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Debra Wallen had expected her day to be filled with the usual drudgery of an Interns life for Fashion Blitz magazine. She never expected to be interviewing one of the world’s newest and biggest fashion designers this day. Not only was the woman a force to be reckoned with but a true mystery as well. Debra would be the first person to ever had a one on one interview with Ren Nagata. This was Debra’s big chance and she really wanted to impress her boss by coming back with an interview worthy of her trust. Little could Debra see how this one interview would affect her life or how it would influence her career.

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Chapter 10

Kyoto, Japan

It was the day as Amanda stood in amazement staring as Ren worked the booth at the Com-con. In the last twenty minutes she had sold fifteen different outfits. Each one was matched to the girl or guy that purchased them. One of the things that amazed her even more was how Takashi took their joke of ‘twining’ to a whole new level. For the past three days Ren and she had worn matching outfits down to their bloomers. The fact that there ‘twins’ working the Lolita booth was an unexpected a major draw for the Kyoto Com-con. Lolitas from all over Japan were flocking to see the magical ‘twin’ Lolitas.

Today Takashi had them dressed as pirate Lolitas. Amanda and Ren both admitted that this wasn’t one of their more favored styles but had consented to wearing them for the day. Ren’s aunt Yoshi had to convince the girls to wear the outfits for the first half of the day. It took the promise of a change to one of the more adult styles to finally convince them to wear the Pirate outfits. When Yoshi heard what the girls wanted to wear for the afternoon she just smiled. Takashi had pegged them correctly. Their afternoon outfits were Aristocrat Lolita.

Amanda was drawn out of her daydreaming by a teenage girl that looked very familiar approaching her. “Excuse me, but are you Amanda Sullivan?” Amanda nodded her head. “Oh good. I thought I missed you and Ren Nagata. I’m Arisu Oono from Class E-2.”

“Oh, I remember you now. I’ve seen you around school. How can I help you?” Amanda asked her.

“Well, you and Ren over there are the school’s experts on Lolita fashion. What style do you think I would look good in? I want to really go for the best look possible. Why don’t you decide for me?” Amanda couldn’t believe that this girl thought she was an expert in Lolita fashion.

The hand on her shoulder had Amanda turning to find Takashi standing there. “Go on kōhai. I have faith in you.”

“Yes sempai.” Amanda swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled at Arisu. “Why don’t we step over the racks and see what we can find for Arisu? I need to get a feel for what you like first.”

“Um… Amanda I’ve never done Lolita. Not even as Cosplay. This is my first time.” Arisu blushed clear down to her breasts. “I was wanting to try it as part of my time here at the Com-con.”

“I got an idea then. We’ll go just go with the classic Sweet Lolita with a touch of Anime thrown in.” Amanda told Arisu with smile. “That way you’ll get the benefit of both.”

Forty five minutes later a very happy Arisu Oono left the Lolita booth dressed as a Sweet Lolita in pink. The girl carried a bag with the clothes she had worn to the booth. Amanda couldn’t believe the way the girl fell in love with her outfit. When Arisu took one look at herself in the booth mirror she squealed then hugged Amanda. Picking up her purse the girl pulled out a Master Card credit card turning to Amanda. “Charge it.”

“Which package are you wanting?” Amanda asked.

“Not the photo packages, the outfit.” Arisu smiled. “I’ll wear it out.”

With that simple statement Arisu Oono spent twenty-thousand Yen and left with a smile. Amanda just shook her head and went back to working the booth. Within ten minutes she had next customer. An American teenage boy from Okinawa. He left twenty minutes later after spending fifteen-thousand Yen dressed at the height of fashion for a Lolita Prince. Amanda had known for a while now that Lolitas were a big part of the teenage counterculture of Japan, but she had never realized just how big. That was until now. She saw Lolitas of every stripe at the Com-con. Boys, girls, young men, and women all letting their Lolita flag fly.

“It’s amazing isn’t it?” Ren asked from behind her. “When Aunt Yoshi-san took me to my first Com-con I was surprised myself by the number of Lolitas.” Ren dropped her voice down to a whisper. “Not to mention how many of those Lolitas were boys.”

