Inspired by episode 17 of the anime, which is entitled "Pretty Woman". :)
Fashion Show
by Ami-chan
Inomoyama Nokoru-sama was leaning out the window of the Elementary Division boardroom, his eyes intently focused on the activities just outside his window and wishing he could be out there amongst the crowd. Once more Suoh had bullied him into the office in an attempt to get him to complete all the paperwork that was piling up, but the moment his ninja friend had left he had leapt up from his seat to stare longingly out the window. The girls were giggling happily amongst themselves and carefully carrying their precious cargo that were properly sealed in garment bags, awaiting the night's events. All of them had put their hearts and souls into designing and creating the most beautiful outfits for the tenth annual Elementary Division's Fashion Show that the girls in the fashion club put on. He himself had ensured that they had everything they needed in order for their show to be a complete success and that fact that he wasn't down there helping them made him unhappy.
He stood on the tips of his toes to get a better look out the window, unconsciously leaning forward, his eyes focusing on a particular girl who was oddly enough –
A hand grabbed him by the shoulder and jerked him backwards, causing him to lose his balance and hit the floor hard. He closed his eyes tightly, willing the curses that formed in his head not to be said – that would be unseemly after all. When he opened his eyes again he saw Suoh towering over him, glaring at him darkly.
"Kaichou!" Nokoru winced at his sharp tone; it was rare for him to sound as angry as he did at the moment and it meant that he was angry at him for real this time, though he couldn't remember what he had done. After all, didn't Suoh expect him to slack off when he wasn't there? That's how it had always been so why should he be surprised now? "Just what do you think you were doing?"
He put on a winning smile that quickly failed him when the ninja continued to glare at him coldly, his expression unwavering. Maybe he really should have tried to get that work done after all. "I was just watching the preparations for – "
"You could have gotten yourself killed! Do you know how reckless it was of you to lean so far out of the window like that? You have to take better care of yourself because I can't watch you every minute! What do you think would have happened if you had slipped or lost your balance? There's no way you could have managed not to fall. Do you know how far up we are?"
Realization dawned on him slowly as the generally calm and soft-spoken secretary/bodyguard proceed to chew him out. Suoh had not been upset because he hadn't been doing his work, he had been upset because he had endangered himself. Well, that was a relief because he had been planning on putting his work off for at least another week or so. "I'm sorry Suoh," he said, and it must have sounded sincere and chastised enough to satisfy him as the anger slowly drained from his expression. "I just thought I saw something and I wasn't really thinking. Forgive me?"
Suoh sighed deeply. "Of course. Just don't let it happen again."
A soft sound from the direction of the doorway made them both turn to see a wide-eyed and rather uncomfortable looking Akira. In his hand he had a tray full of snacks but he seemed to have completely forgotten about their existence.
"Akira, is something wrong?" Nokoru picked himself off the floor with as much grace and dignity as he could muster.
"Takamura-senpai had a scary look on his face," the younger boy said quietly, looking rather like a small chipmunk being harassed by an evil, vicious squirrel. (1)
Suoh opened his mouth to protest then quietly shut it, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks pink.
"It's okay now, Akira, so you needn't worry. He was merely worried about my safety and though he might have shown it in a different way rather than flinging me across the room – well, it's a small matter." He watched as Suoh lowered his head, a guilty expression on his face. It was a cruel tactic, he supposed, but if it worked than it would be worth it. "Of course, I wouldn't have been endangering myself if I were allowed to go down and check on the preparations for the fashion show and make sure everything was in order..."
"Why aren't you allowed, kaichou?" Ah, bless Akira and his beautiful guileless expression that caused the ninja to shrink in on himself even more, unable to stand the fact that it had been partly his fault to begin with.
Nokoru flipped open his fan and hid his face behind it, mostly to cover up the smile he couldn't quite suppress. Mournfully he said, "Suoh said I couldn't go."
Dark eyes widened further. "Why not? You've been looking forward to this for quite some time!"
Suoh visibly cringed.
"I know, but apparently all this paperwork is much more important than his event that only happens once a year and is so very important to all the girls involved – "
"Kaichou!"
He blinked quickly and turned his attention to the blue-haired boy. "Yes, Suoh?"
"You can go. BUT, you have to have all of this done before the end of tomorrow!"
A genuine smile lit up his face and this time was not hidden behind his customary white fan. "Thank you, Suoh!" In his excitement he flung his arms around the slightly taller boy's neck, barely noting when he once more blushed red. "Come on, Akira! You want to go too, right?"
