New year had just began, Somewhere at the market place in Shibuya just few blocks away from the Hill, there is a mall in a lonely corner of the building.
Two sisters and their mother walked into the Shopping centre on a spring afternoon. The market place had its fair share of customers as clothing outlets and sports stores offered great deals on their products.
The girls had asked their mother all week if they could go to there, and their mother finally relented. The sisters loved shopping, trying on clothes and getting new things. Most of all, they just loved being amidst it all, even if they didn't buy much.
The sisters were named Natsuno Yuri and Natsuno Yuzu, and they were 5 years age difference with Mai been the eldest in almost every way. They often wore complementing and similar clothes, although they hadn't dressed the same since they were little. Today, they both wore the different dresses, and Yuri wore a black dress and Yuzu a white one.
Their features were identical as well, although Yuzu had a beauty spot on her left cheek, and Yuri had a tiny scar over her right eye after her accident during figure skating. Their hair was incredibly long and thick, and they both wore it long today. Their black locks cascaded all the way down past their butts, a total of over 3 ½ feet. They usually wore similar styles, so today they had decided to wear it down and straight.
The sisters and their motgerwent to the intersection of four aisles of shops, and they looked around, gazing at all the choices.
"So girls, where do you want to go first?" Their mother asked. Both thought for a moment, looking at each other quizzically.
"How about getting some scarfs before our high school starts?" Yuri suggested. Yuzu nodded in agreement. Their mother smiled and checked her phone.
"Alright! Let's get going!"
The three headed off in the direction of the shop. As soon as they entered the store, Yuri and Yuzu started to comb the racks for cute tops. They took a whole stack to the dressing room and they tried on a wide range of clothes, taking selfies and sending Snaps to their friends.
Their mom let them buy a top each, which they enjoyed immensely. The sisters weren't exactly spoiled, as they appreciated everything their mother did for them. After paying for the clothes, the girls and their mother left the store and they headed back home.
It was then that they passed the shrine and Yuri saw a small shop on top of the hill as girls and women came down their stairs.She was curious and asked what's up there and her mother replied a saloon which was runned by the shrine where one of their family member runs the shop. They had never seen the salon before, but Yuzu and her mother didn't give the salon a second glance as they passed it.
As their mother met a Lady who moved to another town had come with her son and they both met. As Yuzu who knew the boy were talking to each othe. Yuri felt bored and realizing the shop. She slowly ran to check and saw a huge poster pinned as it wrote checked 20% spring discount for teens at the door bulletin board which was near the door of the shop and she slowly observed the salon before almost turning away, but something caught her eye.
Inside the shop, the Salon looked retro but many teen girls were present. She saw a pale white women with red eyes with her hair in a bun and wore a long top folded to hear shoulders and wore a long skirt and the a lone barberette was working with a client.
What caught Yuri's attention was the haircut in progress. A teenage girl, around the same age as her, with beautiful long black hair, was getting a bob! By the looks of it, the Barberette had started the cut a few minutes ago, as a pile of shorn black locks littered the floor under the chair.
Yuri watched the pile with rapt attention. She had never been so fascinated with a haircut before, although she couldn't remember the last time she had seen such a haircut. The Woman snipped away at the girl's long hair while the girl herself looked very happy.
Yuri then saw another girl, a little younger, sitting in the waiting area of the salon. Her hair was even longer, dangling down the back of the chair out of sight. Yuri almost forgot that she had stopped and was standing a ways off from the shop as her mother and sister was calling.
"Yuri?" She heard Yuzu's voice as if from a great distance. Maya turned to see her mother and sister staring from down the steps concerned.
"Yes, coming Mother" Yuri said.
"What are you doing?" Her mother asked.
"Oh, I just…" Yuri wasn't sure how to articulate her feelings. Her eyes returned to the salon and the pile of black hair at the foot of the styling chair.
"Mother... umm...I just was thinking that I want a trim." Her voice almost choked at the end, and Yuzu raised her eyebrows.
"A trim?" Yuzu said skeptically. "But your hair is already the same length as mine."
"I know, but…I guess I just wanted to keep it healthy."