“That’s not what I’m surprised about.” Amanda looked around the convention floor. “It’s just the sheer number cosplayers that are here. I’ve seen everything here is like way beyond anything I’ve experience at the other cons. I thought that the Com-con in Tokyo was the biggest.”

“Oh no! Not by a long shot Amanda. This one isn’t even the biggest.” Miki told her as she walked up to the booth. “The really big Com-con is Jump Festa mainly sponsored by Shueisha. Which is one of the three that are held in Tokyo. Last year over 140,000 people attended. The event is used to showcase new animes, mangas from the Jump properties, to present new games, game trailers, gameplay footage or game demos from Bandai Namco, Capcom and Square Enix, some of which you might have heard of. It is also one of the biggest showcases for things like Lolita fashions, and Cosplay enthusiasts. That doesn’t count Comiket and AnimeJapan.”

“Oh man. I never realized just how many Com-cons went on in Tokyo. How many in total are there in Japan?” Amanda couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“At last count there is one every week. Sometimes there’s two a week going on. Especially during fashion weeks.” Mai told her as she joined them in the booth. “We really love those weeks. Takashi-san always gets us booked into one of the Shows. Last year we got to walk the Tokyo show.”

“Man, I would love to try that sometime.” Amanda told the two women. “I bet that there are all kinds of crazy shit going at those shows.”

“More than just at the shows. There’s all the after parties, before parties. Not to mention the dinners and dances.” Mai giggled and then whispered in Amanda’s ear. “A girl as cute as you could find herself a sugar daddy really quick and easy at those places. Or maybe a sugar mamma.”

Amanda just blushed at hearing this, but Ren just giggled. “Relax Amanda. Takashi-san would never put you in that kind of position. Come on, we got to get ready for our afternoon walkaround.”

“Speaking of that, Ren. Takashi-san, wants you two to work the outside crowd this afternoon. He wants you girls in the Winter Wonderland Classic Lolita Outfits. The red ones with the long sleeve winter wool coat and hooded cape trimmed in black fur. As for your dresses he wants you to use the Gothic Lolita OP dresses. The Little Red Riding Hood ones made of velour with the lace up ruffle bow in burgundy Lolita one piece dress.” Ren and Amanda listened as Mai laid out the outfit that Takashi wanted us to wear for the day. “Oh, he also wants you to wear the wedge heel round toe two tone black faux fur red Lolita knee high side zip boots.”

“Damn. It’s almost fifty outside. We’ll burnup in those outfits. Can’t we wear something lighter?” Ren bitched.

“Sorry, kiddo, but I tried to override Takashi-san, but he really wants you two twining those outfits outside.” Yoshi told them with a smile. “It seems that the Sheraton ski resorts in Shintoku-cho, Yamanouchi-machi, and Akaigawa-mura are going to hold of all things a convention just for Lolitas.”

“WOW! A full convention just for Lolitas. Has this ever happened before?” Amanda asked excitedly.

“No. It is a true first for our industry.” Yoshi answered Amanda with a smile. “The last time something like this happened was before you girls were born. I think it was in nineteen-ninety-four or five. It was the acceptance of the fashion as something more than just youthful rebellion.”

“I never really thought about it. I mean we kind of grew up with the style.” Ren said quietly. “I never thought that it would have been thought as an act of rebellion.”

“The Lolita style wasn’t always an acceptable style Ren-chan.” Takashi told her from where he was standing. “At one time I was considered a trouble Rebel among the fashion industry. More so then, than I am now.”

Both teens looked at Takashi Shizumi dressed in his own Lolita style. He looked as if he had stepped straight out of Victoria England. If men of that era walked around with corseted waists, lace trimmed shits, top-hats with vails. All of which was color coordinated in ivory and grays. He was the perfect picture of an Aristocratic Kodona or Boy style Lolita. Well more like a Gentleman Lolita because of his age.

“I see Takashi-san.” Amanda said straight faced right before she and Ren busted into full fledge giggle fits. The other booth-girls joined in as Takashi struck a pose for his staff. When everyone had regained their composure Amanda and Ren stepped into the changing booths. Ren was just a few minutes ahead of Amanda leaving her changing booth. The past few days had given Amanda plenty of chances to practice her quick change skills. Both Ren and Amanda had gotten so good at changing outfits by the second day that Takashi changed the number of outfits that he had the teenage girls wearing each day from 2 to 3 each day.

