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Mahiru got to the office early, like she did most days, settling in at her desk to sip her tea and check emails before the day began in full. A few minutes later, Hikari came into the office, looking sharp in a red blouse and houndstooth shorts, and dropping into the vacant desk across from Mahiru.
“You’re here early,” Mahiru said. “And taking over a senior employee’s seat like that,” she remarked.
“She doesn’t start until ten, she won’t know,” said Hikari. “And I’m early because it’s the first day that those two are shooting for the catalogue. I am interested. And my butt is on the line.”
“Aren’t you hungry?” asked Mahiru, surprised to see her friend without coffee or breakfast in hand.
“I am. But they always cater the shoots.”
“That’s for the staff involved, you moocher!”
“I am involved,” said Hikari, laying her head down on the borrowed desk.
“Why are you so sleepy? Did you go out last night? Even after I sent Karen home early.”
“Her schedule and mine have nothing to do with each other. I only went out for a couple drinks, but the time kept passing!”
Mahiru laughed, enjoying the banter with her longtime friend. “Well, it’s almost time. We should head down and supervise.”
On the elevator, they met a sleepy Kaoruko, along with a more awake Futaba, who was carrying both of their coffees. After greeting their bosses, Kaoruko looked at them suspiciously.
“One: Hikari, stop coming to work that obviously hungover. You’re not fooling anyone.”
Hikari had the grace to look ashamed while Mahiru bowed slightly on her behalf. Kaoruko continued. “Two: where is that intern you two babysit? I want to hire her on full time. I had a brilliant idea last night.”
“You’re sure she’s the one…?” Futaba asked, looking as put-upon as Mahiru felt.
“My instincts are never wrong, Futaba. You all need to trust me more often. I hired Mahiru and Hikari, and they brought me nothing but good things. And also many, many hijinx, but their performance reviews look great!”
“What kind of job do you want Karen for?” asked Mahiru as they walked toward the studio.
“I want her to create and run our social media accounts! Futaba and I were out last night and we ran into someone from Frontier, and she runs a Twitter and Instagram account for their company. Mostly models, but also some design previews, behind the scenes stuff, sales floors, runway previews, flat-lays, all sorts of stuff. I want Karen for that. Nevermind, I’ll just text her.” Kaoruko tapped away on her phone.
“You want Karen to design flat-lays?” asked Mahiru, laughing a bit. She caught Futaba’s eye and grinned. “Can’t wait!”
They entered into a studio where Nana and another photographer were setting up lighting equipment. To the side, in a dressing room, Mahiru could see Maya getting her makeup applied and Claudine getting her hair done. Junna was over Nana’s shoulder with an open laptop, presumably discussing that morning’s shoot concept with a serious expression on her face. Kaoruko led them closer to the action, drawn, as always, to the tension.
“What’s going on, Hoshimi-han?” she asked.
“Ah, Kaichou, I was just reviewing some of the shots we absolutely need for this spread.”
“Nana’s no rookie. She’ll get plenty, you’ll have your pick.”
“I know, I just-”
“You just like to spend extra time with her?” asked Kaoruko with a grin, earning her a punch from Futaba.
Junna blushed but only retreated to the monitoring table, continuing to work on her laptop from there. Apparently she too, wanted to see the new models work. Either that, or Kaoruko was onto something.
Maya emerged from the dressing room then, and Mahiru gasped. Of course she had picked Maya as her top choice, and of course seeing Maya semi-casual at orientation was nothing compared to her ready to shoot, but the effect was slightly overwhelming.
Maya wore a HANA classic white collared shirt with the collar button and the next button undone, a light blue satin ribbon tied loosely in a bow where the tie would go, but hanging low enough that Maya’s delicate collar bones and slender neck were displayed in their full glory. The cuffs were unfolded and unbuttoned, just slightly covering her hands, and delicate silver rings were laced here and there on her fingers.
The shirt was half tucked into eggshell denim jeans that were slim fit, showing off Maya’s long and toned legs, and she wore tan suede ankle boots. Her hair was up in a ponytail which was long enough that it draped gracefully over one shoulder. The makeup was done well - minimal but up-playing Maya’s features. Mahiru finally remembered to breathe when Hikaru punched her in the arm. Maya looked for direction from Nana, but was instantly showered with compliments from the staff who were getting ready to begin. She smiled and seemed to be a bit uncomfortable with the praise.