Akira stood still for a moment, as if frozen and then nodded quickly and set his tray down. He then allowed himself to be lead out the door and down the hall by the perky blond who was happily discussing the night's events. Of course Nokoru knew the name of every single girl in the show – those that had made and designed the dresses and those that were wearing the dresses for the show. He also knew what order the girls were going on and could name the materials that had been used for each and every dress as he had, apparently, discussed these details with the designers themselves.
Behind them trailed Suoh, his expression downcast though he remained vigilant for his kaichou's safety. Sometimes it was hard to always be the one that had to keep the blond in line and – well, alive; he wasn't the easiest person to keep up with, but he had to admit he did enjoy his company. However, he was sure it had taken years off his life to see him so precariously balance on the windowsill with only the ground to break his fall. And, considering they were on the third floor, well, that certainly would not have been a pretty sight.
"Nokoru-sama! There you are! We've almost got everything in order – there are only a few last minute touches that have to be put on the stage. It won't be long until the models will be putting on their outfits and makeup and the audience will be coming in!" The girl's eyes glowed with excitement as she clasped her hands in front of her. "I can't thank you enough for all of your help. You were right about changing the order of the outfits and it just works so much better now!"
The blond gave her a charming smile. "I'm glad it all worked out and I am looking forward to seeing all of the completed outfits. You and your club have worked so hard on this and I am sure that everyone will enjoy the results."
"Takara-san! Takara-san, something has happened!"
The girl's eyes widened and she quickly bowed in Nokoru's direction. "Please excuse me. I have to see to this, but please feel free to look around and I do hope you will like the show." With that she turned and darted toward the direction of the raised voices and the chaotic circle of girls that were talking worriedly amongst themselves.
"Who was that, kaichou?"
"That was the Fashion Club's president, Kato Takara-san. She is in charge of all of the activities in the club and in making sure that everyone is ready and organized on time. She's done a wonderful job this year; last year she was vice president of the club so it wasn't hard for her to step into this position because of her experience with it."
The chatter from the girls became increasingly louder until Takara's voice rose above everyone else's until silence finally descended. The three boys turned as one to see what was going on and heard the president of the Fashion Club say in a loud, clear voice, "Everyone remain calm! There will be no disruption in tonight's show despite this minor mishap. I'm will figure out something so just go back to your preparations and I will take care of the rest!"
There was a moment of silence and then the girls broke up into groups and went off in their separate directions in carry out whatever duties they had remaining. Takara watched them, shaking her head and turned. She jumped in surprise when she saw that Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira had appeared suddenly before her.
"What seems to be the trouble, Takara-san?"
She sighed deeply. "It seems some of the models got sick suddenly and will be unable to participate in tonight's events! We aren't sure what's wrong with them at the moment but they aren't in any condition to go on and I don't know where I'm going to find girls the right size on such short notice. I may just have to cut them out of the show entirely."
"What are the dress sizes, Takara-san?" Nokoru could not stand to see the sad look in the girl's eyes at the thought of having an incomplete showing after all the hard work she had put into it. "I am certain I can find you someone to wear them for your show tonight!"
"Oh!" Takara's eyes lit up happily. "Could you, Nokoru-sama? That would be wonderful if you could!" She lead them over to one of the rank of dresses and showed him the three that had not been claimed and thus the ones that needed a model. "Here they are."
The blond glanced over the sizes and nodded to himself. "You will definitely have models for these dresses for the show, so do not worry about it. You should see to the preparations and make sure everything is running smoothly."
"Thank you, Nokoru-sama! Thank you so much!" With a brilliant smile on her face, Takara hurried off to oversee the rest of the events going on.
Akira glanced at the outfits that were concealed by the garments bags with only the tag with the name of the outfit, the designer, and the size to say which was which. "So you have some people in mind to wear these outfits? How are you going to find them in such sort notice?"
"Easy!" There was a mischievous smile on Nokoru's face as he slipped the garment bags from the rack. "Come with me."
Akira and Suoh exchanged confused glances but obediently followed, trusting that they were once more going to get pulled into another of their kaichou's plots. That wasn't unusual. Both of them hesitated when they were lead to a small back room but Nokoru motioned them forward and they went reluctantly. "What's this all about kaichou?" They had been taken to a room filled with costumes and there was a small makeup table with a mirror in it, as well.
They got a smile in reply as Nokoru hung up the three dresses than went to the door and they heard the door's lock click. Becoming nervous Akira quietly asked, "Kaichou?"
