174. Makeover

"H-Hi..."

"Huh?"

Reiji stared blankly at the girl's receding back, almost losing his grip on his backpack.

Two days had passed since the incident with Kahawara had concluded, and the old man hadn't come back to school yesterday, even though an official announcement hadn't been made yet.

But one thing that he still hadn't gotten used to was the fact that people weren't avoiding him anymore.

Well, at least not to the point where he felt like there was a magnetic repulsion between him and most of the other students in the school.

He didn't even know that girl's name, only that she was in the same class as him, and yet she had taken the initiative to say hi when they crossed paths on the way to homeroom.

There was still a sense of nervousness and distance that hadn't yet completely vanished, which was still understandable. His background hadn't magically changed, after all.

But he had a feeling that people were testing the waters with how he would react to small gestures like this.

Especially after some random dude had walked up to high-five him while sweating bullets yesterday, his hand shaking so much that Reiji thought he was dancing at first.

All while making sure they had zero eye contact.

And when Reiji reciprocated awkwardly with a trace of confusion, he ran away along with a few other people who had been hiding behind a wall.

As if they were testing if he had cooties.

Thankfully, he was alone at the time; the Gluttons wouldn't have missed such a perfect chance to tease him.

He rubbed his head with exasperation when he saw the girl was now talking to her friends with an over-excited expression as he continued walking, probably retelling the tale of how she bravely escaped from the clutches of the terrifying Yakuza Heir.

After ignoring their curious stares, he entered his class and made his way to his desk as fast as he could to avoid being part of another circus act.

Airi and Greeny were hanging around his desk already, whispering to each other in the corner.

"What're you two gossiping about?" he asked, setting his bag on his table.

"We're talking about you!" Airi chuckled, a strange glint in her eyes.

"Me? Why?"

"Weren't you curious why they're all treating you like a zoo animal lately? I mean, even though the cheating thing was debunked, that doesn't show them you're not really a bad person."

"Yep, it's been burning a hole in my brain."

"That doesn't make any difference; it already had plenty of holes," Airi smirked.

"Okay, Miss 10th Place."

"F-Fuck you, that doesn't mean anything!"

"Sure, Miss 10th Place."

"....Fine! I won't tell you the real reason! Hmph!"

Airi crossed her arms and turned around, tapping her foot while waiting for an apology.

But Reiji just turned to Greeny instead, who was struggling to contain his laughter.

"Greeny, do you know why?"

"Pfft! Huh? Oh....Yes, I do. Apparently, Minato has been spr-"

"GREENY YOU TRAITOR!" Airi snapped and grabbed his ear, pulling it with a bit of force.

"Ack!"

Reiji pinched the bridge of his nose out of embarrassment.

Usually, he would've laughed.

However, from the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of the class watching the three of them intently.

Because their bickering was the norm, they would sometimes look over for a brief second in the past, and then look away quickly when they realized Reiji was nearby.

Now?

None of them turned away.

'What the fuck did Minato say??? Should I really have beaten the shit out of him??'

"Alright, stop it, you two," he sighed, pulling them apart.

Greeny rubbed his ear with a pained pout, glaring at Airi with no real malice.

Just then, the door slid open, and two girls walked in, successfully diverting some of the attention.

Haruna and Hina entered the class while chatting, only stopping once they felt the complete silence enveloping the room.

".....What's going on?" Haruna muttered as they both joined in with the other three at the back.

"Nothing, just ignore them," Reiji sighed. "Now, can you two please tell me what Minato said?"

Airi clicked her tongue and gave in, gesturing for them to lean in.

"Apparently, he's been going around saying that you're a super-nice guy who forgave him for making that initial post. Of course, some people thought he was being forced to say those things, but after he adamantly denied that, quite a few people started to believe him. And that notion has somehow managed to spread to most of the school."

".....Now why the hell would he do that?"

Reiji wasn't mad or offended; he was genuinely asking.

"I have two theories!" Haruna suddenly spoke up, her brows furrowed in contemplation. "One, he's terrified that you'll want revenge and is taking the initiative to make amends. Two, he somehow became your fanboy and wants to help you in any way."

