[Fic] Fashion Craze Chapter 3

[aya_magic]

Title: Fashion Craze
Author: Me (iris_aya)
Genre: AU, romance, blah blah
Rating: PG- 16 for the time being, language etc.  It’s just mainly to be safe.
Warning: boyxboy pairing, general kookiness, probably a lot of crazy typos/spelling mistakes
Pairing: Akame, and a few others mentioned
Beta: spread_da_love 

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with JE, and obviously I cannot "own" these people. I also, in no way, make monetary profit off this.
Summary: An overworked, mostly ignored, and inspired Kamenashi Kazuya has a run-in with current top model, Akanishi Jin.  Two papers, a nearly forgotten dream, and a little help from one party’s forwardness helps pull the two together.
A/N: This is the fic I am writing for TJ for her birthday.  She told me she wanted Fashiondork!Jin and Fashiondork!Kame… but it morphed into her wanting them to be Model!Jin and Designer!Kame. I hope you like the fic TJ!

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[Chapter 3]

Kame caught a glance of the glamorous apartment building just before they slid into the cover of the parking structure.  He had to admit, he was curious, he would never have pegged the model as the sewing type, “Then again, how can I trust that he’s any good at it.”

“Kame…” Jin poked him in the cheek, a childish grin in place, “We’re here, come on.”

Kame followed the model into the building, glancing around at the simple but upscale lobby.  Jin grabbed him by the elbow when he paused and pulled him into the waiting elevator, “Sorry,” Kame muttered lightly.

“So you can sew?” Kame glanced at Jin from the side.

Jin flushed lightly, “Ah yeah… it’s… here’s my floor,” the doors opened and he fumbled as he opened one of the two doors on the floor.

As Kame stepped up into the hall he viewed the first room that came into view.  The living room was simple, modern, and clean.  He had expected chaos of some sort, the older man had struck him as particularly organized but the room had to be cleaner than his living room.

“This way,” Jin beckoned him towards what he assumed as a guest bedroom.

Kame couldn’t keep his eyes from widening as Jin opened the door.  Three of the walls were covered with shelves on which bolts of fabric were stored.  From floor to ceiling the bolts were organized based on color and he marveled as he examined a particular lilac fabric.  He blinked at the amazingly smooth feeling as he touched the fabric.

“This is an amazing… it’s a perfect,” Jin cut him off lightly.

“A perfect match for the blouse you designed… that’s why I used that fabric,” Jin mumbled.

“How did you get all of these?” Kame marveled.

Jin smiled lightly, “I bought them all… I kind of… I like to sew ok?” He finally blurted out.

Kame quirked an eyebrow, smiling lightly at how flustered the model had immediately become.

“I saw my mother sew something when I was little, and I wanted to learn how.  It just kind of stuck after that,” Jin babbled on.

“Alright, you can calm down,” Kame sighed, while he liked the new side to the model he wanted to see what he came here for, “Can I see what you made?”

Jin nodded hurriedly and nearly stripped over his own feet and he opened the small closet surrounded by shelves.  He pulled out two dress forms and Kame’s jaw dropped.  Of course he had designed the dress, the blouse and skirt, but that didn’t mean he had ever imagined seeing the pair actually sewn together.

“Well?” Jin stood nervously next to the two dress forms, “I take it that because you haven’t attacked me that you aren’t pissed?”

Kame glanced at the model, “They’re beautiful, I had never dreamed that I would see them…”

“Why didn’t you make them yourself, earlier?” Jin said, “I know they must pay you fairly well at Marc Jacobs, you could obviously get the fabric, and you must have a sewing machine and…”

Kame frowned, “I’m horrible at sewing.  All through school and at home I always practiced and tried.  It seems that regardless I put into sewing I’m useless at it.  Pattern-making at that too.”

“Are you sure you weren’t just going about it right?” Jin tentatively asked.