Nokoru didn't respond immediately put went back to the dresses, selected the one he wanted and gently removed it. It was a dark green velvet dress with a cream colored trim and delicate bows placed here and there that were of the same color. Akira stared at him as he held up the dress in front of him and turned him toward the mirror. "You know, green really is your color and would you know that this looks to be about your size?"
A sound very much like a squeak escaped the dark-haired boy. "K-kaichou? Are you suggesting that – well, um, I mean – Takamura-senpai??" He turned to his other friend for help but Suoh looked to have been utterly stunned into silence.
"Come now, Akira. Let's see how it looks on you." Nokoru stared him down, his bright blue eyes boring into him and brooking no argument. "You wouldn't want to make all those girls upset because their dress that they worked so hard on didn't appear in the show, would you?"
Akira's eyes widened, helplessly trapped.
"Strip! Now!"
Silently he obeyed and in a moment Nokoru had fitted him into the dress, adjusting it here and there to make sure that it fell just so. "You're a bit short. I had hoped she wasn't that much taller, but that will happen. You'll have to wear platform shoes since I'm assuming you can't walk in high heels." The blond disappeared for a moment, leaving a flustered Akira clad in green velvet and frills. It looked as if he had been hit by a hurricane and was still unable to comprehend what had just happened. Suoh looked no better off, his face having turned a very bright red knowing there were still two dresses left and that he had rarely been able to say no to Nokoru if he wanted something.
"Oh, here we are!" He maneuvered Akira into a nearby seat and soon had him in a pair of girl's platform shoes. He stood him up once more and told him to walk around. Akira attempted to move but found his balance was thrown off by these shoes and had Nokoru not been holding onto him he surely would have fallen. "Well, the dress is now at the length it should be, you just have to practice walking a bit."
"Kaichou, people will recognize me!" he whispered quietly in alarm. He looked like... himself... in a dress.
Nokoru smiled sweetly. "When I'm done with you, your own mother won't recognize you." He brought out a long-haired black wig and fitted it carefully onto him. "Now, for some makeup." Nokoru's movements were quick and efficient as if he had done this before and when he had finished and turned Akira toward the mirror once more, the dark-haired boy gasped. Looking back at him was a very pretty girl. "Now, you try walking around a bit and I'll see to Suoh."
The ninja jumped as if shocked at hearing his own name, having been carefully observing Nokoru's actions in a detached fashion. He watched with nervous anticipation as Nokoru retrieved one of the two remaining garment bags and revealed a sleeveless black dress with a lattice patterned bodice and sash. (2) He opened his mouth to protest – he certainly would never wear something like that! – but he made a mistake, he looked right into those fathomless blue eyes.
Before he knew it he was in the dress, in proper makeup, and was a brunette with only slightly longer hair than he had normally. He had never imagined that he could have appeared so feminine but now that he saw his image in the mirror he could clearly see how possible it was. Had he always been so cute? It made him wonder.
Akira had gotten the hang of his borrowed shoes and Suoh was still marveling at his own appearance when they heard their kaichou proclaim, "Well, how's this?" As one they turned and received yet another shock.
Their dignified Nokoru stood before them in a long-haired blond wig and a marvelous silken halter necked dress with layered skirts that flowed naturally about him. The dress was burgundy in color and he had wrapped a lacy shawl around his shoulders and placed a delicate looking necklace about his neck.
"Kaichou! You're so pretty!" Akira burst out before he could stop himself. He blushed suddenly and covered his mouth in alarm, hoping his friend wouldn't take his comment the wrong way.
"Thank you. That's rather the point isn't it?" He smiled at him pleasantly. "So, we're all ready now, right? The show should be starting right about now so we only have a few minutes. I go on tenth, Suoh you'll be twenty-first, and Akira you're thirty-fourth. Just watch the others on stage and I'm sure you'll do fine. There's nothing to it, really."
A hand on his shoulder made Nokoru paused at the door. "What if someone recognizes us?" Suoh's voice was low and seemingly calm but there was a definite of panic in his words.
"Do you really think someone would recognize us? After all, why would the three Elementary Division officers – who are male – be in a fashion show involving girls? That is highly unusual, I think. Just breathe and act calmly and you'll be fine." He unlocked the door and glided through, every bit a perfectly poised young girl in a beautiful borrowed gown. The other two followed more timidly.
As Nokoru approached the girls that were rushing about, some of them nervously twitching in their dresses and quietly proclaiming their nervousness about the show, heads began to turn and many of the girls fell silent. Finally one of them raised her voice and called for the club president who came hurrying toward the sound, looking harassed. Then Takara froze, her mouth falling open in surprise. "Oh. Oh my! Did – I mean, Nokoru-sama – "
Suoh and Akira winced knowing the game was up and that they hadn't been able to pull off this stunt after all. Why had they ever let kaichou talk them into this?!
