Aki was blessed, her aunt would always say. Even as a child Aki had never had long hair. Its peak of length had been her early teens, when Aki had allowed it beyond her shoulders. In her early twenties she’d tried an a-line bob which had suited her but had been too much trouble to continuously trim. Since then she’d cut her own hair. Looks were not a major concern to her.

Few vanities were on offer to the citizens of modern Earth, and hair was the easiest way to announce your individuality. Aki remembered once letting a friend loose on her hair with curlers; she also remembered the results looking vaguely offensive. Aki quickly learnt that the easiest way to make her hair interesting was just to leave it as it was; no straighteners were needed, as it was lifelessly straight anyway. The constant short style seemed to have become her own personal gimmick, even if the rest of her remained fairly grey and unfashionable. However, she had clear-cut memories of some of her more image-conscious friends spending hours before what few parties there were dealing with hair and make up and the works. Straighteners always seemed a little scary to her, especially after seeing so many of her friends nip themselves with the edge of the burning iron. Aki just never had the time to get interested in that sort of thing.