Even though Maiko had said that she was going to talk with Mashiro and Ritsu, she really couldn't bring herself to talk, especially after she saw her father directly cut Shishio's long hair without hesitation, without mercy, and even without remorse on his face. When she saw this scene, she felt like she was watching her friend being killed in front of her directly, which caused her couldn't handle it anymore and cried out, "Dad, what are you doing?!"
Even Shiina and Ritsu also couldn't bear it and wanted to stop Maiko's father, after all, Shishio's long hair made him very handsome, but Maiko's father cut it directly without hesitation, after all, even though they had prepared in their mind that Shishio might cut his hair short, they felt remorse and pain. It was like a part of their flesh was being sliced when they saw this scene. Luckily, Maiko told their grief, or else, they would be the ones who would stop Maiko's father.
"What are you doing? Don't bother me," Maiko's father directly scolded Maiko.
"But... But..." Maiko wanted to say something, but she was scared of her father.
"Don't you believe in your father?" Maiko's father sighed and said, "And it is his request to cut his hair short."
Shishio nodded and said, "Yeah, Maiko, it is my request. You don't need to worry too much, you're afraid that I'll become ugly or something? You should trust your father more, or else your shop might go bankrupt."
"Are you cursing me, boy? Do you want me to cut your head into buzz cuts like those high school baseball players?" Maiko's father was speechless when Shishio said that his shop might go bankrupt.
"Well, even if your shop might go under business, you don't need to worry, I can take care of your daughter," Shishio said simply.
"...." Maiko's father and Maiko.
Maiko blushed and looked away, but Maiko's father had become an Oni (Japanese Ogre) at that moment.
"I was joking, can you continue to cut my hair? It feels weird to see my face with this half-asset hair," Shishio said.
"You don't need to worry. Even if you might try to steal my daughter, I still have my pride as a barber, so I'll give you the best haircut in your entire life," Maiko's father said solemnly.
"That's great," Shishio said.
"Oh, dear..." Maiko's mother thought that her husband was very handsome at that moment.
"...." Maiko, Shiiina, and Ritsu.
Without anyone bothering them anymore, Maiko's father showed his skill as a barber for a decade. His hands were moving full of elegance and precision, cutting Shishio's hair like art.
When Shiina saw this, her eyes shone, after all, she felt that her world was widened and it made her experience a lot of wonderful things in this world, which was why she loved to be with Shishio.
Everyone in the shop was in silence, watching Maiko's father cut Shishio's hair, even some customers who wanted to cut their hair also stopped to watch them, after all, the combination of a dandy man and handsome young man was very destructive for the women who came to this shop.
Shishio and Maiko's father could feel like they were on the show or something, but they didn't care much, after all, while Maiko's father cut his hair, Shishio also gave an instruction to him, so Maiko's father would give him the haircut that he wanted.
The process was quite long, and it took more than half an hour to cut Shishio's hair, but everyone somehow felt amazed when they saw Shishio who had just had his haircut.
Maiko, Shiina, and Ritsu couldn't look away, they felt that they were stupid before when they thought that it was very wasteful to cut his long hair, but when they saw the end of the result, they had to admit that Shishio was very handsome.
"Maiko, you want to wash his hair, right?" Maiko's father called out his daughter, then told his staff to clean up the hair on the floor, but he didn't realize that the female staff seemed to look at Shishio's hair that was dropped on the ground with excitement.
"Oh! Oh! I'll wash his hair!" Maiko quickly nodded, walked, and directly cleaned up the hair around Shishio's shoulders. She then took off the hairdressing cape again, then cleaned the hair around again. "Let's go, Shishio. I'll help you clean up your hair." She smiled and patted Shishio's shoulder several times from the back.
Shishio nodded and followed Maiko toward the washing barber chair.
"Sit here." Maiko patted and Shishio nodded.
Shishio sat, tried to find a comfortable position, and asked, "Have you been helping your parents, Maiko?"
"Um." Maiko nodded and said, "Yeah, I have been helping them here since my childhood." She smiled and asked, "Do you want to be washed with cold water or warm water?"