“You know how some people there’s something they just can’t do, no matter how hard they try?  Sewing is that for me,” Kame sighed, he fingered the dress with a smile.

Jin smiled lightly, “So?  What do you think?”

Kame smiled, “Don’t worry, I won’t bite your head off.  It’s almost a dream come true…”

“Almost?” Jin smirked knowingly.

“I want to actually design, not just handle other peoples’ designs.

“Makes sense…” Jin paused, “Look I have a dinner I’m going to tonight… I thought that you might want to go with me.  I set it up thinking you might get a chance to show your designs to a renowned designer.”

“You were that confident?” Kame questioned, glancing at Jin out of the corner of his eyes.  He couldn’t stop gazing at his two designs brought to life.

“A bit yes… but even if you weren’t interested I could just go anyway, a few of my good friends are going to be there,” Jin shrugged lightly, trying not to be too hopeful.

“And said designer is fine with me crashing your dinner with friends?” Kame turned his attention fully to the older man.

“If you want to go, then I’ll make the call and tell him I’m bringing a guest,” Jin said confidently.

“What makes you think he’ll even want to meet me?” Kame took a seat on one of the two chairs in the room.

“He’s one of my best friends, he’ll be interested.  You have enough talent that it won’t matter who you are so long as you have the skill as a designer.  It could be a great opportunity for you,” Jin said simply.

Kame frowned, “Why are you doing this for me?  You barely know me.”

Jin smiled lightly, “Because after seeing those two designs an idiot would be able to tell you have amazing talent.  Besides, I spent the time making the patterns for the blouse and skirt, I draped the skirt, I spent half of the day yesterday tweaking these two.  Every designer puts a part of themselves into every design, and I feel like I’ve gotten to know you a bit if only because of that,” Jin turned a light red.

Kame nodded lightly, “Who is the designer?”

“Nishikido Ryo,” Jin answered immediately.

Kame’s eyes widened lightly, “Really?  His last collection is what helped to inspire the set that these two designs came from,” His eyes lighted up, “you mean I would get to meet with him?  Talk to him?”

“Unless you suddenly become an introvert and mute then yes.  And I want to show him these two designs, your sketches and these if you don’t mind,” Jin grinned confidently.

“Of course!” Kame said excitably.

Jin fished his phone out of his pocket and selected Ryo’s number.

“You had better not be backing out of dinner,” Ryo mumbled, he sounded exhausted.

“Of course just the opposite.  I’m bringing someone with me, is that ok?” Jin asked casually, he internally debated over asking about the exhausted tone.

“It had better not be some fling of yours,” Ryo threatened.

“Of course not.  He’s… I want you to see his designs how about that?” Jin said quietly.

“If you’re recommending… him to me then sure,” Ryo sighed.

“Hey are you ok?” Jin finally asked.

“Ayame kept me up all night,” Ryo said.

“Ew!  Ryo I don’t want to hear about your sex life with Ayame, if it was anyone else maybe but she’s like a sister, gross!” Jin exclaimed.

“That’s not what I meant!” Ryo yelled into the phone, Kame looked up at the comment his eyes dancing with silent laughter.

“Oh, what did you mean then?” Jin hesitantly put the phone back to his abused ear.

“She asked me to read her paper and tell her what I thought.  It took me hours to make sense of it,” Ryo groaned.

“What was it on?”

“Development of English as a language,” Ryo sighed.

“That sounds kind of… interesting actually.  Ask her if I can read it some time,” Jin said.

“Only you… well bring along your friend, it’s fine.  I’ll tell Ayame to lend you a copy of the paper, I’ll see you later…” Ryo was about to hang up, “Is he staying for dinner?”

“Of course, by the way did Ayame go home?” Jin was curious, “I didn’t hear her say anything in response to your yelling.”

“She declared that I keep moving where she keeps the tools she needs for baking, so she went home to make dessert for tonight and to change.” Ryo rolled his eyes, “As if I do it on purpose.  Bye Jin.”

