I Hope You’re Still Alive When Tomorrow Comes - 9

Chapter 9: Glasses and Braids

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“Hey, the results of the recent mock exam are out.”

“Seriously? Let’s go check them out!”

Upon hearing the conversation between my classmates, I stood up as well. Exiting the classroom, I went down to the first floor. True enough, the result of the exam was posted on the bulletin board in front of the staff room.

I already knew what my rank was without even looking at it. In the six months since I enrolled here, my name had never moved from the top position. Hence why, I didn’t feel particularly anxious about whether I still got first place or not. I was just here to check the national average deviation score and the difference I had with the person in second place. 

But for some reason, there was a crowd forming in front of the staff room. The students were being weirdly rowdy there. 

Yano was there too. The moment he spotted me, quickly called out to me excitedly.

“Hey! Tsucchi… Tough luck, man!”

“Huh?”

I frowned at his oddly cheerful expression and the words he directed at me. 

I glanced at the grade list from between the crowd and… There shouldn’t be any need for me to search for anything. After all, I already knew where the position of my name was. It was there, among the top fifty names… At the very top-

“…What?”

My name wasn’t there. Instead, in the top space where my name was supposed to be, there was…

“That transfer student sure is smart, huh? Maybe she came from a prestigious school or something?”

There was Kiho Sakashita.

I stared at the list. Shocked beyond disbelief. 

My name was placed below Kiho’s. We had 12 points of difference, larger than the gap between me and the person in third place. 

“Tsuchiya-kun.”

While I was still processing the unexpected turn of events, a voice called out to me. It was the voice I probably heard the most over the past few days. A high-pitched voice of a young girl. 

“Getting second place is an amazing feat. You’re really good at studying, Tsuchiya-kun.”

“…No, I think you’re the one who’s better at it than me.”

Furrowing my eyebrows together, I turned around to look at her but the words I was about to say, whether it was sarcastic or not, got stuck in my throat instead. 

“Huh?”

A dumbfounded voice slipped out from my mouth instead. 

“Kiho?”

“Yes. I am Kiho.”

“What’s with that?”

“What’s with what?”

Your hair and your glasses?”

There stood Kiho, with her braids cascading over her shoulders and black-framed glasses perched snugly on her nose. Her hair, which had been light brown and loosely curled at the end until yesterday, was now jet black and sleek-looking. The oversized black-framed glasses she wore seemed to accentuate her face even more. Upon closer inspection, it seemed her makeup was much lighter today and her skirt was longer than it had been yesterday.

“I got an image change.”

“…Why? Why does an image change all of a sudden?”

“It’s part of my plan to cuckold Hiwatari-kun.”

“Wha-“

Startled by Kiho’s unfazed volume, I quickly glanced around in panic. Fortunately, no one seemed to be listening to our conversation. I took Kiho’s arm and pulled her down under the stairs, moving away from the crowd. 

“What do you mean?”

“I’m matching my appearance to Hiwatari-kun’s preference. It seems he likes girls with this kind of neat and clean vibe.”

“And did you ask Hiwatari? About his preference?”

“No. It’s just my guess. Since he’s dating Nanami-san, I assume he probably likes this type of girl.”

“….I don’t think Nanami looks this nerdy though.”

Rather than clean and neat, Nanami was more on the plain side. That being said, even though Nanami was plain, but her plainess was what made her adorable. 

“Umm… So this look is not good?”

“Rather than ‘not good’… It’s more like… It feels a bit too forced. I think you need to tone it down a bit.”

“Hmm… I see. I will put your input into consideration.”

Kiho murmured while touching her braids.

“….Hey, you know…”

“Yes?”

It finally dawned on me that she was really serious about this. I already knew it, but seeing the drastic change in her style just made me more aware of her sincerity. Braids aside, changing her hair color must have been quite a hassle to do. 

“I will snatch Nanami-san’s boyfriend.”

Kiho’s words from yesterday echoed in my head. 

Good grief. Why would she go this far? Enough already.

I thought to myself while massaging my forehead with my fingers. 

“Huh?”

“You don’t need to do things like that. You know, going as far as cuckolding someone for my sake.”

“I’m not doing this for Tsuchiya-kun’s sake or anything though.”

In a quiet and yet firm voice, Kiho replied. 

“Huh?”

I stared at her, confused.

“I’m just doing this because I want to. That’s why, regardless of what Tsuchiya-kun might say, I will keep doing it. Tsuchiya-kun, please just wait. Don’t sever your ties with Nanami-san yet. My plan will end up in vain if you suddenly become frustrated and start acting coldly with Nanami-san. Please just stay by Nanami-san’s side like usual. Keep being the kind childhood friend you’ve always been.”

Kiho said calmly, showing an unwavering determination, just like what her words suggested. 

Perplexed beyond words, I gazed at her face. 

I really couldn’t understand what was going on inside her head. 

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T/N: Awww, she’s going tsundere now?