And so, I was currently, with my back curled up, looking small and quiet in a state of seiza [1], boredly looking around, searching for the point of departure of this sweet smell. Something matching an aromatic or incense could not be found. However, the odour was fragrant and feel-good to the extent that it would be impossible for the original source to not be present. What was present, was a white sheet and a light yellow towelket [2] covering a bed. Placed on top of them was a pink pillow and a dark, fluffed-up pajamas that had a lived-in-feel. On top of a small, black, elliptical desk, there was only a cute orange pen and a black lamp. Pure white cabinets and bookshelves. A stylish black study table. Pale pink carpet. The other objects present were everyday items that used warm colours as a basis to convey a sense of lovability and freshness. There should have been no spare time to use something like a spray beforehand.

With that being the case── cloth?

Clothes or bed sheet, towelket or carpet, if we a.s.sume that the smell of such things acted as the room"s odor, sublimating through the air, then it was possible to comprehend. However for the sake of implementing this, frequent cleaning, washing, and maintenance should be essential. If I hadn"t seen the suddenly changed Hinami Aoi not too long ago, 「I see, just as one would expect of the perfect heroine Hinami Aoi」, is the kind of understanding I would have happened upon, but this was no longer to be.

Just what is with this woman. Saying whatever she wanted as she liked. Making me say things I hadn"t even wanted to say. Generally, to a young man of similar age who you don"t even know very well, something like suddenly dragging them to your room against their will would be considered ill-mannered and…

I was, right now, inside the room of Hinami Aoi!

Becoming ever so slightly aware of this, I averted my eyes, but this was a serious state of affairs. Entering a girl"s room for pretty much the first time, not knowing the proper conduct for such an occasion, for the time being I had decided on performing seiza, but there were probably a number of things wrong with that. The girl in question, Hinami Aoi, had left behind the mysterious words 「You said, chara difference, didn"t you?」 just like that, and had after several minutes, yet to return; if this persisted any longer, I would probably die of mental suffocation.

With my jumbled thinking, one way or another I had managed to deceive myself, but I was already at my limit. Someone, please give me peace! *Ton Ton Ton*. Came the sound of someone going up the stairs. Aah, that reminds me, this room was on the second floor. I was panicking to the extent of forgetting even that detail. Most likely, it was Hinami Aoi returning. *Gacha*. The door to the room opened.

「……. Uhhh, apologies for the intrusion.」

I greeted the unfamiliar female who had entered. At the very least, the part of communication skills that covers greetings, or should I say, etiquette, was something even I possessed. If compared with Hinami Aoi, in all honesty she wasn"t that much of a beauty, but, in those features, the traces could definitely be seen. Likely it was her younger sister or something, probably. 「For that flawless bishoujo to have allowed this kind of boring male into her room, just what is going on」, was probably the kind of thought going through her mind, I think. I"m well aware of that, so I"d prefer that you don"t let those words escape from your mouth!

「How is it?」

「Pardon?」

「The house"s upper floor…」

「Uhmm, what might you mean?」

「……You really don"t have any experience with females, do you.」

「Wha…?」

For what reason do I suddenly have to be told such a thing by this unfamiliar female, I wonder. The Hinami household, does the urge to suddenly say something impolite to a kimo-ota run in their blood?

「It"s my no-makeup face.」

「Eh?」

「I"m Hinami Aoi. I removed my makeup. Just how thick-headed are you?」

「……Eeeeeeh──!?」

Certainly there had been the thought that the features were there, but, to have brought about such a change with just that? There hadn"t been any impression of heavy makeup; rather, it had seemed completely natural. Just what in the world was this.

「You, talked about chara difference, didn"t you?」

「……?　I did, but…」

「With this do you understand?」

「…With what?」

「Your crime of thick-headedness even extends this far? The appearance parameter, with enough effort, it"s always possible to change it however you like, isn"t it so?」

「Aah.」 I see, that"s what it was, huh…….

Well, I more or less understood what she wanted to say.

But either way, she had no right to give me that kind of sermon.

「Even if we a.s.sume that you are a yowa chara, it is possible to make changes later on. Using your appearance"s initial parameters as an excuse to abandon Life, that"s something you shouldn"t do.」

Haah. This was kind of, different to what had been promised.

「…What? Did you bring me here to give that kind of common sermon?」

「Well, to put it simply, that"s right.」

「It"s none of your business. Didn"t I say so? The circ.u.mstances of you and I are different. Firstly, I"m a male so I"m not in a position to be applying makeup, so to begin with, that initial parameter is different. The base facial features make up the end of it for me. With that kind of thing, can something be done afterwards? For a yowa-chara, that"s how it is. …Haa, I"m leaving.」

Saying so, I picked up my bag and stood up. Perhaps because I"d thrown out everything I wanted to say just now, the nervousness from before had come to disappear.