Before sending the girls out Takashi looked over their outfits one last time. He made minor changes to each girls’ outfit. Nothing that took away from the cuteness of the outfits. Just made them cuter if possible. With coats in place the Winter Wonderland Classic Lolita Outfits were complete. With a pat on their heads Takashi sent them outside to wonder the amongst the crowds. Both girls had fun posing with guests for pictures. The only down side to their fun was handing out the fliers talking about the up coming Winter Wonderland Convention for Lolitas. The girls’ outfits along with the fliers were gaining a lot of attention. Before the end of the day the Lolita booth solid out of the Winter Wonderland outfits and all of the accessories.

As the girls returned to the booth they were out of fliers and smiling. Their afternoon had been both fun and rewarding. Fun for both girls and rewarding for Amanda as she was exposed to more and more aspects of the Lolita world. The more she saw the more she wanted to be a part of this world. The job of the day was closing down the booth. As the girls had nothing else to do, they helped to close down the booth for Com-con. Amanda admitted to having the time of her young life for the whole time at the Com-con. Takashi had one last surprise for the two teens. Before the changing booths were broken down he had them change one last time.

They exited the booths as a pair of Aristocratic Lolitas. They were both younger versions of Yoshi. Yoshi smiled at the girls before hugging them. “Takashi-san, and I are taking you girls out for dinner. Tonight, we’ll be celebrating three very important events. Amanda’s successful debut and one of our must profitable Com-con in years.”

“I thought that we were celebrating three things, aunt Yoshi-san?” Ren asked her quickly.

Takashi chuckled and handed Ren a manila envelope. Ren gave Takashi a confused look then opened the envelope. As she pulled the stack of papers out her hands began to tremble. The opening lines of the cover letter was addressed to her from the Head Organizer for the Lolita Winter Fest Fashion week. The letter was a formal invitation for one, Ren Nagata to show her newest Lolita designs.

“Is this really what I think it is?” Ren’s voice trembled with fear. “What designs are they asking about?”

“The ones that your Aunt Yoshi-san presented them with last week, Ren-chan. The ones in that fascinating portfolio of yours. They are especially interested in your school uniform designs.” Takashi smiled as he placed his hand on her left shoulder. “I have my seamstresses producing all of those amazing designs as we speak.”

“But… but…” Ren stammered out in shock.

“Yes, it’s quite a cute little butt.” Amanda snarked just before she and the other booth girls broke out in giggles. “That doesn’t change the fact that you still have your very own show to put on in a few weeks.”

“AMANDA! I’M NOT READY FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT!” Ren screeched.

Yoshi pulled her suddenly distraught niece into a hug. “You’re more than ready for this Ren. Your designs are on the very cutting edge of modern fashion. Not just in the Lolita styles but also for main stream fashion as well.”

“Your aunt is telling you the truth Ren-chan. Your designs cross all boundaries of the fashion world.” Takashi gave her slight nod. Then smirked. “Even Madam Yuri fell in love with your designs.”

“How many of my designs are being made?” Ren choked out. “Not all of them I hope.”

“No, we pulled the ones you had marked as privet Ren.” Yoshi reassured her niece. “I made sure those designs never left my office or were seen beyond myself and Takashi-san.” Ren sigh a breath of relief. There a few designs that Ren had drawn up just for herself. Ones that would be seen at a wedding.

“Personally, I believe your wedding dress design is quite beautiful, Ren-chan. It is a shame that you don’t want to share that design with the rest of the world.” Takashi smiled at her. “At least for now.”

“THOSE designs won’t be seen for a long time Takashi-san.” Ren blushed then just barely above a whisper. “If they ever get seen.”

“Enough of this doom and gloom. Do you want to see the finished school uniforms?” Takashi asked smiling as he waved for two men to bring over two wardrobe huge boxes. He placed his hands on top of the boxes. “Inside of these boxes are your new school uniforms. Uniforms designed by our very own Ren-chan.”

Ren couldn’t believe what Takashi was saying. “Those uniforms were just a design concept a few days. How?”