Luckily, Karen burst forth onto the scene at that moment, arms laden with two boxes of “Don-don donuts!”
“Karen, this is why you’re late?” asked Mahiru quietly.
“What? Hikari said she wasn’t feeling well, I wanted to bring her a donut, but then I thought, I’ll bring everyone a donut!”
“That’s really sweet. But first of all, you are at a professional workplace, you can’t just show up whenever you want, and second, you make like no money as an intern.”
Karen bit into a donut, nodding along as she was chastised. “But kaichou shad I could haf a real jub!” She turned her phone to Mahiru, who promptly turned around after reading the text message to catch Kaoruko’s wink. Turning back with a smile, she hugged Karen.
“Congratulations!” said Mahiru, genuinely happy for her friend, despite her feelings on her professional workplace demeanor, or how much added stress this was going to cause her.
“Thanks!” said Karen, swallowing her donut. “Do you know anything about Instagram?”
Mahiru could feel a stress ulcer forming in her stomach, but she also felt that Tendo Maya and Saijou Claudine might have the powers to heal any ailments she had. Claudine joined the rest of them at that moment, finally released by the stylists, and she stirred Mahiru’s heart in a different way than Maya did.
Claudine was dressed in a black sleeveless turtleneck, with a black blazer draped casually over one shoulder. Mahiru knew it was pinned in place, but it would be impossible to tell in photos. She wore a black wool skirt with a pattern of small stars on it, which fell several inches above the knee, and a pair of sheer black tights, along with black heeled suede boots.
It seemed Claudine was given matching rings on her fingers (Mahiru was sure this was intentional), along with some silver bangles and leather bracelets. Her hair was done up in a high bun, aside from a couple face-framing locks. Her makeup was a bit darker and more smudged, and Mahiru imagined this was to emphasize the ‘darkness’ concept.
“Saijou-san, you look so pretty!” gushed Karen. She ran towards her, but Hikari held her back, ensuring no donut frosting got near the clothing.
“Thank you,” said Claudine, looking at Karen with genuine appreciation. “It’s all thanks to the hard work of the stylists and the clothing, though. I looked something terrible when I came in this morning,” she laughed.
Nana directed Maya and Claudine to the front, and they stood before a large backdrop of the Tokyo skyline taken from a rooftop at night. In front of them, a staff member brought a railing prop, and they stood on green floor, which Mahiru was sure would be converted to something appropriate for the rooftop apartment the scene was conveying. The staff that were just there to observe backed up a bit, most grabbing donuts and quieting down, with the exception of Kaoruko, who came to the front to watch carefully alongside Nana.
“Alright,” Nana said, setting her camera up. “These are our first set together, so I know it’ll take a little time to get comfortable. But these pictures are one of the three sets that are going to be our ‘iconic’ fall sets, meaning they’ll be the ones we’re using as cover photos, in department stores, as ad inserts, and if we ever get a billboard, they’ll be used there too. What we’re looking for is for the two of you to show off the strong contrast - light and dark, day and night, etc. - while still being two parts of one whole, you still both represent one brand.”
Maya and Claudine both nodded, following along.
“Great. Let’s start with um, Saijou-san, can I call you Claudine?”
Claudine nodded her assent. Nana tried, but had trouble with the French name. “My Japanese friends in the past have called me Kuro,” she said, pointedly looking away. Mahiru found her embarrassment endearing.
Nana beamed. “Kuro-san then! If you could take that seat and sort of rest your head on your arms, yes, just like that on the railing, and then Maya, if you could stand beside her and gaze straight out, with… yes, exactly!”
Nana took a few pictures of this first pose, and then directed a few others, Claudine sitting facing Maya; Maya sitting with Claudine standing back to back with her; both of them standing at the railing; until Claudine and Maya seemed to settle into their role and the timing and began moving on their own. The poses they moved into were nearly always more natural looking than the ones given to them, and what was more was that they generally didn’t need to speak. It was their first day shooting together and yet, with just a gaze, they seemed to be able to tell what the other wanted them to do. It was nothing like what Mahiru had seen watching other models. Not that the other models she had seen were bad, there just wasn’t this *ahem* chemistry.
