Wheelchair Girl: Chapter 4-7

https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2611p/23

Chapter 4-7: Hair Salon Beneath the Blue Sky 2

―8―

“Good grief…”

Kazutaka watched the girls escape while holding one hand on his back and breathing heavily.

“Seriously… what’s up with them…”

“Who knows? But, aren’t they cute children?”

Contrary to Kazutaka, Haruka was watching the escaping girls with a big smile on her face.

“Cute? Those brats?”

Kazutaka, who had been thoroughly made fun of, was making a quite gloomy expression there.

Let’s get back to the main topic.

Kazutaka changed gears and focused once more on Haruka’s haircut, picking up the scissors again.

“But wow, you have quite a lot of hair, don’t you?”

“Really, you think so?”

With ‘a lot of hair’ he was referring to the fact that no matter how much of it he cut, the volume didn’t seem like it would decrease at all.

The plan was to first decrease the volume as much as possible for the shortcut and then go in with the thinning shears for the actual haircut.

(TLN: Thinning shears are used for the finishing touches apparently.)

At the moment, the haircut was progressing smoothly, without any big blunders.

“So…”

After taking a breather, Kazutaka moved in front of Haruka.

He more or less managed to get the back right. Now he has to deal with the front, specifically, those bangs.

If he messes up her bangs, it’s as if everything he had done so far was for naught. He recalled how the hairstylist Onii-san told him to be especially careful with the bangs.

“Hm… how do I pull this off…”

Unsure how to position his scissors correctly, he grumbled the teachings of the hairstylist Onii-san to himself and checked the manual he had placed on the table multiple times.

After raising Haruka’s bangs, and combing them down, he was getting worried with a big frown on his face.

Seeing Kazutaka’s face like that, Haruka couldn’t help but giggle.

“Akasaka-kun, you’re making a weird face there.”

Wrapped in a white sheet, resembling a teru-teru-bozu, she laughed in a good mood.

“This is no laughing matter, y’know? If I mess this up, it’ll be a tragedy. It’s your face, y’know?”

Haruka responded in an optimistic tone.

“Well, as long as it’s not too bad, I think it’ll be fine anyway.”

“You really think so?”

“If you can’t relax, you won’t be able to do the things you would have been able to.”

“I guess you’re right about that huh…”

“Just relax, relax. You’re making a scary face, you know?”

She was telling him to smile by putting her finger on the corners of her mouth while showing him a bright smile herself.

Kazutaka took her advice to heart, breathed out all the air of his lungs, eased the tension of his shoulders, and rotated his arms. Since he has been doing something he wasn’t used to, everything has become stiff and he finally felt that as well.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Now that he had relaxed a bit and unwinded his thoughts, he was able to grasp the scissors with more confidence and went with them straight into her bangs.

– Snip 

It made a rather uncomfortable sound.

“Ah…”

Kazutaka stopped in his tracks.

He unconsciously raised his voice and just stood still there.

“Eh… Did.. did something happen?”

Haruka, who had been rather calm until now, finally made an anxious face.

She fearfully looked up to Kazutaka.

“Ma- maybe was that…? Did you fail?”

“No… W-well, just wait. It’s fine. Everything is as planned. Everything is good.”

Trying to not calm down his inner turmoil, Kazutaka followed up.

“R-really?”

“Yes, really! Just trust me!”

He ended up replying in a rather weird Kansai dialect there.

(TLN: Usually you hear the word ‘Hontoni?’ but I guess Kansai people are like ‘Honmani? And Kazutaka replied with: ‘Honmani! Subaraku Honmani!’ which would be something like ‘Yes, really! Super really!’ In Anime you’d probably hear the ‘Hontoni?’ and ‘Hontoni Hontoni’

“Really Really? I don’t think it’s all good though… I mean you just raised your voice with ‘Ah’ like that earlier…”

Haruka tried to bend forward in her wheelchair, trying to get a glimpse of the situation by checking out her reflection in the hand mirror that was on the table but Kazutaka hurriedly intercepted her view, hiding the mirror behind his back. 

“D-don’t move so much! I might miss the spot.”

“I just wanted to get a glance of myself in the mirror though.”

“That… Come on, that’s something you do at the very end, no?”

Saying such, Kazutaka quickly turned over the mirror with his hands behind his back.

