FASHION DISASTER ~{Semishira Band AU}~

.t w o.

A few months went by, and Shirabu was up to his neck in orders for patterns and patches. He mailed at least five things every day, not to mention, he was now trying to regularly meet up with E-Harmony's' manager.

It turned out that Seno Arisa was very serious about hiring him and she was making it very clear that money wouldn't be much of a problem. So that's how Shirabu ended up in a posh restaurant for lunch, with Seno Arisa sitting opposite him, as he tried to finish embroidering a custom-order patch.

Seno was rather pretty, in a bland way. She had black hair, cut half-way through her neck, and warm, brown eyes. Smile lines creased the corner of those eyes, and she had a motherly, caring aura, despite her tidy suit. She also didn't need high-heels to be tall. She was surprisingly tall. She had never looked so tall in the interviews.

"Shirabu-san," Seno said politely. "I know you're busy but I need you to make a choice soon. My offer won't stay open forever but I know that, with someone of your talent, E-Harmony can get even further. I've looked over your resume and you'd make an incredible fit to the team."

"It's not that I don't want to," Shirabu tried. "But, if I'm honest, I'm kinda bewildered. A small-time freelancer like me doesn't usually end up getting bombarded like this. I've even had to set up a sleeping schedule to keep up with all the orders I've been getting and now I'm being asked to work in E-Harmony. I just think that would probably be too much to handle."

Seno glanced around and leaned forwards, quietly saying, "Look, E-Harmony actually has very few people working to keep it running. We've got the band, a few operators and me. And I need someone to help me."

Shirabu stopped and looked up. "You're not just asking me to become the costume designer, are you?" Seno glanced down at her hands. "You're asking me to be an assistant manager too."

"I can pay you," She promised. "And we can sort out a contract between us. You can have as much say as you want."

"Are you sure there's no one more qualified? This seems pretty unorthodox..."

Seno hesitated and then smiled very slightly. "We're a pretty unorthodox group."

The words his mother said when she last saw him lingered in his head. He knew that he'd be letting her down if he said no. Actually, he wouldn't just be letting her down. He'd be hurting her. His father would be disappointed too. One child already went astray, he knew it would break their hearts if their eldest did too. His fingers tightened around the needle he was holding, feeling the cold metal against his skin. There was nothing he loved more than sewing and being creative. Looking after a band, even if it was E-Harmony, was something he doubted he'd enjoy. All he had ever wanted to do was be a designer, relaxing in the comfort of his messy apartment.

But a job might just take that away from him. Unorthodox or not, he knew that he'd have to do this job. Maybe, though... Maybe he could find a way.

 After a long silence, Shirabu looked at Seno and at the patch he was making. Then he sighed. "That's good. I'd hate it if I was just gonna get a desk job."

"Huh?"

.:*:.

"Tendou, stop it, you're scaring him!"

"Put me down! Put me down!"

"Nah, Reon, he's fine!" Tendou promised, tossing a shrieking Goshiki around in the air.

Reon crossed his arms. "Arisa will get back soon. And you know she's told you to stop that."

Tendou hesitated, then sat Goshiki down on the floor.

Semi snickered at his bandmates, as he sat in the corner, tuning his old guitar. It was just one of the things he liked to do in his past time - hearing acoustic guitar riffs randomly during the day was nothing new in E-Harmony.  Nor was Tendou throwing Goshiki in the air new.

E-Harmony was hardly very business-like. Most of them started out as friends before bandmates, with the rest appearing and popping up as they went, and nothing about the way they behaved was professional. That was probably why Seno had been so busy interviewing someone. She needed an extra pair of hands.

Sure, she had Iwaizumi Hajime, the bands' bodyguard, and Oikawa Tooru, who helped write all the lyrics, but neither should be trusted alone with E-Harmony. Iwaizumi would get into arm-wrestling matches and Oikawa was way too spontaneous. Random mall-trips were common when he was 'babysitting' the band.

"Satori, you have to stop making Goshiki scream so much," Ushijima Wakatoshi, the bands' bass guitarist, said sternly. "He could strain his vocal cords, and that wouldn't be very good for the future of our music."

Goshiki grumbled something about being 'only worth his voice' quietly under his breath and scrambled away grumpily. Tendou beamed at Ushijima.

"But, Wakatoshi, he's just so easy to throw around! The kid's so light!"

"Well, Arisa would, like, throw a fucking fit if you hurt her nephew," Semi piped up, not looking up from his tuning. "So it's your life on the line."

Tendou frowned. "How am I gonna hurt Goshiki by throwing him in the air? We all know I'm gonna catch him."

Yamagata smirked. "He could hit the ceiling fan." Goshiki paled at the thought of it and Taichi burst out laughing.

The door opened and the band members looked up to see Seno standing there with her friendly smile in place. Instantly, Goshiki darted over to her, to save himself from his crazy bandmates, only to pause when he saw someone in his usual hiding spot behind his aunt. He stared at the stranger, words unable to catch up with his thoughts. No one else had noticed yet.

"Arisa!" Reon greeted. "You're back! How did the interview go?"

Seno's' smile grew wider. "I think it went well."

"Oya?" Taichi said, arching an eyebrow with a small smirk. "Are we getting an assistant manager soon?"

"Yes, you are," Seno said brightly.

"Who is it?" Ushijima asked.

Before Seno could say anything, Goshiki finally found his voice. "Who the hell are you?"

Seno stepped aside, so the band could see. A tall boy, with copper-coloured bangs and brown eyes, average in build, with a plain expression on his face, had been waiting behind Seno. Upon his reveal, he bowed slightly, before straightening up.

"I am Shirabu Kenjiro," He said flatly. "I am going to be your costume designer and assistant manager."

There was silence, then E-Harmony all turned to look at Semi.