"Now turn around… remember 'graceful like a swan'"
Graceful like a swan
"No no no. You're not doing it right"
"Yes iam"
"No your not!"
"Ugh! This is silly, how can my posture and my walk make me a better person"
Kotoko complained as she removed the books away from the top of her head
"A proper woman knows how to carry herself gracefully...literally"
Kotoko groaned
"Here" hirosaki pulled out a stick from the closet, he placed it where her spine would be located and grabbed some tape, sticking it unto her back.
"What are you doing?" Kotoko giggled
He was so close to her, but the tape was tickling her, hirosaki taped it securely and looked at her
Hands on her shoulders
as if he was about to kiss her.
Too close
"There, now by doing this you'll be able to keep your back straight... now go. I'll start the treadmill "
Kotoko sighed in discomfort
She was wearing 3 inched heels
With a long stick taped on her back
Hirosaki places the books on top of her head then starts the machine
The two spent most of their days together, hirosaki was teaching her how to walk, talk, run, eat, and even dress like a real woman.
She had no idea he had so much knowledge in these kind of things.
But then again, he lived with hanako-chan who even bragged about how it was her brother who cut her hair and did her make-up that got her the role as a popstar back in the day.
He also started to teach her how to play the piano.
His most favorite instrument… and as if that wasn't enough, he also started teaching her how to play the violin.
Of course at first kotoko was slow and she often had moments where she struggled to even get out of bed, but every time she would attempt to skip or bail out, he would head inside their place and drag her out of her room.
Hirosaki had friends doing favors for him to help with kotoko.
A nutritionist came in to help her construct good meal plans and gave her sessions with information about the benefits of eating healthy as a woman her age.
Hanako even went with her to show her support.
She even taught kotoko how to meditate and practice yoga.
Every time she thought about giving up she thought about naoki, and how she wasted so many years chasing after him, wasting her time and energy
She would think about hirosaki and hanako, and how much effort they've put into helping her
She doesn't want to let them down. She wants to keep her promise with hirosaki.
Something inside her pushed through, she wanted her friends to be proud.
Hirosaki even took her to the library and picked out books on nursing
Since she needed to study for when she goes back to school in the next term
On top of that, kotoko got a part time job as a receptionist in one of the hisakawa's animation companies. With the help of her uncle akiyoshi. So every now and then she would catch hirosaki there and they would have lunch... she was trying her best.
Juggling her job and training with hirosaki, also studying for the next term.
Their schedule went something like this
work from 9;00 AM-3;00 PM
3;00-4;00pm gym with hirosaki
Then 4;00- 8;00 pm is training with hirosaki (either music lessons, dance lessons, english lessons, studying for school, or posture and mannerism lessons)
Every day was different, and everyday kotoko was learning something new.
Hirosaki was kind enough to give her saturdays off though.
This was such a treat for kotoko
Every saturday morning, hirosaki scheduled it to do his weekly errands
But she was glad that she had a day off.
After 3 months of intense training of the basics
Hirosaki had a great idea
He dragged kotoko into hanako's studio
Where she was posing for the camera-man
She paused when she caught a glimpse of her dear friend and little brother, she waved sweetly and continued to pose
Kotoko was confused, she thought hirosaki brought her there to visit hanako
But she was wrong
"Come here" he grabbed her by the hand , dragging her outside the hallway and into an empty room.
It was the room in which the models got ready in.
A studio complete with all the beauty supplies the best of the best used.
There was tons of equipments, bags and clothes that filled the room and made it into a wonderful working space.
Kotoko was in awe, so this is what it feels like to be a model huh
She looked around
Hirosaki grabbed a chair and forced the girl to sit.
He cupped her face with his hands ever so gently
"i'm going to make him regret it" He declared
He had a serious look on his face
And kotoko was wondering what he meant by that
"You've been trying so hard these past few weeks, and for that, i will give you a present"
"Really? What is it?" her eyes wide and excited.
"It's a have to wait in order to find out"
And just like that, he covered her eyes with a sleeping eye mask
Is this a game? She thought
"Do you trust me?"
Kotoko could see where this was going
Her heart was beating faster
But she smiled, giving him what he was asking for.
She trusted him, even with her life, she knew she could.
"Yes"
Hirosaki got right into work.
He was truly a genius, an amazing artist
His hands were gentle, she could feel his touch.
He snipped away, trimming only an inch, the length was perfect.
Moving unto color, he mixed the chemicals smoothly, and he carefully dyed the virgin black hair, meanwhile placing a muddy mask on her face
He replaced the sleeping mask with cucumbers and worked on her fingers
Trimming them, cleaning them, and polishing , even coloring each one with a pale white color.
He was pampering her.
