Katsumi Kejoro after her days work attending all the clients as Chisato had to go for their school trip for a week. Katsumi not like before, was exhausted and had just sat down at her couch when her phone rang.
She let out a frustrated sigh, put down her tea, paused the television she had just begun and begrudgingly went to retrieve the buzzing phone. She glanced at the screen and saw one of clients who was a teacher in Shiro theatre and arts school, one of the leading theatre schools in Japan. She had worked countless times with the school consistently styling ancient Japanese hairstyles or Greek hairdos and booking her as the stylist at many events. She hadn't heard from him in a couple months however and picked up the phone, interested to see what he had to say.
"Hello?" she said as she pushed the phone to the side of her face.
"Miss Kejoro, sorry this is all a bit hectic but is there any chance you can squeeze in a client of mine tomorrow though I know you're closed on Sundays?"
"Ummm" Katsumi hesitated and replied. "Lemme check real quick".
She quickly opened her calendar and scanned her Sunday schedule. She was scheduled to take cooking lessons for her upcoming trip to Chiba to meet one of her friends in the present age.
"Hmmm I don't think I'm gonna have time unfortunately Mr. Kobayashi."
"Can you maybe stay late tomorrow or start earlier? Like this is really important and honestly you're the only stylist I really trust for this."
"Hmm, look I really Can't come and do hairstyles as it's a long process?" she bit her lip.
"No Miss, it's just a cut. Trust me I think you would really enjoy this. I am directing a short film in a film company and I have selected a graduated student from our school where she now works as an actress. So Listen, this girl has an absolute mane, like seriously the most hair you've ever seen. We've been toying with the idea of chopping it for a while just to like switch up her look, I spoke with the people from that and they loved the idea and literally just an hour ago I convinced her to go for it."
Katsumi couldn't deny that this was quite a tempting offer.
"What's her name?"
"Sayomi Kanbayashi"
"And what sorta cut are you thinking then?" she asked.
"One sec I'll send a pic"
Her phone buzzed and she opened the attached picture. It showed a girl with short curls, no more than an inch or so at the longest which was the crown, and a closely cropped back and side.
"So really short. And she has curls?"
"Oh yeah" He replied. "She has beautiful hair. It's gonna be a lot of hair to cut off."
Katsumi Kejoro had heard enough.
"I can't skip my schedule, so it's better if you send her at 1:30 on Monday"
" Umm... that works fine, I'll send Mizuki day after" said Mr Kobayashi thanking her and cut the phone.
Monday came and Katsumi Kejoro arrived at her shop 15 minutes before her first appointment at 9:30. The place was already hustling and bustling.
Her first client was 37 year old . A rich socialite who was having her shoulder length hair trimmed and layers added.
Next was 51 year old , a successful real estate tycoon, who had her short graying pixie cropped another 2 inches shorter.
Then was 34 year old woman, a finance worker from a nearby bank. As Katsumi was trimming away the last of her black hairs she remembered that she was her last client before Sayomi. Checking her clock, she realised she was actually slightly ahead of schedule. Thankful to have spare time in her busy day she had her early lunch and sunk into one of the chairs. At 1:20 she turned her chair to face down into the reception keen to see when Sayomi arrived.
She couldn't deny that she was excited. Ever since she started as a hair stylist she had always found giving short haircuts to be the most exciting, especially when her clients had long hair to begin with.
5 minutes later she saw the door be pushed open by a young light skin girl. It had to be Sayomi, Katsumi realised. She couldn't yet see her hair as it was pulled back behind her. She sat up in her seat to get a better view. She watched as she walked to the front.
Katsumi Kejoro turned and walked straight to her and greeted
"To the Winds of flower, to the stream of the river, Welcome to Katsumi Beauty. We are at your service,"
"Hello, it's nice to meet you" said the girl as she bowed
Sayomi turned to remove her jacket and it was at that moment Katsumi Kejoro got a glimpse of her hair. Pulled back into a ponytail her hair was a mass of beautiful curls. Dark brown in colour, it was a mix of curls and waves. And it was long, even pulled into a ponytail the longest parts reached to the small of her back. She pictured the image she had been sent, trying to picture all that hair being cropped away.
She snapped out of her daydream as she saw showed her to the chair. Katsumi Kejoro brusied herself as Sayomi walked. Katsumi turned to face her and gave a warm smile. She was young, no older than 20 or 21, and wore white strap dress till her knees. She was a good 3 or 4 inches taller than Kejoro. Proper model height Katsumi thought to herself.