"Nokoru-sama must have found you on such short notice! He's amazing, as always – they fit so well and it seems to me you make those dresses look even better than the previous models!"
Behind Nokoru the other two boys bit back gasps of surprise. They hadn't been recognized after all! Perhaps their reputations would still remain intact!
Nokoru inclined his head toward Takara, smiling pleasantly. "We are more than happy to help out in your show; it will be an honor and I hope we do it justice. These dresses are very well made."
"I'm sure you'll do fine." Her eyes swept over each of them in turn, her eyes glowing in happiness. "You are all so beautiful, but I don't think I've ever seen any of you around – "
"Takara-san! The show begins in one minute!" Another girl came rushing up, stopping short when she saw the three new models. She looked away quickly, telling the president that everything was in order and that she would see to getting everyone in line. The president nodded in return and hurried off to her last minute panic before she had to go on and introduce the show.
The other girl, the vice president according to the whispers of the girls around them, began ordering them into line. When she misplaced Nokoru a model spoke up reminding her that "she" should go on before her and she quickly made the correction. "Takara-san was right," the model behind Nokoru whispered. "I have never seen you on campus before, either."
Nokoru smiled. "I'm only visiting at the moment and don't come here often." Then they all fell silent as they heard Takara's voice over the sound system announcing that it was the girl's of the Elementary Division Fashion Club's tenth annual Fashion Show. It was amazing that she didn't stumble over any of the words; they were impressed. Her voice rang out clearly as she began to read from her cards information about the members and their activities before calling out the first model. Details of the designer/designers and all those who worked on the dress were mentioned as well as the materials and style of the dress as the models walked to the end of the runway, paused, and then walked back.
"That's you're cue," the girl behind Nokoru whispered just as he was about to step out; he smiled to himself and hesitated only briefly as if he had not known that was his signal. As soon as he stepped into sight the crowd murmured amongst themselves as he put on a pleasant expression as he strolled down the length of the runway. He had heard these comments before: "Who's she?" "I didn't know we had any girls that pretty here!" "Look at her!"
It was over before he knew it and he felt almost saddened by that. Once more backstage he waited in an unobtrusive corner to see how his friends faired. Some part of him thought it was cruel to involve them in this and yet another part of his mind knew that this had been a perfect opportunity. Plus, they did all make pretty girls.
Suoh was shaking nervously and he vaguely heard the reassuring whispers of the girls around him before he felt himself being nudged toward the stage. It was his turn. He had been carefully studying each of the girls and how they walked but he felt completely unprepared for it himself. Still, he couldn't back out now. Taking a deep breath he walked into the blinding lights and forced as pleasant an expression as he could muster under the circumstances. He was shaking so badly that he thought he might collapse and his heart was pounding in his ears until he thought everyone would be able to hear it.
That's when he heard it. Compliments flowed from the lips of the crowd, curious as to who he was and how beautiful he looked and how well the dress flattered him. Suoh left himself blushing as he turned to head back, but not from embarrassment, from pleasure. Did he really look that pretty? No, he was a boy and boys weren't supposed to be pretty and yet he felt pretty at the moment and that others saw that, too, made his head turn.
The darkness of the backstage was welcoming and he wavered slightly on his feet, his eyes confused momentarily before he sought out a certain blond. On trembling legs he made his way toward him, his breathing uneven and his heart still pounding like a drum.
"Quite a rush, isn't it?"
"Hai, k – " he stopped himself, realizing it would be better if he didn't address him in that manner. "Is this what it felt like for you before? When you were on stage with that girl's ferret?"
Nokoru smiled at him brilliantly, pleased that Suoh had known the truth behind that all along though he had not discussed it directly with him before. "No, this is better because I can share this with you and Akira. You were wonderful, you know and I doubt anyone noticed that you were trembling – it's almost impossible to see that from a seat in the audience."
At the mention of Akira their eyes wandered to the friend who was fidgeting and looking extremely self conscious as the line before him shortened. There was a definite terror in his eyes that made him look younger than he was. When it was his turn he timidly stepped onto the stage when all he wanted to do was run in the other direction.
"She's so adorable!"
He felt his eyes widen at the comment and turned into the words being spoken around him.
"Look how modest she is!" "Maybe she's shy?" "Oh, isn't she lovely?" "I'd want a dress like that but I doubt I would look so good in it."
