**This story is set in modern-day setting.**

Summary:

Yukimura Chizuru is a top model under an agency, Virgo. During her modelling career, she faced a lot of challenges, friendships, loyalty, betrayal and new experiences. Will she ever find love and happiness in the world of fashion?

Only the OCs belongs to me. I wish Hijikata-san is mine; unfortunately he belongs to the rightful owner. Same goes to other Hakuouki characters.

Constructive criticisms are mostly welcomed.

p/s: my first story. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. *bows head*


Chapter 1: First day

"Chizuru, I want you to work with Luxurious for their fall/winter collections." Yukimura Kodo said in business like tone to his niece; Yukimura Chizuru.

"I thought they don't have women's clothes?" Chizuru asked.

"Initially no they don't but they started to consider in making women's clothes after their previous collections were high in demand and many celebrities urged Luxurious to make clothes for women." Kodo replied before inhaling the cigarettes clamped between his teeth.

"I'll be very glad to sign contract with them." Chizuru said with confidence.

"Good. You'll be working for them for the whole season and for the meantime, you won't have to come here as you will join the Sagittarius' models at this address. You'll be working with other top models and consider it as part of your training." Kodo handed her a business card before continuing "I will assign Miura Kenji to be your assistant. He'll take care of everything." Kodo picked up a phone and pressed a button. "Yuu, send Miura Kenji inside"

Chizuru wondered how this Kenji guy looked like when she heard a faint knocked on the door. "Miura Kenji-san is here sir." Said Yuu-san; gesturing Kenji to go inside.

"Yes sir. I'm here" Stood Kenji next to Chizuru in front of Kodo's large oak wood table.

"Kenji, this is Yukimura Chizuru. Starting today you'll be working as her assistant while she's away at Sagittarius and you'll report her activities and progress by the end of the week until her contract ends. You'll still need to drop by here once a week to send the report. Chizuru, this is your assistant Miura Kenji. Whatever things regarding works you can depend on him" Said Kodo while looking at Chizuru back to Kenji.

"Understood sir." Replied Chizuru as she turned around to shake hand with Kenji. "Yukimura Chizuru. Nice to meet you and I'll be in your care."

Kenji took her hand firmly and assessed her face. "Miura Kenji. Nice meeting you too and I'll do my best." Wow! What a beauty. I never actually looked at her up this close other than on her portraits from last 3 years' Milan Fashion Show hung at the lobby together with other top models, he thought.

Chizuru realised he was looking at her and took her hand off his politely. She nodded to Kenji and turned to Kodo. "Seems you now know each other, you can go straight to Sagittarius now. You're both dismiss"

Chizuru and Kenji bowed politely to Kodo before heading out his office. Half an hour later they arrived at Sagittarius building. The lobby was bustling with people in stylish clothes. They were greeted by a young man who looked too young for his age. His blue hair was tied back in ponytail and he was holding a document in his left hand.

"Hello Miura Kenji-san. We spoke last week on the phone. I'm Ryunosuke Ibuki."

"Hello Ryunosuke-san. It's a pleasure meeting you. This is Yukimura Chizuru" Kenji nudged Chizuru forward a little. "Hello. I'm Yukimura Chizuru and nice to meet you, Ryonosuke-san." Chizuru offered her hand. Ryonosuke smiled and accept her hand.

"Starting today, you'll be in our care. I believe you haven't sign the contract yet but don't worry we'll do that after this. So, I think we should go to the meeting room to meet with your coordinator chief, sign the contract and we can start working." Ryonosuke ushered them to the 5th floor meeting room. Once they were inside, Chizuru realised the room was full with people whom she reckoned might be her new colleagues.

"Miura-san, Yukimura-san, this is your coordinator chief, Sannan Keisuke-san. He'll be in charge for next season's fashion show. I'll leave both of you in his care now. Please excuse me" Ryonosuke bowed politely and left the room.

"Welcome Miura-san and Yukimura-san. Please have a seat." A man in mid-thirties with shoulder length black hair and big black frame glasses on his nose bridge welcomed them. "I'm Sannan Keisuke. I'm in charge for every Luxurious fashion show and I expect this year's fall/winter runway will be a success as previous years'."

"Yes Sannan-san. I believe Yukimura-san will do her best as she's one of the top models in our company" replied Kenji.

"Good. Now we can get to contract signing. Fukuyama-san, could you please get the documents ready." A young lady in her early thirties nodded and went out of the room to get the document. Whilst waiting, she looked around the room to get herself familiar when she sensed a pair of eyes looking at her. She felt shivers ran down her spine and turned her head to where the sensation came from. His hands folded on his chest, chin length raven hair was a bit messy and a pair of sexy violet eyes took her breath away. He looked at her with brows slightly furrowed as he seemed displeased with her staring at him. Chizuru realised her action and quickly turned her head away; thanked god when Fukuyama came into the room with two documents on her hand. Chizuru couldn't slow down her heart beat. What was that? I swear I could faint if I look at him longer. Chizuru sighed and she heard Sannan's voice.