She gestured for her to sit. "Please take a seat, is there something you would like to drink?"
As Sayomi lowered herself into the chair, Katsumi had an up close look at the mane streaming down her back.
"Um just some water would be great thank you" she replied.
"Of course" Juliet quickly motioned to get some water who then hurried away.
"So where did you come from today ?" Katsumi asked as she cocked her head slightly and placed her hands on the back of the chair.
"Okinawa, so not too far of a trip"
"Ah lovely, I do love Okinawa, I had been there once actually."
"Yeah a real nice area" she nodded in reply.
"And so I've heard you have a movie shoot tomorrow is that right?"
"Yes, yes that's correct. Bright and early I have to be there half 5 in the morning."
"Gosh I could never." Katsumi said shaking her head. Her vision dropped to the mass of curls draped down her back. "But first we got to deal with this hair right?"
The actress took a deep breath.
"Yes we do," she said.
"So your director was telling me we're cutting it all off is that right?" she couldn't help but break eye contact to take in the hair again. Another deep breath from Sayomi.
"Yep. It's uh… it's all coming off."
Katsumi silently handed her a glass of water.
"Very exciting,"Katsumi said with a smile. "Can I ask what made you decide to go for it?"
"Umm, well honestly this has like always been my look you know. Ever since I was little. So yeah manager had sorta suggested it a while ago but I wasn't really ready then, but I know he spoke to the guys from the shoot tomorrow and they loved it and I was just sorta like 'Okay let's do it'"
"Well I think it's a great idea too, it'll definitely bring out your face I'm sure of that."
"Thank you" she said with a slight smile.
"Do you mind if I take this ponytail out?" katsumi asked.
"No of course not"
Katsumi Kejoro reached over and pulled the hair through the elastic. She pulled it back so it streamed down the back of the chair in its full glory. She still couldn't quite wrap her head around how much hair this girl had. She guessed if she was standing it would reach her waist.
"This is what your director sent me" she handed her the phone. "Just wanna make sure this is also what you're expecting too?"
Sayano only glanced at the phone for a second, perhaps not wanting to dwell on just how short it was. She nodded. "Yep, yep"
"Okay so let me run through what's gonna happen then because we don't have a massive amount of time unfortunately."
"Ok sure" she said intently.
"Because there is just so much weight to remove to begin with I'm gonna use my clippers and we can get rid of most of the hair. Then I'll take it down to the shape just with the scissors. And then according to the photo like the bottom inch or 2 at the back and sides I'll use my clipper on. A number 3, so that's ⅜ of an inch." Katsumi barely held her fingers apart to demonstrate while Sayomi silently nodded.
"Must be quite scary?" She said feeling a tad bad for the girl. Who knew how long it would take for her hair to reach this length again.
"Yeah, I just don't wanna look weird or something." she shifted in her seat as she said that.
"Oh no dear that is the last thing you need to worry about." She said sincerely. "This is gonna be really sexy I can tell".
With an eye on the time Katsumi opened the cupboard next to the mirror and pulled out a few hair clips.
"Let's get started then shall we?" she announced, not waiting for a reply as she gathered up her hair. She twisted it atop her head, clipping it in place. Katsumi then pulled out a white cape. She moved behind Sayano, draping it across her body and securing it at the neck. She released her hair and it swooshed against the nylon of the cape. She then pulled a comb from the drawer. Using the comb she began to section away the top of her hair.
"Since there's so much hair this is just gonna make it easier" she explained as she worked.
Once the section was completed, she clipped the hair up, letting the rest of it hang down her shoulders and back.
"Did you tell your friends that you're doing this?" she asked as she fastened the clips properly.
"Uhh yeah most of them, I only decided last night so didn't have time to tell everyone"
"And are they excited?" Katsumi asked as she looked at her through the mirror.
"Yeah, I think so, most of them can't believe I'm actually cutting it all off. Like it's something I've talked about for a while, I guess they never thought I'd go through with it."
"Ah I see, I see"
"I've actually only had my hair cut like 3 times in my life."
"Wow" she looked at the almost 2 feet of curls, noting how long it must've taken for them to grow so long. "Well you might not need one for a while after this" she added slightly cruelly. Sayano had a slightly grim look on her face.
Katsumi again opened a drawer. Sitting there was a pair of clippers. She had just ordered and loved how sleek and modern they looked. She didn't have the opportunity to use it often, except for men, so was looking forward to the upcoming cropping.
