Author's Note

It's been so long since I posted on . I have shifted to Archive of Our own and you can search for me there as well. The story in AO3 has pictures drawn by me in between to make reading experience story was first published here in 2008 under the name 'My Model Dearest' but after many years and with the remake, I have decided to update it and modify it. The story is fairly different but still borrow some element from the old fic. Hope you enjoy this one as well.

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Chapter 1

Encounter

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"Would you like a flower? It only costs 1 gil and the money will be donated to Midgar Orphanage." Aerith explained as people walked passed her booth. An old couple smiled at her and proceeded to dig into their pockets for a gil. She gave them the flowers and thanked them. She deposited the gils into a box and smiled.

'The charity drive is doing really well and the matron will be pleased that she can get those new clothes for the kids.' She thought silently.

She was so engrossed in counting the money that she managed to collect that she did not realize a man approaching her and grabbed her behind. She stood there, paralyzed with fear. Her mother did say to be careful as there were several reports of girls being molested even in public areas. Slowly, the fear ebbed away to be replaced with anger as she began to come up with several scenarios to overcome this situation.

She reached for the staff at her side and swung behind her, with all of her strength.

Her supposed assailant raised his left arm and shielded her assault. Seeing that, Aerith moved swiftly and shifted her staff and thrust it directly onto his abdomen. Not seeing the assault, he doubled over in pain and started wheezing, having the air knocked out of him.

Satisfied that she got him on his knees, she situated the staff in front of her. "The nerve of you, perverts, assaulting people in broad daylight. Have you no shame?!"

The man who was still clutching his abdomen looked up at her. "You…got it all wrong. That person who assaulted you just ran that way." He pointed to the man running away into the crowd but as Aerith turned her head, the only thing she saw was the crowd.

"I'm not born yesterday you know. I didn't see anyone else but you." She pointed. The man rose to his feet and Aerith readied her staff in case he started to get violent. She gulped as she got a good look at the man in front of her. He was tall and huge as her head only reached his shoulders. He was wearing a cap and sunglasses, adding to his shadiness. Aerith squinted her eyes as she observed the man. He seemed familiar as if she knows him. Even with the sunglasses and cap, it fails to hide his handsome features. His eyebrows were thin and narrow, a sign of being meticulously trimmed to get that crescent shape. He carried an imperious nose and his angular cheekbones carved down towards a strong jaw. He has long black hair that flowed freely down his back. All in all, he has the look of a god.

'A shame that he is nothing but a pervert.' Aerith thought sadly.

A crowd was starting to gather around them when they heard the commotion. The man began to look around as he did not want any attention drawn to him since it was his day off. He thought he could have a nice walk in the park. He should have minded his own business but when he saw a man molesting a girl, he knew he needed to stop the man, as his conscience dictates. He began to zero in on said pervert but the man was quicker than he gave him credit for as he fled the scene at a moment notice. He needed to rectify this quickly.

"I can still pursue him if you allow me…" He was cut off as the girl used the stick to stop him from getting away.

"Hey, I'm not letting you go. You are going to apologize and I am bringing you to the precinct…"

Fuming now, the man just pushed the stick away from his face. "If you will just allow me to catch that man, you will know I'm telling the truth." He stepped to the side and was about to give chase but the girl had other ideas.

Aerith grabbed his long black tresses and pulled to stop him from going anywhere. She angrily tugged harder on his hair and was shocked that it was pulled off of him. She panicked when she thought she had pulled his hair right off of his scalp. She looked down slowly onto her hands and then at him, realizing that she was only holding a wig and the person she assaulted was none other than...

"SEPHIROTH!" Someone from the crowd shouted.

'Oh no.' Aerith thought. 'Sephiroth…The Sephiroth.' She winced thinking about what she had done. 'Maybe he was telling the truth. He wouldn't have risked his reputation like that.'

