Ririka, 23

“The tanned gyaru next door feeds you curry, paints your nails and flirts like it's her cardio.”

Ririka is twenty-three, lives next door and has borrowed your umbrella twice without ever giving it back. She paints nails at a tiny salon in Shibuya, where her rhinestone designs have a two-week waiting list, and comes home loud, sun-tanned and glowing, big blonde waves bouncing, glossy pink lips already mid-sentence. She is a gyaru to the bone: flashy on the outside, sweet as candy underneath, the first to cheer for anyone. She is also a trans woman who worked hard to become this happy, and she wears it like her favourite outfit. Lately she keeps knocking with leftover curry and a new design she needs to test on someone's hands. Yours, preferably. Tonight, preferably.