Summary
Rumika and her friends are out shopping when a stranger approaches to ask if she would be their hair model. If she signs up she will receive free hair treatments in compensation. Chie asks her decision while her male friends tease the stranger for approaching someone like Rumika in the first place. She sighs and expresses its tiring that this happens so frequently, and just as she considers accepting, it suddenly dons on her and the boys that the person was actually speaking to Chie. The man explains that her hair is lovely, but it might look even better cut short. After recovering from her shock Chie agrees and they start walking away, until the man realizes Rumika is there and invites her to join them.
Inside the salon, Rumika remains bitter as some girls nearby remark on her foul mood. She assures herself it doesn't matter because she was growing her hair out, thus this would set her back. Nearby she spots some pretty hair extensions. She runs her hand through the long, blonde locks and asks a nearby worker the price. He appears startled and wonders how the cabinet got opened because he thought he shut it. He gets called to help someone and takes off. Rumika's male friends approach and compliment the color and she mentions that she was considering buying them. But after realizing she is low on funds she waits until nobody else is around to stuff the extensions into her bag. The shop owner angered her anyway, so this makes them even.
- - - - -
The following morning, Rumika enters the kitchen with her beautiful, flowing hair. Her mother is surprised she bought extensions because she hasn't expressed interest in them before. She goes on to ask if she's seen her favorite necklace anywhere, and Rumika claims she hasn't. Then she tells her mom that she isn't fashionable and it didn't suit her. Her mother is clearly hurt by this but Rumika doesn't notice as she leaves for school.
Rumika gets a lot of attention as she arrives; it's not uncommon but it seems like now she's getting even more. She doesn't regret resorting to theft now, and nobody's even noticed Chie's new hairstyle. Chie appears startled and grabs Rumika, leading her elsewhere so that they can talk in private. She deduces what her friend did, explaining how upset the hair worker was when they realized they were missing after she left. But, what Rumika wasn't told was that the extensions were donated from a seventeen year old model who was supposed to film a shampoo commercial and died prior to it. She had many admirers and was popular for her pretty hair. Since the extensions came to the salon weird things started to happen, and there was going to be an investigation.
Worried for her friend, Chie suggests Rumika return them to the salon. But this leads Rumika to accuse her of jealousy, saying she didn't want competition now that she changed her hair. Her arrogance leads her to remark that Chie has always been stuck in her shadow, so its no surprise. She leaves Chie behind and rejoins their male friends, claiming she doesn't feel well. They take her to the infirmary to rest while wondering what happened. She lays down for a nap and awakens to find Chie holding scissors, cutting off a segment of her hair. Rumika freaks out and grabs the scissors as Chie tries to explain how worried she was about something bad happening to her- leading the nurse to walk in as Rumika yells at Chie and think she was trying to attack her.
Rumika angrily storms off refusing to forgive Chie for this, convinced that she was pretending because she wants the extensions for herself. She stops seeing a cute scrunchie in part of her hair and deduces that Chie probably put it there, then she rips it out. Her rough yanking causes the necklace her mom was looking for to fall to the ground. She leans down to pick it up, causing several more items to fall from her hair: scrunchies, jewelry and various cosmetics. Rumika is confused as she recalls what Chie said earlier about the extensions and she starts to panic, realizing she wasn't lying after all. She's even more disturbed realizing they came from a deceased girl. She frantically attempts to cut them when an unfamiliar voice startles her. The hair extensions begin to grow and tangle themselves around Rumika to force her still.
- - - -
That evening, their male friends are preparing to head home wondering what happened to Rumika. She went missing earlier and never responded to any of their texts. Suddenly, they hear slithering and turn to find the large, wriggling mass of hair completely covering Rumika. They are unable to see her within it and run off in fright as she weakly tries to reach out to them.
Tropes:
- Asshole Victim: Rumika, who not only turned Green-Eyed Monster over Chie getting some attention, but insulted her mom with no care.
- Break the Haughty
- Disproportionate Retribution: Rumika stole because of someone choosing her friend over her. In her own words, it made them even because of that.
- Irony: The spirit of the deceased girl tells Rumika that she attracts many things... after she finds several items stashed in her hair.
