I was inspired to write this by a fanart I saw on Pixiv a few years ago. I've wanted to write this for a long time, but I never had the chance to. But now that I have, I thought I would share this with you guys. Enjoy!
My first visit to the city changed my life forever.
I was born in the countryside and I lived there for most of my life, so I've never had a chance to visit the city. The city was a place that everyone wished to go to, so I wasn't alone. However, I was one of the rare people who was lucky enough to actually visit the city.
I honestly couldn't believe it when I won the train tickets to the city. I kind of just stood there, caught in a daze, as I stared at the golden ball that I managed to roll out. Miraculously, they were weekend tickets, so my parents gave me permission. I was only 12, but since I was more mature than the normal 12-year-old, my parents weren't that worried. Before I left, my dad gave me a camera.
"Take some photos of what you see. You might find something unexpected." he said. I stared at the camera in my hands. It was one of my dad's prized possessions, and one of the "luxurious" things our family owned. I never had a great interest for photography, but I kindly accepted it.
The city did not disappoint me. I saw a ton of things I had never seen before, such as buildings that reached the skies and the metro trains that could get you anywhere. The city was busy, with people walking around, constantly glancing at their watches.
I decided to go to a less busy part of the city, and that's when I found a garden. It was slightly mysterious, and it didn't seem to have a lot of visitors. I walked into it cautiously, looking around. There were many colorful flowers, blooming vibrantly, and I couldn't help but stop and take a few pictures. They didn't turn out really good, but not really bad either. I walked deeper into the garden, holding my camera up in front of me, ready to capture any beautiful moment.
I reached a fountain in the middle of the garden, and there were bushes with beautiful white roses around it. My eyes widened.
There was a girl beside the fountain. She looked around 15 or 16, but I wasn't sure. Part of her shoulder-length orange hair was tied at the side of her head with a blue hair tie. She wore a white shirt and a long orange dress, and pointe shoes. She had her back to me, and she was dancing.
I couldn't help but stare in awe. She was so beautiful. There was a kind of aura that surrounded her, and I put my eye to my camera. I couldn't help but take a picture of her. The girl must have heard the sound of my camera, because she stopped dancing. She seemed to stiffen, and without turning back, she ran off.
"W-Wait!" I said, and I ran after her. I soon lost sight of her, and I sighed. I looked at the picture I took, and my eyes widened in surprise.
The picture was so beautiful.
It was at that moment that my future was decided:
I wanted to become a photographer.
When I went back to the countryside, I told my parents my dream. They were a little surprised, but they were supportive. I was able to go to school in the city after a few years later, and I studied photography. I wished to take more photos like that one, and someday find that girl once again.
I wanted to thank her for giving me my dream.
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10 years had passed since I decided to become a photographer. I had grown from a small boy of 12 to a young man of 22. I carried my camera everywhere I went, and I would take pictures of things I saw. I uploaded them onto the internet, too, to let the world see my photographs.
In the distance, I saw a black cat in the middle of the street. I walked up to it, and it didn't budge at all. I smiled. I put my eye to the camera, just like I've done so a million times before, and I took a few pictures. The cat stared at me with its red eyes. I found myself staring back into its eyes.
Suddenly, I heard the honk of a horn and I looked up. My eyes widened. There was a truck speeding towards me, and everything seemed like it was put on slow motion. My legs seemed to be frozen, and I couldn't move. Shit, I thought. Shit, shit shit...
A hand grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back fiercely. I thought I saw my life flash before my eyes, and the truck rushed past me. I thought I felt it brush against my leg for a second, and I just sat there, my eyes wide with shock.
"Are you crazy?! Why would you stand in the middle of the road and not pay attention to what's going on around you? You could have died if I wasn't there!" shouted an angry female voice. I stood up and looked at my savior. She had long black hair tied into two low ponytails, and dark brown eyes. She was a young woman around my age, and she was rather pretty.
"I-I'm sorry..." I said. "T-Thank you very much..." The girl sighed.
"What were you doing there?" she asked.