“Ren-chan, my seamstresses can reproduce or produce any design that I hand them in a matter of twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The redesign of your school uniforms is was simple child’s play for them.” Takashi chuckled. “Most of the work was done already as you didn’t so much as change the cut or design of the uniform but enhancing those aspects. The embroidery work was all done by sewing machine.”

“He’s telling you the truth Ren. Your little flourishes were not that hard. We just bought existing uniforms for your school and gave them to Takashi’s embroidery section. Along with your very detailed sketches.” Yoshi opened one of the boxes and pulled out the winter uniform. It was exactly a Ren had envisioned. Ren and Amanda stood staring in wonder at the creation held in Yoshi’s hand.

“Is that really my design?” Ren whispered.

“That it is, Ran-chan. A true vision of loveliness and Lolita fashion. Not to mention completely approved by your school’s board of directors. I talked with them before making the changes. It seems that the board was extremely surprised that their newest students was the designer.” Takashi told her with pride. “I had to make one concession for them. Only your class is to be allowed to wear the new uniforms.”

Amanda giggled. “Oh, I just know that will go over with the rest of the school. We’re already the outcast class. These new uniforms will piss off not only the teachers but the rest of the students.”

“Boy will it ever. I can just see that stuck-up British bitch, Jane Miller in our new uniforms. She’ll have an absolute hissy fit, then shit a ton of gold bricks. Right after she runs to old Iron Panties to report us.” Ren giggled.

“Is this the girl that caused you all those problems on your first day of school?” Yoshi-san snarled.

“Yup, that’s the one. We shouldn’t have to deal with her for much longer though. Her dad is being transferred back home after the Christmas holidays.” Amanda told everyone with a smile.

“I can’t wait until it happens.” Ren snarled. “That bitch has been a constant thorn in my side. I don’t know what I did to piss her off. Whatever it is she can shove it up her ass as she packs.”

“REN!” Yoshi was shocked by the hate in her niece’s voice. “I’ve never heard you hold that much anger for one person before. What has she done to anger you so?”

“Oba Yoshi, please let this go for now. If she doesn’t leave and continues to be a pain. I’ll come to you.” Ren almost begged. “Right now, I’m hungry. Can we go eat now?”

“Okay, I’ll let it go. For now. Let’s go feed the girls Takashi-san.” Yoshi sighed.

The four left the convention floor and center in a much happier mood. In the taxi cab Takashi gave them another surprise. He handed Amanda, Ren, and Yoshi train tickets to Iizuna, Nagano. “I have arranged for the four boxes with the girls’ new uniforms to be sent on to your apartment. I have also made arrangements for you all to enjoy the rest of the girls’ winter break at the Iizuna Kogen ski area in Iizuna, Nagano. When you get back to your hotel rooms tonight you will find suitcases packed with outfits for your time there. All in the Winter Wonderland theme. I hope you girls love them.” Takashi just winked at the looks of surprise on the three women’s faces. “Take the time to relax and enjoy yourselves. You’ve earned it.”

“Don’t worry, Takashi-san. I’ll make sure the girls have a good time.” Yoshi took the tickets with a smile. She quickly slipped the three train tickets into her purse. Just in case Takashi changed his mind. Yoshi continued to smile as the taxicab pulled to a stop in front of The Black Pearl sushi bar. “We must have had a really good Com-con. Thank you for arranging to take care of the girls’ new school uniforms.”

“No problem Yoshi-san. As for the Com-con it was the best one in years, Yoshi-san. I can only attribute our success to these two young ladies. Their ‘twining’ was a major draw throughout the convention.” He chuckled. “Why did you notice the number of Winter Wonderland outfits that were sold this afternoon? Within moments of these girls walking out the doors we were flooded with customers. I won’t even go into the sheer number of outfits that they sold just by walking around the convention floor during their time off.”

They exited the taxicab once it had stopped in front of the sushi bar. The conversation over the convention sales was put on hold while they entered and waited to be seated. Once the small group were seated the conversation was renewed, with Ren opening it up with the first question. “You were saying that this was one of your most successful Com-con, Takashi-san. Do you and Oba Yoshi really make that much on these conventions?”

