Nico sat up in her bed, her head pounding. It took her a few minutes to gather up the courage to stand up and walk out of her bedroom, almost tripping over her own feet. Going out to her small living room, she sat down on her coffee table, staring at the mess on her sofa.
Last night, Nico texted Nozomi, asking if they could hang out. Twenty minutes later, Nozomi pulls up, a bottle of vodka in hand. They sat around watching a movie for awhile, until Nozomi got drunk and Nico a little less drunk. Now, Nozomi was sleeping on Nico's sofa, drooling all over it, reeking of alcohol. Nico stared at the passed out woman, thinking of last night.
"Niiiiccooooooooo..." Nozomi said, completely drunk.
"What, Nozomi? Hey, get off!" Nico practically started a cat fight.
"You… asked earlierrrr… about situationsss wiiitthhh… um… oh! Yeah! Same, um, last names!"
"Ehh? I suppose I did..."
"Well," Nozomi flopped onto her back, head in Nico's lap, "once upon a tiimmmeee… I had a shooot with… uh… one of the Kosakasss. There used to be twoooo, you know that?"
"No."
Nozomi laughed, "There was! Eheeeheeeee… There was Hooonoookaaaaaaa aaannddd… Yuu… Yuki… Yukiho? I had a shoot with Yukihoooo… buttttt… uh…"
"But what?"
Nozomi sloshed the vodka around in the bottle for a bit, "I accidentallyyy went to the shoot with the older onnnneee..."
"Honoka?"
"Yeah! Thaat one… I was supercali… uh… delicious? Laaate to my shoot with Kosaka and got called into Eli's officccceee..."
Though Nico was inebriated, she was alarmed at how Nozomi addressed Eli so casually.
"Uhhh… I explained to herrrr… that… I got confused, 'cause they only sent yoouuuuu a letterrrr back theeennnn… witttthhhh… your shoootss for the moonnnthhh... But she was suuuppperrr nice! That's whyyy they eeeeeeeemail your shoots for the dayyyy now… 'cause I fucked up..."
"You weren't fired?" Nico was impressed with herself for understanding Nozomi's slurred speech.
"Alllmooosssttt… 'cause that wassss the… second? Time I was late for a shoooot in a weeeek!"
"Why weren't you fired?"
"Eeehhhhh… Elicchi told me I would be fiiinnnee on oonnnee condition… that I dooo sexual favooorrrs for her..."
"What?! Nozomi? Tell me what she said!" Nico was too late, Nozomi had passed out, the bottle of vodka still in her sweaty palm.
"Wahh!" Nozomi jolted awake, sitting straight up, hair falling forward.
"Eeeek!" Nico fell backwards on the coffee table.
"Nico? Oh god, I passed out, didn't I? I'm so sorry..."
"It's fine, you reek of vodka though..."
"Can I take a shower with you?"
"With me?"
"Yeah, it's almost time for work."
Nico's eyes widened, finally realizing how long she'd been staring at Nozomi passed out on the couch. She ran to the shower, quickly turning it on while Nozomi caught up to her, the pair quickly shedding all of their clothes off and hopping in, rushing to rub the smell of alcohol out of their skin and wake themselves up from their hangovers. In less than 10 minutes, they were completely showered and dried off, blow drying their hair quickly. Nico got dressed in a panicked state, Nozomi packing their stuff up in her lingerie. She tossed her car keys at Nico.
"Go get me my clothes out of the trunk, I always keep spares. Do you mind?"
"You owe me coffee for this. Pack some Tylenol, too."
Nico ran out to the shiny car, clicking the little remote to pop open the trunk. True to her word, Nozomi had a battered shopping bag with a spare set of clothes. Other than an emergency kit and a set up jumper cables, the trunk was bare.
Once back inside, Nico watched as Nozomi scrambled to get dressed. They grabbed their bags and hurried to the car, throwing the bags in the backseat and sliding into the front. Nozomi shoved the keys in, bringing the engine to life.
"McDs or StarBs?" Nozomi asked, putting on her sunglasses and shifting gears.
"Excuse me, StarBs is bitter."
"Crappy McDs coffee it is then."
Nozomi sped off, pulling into McDs and ordering two coffees, not having time to order her or Nico any food, figuring they didn't have any time to eat it anyway. Once they got their hot coffees and blasted the heat against the dropping temperatures, Nico pulled out the Tylenol, popping two in her mouth and two into Nozomi's, the pair downing a ton of coffee afterwards.
