A/N: If you recognize it, or them, it's not mines. I only own Sorano Otsuki, my O.C.
-Chapter 1: Lucky Sorano-
Sorano Otsuki huffed into her cupped hands a cloud of warm air and stuffed them in the pockets of her long, grey overcoat. She silently cursed as her breath fogged up her black, plastic-rimmed glasses. She strolled down a small sidewalk of shops, hoping to find one that sold formal dresses.
"Come on. One of these shops has to have some kind of formal wear."She wrapped her black scarf around her delicate neck and pulled out her dirty blonde, shoulder-length hair from underneath it. As she re-adjusted her grey headband and matching hair barrette, she moved the portion of her bangs, dyed pink, from her vision, gazing at the grey, November sky with pale brown eyes as another blanket of snow fell. "I hope I don't get snowed in somewhere. I've got to get home." She said as her knee-high, brown, two-inch, lace-up boots crunched in the white powder on the ground when she walked.
Her family was celebrating her father's birthday by having a formal dinner party, which was in two weeks, and she didn't have a dress to wear, or a date to impress her mother. Having an unmarried, 24-year-old daughter is not very much to talk about to other friends or relatives.
Sorano's excuse for it was: 'I'm focusing on my career right now. I don't want to marry young' And her mother's reply was: 'Well, you're not getting any younger, honey.'
As the woman sighed while recalling her mother's words, a floral-decorated sign had caught her eye. "Trust Comes First…Ayame…Value From the Heart?"
She read the sign aloud, thinking it was an odd name. She looked inside through the window and saw some dressy clothing put on display. One thing that caught her eye was a rather skimpy…maid's uniform. She grabbed the cold, metal door handle and pulled the door open, jingling the bell over it.
"Hello? Is anyone here? I came looking for a dress…" The blonde woman walked into the store hesitantly as she shouted to the quiet area. It was dimly lit and had many shelves that held fabrics most likely able to clothe an entire city. Her eyes brightened as she excitedly approached a gorgeous, mid-length summer dress in pink, a color she adored. "These designs are so beautiful!"
Out of curiosity, Sorano wandered through the various shelves, studying and feeling the different materials. Startled by the sweet laughter of a woman, she quickly turned towards the back of the shop, clumsily bumping into a shelf. A large box of white lace fell off the top of the shelf, and onto her. "AAHH!! Oh my God!"
The long frills turned into a tangled mess as the woman struggled to remove them. She tried to find a way out of the billowy fabric when she cried out, hoping someone was around to hear her. "Can someone help me?! Please?!"
Two long, elegant hands pushed through the lace, nearly touching her surprised face. The hands lifted and pushed the lace away for a man's beautiful face to come into her view, like curtains revealing a work of art. He had narrow, golden yellow eyes and long white, almost silver hair that flowed down to his knees. He was tall, almost six feet, had long limbs, and skin lighter than hers, which only complemented his alluring looks, "I am a fortunate man to find a pale-eyed angel hidden in pure, white lace as fair as her skin!"
His beautiful words put a pink glow in her cheeks. How he described her was nothing like how she really was in her opinion. His voice alone was enchanting, smooth, and velvety. He effortlessly lifted the pile of lace off of her and let it fall to her feet. His smooth hand brushed her cheek, giving her chills. With a nervous smile, she turned to him and bowed apologetically, "I'm sorry about that. I was looking through the fabrics out of curiosity when I got startled and bumped into a shelf, knocking the box over."
"Nothing to worry about, Miss. There's no damage done, so everything's fine."
"Oh, I promise, I would pay for anything in your store if I damaged it."
"Oh? I wasn't referring to my shop," He put his hand under her chin and looked deeply into her eyes, making her blush intensely. "If there was a single scratch on you, I would think the world would end."
"O-oh…I see…" She turned beet red.
He moved away from her and put the lace back into the box it was in.
"Now then…I am Ayame Sohma himself. What tasks have you come here to honor me with?"
"W-well, I need a dress for my father's formal dinner party. I saw a few of your designs, and I was hoping that you might be able to help me."
He suddenly stood with the biggest grin on his face, "Certainly, my fair maiden! Oh, Miiine-chaaan!"
He called out a name to the back of the shop in a sing-song voice. Just then, a young woman popped out from the back room. She had short, black hair, worn in braided pigtails, large, brown eyes, with glasses resting on her face in front of them. The one thing that was the most peculiar about her was that she wore a dress matching the same design as the white-haired man's clothing.
"Yes, Ayame-san!" She saluted cheerfully.
"Could you please assist me in creating the perfect dinner party dress for this lovely woman beside me?" He presented Sorano to her.
"With pleasure!"
