This really was:
A Road Never Imagined
Her expression stiffened. "...I'll dye my hair back to black this time."
The stylist gave a surprised little "Oh?" "Not going for Visual Hair Dye anymore?"
"Black, please."
The stylist patiently dyed her hair almost one tiny lock at a time, making casual conversation as she worked. "Did Yukino's friend not come with you this time?"
Friend?
I have no idea who you're talking about.
"The very cute girl with the Pink Dumpling on her head. Her name's Yui Yuigahama."
Yuigahama?
That name sounded a little familiar. Wasn't she one of the girls whose boyfriend Yukino had stolen?
Honestly, these boys and girls did nothing but get into Early Romance at school every day. No wonder she had enemies everywhere on campus.
Was that a good thing? No.
Young people, I urge you to quit while you're ahead.
Yukino replied calmly, "We've fallen out. She probably won't be coming anymore."
The stylist wore an awkward but polite smile. "Then I hope the two of you can patch things up soon."
"I hope so. If she can forgive me for stealing the person she liked a few months ago and calling her big-breasted and brainless."
That was what the post said. In the photo, the Pink Dumpling was covering her face and crying as she rushed out of Sobu High School.
The stylist: "..."
After getting a very good dye-and-care package, she also had the heavy makeup on her face simply removed and washed off at the salon.
That day, a Japanese Gyaru with blonde hair had reentered the world of pure, black-haired JKs.
A day and a night in her mind, a year and three months in reality—it had taken her that long to cross all those ridiculous events and finally see the familiar version of herself in the mirror again.
The stylist gave a little gasp, too. He looked at Yukino, his face full of admiration. "Miss Yukinoshita, surprisingly, black hair really does suit you best."
If Blonde Yukino in heavy makeup had a Beauty Index of five, then Yukino with black hair had a Beauty Index of ten.
Yukino's expression gave nothing away, but her eyes rested on her reflection.
Welcome back, Yukino Yukinoshita.
The next day, news that Yukino Yukinoshita had completely transformed and returned to the realm of black-haired JKs—and that she'd announced she liked girls—quickly swept through all of Sobu High School.
As the best high school in the area, Sobu High School gathered its finest students, along with its most idle gossip enthusiasts.
The Campus Forum, which had been a little quiet before, had completely exploded over the past few days.
[Yukinoshita-san's back to being a black-haired beauty, and she looks absolutely amazing! Lots of photos inside!]
[I never imagined Yukinoshita-san could be this pretty!! That heavy makeup was such a waste!]
[Don't let your values follow your eyes, people. Yukinoshita may have gotten prettier, but she's still a bitch who goes around two-timing!]
[So what? Yukinoshita-san, please come two-time me (??ε｀)]
[Did you hear what happened in Year 2 Class F yesterday? In front of the whole class, Yukinoshita announced that she actually likes girls.]
[Oh, come to think of it, a bunch of guys have complained to me that Yukinoshita wouldn't even let them hold her hand after confessing to them and dating them. Could it be...?]
[I have a wild theory. What if Yukinoshita keeps snatching the people other girls like, only to two-time them right away, because the boys aren't who she's interested in—she likes the girls instead!]
Yumiko Miura put down her phone, her face brimming with the excitement of a gossip enthusiast!
That gloomy, unpleasant girl Yukinoshita actually liked girls?
Unbelievable!
Her close friend Onozawa Kaho was looking just as excited. She propped a book up in front of her, then discussed it with Yumiko Miura and Junko Kamizawa behind the book. "I've never heard of Yukinoshita being close to any girl. Could she be in love with someone in secret...? Who do you think she has a crush on?"
Of course, they still hated Yukinoshita.
But this gossip was just too juicy!
Onozawa Kaho, who was well-informed, started sharing some gossip of her own. "Have you heard? Yukinoshita's apparently transferring classes. She might be coming to ours!"
Yui Yuigahama sat with them, listening with an exasperated expression as they launched into Detective Mode.
The girls were friends in class, part of a little group that always went around together.
Junko Kamizawa let out a surprised "Oh?" "She just announced she likes girls, and now she's changing classes. Could the girl she likes be in our class?"
Onozawa Kaho continued her excited analysis. "Yukinoshita has only stolen Hayama and Hikigaya from the boys in her class, but she two-timed them as soon as she finished confessing. They were never her targets."
Miura nodded solemnly.
Onozawa Kaho spread her hands. "So if Yukinoshita has a crush on a girl, it has to be one of you two."
Yui was gaping at Onozawa's wildly unreliable analysis when she turned and saw Yumiko Miura's face shift from shock to bright red.
Even though Yukino had announced she liked girls, no one knew who she liked.
Yukino had once been like a poisonous mushroom lurking in a corner: gloomy and spiteful. Now she was like the pristine snow atop the winter summit of Mount Fuji, pure and aloof, untouchable.
Since the day the Guardian Association had issued its warning, followed by a Lawyer Letter and a warning about her crush, the class's and the school's dislike of her hadn't diminished by much, but at least people had started to rein themselves in.
And the people who used to tirelessly come looking for trouble had suddenly dwindled in number.
At this age, some girls thought affection between girls was no big deal, while others found it disgusting and offensive.
But if the person with a crush was a Super Beautiful Girl, the effect was naturally very different.
There were also many more people pretending to casually pass by the door of Year 2 Class F, both boys and girls.