While Nozomi was busy with her crappy driving, Nico checked her email, trying to focus on the words through the road bumps and a headache.
Miss Yazawa,
You have been assigned to an advertisement shoot.
Please report to set 10-A.
Promise Publications
"Hey, Nozomi, what were you assigned today?"
"A bunch of girls were assigned to a sportswear shoot, fancy sportswear, as if rich women need fancy sportswear. 10-A."
"Same. Why are we assigned together so much?"
"They must think we have a good energy together," Nozomi glanced at Nico briefly, "Did you spend your first check on that jacket? It costs, like, $2,000."
Nico played with the silver heart on the zipper of her Sweet Devils jacket, "Y-Yeah..."
"Yet you complain about not having a car." Nico slapped Nozomi's arm, the older girl giggling.
The pair were suddenly jolted forward, Nozomi parking roughly. They got out of the car quickly, almost forgetting to grab their stuff as they ran inside. They got in the elevator, Nozomi repeatedly smashing her fingers into the button marked 10, Nico practically punching the button to close the doors. Finally, the slow elevator started closing its doors, only to have a blue alligator skin bag jammed in between the doors.
Umi Sonoda walked into the elevator, quickly turning around. She seemed as fashionable as the first time Nico saw her, wearing a beige beret, blue sunglasses, the same beige trench coat as before, a dark blue button-up shirt, black, high waisted pants, blue suede ankle boots, and, of course, a blue alligator skin bag.
It finally occurred to Nico that she couldn't remember what the other two CEOs had ever worn, her interaction with Maki minimal, and her levels of fear too high with Eli to notice.
Nico cleared her throat, "Um… which floor?" Nozomi jabbed her hard.
"Thirteen." Nozomi pressed the button for thirteen, and Nico patiently waited for the doors to shut.
The ride up to floor 10 felt like it took an eternity, the silence and feeling of inferiority unbearable to Nozomi and Nico. Finally, the elevator stopped with a soft bump, the doors opening slowly. The two models stepped out quietly, turning around and bowing towards Umi, who acted as if they didn't even exist. The door closed a few moments later, Umi smirking when she knew the pair couldn't see her.
"Mm… So that's what Eli was talking about..."
With the elevator situation literally behind them, Nozomi and Nico started running again, their feet crashing against the marble floors. Bursting through the doors of set 10-A, they grabbed the bags out of Rin's hands, whizzing past her and stripping. Throwing their clothes onto a chair, they rushed to put their clothes on.
Both of them ended up in navy shorts with a light blue star pattern and a sports jacket. Nozomi's sports jacket was a dark purple with cream as an accent color, black pinstripe thigh highs and purple Converses completing the outfit. Nico's jacket was a bit more complex, bubblegum pink being the main color, navy the secondary color for the top of the jacket and the sleeves, white as her accent color. Paired with pink Converses and white socks with two black stripes at the top, her outfit was completed. With no time for hair and makeup, the hairdressers just handed them scrunchies to match their hair.
"Okay, girls," they all gathered around the main photographer, "today we're doing an advertisement for the clothes you're wearing, aimed towards young, female athletes. We're also marketing several styles of a water bottle-"
"And you each get one to take home," everyone turned their heads. Maki had walked in unannounced, silent as a mouse. She was wearing her red hair up in a pristine bun, diamond earrings in her ears. Standing perfectly straight, she wore a tight red dress under a black blazer, black boots increasing her height slightly. Behind her, two men brought in boxes of water bottles, bringing in nine styles in total.
"W-We get to pick, Miss Nishikino?" Hanayo asked. Maki smiled, then nodded once before walking off the set.
"Okay! Now that all of you are here, let's start!"
Nico finally got a good look at what the others were wearing, all of it pretty similar. Rin's sport jacket was cerulean blue with bright orange as an accent color, the same orange on a pair of shorts that were slightly different from Nico and Nozomi's, and socks. A similar orange was the main color on Honoka's jacket, navy blue the accent color and the color of her shorts, as well as a pair of socks that were nearly the length of Nico's socks. Kotori and Hanayo had a very similar style of jacket that Nico did; Kotori's main color light pink, secondary color light lavender, accent color white, and Hanayo's main and accent color chartreuse and secondary color white. While Hanayo had the same shorts as Honoka, Kotori wore a pastel blue pleated skirt, looking strange against the others.
