The next chapter! Just to tell you, I don't know how IC these characters will be... particularly Vincent, whom I've never come into contact with before. So, just a fair warning to you. Also, thank you all for your kind reviews! The story will start heating up later on - most of this now is needed introductory.

Following Dawn
-II-

"Now, Vincent is going to drop you off, and later on, after someone has taken you through what you're going to be doing, I'll stop by and check up on how things are going," Godo chattered as Yuffie walked down the staircase early that morning. He stared at her critically. "That is what you're wearing the first day of work? Yuffie. You are my daughter. They expect better."

Yuffie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from responding, annoyance growing quickly in the pit of her stomach. First, he had woken her up at the crack of dawn, forced her to shower when she had already done so before going to bed, and then hassled her to hurry up so she wouldn't be late. Now he had to be critical of her outfit? Yuffie thought she was dressed well enough, in a pair of dark boot jeans and some random shirt that would have been fine for work. "What do you suggest I wear, then?" she asked, keeping her voice perfectly monitored of emotion.

"A skirt. Preferably black and pencil, with that white collar top that has two lines of lace down the sides. I know it sounds overly formal, but it is the first day." He smiled, but it hardly reached his eyes. He was all about appearances, and frankly, she couldn't stand it.

Yuffie turned on the stairs and walked back to the room at the very end of the hall: the clothing room. Her father kept rack upon rack of clothing from shoots, and because Yuffie was so small, she fit into almost everything without trouble. The clothing her father was asking for was certainly not going to be in her closet, in any case. Because he kept it coordinated by color, she found both pieces he had described quickly and changed, throwing her clothing on the ground, and walked downstairs. Godo had disappeared, and Vincent was standing at the door, his arms folded. When he saw her, he relaxed and opened the front door.

"Let's get going," she mumbled, looking around for her father in order to throw him the death glance he knew was waiting for him.

Yuffie huffed and whined the second she got in the car to the minute they arrived, and Vincent hummed along sympathetically in response. Once they hit downtown, Yuffie could already see the building: it was one of the tallest in the area, and was also so blindingly metallic that it could be storming and there would still be a glare from simply glancing at it.

Yuffie squirmed in her seat, trying to adjust the tights she was wearing, which were a tad too lose for her legs. The skirt was so tight, her poor butt was immune from the imagination as it highlighted everything perfectly, and her blouse looked like something a fashionable granny would wear.

"Do I look horrible?" she asked Vincent for the fifth time.

"You look fine," he replied, as if it had been the first. "We're here. I'll be by later with Mr. Kisaragi."

"Gotcha," Yuffie said, stepping out of the car and wobbling a little on her heels. She waved goodbye, when all she really wanted to do was beg him to take her away to eat somewhere and pretend like he had actually dropped her off. She knew there would be no such luck.

Yuffie stepped onto the sidewalk and looked up at the building—she couldn't simply glance up; she had to tilt her head at an angle to see the whole thing from this perspective. She pasted a smile on her face. 'Might as well pretend to like it. Maybe all that pretending will make it really happen. Like… direct psychology instead of reverse.'

She walked towards the door, still smiling, and opened them, only to nearly slam it into a tall, lean redhead standing by the glass.

"What the he--!"

"Just get Botox?" the man asked, pointedly looking at her smile, which she had forgotten to remove even after her exclamation.

"Um, no I didn't—"

"Hey, you're Godo's—sorry, Mr. Kisaragi's daughter, aren't you? The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Yuffie stared at him incredulously. Who was this guy?

"My name… is Axel. Got…it…memorized?" He snickered.

"I heard you the first time," she snapped, crossing her arms. "Sorry, I didn't expect to be bombarded the second I walked in here."

