All characters depicted in situations are 18 years of age or older and of the age of consent, even if it looks otherwise. Acts depicted are all consensual. No real or fictional person was harmed in the making of this work
Ochaco Uraraka stood in front of the mirror in her Heights Alliance dorm room, frowning. Her signature brown bob was on its last legs. Between intense training, sweat, dirt from rescues, and constantly wearing her hero helmet, her hair was fried, full of split ends, and had an uncontrollable frizz.
Determined not to give up, she pulled out her arsenal of combs, hair ties, and bobby pins to try and hide the disaster.
First, she tried a ponytail. It was a disaster; her hair was too short, and dozens of rebellious strands fell everywhere. Then, she tried a bun on top of her head, but it looked so tiny and sad that it resembled a withered onion. Frustrated, she sectioned her hair and made a few small braids flat against her scalp, but the damaged ends made them look rough and uneven.
"Maybe if I give it some volume..." she muttered, plugging in the curling iron.
She made her hair curled, but the heat only worsened the texture of the burnt ends, making her look like a fluffy poodle after a bath. With a defeated sigh, she went to the sink, wet her hands, and slicked all her hair back with water. The gelled-back style made her look like a mobster movie villain. It was official: her hair was beyond saving at home.
An hour later, Ochaco walked through the door of a modern hair salon in the city, ready to cut her losses.
The stylist greeted her kindly and guided her to the washing station. The wash was glorious; the warm water and scalp massage relieved weeks of accumulated stress at the academy. After towel-drying it, the hairdresser proceeded to flat iron it to assess the real damage. Seeing it straight and stretched out, the tragedy was obvious: half of her hair was completely ruined.
"We're going to have to cut quite a bit, honey," the hairdresser warned. "Go ahead," Ochaco nodded determinedly. "Do what you think is best."
The stylist took out a pair of electric clippers. Bzzzz. Ochaco felt a shiver as the cold blade touched her skin, performing a nape shave that wiped out all the weight and damaged hair from the back of her head in one fell swoop. It was a wonderfully refreshing feeling.
With scissors, the hairdresser continued sculpting the top, transforming her old bob into an edgy, asymmetrical pixie cut. She left the back very short but kept long bangs in the front that completely covered one of her eyes. To give it a rebellious touch, she bleached it and applied a temporary dye, leaving those bangs dyed a vibrant purple.
Ochaco looked at herself in the mirror. She looked great, very different from her usual sweet appearance, almost punk. But as she ran her hand over her shaved nape, she felt she wanted to go a step further.
"Can we make it more... extreme? Since we're at it," the hero requested.
The stylist smiled from ear to ear. She picked up the clippers again and attacked the top and back of the head. In a matter of minutes, Ochaco was sporting a true Chelsea cut: her entire head was completely shaved to the skin, except for the long purple bangs over her eye and her two signature rounded side-locks framing her cheeks.
The contrast between the gleaming bald scalp and the loose strands was brutal. Ochaco touched her bare head. The feeling of lightness was addictive. She sighed deeply, meeting her own gaze in the mirror.
"Take it all off. Absolute zero," she ordered with a radiant smile.
The hairdresser didn't hesitate. She eliminated the purple bangs and the round side-locks. In less than a minute, the buzzing of the clippers left Ochaco Uraraka with a perfect buzz cut. Her head was covered only by a very fine, imperceptible layer of brown fuzz. She looked fresh, aerodynamic, and ready for any combat.
Late that afternoon, Ochaco returned to the Class 1-A dorms. She opened the front door, and the building's air conditioning caressed her bare head, giving her a slight shiver.
Right at that moment, Izuku Midoriya was coming out of the kitchen with a glass of water. Seeing his classmate, he stopped dead in his tracks. The glass almost slipped from his hands.
"U-Uraraka-san!" Izuku exclaimed, his eyes wide and his cheeks quickly turning red at the sight of her drastic makeover.
Ochaco rubbed her buzzed head nervously, suddenly feeling very shy. "Ah, hi, Deku-kun. I... well, my hair was really damaged and one thing led to another at the salon. Is it... is it really weird?"
Izuku blinked, processing the image. Ochaco's round face and big brown eyes stood out so much more without the hair framing her face. It gave her a strong but incredibly sweet look at the same time. Izuku's smile softened, losing its initial nervousness.
"No... it's not weird at all," Izuku said, looking at her with a sincerity that made Ochaco's heart skip a beat. "You look... you look truly beautiful, Uraraka-san. It looks amazing on you."
Ochaco blushed furiously, returning a dazzling smile. Maybe losing all her hair had been the best idea she'd had in a long time.