“Otaku-kun, I have a favor to ask.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’ll be faster if I show you instead of explaining.”

“Come with me for a second.”

“Alright.”

By now, Otaku-kun had gotten used to Yua asking him for favors.

This time, though, something felt different.

Sensing that, he simply agreed without asking any questions.

Usually, whenever Yua wanted to ask him for something, she’d wait until after school when everyone else had left, sneaking glances at him until the timing felt right.

Today, however, there were still plenty of students around during the break, yet she approached him with a serious expression.

Otaku-kun stood up and followed after her.

They left the classroom, walked down the hallway, and Yua finally stopped in front of another classroom.

“That’s my friend over there.”

“Take a look.”

Prompted by Yua, Otaku-kun peeked through the classroom window.

The girl Yua pointed at was sitting at her desk, lazily staring at her phone.

He recognized her immediately.

She was the same friend Yua had argued with the day they went shopping for hair extensions.

“Her name’s Riko.”

“What happened to Riko-san?”

There was no need for Yua to explain.

Right in front of their eyes, several girls in the classroom started picking on Riko.

“Hey, your natural curls are hilarious.”

“I threw an eraser at your hair and it got stuck.”

“You know, you’re tiny, but you’ve got way too much attitude.”

“Are you even listening?”

Riko continued staring at her phone as if none of it concerned her.

Seeing that, the girls kept pestering her, and before long, a few nearby boys joined in as well.

Both Otaku-kun and Yua frowned.

It wasn’t a pleasant sight to watch.

“Um…”

“Isn’t that bullying?”

“Yeah…”

“But whenever anyone brings it up, she denies that’s what’s happening.”

“Shouldn’t someone stop them?”

“They should.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Let’s head back to our classroom.”

“But…”

“…Alright.”

Although he’d said they should stop it, Otaku-kun also understood that simply telling people like that to stop wouldn’t accomplish anything.

People like them never listened.

On the other hand, ignoring it would only allow things to escalate until it became irreversible.

Yua had said she wanted to discuss something.

That meant she already had some kind of plan.

Reluctantly tearing his eyes away from Riko, Otaku-kun returned to their classroom with Yua.

“So…”

“What did you want to ask me?”

“Tomorrow morning…”

“Can you come to my house before school?”

Otaku-kun barely managed to swallow the “Huh?” that almost escaped his mouth.

‘The conversation isn’t making any sense…’

‘But Narumi-san hasn’t finished explaining yet.’

‘I’ll hear everything first before deciding.’

“What would I be doing at your house?”

“I’m inviting Riko over.”

“I want you to give her a makeover…”

“Just like you did for me.”

“I want her to look cute.”

“But…”

“Even if she gets a makeover, that won’t stop the bullying.”

“It will.”

“I’ve already got a plan.”

“The makeover is an important part of it.”

“Does it really have to be me?”

“I’m not bragging or anything…”

“But if I try it myself, I’ll totally mess it up!”

‘…That’s really nothing to brag about.’

Yua wasn’t particularly clumsy.

She just had a habit of failing whenever she tried something she wasn’t used to.

That’s why she’d decided to ask the skillful Otaku-kun instead.

For him, however, this was the same Riko who had recently called him creepy behind his back…

…and glared at him afterward.

So what would he do?

“Alright.”

“I don’t know what kind of plan you have.”

“But I’ll help.”

He accepted without hesitation.

The sight of Riko earlier had reminded him of his own middle school days…

…when he’d been mocked simply for being an otaku.

It wasn’t as though he had no hard feelings toward her.

Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to abandon someone in that situation.

So he agreed to help Yua.

The next morning…

“Huh?”

“Why’s this guy here?”

The moment Riko saw Otaku-kun at Yua’s house, her eyes widened.

Yua had invited her over early that morning.

Yet somehow…

Otaku-kun was already there.

Yua’s parents, meanwhile, had already left for work.

“Um…”

“Narumi-san invited me.”

“I invited Otaku-kun.”

“Tch.”

“So why’d you call Otakura here?”

“I told you today was makeover day, remember?”

“Otaku-kun’s going to do your hair.”

“I see.”

“I’m leaving.”

Riko grabbed her bag and turned toward the door.

Yua hurried after her, desperately trying to stop her.

“Come on.”

“Otaku-kun styled my hair too.”

“I don’t care.”

“Just because I let him do your hair doesn’t mean I’m letting him touch mine!”

“Please, Riko.”

“I’m begging you.”

“…Tch.”

Looking thoroughly unwilling, Riko finally sat down on the sofa.

“Hey, Otakura!”

“Y-Yes!”

“If you try anything weird…”

“You’ll regret it.”

“I understand.”

Leaning back against the sofa, Riko relaxed as though saying, ‘Do whatever you want.’

Despite all her complaints, she’d agreed because she’d been genuinely impressed by the hairstyle Otaku-kun had created for Yua.

After all, she was at an age where fashion mattered.

Walking behind the sofa, Otaku-kun began taking his tools out of his bag.

“Isn’t your curling iron kind of tiny?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s actually made for dolls.”

“I bought the smallest one available.”

“Then borrow mine.”

“It’s bigger, so it’ll be easier to use.”

“Thank you very much.”

“While we’re at it…”

“Could I borrow your makeup too, Yua-san?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

All three of them reacted with their own version of, “Huh?”

“Otaku-kun…”

“You can do makeup too?”

“I mean…”

“If we’re giving Riko-san a makeover, I assumed we’d be doing makeup as well…”

Otaku-kun had never actually used cosmetics on a real person.

However, he’d done makeup on countless figures and dolls, so he was fairly confident in his abilities.

Of course, that experience alone wasn’t enough.

The previous day, he’d spent hours watching tutorial videos online and memorizing everything he could.

Simply watching wasn’t enough for him, so he’d even improvised practice tools and experimented on his own face.

“Otaku-kun, you can even do makeup?”

“That’s seriously amazing!”

“W-Well…”

“I can only do a little.”

“Hehe…”

Listening to their conversation…

Riko quietly began wondering whether she should just go home after all.