Hello people who are kind enough to read my story! Well, here's chapter 2... I hope it's entertaining enough for people to want to keep reading this story... Oh, and I need more help developing this story because, to be honest, I have no idea where this plot is going! And I apologize for the long wait! Now, let's begin!

Title: Perfect Image

Rating: T

# of Words: 2,822

Chapter 2: Yumi And The Beast

"Yumichika, you're on in ten!" I sighed, twirling around in my chair to face the large mirror in front of me. These photo shoots were quite annoying; they're both time consuming and often times uncomfortable, despite how lavish everything may seem to be. And the worst part yet, was that there was sure to be at least three more tomorrow, four more the next day… Well, I guess you can see I'm not satisfied with my life. I mean, come on! Any normal fourteen-year-old guy would be dating hot girls, going to school – and probably hating it – and dealing with stupid teachers, playing sports and video games with his friends, eating junk food until he felt bloated. Me, I've never been able to experience these things.

What I saw in that mirror wasn't me. Or to put it more accurately, it wasn't what I wanted to be. It was something much more plastic and unrealistic looking. Porcelain skin, shoulder length color treated black-blue hair, high cheekbones that were meant for a girl, sunken violet eyes filled with despair, and long too skinny limbs that hung off his body awkwardly. No human should be able to see their bones popping out of their faces or bodies, or have skin so white that it looks as if it could break, or have hair that doesn't remember what color it was for it has had so many color treatments. How much I longed for an escape from my life! This was all because of my family… If they had never had been in the modeling agency, this would have never happened…

"Yumichika! Why haven't you put on your outfit yet? The shoot's starting in five!" I slid out of the chair, and faced no other than Rangiku Matsumoto, former model as well as my agent.

Now it's easy to see why this woman wanted to join the modeling agency; she was positively stunning. Long strawberry blond hair framed her heart shaped face, and complimented her crystal blue eyes. She was also one of the bustiest ladies in the modeling business; and what's even more amazing is that she didn't get implants to enhance them. Unlike me, Rangiku came from a poor town in the slums of Japan, but had always wanted to become a model. I'm not exactly sure how she found herself at the highest level of the modeling industry, but she certainly fits the part and does a good job.

"Now we're going to fix you up nicely!" she cooed, as she rummaged through the racks of clothing sitting beside the mirror. In maybe ten seconds flat, she had an outfit in her hands, and was shoving them into me while pushing me into the dressing room off set.

"Trust me, you'll look great!" Flashing me a blinding smile, Rangiku ran off somewhere – probably to talk to one of the photographers or get herself a treat – leaving me to change into the clothes I was going to model. I slipped out of my fuzzy white robe and pulled on a long silk blue shirt with gold trimmings around the collar and handcuffs. It surprised me how long the shirt was; it reached mid shin on me. I was assuming it was styled to be some kind of ancient Japanese sleeping attire.

The sleeves were three quarter sleeve length, but the black and red swirling designs around the bottom of the shirt as well as the large black and red dragon snaking across the front and back midsection of it dressed it up. Well, at least it wasn't another shoot where I had to "show off my body" as those damn directors and photographers requested. If anything, I disapproved of not being clothed for these shoots, but if the public wanted more seductiveness, I was to give them more seductiveness. It's just how the modeling world works. Whatever the public wants, the models give it to them.

Upon arriving on the scene, three different makeup artists rushed at me, all applying last minute touches on my makeup to make sure I looked his best. Now, you're probably thinking, "Guys wear makeup?!?!" It is true, every human being stuck in the life of a model must wear makeup; it's a requirement.

The director greeted me with a warm smile, shaking my hand and debriefing me about the shoot and how things were going to be run. "At this director seems nice, unlike some I've had," I thought to myself, recalling all the horrible directors I'd had in the past.

"Good to meet you, Ayasegawa-san. I'm the director who will be running your shoot. My name is Nobuo Kazuhiro. You may call me whatever you wish." The man was quite a bit taller than me, but had a caring smile and a warm, welcoming aura about him. I decided that I liked him enough to try and give him a good shoot, even though I hated my job. I might as well try to give the poor guy a couple of good pictures, because he really didn't seem like one of those people.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Nobuo-san. I promise to try my hardest!" I cracked a wide, toothy grin at the man and he grinned back. Oh man, was this guy a push over or what? He couldn't even tell when someone was faking a smile. Or maybe it was that he had gotten so good at faking his happiness that no one could tell anymore… Now that was kind of sad.

