Home Fanfics Go Back
Maya laughed a little at the picture of Hanayagi Kaoruko that Karen had uploaded to the HANA Instagram a few hours earlier. It was a picture of Kaoruko at a drafting table, poring over some fashion designs, and gave the impression that Kaoruko was as serious as they come, a fashion designer that slaved over her art and did not bother with the day-to-day minutia of running a large fashion house. Oh, what a deceptive picture that was.
“Oh, Kaoruko looks pretty there,” Claudine commented, peeping the picture from over Maya’s shoulder. Maya got the impression that Claudine was not a fan of being included in the social media herself, but she was always keen on complimenting others when the pictures were of someone else. It was a strange stance to take for someone who was a model known internationally.
A few weeks had passed and the fall line was in full rollout, and everyone was gearing up for the major pivot from print media to fall runway. There were still shoots to be had, of course, but the major focus was on arranging travel plans, booking venues, and placing already-produced print media in the correct locations to draw attention to HANA at the right time and place, in order to sell clothing and draw interest at fall fashion shows.
Maya and Claudine had a rare break from work that afternoon, and sat in the waiting room of the passport bureau office as Maya’s passport renewal was ready that day. After a short wait, she was called and handed her new passport, where in turn she had to pay the necessary fees. The man behind the counter stared at her with a strange recognition, and in what was becoming more and more familiar, she was beginning to realize that HANA’s aggressive marketing was working. She paid and thanked the clerk and let Claudine know they could leave.
“Pull your mask up,” Claudine nudged her as they left the municipal office.
“I am still getting used to this,” Maya said, adjusting the mask. She had yet to add the sunglasses and hat to her attire as Claudine did daily. “Let’s get something to drink before we go back.”
They had a meeting to discuss the upcoming runway shows that evening, and though there would be a catered meal, Maya was feeling like she needed something now.
“Fine,” Claudine grumbled, “But you better not make us late.”
Maya smiled below her mask. Claudine grumbled about a lot of things, daily almost, but she always went along with them. She followed Maya nearly everywhere, indulged in Maya’s whims for late night snacks (though she didn’t always partake), quickly learned how terrible Maya was with directions and cooking and a lot of other life skills and grumbled her way through assisting Maya with those as well.
They entered a cafe near the passport office, which was located just beyond the border of Ginza. The cafe was bustling with customers despite the afternoon hour, when many businesses were still in session. Claudine hung close to Maya as she approached the counter to order, Maya getting an iced green tea, and Claudine an iced coffee.
As they waited for their orders at the counter, Maya could feel Claudine’s eyes moving around the cafe, watching for customers moving towards them. To distract her, Maya pulled out her phone, pulling up another newly uploaded picture on the HANA Instagram. It was a photo of Claudine in profile, wearing a mesh-paneled long-sleeve maxi-dress as she draped herself over an armchair, leather boots hanging over the arm. With this photo, the second row was complete: Claudine, Kaoruko, and Maya from left to right, causing HANA’s vision to form into reality.
“Double posting is a little gauche,” said Claudine, for once a joking tone in her voice.
Their number was called and Maya grabbed their drinks, turning to leave.
“Is… is that you? Tendo-san?”
Maya had no time to look at who called for her as Claudine grabbed onto her wrist tightly and her attention was stolen away. She noticed over half the people in the coffee shop looking in their direction now.
“Oh my, it’s really her! Tendo Maya!” said one girl, shaking her friend in excitement.
“That means… that must be her. Saijou-san,” said a nearby patron to his friend. The mutterings were getting louder now, and while no one had approached them yet, the girls looked like they were working up the courage. Somewhere, there were certainly camera shutters going off.
“Saijou-san! I knew you’d come back!” said one man, who came from behind them and now stood barely a foot in front of them. Maya was afraid if Claudine squeezed her wrist any harder she would drop the cup in her hand. “My friends said ‘no way’, but I knew you’d make a comeback!”
Suddenly, there was a hand pulling Claudine’s open hand, taking the two of them out of the coffee shop. Leaving, thought Maya. It seemed so easy now. Why hadn’t she just pulled Claudine along and left? She followed along like a lost child until their savior sat them down on a bench in the lobby of an air conditioned building, tucked out of the way of the main traffic in and out.