"Yukimura-san, this contract is for you to sign and a copy for Miura-san." Sannan handed them a copy of the contract to each of them. After went through all the conditions and prerequisite, Chizuru signed the contract and she was introduced to other models working for the new collections. The mysterious guy with sexy violet eyes name Hijikata Toshizou, the guy with short purple hair name Saito Hajime, the one sat on the left of Hiijkata name Okita Souji; he appeared to have a mischievous grin on his face and the other brown haired guy sat next to Okita named Todou Heisuke. He crackled a friendly laugh when Sannan introduced him to Chizuru.

"I apologise for not being able to introduce the other two models whom are currently outside of Tokyo for photo shoots. They'll be back next week. I believe we can go to the studio now. Let's go everybody. Oh ya! Miura-san, can you follow Fukuyama-san to settle some more things regarding admission of Yukimura-san. Don't worry. My assistant will take you back to where she is." Sannan got up from his chairs followed by the four guys and Chizuru out of the meeting room.

"So, Chizuru-chan. You're quite a beauty aren't you?" Okita broke the silence as they walked to the studio on the 10th floor. Upon hearing his sudden manner on addressing her casually, Chizuru couldn't help feeling a little flabbergasted. She just smiled embarrassedly.

"Are you an idiot Souji? You make the girl blush." Heisuke slapped Okita's left shoulder which made Okita slightly annoyed. "I'm sorry Chizuru-chan. He can be an idiot sometimes but he's a good man. Can I call you Chizuru-chan? I already did though." Heisuke laughed. Chizuru was a bit awkward when they called her by her first name and with –chan at that. I guess they're trying to make me feel welcomed here.

"I don't mind at all Todou-san." Chizuru smiled reassuringly. "No no. Don't call me Todou-san. It sounds like an old man's name. Call me Heisuke. I guess we're about the same age."

"Ahhh…You're getting yourself very familiar with Chizuru-chan aren't you Heisuke?" An annoyed expression made its appearance rather obviously on Okita's face. He quickly put his arm around Chizuru's shoulder and pulled her slightly away from Heisuke. From his sudden action made Chizuru's face red from embarrassment. Her heart was beating loudly that she swore it could pop out from her chest.

Upon realising the uncomfortable situation faced by Chizuru, Saito quickly took Okita's hand off her shoulder. "Yukimura is not comfortable right now Souji." His words saved her life and she felt relief that someone actually noticed her feelings.

"Come on Hajime-kun. I know you want to talk to Chizuru too." Okita smirked at Saito.

"I don't simply put my arms around a girl I just met knowing she won't feel comfortable with the sudden action that could embarrass her." Replied Saito stoically. He lingered his blue eyes for a second on Chizuru's face which caused her cheeks slightly pink. His words passed her ears like a calm waterfall.

"All right all right. The serious Saito Hajime in action. Trust me Chizuru-chan, you don't want to make him as your boyfriend. Right, Toshi?" Okita nudged his left elbow to Hijikata.

The mysterious man from before ignored Okita's remark and looked uninterested with their little banter. "See Chizuru-chan. Even Hijikata-san agreed with me." Okita looked at her real close. Chizuru didn't know what to reply and she glanced behind her shoulder to look at Saito. His stoic face was a little annoyed with Okita's snide remarks. Her eyes averted to HIjikata walking next to Saito. He returned her gaze nonchalantly. She looked back at Okita.

"No. I don't simply judge a man when I first encountered him. I think Saito-san is a nice person deep down his heart and he'll be a wonderful man to his girl." The men stopped walking and the gaped at her opinions. Sensing her words might cause a huge misunderstanding, she bowed apologetically to Saito-san.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so weird. I mean you're a nice person. It's not like I fall in love with you or anything." Chizuru hoped the floor will open up and swallow her whole as she was very embarrassed that time.

"No. Don't worry. I never thought of everything but thank you for your compliment. You don't have to bow anymore."

Chizuru got up and looked at Saito. His cheeks were slightly pink and he had a faint smile on his lips.

"Hahahahahahahahhaha…you're so cute and honest Chizuru-chan. Only you could break the ice on Hajime-kun's face. I haven't seen his blushed before…you know what? I like you." Okita said and leaned his face a few inch from Chizuru's face. Chizuru's eyes went wide when she realised his face was so near to her and she could feel his warm breath on her face.

"Enough Souji. We're here to work." Hijikata's voice startled everyone. Okita looked at Hijikata from the corner of his eyes, eyebrow raised.