"Warm please, I'll die if you wash me with cold water." Shishio shuddered and felt cold just by imagining that his hair was washed by cold water.
"Hehehe." Maiko chuckled and said, "Still, this hairstyle really makes you very handsome."
"Thank you, but it is your father who is amazing," Shishio said since he really thought so and thought that Maiko's father's haircut skill was simply an art.
"Of course." Maiko was proud of her parents and she was happy when Shishio praised them.
While talking, Maiko started to wash his hair gently while massaging them. "I might not be allowed to cut hair in this shop, but my skill at washing people's hair is really good, what do you think?"
"It feels great, your hands are amazing," Shishio said while closing his eyes.
"You know it sounds lewd when you say that," Maiko said with a laugh.
"....." Shishio.
"Say, Shishio."
"Hmm?"
"What's your relationship with Senpai and Mashiro-chan?" Maiko suddenly asked.
"We're just someone who lives in the same tenants, and if you're asking me why we seem to be so close, then I can only say that I'm very good at making friends," Shishio said simply.
"You're not good at making friends, you're good at making girls fell for you," Maiko said with a snort.
"......." Shishio.
"Say, Shishio."
"What is it? You're not going to ask some dumb question again, right?" Shishio had learned his lesson somehow.
"What do you do dumb?! I'm asking this question because I have thought of you as my friend," Maiko said.
"...." Shishio opened his eyes and looked at Maiko, who looked at him with a smile. He showed a helpless expression and asked, "What is it?
"Why did you decide to cut your hair? Is it because you're going out with Nana tomorrow?" Maiko asked.
"Why do you think so?" Shishio asked.
Maiko wanted to say something, but she closed her mouth again since if she really said it, then she would clearly tell him that Nana was in love with him. She wasn't blind and she could tell that even though Shishio and Nana were very close, it didn't mean that he was in love with her friend, and even though he treated Nana gently, he also treated the girls around him gently too, including her. She knew that if this continued, her heart might be shaken and she might do something sorry to her best friend, so the only thing that she could say was, "Nothing, but I hope that you don't hurt, Nana, alright? If so, then I'll make your head bald!"
"....." Shishio didn't answer Maiko, but he looked at her eyes, and somehow he was wondering whether someone could fall for someone so easily.
"What? How come you're not going to say anything?" Maiko asked with some displeasure.
"Since you have thought of me as your friend, I can't give you a thoughtless answer. I'm a man, if I fell in love with someone, then I'll confess to that girl so she'll be mine, but for now, I'm not ready for such a relationship, so if someone happens to confess to me then I can only say sorry and reject her," Shishio said calmly in a quiet voice that only he and Maiko could hear.
"....." Maiko looked at Shishio's face and asked, "So when are you ready? Are you not afraid that this girl will be stolen by someone?" She wasn't explicit on who this girl was, but she was sure that he knew who this girl was.
"If I really fell for this person by the time that I'm ready, even if she has someone beside her, believe me, I'll steal her, make her fall for me, and make her mine both body and heart," Shishio said.
Maiko felt her heart was beating fast, and felt like all the little boys that she had seen somehow couldn't excite her anymore when she saw Shishio say such overbearing words. "You-You're too domineering! You'll be hated if you're like this."
"I'm alright be hated, after all, being hated is several times better than being forgotten." Shishio looked at Maiko and asked, "Maiko, do you hate me because I'm so domineering?"
"Wh - Why are you asking me such a question?!" Maiko asked in a blush.
"So you hate me?" Shishio asked.
"...No, I don't hate you." Maiko was quite panicked, then she quickly cleaned up his hair, but because of that, her head was knocked down by her mother. "Ouch! It hurts!
"Why are you washing the customer's head so careless?!" Maiko's mother was furious.
"But... But..."
"Ha? Did I hear that you want your allowance to be cut down?" Maiko's mother asked with a threatening tone.
"Sorry..." Maiko then stared at Shishio resentfully since everything was his fault!
"........" Shishio.
Shishio then sat on the chair again, and this time, it was Maiko's father who took care of him.