"Whoa-ho-ho. So she does have a personality." He raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms as well, then circled her, looking her up and down. Yuffie flushed, feeling extremely awkward. Was this a normal day at work, or was he the anomaly? She glared at him, and suddenly his eyes darkened. "They all come in looking like you. Fake smile pasted on their face, thinking it's going to be a nice, fresh start for them here. But it isn't. They don't even have a clue." His voice had suddenly changed from bright and cheerful to low and moody all at once.

Yuffie honestly had no idea how to respond to him. He was acting just a bit too bipolar for her tastes. She decided to ignore him, a sure way to bother someone who obviously craved attention, or at least responses, and stared at her surroundings. Although her father worked here everyday, and even owned a share, she had never seen the agency before. She was standing in a well lit lobby, and people were walking up the stairs and into elevators, carrying cameras and suitcases. Suddenly, he spoke again.

"Sorry, I like to do that to everyone," Axel said, studying her, although his voice didn't sound quite the same as before. "You know. Knock 'em around a little bit. Make them uncomfortable. Did it work?"

"Look," Yuffie said, putting her hands on her hips. "I came here to work, not be messed around with. I have somewhere to be at the moment, and it isn't with you." She turned around and started walking towards the front desk.

"Actually," he called out to her, faking a yell, although he was hardly two feet from her. Normally, this type of humor was just her style—but today she was not ready to be screwed with. Yuffie had already woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. "Actually, your place is with me, baby. I'm your tour guide for the day."

Yuffie looked over her shoulder, a grin tugging at her mouth, and he sauntered over to her, looking smug. "I was assigned to show you the ropes today. No special treatment, Kisaragi. You're just like the rest of us, considering you're just a lowly assistant."

"Good, I didn't want special treatment, anyway," she replied as he put a hand on her back and whipped his arm out around him like he was showing off an amazing car display.

"This is the lobby. Nothing much to see here. We can go up the elevator and I'll show you the real rooms where you'll be doing your work…"

"What, exactly, am I doing here, anyway?" Yuffie asked as they walked to the elevator. "My dad didn't even bother telling me before I got here."

"Oh," Axel said, scratching the back of his head. "Well, it's pretty simple. You do the models' bidding around here, though for whatever reason, Godo preferred you to be working with the male models. I'm sure he has his reasons," he went on, his voice holding sarcastic layers. She was starting to wonder if her father wasn't exactly a favorite with him.

"Male models?" she mumbled as they stepped into the elevator, alone.

"All man."

Yuffie rolled her eyes, thinking of what her father had had running through his head when he ordered that to be her job. Of course, he probably wanted her to get in good with the guys. It was so like him. All the better for him, right, to have a son-in-law equally as rich as him?

The two lapsed into silence as Axel pressed the up arrow and leaned back against the wall, hands in his pockets.

"So… you're gay, right?" Yuffie finally asked after a few moments had passed, grinning.

Axel looked outraged. "Do I look gay to you? No gay man could ever pull off this look like I can, Kisaragi. Ever seen the way most of 'em dress? Yeah. I have way more class."

"And a bigger ego, right? What else is bigger?" she asked emphatically.

"I don't know, want to take a look?" He opened his arms and glanced down.

Yuffie choked and covered her mouth with her hand. Once the elevator dinged and opened, she stepped out quickly.

"You want it."

"God, is it that obvious," Yuffie stated, turning around and putting her hands on her hips. He smirked and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, for real. Where am I going to be working, and who with?"

Axel tapped his fingers on his chin, his arms still crossed, as he led her down a mildly busy hallway towards what looked like a row of cubicles with various workers working away. "Let's see. I guess it depends who needs you, but the models you'll probably be with are Roxas Winter, Riku Sakamoto, hmm…"

As they were walking, they passed the cubicles, and Axel was opening a grand looking door, standing to the side. Yuffie smiled triumphantly, thinking of Riku. It couldn't be that bad if she was working with him. "Who else? Possibly Vi—"

Just then, the door opened and a man walked right into her. She bit back a cry of surprise and tumbled to the ground, unable to catch herself. Yuffie groaned and looked up slowly. Stormy blue eyes stared down at her, only to be blocked by a shock of red hair moments later.

