"It is not liking so much as understanding the advantages of it," Kotori replied as she drafted a text message to Nyton.
Kotori said:
Claymere-Taii, ship control from the Monitor Room has been established. Once Saito-Heisho is on station, we will be all set. What about you?
With it sent, Kotori turned a look to Yukari's visored face. "We nekovalkyrja are asexual and reproduce through self-cloning, but most of us consider ourselves females due to the preference of the human race that brought birth to us along with our desire to conform to human society as well and deserve a place in it... otherwise, how many of us would go through so much effort to ape human behavior and develop the personalities we do? We were made to be weapons to protect and fight for the humans, after all."
"Grooming is something I figured was part of the process that helped set ourselves out," the Taisa added as she allowed her eyes to wander to a rendered picture of the storm cloud covered Bowhordia. "A weapon has no need for hair, and if a warrior was to keep some, she would try to keep it short and unobstrusive. Others would try to mingle practicality and aesthetics and keep it about as long and maintenance light as Kurohoshi-Juni or Saito-Heisho do with their hair."
"Nekovalyrja are all pretty much the same," Kotori rambled as she turned her eyes next turned to a window showing scrolling text of the ship's power grid in preparation to separating from
Hoshi. "Proportions and all, and even our faces are not so unique seeing we self-clone. What we do have, however, is our hair and how we choose to wear it. I figure one of our claims for individuality is how we choose to present ourselves. That's why I wear my hair long and take care of it as I do - I feel it helps define my identity and solidify my claim to feminity as well. If my hair would be cropped short, the image I would project would simply not be the same."
She took a look back toward Yukari. "Braided pigtails are elaborate, but I also thought them being so showed a playful side of you and also showed that you cared enough about yourself to take so much effort to style your hair so. Professional, since it would not get in the way of your work, and yet not timid or simplistic."