With the Right Lighting, Pt. 2

The city was louder than usual today. Maybe it was just me noticing it more. The cars, the chatter, the hum of everything moving too fast for its own good. Neon signs blinked in the daylight, cafés spilled with people who looked too tired to be out, and someone somewhere was already shouting into their phone.

Soon, I found my way to a venue. It was an unimpressive building — more like a warehouse than anything. Perfectly cubic, bland in color, and seemingly vacant. The front door was guarded by two men in black suits. Nothing could look more suspicious, but this was the address that Megumi had sent me earlier today.

"Well... Here goes nothing."

I approached the door, where the two men stopped me.

"This is a restricted area. Please, be on your way."

"Um... Here," I said, handing them a small card.

It was a card that Megumi had given to me yesterday night, claiming, "If you show this to the security guys, they'll let you in."

"And if they don't? I mean, look at me. As far as a business trip goes, I don't necessarily look the part at all."

"Then call me. I'll personally come out there and fire them."

Hopefully, it won't have to end that way.

One of the guards studied the card before showing it to the other.

"Looks real enough. Who gave you this card, sir?"

"Megumi no Hana. She invited me to watch her photoshoot today."

They exchanged glances before ultimately shrugging at each other.

"Alright. For security reasons, can you empty out your pockets?"

"Of course."

After going through a pat-down, the guard handed me the card back and allowed me to pass. They directed me down a hallway, and at the end was a large, open area with a bunch of people running around.

At the center was the photoshoot area.

A seamless white backdrop curved into the floor like a blank horizon, lit by two massive softboxes hanging from boom arms. Rows of C-stands held reflectors and diffusers at awkward angles, like they'd been adjusted a hundred times today alone. A tripod-mounted tether station sat off to the side, connected to a laptop where the photographer's assistants crowded around, checking each incoming shot.

Light panels, sandbags, rolls of gaffer tape, and neatly coiled extension cords filled the edges of the space in organized chaos. To me, it was perfect. This was the kind of setup I'd only ever seen in behind-the-scenes videos — professional, loud, alive.

For a second, I just stood there, taking it in.

If I ever got to shoot in a place like this... Yeah. That was the dream.

And standing in the spotlight was her.

Megumi no Hana.

Just like in the photos I'd seen online, she was dressed in rather revealing clothes. Shorts that could've passed for underwear if they rose any higher. A crop top that exposed her belly button. A loose jacket that hung just a little off her shoulders.

Clothes that I couldn't imagine her wearing, yet she looked great nonetheless.

"Let's try tilting your head a bit to the left," said the director. "Alright."

The camera snapped with an audible click. At the same time, all the lights flashed. They took several shots before the director called out another maneuver.

"Hmm... Move your right leg back a little. A little more. Perfect."

Once more, a bunch of flashes.

"Good work everyone. Let's take a short break."

Everyone loosened their shoulders and gave a round of applause.

I saw Megumi being guided to a nearby chair, where she was given a water bottle. Just as I was about to go and meet her, a strange remark from the director stopped me in my tracks.

"Yeah, I don't know about her, Manager Mori."

Without turning my head, I stood next to one of the C-stands — not close, but close enough to hear them muttering. That man next to the director must be Megumi's manager.

"Is it that bad?"

"It's not necessarily bad. It just doesn't fit the image we have for our brand. We're supposed to be appealing to normal, everyday girls. If Miss Megumi had maintained her previous appearance, this wouldn't have been an issue. But currently? She resembles a delinquent more than a normal woman that our target audience would want to look up to."

"Dammit... Yeah, I had no idea that she went ahead and completely changed up her looks after announcing she was taking a break. I do apologize, Director."

"It's fine. Maybe with a little bit of editing, we can salvage some of the shots we took. But as of right now, we cannot — in good conscience — continue with the shoot."

"...I understand. Thank you for your time today."

"Mhm. Please, let Miss Megumi know."

"I will."

With his hands balled into a fist, Manager Mori made his way across the crowd till he reached Megumi. And I followed close enough to overhear their conversation as well.

"He didn't like it, huh?" Megumi asked, almost sarcastically.

Her face was different from what I was used to... in that it was completely indifferent.

"No, he didn't," the manager replied, just as aggressively. "And honestly, can you even blame him?"

Megumi turned just slightly to glare at him.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Look at you, Megumi. You look nothing like the person you were only a month ago. Why didn't you tell me you cut and dyed your hair? Because of this, we've lost time and money."

"Well, it's not like I wanted this photoshoot. You decided for me, so you don't get to blame me for everything that went wrong today."

"Except that I can blame you. This is why you have an agency. This is why you have me: your manager. There is a reason why we make decisions for you. If you decided that one day, you wanted to go bald, of course we would keep you from doing so! We study the current landscape of the market. We know what works. And this?"—he pointed at her—"This doesn't. Your image is already in the gutter, and you've gone ahead and dug an even deeper hole."

Megumi didn't reply. Her lips began to tremble, and she refused to make eye contact with her manager.

"You know what?" the manager said. "Maybe it's a good thing you decided to take a break. Sleep all you want, pass the time however you wish, but if you want to continue having a career in this industry, do not change your appearance any further."

As the manager walked away, Megumi sat still in that chair. She blinked rapidly, shifting her eyes around in an attempt to distract herself. When that failed, she shot up and stormed off.

"M-Miss Megumi!" one of her assistants exclaimed.

"No one is to follow me. Please."

The staff could only watch as she disappeared down a hallway toward the edge of the venue. Lucky for me, I don't work for her.

I followed the same hallway until I heard sniffles behind one of the doors. I paused for a moment, then nudged it open. And there she was.

Huddled up against the wall of a dressing room was Megumi no Hana. Her face was buried in her knees as she wrapped her arms around them.

With three knocks, she lifted her head, and the moment she saw me... the color that had been drained from her eyes was back.

"I know you said that no one is to follow you, but... Surely, that doesn't apply to me as well."

Megumi stared at me like I was an alien, then lazily wiped her face. She let out a short laugh and forced a smile.

"You're late... you idiot."