"Aha, here it is, Renamon!" She said with triumph, producing a box of traditional photo albums.
"What are those? Are they like printouts of digital photos?"
"Not exactly, before digital cameras became so common, most people used film. These are all old photos from when Mom and I were younger."
She frowned.
"...Though come to think of it, maybe I should keep these hidden. Mom will totally show these off if I ever bring friends over."
Renamon had picked up one album, leafing through.
"So this is when you were a baby? What's wrong with that? I wish I had pictures of me when I was at that level..."
"Uh, okay. I guess it's different for Digimon. Besides, you can theoretically go back to that level. I can't," Ruki noted.
"You did just become a blonde younger version of your mother while she became a red-haired older version of you, so it's not impossible."
"Okay, fair point. But anyway, we're getting sidetracked. All these photos have me blonde as well, and Mom's a redhead, so that must mean the change really has gone through all over and not just around the house!"
Renamon was confused.
"...That's why you were doing this? To make sure it wasn't going to get weird if people beyond the house aren't part of the change?"
"Yeah, didn't I say that?"
"...No."
"Yikes, maybe the blonde's affected me a bit more than I thought," the girl shuddered.
"Also, these photos were kind of here at the time so of course they'd change too. Maybe you just need to risk going out?"
"Or I could speak to someone on a webcam. Like Juri," Ruki said, heading towards her room and her computer.
Unfortunately, she was unavailable. Takato was, and the goggleboy, while a little surprised to have Ruki of all people try to speak to him on webcam, accepted.
"Uh, hi, something wrong?"
"Oh, not really, just checking if you see anything different about me?"
Takato paled on the other end of the voice call.
"Uh, is this a trap? Because when Juri asked that and I said no, she was pretty mad..."
"No, not a trap, I'm not your girlfriend whose new haircut you didn't notice. So, honest answer, do you see anything different?"
"...Uh, no? I'm sorry if I'm meant to see something but I really just see the same you as usual."
"Okay, that's fine. Describe me," Ruki pressed.
"Uh, blonde, a little taller than me, has like a dozen heart shirts, spiky ponytail...."
"Well, that's all I wanted to know, bye!"
The call was ended, leaving Takato baffled, but quickly dismissing the whole thing as another aspect of his poor understanding of girls.
***
The next day, Ruki didn't observe anyone acting like anything had changed at school, nor had Rumiko noted any strange reactions at her photoshoot that morning. One photographer that had always complemented her hair still did so, but describing it as 'firey' rather than 'golden'.
"So, what's today's ensemble?" She asked the director.
"Well, today's just some run of the mill stuff except a few samples from the Gabriel collections, they're trying to work into the Japanese market and want examples with a local model. Guess they don't think his kid can pull off a son-dress!" The director giggled at her joke.
"Oh, speaking of French designers, any word on the Sanguine relaunch?"
"Nothing yet. They must want everything perfect, after all, these will be the first shows after the accident. Still, you're a certainty to be in the Tokyo show."
"Well, let me know. By the way, would it be okay if I got some prints of today's stuff this afternoon? I'd like to try show some stuff to my daughter."
The director raised an eyebrow
"Trying to convince her to follow in your footsteps still? Good luck, we could really use a more down to earth teen model. Some of the ones on my books really have quite the high opinion of themselves. Not that they're not good, but they're not quite a Rumiko Makino."
With small talk and snippy behind the back comments on young primadonnas out of the way, Rumiko got down to doing what she did best -modelling the hell out of the clothes she was tasked with wearing. Various casual dresses and apparel, the French imports, hats, some jackets. Rumiko took her flair for modelling and gave it her all. After a few hours working, it was all done, the pics in the digital can.
"Excellent stuff, darling. I'll have the computer geeks print that album you asked for, you want to wait or will we just bring it to your house?" The director said to Rumiko.
"I'll wait, Ruki's not home for an hour yet."
Eventually, the 'geeks' had the printout ready and Rumiko headed home, fetching a few more albums of previous work from her own room.
"Hm, I wonder if Mother knows where all of the old family albums are?" She wondered.
In a classroom counting down the minutes until the home bell, Ruki found herself shuddering for some reason.
Collection ready, Rumiko waited to greet her daughter, who soon arrived home.
"Ah, Ruki, can you come here a second before you go change? I need you to see something..."
Warily, she neared her mother, noting the albums, but her brief panic subsided as she noted they were fashion shoot albums, not the dreaded Baby Photos.
"What is it? Oh, your older shoots all have you as a redhead?"
"Yup! No one even spotted a change!" Rumiko grinned, as Rika leafed through the newest examples.
"...These are actually kind of hard to look at since they're technically me," She noted.
Rumiko's grin intensified.
The next day, Ruki didn't observe anyone acting like anything had changed at school, nor had Rumiko noted any strange reactions at her photoshoot that morning. One photographer that had always complemented her hair still did so, but describing it as 'firey' rather than 'golden'.
"So, what's today's ensemble?" She asked the director.
"Well, today's just some run of the mill stuff except a few samples from the Gabriel collections, they're trying to work into the Japanese market and want examples with a local model. Guess they don't think his kid can pull off a son-dress!" The director giggled at her joke.
"Oh, speaking of French designers, any word on the Sanguine relaunch?"
"Nothing yet. They must want everything perfect, after all, these will be the first shows after the accident. Still, you're a certainty to be in the Tokyo show."
"Well, let me know. By the way, would it be okay if I got some prints of today's stuff this afternoon? I'd like to try show some stuff to my daughter."
The director raised an eyebrow
"Trying to convince her to follow in your footsteps still? Good luck, we could really use a more down to earth teen model. Some of the ones on my books really have quite the high opinion of themselves. Not that they're not good, but they're not quite a Rumiko Makino."
With small talk and snippy behind the back comments on young primadonnas out of the way, Rumiko got down to doing what she did best -modelling the hell out of the clothes she was tasked with wearing. Various casual dresses and apparel, the French imports, hats, some jackets. Rumiko took her flair for modelling and gave it her all. After a few hours working, it was all done, the pics in the digital can.
"Excellent stuff, darling. I'll have the computer geeks print that album you asked for, you want to wait or will we just bring it to your house?" The director said to Rumiko.
"I'll wait, Ruki's not home for an hour yet."
Eventually, the 'geeks' had the printout ready and Rumiko headed home, fetching a few more albums of previous work from her own room.
"Hm, I wonder if Mother knows where all of the old family albums are?" She wondered.
In a classroom counting down the minutes until the home bell, Ruki found herself shuddering for some reason.
Collection ready, Rumiko waited to greet her daughter, who soon arrived home.
"Ah, Ruki, can you come here a second before you go change? I need you to see something..."
Warily, she neared her mother, noting the albums, but her brief panic subsided as she noted they were fashion shoot albums, not the dreaded Baby Photos.
"What is it? Oh, your older shoots all have you as a redhead?"
"Yup! No one even spotted a change!" Rumiko grinned, as Rika leafed through the newest examples.
"...These are actually kind of hard to look at since they're technically me," She noted.
Rumiko's grin intensified.
"Well, in a way, I guess I got my wish of having you model!"