Their mother said it's okay for her to go as they will be going with her friend back to the marketplace to grab some coffee in the cafe. Yuri asked that she'll go while they be at the café and asked to get a slice of cake for her. Her mother agreed and then pulled a ¥10000 bill out of her purse and handed it to Yuri.
"Meet us at the café alright?" Yuri's mother said. Yuri nodded, then walked up the stairs to the salon. Their mother turned to continue on to market place with her friend while Yuzu shrugged and followed her with the woman and her son.
Yuri walked slowly toward the salon and each step seemed like a leap of faith. Her mind was racing as her eyes were fixed on the girl getting her long hair chopped off. The girl smiled at her reflection in the mirror as the lady continued in her unceasing path around her head.
Before she knew it, she was inside the waiting area of the salon. She saw the girl sitting in the waiting chair, who smiled happily. Yuri returned the smile.
"Hi there!" Yuri almost jumped as she turned and saw the stylist as her tagged named Chisato smiling at her. Yuri cleared her throat nervously.
"Uh, hi. I'd like a haircut please."
"Of course! There's another young lady ahead of you, if you don't mind waiting. It should be quick." said Chisato
"That's fine." Yuri sat on one of the empty waiting chairs. The girl about two chairs over leaned forward and caught Yuri's eye.
"Hi!" the girl said brightly. "I'm Rika. What's your name?"
"Yuri."
"Nice to meet you Yuri!"
The girl seemed no nice that it really was a breath of fresh air. Yuri admired the girl's cute outfit. Rika wore black short shorts and a simple white top. Her gorgeous silky black hair split into two sections, one over the back of the chair and the other falling over one shoulder and coiling in her lap on her bare thighs. It framed her eyes and smooth skin perfectly.
"Are you here for a haircut?" Yuri asked. It was a lame question, but she couldn't think of anything else but the girl in the styling chair getting her hair cut off.
"Yep!" Rika tugged on the section of hair over her shoulder and exclaimed happily: "It's all coming off!"
Yuri's heart leapt at the sight of the long hair and the thought of it all getting cut. What were these new feelings, She thought. She had never thought about hair so much in her life. Why was now any different? Yuri had told her mom that she only wanted a trim, but now she wasn't sure what she wanted.
"Really?" Yuru asked, intrigued. "Why do you want to get it cut? It's so long and beautiful?"
"Thanks. Well, my sister and I," she indicated the girl in the styling chair, who only had one section of long hair left that the lady was now combing.
"We have been growing out our hair for the last several years. We've loved long hair, but we're both ready for a change. It's getting hot, and I can't wait for my new haircut!"
Rika pulled out her phone and excitedly showed Yuri an image .
Yuri was shocked to see a picture of a short pixie, the kind Yuru had only ever seen on social media. The sides and back were shaved down to stubble, but the top remained long and layered and heavy bangs gave a sharp contrast. Yuri felt something stir inside of her at the sight of it.
"Wow!"
"I know, right? It's going to look so cute!"
Yuri sized up this cute girl, no more than 15 years old, and concluded that the haircut would make her older and sexier, not cuter. But if that's what she wanted, then more power to her. By this time, the girl was finished with her bob and the barberette was busy cleaning up the ends before blow drying the hair.
Yuri just stared at the soft mountain of black locks on the floor enthralled by the texture of the shorn hair.
After a couple minutes, Rika's sister was finished. The woman whipped the cutting cape off her shoulders and dusted off any stray hairs. The result was a very "in" bob with contrasting length in the back. Feet of black hair lay on the floor as the girl stood up and fingered her new bob. She turned and walked over to the waiting area.
"Your turn, Rika!" her sister declared. The style suited her well, Yuri thought. Rika jumped up and skipped over to the styling chair, like a little girl out to buy a lollipop. Her hair fell all the way to her lower thighs, over 4 feet in length in total.
The receptionist Chisato who Yuri first met patted the chair and Rika jumped right in as the woman went outside for a break. Within seconds, her hair was sectioned roughly and the cape was thrown around her. After she snapped it closed, Chisato brushed aside the huge pile of Rika's hair with her foot so that it lay just off to the side. The stylist began sectioning Rika's hair into one large section at the crown and the rest falling free around her shoulders and down the back of the chair.