"Hey, Kisaragi, you all right? Damn, Leon. You could have been paying attention. What were you doing in there?" Axel said as he gave her a hand. Yuffie took it and he yanked her up unceremoniously.

The man, Leon, stared at her, his face pale. Yuffie looked at him a bit shyly, then her jaw dropped open. This was the same man Riku and she had seen the previous night! Yuffie blushed, unable to stop herself. Though he stared at her with a look she couldn't explain, it held none of the rage from the night before. Yuffie couldn't help stare back at him in wonder. What a really, really, unfortunate coincidence. What if today was a good day, and he didn't have that temper from the night before? What would he do if he caught her alone after she overheard his discussion? Yuffie shuddered.

"Who are you?" Leon asked her. Axel stared at him.

"She's the new assistant. Only the one everyone's been talking about for the past few weeks," Axel said finally, annoyed.

Yuffie inwardly groaned. The past few weeks? But that was impossible… unless her father did exactly what she should have expected him to do. Lie. Of course, that's why he had been so adamant the night before about her taking the job, as he had already promised everyone she would be coming in. Bastard.

"Nice to meet you," Leon muttered, brushing past her and walking in the opposite direction. Yuffie turned and watched him go, feeling like she was missing something.

"Is he always like that?" she asked, rubbing her scraped elbow.

"Sometimes," Axel said mysteriously, also watching his retreating back. "He's been out of it lately. I don't blame him, though…"

Yuffie stared, not following.

"Never mind. You'll probably be working with him the most; after all, Godo is in love with him."

"What?!"

"Yeah, Leon's like his first born son. He's one of the first models Godo had recruited, you know. Considers him like his project or something. But you probably knew that already."

"Not really," Yuffie said, thinking about this. "I don't exactly follow my father's career."

"Huh. Good thing," Axel said, stepping into the room Leon had previously been in. "What the hell was he doing in here, anyway? That must've been why he looked like he pissed himself. Got caught in your new room, and with you being Godo's daughter…"

Yuffie sighed with annoyance. She didn't exactly ask to be Godo's daughter, or to be treated like this.

"Tada. So this is your new room."

Yuffie looked around, smiling despite herself. It was a really nice room. There was a large window in the back wall with a gorgeous view of the city, a work table, a bookshelf wall on the right side, a desk, and numerous other things and gadgets scattered around the room.

Axel took in her expression. "Nice, right? I guess Godo wants his little daughter to have all the best. Well, I'm out. Good luck, Kisaragi."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Yuffie exclaimed as he started walking out the door.

"Can't resist me after all, huh?"

"What am I supposed to do, now?" she asked, ignoring his comment.

"Go find a male model in distress. Who knows."

And with that he walked out, humming to himself as he closed the door behind him. Yuffie sighed and crossed her arms, feeling strange in this room alone, and took a seat at the desk, wondering what that man had been doing in her room. She scanned the bookshelf and the worktable, trying to look for anything that seemed disturbed – but at the same time, if someone had just been setting the room up, it made sense that things might be a little out of order.

Something on the desk caught Yuffie's eye, however – a drawer on the right side of the desk, partially opened with a slip of paper sticking out. She slid back in her chair and pulled it open. Inside was a pile of untidy papers. She picked the first one up, and read the top.

From the desk of Yuffie Kisaragi.

The piece she was holding up was slightly wrinkled, as if someone had been gripping it. She frowned and looked at it closer, wondering why her father would go through all this trouble for someone who was a lowly assistant.

Before she could muse any further, the door of her room opened; she refused to think of it as an office. She glanced up, startled.

"What the hell, Yuffie?" said an all too familiar voice good naturedly. "Godo finally got you to come up and work with him?"