She picked them up and turned to face Sayano. She gave a nervous smile, fully aware these would be used on her in just a moment.
"Alright, so I'm not going to put this against your skin, just going to use them to remove the majority of your hair." Katsumi moved her spare hand to the right side of her head, pulling back some of the hair, demonstrating what she would do. Sayano nodded slowly, nervously licking her lips.
"Alright alright" she replied.
"Shall we get started then?" Katsumi asked carefully.
"Yep let's do it" she said bravely after taking a deep shaky breath.
Katsumi flicked the clippers on, the low humming noise ringing out. She placed her left hand on top of Sayano's head, tilting it ever so slightly to the left. She then grabbed a small section just by the temple area.
"Here we go," she announced. Sayano had her eyes squeezed shut.
She pulled the section out from the head and pushed the clippers into the hair just under where her hand was, only a few inches from the scalp. The clippers drone changed as it bit into the thick curls. After just a couple seconds Katsumi was suddenly holding the hair, it no longer attached to Sayano's head. She let it drop and the soft curls fell in almost slow motion to the ground.
"Oh my god" Sayano said softly, turning her head to see what had just occurred. The hair was only just long enough to partially cover the ears, when 10 seconds previous it had tumbled to belly button length.
Katsumi took the next section of hair from directly behind her ear. Sayano slightly flinched as clippers were pressed into the hair just by her ear. Katsumi let the hair slide down the cape, coiling onto the floor next to the other strands.
"Chin down please " Katsumi said as she placed a hand on her head and gently pushed it forwards.
She then took another handful of hair, this time at her nape. The clippers bit into the thick mass of hair and after just a few seconds another clump of hair slowly fell to the floor. Already there was an abundance of hair scattered around the chair.
Katsumi took another section from the nape, quickly sending it to the floor as well. Now she was at her left side, and gathered all the remaining hair with her hand. This handful was the biggest so far but the clippers still had no problem chewing through the curls. Katsumi couldn't deny she was enjoying this opportunity and this time she held up the fistful of curls for Sayano to see before letting them slip from her grip, slowly cascading to the ground. It was a strange sight, there was still a massive amount of hair clipped to the top of her head, with the hair on her sides and back a choppy pixie length.
"Now that was a ton of hair" Katsumi announced as she gestured towards the ground. Sayano tentatively looked at the ground. She bit her lip as she saw her curls lying limp across the floor. Katsumi flicked the clippers off and placed them back in the drawer. Sayano freed her hand from under the cape and touched the sides of her head.
"Never thought I'd be able to feel my head like that" she said smiling nervously
"Without so much hair in the way?"
"Yeah exactly, exactly."
Katsumi was now holding a spray bottle and she began dousing her sides and back.
"Did you tell your parents you were cutting all your hair off?" she inquired as she continued with the spray bottle.
"Yeah I uh… called my mum last night" she nodded. "She was pretty shocked that I was actually going to go through it. I mean I've always been that long haired girl you know, and with sorta hair it takes a while to grow out like this."
"Right, right" Katsumi said as she then pulled out a pair of silver scissors. "So now I'm going to just properly put some shape into this alright" she announced.
"Yep, sure" Sayano replied.
Katsumi took a section of her hair between her fingers around her temple area. Her hand was set squarely against her skin. 3 inches of wet curls fell to Sayano's caped shoulder.
"Well I gotta say I think this is all very brave of you dear" Katsumi said wholeheartedly as she snipped away another section from between her fingers.
"Thank you" Sayano replied. The conversation died down for a bit as Katsumi made her way around Sayano's head, cutting the hair so they were only an inch or two in length. When she reached the left ear the whole section was now a uniform length, the hair just long enough to form a single curl. Katsumi picked up the clippers again this time attaching the #3 guard.
"Alright gonna use this again, just to take down the sides, making them look sharp."
Sayano nodded as the clippers were flicked on again. Katsumi placed her left hand atop her head before placing the clippers at her hairline. A soft clump of hair slid down the cape, reducing the length to a mere stubble. She gently folded Sayano's ear removing the tiny curls as she went. When she reached the nape she ran the clippers slightly higher, about 3 inches from the hairline. When she reached Sayano's left side, she replaced the guard for a #2 guard and used that to make the edges even sharper.
Katsumi returned the clippers back to the drawer and replaced them with a straight razor. Gently tipping Sayano's head forward she then ran the razor against the edge of her hairline on her nape, removing any small hairs that remained.
"Feel that" Katsumi instructed as she rubbed her shaven nape. Sayano pulled her hand out from under the cape.