Maiko's father dried Shishio's hair and looked at this hairstyle for a while. "I have to admit that there are a lot of ways that I can do with this hairstyle, what's the name of this hairstyle?"
"Well, let's just name it "Two-Block"," Shishio said.
"Two-blocks, huh? Very suitable name." Maiko's father nodded, after all, the lower part and the top part of Shishio's hair were different, one was short, and the other one was quite long, which was why it was suitable to be called "Two Block Haircut"." "How do you want to style it?"
"Just let it be," Shishio said and looked at his hangs that reaching the top of his head.
"Well, like you said this hairstyle isn't troublesome," Maiko's father said.
"By the way, do you sell pomade?" Shishio asked.
"We have a water-based and an oil-based pomade, which one do you want?" Maiko's father asked.
"Just the oil-based," Shishio said.
"Oh, it'll be hard to wash, though," Maiko's father said.
"I don't like a lot of chemicals on my head, on the other hand, oil-based is much more natural," Shishio said simply.
"It seems that you know a lot about this industry, do you want to enter one in the future? What do think of my daughter? If you marry her, then this shop will be yours too," Maiko's father asked.
"..." Shishio.
"Anyway, even though just going to let it be is alright, can you show me what you can do with this hairstyle?" Maiko's father asked.
"It's alright, but can you lend me some stuff?" Shishio asked.
"Sure." Maiko's father nodded.
Shishio then took the necessary tools and started to style his hair again. Unlike before where he just let his hair down, showing his bangs, this time, he swept his hair to the side and created a comma-like sign style on his bangs.
"Interesting." Maiko's father nodded and asked, "This hairstyle, how do you name it?"
"It's called "Comma Hair"," Shishio said.
"Hmm, I see, the round part on your bangs are like a comma symbol." Maiko's father nodded and asked, "Say if I use your hairstyle to cut someone else's hair, is that alright?"
"Sure, it isn't like you need my permission, though," Shishio said since there was no patent on a hairstyle.
"Say, Oga-kun, have you ever thought to date my daughter first?" Maiko's father asked since rather than waiting for a random man to steal his daughter, wasn't it better to choose this one who was clearly talented and had the ability to inherit his mantle?
"....." Shishio.
Shishio then paid the service, and also bought a pomade, even though Maiko's father told him not to, after all, Maiko's father learned a lot of things from Shishio, but he felt weird if he didn't pay, especially when Maiko was looking at him weirdly, wondering how his relationship and her father could become so close to each other?
After paying, Shishio walked to Shiina and Ritsu, then looked at them with a gentle smile and said, "Sorry to make you wait, let's go back." He didn't wear his blazer, only a white shirt, and a tie, making his appearance very proper with his new hairstyle.
"...." Ritsu and Shiina could only stare at Shishio in a daze for a while before they quickly nodded.
"You're very handsome, Shishio," Shiina said.
Ritsu couldn't say the same thing as Shiina, but she had to admit that Shishio was very handsome at that moment.
"Thank you, Mashiro." Shishio patted Shiina's head and asked, "Since you have been waiting for me, is there something that you want to eat tonight?"
"Baumkuchen," Shiina said.
"As I said before, that's not dinner." Shishio was speechless. "What about you, Senpai?"
Ritsu thought for a while and asked, "Hmm, how about curry?"
"Curry? Good." Shishio nodded.
"It's not fair," Shiina said while staring at Shishio.
Shishio sighed and said, "If you can ask me for some normal food next time, I'll make it for you, but well, we can buy some Baumkuchen on our way home later."
"Thank you, Shishio." Even though Shiina's face didn't change much, her tone seemed very happy.
"..." Shishio looked at Shiina and he was afraid that he might always spoil her in the future.
Then the three of them said goodbye to Maiko and her parents before they left together.
Maiko said goodbye to the three of them, but when she returned to the store, suddenly her father said something amazing.
"If you want to date him, I don't really mind, Maiko," Maiko's father said directly. "Such a man with a talent in hairstyling, if you don't grab him, you'll regret it in the future."
"...." Maiko wasn't sure what to say for a moment, and could only stare at her father in a daze as a blush gradually covered her face. "Dad!!!"
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