While the Kiryu siblings follow Oyako to a second-hand bookstore, Shigeru Ikeda walks into the hair salon he frequents.

"Manager, I'm going to cut my hair flat and dye my hair back to black by the way."

The store manager, who was sorting out the barber equipment, looked at Shigeru Ikeda and pouted, "Well, it's that time of year again." ”

"Huh?" Shigeru Ikeda looked at the store manager suspiciously, "When is it?" ”

"Every month or so at the beginning of the new school year, guys like Shigeru will come running over one after another, wanting to dye their hair back to black and bulldoze their heads." The store manager said as he began to reassemble the hair clippers that had just been disassembled and cleaned.

Shigeru Ikeda's face was full of surprise: "Every year...... Are there a lot of such people? ”

"yes." The manager nodded, glanced at Shigeru Ikeda, and ran his hand through the strands of hair that hung down to cover his eyes, so that the scar next to his eye was revealed.

The store manager told Ikeda that the scar had been poked by juggling with scissors when he was idle, but no one believed him.

Shigeru Ikeda asked, "Why is that?" ”

"What, why?"

"That's it...... This time of year......"

"Ah, this." The store manager came to where Ikeda was sitting, put the cloth in his hand on Ikeda, and tidied up, "It's not uncommon for people to pat themselves on the head and ask the prodigal son to change his mind." ”

"It's ...... Is it common? ”

Ikeda's expression darkened.

The store manager looked at his expression through the mirror and snorted: "Don't say anything that you are different from them, to tell you the truth, every time I complain like this, the young man who is complained about will emphasize that he is different."

"As a result, a lot of people came back to me a few months later to dye their hair back."

"That's right......" Shigeru Ikeda looked like he wanted to retort, but in the end he couldn't say anything.

The store manager continued, "By the way, summer vacation is the peak season for hair dyeing, and there will be a lot of new faces coming to dye their hair, and I am looking forward to changing my face in the autumn and making my high school debut." ”

"Really?"

"Really, really, if you come to work with me, you will see that sometimes there is a yellow hair dyed in two days during the summer vacation. By the way, many people's reasons are dumped.

"Because you have to change yourself if you are dumped, you can be a new person after dyeing your yellow hair, and the change of young people nowadays is really cheap."

After the store manager finished speaking, he maintained the posture of holding the electric clipper in his hand, and asked solemnly: "So, Amao, do you still cut it?" ”

Without hesitation, Shigeru Ikeda said, "Cut." Whether my thoughts are superficial or not, whether they will be superficial, to be honest, I don't know. How long this urge lasts, how can I possibly know such a thing.

"But what if...... If I don't start, I'll never know how far I'll go. ”

The store manager sneered: "Hmph, the pretty words are good." But every sentence is. How about returning the money you extorted to the sufferer instead of cutting your hair with me? Don't mess with it for a long time, I'll be stuffed with dirty tickets later. ”

"I paid it back." Shigeru Ikeda said angrily, "It was the first thing I did. ”

The store manager stopped what he was doing, looked at Shigeru Ikeda with a suspicious expression, and asked, "Then what are you going to pay me today?" ”

"I also have pocket money."

"Really? In the case of your family? ”

"Oh, hurry up and flatten my head, I won't lose your money! Now I'm wearing this golden plane, and the place where I work doesn't recruit me. ”

"Of course, isn't recruiting a delinquent teenager into the store the same as putting a potential robber and burglar in the store?"

The store manager said in a mocking tone.

"Still, you can go to a nightclub or something, right? And those ...... operated by Pole."

"I want to do a serious job." Shigeru Ikeda interrupted the store manager, "With the money you earn, you can live an honest life." ”

The store manager raised his eyebrows and sighed, "Is that girl so beautiful, she has lost your soul." ”

"It's not a girl! What's the matter with this girl? I just saw the real heroes, so I just wanted to follow in the footsteps of the heroes. ”

The store manager listened to Shigeru Ikeda's words, frowned and thought for a few seconds before hesitatingly saying:

“…… Do you want to play Kamen Rider? ”

"I didn't!"

"Damn, don't turn back suddenly!"

"Wow, Lao Tzu's hair!"

A few seconds later, Shigeru Ikeda looked at himself in the mirror with a "ring" on his head, and he wanted to die.

The store manager was obviously holding back a smile, and it took a lot of effort to speak, "Why don't you ...... I'll get you a samurai head? ”

"Do you want me to be the laughing stock of the whole school tomorrow?"

"What's the matter, you just want to start over, wouldn't it be appropriate to get a samurai head to show off your determination?"

Shigeru Ikeda pursed his lips and glared indignantly at the store manager through the mirror, but in the end he didn't get as angry as he used to be, saying, "Forget it, shave my head, just save money on dyeing my hair." ”

"Are you sure?"

"It's better to have a bald head than a samurai head! And many of the clubs of the Department of Physical Education will shave their heads, so it won't be too abrupt...... Probably. ”

The last sentence of Shigeru Ikeda was very unsubstantial.

The store manager put away his smile and reconfirmed with a serious face: "Then it's bald, are you sure?" Are you really sure? ”

Shigeru Ikeda nodded.

So his golden hair was eradicated little by little, leaving a smooth skull.

After finishing the work, the store manager commented while brushing the electric clippers with a brush, "Yes, after shaving, the brightness of my whole store has more than doubled." ”

Shigeru Ikeda looked at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath.

Then he raised his hand and touched the smooth braised egg.

It feels OK.

He stood up and pulled out the last bit of money he had—he was not short of money for a haircut, but now the situation was different.

If you can't find a part-time job, the day will come when you can only eat the cheapest bread at school at noon.

The store manager returned the money to Shigeru Ikeda.

"I just spent a little bit on the electricity bill, and this time you're free. Of course, if you have to come back in a few days to dye your hair back, then I will charge you double the money. ”

The manager paused, and before Shigeru Ikeda thanked him, he continued: "It is very difficult for the prodigal son to turn back, and your past, the cause and effect you have done, will not let you go just because you have changed your mind.

"They'll follow you like you.

"What's even more terrifying is the prejudice of the world, and soon you'll find out that no matter how much you change, in the eyes of others, you're still the blonde-haired delinquent boy Shigeru Ikeda.

"It's a lot harder than being a demon lord of the world.

"You were a bad guy in school, then you went to be a mobster, and finally joined the extreme road as the lowest thug, although you are a heinous bastard, although you can die at any time, and after you die, everyone will applaud and celebrate, but you will always be happy until you die."

Shigeru Ikeda listened to the store manager's words and looked at the bald head in the mirror.

He was silent for a while, and then suddenly asked, "Then how did you turn around, manager?" How do you do it? ”

"Me?" The store manager showed a wild smile, "I have never looked back, I am just old and forgotten, so I can only guard this small shop and quietly wither." ”

Shigeru Ikeda turned his head to look at the store manager, his expression unusually complicated.

Eventually, he bowed to the store manager, turned around and strode away.

The store manager took out a cigarette, lit it for himself, came to the door of the hair salon, looked at the lonely night scene in the remote alley where the hair salon was located, and smoked quietly.

The Edogawa River flows quietly not far away, and on the other side of the river is the lights of Tokyo.