October 27th, 3:30 p.m.
After parting ways with Origami, Mikoto returned to the Itsuka household. The mont she stepped inside, she saw Shido and Kotori sitting across from each other at the table, both of their faces covered in scratch marks.
"Um… what happened to you two?"
Mikoto, who had no idea what had occurred, walked over and asked.
"Ah, Yakumo-senpai, actually…"
Shido turned around, touched his face full of red marks, and gloomily explained what had happened.
When he arrived at the underground base, Kotori's face had already looked as if it had been scratched by a cat. After warning him to be careful, Kotori had let him enter Natsumi's room.
Noticing Shido's arrival, Natsumi beca extrely uneasy and threw the various stuffed toys on her bed at him. Only after running out of ammunition did she shrink back under the blanket, leaving only her eyes peeking out as she secretly watched Shido.
Although the girl still held a great deal of caution toward Shido, they were at least able to talk.
Through their conversation, Shido learned that the reason Natsumi had attacked them really was because her appearance had been seen. The girl seed to have a deep inferiority complex about her looks. For a long ti, whenever Natsumi tried to interact with people in her true form, she was always ignored without exception.
And that was what created Natsumi's twisted personality and extre lack of confidence.
In the end, even though Shido showed her great goodwill, Natsumi still interpreted it as one of his tricks. Not only did she refuse to trust him, but in the middle of her outburst, she unleashed her loli kitty punch, scratching Shido's face with both of her tiny claws until it looked just like Kotori's.
And so, the first attempt at persuasion ended in failure.
"In short, we still have two days."
Kotori raised two fingers in a V sign. She ant that, in roughly two days, Natsumi would recover her power. When that happened, this underground facility would no longer be able to restrain her.
"In that case, I have a plan."
Shido said.
"What plan?"
Kotori asked.
"Actually…"
And so, Shido slowly explained his idea.
"I see. It's certainly worth trying. Mikoto, what do you think?"
Shido's idea was to give Natsumi a complete makeover, turning the ugly duckling into a white swan.
"As for … mm, it does seem like a possible thod."
Mikoto nodded. No matter what, makeup was one of Girl's four great mystic arts. Once it was used, no matter how shockingly ugly Natsumi was, she could be turned into a fairy descending from heaven in an instant.
However…
"…I feel like Natsumi's extrely unconfident personality is the real issue, more than her appearance."
Mikoto sighed.
To be fair, from any angle, Natsumi's true appearance had nothing to do with the word ugly. If anything, the girl definitely belonged in the pretty category. If one had to point out flaws, her figure was a little lacking, her hair was dry and ssy, and she had a slight hunch in her posture. But even if all of those shortcomings were added together, they still were nowhere near enough to make Natsumi ugly. (TL:yes Natsumi is best girl)
In other words, Natsumi had very refined features. If she were placed on the street, anyone would think she would grow up into a beautiful girl, just like the form Natsumi had transford herself into.
That was why Mikoto felt Natsumi's problem was definitely psychological. However, she had no better idea right now.
"Let's go with Shido's idea. Maybe once she becos prettier, Natsumi's lack of confidence will ease a little."
Mikoto thought for a mont, then said that.
______________
And so, early the next morning, Natsumi, who was enjoying breakfast, was suddenly surrounded by everyone holding sacks and ropes. They stuffed Natsumi into a bag, then carried her to the Natsumi-exclusive beauty salon they had started preparing the day before.
First was "Miku Salon", overseen by a famous idol. There, Miku used highly professional techniques to give Natsumi's skin a thorough treatnt.
After that ca Kaguya and Yuzuru's hair care. Having carried out nearly a hundred competitions between them, the two were surprisingly skilled in many areas, including haircuts and hair care.
Everyone chose suitable clothes for Natsumi and sent her to the final room. Waiting there were Shido, dressed as Shiori, and Mikoto.
Using himself as an example, Shido showed Natsumi the limitless power of makeup.
In the end, after personally experiencing one of the four great mystic arts, Natsumi stared at herself in the mirror, so shocked that she could not speak.
However, the result did not go as they had imagined. Because Natsumi beca so confused by how cute she had beco, she ran wild, knocked her little head against the wall, and magnificently fainted.
Shido's makeup plan did not directly conquer Natsumi, but at least it brought both her emotional value and affection level out of the worst possible range.
Next…
"How about starting from building her confidence, like Mikoto suggested?"
Kotori asked.
"But how should we do that?"
Shido was confused.
"Does your brain have mushrooms growing in it, Shido? If you want to build her confidence in her appearance, just find people to keep praising her as cute and beautiful."
Kotori shook the Chupa Chups in her hand and quickly made a plan.
First contestant—Tonomachi Hiroto.
Blindfolded and brought into a room inside the underground facility that had been decorated like a hotel room, Tonomachi showed great interest in Natsumi.
However, his line, "You're seriously super cute. After seeing you, I'm so dizzy I can hardly see straight", was interpreted by Natsumi as, "You're so ugly that looking at you makes dizzy and want to throw up."
As a result, faced with Natsumi's outburst, Tonomachi Hiroto utterly failed.
Second contestant—Kannazuki Kyouhei.
Dressed as a talent scout, Kannazuki found Natsumi and said he hoped she would debut as an idol.
However, his line, "NICE BODY!" was interpreted by Natsumi as, "Although you're ugly, your body is still healthy enough, so your organs could be sold for money."
As a result, faced with Natsumi's outburst, Kannazuki utterly failed.
The third contestants—Shido and Mikoto.
This ti, the two rely brought Natsumi to a fast food restaurant to buy food. Their goal was to let the girl understand that ordinary conversation would not result in anyone mocking her.
However, the clerk's line, "Would you like fries with that?" was understood by Natsumi as, "Eat more high calorie food, you skinny stick!"
As a result, faced with Natsumi's outburst, Shido and Mikoto utterly failed.
After an entire day, aside from the makeup, nothing else had any effect. Everyone was nearly driven to despair by Natsumi's inferiority complex.
[Co to think of it, if Natsumi t a girl in an even worse situation than hers, would she beco more confident?]
Mikoto thought.
Although it was not a thod worth encouraging, sotis the human heart worked that way. For example, when exam rankings were posted, the second to last student would feel comforted by looking at the student in last place. At least there was soone worse than them.
"Hey, Shido, let's go see Natsumi again tomorrow morning during breakfast. Oh, and Kotori, please turn off the detection devices in the room when the ti cos. I'm counting on you."
"Yakumo-senpai…"
Seeing the determined expression on the girl's face, Shido seed to understand sothing.
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