"Is that Yukinoshita...? She doesn't look like a scumbag bitch at all."
"Looks can be deceiving... But speaking of which, does she really like girls?"
"I think she does!"
"Why?"
"Because maybe she has a crush on me!"
Yukino: "..."
Her urgent task was still to turn around the Negative Image she had among the High Popularity Characters around her as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the Possessor would remain a Sword of Damocles hanging over her head.
The Light Screen unfolded before her again. The pitch-black human figure had faded by an insignificant amount, and a simple, clear progress bar lay beneath it.
[Negative Image 99%, Possession success rate 99%]
When the figure turned completely white and the progress bar reached zero, Yukino would be able to avoid being possessed for good.
She didn't know where this system came from or how it worked. For all she knew, it might be some malicious product of the QB Civilization. But with things as they were, she could only take it one step at a time.
Besides, it seemed this system didn't make her work for nothing.
Good. A conscientious capitalist.
Good. Very spirited!
Hmm...
She felt like she'd been itching to make snarky comments more and more lately. Maybe there were just too many things in this world worth snarking about.
Also, after completing the previous option, she'd received a reward of one point in Spirit. Yukino felt that her memory and thinking speed had both improved a little.
Though her Spirit was now at three and she felt very spirited, she still had a headache over the Knowledge Points she'd missed for more than a year. After all, her current grades were the greatest disgrace of her life.
In just over a year, she'd fallen from the top three on the entrance exam to dead last in her class and among the bottom ten in her grade. Her results were simply peerless, unstoppable.
Yukino was furious at that Trash Possessor.
Where did this Possessor come from? Had they even taken the Possession Certificate exam before starting to possess people? Did they have no sense of fair play?
They'd come to trick her, to sneak-attack her—her, a sixteen-year-old young lady!
She put a stop to her useless complaining for the time being, opened her phone, and launched LINE, Japan's most commonly used messaging app. But even "Blonde Yukino" had a laughably small social circle.
There were lots of friends on the several lists in her phone, but most of them fell into these categories: [Boys she'd already flirted with] [Boys she was currently flirting with] [Boys who wouldn't leave her alone and had been blocked] [Female victims she'd blocked]
Yukino: "..."
She deleted all those messy contacts.
Then she discovered that the only friend left on her list was saved by Blonde Yukino as "Horrible Woman."
Yukino looked at the contact's profile picture for a while. After a long time, she finally changed the name to "Big Sister."
The chat history between them was completely blank. She didn't know if someone had cleared it or if, like Yukino had before, they hardly ever contacted each other.
She stared blankly for a moment, then finally curled her arms around herself and buried her face in the crook of her elbow.
She was, after all, a sixteen-year-old girl in her heart. She'd crossed more than a year in a single night, and now she was facing a life that had been thrown into chaos and a future that was completely Confused.
She was calm and strong enough to handle everything on her own.
But she couldn't help feeling a little sad.
She didn't even know whether things with her family were also a complete mess.
After school that day, Yukino logged back into her Campus Forum account. She glanced at the inbox packed with countless filthy insults and sarcastic remarks, then rubbed her temples.
She'd missed far too much schoolwork. Yukino was thinking about hiring a tutor.
She'd just gotten ready to head home after school when a beautiful woman wearing a White Long Trench Coat came rushing in. She searched the classroom with her eyes for a long while before they finally settled on Yukino, full of confusion.
"Yukinoshita? Come with me."
Yukino recognized her. She was the Chinese Teacher for Year 2 Class F and its Life Guidance Teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka.
In fact, the day before, Yukino had memorized the faces and names of everyone in her class and most of the teachers at the school by briefly looking over the class register and staff roster.
Yukino slowly packed up her books, then slowly walked over. "Teacher Hiratsuka."
To be honest, she especially didn't want to deal with sharp, perceptive adults like her right now.
"What are you dawdling for? Come with me."
Teacher Hiratsuka grabbed her and set off. Yukino did her best to keep her face calm and composed. "Teacher, I don't remember ever stealing your boyfriend."
Then, as if she'd suddenly realized something, she continued with a blank expression, "Oh, right. I remember now. Teacher Hiratsuka doesn't have a boyfriend."
Someone smacked her hard on the head. Teacher Hiratsuka turned around with a smile. "Say that again. I didn't hear you."
Yukino promptly shut her mouth.
Teacher Hiratsuka finally let go of her and walked ahead.
"Why are you taking me somewhere, Teacher Hiratsuka?"
"Did you forget what you promised me last week?"
Yukino: "..."
Sorry, her memories only went back to a year and a bit ago.
Seeing Yukino's utterly hopeless expression seemed to make Teacher Hiratsuka happy instead. Her face was gentle and refined, but when she laughed heartily, she was practically some middle-aged man.
"Yukinoshita, I heard you announced that you like girls?"
"Yes."
"Wow, could it be that you like me?"
Yukino sighed. "Teacher Hiratsuka, you'd be better off hoping you'll find a partner this year. That's more realistic."
This time, Teacher Hiratsuka didn't smack her again, because they'd already reached their destination. She pushed open the classroom door.
"President Hikigaya, I've brought today's client."
Yukino looked over and saw a boy with proper features and dead-fish eyes. His gaze happened to meet hers.
His eyes quickly slid away.
Before you continue