Finally, she looked up, recognizing the face of a former classmate. “Koharu-san,” she said, realizing she was out of breath. “Thank you.”
Koharu looked a little embarrassed. “Well, it was my fault for calling your name to start with,” she said. “But you’re welcome. I guess we can have that catch-up after all,” she joked.
Maya looked at Claudine who was sitting on the bench silently, her hands tucked under her thighs and her hair falling forward to shield her face further. “Claudine,” she said, lightly tapping her cheek with the cold coffee.
Claudine pulled her hands out from under her legs, grabbing the coffee. She tucked her hair back as well, finally untucking her mask. Beneath it, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes looked rather glassy.
“Saijou-san, I really apologize for making a scene,” said Koharu, bowing deeply. “I saw you with Maya and knew who you were, I should have known better.”
This seemed to shake Claudine back into her normal self some. “Oh, please don’t worry so much. It turned out alright,” Claudine said gently. “Now, I don’t think we’ve met?”
Maya was always impressed with Claudine’s ability to act like an older sister to newer girls in the industry, even at times like now when she was struggling. Maya struggled to hold a conversation, and she’d known Koharu for a couple years now.
“Yanagi Koharu,” she introduced, bowing again, but only briefly this time. “I am represented by the Seiran Agency. I attended training school with Maya.”
“Koharu-san, nice to meet you. You can call me Claudine if you’d like. I didn’t realize Maya had friends in the industry, so you must be really special.”
Koharu sat down, relaxing a bit now that introductions had been made. “Ah, I’m not that special, it’s just that we often were close in rankings in our training so we naturally became competitive.”
Claudine had an unreadable expression, raising her eyebrow a bit at this new information. “Well that’s not gone away at all, Maya’s just as annoyingly competitive now. I’m afraid her ego has grown ten sizes from the fans she's amassing,” Claudine teased.
“Well, my fans aside, your ‘fan’ was pretty scary,” said Maya.
“Thanks, Maya, I was really trying not to think about it. But… he was probably harmless,” Claudine said, in a voice that suggested she was mostly trying to convince herself.
Maya’s cell phone rang then, and Koharu swept Claudine back into distracting conversation again. Maya stood to answer it, walking a bit away.
“Hello? Ah, Isurugi-san.”
“Maya, what happened?” Futaba’s voice was deadly serious. “Are you and Claudine safe?”
“Yes, we’re fine. We ran into another model, and we got recognized, and this fan ended up pretty loud in our faces and scaring Claudine, but we got out of there… we’re at the Seiran agency now,” she said, reading the sign over the reception desk.
“Wait… hold on, there was someone in your face?”
“Yes… wait… why are you calling?” asked Maya, suddenly nervous.
“Oh gosh, it’s worse than I thought.” Then quieter, “No… just someone got up in their faces… no encouragement, I imagine, but still, in a coffee shop…”
Maya imagined she was explaining the situation to Kaoruko. “Sorry, Maya,” Futaba said after a moment. “There was a photo, or rather, several. Not bad photos, but just of the two of you in the coffee shop. Since you were identified by name and Claudine isn’t really disguised even with her mask, you’re now recognizable to anyone with internet. It’s pretty likely this will happen again.”
“No,” said Maya. “No, I don’t know what needs to happen, but that cannot continue to happen. Claudine was completely freaked out, and I- I didn’t know how to handle it either.”
“I understand. We can dedicate the first half of tonight’s meeting to figuring out how to deal with this. Then move on to runway matters. I’ll send a car to Seiran now.”
“Thanks, Isurugi-san.”
When she got back to the benches, Koharu had stolen her seat and her iced tea. “You know,” Koharu said, “Seiran is one of the companies in competition for the HANA contract for runway,” she said.
“Really?” asked Maya.
Koharu nodded. “You two might be able to carry your catalogue, but you can’t pull a runway show with two models. HANA has to outsource a bit there. All the agencies without a major contract already are bidding for the HANA contract to help with your runway shows. We could be seeing a lot more of each other soon. You could also meet Hisame and Suzu!”
“By the way, Claudine, Isurugi-san is sending a car now, we should get ready.”
“Of course. Thank you again, Koharu. It was nice to meet you.”
They said their goodbyes and rode back to HANA headquarters, a relatively short drive, but made longer by the masses of pedestrians leaving work. Claudine leaned her head on the window, quiet for the duration of the trip, and Maya imagined if she was home she would be out on the balcony, staring aimlessly at the bay.