“See you,” Jin hung up, “It’s all good, and he said it’s fine if you come over for the dinner.  We should probably show up early, half an hour maybe so he can see the designs and say what he thinks.  SO that’s like four-thirty.  We should leave at about four to get there on time to be sure.”

“Where does he live?” Kame said.

“Ginza,” Jin answered simply.

Kame spent the next hour inspecting the dress in comparison to his sketch, “He got all the details down to a key… and the seaming is absolutely perfect… though of course the dress would be easier to execute than the…” He moved onto the ruffled blouse with the pencil skirt, “How does he sew like this?  He would have only had four days to make both of these.” He inspected every stitch carefully, “I couldn’t even dream of managing this.”

“How long did this take you?” Kame questioned.

“Fifteen hours to get the initial bases down.  Then I worked on them about three hours for two nights to finalize all this.  So about twenty-one hours, I had completely lost track initially…” He paused, “We have half an hour before we need to leave,”

Kame looked at the time, “Shit, I don’t have anything to bring them as a gift!”

Jin looked at Kame for a second, “Uh, right ok.  Do you want to leave now and go stop to get them chocolates or something?”

“Yeah that’s perfect,” Kame picked up his jacket, “How are we bringing the dress forms?”

“We’re just bringing the clothing, Ryo has enough dress forms we can just borrow two,” Jin carefully removed each piece before putting them into garment bags, “Come on let’s get going.”

As soon as they reached the store Kame began looking at the varying boxes of the latest designer chocolates.  Gold leaf garnishes, fashionable truffles, he sighed as he looked.

“Akanishi, what kind do you think Nishikido would like?” Kame asked.

“Call me Jin,” Jin mumbled before looking through the boxes, “In all honesty Ryo doesn’t like chocolates terribly.  He says sweets made by anyone else just don’t taste the same.  Here get these chocolate truffles with bing cherry chocolates,” Jin picked up a box and brought it over to the cashier, pulling out his wallet.

“Wait Aka… Jin I’m buying the…” Kame tried to stop Jin as he handed over the bills to the cashier.

“Don’t worry about it Kame,” Jin said, “They’re my friends I’ll worry about it.  Besides Pi and Ryo don’t like chocolates, these will make Ayame and Midori happy.”

“Nishikido is still dating the model Ayame, right?” Kame asked as they walked back out to the car.

“Oh don’t get me started on them.  I don’t know how they manage to not scream at each other every second.  They’re both really confrontational and sarcastic, maybe that’s why they’re able to get along,” Jin shook his head, “I never thought she’d end up with a guy like him.  I always thought she’d find a nice boy in the law industry who would give her what she wanted without arguing, unless it were absolutely ridiculous… nearly punched Ryo when she went home crying one day.”

“A bit protective?” Kame asked jokingly.

“A bit?  I’m overprotective, she’s like my little sister.  I grew up knowing Ayame and Midori, by the time we were ten Izza, Kazu, Yuu, and Amaya had joined our circle of friends.  We didn’t meet Pi and Ryo until after we had entered the industry.  Yuu became a singer,” Kame nodded, recognizing the name instantly, “Amaya a fashion designer.”

“You grew up with them?” Kame asked quietly, imagining having grown up with those people.

“Yeah, Kazu, Izza, Ayame, Midori, and I as you know all became models,” Jin finished.

“And now you five are all among the top in-demand models in the industry, have been for a few years,” Kame sighed.

Jin smiled lightly, “This industry has allowed us to stay together.  We weren’t ripped apart by real life.”

They spent the rest of the car ride talking about experiences in the fashion industry.  Jin pulled up to the entrance to a parking structure and rolled down his window, “I’m here to see Nishikido Ryo.”

“Yes, he told me you were to be expected,” the attendant opened the doors to the parking garage.

“Thank you,” Jin quickly parked and grabbed the bags from the back.