Everyone was beginning to move over to him, ignoring Aerith as if nothing happened. Realizing that everyone was getting closer, he turned around and look disapprovingly at her. With a withering look, he ran off the other direction with a whole crowd of screaming fangirls and fanboys chasing after him. Aerith stood there stunned, with the black wig still in her hands.

"Did I just accused and pummeled 'The Sephiroth'?" She asked no one in particular and look down at the wig. 'I hope no one noticed me.'

"Aerith?"

Aerith turned around to the person who called her, recognition dawning on her face "Tifa? Oh gosh, it is you, isn't it?"

"It's me. Long time no see." Both girls hugged each other. "I have to say, this is not how I thought of meeting you. As amusing as I find you beating the crap out of Sephiroth, he was right. I did see a suspicious-looking man running towards the path he pointed."

Hearing that, Aerith felt bad for accusing the poor man. She dreaded the moment where she will see her face plastered all over the internet about what happened here. Not to mention, some of Sephiroth's loyal fans will have her neck for doing that to him.

"Oh no…" She hid her face in her hands.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright. I bet it will just blow over and everyone will forget it ever happens."

"I do hope so but enough about that, what have you been up to? It's been so long and we haven't seen each other since graduation."

"I am a talent agent now, scouting and managing models and actors. Speaking of that, I have a proposition for you. Will you like to star in a commercial? I happen to be looking for a model and actress. And seeing you whip out your staff like that, you fit the criteria I am looking for."

"Me? Starring in a commercial? I…I do not have any experience in acting or…or…"

"That can be arranged and I promise you that you will be paid handsomely." Tifa took her hands in hers. "You are perfect for this role. You have the look and people will love you for it."

Aerith gulped and laughed nervously, doubting that it will make her appeal to anyone at all, what's with hitting one of the most revered individuals on the planet. She was getting ready to turn the job down but then stopped herself when she thought of her mother.

She did not have much luck in finding a job once she finished college. Her mother is still working to make ends meet. It was high time that she be the breadwinner for the family. Chewing her lower lip nervously, she finally made up her mind.

"Alright, I will do it."

Tifa hugged her. "Thank you so much. You won't regret this. Here is my card. Don't worry. I will help you assimilate into the industry."

"Thanks, Tifa." She took the card and tucked it safely into her pocket. 'I guess this is my big break.'

"What were you thinking exposing yourself in public like that, Seph?" A black-haired man dressed in a matching black coat asked him while pacing in front of said man. "We have to pull down several videos of you being pummeled by a girl from the net."

Sephiroth rubbed the area between his forehead tenderly and discarded the remaining of his cigarette into the ashtray. "Zack, it is not my proudest moment but I was not trying to expose myself nor do I have that intention in mind." He shuddered at the memory of all his fans chasing after him around the park until he locked himself in the men's room where they would not be able to reach him. He waited for hours for help to arrive. "It's a long story and I don't wish to relay it." He took out another cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag out of it.

"Alright, alright. I got it. The meeting I had just now gave me quite a scolding about what was on the news and I can't say that President Shinra like it that much."

The silver-haired man shuddered the second time today at the mention of the man. "I'm sorry about that. I will make it up to you, Zack."

Zack grinned. "No sweat, buddy. Angeal assigned me as your assistant to take good care of you. Just doing my job." He clasped his shoulder and gave him a reassuring grip. "And I do hope you cut down on the cigarette."

"Now Zack, don't get started with the lecturing. I had enough of it from Angeal. The company wouldn't even allow me to smoke in public so don't deny me in my own home." He smirked and exhaled a gust of smoke. "Besides, I only smoke when I needed to unwind."

"Yeah…I can see a lot of 'unwinding'." He gestured to the ashtray filled with a bunch of cigarette buds. "Still, please take care of your health." Zack took another close look at his friend and sighed. "Now that I look closely, it seems that you got thinner. Just look at you. I thought I can leave you to take care of your meal but..." He gestured to his physique. Compared to others, the man is still enormous but to those who knew Sephiroth well, they can easily spot when he has not been taking regular meals.