"… You know what to do. You'll be great!" Crap, I just missed the instructions that Nobuo guy gave me! I guess that will teach me to stop going off on tangents in my mind when I'm supposed to be focusing on my messed up job. Whatever, I guess I'll just have to improvise. I mean, winging something and making the best out of the worst situations is what I've been doing all my life.

Nobuo had already taken his seat and was waiting patiently for me to begin posing. Sighs, this guy is too nice for his own good. I walked over toward the set which consisted of blue silk streams hanging from the ceiling over a red velvet long chase lounge and gently set myself down onto the chase lounge. I hear the clicking of cameras and the blinding flashes envelop my body, as I change my body positions and facial expressions. A couple of shots lying down, looking mournful. Then half sit up, look exhausted. After, sitting upright with legs handing off the ground with a few shots of looking solemn and maybe some even looking passionately into the camera. Around two hours later, the shoot is done and I can relax.

"Simply amazing, Ayasegawa-san! You certainly have your family's blood in you! All of these shots will be perfect to advertise the Kyoraku clothing company! I'm sure the Kyoraku corporation would be willing to give you the clothing you're wearing, if you'd like. I mean, it IS the new style of their company after all, and I'm sure they're very appreciative of all the work you've done for them…" Nobuo just kept on blabbering, as I got up from the lounge and started to walk back toward the dressing room. Not that I wanted to be disrespectful, but all I really wanted at that moment was to change out of these clothes and for him to shut the hell up so I could have some peace and quiet to myself.

It was strange; after seeing me in action, Nobuo went a little off his rocker. He seemed so calm and collected before, but now he's going all rapid fire on me, telling me things at speeds the ear was never made to be able to follow. Damn, all I want to do is relax for a moment! Gathering my composer as quickly as possible, I put on that fake model persona that every single person in my phony family would be proud of.

"Ano… Nobuo-san? I've kind of got to change now… and there are a lot of other shoots I have to get too…" Cracking another brilliant smile, I slowly backed away from the overzealous director, hoping he would get the message and allow me my ten minutes of peace.

"Gomen, gomen, Ayasegawa-san! I'll leave you to yourself. A thousand apologies… I just got extremely excited because I got to work with you first hand. You have such a famous family legacy in the modeling industry that… I don't even know what I want to say anymore! It was such an honor to shoot and work with you! Maybe we can work together sometime – "

"It was nice to get to know you too, but I've really got to go." With that, I pushed past the man who was still looking at me with admiration in his eyes. Once completely off set, I let my mask drop, allowing fatigue to shadow over me. The rest of the population wouldn't believe how much modeling takes out of you, both physically and mentally. Quickly, I stripped off the attire I had just modeled, and grabbed a pair of baggy jeans with a chain dangling from the belt loops, and a white deep v-neck t-shirt, sliding it all on. Thinking it could possibly be chilly out, I also grabbed a black leather jacket, stuffed my cell phone and some money into one of the side pockets, and shrugged it over my shoulders. I sighed, slowly walking over to the far side of the dressing room and plopping down onto the couch. "Now, this would be an absolutely perfect end to a shoot if Ran – "

"YUMICHIKA DARLING! YOU WERE MUCHO FABULOUSO! EVERYONE LOVED YOU, AND YOU TOTALLY WORKED IT TODAY! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU, BUT YOU SEEM TO BE IMPROVING! LIKE, REALLY DRASTICALLY! SO KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, AND GET YOUR LAZY ASS OFF THAT COUCH! IT'S MAKING YOUR POSTURE LOOK SLOOPY! AND LASTLY, LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Rangiku's voice blared through my ears, causing me to lurch upward. She really doesn't have more than one volume setting to her… I gave Rangiku my best death glare, implying she was annoying me and killing my ears, but she just smiled at me and skipped over to where I was sitting. She plunked down next to me, and gave me a huge hug.

Oh god, there's nothing like a Rangiku hug. Literally, she takes you, embraces – no, more like glomps you, with her bustyness and all - you, and squeezes you half to death. Sometimes, I think she'll actually snap me in half. My bones aren't all that strong, and her monster hugs aren't really that good for the body if you're as stickly as I am.

"Oh Yumi-chan, you're so beautiful, you know that? Your parents would be so proud of you if they were still on this earth with us." Slowly, she detached herself from embracing me, and gave me a quick peck on my cheek. I tried not to flinch, as she began to walk back toward the exit.

"Remember, my precious darling! You have about an hour of free time before you have to meet me at the main office! Be there, OR ELSE!" Rangiku stuck her tongue out at me, and swiftly left the room.