The shoot ended with only a few non-essential staff left in the studio, and a rather dynamic and heart-racing shot with Maya and Claudine facing each other - two perfect figures in profile showing off treasured, classic pieces from their collection. Two opposites: dark hair wearing light clothes, light hair wearing dark clothes; a calm expression on Maya’s face and a charged expression on Claudine’s; formerly famous model Saijou Claudine just short enough to have to look up to meet the eyes of unknown model Tendo Maya. They all knew it, this was the one.
When Nana called the break for lunch, Claudine sat down in the chair right on the set to pull the boots off her feet. “Don’t blame me,” muttered Hikari, “Those aren’t HANA collection boots.”
Maya leaned down to ask her something, and a shutter sounded. For a brief moment, Mahiru thought she spied something dark in Maya’s eyes, but if it was there at all, it faded quickly, and she smiled politely as Karen ran up to greet them. If Maya was upset, Mahiru supposed she couldn’t blame her. She had posed for hundreds and hundreds of pictures all morning, only to be surprised by one from someone she hadn’t been expecting it from.
She checked Claudine’s reaction, but she had already gone back to the dressing room. Mahiru walked up to save Karen, if needed.
“Ah, Tendo-san,” said Karen, apparently surprised that Claudine had left so suddenly. “I apologize if I surprised you, it’s just… I’ve just been promoted!”
“Is that so?” asked Maya, in a tone that was impossible for even Mahiru to decipher. Mahiru liked Maya, but it was very, very hard to know what was going on in her head.
“Yes! I’m not an intern any longer, I’m a real employee! And I’ll be running the social media accounts! So I’ll be taking some behind the scenes photos and things so people can get an idea of what life is like here at HANA.”
“Oh, I see,” said Maya. “Try to get my good side, in that case.”
Karen laughed. “You don’t have a bad side! Neither does Kuro-san!”
Maya gave Karen an interesting look, but didn’t reply for a moment. Mahiru wondered if she was upset with Karen’s use of a nickname with Claudine, when they’d barely been introduced.
“I apologize for my partner’s rapid departure, but it seems you’ll have to talk with her another time,” said Maya. Mahiru met her gaze this time. Maya was interesting. She was not covering for or making excuses for Claudine, but she was also protecting her, in her own way, whether she realized it or not.
“Please, go get your lunch, Tendo-san. I know you have another shoot this afternoon. In the meantime, I’ll have a chat with Aijou-san about the dos and don’ts of candid photos.”
Maya gave them a slight bow and left to join Claudine in the dressing room.
Before Mahiru or Karen could even open their mouths, however, Kaoruko had descended upon them, looking at Mahiru with a sharp gaze.
“What’s that I smell?” she said, grinning.
“I haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about,” Mahiru said, willing Karen not to shout ‘donuts?’
“Is it the scent of blossoming love?” she asked, pretending to sniff towards the dressing room.
“Love?” asked Karen, eyes wide. She opened her phone to review the photo she took, which Kaoruko quickly snatched.
“Oh, come on, Mahiru, look at this,” said Kaoruko.
Mahiru had to admit, it was rather sweet, the way Maya leaned down to say something quietly just to Claudine while she took her shoes off, tired after their shoot. “I told you Karen will be a genius at her job,” Kaoruko boasted. Mahiru watched as Karen’s chest swelled in pride.
“I’ve gotta get with a few people about actually making the accounts… when did you want them up by, boss?”
“As soon as possible. I still want quality work, of course, but after I heard about Frontier, I realized Edel and Rinmeikan have them too. We have to get on this ahead of Seiran at least.”
“To be fair, those are all modeling agencies, whereas we’re a fashion house,” offered Mahiru placatingly.
“That’s even worse!” countered Kaoruko. “Think of one major fashion house without a social media presence. This has been a huge lapse in my sights!”
“I’ll work with Junna on the aesthetic,” said Karen, making a dramatic gesture with her hands. Mahiru could already predict the earful she would get from Junna for sending her more work. “But I think I can handle it. You can breathe easy.”
“Great, great, Kaoruko, I’m starving, can we get lunch now? We have like… eighteen minutes before your meeting with that Hokkaido distributor,” said Futaba, checking over their schedule as always.
“Yes, I’m about to pass out as well. Let’s eat. That meeting can start a bit late, too. He made me wait last time.”
They wandered off, and after confirming the afternoon schedules with Maya and Claudine, Mahiru went to lunch as well, glad at least that the first shoot had gone off without a hitch.