LU Chapter 1

# Chapter One - "Memento Mori"

### Junko

    "Junko, you're featured quite prominently in this month's PonPonPetit. In their interview you said your style is quite personal to you, and that you've always resisted pressure to change it. The latest rumor is you even rejected a campaign with a major cosmetics company because they would have required you to dye your hair something other than your trademark pink. Anything about that you'd like to share?"

    "That's certainly not true. I don't know where silly rumors like that come from. Several of my peers were up for the same spokesman position, and I'm nothing but happy that my groupmate Yume Zhou secured the campaign. I can also confirm that she was absolutely the first to be offered the position. Perhaps the confusion stems from MiMeMi's decision to sponsor our entire group. Their products are wonderful, and nearly every idol I know already uses them in one form or another."

    "So is that the product you use to get your lovely trademark color? I'm sure our viewers would love to hear how you manage such a spectacular shade." The hostess pushed. Since joining Interlunium I've been a guest on numerous television and radio shows, but this is the first time entirely by myself, and I'm pretty sure she can sense my nervousness and is just waiting for me to let slip a juicy piece of gossip. My hair color is the result of years of subtle experimentation. In its current form, it's a blend of no less than four separate dyes applied in multiple successive stages - two of which actually are from the company in question - but I would never share the recipe with anyone. You could say that it's one of my most closely guarded secrets.

    "That's an industry secret. I'm afraid you won't have any better luck getting it out of me than anyone else has, Tsumugi."

    The hostess chuckled, her lips curling into an overly exaggerated, fake grin. It's a shame. If she acted naturally, with those bangs and cheekbones she could probably be really cute, but instead she's forced to play up her reactions for the camera like a clown. That's no way to get information out of me at all, so my secrets will remain locked up in my head, safely away from the probing questions of talk show hosts.

    "On that note, Junko, what do you say to the magazine's assessment that you're the spiritual successor to last generation's avant garde models? You have to admit, there's a good deal about your style that calls to mind the likes of Aya Yasutake and her trademark vocal style, Francesca Alagona's era-defining grace and charm, Min-Bora Park's use of eye-catching color in her performances, and even traces of Nga Nguyen's later projects. Does it bother you to have your individual tastes boiled down so reductively?"

    Before I could answer, the gigantic monitor at the set's rear wall started playing a montage of footage and still photos ranging from decades ago up to the present day. All of the images were of women, models and singers whom even an upstart fashion fan would have at the very least seen in the tabloids. For me, being in the industry myself, all of these women were instantly familiar. My friend Dam-Bi has one of Min-Bora's posters framed on her wall, and it wasn't hard to guess that the model's rich purple hair had been a contributor to the foundation of my friend's own sense of style. Rinko and I have actually seen Ms. Yasutake in concert once when we were about fourteen. It was a delightful show. Even pushing forty the woman's voice has lost none of the intensity of her youth, and we must have sung along to her CDs for months afterward. Nga I'm only passably familiar with. I can't be blamed entirely though. A Vietnamese K-Pop idol whose career crested well over a decade ago, as you could expect, gets only a limited amount of exposure with modern Japanese teenagers, even if they are idols. But I could still easily pick her out of a lineup. Fame is fame and her style is admittedly unique. Several less well-known models, idols, and actresses flashed across the screen, all of whom I had a passing familiarity with. The exception was one of the women the hostess had pointedly asked about.

    Francesca Alagona.

    A young woman, not even twenty in most of the photos, with golden blonde hair hanging loose down to her waist.

    An international sensation, Francesa was walking the runways in Milan and Paris by the time she was fifteen. By seventeen she was doing million dollar advertising campaigns on four continents, and she debuted on a fifth before her nineteenth birthday. She was the first western model to command over one-hundred million yen for a single advertising campaign in Japan, propelling MiMeMi Cosmetics into a household name. Her blood type was B-positive. She was a Virgo. An earth sign. Hard working. A perfectionist. The kind of person who took immense care to make her work turn out amazing, no matter what it was, and everyone loved her for it, from the photographers all the way down to the interns. Of all the models the hostess talked about, if I could be like one, I suppose it would be her. If I remind people of her, I suppose I should take that as a compliment, right?

    "Junko, are you alright? You look a little starstruck." Once again, she played it up for the camera, eliciting a small laugh from members of the audience.

    "I'm sorry." I shook myself out of my stupor. I should have anticipated this sort of question, but even if I had, what girl in my position with an ounce of humility would handle that kind of flattery with any more decorum and grace? "Please forgive me. It's always surreal being compared to so many of your personal inspirations, isn't it? Especially when they're all so beautiful. All of those women are paragons of our profession. It's immensely flattering to hear that people are comparing someone like me to giants like them." A well-practiced smile hid any uneasiness I had. The hostess grinned once more. When in doubt, it always pays to be humble. A lesson handed down from my father.

    "Well, I know I speak for all your fans when I say I'm hoping you have as illustrious and successful a career as any of these women. Can you give us any hints as to what's next for you?"

    I put on my own rehearsed smile. As beneficial to the ratings as the scoop would be, I have no desire to share it. Instead, I kept things business as usual.

    "We have an exciting new project coming up that's shaping up to be really amazing. I can't wait for all of my fans to see it, and hope you'll keep supporting me."

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