Appraiser 16

Test

Girly Boy Was Also Good At Hair Arrangements

"Here, how about this?"

"Wow! It's really wonderful! Thank you, Yuuri-oniichan!"

"No problem. I'm glad you like it."

Yuuri smiled brightly, and the girl smiled like a blooming flower. It was a truly heartwarming sight.

The girl's hair was beautifully braided. But it wasn't just braided. From the top of her head to below her ears, the braided hair formed a beautiful circle. She had created a long, braided braid and wrapped it around, and the braids were so beautifully done that they made the girl look charming on their own.

However, not all of her hair was braided. Only one braid was fashioned into a headband, while the rest flowed down her back. Her straight hair, without any curls, combined with the braided headband, looked incredibly beautiful.

Although the girl was now happily smiling, just moments ago she had been crying loudly.

Yuuri, who had gone out for his daily walk, found a girl being teased and crying as boys grabbed her hair. Soon, the girl's friends arrived and chased the boys away. Nevertheless, her hair had been pulled and disheveled, leaving her in tears.

Yuuri took out his trusty brush from his magic bag, which was a regular student's backpack without fuss or hurry. After all, even boys paid attention to their appearance. Also, since this brush had become a magical item, it had a small effect. It made hair silky and shiny. Yuuri didn't mention this because women's passion for beauty is scary. Being a girly boy, he could understand that passion up close. He didn't want any commotion with his brush, so he kept quiet. It was a wise decision.

As he combed and tidied her hair, Yuuri asked the girl, who still had tear-streaked cheeks, if he could tie it up.

The people in town had welcomed this peculiar foreign boy warmly. The girls, somewhat naive and wary of the mischievous Yuuri, treated him like an older brother. Since Yuuri didn't reject their advances, their relationship was good. However, boys were easy to win over once their stomachs were satisfied.

Watching the girls, Yuuri approached those who had hair long enough for braiding but not quite enough for a headband. The shorter ones would probably give up. They couldn't braid anyway. But those who could braid but couldn't make it long enough for a headband seemed somewhat regretful. Even though they were girls, they were sensitive about fashion.

"How about trying a half-up with braids?"

"Huh? How do we do that?"

"If you braid the upper half of your hair on both sides and tie the remaining hair below, it'll look like a headband."

Yuuri's cheerful suggestion excited the girls. They asked him to show them how, so Yuuri took hold of one girl's hair. Using a comb from his bag, he skillfully divided the upper half and braided two sections, then threaded them under the remaining hair and tied them with a hair tie. And it was done.

The girls with braided headbands still had braids on top but otherwise had a similar hairstyle. The girls' faces, which had been cloudy until then, lit up. Watching the girls one by one try the half-up style, Yuuri smiled. He liked seeing girls and women dress up and enjoyed helping them. Because he was a girly girl.

In Yuuri's view, there were also girls with slightly longer hair that wasn't long enough to braid. Unlike the short-haired ones, they couldn't give up. But they couldn't braid either. Seeing these girls stuck in between, Yuuri took something out of his school bag.

It was a variety of colorful scrunchies. Since Yuuri's bag contained a bundle of hair ties, he reused leftover fabric. He had received the scraps from a clothing store that didn't want them. They were going to throw them away as trash, so it was a win-win. Using them, Yuuri had been making scrunchies as a hobby in his spare time.

A scrunchie is basically a decorative hair tie. Covered with fabric, it looks adorable. Yuuri used various scraps of fabric, so there are many different patterns. It was just a simple hobby.

With the scrunchies in hand, Yuuri approached the girls. Then...

"If you can't braid, how about tying it with this?"

"Huh?"

"I made these scrunchies. Would you like to use them? I don't need them since my hair is short."

Smiling, Yuuri offered the scrunchies, and the girls blinked in surprise. It was a cute loop with pretty patterns. They couldn't figure out what to do with the fabric loop, so they looked puzzled.

Understanding their confusion, Yuuri declined one girl and brushed, arranged, and tied her hair with a hair tie before putting on the scrunchie. Of course, it was possible to tie the hair with just the scrunchie. However, since the hair tie could secure it more firmly, Yuuri tied it with the hair tie first and then added the scrunchie as decoration.

Instantly, exclamations of admiration escaped from the girls' mouths. It was just a simple tie, yet it was made with fabric that had flower patterns. It was much more stylish than tying it with a plain hair tie. It was no wonder the girls' faces were radiant.

"Everyone, please take one. There are only a few, though."

Saying so, Yuuri handed out several scrunchies, and the girls eagerly grabbed them, almost fighting over them. The braided headband group and the half-up braid group joined in the fray. The only ones who didn't participate were the short-haired group. They didn't have enough hair to tie up, so they gave up.

However, even those girls were interested in fashion. While looking envious, they were touching their hair ends, perhaps thinking about growing their hair a little longer.

To those girls, Yuuri offered hairpins. But these were not the black hairpins he had before. While the pin itself was still plain black, there were decorations on the top part that served to hold the hair when inserted.

"...Yuuri-oniichan?"

"If you can't tie it up, how about using this to pin back your bangs?"

"Thank you!"

The girls replied in unison.

The hairpins Yuuri handed over were neatly secured with fabric made into pearl-like shapes or tied knots. They were not just glued on, but securely fastened with thread to prevent slipping. It was obvious at a glance that they were firmly secured and wouldn't break no matter what.

Unable to braid their hair or tie it up with scrunchies, the girls with short hair shared the given hairpins, discussing which one suited whom. Watching them, Yuuri smiled brightly.

The hairpins, which had been left in Yuuri's bag, were doing a great job. Moreover, these hairpins had become like his notebook. He had a plastic case containing about twenty hairpins, but no matter how many he took out, the contents never diminished. Quietly, most of Yuuri's magic items were like this.

Surrounded by such girls, Yuuri was honored to accompany the delighted girls on their walk. One should never underestimate girls. The young ladies who lived robustly in the capital were always exploring which shops had what and which ones were fair with their mothers. They made sure not to forget to introduce Yuuri to the shop owners.

Thanks to that, Yuuri had a more meaningful walk than expected that day. He even got closer to shops he hadn't approached much before. It was a pleasant surprise that he could enter women's shops because he was with the girls.

At the general store, Yuuri enthusiastically discussed with the girls which small items were cute and practical. At first, the old lady who was minding the store looked at Yuuri with suspicion, but seeing him happily spending time with the girls, she smiled gently. Of course, Yuuri didn't notice.

By the way, after that day, scrunchies and hairpins became wildly popular. Yuuri started doing piecework in his spare time, wholesaling scrunchies and hairpins as requested by the clothing store, which became an additional source of income.