First fanfic ever written here. Sorry for the sucky ending. It was getting late and I wanted to end it fast.
"What's this?"
"Don't you know? It's a hair coupon."
I look down at the card that Lily gives me. It's light brown and shiny and there's nothing special about it except for the huge scissors-and-comb design in pink, on the surface of the card. And that wasn't particularly special either, to be honest.
Still, it was my first time seeing a hair coupon. I heard about it before, even Lily herself had used one some time ago.
Hair coupons were rare (at least, in my opinion) because the only place where they can be found is the Cash Shop. And Cash was something that was worth a lot, lot more than mesos. To some, the gap was narrower, but for me, spending Cash here was a definite no.
Not that we Maplers had Cash to begin with.
…
That doesn't make sense. How do people buy from the Cash Shop if none of the Maplers held Cash? Actually, where is the Cash Shop?
Maple World never did make sense. And I was already too accustomed to the weird stuff (ahem, dimension-hopping) to bother much about the small detail. Any further thoughts of the Cash Shop drifted to the back of my mind as I turned my attention back to the hair coupon in my hands.
Lily is saying something. "…You've had that same old hairstyle for ages. How much longer are you going to keep them in two pigtails? Here, use this coupon and get a change of hairstyle."
Lily's hair was slightly wavy, reaching down to her ankle, and with blunt bangs. It was a light red, and looked almost pink. The most prominent feature of her hair, however, was the cat-ear shapes that stuck out of the sides of her head. "Kitty hair", Lily had called it, and I had to admit, it looked gorgeous.
I don't intend on getting such a hairstyle, however. I don't think cat ears would suit me. I suppose it would be great, though, to get something just as pretty.
"So, if I use this coupon, I would get a hairstyle like yours?" I ask Lily, hope rising in my chest. Maybe I would finally be rid of the twin pigtails on my head that stayed on, no matter how hard I pulled at the (non-existent) hair ties.
Lily glances away, and to the floor. She hesitates before speaking.
"Not… quite. For my hairstyle, I used something called a 'Royal Hair Coupon'. The one in your hands, however, is a 'Regular' one."
So it's would be worse than her hair, then.
Lily notes my downcast look, and hastily adds on. "B-But! I'm certain it would be better than your current hairstyle!"
I agreed wholeheartedly. Who knows? It might be better than what I expected.
…
"Say, Lily, did you really buy this for me? With your Cash?"
"N-no… An old lady called Cassandra shoved a box into my face. Said something about 'Hot Day', I think. This coupon was in the box, but I wasn't interested in a change of hairstyle. I figured you might want it."
"…Thanks anyway."
I stare at the hair salon in front of me. I've never stepped into one before, because I never needed to. I'd never even noticed it before, passing by it multiple times without realizing.
Alright, here we go.
I step in.
"Hello! Welcome to Orbis Hair Salon!" I see a man standing on the platform. His hair is frazzled and sticks out in all directions. Dread starts to fill me.
Hairstyles vary from place to place. Orbis has some of the nicest hairstyles, though, so I recommend you head there. You can't go wrong with that.
Lily's voice enters my head. Right. Orbis, great hairstyles. I'm going to be fine.
"I have a reg-"
"A regular? Then you are looking for me!" I turn around to see a girl, hands clasped together, smiling at me. Her hair is tied in twin ponytails, curling downwards and held up by two red ribbons. She gave me slightly more confidence, I must say. "I may not be as good as the owner, but… how about letting me take care of your hair?" she says, and I nod. I hand over the coupon, and then I stand, unsure of what to do next.
"Your hairstyle will randomly change if you use a regular coupon. Do you want to use Hair Style Coupon (REG) and change your hair?"
I blink, pondering over her strange choice of wording for a split second. Then, I nod. "Yes." And I try to say it with as much determination as I could muster.
Goodbye, pigtails.
It happened in a split second.
Before I even realised it, the hair stylist was done.
"Hey, here's the mirror. What do you think of your new haircu…"
I stared.
And I stared.
It was…
It was…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It was horrible.
My hair was pulled back into a small bun at the back of my head, with a center parting. Short pieces of hair hung in front of my ears, a failed attempt at framing my face. It reminded me of an old lady. It wasn't nicer than my previous hairstyle at all. It was… different, I suppose.
Well, it could have been worse.
"…I know it wasn't the smoothest of all, but didn't it come out pretty nice? I call it The Honeybun. If you ever feel like changing it up again later, please drop by."
I walk out of the salon in a daze.
"Oh my gosh! What happened to your hair—oh."
Lily gives me a pitying look.
"I… I think it's better than your pigtails, at least." She says, and I can hear the disbelief in her voice. She makes no attempt to hide it. Guilt flashes across her face, and she opens her mouth.
I interrupt her before she can speak. "Don't try to apologize. I took the risk on my own. I was the one who decided to get a change of hairstyle." Lily falls into silence after that.
I start to get lost in thought. More specifically, I start to ponder over the hair stylist's words, right before I left. An idea starts to form in my head.
"Hey, Lily, how exactly do you buy hair coupons?"
I told you about the awful ending. Sorry, I just wanted to end it quickly and sleep.
On another note, I got the inspiration for this while changing hairstyles for my own Maplestory character. I got a really awful hair and was so pissed off that I went and wrote a whole story about it, and believe me, my hairstyle was waaay worst that the Honeybun.
(If you're curious, google the Stella hairstyle)