While Tongsheng brothers and sisters follow eggs to the second-hand bookstore, Ikeda Mao walks into his usual hair salon.

    "Store manager, I''ll have a flat cut and dye my hair back black."

    The store manager who was sorting out barber equipment looked at Ikeda Mao and glanced: "well, it''s this time of year again."

    "Ha?" Chi Tianmao looked at the store manager suspiciously, "when is it?"

    "Every time the new school year starts about a month, there will be guys like Ah Mao running over to dye their hair back black and flatten their heads." As the store manager said, he began to reinstall the electric scissors that had just been disassembled and cleaned.

    Mao Ikeda looked surprised: "every year... Are there many such people?"

    "Yes." The store manager nodded, took a look at Ikeda Mao, and fiddled with a hair that hung down to block his eyes, so the scar next to his eyes exposed.

    The store manager told Ikeda that the scar was poked by juggling with scissors when he was idle, but no one believed it.

    Chi Tianmao asked suspiciously, "why is this?"

    "What? Why?"

    "Just... At this time of year..."

    "Ah, this." The store manager came to Ikeda''s sitting position, covered Ikeda with the cloth in his hand, and sorted it out. "At the beginning of school, there may be a change of class, a new head teacher and a variety of new opportunities. Then someone patted his head and asked the prodigal son to turn back and reform. This kind of thing is very common."

    "Is it... Common?"

    Ikeda''s expression became gloomy.

    Make complaints about the expression of the face, the manager looked at his expression through the mirror. He said, "don''t tell me what you are not like them. Tell you the truth, every time I make complaints about this way, I will emphasize myself differently when I am tucking away from a small boy.

    "As a result, many people asked me to dye their hair back a few months later."

    "Well..." Chi Tianmao seemed to want to refute, but he couldn''t say anything in the end.

    The store manager continued: "by the way, the summer vacation is the peak period of hair dyeing. Many students will come to dye their hair and look forward to a change in autumn and a debut in high school."

    "Really?"

    "Really, really, if you come to work here, you will see. Sometimes you can come to a yellow haired one in two days during the summer vacation. By the way, many people''s reason is to be dumped.

    "Because you have to change yourself after being dumped. You can be a new man after dyeing yellow hair. The change of young people now is really cheap."

    After the store manager said that, he maintained the posture of holding the electric scissors and asked solemnly, "so, Mao, do you still cut?"

    Ikeda Mao said without hesitation, "cut. I don''t know whether my idea is superficial or whether I will taste it. To be honest, I don''t know. How can I know how long this impulse can last.

    "But if... If I don''t start, I''ll never know how far I can go."

    The store manager sneered, "hum, that''s a nice thing to say. But every word is bullshit. How about giving back the money you blackmailed to the victim first rather than cutting your hair here? Don''t mess it up for a long time. I''ll be stuffed with dirty tickets from blackmail later. "

    "I returned it." Ikeda Mao said angrily, "this is the first thing I do."

    The store manager stopped his work, looked at Ikeda Mao suspiciously and asked, "what do you take to pay me today?"

    "I also have pocket money."

    "Really? Just your family? "

    "Oh, hurry up and flatten my head. You won''t lose your money! Now I''m standing on the golden head of the plane, and I''m not recruited in the place where I work. "

    "Of course, to recruit a bad boy into the store is not to put a potential robber and thief in the store?"

    The store manager said in a joking tone.

    "But can you still go to places like nightclubs? And those operated by Jidao... "

    "I want to do serious work." Ikeda Mao interrupted the store manager, "with the money you earn, live a decent life."

    The store manager picked his eyebrows and sighed, "is that girl so beautiful that she has lost your soul."

    "I said it wasn''t a girl! What''s up, girl? I just see the real hero, so I want to follow the footsteps of the hero. "

    After hearing this, the store manager frowned and thought for a few seconds before hesitating to say:

    "... do you want to play a masked knight?"

    "I didn''t!"

    "Don''t look back suddenly!"

    "Oh, my hair!"

    A few seconds later, Shigeru Ikeda looked at himself with a "band" on his head out of thin air in the mirror, and he wanted to die.

    The store manager was obviously holding back his smile. After losing his energy, he smoothly opened his mouth and suggested, "why don''t... I get you a warrior head?"

    "Do you want me to be the laughing stock of the whole school tomorrow?"

    "What''s the matter? You just want to start over. Isn''t it right to get a warrior head to show your determination?"

    Ikeda Mao pursed his mouth and stared angrily at the store manager through the mirror, but in the end, he was not as angry as before. He said, "forget it, shave my head, just save money for hair dyeing."“ Are you sure? "“ A bald head is better than a warrior''s head! Moreover, many sports associations will shave their heads and make clear their aspirations, so they won''t be too abrupt... Probably. " In the last sentence, Shigeru Ikeda said it without confidence. The store manager put away his smile and confirmed again with a serious face: "then bald, are you sure? Are you really sure? " Ikeda Mao nodded. So his golden hair was removed bit by bit, leaving a bare skull. After finishing the work, the store manager said, "yes, after shaving, the brightness of my whole store has more than doubled." Ikeda Mao looked at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath. Then he raised his hand and touched the smooth marinated egg. It feels OK. He stood up and took out the last bit of money he had - of course he didn''t lack the money for a haircut, but now the situation is different. If you can''t find a job, the day when you can only eat the cheapest bread at school at noon is coming. The store manager returned the money to Shigeru Ikeda“ I just spent some electricity. You''re free this time. Of course, if you want to come back and dye your hair back in a few days, I''ll charge you double. " The store manager paused and continued to say before Ikeda thanked him: "it''s difficult for the prodigal son to turn back. Your past and the causes and effects you have made will not let you go because you change your mind“ They will follow you like a shadow“ What''s more terrible is the prejudice of the world. Soon you will find that no matter how many changes you have made, you are still the blond bad boy Shigeru Ikeda in the eyes of others“ It''s much more difficult than being a demon“ You become a bad person in school, then become a mob, and finally join Jidao to be the bottom beater. Although you are an unforgivable bastard, although you may die at any time, and everyone will applaud and celebrate after you die, you will always be happy before you die. " Ikeda Mao listened to the store manager and looked at the bald head in the mirror. He was silent for a long time and suddenly asked, "how did you turn back, store manager? How did you do it? "“ Me? " The store manager smiled wildly, "I''ve never looked back. I''m just old and forgotten. I can only guard this small store and wither quietly." Ikeda Mao turned to look at the store manager with an unusually complex expression. Finally, he bowed to the store manager, turned around and left with big steps. The store manager took out a cigarette, lit it for himself, came to the door of the hair salon, looked at the lonely night scene in the remote alley where the hair salon is located, and smoked quietly. Edogawa flows quietly not far away. Across the river is the lights and wine of Tokyo.