Sephiroth steadied his friend by the shoulder to stop him from fretting about his figure. "Look, Zack, I'm fine." He assured his friend.

Zack looked at him worriedly and could not help but remembered what Angeal had told him about Sephiroth's past. The man tends to forgo eating. More than once, Angeal had found him unconscious in his own home. Angeal dubbed those times, the 'dark days'. This is the reason why Zack was ordered to always monitor Sephiroth's meal.

'Seph, we just don't want you to end up like how you did ten years ago. Angeal ordered me to take really good care of you.' He shook his head and tried to put on his best smile.

Sephiroth looked away from the face, feeling guilty for making him worry. "I understand. I will try harder."

"Alright, let's push that aside now. You have a lot of works waiting for you and I can tell ya, you are not going to be taking any break soon because it will be busy, busy, busy from now on. So, I need you to take better care of yourself, or else, I'm gonna have to force-feed you."

Sephiroth shuddered at the thought of Zack, strapping him on a chair and feeding him, like a baby. "That won't be necessary. I promise to eat regular meals."

"I'll hold you to that." Zack smiled as he took out his PHS and began browsing it. "Alright, let's see what you have on your schedule. First of all, you are going to do a new commercial for ShinraSilk shampoo." Sephiroth grunted and Zack chuckled at the thought of it. "Well, you look good every time you did it. You are a natural."

"Whatever, Zack." He took a final drag out of his cigarette and discarded it. He ran his hand through his hair and then examined it with interest.

Zack continued clicking to the next thing on the schedule. "You already got three scripts for two movies and one drama series. I already read the scripts for you and did some research on it. The two movies seem interesting enough and it is based on two bestselling novels. You will be playing the main character in both of it though I found one of the movies a lot more interesting than the other. Well, no point discussing the details with you. I will send you the scripts later. The drama series however will be a little taxing on your schedule but if you can handle it, we will make a slot for that too. Fashion week is coming soon and you will be modeling some of the clothing by Lucrecia Crescent."

"Lucrecia..." Sephiroth muttered, his mind began to supply an image of a woman with long brown hair, who always fidget nervously around him. Once or twice, he even caught her staring at him weirdly. Those gazes of her unnerve him. 'Please don't let her be one of my admirers.' He prayed silently. 'She's old enough to be my mother.'

"And then you still got an album of yours to release and we are thinking about doing a tour next year after the release of your album." He closed his PHS and looked at his friend intently. "Alright, that is all for now." Zack grinned and wiped an invincible sweat out of his forehead. "Oh man, I don't know how you can keep up with this. First, you became an actor, and then you took up modeling, and now you end up singing as well. I can hardly keep up with you."

"Believe me, Zack, doing all of this is better than sitting at home doing nothing." The silver-haired man glanced out of the window looking deep in thought, his eyebrows etched into a frown. 'It's better than being alone with your thoughts.'

Zack laughed trying to stir Sephiroth from whatever thought he was in. "Well, the fangirls will be dying to see you. They will go crazy for more Sephiroth. I bet they are starving for more of your action." He wiggled his eyebrow. "Remember that one time when that fangirl flung herself at you and started..."

"Shut it, Zack. Don't remind me." He rubbed his left side with his hand absently at the reminder of that.

"And speaking of fangirls, I just received a ton of mails for you, and the majority of it is from your fans. I've taken a glance but haven't had the time to sort it out. Why don't we open some of these mails and see what we have this time? Let me prepare the fireplace."

Ah yes, the fan mails. Whenever it was time to read them, Sephiroth and Zack will sit in front of the fireplace with a poker each, disposing each meaningless letter into the fireplace after reading. It was the only thing amusing about having fans because it is surprising what you find sometimes.

"Oh look, Seph. This one is good." He cleared his throat. "Dear Sephiroth, I couldn't help but thank the Planet every single day for gifting us with your presence. I don't think I can live in a world without you. I hope you can write back and if you don't, I will attend your next concert, naked."