The stylist opened a drawer and pulled out something that Yuri couldn't see. When the stylist turned, Yuri's eyes widened as she saw a pair of haircutting clippers, the kind she had seen her dad use.
The stylist clipped some sort of plastic piece to the clippers and turned them on. The clippers gave off a buzzing sound as the stylist placed them at the bottom of Rika's neckline. To Yuri's horror and amazement, the clippers went up her head, sending a cascade of black hair crashing to the floor. Rika grinned as another pass took off feet of silky hair.
Yuri was mesmerized by the sight of it, the way the hair was so carelessly shorn then allowed to fall away like black snow.
"What style are you going to get?" Rika's sister voice came as if from a great distance. Yuri shook her head a little as if to clear out her thoughts.
"What…?"
"I asked what style you were going to get. I mean, are you doing a trim," Rika's sister made scissoring motions with her fingers and smiled slyly, "or are you chopping it all off?"
Yuri stared at Rika's bare nape as the clippers continued to send waves of black silk to the floor.
"Like hers…" Yuri trailed off.
"Maybe not that extreme. Or perhaps?" Her sister offered.
"But…why?" It wasn't a skeptical or incredulous question, but one of genuine interest.
"Why did Rika and I decide to chop all our hair off?" Kelly laughed, swinging her new bob with one hand.
"If you talked to Rika she probably told you. We loved our long hair, we enjoyed it so much! We braided it, put it in updos, I curled it for her on her first school dance. I mean, we did practically everything with our long hair. But then we grew bored of it. I mean, we could only do so many things with it. Besides, it grows fast. Rika's hair grows 6 inches a month!"
Yuri looked mournfully at the piles of shorn hair on the floor as Chisato shaved the last section on Rika's sides. Rika beamed, like this was the happiest day of her life.
"It was Rika's idea first," her sister continued. "She wanted a lob with waves, but the more she looked into it the more she wanted a short pixie. I stuck with a bob. You know, it was really refreshing to have over 2 feet of hair cut off all at once. It was so liberating, so freeing to watch all that hair fall to the floor. It'll be your turn soon."
The words sank in as Yuri watched the stylist pull out Rika's top section. It was so long, especially compared to the buzzed sides and back. The stylist pulled the hair back and sectioned it off with a hair tie. Without any fanfare, the stylist seized a pair of scissors and sliced off the ponytail with a few whacks. The surprisingly thick ponytail lay limp in her hand, and Rika laughed loudly. The stylist handed the ponytail to Rika and her sister said genially: "That's my sister."
The stylist Chisato proceeded to trim the hair to a few inches, layering and making the hair lay well. Yuri stared at the ponytail that rested in Rika's lap. Yuri felt a hand running through her hair, but she didn't tense up; instead, she let the hand rake her silky hair, and she closed her eyes in pleasure.
"You have such beautiful hair," yuri heard Rika sister's voice. "You would look so cute with a lob. I think it would suit you. Maybe an undercut?"
Overwhelmed by everything, Yuri thought about it. It was a great idea. She would look so cute in a lob, and an undercut would help with her thick hair.
"Hmm.. Yeah," Yuri responded, in a tone that conveyed distraction. But she was more sure about this than anything else in her life. She pictured herself in the styling chair with a cape around her, her hair cut in a chic lob with a sexy undercut.
Within minutes, the stylist had trimmed up the ends of Rika's new pixie cut and released her from the chair. A massive pile of hair on the floor was swept aside, next to Rika's but not touching. There were now two twin mountains of shorn black tresses laying on the floor. Yuri became nervous as Rika paid the Chisato as the woman earlier came in right on time. After paying Rika turned to her sister.
"I'm ready to go, sis." Rika asked happily. Kelly stood up and looked right at Yuri.
"I hope you have a good time."
"I will." Yuri responded sincerely. With that, the girls left the salon, touching each others' new short haircuts and giggling. Yuri sat on her chair, frozen. Then, the woman with red eyes came over to the waiting area and greeted.
"To the Winds of flower, to the stream of the river, Welcome to Katsumi Beauty. We are at your service, How can we help you"
"I'm... Yuri" she replied slowly. "I'd like a haircut."
"Come, let's get you seated and caped."
Yuri made the slow walk to the styling chair. Her eyes drifted over the two piles of hair off to the and she unconsciously stroked her own silky locks.