He muttered to himself in his mind.

(Oh shit. I think I cut a bit too much there…)

He really was careful with the scissors and moved just little by little but because he had been too relaxed at that moment, he ended up cutting a good chunk of her bangs with one swift snip.

Kazutaka took one or two steps back and checked out Haruka’s head again.

Her bangs have become the pinnacle of a Japanese person. A perfect straight line.

Straight bangs.

(TLN: 前髪ぱっつん。Doesn’t look too bad tbh. Think of Chitanda Eru (Hyouka) or Jabami Yumeko (Kakegurui), specifically look at their bangs or I guess the lack of them.)

She looked kind of childish as if Sadako turned into a Zashiki-Warashi.

(TLN: Sadako is a Ghost, and Zashiki-Warashi are technically speaking also ghosts but good ghosts, pranksters that bring good fortune or something.)

Even though this was totally on him, this was something indeed.

“Pff…”

He had to try his hardest to stop himself from laughing there.

(TLN: Dude, lol)

Meanwhile, Haruka looked super anxious, almost as if she was about to cry, and asked:

“Nee, is my face really okay?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s fine. No problem.”

After stifling down the laugh, Kazutaka nodded.

Though he wasn’t able to fully stop himself, his mouth kept twitching.

“But why are Akasaka-kun’s shoulders twitching like that then…”

“Sorry about that… Really, it’s nothing…”

She was perceptive.

Dangerous, straight bangs Haruka was dangerous.

She looked somewhat adorable there. How cute.

He was even considering taking a photo there out of commemoration.

However, he couldn’t just laugh there forever.

(Well then… what do I do now…?”)

Although he had pretty much cut her bangs away in a straight line, they had been very long, to begin with, so there was a good chance she’d grow them back in no time.

Though, it’s too early to throw in the towel like that.

He just has to figure something out from here.

Since it was a mistake to cut her bangs from the size, Kazutaka this time held scissors vertically and continued to trim her bangs little by little.

Using the trimming scissors as well, he did his very best to ensure to make her straight bangs looked more natural.

In a sense, this was somewhat of a haircut operation.

It was quite a tough fight with a lot of trial and error but eventually, he finished her haircut.

“Yeah… I guess that’s about it.”

Kazutaka uttered such with a lack of confidence as he gently put the scissors away.

Since he had done all he could, he finished up by dusting off her straight bangs (hair).

After lightly fixing them up with the hair comb, he gave Haruka the hand mirror.

“With this, I’m done…. What do you think?”

“Let me see.”

Haruka took the hand mirror and inspected her face in the reflection. She brushed her bangs, tilted her head, and checked out her side profile as well. 

For a short while, both found themselves in silence.

Kazutaka’s heartbeat started to accelerate as he awaited her verdict. The tension felt like he was in a job interview or something.

Haruka nodded to herself and said in a bright voice:

“You did it extremely well! Yes, I honestly like it a lot!”

“Seriously?”

Kazutaka found himself asking again due to his lack of self-confidence.

“You know, we can still go the hair salon now to get this fixed.”

But Haruka quickly shook her head.

“Don’t need it, I like this hairstyle a lot… This is fine.”

Kazutaka took a step back and checked out the girl again who just underwent a hair change.

Her hair which was long enough to reach her shoulder blades was gone. Now it was slightly above her shoulders. It was a shortcut that gave a casual vibe.

Since her head looked lighter overall, she now gave the impression of being more lively.

Her face which had been hidden by her bangs before was now presenting itself perfectly to the outside.

It might be a bit weird to say that himself but Kazutaka too thought he did quite a good job there.

Initially, he thought he flunked it with her bangs but then he continued to fix it and improve it and it turned out well. A shortcut turned out to be suitable for Haruka who turned out to have a rather adorable face. Thanks to the work of the thinning scissors, her black hair, which used to be heavy and dull, gave now more of a free and soft vibe. 

I guess just changing someone’s hairstyle can indeed impact the overall impression you may have on that person.

It now felt hard to believe that she used to look like Sadako before. Despite being the one who had done this haircut, Kazutaka found himself fascinated by it.

He nodded to himself.

“Yeah… It looks good on you.”

As one would expect from me who has over ten years of experience with having a shortcut myself. Of course, I wouldn’t mess up with a shortcut.