"I agree with Hijikata-san. We're almost at the studio now." Sannan shot a death glare to Okita. Okita brushed off Sannan's glare with an innocent face. Chizuru scratched her head and wondered how come she got into this situation in the first place. When they reached the studio, it was rather a busy time. She saw models walking on the runway instructed by a scary-looking lady, backstage crews talking to each other with serious face and technicians looking after spotlights and sound systems.

"Ah Sannan-san! I didn't expect you to be here!" the scary-looking lady turned around and greeted Sannan. Her hair was tied in tight buns, threatens her scalp to detach from her skull. She smiled sweetly when she saw Sannan but didn't smile when she saw them.

"Hello Nakamura-san. The new model is here. Yukimura Chizuru, this is Nakamura Amie-san. Nakamura-san, this is Yukimura Chizuru from our sister company, Virgo. Yukimura-san, you'll be instructed by Nakamura-san for the runway. I hope both of you will cooperate nicely." Okita snorted upon hearing the last word. He received another death glare from Sannan.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nakamura-san. I'll be in your care." Chizuru bowed politely.

Nakamura didn't say any greeting words instead she said "I hope you're as good as what I've heard you before. I don't want nuisance during working hour." She scrutinized Chizuru a little longer.

"No, I won't disappoint you ma'am." Chizuru got up and flashed an annoyed smile. What's wrong with her?

"Ok. Now we shall back to business. Okita-san, Todou-san and Saito-san can resume practise as yesterday. Hijikata-san…" Nakamura's eyelashes fluttered when she looked at Hijikata but he didn't look interested at all. Nakamura must be frustrated because her attempt to flirt with him didn't work when she instructed him to go back practise in an irritated voice. Okita smirked at her mockingly.

"Oh yeah Hijikata-san, can you please bring Yukimura-san with you. She'll be part of your group anyways." Nakamura walked away from Chizuru and left her stunned on the ground. Did she just leave me with him? He's gorgeous and scary. I don't have a good feeling. Chizuru sweat dropped.

"Are you going to waste my time by standing there? Hurry up." Hijikata raised his eyebrow delicately.

"Sorry." Chizuru mumbled and followed him. The practise was rather tiring; especially she kept receiving envy glances from the other girls. She also heard a few uncomfortable words from them too. The Luxurious Company hired among the best models from Sagittarius to be featured on their catalogues and fashion runway. Before this, they never have women's collections featured but this year they'll make drastic changes and demand one of the best female model from Sagittarius sister company; Virgo to cooperate with them hence Chizuru was chosen. She was quite relief when she knew she wasn't the only female working with them. There were other 3 female models as well; Senhime Shinchiro, Kimigiku Abe and Jade Zhang.

"Chizuru-chan, don't let those girls bother you. There are jealous because you're collaborating together with the boys; especially Hijikata-san." Senhime said with a pat on Chizuru's shoulder. Kimigiku and Jade nodded with agreement with Senhime's words. Chizuru never bother about the girls but Hijikata's name perked her interest.

"Why you said especially Hijikata-san?" Chizuru asked and loud enough to earn a few head turned from people around, including Hijikata sat on the chair near the runway.

"Shhh! You're too loud!" Senhime pulled Chizuru's wrist to take her away from where she was standing. Chizuru mouthed sorry to Senhime. "Well, because you're new here probably you don't know a thing regarding that guy. Apart from being handsome and sexy, there're rumours circulating that guy. I'm sure you've sensed it before." Kimigiku explained in hushed tone.

Jade continued with the same tone "He has scary aura around him; last year he broke a man's arm and punched his face blue black when he found him on the bed with his girlfriend." The word girlfriend somehow triggered something inside Chizuru's heart. She glanced behind her shoulder and saw Hijikata staring at her. She gulped, turning her head back to Senhime.

"Are they still together?" Chizuru asked the girls

"Who? Hijikata-san and his girlfriend?" Chizuru nodded vigorously at Senhime's question.

"He's an idiot if he got back to her. They broke up and it was pretty ugly. She was an actress, so her stories were featured in many magazines' gossip pages and Hijikata wasn't pleased at all. He was moody for like three months and after that he got back to his usual self. From what I've heard, he never trusted women since the incident." Senhime glanced at Hijikata past Chizuru's shoulder. She slightly relaxed when Hikata didn't stare at them anymore and he was talking to Okita.

From the other side of the room, Okita walked to Hijikata and put a hand on Hijikata's shoulder. "Ehhh…the girls are gossiping about you. Poor Hijikata-san being labelled as scary on our cute little lady's first day" Okita gave his famous Cheshire cat's grin. Hijikata tensed upon hearing his words. He clicked his tongue, glanced briefly at the girls before turning his head to Okita.