「You really don"t understand anything, huh.」

「……Was there still something else?」

「Do you know the essential components of a human being"s appearance? Please try give about three.」

「I said I was leaving, didn"t I? Do I really need to keep playing along with you?」

「With that, it"s not just Life, but you even run from a trifling conflict of this degree, huh. A genuine loser.」

Just how could she allow such remarks that would irritate a person to come out so smoothly.

「I get it already, shut uuup, since you"ve gone that far with your words, I"ll respond to the provocation. The essential components of a human being"s appearance? Their base facial features and, what was it? Stature, and, something like body weight, I guess.」

「That"s entirely wrong.」

Complete rejection.

「Then what?」

「Facial expression, physique, and posture.」

Isn"t physique pretty close to what I"d been saying earlier.

「No, facial features are-」

「That kind of thing isn"t a particularly important problem.」

「No, that sort of conclusion is……」

When it comes to appearance, the original face is essential, isn"t it? Her answer just now was incorrect, right. The evidence is my life.

「Well then, won"t you have a look at this?」

Saying so, Hinami Aoi concealed her face with both hands.

Still in that state, after stretching her body, with a *paka*, she now angled both hands outwards as if playing peek-a-boo. Eh.

「How is it?」

「……I"m not sure what happened there……」

With the hands opened, compared to when the face was previously hidden, there was a fifty or sixty percent increase in sociability; quite the beauty had manifested. Hinami Aoi who had decided to appear without makeup, that"s the kind of the impression I got. No, the impression should have been the same as just now, though.

「Do you understand now? It"s the facial expression.」

「No… that"s no longer on the level of facial expression is it?」

「Then, just how would you explain this? Some kind of subst.i.tution sleight of hand? Or else, instant plastic surgery?」

While saying so, this time, without covering her face, Hinami Aoi began to slacken her face. Returning to her previous self-styled expression. Just when I"d thought that, little by little, she transformed back into that fairly sociable beauty. She repeated this several times.

「Ooh……」

I got the feeling like I was watching some kind of very well done performance. To tell the truth, this was quite amazing.

「To be able to do just this much, it"s only because I had put in the effort to that end, though.」 while saying these words, she slowly alternated between the two. 「Incidentally, do you understand that it"s not just the face, but also the posture that"s shifting?」

「Eh?」

Having being told so, upon watching closely, when power was being lost from her face, she was at the same time hunching her back; when she was transforming into that sociable beauty, she was at the same time straightening out her spine.

「Posture also changes the impression of the face. Facial expression and att.i.tude, with just those executed perfectly, for a 『Riajuu-like appearance』, they"re more than enough. Well, nevertheless, it"s because I am blessed with the raw specs that I can become this much of of a beauty, though.」

「Well, don"t you possess such confidence in your good self.」 [3]

「That"s right, that"s exactly right. Self-confidence is also important, isn"t it.」

「I didn"t say it with that kind of meaning, you know… So? What"s up with that?」

「Do you not get it?」

……It wasn"t that I didn"t understand. With the flow of how things had been going, with this being shown to me, well, in summary-

「Almost all of the unattractive guys can become average looking or better, or something, is what you want to say here, I guess.」

「That"s a good guess.」

「Then, so what? That"s why you too should keep at it, is that what you want to say or something? Didn"t I say so already, that"s asking for too much」

「It"s not that kind of thing.」

「Then what?」

When I said this, Hinami Aoi, while gazing deeply into my eyes, no, as if even peering into the depths of the depths of my mind, said the following.

「This is why, the human beings who are like the current you, have the ugliest hearts in the world.」

「Wha……」

What was that, so suddenly.

「Though, that"s human beings who are like the 『current』 you.」

「Cu-Current me? ……Even if you try to make it sound profound,  even if you misrepresent it like that…」

「From here on out what I"m saying will be for my own self-satisfaction. I won"t mind if you ignore it. You might think that I"m giving you orders here but, in the end, the one making the final decision is you. It"s also not a problem if you simply disregard everything. Under that premise, please hear me out.」

Hinami Aoi, intercepting my words, said as such, changing the mood . Her tone of voice and gaze didn"t have any feeling of mocking in the least. As lacking in communication skills as I may have been、I could still tell that Hinami could not get any more serious than she was right now.