(TLN: Press X to doubt.)

Haruka ran her fingers through her hair and shook her head, reminiscent of a dog right out of the bath.

She said excitedly:

“Oh! My head feels so light!”

After the sheet was taken off her, she looked at herself once again in the mirror.

“Wow… So this is me…”

She looked at her reflection with wide eyes as if she couldn’t believe it.

The wheelchair girl with long messy hair from before looked quite unconstrained as soon she rid herself of that hair.

Kazutaka thought to himself again.

“Yup, shortcuts are nice.”

She looks 100 times cuter now.

Her exposed white nape was dazzling.

(TLN: For Japanese people, the nape is somewhat sexy idk)

Haruka looked up to Kazutaka and said:

“You’re really good at this Akasaka-kun, you might even become a pro!”

“Heck no!”

Yet he rubbed his nose with a proud humph.

That said, he had most of his skills thanks to the hairstylist Onii-san who had taught him. Kazutaka decided to get him a cake or something to show his gratitude.

Haruka moved her wheelchair and turned towards Kazutaka.

She faced him directly and expressed her gratitude.

“…Thank you so much for cutting my hair.”

Since she didn’t have long hair anymore that covered most of her face and eyes, Kazutaka was greeted by her long eyelashes and beautiful double-lidded eyes.

“Hm…, if you want me to do it again for you, feel free to ask.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

She thanked him once more and showed a refreshing smile.

It felt like with her long hair, also all the jumbled and messy feelings she had kept in herself had gone away. She made a liberated expression.

Her long hair which acted as a protective shield against the gazes of others was now gone. She couldn’t run away anymore.

Even if she didn’t want to meet the eyes of others, now she had to.

She had to take them head-on and stand up for herself.

Kazutaka found his hand reaching out to her head and patting it.

“…Give your best.”

As Kazutaka cheered for her, she responded with a feigned: ‘What do you mean?’

She seemed a bit embarrassed there, stifling her smile.

Understanding that the haircut was now over, the little girls from earlier made their come back.

Seeing Haruka being reborn with her shortcut, they gave various impressions.

“Onee-san, that looks really good on you!”

“Yeah, it looks even better than before!”

“Really? Thank you.”

Haruka thanked them shyly while playing with her shortened bangs.

Kazutaka felt glad for making that blunder while nodding to himself.

Before he knew it, the girl with the newsboy hat snuck up to him and poked his elbow.

“Aren’t you actually amazing, Onii-san!”

“Hn?”

“With this, you raised Onee-san’s affection quite a bit.”

She gave him a playful wink.

‘Kids these days…’ Kazutaka thought to himself.

“Well, thank you for that!”

With a wry smile, he grasped the head of the little girl and kneaded it for a bit.

(TLN: I think he just gave her a headlock.)

*

Kazutaka pulled out the broom and dustpan he had prepared beforehand and collected all the hair that was on the ground, putting it in a garbage bag.

“I guess I’ll throw this away then?”

“Yup”

He pondered what the individual stumbling upon such a sizable mass of hair would have made of it, had he simply left it be.

When he returned after throwing away the garbage back, Haruka was suddenly gone.

The scissors and the folded-up sheet were still left on the wooden table but there was no sight of Haruka or the little girls.

“Huh? Where did they go?”

Kazutaka tilted his head and looked around the park.

As he did so, he noticed the sound of a badminton racket hitting the shuttlecock and the excited voices of the little girls.

He looked in their direction and saw a high school girl in a wheelchair joining those little girls in their badminton session.

‘Here I go!’ And then Haruka swung the racket and hit the shuttle.

Kazutaka was left speechless.

“What the heck are they doing…?”

Kazutaka briskly walked up to the girls.

He reached Haruka who was energetically swinging her racket in the court.

“Whaddya doin’ Harukawa-san?”

“As you can see, I’m playing badminton.”

She responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, yeah I see that but…”

“They told me that they couldn’t play 2v2 with just the three of them and invited me to join them as well.”

Kazutaka was stunned and then asked:

“So, you just went along with it?”

Her response seemed as though it wasn’t a big deal.

“Yeah, I did.”

I suppose some simply go along with things, and then some invite others without giving it much thought.

Even though it has been those three girls. Asking a person in a wheelchair to suddenly join them for badminton to make up for the members was quite something else.