"Riku," Yuffie said in greeting, and slight relief. For some reason she had been expecting Leon. Riku walked into the room, hands in his pockets as he surveyed what they had set up for her.

"This is really nice. What are you supposed to be, head of the secretarial branch or something? You look really weird in that clothing, by the way."

"Thanks. But that is exactly what I was wondering," Yuffie said, crossing her arms. "Well, you know my dad. He always goes over the top with this stuff."

"Yeah," he said, stopping to look at her. "We need you down in the dressing room. They want you to take my measurements."

"So they sent you to tell me this?"

He smiled sheepishly. "They were going to send one of the lowly ones, but I decided to grace you with my presence as a direct messenger. And I wanted to steal some candy from the little jars they set up on the desks." Yuffie glanced down. Indeed, there was a bowl of candy on the corner. He grabbed a handful of some kind of chocolate and popped in one his mouth. "Come on."

"This sucks!" Yuffie said as they walked down numerous halls. "I just want to be lazy over summer break. Kick back, relax, practice karate or something, and check out hot guy sat the pool. This is so not my thing."

"Stop whining. At least there are plenty of guys here for you to stare at," Riku said as the stopped in front of a nondescript door. "Now, prepare yourself. There are male models in here who are half naked. Don't get too excited or they might just have to fire you, even if you are Mr. Kisaragi's daughter."

"Shut up, loser," Yuffie said, pushing him. She laughed as he looked wounded. Even though this day had so far been a bust, at least Riku could make her feel more like herself. She was starting to look forward to this, and the prospect of hot guys walking around without shirts was a nice plus.

The door opened without the help of either Riku or Yuffie, and a dark haired woman stuck her head out the door. "I thought I heard your voice, Riku. Hurry up and get inside, it took you 'til Christmas to get here. I knew I should have sent someone else."

"Sorry, sorry," Riku muttered, stepping into the room and pulling his shirt off. Yuffie tried, nearly unsuccessfully, to avert her eyes as she followed him in. She wasn't interested in Riku at all, but just like a gruesome fight or a really ugly person, you can't help but stare at a naked body. Yuffie started laughing to herself, wondering what Riku would think if she compared his body to one of those two examples.

"You must be Mr. Kisaragi's girl," the woman said, standing by rows and rows of clothing and needles. "Do you know how to take measurements?"

Yuffie choked down her laughter. "No."

"Sew clothing?"

"No."

"Take snapshots?"

"Um… probably."

The woman rolled her eyes. "At least you're good for something. Come on, I'll show you how to take measurements."

"They have to redo mine," Riku said smugly. "I think I put on some muscle weight."

"More like fat weight," the woman said, snatching the few remaining candies from his hand.

"Hey!" he cried, scandalized.

"You're supposed to be on a diet!"

"I am on a diet!"

"So what were those candies doing in your hand then, mister?"

"I don't know how they got there."

"Right," she said, holding up a measuring tape. There were a few other models in the room being worked on as well, but Yuffie had an easier time ignoring them than Riku. "Now, what was your name again? Yuffie? Whatever. Anyways, first we're going to measure his height from shoulder down so you just… you just place the tape on his shoulder, then lower yourself slowly down…"

Riku started snickering.

"…and then stop at his feet. Got it?"

"Yeah," Yuffie said, throwing a death glare Riku's way.

"Now you try it."

Do I have to? she thought, but grabbed the measuring tape and followed her example. She could feel Riku shaking, probably with poorly withheld laughter, but refused to look up at his face. This was too demeaning.

"Now what did you read?" the woman asked.

Yuffie looked at her tape. "Um...?"

She sighed. "We have a lot of work to do."

Thirty minutes later, after an agonizing lesson on measuring each and every body part on a male model's being, Yuffie was finally schooled on measurements. Hopefully she wouldn't forget it in the next few hours. The dark haired woman, whose name turned out to be Kreya, gave her the measuring tape they had been working with.