It was too cold out to do a shoot outside, the team had assembled a set that looked like a tree-filled path, though it was a pretty big set, one you could probably run around in. That's where Nico got her idea.
"Kotori!"
"Huh?"
"Tag!" Nico hit Kotori's shoulder and ran on set, flashing one of her adorable smiles to the camera as Kotori chased after her, the cameras taking several shots of them running. Kotori must've grabbed a whistle from someone, blowing into it to make a shrill sound, the cameras once again having a favorable reception. Finally catching up to Nico because of the sound, Kotori embraced Nico, the two being tossed water bottles that matched their outfits. They posed with the water bottles, tired but cute expressions on their faces, the sweat beading on their foreheads making the pictures look genuine.
Hanayo ran over to them, noticing the cameras focusing on her. She became conscious of the shorts bunching up around her inner thighs, turning to the camera and pulling her jacket down. Nico and Kotori wiggled out of the shot, allowing the snapping to ensue.
"Perfect!"
"Adorable!"
Honoka ran up onto the set to hug Hanayo, Nico running away as she saw the future, Honoka tripping over her shoelaces and knocking Hanayo to the ground. The two landed near Kotori, surprising the ashen-haired girl. Hanayo flashed a nervous smile, Honoka rubbing her knee, Kotori still not over her surprise when the camera started taking a plethora of pictures.
Nozomi got up onto the set, helping all three of the girls up and off the set. It was quite obvious that her thigh highs weren't the exact size she needed, the left one falling down to her knee. It was when a picture was taken that she noticed, and pulled it up, looking at the camera with a ditzy expression, like she never would've noticed without the attention.
One of the photographers looked at a piece of paper, "Uh… Okay, Kosaka, Hoshizora, you're up!"
Honoka bounced back onto the stage, completely recovered from her earlier incident. Rin got up on the stage slower, and had been quiet for the entire shoot.
"You two are supposed to look like you just got done with a run, and show off the water bottles," a photographer said, then looked to an assistant, "get a bottle for Miss Hoshizora, please."
"Yes, sir."
Once Rin was given a water bottle, she sat down near one of the trees, already looking tired. She tried to take a sip from the bottle as Honoka leaned over, gently rubbing her knee again.
"Ehhh? No water?"
"Sorry, Miss Hoshizora, you don't get to keep them until after the shoot."
"Oh, okay..."
"Let's start!"
Honoka and Rin were both caught at awkward times, Rin gasping a little, Honoka in the middle of rubbing her knee. They both tried their best to smile while looking genuinely tired, accomplishing their task as the leaned against trees. The shoot was over quickly, allowing the six of them to change and pack up their chosen waterbottles.
They'd all changed, Nozomi and Nico chattering, Rin and Hanayo doing the same.
"Of course, you just had to trip, didn't you, Honoka?"
"Why are you complaining? I didn't fall on you on purpose, Kotori!"
"Even after two years, you're still such an amateur. I don't know why they keep you here, you're always a walking disaster!"
"Says the drama queen with a bad relationship with her mom. Who wouldn't disown you after the thing you did?"
"Mom didn't disown me! Don't you ever bring her or that up, ever! It's not like you witnessed it first hand."
"Why? It's the truth, you're a-"
"R-Rin? Rin? Are you okay? Rin!"
Everyone's attention was caught by Hanayo's worried cries, Rin collapsing to the floor. Everyone gathered around her, trying to wake her up and make sure she was okay.
The three CEOs stood outside, watching as Rin was loaded into an ambulance. Many of the models who had finished their shoots were looking through the foyer's glass, Nozomi, Nico, Kotori, and Honoka included. Hanayo jumped into the ambulance with Rin, holding the orange haired girl's hand as the paramedics closed the doors and drove off.
The three walked back inside, many pairs of eyes confronting them. The three ignored the crowd, completely silent as they walked to the elevator in perfect sync.
Those water bottles all say HYDRATION on them.
I won't be around tomorrow, so have fun with that cliffhanger.
Have a suggestion for a photoshoot? Leave it in the reviews! The help is incredibly appreciated. Please note, they don't have to be just SIF cards, they can be anything.
Thank you for reading Promise!
Edit: My apologies for typos here and there. I do my best to write accurately, as well as proofread. However, my mind sometimes goes a million miles a minute, causing me to not catch things.
