However, Isshiki Makoto's true thoughts were...
"How about that? My tactic of [taking responsibility for others to appear cool]!"
After class, Isshiki Makoto came to the Club Activities room and revealed his true thoughts.
How could he actually shave his head?! His baldness was hereditary, and he didn't have many days left to style his hair!
After he spoke his true thoughts, Yuta, who had initially been worried about Isshiki Makoto, was naturally speechless.
"Besides, covering for boys and taking all the blame on one's own shoulders is too manly!"
"You know yourself that this act is covering for boys, so how could the girls be so foolish?" Fang Wuwei, who had been buried in a blue folder reading the dark scripture, raised his head. He didn't think the girls in the class would truly believe that only Isshiki Makoto did this. During the break, Shana even came to ask him, "If you don't actually do something, your self-incrimination will be for naught. The suspicion will still be focused on all the boys, and you'll also end up with a reputation for being untrustworthy."
"Eh? Everyone shouldn't really... really make me shave my head, right? Look, since I've already said so, haven't they seen my determination?" Hearing Fang Wuwei say this, Isshiki Makoto broke out in a cold sweat. It couldn't be that serious, could it?
"But didn't you say you were going to bring it to an end?"
"That's what I said... but everyone shouldn't take it seriously, right?" Isshiki Makoto believed that everyone in the class was kind.
Unfortunately, they weren't.
Nibutani returned to the association, bringing news that couldn't be worse for Isshiki Makoto: "They will all take it seriously, I'm telling you now. The girls are still suspicious. No matter how good your words sound, it's impossible to make people believe you, unless Isshiki you truly bring it to an end."
"I told you so." Fang Wuwei shrugged beside him, then exchanged glances with Nibutani, who had a murderous look in her eyes, before sheepishly burying his head back in the dark scripture.
It seemed he had been remembered for leading the applause in the classroom earlier...
"Me... me?"
"Otherwise? Didn't Isshiki you propose it yourself?"
Isshiki Makoto's face turned pale. He had only spoken a casual remark, yet... yet...
Looking at Isshiki, frozen in place, Fang Wuwei pulled an electric shaver from his pocket and handed it to Yuta.
"Here."
"Where did you get that?!"
"Is it strange to carry this around?" He couldn't say it was the trash he drew yesterday.
By the way... his remaining fifty draws surprisingly yielded dozens of different useless trash items. Fang Wuwei wanted to curse every time he drew. If this drop rate were in a game, the designer would be cursed to death. Moreover, he even drew a lot of something called source essence, which he didn't know what it was.
"How could you possibly carry this around?! Are you a barber?!"
"Alright, alright, don't mind these details~"
Fang Wuwei stood up, pulled a chair from the side, pushed Isshiki Makoto down, and took out another electric shaver from his pocket, ready to do it himself.
"Eh?! Wait a minute!"
Isshiki Makoto's face was full of regret. He felt he could still struggle. He tried to get up and run, but Fang Wuwei's immense strength held him down in the chair, unable to stand or move.
He looked back in horror, only to see Fang Wuwei's smiling face, shouting "Devil" in his heart.
Nibutani took a cloth from her bag and tied it around Isshiki, while Fang Wuwei had already started the electric shaver, eager to begin, but Yuta stopped him.
Looking at Isshiki, who was already crying, Yuta couldn't bear it, but there was no better way at the moment. He could only confirm Isshiki Makoto's determination.
"I'll ask you one more time, do you really want to shave it?"
"No, I certainly don't want to shave it!" Isshiki Makoto cried, "This is the hair I finally got after enduring three years of baldness in junior high! How could I possibly want to shave it?!"
"Then go apologize tomorrow and ask everyone to spare your hair!!"
"But... if I do that, won't I become a pure coward?!... Nibutani is right, this matter must be brought to an end, otherwise the girls in the class, and the girl who wrote me a love letter, will definitely consider me a coward.
Also, more importantly, if I really apologize, the suspicious gaze will fall back on all the boys! Besides, I initiated the competition, and if I fail, I have to clean up my own mess...Woo...
This is what a man is, right?!"
Even though Isshiki Makoto was crying and snot and tears were streaming out, he became even more resolute in his determination.
"Isshiki..."
"Isshiki..."
Yuta and Fang Wuwei were shocked by Isshiki Makoto's shining determination. They stood solemnly to the side, like they were watching a warrior about to go to his death, offering their highest respect.
"That's enough! Hurry up and get his hair done!"
Nibutani, who was beside them, couldn't understand the strange friendship between boys. She was already getting impatient. The girls had asked her to come and personally confirm Isshiki Makoto's execution site.
"Don't get in the way!"
Yuta pushed Nibutani out. Seeing Rikka and Totsuka slowly approaching from a distance, he decisively closed and locked the door.
The sun slowly set. Looking at the lingering sunset glow cast outside the window, such a beautiful scene, yet it made Isshiki Makoto once again firm his resolve to bear this sin for the boys.
"I say, Yuta, thank you for your help all this time...
I'm really glad I talked to you on the day of the entrance ceremony."
Yuta was moved by this, but Fang Wuwei didn't think so. This kid didn't mention him; he would definitely be harsher when he started later.
"My dad, his hair fell out at 35. If it's hereditary, then I only have about 20 years left to style my hair. And I've already spent three of those years with a bald head. Now I'm repeating the same mistake. Isn't it funny?"
Isshiki Makoto was already crying uncontrollably, and Yuta behind him also shed tears. The beautiful brotherhood made Fang Wuwei, who was beside them, also tear up.
So touching~~~
He decided to give Isshiki a quick end.
"Come on!! Yuta, you give me a quick end with your own hands!!"
"Isshiki ahhhhh——"
Yuta shouted to the sky. This cry echoed throughout the campus.
Holding back his tears, Yuta was about to personally give Isshiki a quick end when he discovered that Isshiki's head had already become a reverse Mohawk, with a strip of hair missing in the middle, and beside him was a bewildered Fang Wuwei with an innocent look.
"Ah, you guys were a bit slow... I went ahead and started..."
Yuta, Isshiki: "..."
Can you not read the mood?!!
————This is a sad dividing line————
The Cute Girls Contest matter finally came to an end.
And Isshiki Makoto, with his bald head, received quite a lot of ridicule.
However, he also genuinely cleared all suspicions for the boys in the class. Even if the girls didn't believe it was truly only Isshiki, they were willing to let it go for the sake of Isshiki's bald head.
Therefore, the optimistic him still held a small hope that 'the girl who wrote the love letter might still appear under the ginkgo tree.' He came to the tree on Saturday, holding a bouquet of small flowers, waiting for the figure in his heart to arrive.
However, what awaited him were all the males in the class.
"Ikkyu-san~~~"
He didn't get a girlfriend who loved him, but he gained unimaginable fervent support from the boys in his class.
Everyone lifted him high, declaring Isshiki's status.
Against this, Isshiki could only cry without tears.
"Long live Ikkyu-san~"
"Don't call me Ikkyu!"