"Now, use it well. I think we're done for the day. Mr. Kisaragi called not too long ago and said he would be coming in, so you should probably get yourself ready to see him."

Yuffie raised her eyebrows. Get herself ready to see him? Right. Like he didn't always see her dressed in pajamas and messy hair everyday, nevertheless what she was wearing now, dressed fancily.

"Don't look like that, young lady. Mr. Kisaragi is a very important man, and you as his daughter should know that the most."

"I look good that way I am, don't you think, Riku?" Yuffie asked sweetly, turning towards him.

He sputtered. "Uh, yeah I guess."

"Thank you. But I think I'll just go back to my room… chill out there—"

"Yes, Yuffie?" said a different voice, the voice that could make her cringe. Her father was standing in the doorway, looking on them with approval. "Working hard, I see."

"I was just teaching your daughter how to take measurements, sir," Kreya said, flushing a bit, though it was so subtle Yuffie almost missed it.

"Good, good. I hope by the end of the month she'll be helping construct clothing."

"Yes, I was planning for that, too."

"Perfect. How did you like your room, Yuffie?"

Yuffie glanced at Riku, avidly wanting to get out of this situation, but he just shrugged. She knew there was nothing he could do, anyway. "It was nice, Dad. Thanks."

"No problem. You probably won't be spending most of your time in there, if my workers have you on your feet like I want you to be."

Yuffie nodded; there wasn't much she could say to that.

"I want you to meet one of our biggest models here at Rain, Yuffie," Godo said, walking towards her and putting a hand on her upper back. "He's in the middle of a shoot right now. I want you to watch him in action."

Godo led Yuffie through another set of hallways, until they got to a large room where a backdrop was set up, and standing against it, was none other than Leon. She should have known, after what Axel had already told her.

"Now, Yuffie," Godo said, dropping his hand and lowering his voice. "I want you to be friends with Leon, or even more… you know, he's not much older than you, and you haven't been dating for so long, I thought that…"

"Dad!" Yuffie said loudly, making everyone, including Leon, turn their heads. The photographer looked severely annoyed. He shushed her, his expression annoyed.

"Just think about it, Yuffie. If not Leon, then Riku. If not Riku, then… Roxas. I don't know. I don't want to force anything, honey…" he trailed off, backtracking.

Sure you don't.

"Just forget I said anything."

Don't worry, I will.

"But I was hoping that you could be a particular assistant to Leon Leonhart. His last assistant was unfortunately… she became ill recently, and I thought you would be perfect for the job. It's fairly easy as well, and you know, you would have a much higher pay raise, being a specific assistant to a model so high up in our agency."

Yuffie glanced at Leon, who had gone back to posing. It was good posing, Yuffie could tell, even if she wasn't acquainted with the mechanics of modeling as a career. He was sitting on a white chair and had his arm draped across it, his expression looking cool and slightly mysterious. Godo saw her watching him.

"He's good, isn't he? It would be an honor to be his assistant."

"What if I say no?"

"Then you'll know what I'll say. Honey, I really think this will be good for you. You will still help out the other models, just not quite as much. I know you're fond of Riku, Yuffie, but—"

"I am not!"

"The point is, think about it. I won't make you make the decision now. Sleep on it. Now, it looks like he's done. Let's go meet him."

"I've already met him," Yuffie said indignantly as he once again led her somewhere she was unwilling to go. Godo was about to say something, but Leon had already spotted them.

"Leon! This is my daughter, Yuffie, but she says you've already met?"

Leon glanced at her, his face looking… pleading? "Yes, we met earlier today." Yuffie glanced at him surprised. She thought for sure he would have mentioned the night before at the party.

"I'm glad you were introduced, then. I was just telling Yuffie she should take the job as your assistant."

"Were you?" Leon responded uncomfortably.

"Yes, and she really is a hardworking girl when she puts her mind to it. I think the job would be good for her as well."