"The second theory makes absolutely no sense," Reiji groaned.

"Hey, the only way to find out is to ask him!"

The 5 of them continued to chat for a bit longer, since there were a few minutes left until homeroom would start.

But the topic soon shifted to something else.

"By the way, when are we going to find out who our new homeroom teacher will be? The teacher from the adjacent class took our attendance yesterday, but how long will that continue for?"

"I'm not sure....."

"I-I just hope it won't be someone mean like K-Kahawara," Greeny prayed.

"That should be imposs-"

"Look, look!"

Airi flailed her arms and pointed to the front, where a woman had entered while carrying a few folders in her hand.

The class fell silent as soon as they noticed her, exchanging hopeful looks with each other.

Higashino Sensei set down her belongings on her desk and studied the room with her stern, piercing eyes.

"....Well? Why are you all still standing?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Everyone snapped out of their daze and hurried to their seats, screeching noises of chairs being pulled back bouncing off the walls.

Reiji himself sat down with a satisfied smile.

'Reporting Kahawara so early was worth it after all.....'

Higashino Sensei smiled softly once everyone had sat down, only pausing once on the empty seat near the front.

The second day in a row that it was empty.

"I know some of you might be surprised to see me, considering that I'm relatively new to the school and normally wouldn't have received the promotion of being a homeroom teacher. But I want you all to know that I will not take this position lightly, nor will I abuse it. I also know that a lot of you have lost the respect and trust you should have towards your teachers, for.....obvious reasons. However, you'll soon come to see that I am someone who'll work hard to be worthy of this honor, as long as you all give me the opportunity to do so."

The students all listened quietly, their expressions relaxing into relief and joy.

"Don't worry, Sensei! You're too pretty for us to hate!" a boy piped up from the back, which got him a few chuckles from the others.

Sensei rolled her eyes, but her smile was unmistakable.

"He's right! You've already won us over, Sensei!"

"Alright, enough with the flattery. I'm going to take attendance now, so listen up carefully."

She opened her folder and started calling out names, marking them down once she got a response.

Reiji's gaze wandered over to Riku's seat again, wondering where he was.

He hadn't come to class ever since Kahawara's video went up, and Hina herself said she hadn't spoken to him at all since last week.

There was a hint of worry at the thought that he might be up to something, especially after the messages he had sent to the poster/Minato.

"Okay....." Higashino Sensei murmured. "Kazama Riku.....Kazama Riku? Is he not here? He wasn't here for my class yesterday either. Does anyone know if he's sick?"

She looked around to see if anyone had the answer, and some students looked at Hina and Tooro, though they both shook their heads as well.

"Hmm...I guess I'll mark him as absent for no-"

*SHHRRKKK*

The classroom door slid open, interrupting Higashino Sensei's words as everyone instinctively turned to the source.

And standing at the entrance was Riku, who was looking down for some reason, with a beanie over his head.

His legs trembled slightly, as if he were debating whether or not to enter the class.

".....Kazama? Why are you late?" Sensei inquired coldly.

"I...I overslept, I'm sorry," he mumbled in response.

".....Fine, I'll let it slide this time. Get to your seat now. And take off that beanie, you know it's not allowed in class."

"Um, I have a cold, so can I keep it on?"

"Didn't you have a cold last week? Don't tell me it's still persisting."

"I guess so?"

"No. Take it off and sit down," she said with a firm tone.

Riku clenched his fists and slowly reached for his beanie, grasping the edge of it after a moment of hesitation.

And then he took it off.

'.....What the fuck?? (⊙ˍ⊙)'

Reiji blanked out, his eyes glued to the top of his head.

He looked at his hair, or to be more accurate, the lack of it, with his mouth wide open.

Everything was almost completely shaved off, save for the small patch at the front, which looked like it was glued on due to how clean the cut around it was.

The remaining strands of hair ballooned out into a tuft, like one half of a handlebar moustache.

The entire class gasped out loud, and even Higashino Sensei dropped the attendance book in her hand as it fell to the ground with a thud.

Tooro stood up shakily, his lips quivering with equal parts joy and confusion.

"Riku...." he said. "What the hell did you do??"