When they got inside the HANA headquarters, they dashed into the bathroom to fix their hair and makeup ahead of the meeting. All of the excitement and the running had taken a toll on their appearance and though it was only a planning meeting, somehow it didn’t feel right going in unkempt if their role in the company was its top models.
When they made it to the meeting room, they were nearly the last to arrive. Dinner was spread out on the table, and various staff were taking plates and settling in to discuss runway shows, fashion week, travel plans, and how the fall campaign was coming along. The conversation dampened when Claudine and Maya walked in- apparently the news of the internet photos had leaked.
Claudine grabbed a plate and Maya followed suit, each taking their favorite foods and sitting beside Daiba Nana who gave them an encouraging smile. Karen came in soon after, for once not the normal ball of excited energy, her face deep in an article on her tablet.
“She’s reading about PR and social media,” Mahiru explained. “And about ten other topics. She’s like a sponge, really, she just gains information at a terrifying speed.”
Finally, Kaoruko and Futaba arrived and the meeting began. “Alright, eat up, we have a lot to cover today,” Kaoruko said, turning on her tablet and propping it up in front of her. “First of all, and most recently added to the agenda: our models have recently reached celebrity status, at least locally. We need to increase security in this building,” she gestured to Futaba to make notes, “while we’re travelling, and at events.”
She turned to Claudine and Maya. “Now as for your personal lives, this shouldn’t affect the two of you too much because I hear you’re huge homebodies, but you might have to utilize the online delivery apps a bit more these days. And the company car. Or get swarmed, up to you.”
Futaba lightly punched Kaoruko with a grunt, indicating that this was not the time to joke. Maya thought swarmed was a bit of an overstatement in most contexts, she knew she would still be able to go on her run or visit a busy tourist spot with no problem, but it might be a problem to go to a quiet restaurant or ride a train where there isn’t much to look at but the other passengers. She wondered if she should have gone into a more niche modeling sector, like her mother’s area of traditional Japanese fashion, where she could garner tremendous respect without worrying about being too recognizable to the masses. She supposed it was too late to worry about that.
“We will keep that in mind, thank you,” said Claudine.
“We will speak with the building manager as well,” added Futaba.
There was a bit more talk about the logistics of added security, but Maya mostly allowed herself to zone out as she ate dinner and watched the way Claudine’s perfect lips closed around perfect sized bites of her favorite kinds of sashimi.
At some point, the conversation shifted to the fall events, of which there would be four: HANA’s self-hosted fashion show, Tokyo Fashion Week, Paris Fashion Week, and the Asia Women’s Fashion Runway show in Seoul. It would be a rapid five weeks from mid-September to mid-October, and then they would go right into shooting the winter line from the end of October to mid-November. In fact, they would be getting a few of the shoots done in between the runway shows when possible, so mostly the three weeks that they were not abroad.
The catalogue needed to be out by December 1, and promotional materials were going to go up sooner. The problem was, Maya and Claudine needed to walk the runway with their fall concept ‘looks’ and needed to have a fresh ‘look’ for winter, so it would be constant shuffling between concepts day by day.
“I want to say it’ll be easier in winter because there’s no more runway til spring, but Kaoruko always finds side projects to sneak in during the winter,” warned Junna. She was working hard with her tablet and a sketchbook side by side, drawing mockups for a pamphlet for guests at the HANA self-hosted show.
Claudine just nodded, taking it in stride.
“What are we going to call our runway show this year?” Hikari asked.
“You read my mind,” said Kaoruko. “That was next on the agenda. Something that brings out our concept… something very different from last year’s spring show… what did we do? Nobility?”
“Yes, last year was ‘Nobility’,” Mahiru confirmed.
“What about-” Karen paused as all eyes turned to her, realizing no one had expected her to speak up.
“No, go ahead,” said Kaoruko. “Mahiru and Hikari trained you up well, I’m sure you’ve got good ideas.”
“What about ‘Eclipse’?” she asked quietly.
The staff around the table considered the word, and Junna quickly drew a sketch of a logo concept involving an eclipse, the kanji, and the HANA logo.