It really wasn't her fault I was in such a bad mood. She didn't know how much her words about my... My family… stung me. It was always happening – people mentioning my family I mean – but still… I could never get over the thought of my family being "proud" of me. I mean, yeah sure, I wanted them to love me and care for me like normal parents did to normal children. The thing is, they were not normal parents, therefore I did not turn out to be a normal kid. Even after death, they somehow dragged me into their dream life, and my idea of a hellhole.

I've never told anyone this, but what I've always wanted was to be loved for who I really am. Not for what everyone thinks I should be. But for me; the true me. Okay, go ahead and laugh. It's okay to laugh, because that's what I know people would do if word ever gets around. Because people are stupid; they think that I enjoy this kind of life. A life filled with wealth, popularity, the idea of being special. What they don't see is all the downsides this can bring. I haven't ever been to school. I starve myself. I'm mentally unstable. And I'm depressed. Do any of you think this sounds like a good life? I think (or at least, I hope) you never have to deal with this kind of life. If you want to be a model, then go right ahead. But never let yourself be forced into it. Unless you want my fate. The fate of being an extremely lost, unhappy, person.

Okay, enough pouring my heart out. Time to go. Lifting myself completely of the couch, I made my way to the door. Once I was out of the accursed dressing room, I carefully pulled the hood of my jacket over my head, so average civilians wouldn't be able to recognize and attack me while I took my hour long break.

The city known as Seireitei seemed so lively as my feet carried me through the hustle and bustle of the life everyday people experience. People were selling things off of their vendors, men and women were scuffling along heading off to work, children pranced and played games in the local squares and public gardens.

As I walked, I found my legs enroute to taking me to a familiar place; Kuchiki Corner. Kuchiki Corner is a small sake and tea shop on the far edge of the city. It's located in the sixth district of Seireitei – which was quite a walk, on account of being was in the tenth district currently – but it had the most fabulous tea in the entire world. It is also once of the prettiest places I've ever been, and, for some strange reason, it was always the place where I went to relax. I discovered it because Rangiku has a friend who works there, and ever since that first visit, I've become an annual customer.

Suddenly, the ground lurched beneath me, and I found myself on the ground, with many different kinds of food spread around me.

"Oi, watch where you're going, baka!" A muscular bald boy around my age stared down at me, as if attempting to glare daggers into my soul. He wore a black pullover hoodie, with ripped black jeans to match. From what I could tell, he also had some kind of strange red tattoo on his skull... He almost reminded me of some kind of beast... Oh for the love of Pete, what have I gotten myself into?

"You should watch out for people in the sidewalk, you don't own it," I said haughtily, trying to keep my cool as I brushed myself off.

"Damn you! You squished the squash! AND you shattered Ma's sakura juice! You'd better pay for it!" The beast growled at me, jamming his index finger into my chest. No normally, I would stand up for myself in these kinds of situations, but, because I wasn't in the mood to get beaten to a bloody pulp, I obeyed him, to avoid being slaughtered. Slowly, I reached into my pocket, and took out the small sum of money I had on me. Before I could give it to him, the money was out of my hands and stuffed in his pants pocket.

"Well? Aren't you going to pick up the food you dropped?" The beast sneered at me, pointing down at the food surrounding me. I rapidly shoved the food back into the bags he was carrying, and scooted back to give me distance between him.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't cross paths with me again." With that, he briskly walked away from me, his groceries underneath his arm. Well, that was fun. I got shoved down to the ground by a neighborhood bully, lost all the money I had on me, and just got put into a sour mood because of all of it.

"Perfect. I know you really love me, world, but today just isn't my day!" Yelling this at the top of my lungs, I stormed off toward Kuchiki Corner. Yes, I had no money to get anything like originally planned, but I needed to cool off somewhere…

I felt something strange after that encounter, though. I know I was a tad pissed off that I had just lost my money. Except, normally, I keep my cool when those kinds of incidents happen... But, what was this strange heart racing feeling I was still experiencing? Was it because of fear? I didn't think so; I'm quite good at holding an unbreakable composure. But, weirdly enough… I somehow felt… Different? I can't explain the feeling. Maybe it was that he treated me the way he would treat any normal person… That's something no one has ever really done. And, even odder than that, I did think he was kind of attractive… Oh my god, am I crushing on a muscular bald guy?!?!?!?!?!

Okay, that was a horrible way to end a chapter... This thing definitely needs work! So people, anyone willing to help the author in need? Shoot me a PM or a review, because they make me happy, and when the author is happy, you get to read more! Please tell me what you think of this story!!! Should I continue it, or not?