Kotoko wondered why they didn't just go to a spa
Why was he doing all of this for her?
But she trusted him,
And waited patiently for him to fully finish his work of art.
Finally after a few hours, he spun her chair to face the mirror
Kotoko couldn't believe it.
Is this really me ? her mouth dropped open and she touched her face softly with her right hand , not looking away from the girl who was staring at her through the mirror
"Amazing…"
The girl in the mirror was a completely different kotoko
She had long wavy brown hair
Cute bangs covered her forehead and as her hand touched her face, she felt what beautiful make-up was lightly done on her skin. She touched her eye-lashes…. They were real lash lifts,
Those took hirosaki at least 1 full hour to do.
And her eyebrows were groomed to perfection. She remembers hirosaki using a thread to shape them, and oh how much she endured the pain.
She gritted her teeth together and opened her mouth to see her white like pearls sparkling inside her mouth, hirosaki made her bite on a weird object that lit up as she kept it in her mouth for a couple of hours, now she knew that it was something for teeth whitening, what amazing technology she thought.
She was satisfied with what she saw.
No
More than satisfied.
She was extremely happy.
Looks aren't everything, but it's amazing how a make-over can change your perspective so much.
Her eyes were watery, and she turns to the tired artist
He had bags under his eyes, his long hair covering some his eyebrows
Hirosaki still looked dashing, tired or not.
he had his arms tucked away as he leaned on the wall. he had a "i told you so" face as he stared back at her , satisfied and happy with his work
"Its nothing much, but i hope it will encourage you to keep going-"
She interrupted him with a hug
She clenched his shirt , burying her smiling face into his shoulder.
There was no one in her life that has ever made her feel beautiful other than this person she was holding.
Her mother had died at a young age, and although noriko had always tried to help her and took her in as a daughter, she never really held kotoko's hand when it came to self was too busy setting kotoko up with her son...but even Naoki never complimented her looks, and her father was a man of few words.
And of course, hanako-chan has helped her tremendously with some fashion tips, but nothing can top off what hirosaki has done for her.
The genius kept his promise
And never fails to amaze and exceed her expectations,
He was a blessing to her, he was her savior.
"Thank you… for everything"
Hirosaki froze for a second, he was in shock
Her words sounded so happy, filled with sincerity and gratitude.
But he smiled again and pulled away, he patted her head , the same way he always did whenever he was proud of her for accomplishing something
As if she was his puppy. He grinned slightly
'Thanks for saving my life kotoko' he added inside his head.
A few months have finally passed and kotoko started nursing school.
She was so excited when she received her uniform. As she spun around in front of the mirror
She realizes the improvements in her body. Hirosaki included physical appearance in their secret training program, 4 or 5 times a week, they would both go to the gym to work out.
Kotoko admired her reflection, her body was so much more refined.
All her hard work was paying off.
She looked different.
And she liked it.
A knock brought her down to reality
"Kotoko it's me, can i come in? "
It was hirosaki, what was he doing in this hour? Her father always arrived home late on Sunday nights and kotoko was up waiting for him to come home, she wanted to show her father her new uniform.
But She didn't hesitate and opened the door for hirosaki.
"Woah, is that your school uniform for tomorrow? " he asked as he welcomed himself inside
"Yes! Do you like it? " she beamed at him, clearly she was in a good mood.
Hirosaki made a spinning gesture with his hand and took out his phone.
He loved to capture videos in random times, he often 'vlogged' during their training sessions, he said he wanted to document her progress
he always had a good eye for these things, he captured almost every interesting moment, sometimes taking a video, sometimes sketching it, sometimes capturing it as a picture.
He was the artist and she was his muse.
She did as he requested and twirled around for him
Smiling at the camera.
"Nice"
She's come a long way.
a few months ago she used to be so intimidated around the camera.
Now she would even strike a pose.
He was so proud of her.
"By the way... i came here coz i wanted to ask you if you checked your mailbox yet"
Kotoko raised a brow, "what? Why didn't you just text or call me?"
Hirosaki was quiet. He didn't know how she was going to take the news
"Papa always checks it for me, wait..." she hurries to the dining table where her father always placed the mail, she was so busy the past few days she forgot to check
She was going through them one by one
Bills to pay...
Bills to pay...
A letter from uncle...
More bills to pay...
Wait...
She paused. Holding at the off white envelope
Is that what i think it is?
Her hands started shaking
They were trembling as she slowly opened the fragile envelope
Doing it ever so slowly and carefully as if it would break and shatter if she didn't... as if it was her own heart she was holding
She takes a deep breath
Of course
The beautiful piece of paper inside was nothing other than an invitation
A wedding invitation.
"You are formally invited to witness and celebrate the wonderful marriage of irie naoki and oizumi sahoko"