"I was taking a picture of the cat..." I said. I looked through my camera and showed her the pictures I had taken. She looked through them and her eyes widened.
"...You're pretty good." she said finally. I looked at her.
"R-Really? Thank you very much!" I said.
"We're actually looking for a photographer, if you're interested." she said. She handed me a name card and I looked at it. Hiyori Asahina, idol manager.
"Momo-chan needs a photographer for her new CD jacket, but the photographer we've always had broke his arms while riding down a huge slope on his bike." said Hiyori.
"Momo-chan?" I echoed. Hiyori furrowed her eyebrows.
"Super idol Momo Kisaragi. You haven't heard of her before?" she asked. I shook my head.
"I don't really pay attention to these things... I spent my life chasing after my dream of becoming a photographer..." I said. Hiyori sighed.
"And when I thought the whole world was crazy over her. I guess I need to work harder then." she said. "Anyways, are you in?" I thought about it. I could always use another chance to take photos. It was my dream, anyways.
"Yeah, I'm in." I said. Hiyori smiled, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
"Great! Then follow me!" she said.
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Our destination wasn't far, and I stared at it in awe once we arrived. It was a huge building that looked like it was extremely busy. Hiyori led me into the building and into the elevator. She scanned her ID card and pressed level 5.
"Sorry if this is all of a sudden, but we really do need someone." said Hiyori. I shook my head, despite Hiyori wasn't looking towards me.
"It's fine. You saved my life, after all." I said. Hiyori sighed.
"Well, be careful next time." she said, and we arrived. We walked along rows of doors and we stopped at one of them. Hiyori opened the door and we entered the room.
"Momo-chan, I'm back!" said Hiyori, and the girl sitting on chair turned around. She had long orange hair, and two parts of her hair at the side of her head were pinned back with a white bow-shaped clip. She had black eyes, and she wore a light orange dress with a big white bow at the back and black high heels.
"Ah, Hiyori-chan! Welcome back!" she said, smiling. She tilted her head and looked at me, blinking in confusion. "Who's this?"
"Thanks to me, we've found you a photographer! This is... Uh, what's your name?" asked Hiyori.
"I'm Hibiya Amamiya. Nice to meet you." I said, bowing.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Momo Kisaragi, 26, and I'm an idol! I hope we get along!" she said, bowing.
"Now! Let's get to work." said Hiyori, clapping her hands together. She took a seat beside Momo, and I sat down opposite them.
"Momo-chan's album needs three different jacket covers, so we need three different outfits and places to shoot at. We still don't have any idea yet for what we want to do, so we're going to need some help from you, Amamiya-kun." said Hiyori.
"You can just call me Hibiya." I said. "Um, can I ask why we need three covers?"
"There's First Press Limited Edition A, which is CD+Blu-Ray, First Press Limited Edition B, which is CD+DVD, and there's the Normal Edition." Hiyori replied.
"...I see." I said. I never thought CDs were that confusing. How could people keep track of which version is which and the difference?!
"So, any ideas? We're open to anything right now." asked Hiyori. I thought for a while.
"Do you have a color of preference?" I asked. "Something that... I don't know, symbolizes you?"
"My artist color is orange, so I guess that'll be it." said Momo. I nodded slowly.
"We could have the Normal Edition's outfit be orange, and have the Limited Editions' outfits be black and white. Since the Limited Editions are kind of like "mirroring" each other, I thought we could have outfits with opposite colors..." I said. Hiyori and Momo looked at each other.
"That's cool! That's so cool, Hibiya-kun! We haven't done that before! We could definitely use that!" said Momo excitedly, grabbing my hand. "Right, Hiyori-chan?"
"That's true." said Hiyori, thinking. "I can see it."
"You're amazing, Hibiya-kun!" said Momo, smiling. My face flushed red and I looked away.
"If you so say..." I said.
"Let me call the tailor." said Hiyori, leaving the room while dialing a number. And now, I was all alone with super idol Momo Kisaragi. To be honest, I didn't recognize her name because I never paid any attention to idols and stuff, but seeing her face made me recall all the commercials and TV shows and billboards I saw all the time. I could see that she was world-famous.