“Not as much as you would think, Ren-chan. Usually our main income from the Com-cons is the photoshoots we sale to convention goes that want to see how they would look as Lolitas. Unlike most of the other Lolita booths at these conventions we have close to twenty different packages. Most just go for the Sweet or Cosplay Lolita looks. We do get requests for the other looks from time to time.” Takashi explained to the teens. “What made this Com-con so special was the sheer number of outfits that we sold. Not just the photoshoot packages. Whole outfits for first time customers and repeat customers.”

“I thought that you would sell more outfits at something like the Com-con, Takashi-san?” Amanda asked him.

“Sadly, no, kōhai. Most of our Lolita clothing is sold in the small boutique stores like Yoshi-san’s. Normally we only sell five or six outfits a day at the conventions.” Takashi looked down at his tuna. “This is the very first convention where we sold more than twenty per day. All thanks to you two girls.”

“How is that Takashi-san? All we did was stand around and make suggestions to the people who came to our booth. Most of whom were just happy to see what they looked like as Lolitas.” Ren pointed out.

“And THAT is exactly why we had so many sells, Ren-chan. You girls spent the time to find out what your customers were looking for in their outfits. Your simple act was one of true customer relations. Basic empathy for your customers.” Yoshi told the two girls with a smile as she explained. “Which is something that some of our normal booth girls lack. They are not true Lolitas such as yourselves.”

Amanda got a strange look in her eyes. “I thought you would only put true Lolitas in your booths, Yoshi-san?”

“Sadly, finding Lolitas to work the conventions is a trifle harder than people believe. Most would rather walk around enjoying their time with their friends. Not that I blame them. That is what the conventions are for after all. They have always been a gathering of like minded individuals in celebration of life.” Takashi explained right before he popped a piece of tuna in his mouth. “I need to talk with your school’s Headmistress about the upcoming Lolita convention at ski restores. I believe that I can get her to approve of your class taking a winter trip during that time. We will need your classmates to showcase your new School-girl Lolita designs.”

“That is going to be kind of hard Takashi-san. Most of these conventions are held during the school week. That’s just the first problem. No, the second problem. The first problem is who’s going to pay for the trips?” Ren asked. As she went after some Seabass Nigiri. “No offence Takashi-san but that is a lot of Yen to be dishing out.”

“BAH! I’ve spent more on a single trip to Milan or New York for a one day fashion show.” Takashi chuckled. “I could easily pay five such trips to the local ski resorts for your class.”

“If you say so, Takashi-san.” Amanda said as she grabbed her own seaweed wrapped rice and seabass. “You do know that if we do this that we’ll need to supply Winter Wonderland outfits for twenty students?”

“That is not a problem my kōhai. With my factory and distribution connections I can outfit more than two-hundred of your fellow students with ease. My only concern is will your fellow students agree to participate.” Takashi had snapped up a crunchy crab roll as he explained his problem to Amanda.

Both girls stop with chopsticks halfway to their mouths and giggled. They knew that their friends would be jumping at the chance to get away from school for a mid-term vacation. An all-expenses paid winter trip to a ski resort was something any teenage girl would grab onto with both hands. And Takashi was offering this chance to twenty such high school girls. Even Yoshi started to laugh as the implications of what Takashi was saying. The comic relief wrote itself in this situation. Poor Takashi was at a lost as to what was so funny.

Patting his hand Yoshi smiled. “Don’t worry Takashi. I’ll explain it all to you later. For now, let’s just enjoy our sushi. Tomorrow morning me and the girls have to be back in Tokyo.”

The rest of the evening was spent in quiet conversation and eating. At the end of their meal Takashi paid the bill and called for a taxicab. Takashi whish them all a goodnight as he helped them into the taxi. As their taxicab pulled away Yoshi asked to be returned to their hotel. As they traveled through the city, she knew that the girls were tired and needed the sleep. Not to mention that they would had to pack and head home in the morning.

Back in their hotel room Ren fixed the three of them all some tea as they sat around talking about the convention and their plans for the rest of the Christmas break until it was time for bed. Yoshi loved having her niece with her. Even though she missed her sister and her brother-in-law greatly Yoshi felt that she still had the best parts of them in Ren. She also knew that Ren cried herself to sleep still. Not all the time now, just certain nights. Yoshi also knew that Ren was crushing hard on the pretty American teenage girl. Yoshi just hoped that Ren didn’t get her hart broken too badly when Amanda turned down her advances. For now, though she would let things go on as they were. Yoshi knew that some lessons in life always came with pain. And a girl’s first crush being just one of those many painfilled life lessons. And when the inevitable crash came Yoshi would be there to help pick up the pieces. With a big tub of chocolate ice-cream.