“How did he manage to find an apartment like this available in Shibuya?” Kame asked as Jin punched the floor number that brought them right up to the front door.

“Coming!” Ryo called when he heard the doorbell, he opened the door a few minutes later, “you’re never on time I’m amazed.  Come in, come in,” He ushered them in quickly.

“Excuse me for the intrusion,” Kame quickly bowed, “Kamenashi Kazuya, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.  I’m Nishikido Ryo,” Ryo led them into the living room, “I was surprised when Jin said he was bringing company.  He’s never brought anyone to dinner before, he mentioned you have some designs to show me.”

Kame looked around the apartment, he assumed it was the whole floor of the apartment complex, “There is definitely a feminine touch around here,” he noted how the furniture went nicely with the wall color, the curtains, everything was cleaned to perfection, not a single item was out of place.

“Ah yes, do you have two dress forms free?” Jin asked, holding up the two garment bags.

Ryo nodded and with Jin’s help brought two dress forms into the living room.  Kame quickly set up the two designs in the dress forms.

Ryo tilted his head, gazing at the two designs with a smile.  He circled them, “You really have quite the eye to design something like this…” He mused lightly, “I’d like to see it on a person, moving.”

“I’m sure Ayame won’t mind, she’s here yeah?” Jin asked quickly.

“Yes but…” Ryo was cut off by Jin calling out.

“Aya, can you come here for a minute?”

“Jin, I’m almost done with my third paper!” Ayame stormed into the living room.

“Oh sorry dear I didn’t know,” Jin sighed, “Just Ryo mentioned he wanted to see these designs on a model so I thought…”

“Those are the two designs!” Instantly her face lit up.  She turned to Kame, “Kamenashi Kazuya right?  These two designs are ace.  It’s nice to meet you I’m Ayame.”

Kame blinked, “It’s nice to meet you too.  I thought you were absolutely stunning when you modeled for the Angel collection.  Well you always are stunning but that collection suited you so well, in fact it suited your friends well too,” Kame babbled.

Ayame smiled lightly, “Thanks, so you guys wanted me to model something for you?”

“Would you?” Kame asked quietly, “You should get back to your papers…”

“I’ll start with the skirt and blouse,” she took said garments to the bathroom to change.

“Papers?” Kame questioned.

“She’s a Tokyo University student.  She studies linguistics, and is set to graduate this next year,” Jin explained before she walked out.

“I feel weird not wearing high heels…” She mumbled and she walked back and forth for them, “Next one?”

Ryo nodded and handed her the dress carefully, “She seems to like the outfit…”

“Really?” Kame seemed slightly worried, “I doubt it I mean she…”

“I agree with Ryo, she likes it.” Jin confirmed.

After a few minutes of Aya walking around and twirling in the dress she changed back to her normal clothes, “Ryo I really like his designs, they’re dynamic.”

“I know, sweety,” He said quietly.

“Kame, darling if you ever have your runway show with these two pieces I demand to be the model for them,” she winked at him, “I’m going to go finish up my paper.  I only need a few more sentences.” She kissed Ryo on the cheek before disappearing down the hall.

“So?” Jin asked expectantly, a grin on his face.

Ryo sat down, “You have a lot of talent… but I’m assuming Jin sewed those together…”

“How could you tell?” Kame asked carefully.

“I would recognize his sewing anywhere.  He’s helped me a few times when I need help finishing a collection on time,” Ryo shrugged, “I can’t just go off two pieces though.  So what I think would be a good idea… finish the collection.  Do you already have all the designs set?”

“For the most part.  I have twelve looks for women and twelve for men,” Kame explained.

“So…” Ryo thought for a minute, “How about this?  I know how some of the people at Marc Jacobs are… especially in your department.  Matsumoto is an idiot, so is his boss, you won’t get the chance to premiere these with them.  But I want to see eight of the other pieces, four from the men and four from the women.  If it passes standards then I’ll give you backing and help you arrange for a show once you’ve finished the whole collection.  What do you say?”

