FASHION DISASTER ~{Semishira Band AU}~

.o n e.

Shirabu Kenjirou wasn't exactly a huge name in the world of fashion. He ran his own, very small business, mostly online, which sold custom clothes and fabric patterns. Sure, he had several very loyal buyers who practically stocked up on anything he put out to the world, and he had a stable financial situation, as well as a few friends to root him out of trouble. But still, he wasn't in the big leagues. He was nowhere near.

His apartment was small, cluttered and messy, but he always knew where to find what he wanted, even if no one else could. Today, however, it was cleaner than usual, because his mother was round.

They had had some tea and she was beginning to leave when she started to mention the same thing she mentioned every time she met him.

"Oh, Kenjirou," She began, with a sad sigh. "You know I want you to be happy and I know that designing is your dream but I just want to be sure... You are prepared in case anything goes wrong, right?"

"Yes, Mom, of course, I am," Shirabu reassured, helping her with her scarf. "You know that I've got my resume always ready, I've got money in the bank and a list of jobs I could get if it all goes south. You don't have to worry."

His mother failed at hiding her anxious expression as she leaned in to kiss her son on the forehead, brushing aside his copper bangs. "Well, I do worry. You know I will. Just," She smiled at him. "If you do get a really good job offer, please consider it, okay? I know you shut down that financing position, but you do have to start thinking long term."

Shirabu sighed and nodded. "I promise I'll consider the next job offer properly, next time."

"That's all I ask," She kissed his forehead again. "Now stay safe, Kenjiro. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, mom!" Kenjiro said as she left his apartment. He waited for her to reach the staircase before shutting his door and moving back to his office.

His office was the second biggest room in his apartment. It probably was meant to be a bedroom, but he needed more room to sew than he needed to sleep.

Stretched out across the wooden sewing table was the final part of his latest project - a leather jacket, based after the official merchandise for E-Harmony, Japan's biggest band that had started to cause a stir across the whole world.

He was just finishing the embroidery of the logo that was going to sit between the shoulder blades on the back, and it was coming along very well.

Up the sleeves, you had the names of the band stars embroidered very carefully through the centre stitch, and the band name split across the chest. It wasn't too flashy or crazy, but it looked very professional and stylish like it was supposed to be. Not to mention, although the outside was stiff leather, the inside was going to be made up of soft, smooth, indigo silk, to keep it comfortable.

Shirabu sat down at his chair and picked up the needle, switching his computer screen back on for reference, and beginning his work once again. Half an hour later, the whirring of his sewing machine could be heard as he attached the patch to the back of the jacket. Then he was hand-stitching the inside lining. Then he was done.

Nervously and careful, Shirabu pulled it on and went over to his mirror to examine his work. It was good enough. Now to post it.

His camera set up barely ever moved because he couldn't afford to waste time setting it all up again. He turned the ringlights on and let the background drop, to give a clean, uncluttered look to the photo, the camera carefully angled not to show his face.

Shirabu prepared, wearing official E-Harmony merchandise under the jacket and skinny black jeans, to fit the aesthetic of the band. He was no model, but he knew how to look decent.

The camera flashed five times and his computer screen in the distance lit up as files were sent over to it for download. The next part of shooting was the mannequin. He heaved it into place, put the jacket on it, and the camera flashed again.

It was the same old routine as usual. He edited the photos, put on a transparent watermark, linked in his business site and his contact details, then moved onto the progress video - Shirabu had a habit of recording his big projects to upload them to his Youtube channel. He edited away at the video for hours, cutting out unnecessary moments, blurring out his phone screen when it was in the shot, and speeding the footage up. It was late at night when he finally had everything ready to be posted.

Shirabu yawned as he updated his public social media pages and slunk into his chair, exhausted.

"Bet I wouldn't be half as tired if I had taken that financing job," He grumbled to himself, rubbing his eyes.

His phone already began to lit up with notifications but Shirabu ignored it. He was going to bed, whether his sleep schedule was messed up or not.

.:*:.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep-

Shirabu hit his alarm clock with a loud, grumpy groan, stopping the blaring sound and sat up groggily. When he caught sight of himself in the mirror, he saw his copper hair was a mess and he looked dead. In other words, he needed the strongest black coffee possible.

So, dragging his feet, he stumbled into his kitchen and filled up a mug with instant coffee and boiling water. He didn't add any milk and stumbled into his lounge to check his phone.

The topmost notification was from his favourite customer. He smiled drowsily, knowing that the customers' comments always made his day, and unlocked his phone.

takata_ayuka4: Wowwwwwwww, i love e-harmonyyyyyyyyy, i wish i had something like thissssssssss

Shirabu, like he usually did, replied to the comment.

ShirabuKen: E-Harmonys' music is really good, I'm planning to design some more things for them

Having read one comment, he decided to check the rest. As he let his phone flick to full screen, he dropped it in shock and it landed in his lap heavily. There were a lot of comments. And a lot of likes. And a lot of reblogs. And a lot of reblogs from celebrities. In other words, Shirabu Kenjirou's' small personal project had become national news.

His phone screen involuntarily changed and he saw his brothers' contact on-screen. Slowly and robotically, he answered the call and put it on speaker.

"Kenjirou!" His brother, Shirabu Izumo, shouted. "I-! I know you've probably just woken up, but-! But-! Dude, your Instagram is on the fucking news! That leather jacket, it's- it's on the news!"

"Wait, fuck, what?!" Shirabu jumped up and grabbed his television remote. "Which channel?"

"Like, all of them!"

Shirabu hung up on his brother and clicked on the first news channel he saw and watched the screen change over.

"-Really is an incredible piece of work, literally one-of-a-kind," A presenter said, voicing over a picture of the jacket he had put in his Instagram post. "This has even been reblogged by several of the E-Harmony members, Tendou Satori commenting: Why don't we have merch like this? I need to complain to middle management."

"Holy shit," Whispered Shirabu, watching the news programme go on. He stared at the screen, beginning to space out in shock when a familiar 'ping' broke into his head. His computer.

Turning off the television and moving jerkily, he went to his office and looked at the screen.

It was an e-mail, from a certified account. It was an e-mail, from the manager of E-Harmony. It was an e-mail, asking if he'd like to be hired.

Shirabu Kenjirou smacked his head on his desk. "Holy shit," He muttered.