"Woahhh" she said as she ran her fingers over the prickly hair.
"Nice right?" Katsumi said warmly. Sayano turned her head side to side, surveying herself in the mirror as she felt her hair.
"Yeah" she replied.
Katsumi then reached for the hair clipped atop her head. Pulling away the clip, the remaining hair cascaded down, covering the cropped under section.
"There's still so much hair isn't there" Katsumi said playfully as she ruffled the remaining curls.
"Yeah, you almost can't see the short bit underneath" Sayano nodded in agreement.
"Well not for long love" Katsumi said cheekily as she took her scissors and spray bottle from the drawer.
She began dousing the remaining hair and combing it down. After all the top section now hung around her body Katsumi moved in with the scissors. She took a first section at Sayano's right temple and pulled it out from her head. Katsumi could see Sayano's eyes follow the scissors as she brought them towards the strands. With a quick two snips the scissors slid through the section. Katsumi casually tossed the hair onto the cape, and it glided down into Sayano's lap. It was at least a foot and a half of damp hair.
Without much of a pause Katsumi took another section to the left of the previous one. Her scissors easily sliced through the hair. Katsumi playfully jangled the section around before dropping it in her lap. Sayano watched silently, her face starting to show signs of distress.
"What do you think your mum's reactions gonna be" Katsumi asked as she took another section this time at the back of her head.
"She might cry" Sayano said with a slight smile.
Katsumi snipped away another section, this time letting it slide down to the floor, joining the curls from earlier.
"You'll look like a whole new person without all this hair" Katsumi remarked. "Really nothing to hide behind anymore you know". She knew she was definitely only increasing Sayano's nerves but she just couldn't .
"Yeah" Sayano said rather meekly.
Katsumi snipped away another section at the back before moving to Sayano's left side. She pulled up half of the remaining hair and cut through it mercilessly, tossing it to the floor was a gentle slapping noise.
"The last of your long hair" Katsumi said as she gathered the remaining hair. The scissors made light work of the hair and Katsumi held it up for Sayano to see.
"There we go love" she said as she gently placed the hair onto Sayano's lap. Sayano surveyed her remaining hair while slowly nodding, taking in what was left of her former mane of curls. Her eyes looked as if they were beginning to water.
"Let's finish this up shall we?" Katsumi said squeezing her shoulders.
The top section was still about 4 or 5 inches long and Katsumi began bringing the length down. She took the first section between her fingers, snipping away all but an inch of the curls. The section tumbled down the cape, hitting the floor. Katsumi moved swiftly, cropping away the remaining hair. Clumps rained down the cape, some all the way to the floor, others getting stuck in the cape or rolling into her lap. She expertly blended in the top section with the bottom section, using her scissors to make the transition seamless. As she perfected the cut, tiny clippings of hair covered the cape. Katsumi finally took a step back, surveyed her work before putting back her scissors for good. It was unbelievable how much of a transformation had just occurred. From a mass of curls streaming down her back to the shortest of crops. Her hair was now tight to her head, the edges shaved down, tapering into more length on the sides and top.
Katsumi unclipped the cape and pulled it off Sayano. Hair from the cape flopped to the ground.
"All done" Katsumi announced proudly. Sayano looked slightly dismayed as she surveyed herself in the mirror. Her hands went over her head and Katsumi could see the shock on her face as she felt how little hair she had left.
"I look like a whole different person" Sayano said. Katsumi had to agree, you would hardly recognise her from only just 30 minutes previously.
"Well I think your hair was definitely the thing people noticed first you know," Katsumi said as she worked her hands through the curls atop her head. "Now this beautiful face of yours has its time to shine"
Sayano nodded with a small smile at the compliment.
"Gonna take some getting used to," she said shakily.
"It will, that's true," Katsumi said nodding in agreement. "I think it's really stunning on you I must say"
"Thanks" she replied.
Katsumi walked to a corner and returned with a broom. She used this to sweep up masses of curls laying on the floor.
"Now look at this" Katsumi said as she pushed all the hair into a mountain. Sayano's mouth dropped open.
"To think this was all on your head just a little while ago" Katsumi said as she lifted up a handful of the soft curls.
"Yeah wow" Sayano said softly. Katsumi swept the hair away into the corner. Sayano rose from the chair, still with a look of shock as she took in her new look.
Sayano thanked Katsumi and Katsumi accompanied her way out of the salon. Katsumi wished her luck with the shoot and the two said their goodbyes.