When the girls finally went to bed Yoshi took her time cleaning up the tea, and service. One of the many things that Yoshi had come to love about the western style Sheraton hotels was the in suit kitchenets. With the tea service put away Yoshi turned in for the night. She too was looking forward to their trip to the ski resort. It had been a long time sense she had taken a real vacation. She giggled along with the girls at the outfits that Takashi had given them for the trip. They were going to need the outfits in the higher elevations of the mountain resorts. Especially in snow covered ski resort areas of the Iizuna Kogen ski area.

As she laid her head down to sleep Yoshi giggled as she remembered the old wife’s tales her grandmother told her of the Yuki-onna or snow woman. They were also called by many other names depending on the region. They were said to inhabit the cold snow covered areas of the mountainous regions of her country. Yoshi knew that she would be having fun with the girls as she shared those same tales. The train ride wasn’t a long one, but it did have quite a few stops along the way.

The next morning Yoshi dressed to match the two teens. She pointed out that she rarely got the chance to really let her Lolita Flag fly this way. She smiled at both girls saying. “I know that I’m a little older than the normal Lolita out there. I just cannot help myself at times. Too often I am forced to deal with stuffy stiff necked businessmen. To get those men to take me seriously I am forced to dress so conservatively. That sometimes I just want to scream at the top of my lungs.”

“Wow, Yoshi-san I never thought that you would feel that way about what you do.” Amanda told her over a bowl of cereal. “I’ve always seen you as this great Lolita of Lolitas.”

Yoshi just chuckled. “Amanda-chan, one thing you must remember is there are times when even I must conform to the more acceptable standards of society. Usually those times are for business.”

“I never really thought about it that way, Yoshi-san. I just well, always thought that you would have a more toned down or Business Lolita look.” Amanda told her mentor in the ways of the Lolita.

“You know something Amanda-chan. That’s a damned good idea. One that could go over well with the Business class. I’ve never really thought about designing a Lolita Business look. If it could even be done.” Yoshi looked over at Ren. “Well, how about it, Ren? You want to give it a go?”

Ren shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll see what I can come up with aunt Yoshi. Won’t promise you anything, but I’ll give it my best shot. I just need a few days to work the idea over in my head.”

“Oh, you mean like you did with our school uniforms?” Amanda asked excitedly.

“No. This is going to take me a lot longer than just a few days. With the uniforms I already had a foundation to work from and somewhere to go. No, this time, I don’t have a place to start or somewhere to go with the design.” Ren sighed before turning back her breakfast.

Later that morning when the now three Life Style Lolitas left the hotel. They were dressed in Takashi’s Winter Wonderland outfits. During the train ride they were approached by more than a few teenage girls and young women. All with questions concerning their outfits. Questions that they were happy to answer. As they traveled the three gained more and more attention as they answered questions. Mostly the question revolved around their outfits, the main one being were they really warm enough to ski in. Amanda and Ren had the same concern as some of the people asking. Yoshi assured the girls that there was a way to keep warm and still enjoy the slopes of the resort. The easiest way was to wear fleece lined thermal tights under their normal thigh-high socks.

As for the boots they would use matching ski-boots while on the slopes and matching knee-high boots for around the resort. They each had seven outfits in total. Seven for casual wear and five for skiing. The ski outfits were a long the line of Kodona Lolita or Boy Lolita style. Yoshi explain that reason for using the Kodona style was for ease of skiing. Mainly because the style lent itself towards a more active lifestyle, especially for sports.

When the train pulled into Kita-Nagano Station the three women quickly disembarked with their luggage. After a twenty minute wait for a taxicab they were on their final leg up to the Iizuna Kogen ski area and resort. For Amanda and Ren the sight of the snow covered was the first sign that they were about to have a fun filled week. After that it was back to the grindstone of classes and schoolwork.

-----tbc-----