Kame stared, wide-eyed at Ryo before opening his mouth, “That would be absolutely amazing.  How could I possibly turn you down on that offer?” He frowned, “Though I’m miserable when it comes to sewing.”

“Get Jin to do it for you,” Ryo waved his hand, “He did these two without permission I’m assuming.  If you just ask I bet he’d help you.  Jin, I expect you to help Kame with this.  You dragged him into this and so you get to see him through.”

Jin grinned childishly, “Whatever you say Ryo.  Looks like you’re stuck with me Kame.  Is there a time limit?”

“It would be preferable to show me the first eight within the next four weeks.  Then I could get to work on getting everything booked.  I’d say, two months would be the best case, if you need longer it’s understandable,” Ryo said thoughtfully.

“How is your collection coming?” Jin asked offhandedly.

“I only have two more pieces to complete.  Then I need to do some tweaking here and there.” Ryo looked at Kame, “So do we have a deal?”

“Of course,” Kame said instantly, bowing to Ryo in appreciation, “Thank you so much Nishikido.”

“Call me Ryo, I feel weird being called Nishikido,” Ryo made a slight face.

The door rang and Ryo hurriedly answered it and let Midori and Pi in.

“Jin!” Midori exclaimed running up and hugging him, “Did you see the final shots they picked for the ad?”

“Yeah Aiba showed them to me yesterday, they turned out good.  But of course it is us,” Jin smirked.

“Too true…” Midori paused, “Ah sorry that’s rude of me.  I’m Sexy Midori, you must be Kazuya right?”

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you,” Kame bowed and then turned to Pi, “Yamashita Tomohisa, right?  I’m Kamenashi Kazuya.”

Pi grinned, “Nice to meet you, call me Pi.  If Jin brought you here then it’s fine.  Sorry we’re a few minutes early Ryo, traffic wasn’t as bad as expected.”

“These must be the two designs Aya was telling me she liked!” Midori fingered the two designs that were back on the dress forms, “I hope when you debut you pick me to help model your pieces, if they’re anything like this I’ll definitely agree.”

Kame suddenly remembered something, “Were you the one that got my phone number for Jin?”

Midori laughed lightly, “That would have most likely been Ayame.  She can get any information.  SO if you ever need any help, ask her,” Midori rolled her eyes, “Aya darling where are you!  I want my hug NOW!”

“I can’t get any peace!” Ayame whined as she walked out and was immediately tackled by Midori.  They ended up in a pile on the floor, “Ouch… you’re such a brat Midori.”

“Midori, what have I told you about doing that?” Sighed Pi as he helped both girls up.

Ryo heard a light ding, “Ah!  Dinner’s ready,” He immediately ran to the kitchen to pull the final things off the stove.

“He’s so domestic,” Laughed Pi.

“Well I can’t cook anything that decent so it’s a good thing he is,” Laughed Ayame as she went to help him carry things to the dining table.

“Let’s go sit down,” Jin suggested, tugging Kame towards the table where everything was finally sitting out.

“Wow you must be a great cook, Ryo,” Kame complimented.

Ryo shrugged, “It can be fun, besides if not I’d be eating out constantly.  She can only do desserts,” He stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend.

“Midori is the same way,” Pi pecked Midori on the cheek, “She isn’t allowed anywhere near our stove, or oven for that matter.” Midori pouted at him as Ayame rolled her eyes.

Kame smiled at both couples, “So I heard you two grew up with Jin?”

“Ooh, you heard that?” Pi asked, “They have some great stories about Jin, you should tell him some of them.”

“Of course, we wouldn’t dream of not telling them, would we Aya?” Midori’s smile widened and her eyes glinted mischievously.

“How about Jin’s first crush?” Ayame suggested, “It’s a great story, the poor dear came home nearly crying.”

