Work Text:
When you become famous, almost all of your problems go away. The downside is that all of them are replaced with new problems that you’re wildly unprepared to deal with, Rantaro thought. When he first became a model, he never realized the toll it would take on every aspect of his life.
First, he needed to get on a diet and workout routine to keep himself in peak condition. While he was in decent shape before pursuing modeling, Rantaro was shocked by how demanding the lifestyle was; it took him weeks to adjust. While he did miss the occasional piece of chocolate, the physical toll was nothing compared to the emotional toll. Social media was a necessary evil. While Twitter and Instagram were great for making connections with magazines and other models, dealing with trolls and entitled pricks online made Rantaro consider quitting on a near daily basis.
Worst of all, it brought his search for his sisters to a screeching halt. While he did enlist the help of two of his Hope’s Peak friends- Shuichi and Korekiyo- most days, he would rather be out making use of his talent, finding his remaining lost sisters.
Rantaro sighed, checking his phone while he waited for a ride to take him to his next photo shoot. While the modeling itself was fun and paid him enough to support himself and the sisters he found, the work tended to be exhausting. While some shoots only took a couple hours, many took well over eight hours with multiple outfit changes under hot studio lights and left Rantaro seeking the sweet, sweet sanctuary of his bed.
Eventually, a black car pulled up to the curb, and Rantaro climbed in. He didn’t recognize the driver and didn’t feel like making small talk with a stranger, so he put on headphones to relax before his shoot. This was his first gig with DRMag, which could end up being a huge break for him. They were one of the first magazines to work with Junko Enoshima, by far the biggest name in modeling. If Rantaro could make a good impression and get called back, this could be his big break. No pressure, he chuckled to himself.
Eventually, the driver pulled up to the building, letting Rantaro out. He thanked the driver and went inside, straight to the reception desk.
“Hey, I’m Rantaro Amami. I’m modeling at 9 o’clock. Is Aoi Asahina here?” Rantaro asked the woman at the desk.
The receptionist nodded before looking at what appeared to be an itinerary for the day. “Annnnd it looks like you’re good. Wait just a moment and Hina will be right out for you!” the woman replied before quickly turning back to her computer. Rantaro gave a quick smile of anticipation before turning to look further into the building. It looked a lot larger from the inside than the outside: there were several large, sprawling hallways that were bustling with people.
Before he could get too lost in the hustle and bustle of the magazine, Aoi pulled him out of his trance. “Hey Rantaro!” she said, getting Rantaro’s attention. “Let’s get moving, I’ll take you to the studio.” Before he even had a chance to respond, she grabbed Rantaro’s arm and started dragging him behind her.
“It’s really exciting to have you here! You’re an upcoming name in the industry so I’m glad we had a chance to snag you for a shoot before you blew up,” Aoi rambled excitedly while leading Rantaro through a labyrinth of hallways. “Hopefully everything turns out well and we can work together again soon.”
“I wouldn’t mind that,” Rantaro chuckled. “So what’s the crew I’m working with today? Anything last second I need to know about who I’m working with?” he asked.
“Huh? Crew? No, this is a one on one thing,” Aoi said with a confused look on her face.
Now it was Rantaro’s turn to be confused. “What? What do you mean one on one? Isn’t there a light crew, multiple photographers, that whole thing?”
“Normally yes, but trust me, she doesn’t need it. She’s the best in the business at this,” Aoi finished as they ducked through the final doorway. “And we’re here! Rantaro, this is Mahiru. Mahiru, Rantaro. Gotta go, have fun!” she said, rushing out the door.
After taking a second to recover from Aoi’s hasty exit, Rantaro turned his eyes to the only other person in the room, the woman Aoi called Mahiru. She was about average height and was wearing a high-tech camera over black dress. But the thing that stood out most to Rantaro was her bright red hair. Rantaro opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything,
“Geez, are you gonna keep staring or are we going to get to work?” the photographer said with minor annoyance.
“My bad,” Rantaro said with a light laugh. “So it’s only you today?” he asked.
“Yeah, they didn’t call me the Ultimate Photographer for nothing,” she said, fiddling with the lights.
“Ultimate? Did you go to Hopes Peak too?”
Mahiru’s eye sparked with recognition. “Yeah! Class 77-B? You went there too?”
“Yeah, I was the Ultimate Adventurer in 79-A.” Rantaro sheepishly admitted.
“Adventurer? Why’re you modeling here instead of, you know, adventuring?”
“Well as much as I’d love to explore full time, I have to pay the bills somehow,” he sighed, “and my dad doesn’t always come through with supporting me and my sisters.”
Mahiru’s face fell, for reasons unknown to Rantaro. The two sat in an awkward silence for a minute or two, before Rantaro was blinded by a bright light. Readjusting his eyes, he awoke to Mahiru giggling and holding out a piece of paper to him.