Leon seemed to be growing more and more agitated the longer they spoke to him. Godo looked at him with mild concern.

"What's wrong, Leon? You look white as a ghost."

"I haven't eaten yet," he said, rubbing a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, I should go."

"Of course. Yuffie, Vincent will be waiting outside in thirty minutes, and I'm going to make a few rounds. Make yourself useful, all right?"

"Sure, Dad," Yuffie responded, and Godo left, making a few comments to some of the workers who were hovering over a screen, probably full of Leon's photos.

"So," Yuffie said, glancing at Leon, who was watching Godo, and he truly did look very white. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Look. About last night. It was nothing. I know I shouldn't ask you this, but – please don't say anything about it. It's been taken care of, and I don't know what Go – he would do if he found out." Leon looked at her, pleading with her. Yuffie had the impression he wasn't the pleading sort of guy.

"I-I won't say anything," Yuffie said, surprised. "I wasn't planning on it. It was private, and I shouldn't have been – hey, Leon, are you all right? I think you – "

Leon stumbled suddenly into the wall, and fell onto his knees. Yuffie felt her heart jump. "Oh my god. Are you all right? Should I call someone?"

"I'm fine," Leon said, his voice strained. His voice seemed steady, but his face wasn't gaining any color, and his face held a sheen of sweat. He seemed shocked that he had fallen, and that stopped him from trying to get up, Yuffie assumed – or he couldn't get up at all. Yuffie knelt down next to him and he looked at her, his eyes blank.

"I just need – a second," he said quietly, and in a few moments, he stood up, although unsteadily. Yuffie raised herself up with him and grabbed his arm to help him. She couldn't believe no one had seen this and come to help; she glanced around, and realized that they were the only ones around. When had the room cleared out so quickly?

"Let me help you," Yuffie said, but he shook his head and shook his arm out of her grip.

"I'm fine," he replied, his voice low. She felt frustrated. Now was no time for him to save his pride.

"Do you have a room?" He nodded.

"You don't have to come with me. I just got dizzy all of the sudden, and…" He trailed off. "I just need to eat something."

Yuffie wasn't sure if it was normal for people to just collapse when they hadn't eaten, but she quieted herself and grabbed his arm again.

"I'm coming with you."

Leon resigned himself to her, and he led the way down the hall to his room, or at least, to some sort of models lounge. No one was inside, but there was a table of dry food in the back. He seemed to be fine now, Yuffie realized, and she let go of her grip on his arm. He basically ignored her and went to the back, took a plate, and started piling food onto it.

"Are you really okay now?" Yuffie asked hesitantly, wondering if she had overreacted and feeling slightly embarrassed with herself for it. He turned towards her and nodded.

"Thank you," he said awkwardly, his blue eyes on hers. "I'm fine, though. You should go. You shouldn't be in here." It did seem to be a model's only lounge.

Yuffie nodded and swallowed, turning around and walking out the door. Before she closed it, she saw him eating, his back once again turned. There was a clock above the doorway, reading 4:27.

"Shit!" she said, pushing Leon to the back of her mind and walking quickly down the hallways to the lobby, where Vincent was sure to be waiting for her. She had forgotten all about him once Leon fell.

Once she got into the lobby, she was completely surprised to find him not waiting for her at all, but idling in the car on the curb. Usually he would wait for her – but it was unimportant to think about. She walked out the doors and got into the backseat without greeting him. He started driving away, and Yuffie wondered where Godo was.

"How was your first day at work?" Vincent inquired, studying Yuffie from his driving mirror. Did he notice something different in her?

"Fine," she said finally, watching the scenery blur past the window, away from her, and away from the agency. Home was waiting.

Thanks for reading! Pleeease review. It would make me so happy, and definitely encouraged to write sooner. :D Especially with the holidays coming up... I won't have schoolwork to worry about (and I always have a LOT) so I'll have a new chapter out soon, hopefully.