"Thanks for helping out, Hibiya-kun." said Momo, smiling. "To be honest, we were really struggling and in a pinch when we found out our photographer was gone." I laughed.
"I would have been crushed by a truck less than an hour ago if Hiyori-san didn't save me. It's the least I could do." I said. Momo looked slightly disappointed for a second, but that was covered up immediately by a kind smile. Just as I was about to say something, Hiyori stormed back into the room.
"I can't believe it!" she fumed, sitting down. "That little... Person! I can't believe it! I'm going to... Urgh!"
"Hiyori-chan?! C-Calm down!" said Momo.
"I can't calm down! The tailor f-ed up as well! He's in the hospital right now and he can't do costumes!" said Hiyori. Momo's eyes widened.
"Seriously?!" she said. "What are we going to do?" I stared at the two panicking girls and sighed.
"Um... I think I can do that as well." I said.
"You can design and make clothes?!" asked Hiyori. I nodded.
"I thought of the idea, so I do have something in mind..." I said.
"Will you do it?" asked Hiyori. I nodded.
"You really are a lifesaver, Hibiya-kun!" said Momo.
"Thank you so much!" said Hiyori. "I need to be somewhere else, so I must leave now. I'll see you both later!" Hiyori grabbed her jacket and rushed out of the room.
"...I guess it's just you and me now." said Momo. I nodded.
"I guess so." I said. Momo walked over to one of the drawers. She brought out a sketchbook and a few pencils and handed it to me.
"You need this to design the outfits, right?" she said. I nodded.
"Thanks." I said. I flipped to the next blank page and started drawing.
"Hiyori-san was freaking out really bad, wasn't she? Even though it wasn't her own album or anything like that." I said. Momo laughed.
"Hiyori-chan's just like that." she said. "She's really passionate about her work, and she really cares a lot about me, haha..."
"I see." I said.
"Apparently she became a fan of mine a long time ago, and when she saw the position for my manager was open, she applied for it." said Momo. "I'm really happy that she's here for me, although it may be a little weird sometimes for someone that's four years younger than me to do the hard work for me."
"So she's the same age as me..." I murmured.
"Why did you decide to become a photographer, Hibiya-kun?" asked Momo all of a sudden. I looked up at her. "I don't know what made me became an idol exactly, so I want to hear about how you found your dream."
"...I grew up in the countryside, and I was inspired to become a photographer during a rare visit to the city." I said. "I took a picture of a girl, and it was that picture that made me find my dream."
"That's so magical!" said Momo, smiling. "It almost seems like fate." I couldn't help but smile.
"Maybe." I said.
"Have you stayed in contact with her at all?" asked Momo. I shook my head.
"No." I said. "I only saw her back. I didn't see her face at all, so I don't know who she is. But I'm still hoping to meet her once again. And when I do, I'll thank her for giving me my dream." Momo smiled.
"I'm sure you'll meet her." she said. "I'm sure of it." I nodded.
"Here you go." I said, and I showed her my sketches. The Limited Edition A outfit consisted of a black jacket outside of a grey dress with an orange ribbon in the chest, a small black hat, grey gloves, and black high heels. The Limited Edition B outfit consisted of a simple white satin dress with a big white bow at the back and white heels. The Normal Edition outfit was the most complicated one. It consisted of a puffy orange dress, an extra collar piece with white frills, an extra piece at the waist, a red choker connected with a big red bow that hang before the chest, a pair of light brown boots, and a huge satin light orange bow at the back.
"...This is so amazing." said Momo. "You're really talented, Hibiya-kun! You're a photographer, and yet you can do the job of a tailor! That's so cool!"
"...It's nothing." I said.
"I'm really glad I met you, Hibiya-kun!" she said, smiling. I blushed and looked away.
"You're annoying, Oba-san..."
I don't know when the next chapter is going to come since I have school, but I promise it will come sometime soon. I hope you've enjoyed this, and please read, review, favorite, follow etc! See you soon!
~Chinnie Ai