Their ability to take action, their assertiveness, or just the fact that they didn’t get worked on the details, Kazutaka found himself somewhat admiring that part of those girls.

It’s not like they’re touching something super sensitive but usually, you wouldn’t casually ask a disabled person to join you in a sports game.

Haruka had formed a pair with the girl who wore the newsboy hat.

“We’ve always wondered how tough Onee-san’s life was compared to ours. Living in a wheelchair must be tough, it’s unimaginable for us.”

Badminton was a chance to approach Haruka in a sense.

The girl looked straight into Haruka’s eyes and said:

“I live right next to your place. So whenever you need help, feel free to reach out to me.”

On the other side of the court, the girl wearing the apple-shaped accessory and the girl with the soft air raised their voices.

“Same for us. If you ever need help, you can rely on us.”

“Yes, in times of need, we’re all equal.”

Haruka had said she was afraid of being looked at by others.

She had said that the gazes of others were something she feared.

‘All of them look at me as if I’m some strange creature…’

However, these three girls were looking at her without any ill intentions. Hence Haruka didn’t feel afraid either.

“Everyone…”

Feeling deeply moved, she found herself being unable to do anything except stare back into the eyes of those girls.

(Huh, turns out all of them are good kids.)

Kazutaka re-evaluated his impression of them.

He initially thought of them as mischievous little brats but now he was kind of admiring them as well.

The girl with the newsboy hat added:

“So yeah, whenever you need help with something, feel free to ask. Also if it’s just about getting the relationship between the two of you going.”

She gave them another wink.

“…Shut up brat.”

In the end, kids these days have become way too cheeky, Kazutaka thought to himself again.

Kazutaka looked at Haruka and asked:

“Well, that aside. Harukawa, are you able to play badminton with your condition?”

“There are people in this world that can pull off basketball or even a marathon in a wheelchair. Since mine wasn’t made for sports, it doesn’t turn out well but I think I can participate for a little.”

Haruka wielded the racket, brimming with energy.

“Even if I look like this now. I used to be quite a sporty girl back in the day!”

“Wow, really? What kind of sports did you do?”

“Track and field.”

“Isn’t that quite different from this?”

Where is her self-confidence even coming from?

“Since you’re here, please be our referee Onii-san and while you’re at it, you can also be in charge of the net.”

And thus Kazutaka found himself as the appointed referee and the guy fixes up the net, holding it instead of the center pole.

“I guess that’s about. Let’s start!”

The girl with the soft hair waved from the other end of the court.

The game continued with her making the serve.

Haruka managed to receive it.

The lines of the court were most likely drawn by shoes and it was smaller than an official one. Since they weren’t really serious and just playing for fun, they hit the shuttlecock with not much force either.

However, Haruka still managed to fend it off rather well despite being handicapped with the wheelchair.

She managed to keep returning the shuttle while skillfully maneuvering her wheelchair.

Once in a while, the shuttle was about the land in front of her feet but she managed to scoop it up before it hit the ground and return it.

The pleasant sound of the shuttle being hit back and forth resounded.

The other side missed their shot and the shuttle flew right above Haruka.

“Oh, this is the chance!”

Haruka stretched herself and slammed down the shuttle with a nice form.

The shuttle gracefully flew over the net Kazutaka was holding and landed in the opponent’s zone.

“Yosha!”

Haruka raised her voice and made a high-five with the girl who wore the newsboy hat.

“Did you just see that Akasaka-kun! Even if I say so myself, I think that was a nice smash.”

She showed him a V sign with a smile.

Kazutaka felt happy for her and responded with a smile:

“Why are you getting serious while playing with little girls?”

(TLN: Look who’s talking.)

“I’m always serious!”

She swung around the racket and threw out her chest, taking on a victorious pose.

Meanwhile, the two girls had just lost and groaned in defeat.

“We won’t lose next time!”

“Oh, nice! Don’t hold back and show Onee-san who’s boss!”

Kazutaka was instigating them from the sidelines.

Haruka pouted.

“Uhm, Akasaka-kun, on whose side are you?”

“Well, I’m kind of the ally of the losing side.”

And thus the sound of the shuttle being hit back and forth continued.

The hair that was just cut short a while ago was now gently swaying in the wind.

In the afternoon at the park, she laughed innocently like the little girls around her.