Mahiru perked up then. “What if… since Kuro-san and Tendo-san are sort of even, and they don’t really ‘cover’ each other, we have a sun and a moon side of the venue? And each half gets a different limited program? We could even have a black and white split stage, or different chairs?”
The excitement level in the room rose as Mahiru continued to brainstorm ideas, and Maya began to grasp why she was their main events planner. She was more than just the girl who made their schedules. She was going to design an entire event around the concept that was ‘Maya and Claudine as HANA’.
Finally, after an eternity of planning, the HANA Eclipse show was planned, the intermittent winter shoots were scheduled, the Tokyo Fashion week details were worked out, and Paris and Seoul were put on the agenda for the next meeting in two days’ time.
It was quite dark by the time they got ready to go home, so Maya called for a car using the service Futaba set them up with. Claudine took a call while they were waiting, and Maya listened in to her half of the call.
“Hello?... Yes, this is she. Oh, hello Yakumo-san. Yes, you came highly recommended…. Oh, yes, I was hoping I had a bit more time before something like that happened…. Indeed. There have been some… incidents in the past. ….Yes, of course, I understand. I have some time off tomorrow evening, it’ll be later, though. We could meet after I finish work? ...Alright, text me the location. Goodbye.”
Maya looked at Claudine curiously as they got into the car, double checking the license plate as a precaution. “I’m getting an agent,” she explained.
“Incidents?” Maya asked.
“Nothing important.”
When they got home, Maya decided to go for her usual run, taking it more quickly than usual to shake off some of the adrenaline from earlier. As she approached the apartment, a light drizzle was coming down, cooling her off comfortably. When she got back to the apartment, she peeked onto the balcony to make sure Claudine wasn’t actually sitting out there in the rain, but her fears were unfounded. Claudine was professional enough to preserve her health for the sake of her work first and foremost. Instead, Maya found her sitting on her bed, her bedroom lights off, staring out the window at the river.
“Don’t you get sick of looking at the same thing?” Maya asked.
Claudine turned to her, her look relaxed and cute with her makeup washed off and her hair loose and unstyled. “It’s ironic,” she said, ignoring Maya’s question. “That the last runway show was called ‘Nobility’ and then Yukishiro Akira-san, Fumeoji Shiori-san, and Liu Mei Fan-san all quit HANA to join Edel, which means ‘noble’.” She laughed lightly.
There was too much blood in Maya’s limbs from her run, and not enough going to her brain. “You mean HANA’s previous models?” Maya hadn’t known their names, but she recognized Yukishiro Akira’s name. The former dancer. She was tall and striking, already making a name for herself in runway.
“Right,” Claudine confirmed. “What will ‘Eclipse’ bring?” she asked, almost as if the show had a mystical element to it.
Nothing, thought Maya. She was too straightforward to believe in superstitious things like those which Claudine was talking about. “Come on, let’s get ready for bed,” she said.
The following day, Claudine seemed to have forgotten her introspection, and was back to her professional demeanor as she and Maya attended some preliminary fittings for the runway shows, and for the winter line - though from Maya’s perspective, it was hard to garner any themes of what these garments were going to look like in completion.
In the afternoon, Claudine was whisked away to review some PR and interview materials with Futaba, and Maya’s schedule had a meeting with Kaoruko herself. Though she had been at the company for a couple months, Maya wasn’t sure if she had ever had a one-on-one with Kaoruko yet - she had always attended these with at least one other person, usually Claudine. So it was with some amount of trepidation that she ascended the elevator after lunch to Kaoruko’s office.
Kaoruko greeted her personally, seeing as Futaba, who’s desk was just outside, was away with Claudine. As always, the office was neat - likely no effort of Kaoruko’s, but rather that of a cleaning staff, or in worst case scenario, of Futaba. Maya sat stiffly on the small leather couch and accepted the tea that was offered to her by Kaoruko. Doing anything else would be rude, she figured.
“Would you like to try this daifuku, or are you one of those models who cannot spare an extra calorie?” challenged Kaoruko.
Maya raised an eyebrow just a hair, trying to control her expression. Was Kaoruko trying to get a rise out of her? Daifuku wasn’t her favorite in particular, and it was just after lunch, but she could tell from the package that this was a good product, brought in from Kyoto…
“I wouldn’t mind a piece,” she conceded politely, and in turn was given a light pink round confection, stamped with the HANA corporation’s distinctive sakura logo. “Ah, so your family deals in confectionery, as well,” she commented.