The stylist Chisato guided Yuri into the chair and threw the cape around her. She pulled the hair aside and snapped the cape in place. Yuri's super long hair flowed in front of her, into her lap, and behind her down the chair as Miss Kejoro walked behind her.
"How do you want your hair cut?" Miss Kejoro ran her long fingers through Yuri's lovely locks, relaxing her in the face of the inevitable haircut.
"I'd like a long bob," she said determinedly, "with an undercut."
Chisato grinned at the thought of cutting off so much beautiful hair but Miss Kejoro agreed.
"Consider it chopped!"
Wasting no time, Miss Kejoro pinned up Yuri's hair and section off a four inch section in the back. Yuri stared directly into the mirror, fascinated by the reflection of her long hair coiled in her lap. Miss Kejoro dusted off the clippers that Chisato had previously used on Rika. Several strands of black hair floated to the ground as she approached the back of the chair. The buzzing sound started up, and Yuri's heart fluttered as Chisato said as she wanted to take a video and shots to promote in social media to which Yuri agreed. Agreeing Miss Kejoro combed her hair as Chisato said
"Alright Yuri, say goodbye to your back section!"
With that, Miss Kejoro clippers up through the hair. Yuri closed her eyes in pleasure from the new sensation. Nervousness gave way to excitement as she felt a cold breeze on the back of her neck. She heard the soft thud of hair hitting the floor. After a while of buzzing, the barberette switched off the clippers and picked up a pair of scissors and a comb. She let down the top section of hair and combed it out quickly. Without any further separation, Miss Kejoro bundled Yuri's long, thick hair into a ponytail at the back of her neck and began to cut.
Yuri's ears pricked at the sound of scrunching as Kejoro methodically chopped into the ponytail.
Before Yuri could understand what was happening, Miss Kejoro held up the sawed off ponytail for her to see. The length was incredible, well over two feet long. The straight, thick, sleek locks swayed ever so slightly. Yuri's mouth dropped open as Chisato smiled taking pictures.
"That was on my head," Yuri managed lamely.
"It was." smiled Chisato
As if to maximize the effect, Kejoro dropped the loose ponytail into Yuri's lap. It spread as it landed on the fabric, turning into a huge mass of black hair. Yuri had never noticed the weight of the hair until it was off her neck and on her lap. From that point, the woman only needed to trim the remnants of the long bob. She pinned up sections to precisely create the shape of the lob. The time went by extremely quickly, and before Yuri knew it, Kejoro undid the neck of the cape and brushed stray hairs from Yuri's nape.
"There, all done!" Kejoro declared. She swept the cape off Yuri, sending the mass of silky hair falling to the floor. Yuri looked at herself in the mirror and instantly fell in the love with the style. Her hair, which swung sassily just above her shoulders, seemed sleeker and more full than ever. Her hand crept under the thick curtain of freshly shorn hair and touched her shaved neck. The feeling was sensational!
"Do you like it?" Chisato asked. Yuri's face broke into a big smile.
"I love it!"
"I'm so happy for you" Kejoro took a broom and swept up the remnants of hair from behind the chair and the former ponytail from the front. She collected the hair into a huge pile next to those of Rika and her sister's. Without asking, Yuri pulled out her phone and snapped a quick pic of the piles.
"How much do I owe you?"
"¥7000 total." said Chisato in the cash register
"There you go." Yuri handed the money to Chisato, who in turn gave back the change. After putting the money in her pocket, Yuri turned to look at the piles of hair one last time. Thanking both the women she walked out of the shop.
"Yuri?"
Yuri spun around to see Yuzu and her mother standing in disbelief looking at her. Yuzu stared at her sister with a look of shock.
"What…what did…" Yuzu spluttered. Yuri stroked her fresh new cut.
"Do you like it?"
"It's so…short." Yuri's mother said, perplexed.
"Yeah, I thought I wanted a trim but I changed my mind."
Yuzu stepped toward her sister and gazed at her in wonder. Yuri was unsure what to do, but after a few moments Yuzu smiled slightly.
"You look gorgeous." Yuzu finally said. Yuri felt relief that her sister liked it.
"She's right. It really suits you," their mother put in. Together, they set off to home.