Akira felt faint as he reached the end of the runway then turned and headed back in carefully measured steps, not wanting to trip and hurt himself. Did girls actually wear shoes like these? It made him taller, but he wasn't sure it was worth it to fear for his life every time he took a step. (3) As he had been momentarily blinded by the lights on stage he was momentarily blinded by the darkness of backstage. When he stumbled in his awkward shoes he felt sure he would fall and destroy the dress but two supporting arms grabbed him and he found himself looked up at his friends.
"You okay?"
He nodded blankly.
"See?" Nokoru told him softly, "That wasn't so bad. Now, let's see about getting out of these before anyone notices." His eyes seemed to flicker toward the right as if having spotted something, but when Akira turned to follow his gaze he found nothing there. "Come on."
They returned to the out of the way back room and changed back into their normal clothing. Akira had never been so relieved to step out of a pair of shoes before, though the lack of the added height of them made him feel very little. Makeup was removed and the dresses returned to their garment backs, which were then placed discreetly on a rack to be found later. When the show had ended they reappeared as themselves to see Takara on an emotional high after all of her efforts had came through beautifully. "Nokoru-sama! I cannot thank you enough for what you did! Those girls were perfect and – wait, where did they go? I never got to thank them!"
"Don't worry about it Takara-san. I'll be sure to tell them that you were so pleased with the results." He allowed the girl to ramble on in her excitement about how frightened she had been and how glad she was that there had been so major disasters. Things were being packed up around them by the time they were ready to leave. Or, by the time Suoh and Akira were ready to leave. Nokoru had wandered away from them, forcing them to go on another infamous "kaichou search".
Meanwhile, Nokoru had located the girl he had been searching for, the vice president of the fashion club. "You shouldn't have done that, you know."
"What do you mean?" she asked in surprise, though he could sense her nervousness.
"Making three of the models sick just to keep the dresses out of the show isn't allowed, nor was it a very nice thing to do to them. Why did you do it?"
She looked up at him, shaking her head. "I told Takara-san I didn't want the dresses in – I – well, I didn't think they were very good because nothing I do seems to turn out very good and I didn't want anyone to laugh at them. She wanted them in anyway and the only way to make sure they didn't get in was to – I didn't want to hurt anyone!"
"The girls will recover. It was only food poisoning, though I can't say that that will be a very pleasant experience. I watched the show, you know, and I didn't hear anyone out there laughing at your dresses. In fact, I think they might have been the most popular out of all of them."
The vice president flushed at his praise, her eyes wide and uncertain. "Do you really think so?"
"I do. I hope you will design many more in the future and that you never hesitate to show off all of your hard work next time. Some day I am sure you will be able to become a famous designer."
"Thank you, Nokoru-sama. I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."
He nodded, bid her goodbye, and slipped away. He had barely gone a few feet when he ran into Suoh and Akira, both of which looked rather annoyed. "There you are. We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Akira, now you look just as scary as Suoh did early! What did I do this time?" He hid behind his fan, smothering a smile.
"We were worried about you, kaichou! You shouldn't run off like that!"
Thoroughly chastised he lowered his head. "I know I shouldn't have, but if I didn't than what would you and Suoh do with all of your free time? And anyway, didn't you both have fun today? I'm sure it was an interesting experience for you!"
"I hesitate to say that it was 'fun' – "
"But I can see why you like doing it," Suoh finished.
Nokorou smiled brilliantly at them, glowing with happiness. "Then we'll have to do it again sometime, won't we?"
"No, kaichou, I think we will leave that to you. I don't think I could ever get used to that."
"Maybe if it was in different shoes," Akira put in.
"We'll see!" Nokoru proclaimed. "I've been wanting to see how the two of you looked in certain colors and I really do think we could have a great time of it. Of course I would have to clear my schedule but then we could all go shopping together. It's been ages since I've been shopping but I can't go as me because I would get mobbed – wouldn't it be better as someone else?"
"I don't know about that kaichou..." Suoh sighed, but in the end he knew he would be unable to say "no" to any of the blond's suggestions. He was only weak where he was concerned, but even so he couldn't see that as a bad thing. Besides, Nokoru did look good in drag.
--The End--
(1) Yes, I have witnessed this phenomenon! Squirrels are bullies! Of course it was pretty funny when the rabbit entered the picture and attacked the squirrel. Mwauahaha! Maybe I just have strange animals in my backyard.
(2) Keeping in mind that the dress was made for a 10-ish year old girl I don't think Suoh has much to worry about as far as his chest area would go. hehe
(3) I love my platform shoes – all of them. They do, however, kill my feet and yet I wear them anyway. The things girls do to look good.