"Take your hand off my shoulder before I break it." His eyes narrowed.

"Oooo…I'm scared. No wonder the ladies don't want to be near you although you're considered the most handsome." Okita laughed sarcastically and distanced himself from the furious man. Hijikta sighed and looked back at the girls. He has no interest to find a girlfriend for the time being nor is he interested in knowing what they had to say about him. He shakes his head lightly to get rid of the thought invading his mind before got off from the chair and get back to practise.

The working hours passed slowly. Heisuke and Okita were complaining about today's practise, how hungry they were waiting for the practise to stop and Nakamura-san's loud voices. Senhime suggested they should have dinner together to celebrate Chizuru's first day. Initially it'll be girls only but after Heisuke begged her to let him join too, they dragged the other 3 men as well. Chizuru reassured Kenji to not having to come along with her as she can back home on her own. He insisted to join until Chizuru said she won't go to the party if Kenji joins them. Kenji sighed and allowed her to go without him. They chose a sushi restaurant not far from their studio. Once they reached the restaurant and ordered their meals when Jade started the conversation.

"Chizuru-chan, how long have you been working with Virgo? You seemed to be really good when I saw you walking on the runway."

"Oh! I started modelling career since I was 12. That time I only did photo shoot for teen magazines. I was a freelance model under the guidance of my uncle. I wanted to work with Virgo but my uncle said I've to wait until I'm 18. On my 18th birthday, I was allowed to join Virgo and a few months after I started my job with the company, I was asked to join the team for Milan Fashion Show. I could say I've been with Virgo almost 5 years now." Chizuru sipped her orange juice.

"Wow! You're more like senpai to us then. No wonder you didn't look intimidated when Nakamura-san bickering at you." Kimigiku said tentatively. Senhime and Jade nodded in agreement. Heisuke and Okita listened to the conversation with interest while Saito and Hijikata didn't show any emotion.

"Nee Chizuru-chan, do you have boyfriend?" Okita asked innocently. His grin got wider when he saw her shocked expression. Chizuru didn't know how to answer his question. She tried her best to brush off the question away. Hijikata's eyes somehow lighten up a bit before fading away when he heard a smack sound.

"Idiot! How could you ask that to a lady?" Heisuke smaked Okita's back. Okita snarled between his teeth. "This is the second time you smack me Todou-chan."

"What's with Todou-chan? Are you looking for a fight with me?" Heisuke got up from his chair and gestured a punch towards Okita. Chizuru sighed and spread out her arms in between those two men.

"Calm down you guys. It's no big deal. Heisuke-kun, you sit down! Same goes for Okita-san. Stop it!" A vein twitched on Chizuru's forehead. Jeez these boys.

Senhime, Kimigiku and Jade gaped in awed. They had no idea that the gentle and beautiful Chizuru can be quite hot tampered when she reaches her limits. "Sorry Chizuru-chan" mumbled Heisuke and Okita.

"Good. For your question Okita-san, I don't feel oblige to answer that. Thank you very much." Chizuru answered in a flat tone. Her eyes looked at Okita-san seriously and looked at Hijikata. He returned her gaze without moving a muscle. Chizuru caught her breath and coughed. Kimigiku patted her back.

"I'm ok thanks Kimi-chan. I just forgot to breathe. Hahaha." Chizuru scratched the back of her head. What was that again? This happens twice already. I better watch that guy or he'll suffocate me with his gaze, she thought.

"Toshi, don't you want to ask Chizuru-chan anything?" Okita asked Hijikata sweetly. His tone hid a mischievous motif. Hijika sipped his tea, shrugged his shoulder before speaking "I'm not interested". Chizuru somehow felt like a stabbing pain in her stomach when he said that. She looked away to hide her pained expression. Okita pouted his mouth, not satisfied with his answer. He continued to annoy Saito. "How about you, Hajime-kun?" All eyes turned to Saito to know what this quiet man have to say.

"…" Saito sipped his tea without saying anything.

"Ok…I'm sure Hajime-kun is very shy" Okita laughed.

They resumed their dinner like usual. The girls asked Chizuru many questions followed by Heisuke's little banter and Okita's snide remarks. Hijikata and Saito didn't speak that much except when they were asked. Chizuru still couldn't put away the uneasiness feelings from Hijikata's harsh words. She decided to forget about that and enjoy the company of her new friends.

To be continued…


Hello again readers! How do you like my story so far? I'm sorry if it's a bit boring but I promised you it will get interesting as the chapter goes on. I can't promise for weekly updates but I'll try my best to update asap.

If you've any suggestions/ideas, do let me know. Sometimes my brain can't function normally after 6 (direct) hours of lab so it can't generate that much fresh ideas.

Hope you'll like my 1st chapter and please review.

Thank you ^_^