They immediately launched into the story before Jin, who was currently bright red, could stop them.

Kame felt himself drawn into the atmosphere of the group and found himself laughing at the stories, small anecdotes added, that they told.  From the story of Jin’s first crush who had kicked him when he tried to give her a kiss to the disasters resulting from the older man’s clumsiness.  Ayame had brought out the German chocolate cake she had made after about two hours of stories and after another hour they were still going.

“I thought models were supposed to be graceful, not klutzes,” Kame laughed.

“If that were true the three of them could NEVER be models,” Ryo chuckled, “Ayame can barely go a day without running into something.”

“Midori’s constantly tripping on nothing, and Jin can never seem to keep from stumbling off the catwalk.  Don’t get us wrong, as you know on the runway they’re amazing but the moment they stoop out of the atmosphere they’re hurting themselves everywhere,” Pi said.

Jin sighed, trying to keep his blush down, he hadn’t thought that the moment they met Kame that they would launch into all his embarrassing moments.  He glanced at the clock, “Kazu we should probably get going.  Aya you have an early class photo shoot tomorrow don’t you?”

Ayame glanced at the clock and sighed, “Yeah I have to be there at six.”

“We’ll get going then,” Kame said, “Do you want help cleaning up?”

“No don’t worry about it, the two of us can easily get it done in less than an hour.  Are you two going too, Midori, Pi?”

“I’ll stay and help you clean at least,” Midori offered, “You can get back to your papers faster.”

“I have to go for a fitting for a shoot early in the morning,” Jin commented.

“Get going then, we’ll take care of things.  Thanks for coming dear, and for bringing such great company.  Make sure to bring him along next time,” Ayame said helping them with the garment bags to the door.

“I completely forgot!” Kame picked up the box of chocolates and the one of the cherries and handed it to her, “Sorry we meant to give you these earlier.”

“Oh my favorite!” Ayame exclaimed upon seeing the bing cherries, “Midori they got your favorite truffles!” She smiled and kissed Kame on the cheek and then Jin, “Come again soon, and thank you.  Give me updates on the collection.”

Midori quickly hugged both of them, but she fished Kame’s phone out of his pocked in the process, “Now if Jin does anything stupid just call us ok?  You can come complain to us,” She quickly entered all of their phone numbers and sent them all messages to store the number.

“Thank you for having me over tonight,” Kame smiled brightly before Jin dragged him out.

“I’m sorry they’re a bit intense,” Jin apologized.

“Don’t apologize, they’re great friends.  What else do friends enjoy but tormenting their best friends?” Kame grinned lightly.

Jin cracked a light smile and drove Kame to his apartment.

“Hey, do you want to get started on the designs tomorrow?  It’s your day off right?” Jin said hesitantly.

“Yeah but you have work.” Kame said slowly.

“I don’t have anything schedule after lunch.  So how about I come pick you up after lunch and we’ll go back to my apartment, or the fabric store, to pick out the fabrics you want to use.  You should probably decide on which eight pieces we’re going to make in the morning…” Jin ticked off things on his fingers.

“Is it ok?  I don’t want you to have to do this if you don’t want to,” Kame said quietly, worried the older man was being forced into this.

“If I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have already sewn those two designs of yours,” Jin hurriedly assured him, “Really I want to.  So how does one sound?  I’ll come pick you up then.”

“Alright, thank you for all of this… I never would’ve imagined I would be having dinner with top models and one of the top designers.” Kame said.

“You don’t have to say thank you.  Good night, Kazu,” Kame bowed in response before hurrying into his complex.

Jin watched him go, and felt odd when he wanted to follow him and keep talking.  He disregarded the feeling and took off to go home.

Kame glanced back at where Jin’s car sat for a few moments and sighed as he entered the elevator, “I wonder what’s in store for me now… he’s certainly brought a bit of chaos into my life…” his thoughts paused, “Maybe some chaos isn’t so bad.”