Highschool of the Dead: Fanfiction Darkpenn

Chap 25: all good things part 3

Luxury

Nozomi Hirano sighed. She had not realised that preparing for the Maresato Mid-Summer Market Day - this year, it would go for ten days - would be so much work. There were going to be dozens of stalls and temporary stores, and that probably meant a thousand people would be attending, at least. Most would be bringing tents but quite a few, especially people with kids, had booked sleeping space in one of the many buildings clustered around the Maresato farm. This was the first year that the train had been operating, so there was really not much idea about how many people would turn up. Market Day had turned into a biggest annual event for the survivors scattered around Japan, the chance for people to meet, trade, entertain each other, and court.

Saya, Rei, Benaro, Alice, Huyu, Shizuka, and Shun were having to spend a good deal of their time at Tsuyama these days, so Nozomi had become the (unofficial) supervisor at Maresato, with its steadily growing population. She wondered vaguely how that had happened. Last one to take a step backwards, I guess, she thought to herself. Well, at least the latrines for the Market Day had been dug, and the storekeepers were willing to pay a small fee for their space.

She and John Kowalski, who had learned enough Japanese to communicate, were marking out the areas for the stalls, making a map as they went along. Nozomi pushed her hair out of her eyes, but in a moment it had again fallen over her face.

"Damn stuff," she muttered.

"You know," said John, "I can fix that."

"Fix what?"

"Your hair."

"Uh, what?"

"Your hair. I can cut it."

"That's alright, I'll cut it myself later."

"Yes, you could," said John. "But that would be just hacking the long pieces off. I could cut it properly, so it's even and stylish. I've done mine."

She looked at John's hair. She hadn't really noticed before, but it was, in fact, pretty nicely cut.

"And how come you know how to do that?" she said.

"In the farmhouse, I came across some hairdressing scissors and clippers. Cleaned them up, sharpened them. There was also an instructional DVD about it - with English sub-titles. Saya told me that they belonged to Grandmother Maresato, who used to cut people's hair."

Nozomi considered. "Well, okay, might as well give it a try," she said.

"Of course, it will need a good wash as well," said John.

So a few minutes later they were on the porch of the farmhouse, Nozomi sitting on a chair, with her head back, her hair in a basin of warm water. John was applying some of the herbal soap made by Sora. He massaged it into her scalp.

"Alright?" he said.

"I guess I can live with it," said Nozomi, not wanting to tell John how much she was liking it.

He dried her hair and began to cut it.

"How long is it that you have been in Japan, since coming over from America?" said Nozomi.

"About a year," said John. "I've tried quite a few different things, farming, fishing, hunting, working in the factory, a month in a refinery at Sakhalin. It's all been interesting but I don't think I've really worked out what I like yet."

Nozomi had always thought that John, while a nice enough fellow, was a bit on the unfocused side. He was moderately capable at a number of things, but not particularly good at anything, and seemed to lack the sense of purpose - driven by what Saya called 'the imperative of getting the damn thing done' - that was common amongst Japanese survivors. But he seemed, she thought, remarkably confident with a pair of hairdressing scissors in his hand.

"How many times have you done this?" she said.

"Not counting my own, and counting you, one," he said.

She gave a little laugh.

Sora came onto the porch, eating a sushi roll. She looked at the proceedings. "Going pretty well," she said.

"Want to give it a try?" said John. "You could use it."

Sora considered. "Sure, okay," she said.

John handed Nozomi a mirror. "You're done," he said.

She looked. "Wow," she said. "That's ... really good."

"Now get out of the chair and give me a turn," said Sora.

Nozomi got up and Sora took her place. He was almost finished when Mokatu walked by. "Hey, do you also do guys?" he said to John.

"Sure, Shaggy One," said John.

"How much?" said Mokatu.

"How much do you want to pay?"

"Uh, hmm, how about two Hiranotes?"

"Two? Yeah, sure, that's fine. Get in line."

It was the end of the day. John had cut the hair of about a dozen people and had made some money. Not a lot, but some.

He and Nozomi were sitting at the porch table, looking at the plan for the Market Day.

"You know, I really enjoyed that," he said. "It had never occurred to me that people would pay to have their hair cut."

"I guess," said Nozomi, "that people are ready for it. It's a bit of a luxury. Rei was telling me that people are feeling fairly secure, these days, with no sign of zombies and enough food being produced. There's enough Hiranotes around. Maybe haircuts are a sign of civilisation."

John laughed. "Maybe so," he said.

Nozomi scrutinised the plan. "Hmm," she said. "Funny, there's a little gap, right here, you see? Not really big enough for a stall. Wonder what we can do with it."

"Would it be big enough for a chair and a table?" said John.

"Why yes, I believe it would be," said Nozomi.

"I have an idea," said John.

END