The dark-haired woman got a sudden gleam in her eyes, putting slight fear in Sorano's mind. She grabbed both of her arms and pulled her onto a high platform with three mirrors around the front of it. Mine removed her overcoat and scarf, showing her classy, yet casual look. She wore a vertical-striped green and white, quarter-sleeve shirt with a grey vest with only one button closed over her chest, and a denim blue skirt that stopped just above her knees. The whole outfit complemented her curves very well. For a good ten minutes or so, the man and woman stared intently at the blonde woman's body and murmured ideas to each other.
It made her uncomfortable, but eventually, the two looked at each other with "ah-HAH!" faces and pumped their fists and said at the same time, "That's perfect!"
Their outburst made her jump, "Wh-what? What do you have in mind?"
Ayame took measuring tape out of his pocket as his enthusiastic assistant removed the woman's boots, revealing green, knee-high socks. The man measured her leg length as he said, "You have a perfectly toned figure. Tell me, are you in the modeling business, Miss…"
He paused, not knowing her name. She realized that she never introduced herself to him, and decided to so the he didn't think she was rude or anything, "Otsuki. I'm Sorano Otsuki. And, no, I'm an author of romance novels. I just like to keep fit."
As he wrote down the measurements on a paper, he looked up at her after hearing what her career was, "Romance novels? Tell me; are you the novelist with the pen name 'Sora Hime'?"
"Heh, that's right."
"Wow! You write such lovely stories, Otsuki-san!"Mine was beaming. It was obvious that she was a fan of her work. The long-haired man continued measuring and writing down numbers.
"Oh, thank you. I'm glad you enjoy my books."
"I've heard of you from my close relative. He says you are very talented. You wouldn't happen to know a man named Shigure Sohma, now would you?"
"Of course! His novels are wonderful! He's related to you?!"
"Mm-hmm. He's my cousin, and I visit frequently because he's taking care of my little brother, Yuki."
"Wow, I can't believe Shigure Sohma likes my work. I'm so glad."
Sorano put her hands over her heart as Mine measured her waistline. She couldn't believe someone's work she adored so much complemented her work as well.
"If you'd like, you can come along the next time I visit him."
"Really? I'd love to! That's so generous of you! What can I do for you in return?"
"Hmm…How about inviting me to this party that you'll be attending?"
"My father's birthday?"
"You'll be wearing the dress I designed. I'm sure someone there would love it so much that they would want to speak to me about it. Think of it as promotional advertising."
"Heh heh…Come to think of it, I do need a date for that night." This was too good to be true. The pale brown-eyed girl accomplished to find a place to make a dress for her, she found a date for the party, and she'll possibly get to meet one of her favorite authors. All of her worries seemed to disappear.
"Then it's settled! You'll be able to go to the party in a stunning dress, and I'll be able to tell everyone that I made it!"
"Ayame-san, you always come up with everything!"
"It's true! I can fix all sorts of problems! Ha ha ha!"
"Well, we have the measurements and the basic idea of the dress. Everything seems to be taken care of for now. When do you need this finished?"
"The party is two weeks from now." Sorano laced her boots up and tied them as she spoke to him while sitting on the model platform.
"Let's see, today's Friday, so if we get started now, we should have it finished by Monday. Are you able to come in that day?"
Sorano was putting on her coat when she stopped and looked at him a bit surprised, "You'd have it done that soon? I'm impressed."
"Actually, we don't have too many projects at the moment, and Mine and I are very hard workers."
"I see…Well, thank you for all of your help, Sohma-san."
"Oh, please, you don't need to be so formal. 'Ayaa-kun' is just fine."
"Ayaa-kun? Alright, then, you can call me Sorano-chan." She bowed to him and wrapped her scarf around her neck. She walked a few steps but stopped after Ayame caught her attention.
"Oh, that's right! You wanted to visit Shigure sometime. If you're free, I'm planning on seeing him this Saturday."
"Really? Saturday's perfect for me!"
She asked for a piece of paper from his notepad, wrote down something, and then handed it back to him. "Here's my address, home and cell phone number if you need it. I live only a short walking distance from this shop, so you can call ahead and I'll come over here, or you can come get me. Just let me know."
"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Okay, and thanks again!" The young woman waved goodbye and walked out of the store.
She left a smile on the slender man's face, but a pensive stare on his assistant's, "Such a lovely girl, wouldn't you agree, Mine-chan? She's a bit awkward, though."
She didn't answer at first, but she soon responded to him when he leaned over to look at her face that was angled toward the floor, "Mine-chan? Is something the matter?"
"Huh? Oh, no! I'm fine! She is a nice woman, yes."
"Well, we should start on that dress! Leaving a customer disappointed is the worst thing that can happen!"
Mine stared at the back of him as he strolled away cheerfully. Her eyes saddened as her mind feared for the worst. Had he fallen for another woman?
(End of Ch.1)
A/N: Okay, so for those that have already read this, I just changed some things! I made Sorano more…nerdy lol. I thought she was too Mary-sue ish with how I had the story before, so there we go! Chapter two is posted, but please read this first. Sorry to change the story on you guys! Tell me what you think!