Sephiroth snorted and pushed his glasses upward with his fingertip. "I think the majority of the fangirls already did just that. The last time a fan did that, the stage crew was enjoying themselves, as I recalled." He gave Zack a sidelong glance and smirked. "You seemed to be enjoying it as well, Zack."

"Aw, Seph. It's hard to be able to find girls these days that isn't your fan. I guess I should buy myself a silver wig soon if this keeps up." He grinned madly.

Sephiroth shook his head and took another mail and opened it. His eyes widened and chuckled. "I don't think I want to touch this." He gestured to the envelope.

"What's in it, Seph?" Zack reached out his hand for Sephiroth to pass it to him and when he peered inside, he gasped. "Oh wow, you must be kidding me. Another one?" He put on his disposable rubber gloves and reached into the mail and pulled out a red laced panty. "These fans are crazy about you. What did they expect you to do with all these lingerie they sent." Zack chuckled and began to tease his friend. "Oh Seph, I gave you my lucky, red panty with killer laces. I hope you will think of me when you hold it." He said in his faux high pitch voice.

Sephiroth's left eyes twitched at the shrill voice Zack did. "Well, I think that's enough mails for you today, Zack. I don't think too much of it is good for you."

"Aw, you are no fun, Seph." With that, he threw the stuff into the fireplace to let it burn with the rest. "Alright, let me see what we have next." He took one mail out of the pile and opened it. "Woh, jackpot. Look at this Seph." He shoved the photos to the silver-haired man, waiting for his response.

"How many do we have of these already?" He asked.

"473 now. Woah, they are hot." He began to look through all the photos and his face was turning into disgust. "Is she... Oh, God..." He threw the photos away and got up. "I think I had enough." He put his hands up in defeat.

Sephiroth smirked and began shoving all of the mails back into the bag. "Just take all of this to the dumpster. I don't need more rubbish in my place." He took off his silver-rimmed glasses and hung it at the front of his shirt.

"But Seph, some letters might be written with good intention."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and look at his right-hand man. "Do you think so?" He gestured at the pile of ashes in the fireplace.

Zack began to rummage through the pile of mails and took out one. "I know it was somewhere here. Ah-ha...I found it. Alright, let's read this one. Dear Sephiroth, thank you so much for taking the time to visit us and for your kind donation for the Midgar Orphanage. We were able to get the necessary items for the kids. You put a smile on their faces that day. The kids will like to thank you as well for your kind patronage. Here's something that they insisted on giving you." Zack began to pull out some drawings and showed it to him. "See, I told you that there's something worth looking at."

Sephiroth took the drawings and look at it one by one. He could not help but smile at the doodles before him. He could easily identify himself inside the drawing. "I'll keep this at my study."

Zack nodded and took the mails with him. "I will just screen through this for you and if I found anything worthy, I will send it up to you."

"Thanks, Zack." He patted his back and squeezed his shoulder gently.

"No problem. I will be going now. Good night." He dragged the bag of mails through the door and closed it after he left.

Sephiroth walked into his study and sat on his black leather chair. He began to look through all the drawings and then he spotted something that caught his eyes. A stick figure with a pink dress and matching red jacket with long brown hair holding onto the figure of himself.

'It couldn't be.' But the similarities are too much and his eyes twitched at the reminder of that afternoon. He still has bruises on his arms and abdomen. It was humiliating when shots of him being assaulted were put onto the internet.

He unintentionally gripped the paper and then released it when he realized he was damaging it. 'Take a deep breath and let it out.' He commanded himself to relax. 'I think I need to get myself a drink.' He opened his drawer and put the drawings into it.

He walked to his mini bar and began pouring himself a drink. He looked out of his window and admired the tranquility that his penthouse offered. Looking at those drawings reminded him of his time in the orphanage. He gripped the glass in his hand and released it gently.

'I have a better life now. Nothing can hurt me again...'

To Be Continue

End note: Hope you enjoyed this. Leave a review to tell me what you think.