“The Hanayagi product mix covers more than you can even imagine,” Kaoruko said, sounding bored as she came back from setting the teapot down to sit in a chair across from Maya. “We sell everything from diapers to calculators to electric scooters to I-beams.”
“Don’t forget women’s fashion,” added Maya.
“Of course,” said Kaoruko, sipping her tea with grace. “How else would our lives intersect?” She set her cup down. “Though, I suppose you would be in the industry eventually, even if I didn’t hire you, with your pedigree and looks.”
Maya wondered if that was true. She wanted to deny it - wanted to say that Hikari’s unique proposal and Karen’s appeal and the contract with Saijou Claudine were the only things to bring her here, but really, would she be able to resist the constant nagging forever? That shadow cast over her from the moment she realized that even furthering her education as far as she could would never garner her mother’s acknowledgement. No, to get that she would need to completely change the trajectory of her life - to reject the bonds she shared with her father, or at least let them weaken as she pursued another path.
“Is that what you called me here to discuss, Hanayagi-san?” asked Maya.
Kaoruko seemed to notice Maya’s refusal to continue the current trajectory of the conversation, because a small smirk appeared on her face. Was she satisfied with the fact that she just made Maya lose her composure, if only slightly? Maya exhaled slowly. “I called you here because I have no idea who you are, Tendo-han.” She bit into the daifuku, leaving Maya to ponder this.
“...Who I am?” Maya stared at her own daifuku… elegantly stamped with the pink sakura, mark of the Hanayagi empire. Proof of Hanayagi Kaoruko's existence was all around her: this office, the blouse she was wearing, the confection on the table before her. Hanayagi Kaoruko left such an impression, there was no questioning "Who I am?" in her case. Maya's appetite was suddenly leaving her.
“Yes. You’ve been in my employment for two months and yet, I feel as though I don’t know you at all.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you want to know about me,” said Maya. She was reminded unwittingly of class introductions in school, something she always practiced ahead of time. This naturally reminded her of the company introductions. At the time, she had thought Claudine’s introduction was odd and inappropriate. Had Kaoruko actually preferred that? Claudine was the veteran in this field, she supposed.
“Ughh,” Kaoruko groaned. “I want to shake you! You’re so boring! I know that Futaba-han likes the inside of her eggs runny and not hard. I know that Karen often gets perfect scores at karaoke. I know that Nana- well, that’s a secret, but I know that Kuro-han and Tsuruhime Yachiyo-han had some sort of falling out-”
“That’s not true,” Maya said, and then wished she had held her tongue as soon as she saw the smirk on Kaoruko’s face grow.
“Ah, so you do have feelings.”
'Of course I have feelings,' Maya wanted to say. 'You didn’t have to bait me with a dirty trick like that.'
“Anyways, I suppose it’s for the best. If you’re able to maintain this level of composure, you’ll do well when you’re the Top Model in Japan.”
There was a lot to unpack in that statement, so Maya took the opportunity to finally bite the daifuku, even though the timing was awkward. Did Kaoruko believe she would make it to the Top? And with HANA? Did she think that Maya’s awkward personality was an asset? Maya swallowed with a sip of tea, and met Kaoruko’s eyes. “I suppose it’s better to show no weaknesses for anyone to exploit?” she asked.
“I suppose you could think of it that way. Personally, I found you a little boring at first, but somehow, I am finding you incredibly interesting now, Tendo-han.”
“If you do have any advice for me, I’d be happy to listen to it,” Maya said.
“Listen, but not necessarily take it, I see. Yes, you are intensely interesting, Tendo-san. No wonder she has an interest in you.”
“Pardon?”
“Kuro-han. She told me to watch out for you. She’s worried that now that you’re both popular, you’re too naïve and will get yourself into trouble. On the contrary, I think you’ll do fine.”
“And her?”
Kaoruko shrugged. “She’s smart, but ten years is a long time in this industry.”
“That was it, then? There was no point to this meeting?”
“On the contrary, Tendo-han! I gained a lot from this. Hmm, perhaps I’ll make you my muse! We can have tea more often. I’ll draw you in the most perfect outfits. Yes, I think this is a good arrangement. I’ll let Mahiru-han know.”