeze twice, bad things are said about you. This superstition about sneezing has become a huge joke in anime and manga, where several characters talk about one character in one panel and then the next panel features the person being talked about sneezing
3. 12,000 Japanese yen is roughly the equivalent of $105 U.S dollars.