「……Al…Alright.」

One would not have thought that I was in fact of the same age, considering the manner in which I said this while being overwhelmed by the silent, unwavering intensity.

With that positive confirmation received, Hinami Aoi now spoke out, with neither the slackened face from earlier, nor the face of a sociable beauty, but rather, with an unhappy expression that was in some respects a reflection of human weakness.

「……You said this earlier, did you not? 『I possess neither communication skills nor self-confidence, while in comparison, you had high initial starting parameters』. However, there"s no such thing. I truly am nothing but an average person. No, I was living my life in a manner even worse than one. ……At least as far as elementary school. That"s why, I"ll be frank. The things you talked about like communication skills and self-confidence, all of them can be changed however you like with effort. The me that debuted in the first year of middle school is proof of that.」

A strong tone that made me sense that within herself, there was a definitive basis to her words.

「……You also said it was irrational and unfair, right? However, that"s wrong. The game called Life, operates using a few simple rules. They just intersect in a complicated manner, so you aren"t able to grasp them.」

Regardless of whether I believed her words or not, I could sense the content entering my mind.

「I respected nanashi. I had won all manners of things just through effort. That"s why, that method of putting in effort, with regards to continuing in that fashion, I had confidence that I wouldn"t lose to anyone, and because of that, I had the confidence to be able to produce results. However in Atafami, no matter what I did, I was unable to reach nanashi"s level.」

Gesturing only ever so slightly, it was just words being spoken.

「Therefore, I had thought that nanashi was a human being that was able to put in more effort than myself, and it was precisely because I thought this, that I revered nanashi. But, when I tried lifting the lid, I got this. The nanashi in Life, to say nothing of losing, isn"t even putting up a good fight, furthermore, is the type of human being that uses their qualities possessed since birth as an excuse to escape and move on. No, let alone that, is someone who, without even experiencing the fun of Life, arbitrarily decided on it being uninteresting, using himself as justification, an unsightly loser.」

Being belittled to this extent, it was a wonder how rage had not sprung forth. Perhaps because I had been overpowered by her earnest intensity──or, rather than that, I had the suspicion that it was because I had realized how similar I was to her in some respects.

「I"m an amazing human being. You think so too, don"t you? To the point that you might wonder if a sixteen year old in j.a.pan who was this amazing could really exist. But, over that sort of me, you gained victory in one field. Additionally, at the same age, in a field where there is no advantage nor disadvantage due to gender. ──That"s why, let me say it. The fact that you, who is gaining victory over that sort of me is, the nanashi who I uniquely respected, and is in the game called Life, in this of sorry state of affairs, this makes me irritated from the bottom of my heart. Unforgivable! The worst! For the human being who I"m losing to to be a good-for-nothing, by extension doesn"t that make me look like a good-for-nothing too!」

That, despite being told this much, it did not appear likely to have been out of arrogance, this was probably because I perceived this person"s implicit behind the scenes blood running like endeavours.

「Superior games are always simple, this is my pet theory. Thus, when the game called Life appears to have no rules, the truth is it has become a beautiful structure where there are only simple rules that have been interlaced. You"ve been saying that it"s a kusoge, but far from it, Life is pretty much a kamige that can"t get any better. It"s just that you haven"t realized it yet. …… Is it really okay for nanashi of all people to be defeated in this kind of wonderful game? Is it really okay to lay the blame on the game and run away from it? Is it really okay to leave things as they are, as the whining of a loser? ……Tomozaki-kun. I have one proposal for you. No, I"m giving you an order.」

The leaves and branches might be completely different, but this was the first time I had seen such a human being with a way of thinking so similarly rooted as mine.

For this reason.

「I"ll be teaching you the rules of this game, one by one. That"s why──」

Reluctantly, I had already consented to this person"s words.

「This 『Game』 called 『Life』, face it seriously!」

This was, the large incident that took place on Sat.u.r.day.

Translator Notes:

[1] Seiza (正座) is a j.a.panese way of sitting ‘correctly’ (do an image search if you haven’t heard of it before). It plays a central role in traditional tea ceremonies and things like that.

[2] Towelket: j.a.panese-English word combining towel and blanket, often cotton.

[3] Not sure how to explain this, but he uses uncharacteristically formal language when saying this sentence, i.e. as if saying it with sarcastic intent.

You may have also noticed a bunch of j.a.panese onomatopoeia indicated by asterisks (*gacha* etc.), which I won’t (and can’t) translate. They’re quite self-explanatory, anyway. I mean, open your front door. Say ‘GACHA!’.

Pretty similar, right?