Why I Became a Girl

Chapter 9 - Going Solo

Thus far, I had only gone outside with someone else, as a defense mechanism. Amana, Natsue, and the others knew I had been a guy previously and could help bridge any gaps that came up.

But, I couldn't rely on them forever. I had to step out on my own sometime.

I made a small list, then left the dorm alone.

My first stop was a hairdresser. I didn't really need a haircut, but it seemed like an easy thing to try.

I stepped inside. "Hello. I have an appointment, for Kiyumi."

The woman at the counter checked her schedule book. "Yup! We can take you now."

"Great!"

I hung up my coat and followed her to one of the chairs.

"What would you like done?" she asked.

"I want to grow it out a bit, so just a trim to remove any split ends," I replied. "And I want my bangs out of my eyes."

"Certainly!" She started wetting and brushing my hair. "Your Japanese is very good. How long have you been here?"

"Ah, I was born here," I replied, bashful. "I only know Japanese, actually."

"Oh, I see! It's my first time seeing you here. Did you just move?"

"Sort of. It's my first year of high school, and the one I'm going to has dorms."

"Are you lonely without your family?"

"No. I have a lot of friends."

We continued making smalltalk as she trimmed my hair.

"Should I add any product?" the stylist asked.

"If you have any recommendations, I'm open to it."

"I'll add this leave-in conditioner to make it extra shiny!"

I tried to hide my confusion as she worked the conditioner into my hair. Leave-in conditioner? Like, conditioner that didn't get rinsed out?

She dried my hair and brushed away the hair trimmings, then set me free. I checked the shelves of product and grabbed a new bottle of the shampoo and conditioner that Kaeru chose, which I was running low on. I didn't see a need to try out different ones. I liked my hair already.

"Please come again!"

"I will," I promised. "If I like the leave-in conditioner, I'll buy it next time."

With my first goal accomplished, I continued on.

As I walked, a girl handing out pamphlets caught my eye. I never really had any interest in the things that such pamphlets were usually for, but maybe that would change now that I was a girl. I casually accepted one without stopping.

After a few steps, I checked it. It advertised a massage parlour. I internally chuckled to myself.

"That's still a bit much."

I slipped the paper into the bag with my hair products. Maybe I could try it when I felt like upping the difficulty.

For the next stop, I went into a stationery store. I wanted notebooks and writing utensils that fit me better.

"Never really thought of this sort of thing as a boy," I mused.

In the past, I just bought whatever had the best value. Now, I wanted to express myself more. Did that come from being a girl, or was it because Kaeru's choices went against what I wanted, making me over-correct? I had no way to know for sure. It could have been a combination of both.