“Geez, I definitely should’ve known you weren’t the Ultimate Model. How am I supposed to put this on the cover when you look so goofy?” Mahiru asked through her laughter.
“Maybe if you gave me some warning I would’ve looked better,” Rantaro half-seriously added.
“Oh whatever,” Mahiru rolled her eyes. “Now get in front of the screen, I need to color correct you so you don’t look so hopeless.”
Rantaro jokingly groaned before happily jogging over to the backdrop. He used his hand to smooth out his hair before striking a dramatic pose for the camera.
Mahiru shook her head exasperatedly. “Jeez, what’re you doing now? No one wants you to muck up the shot like that!” She walked over to her subject. “Loosen up your body,” she said, rubbing out some tension in his shoulders, “and don’t look so intense! You’re with DRMag, not a wrestling promotion.” She reached up and ruffled his hair before taking a second to see her improvements. After a few seconds deep in thought, she reached up and booped Rantaro on the nose, prompting a short laugh. “There, now you look relaxed,” she said, satisfied with her handiwork.
With her model finally ready, Mahiru got to work. Despite having an obviously inexperienced model who insisted on doing the dorkiest poses, she found herself enjoying doing the shoot, for the first time in a long while. Maybe it was because Rantaro reminded her of Hajime, she wondered. Maybe it was because he was the slightest bit cute, she thought before blocking the idea from her mind. This was her job! She couldn’t be this unprofessional in the workplace, let alone with a model that she never met before! Mahiru took a few deep breaths to settle herself before realizing that she was ready for the next set of photos.
“Ok, we should be good for the next set now,” Mahiru exclaimed, looking happy while scrolling through her camera. “Go throw on another outfit for me real quick,” Mahiru gestured in the direction of a clothing rack. “There should be a changing room around the corner and be back in five, okay?”
Rantaro took a quick glance through his options, eventually settling on a pink polo with dress slacks. He started walking towards the door to change, but came to a quick crossroads in his mind. He kinda liked Mahiru. But he didn’t know how to convey that. On one hand, he could play it safe. He’d wait until after the shoot, ask for her phone number. But c’mon. He’s the ultimate adventurer. Why not go bold and shoot his shot quite directly. “Or I could do this,” he said, getting Mahiru’s attention.
“What?” Mahiru questioned, darting her gaze up towards the model. The shirtless model, that is. Mahiru’s face lit up immediately. She tried saying something along the lines of, “why’d you do that,” or even a simple “Jeez,” but nothing came out, as Mahiru tried to keep herself from staring.
“Is something wrong?” Rantaro asked, looking down in mock confusion. “Or do you just see something you like?” he crooned with a knowing smile.
“It’s n-nothing!” Mahiru stammered out. Rantaro smiled, clearly content with how he flustered the photographer before finally slipping the new shirt on. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, yeah, let’s keep going,” Mahiru coughed out, finally regaining her footing, even though her cheeks were still tinged pink.
After a couple hours of taking photos, changing outfits, adjusting the lights, and posing, the shoot was done, well ahead of schedule to boot.
“And that should do it! We’ve got plenty of material for the next few issues now!” Mahiru rejoiced, putting her camera down on the table before high-fiving Rantaro, who simply chuckled in response.
“That went a lot smoother than most of my shoots go, you definitely made my job a lot easier,” Rantaro said with a smile.
“You’re not too bad yourself, you have your act together, unlike most of the models I work with,” she moaned, and Rantaro simply smiled in response.
After about ten seconds of silence, Rantaro took a sharp breath before making eye contact with Mahiru. “Hey, I’m not sure if I made it clear yet, but you’re really nice, and I’d like to get to know you a bit better. Is it okay if I get your number?” he asked, with a nervous grin.
Mahiru took a few seconds to process the request before a bright blush hit her face. “W-well it was difficult to miss with the stunt you pulled earlier,” she stuttered while pulling out her phone. “Here, put my number in.”
Rantaro breathed a heavy sigh of relief before he pulled out his own phone to type in his number. After exchanging numbers, Rantaro slowly turned to walk out the door, before he got stopped.
“Hey Rantaro!” Mahiru yelled, getting Rantaro’s attention right before he exited the room. She briskly walked over to him, stopping just a few inches from him. Taking a deep breath herself, she reached up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Y-you better text me soon, it’s rude to leave a girl hanging,” she blushed out with a smile.
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Rantaro smiled. “Thanks for everything today, I had fun.”
“Well, it was good for me too. Hopefully we can do this again soon,” Mahiru said, walking away.
Rantaro slowly started walking out the building, a small smile on his face. With all the problems he’s had to deal with over the past month, he was glad he finally had something to look forward to.