Mob Heroine - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - The Mob Heroine Changes from the Smallest Trigger

Mogami-san was completely silent for a long moment. She just stared at her reflection in the mirror, frozen.

But since the next client’s appointment was about to start, I gently took her hand and led her out of the chair.

“This... is me...?"

“Yeah. Looks great, right? I made sure to follow your request to keep the bangs the same length, and it turned out really well. Ahh, you really were the best material. I don’t get to see a masterpiece like this even once a month, you know? I'm in a great mood now.”

…Was it really okay for a stylist to refer to her clients as if they’re her art projects?

The stylist onee-san was clearly in high spirits. Well, I couldn’t blame her. I was grateful too. After all, she’d done such an amazing job.

"Then, I’d like to pay now."

"Hmm? Are you the one paying, boyfriend-kun?"

“Yes. I was the one who brought her here.”

"Fufu. Such youthful love... Since you’re still a student, could you show me your student ID? I’ll give you a little discount.”

After that little exchange, I paid the bill. As you'd expect from a high-end salon, the price was steep. It pretty much wiped out my entire month's allowance. But, hey, there's not a lot I can actually do for Mogami-san, so a little money is no big deal.

Luckily, she was still in a complete daze and hadn't been paying attention to the conversation about the bill. I'm sure she would have freaked out if she'd heard, so I just kept my mouth shut and we left the salon.

“.....”

Mogami-san still seemed stunned. The only reason she was moving forward at all was because I was still pulling her by the hand.

Her mind probably just couldn't keep up with the sudden transformation. I figured she'd get used to it after a little while, though. That's what I was expecting, anyway... but as we were walking through the station building, I suddenly noticed something.

(Huh? Is it just me, or are a lot of people staring over here?)

Not at me, though. They were all looking at Mogami-san.

It was mostly guys who were staring. Yep, the haircut was definitely effective. Everyone was just captivated by her modest, elegant charm.

It wasn’t the bad kind of attention, either. But still… Mogami-san clearly wasn’t used to it.

“U-um, Sato-kun… I feel like… everyone’s looking at me.”

Her voice trembled as she nervously clutched my arm. Seeing her timidly pinch the hem of my clothes like that almost made me grin.

Even with her new hairstyle, I realized again that I… still love these little gestures of hers. Still, she'd definitely be creeped out if she saw the look on my face, so I held it back.

“They’re looking, yeah. It’s because you’ve become so cute now, Mogami-san.”

“C-cute…?”

"I-I'm not cute!"ーThat's what she probably would have said, up until now.

But this time, she was finding it harder to doubt herself. I mean, after seeing that beautiful girl staring back at her in the mirror, it'd be pretty hard to deny your own face, wouldn't it?

It seemed like she’d finally snapped out of her daze, so I figured I could probably stop dragging her along. I thought that, and casually tried to let go of her, but...

“I… I never thought I could change this much, not even in my dreams.”

Mogami-san mumbled that to herself, and instead of letting go, she gripped my arm even tighter. Firmly. Not timidly, like she had before. This time, her hand firmly wrapped around my elbow, as if she didn’t want to let go.

“Sato-kun, you’re amazing.”

And for some reason, she started praising me. Whoa, no. It's not my accomplishment that you got this cute. That's all due to the potential you had from the start.

"It's not me, you're the one who's amazing. I didn't do anything."

"No, that's not true, you did do something. Because all I did was follow exactly as you told me to, Sato-kun."

It wasn’t like I’d done anything grand. All I ever did was give her a small push. And the one who actually made use of the opportunity triggered by that small push was Mogami-san and her own, undeniable, latent potential.

(To think she could transform this much from something so small… Just as I thought, my judgment wasn't off.)

I’ve always been confident in my ability to read people. That's why I was able to see how much charm Mogami-san had in the first place.

And from now on, she is no longer a presence that anyone can just ignore.

She can even hold her own against the other main heroines now—after all, she's just been reborn as that kind of stunning beauty.