"Leave it to me."
It was still within acceptable limits, with nothing too excessive or deliberately attention-seeking.
He backed away a bit, found a good angle, and lightly touched the shutter button.
Marin Kitagawa didn't lower her skirt, asking with a smile, "Want me to lift it a little higher? Hmm? Kaiser-kun really wants to see, doesn't he? This is a special limited edition just for you."
"No way, no way, absolutely not."
He turned his head away, avoiding the sight of the girl, only to be rewarded with her cheerful laughter.
Chihaya Kaiser turned back, "I knew it."
"Haha, why not? If you just admit you want to see, Kaiser-kun, I wouldn't mind showing you."
She had already let go of her skirt, returning to a normal pose. With a light, cheerful smile, her eyes reflected the boy's composure.
The photoshoot went smoothly. Three hours later, after hundreds of clicks of the shutter, a set of photos was left behind, the girl blooming on the screen.
The two of them looked at the screen together. Marin Kitagawa moved closer, wrapping an arm around his, and that soft sensation returned.
Chihaya Kaiser, expressionless and calm, brought up the camera screen to show her the photos he'd just taken and spoke.
"Should I send them to you from my computer when I get home? Or should I just lend you the memory card for now? Do you need me to do any post-processing? If so, you'll have to wait a bit."
"I can do it myself, the raw files are fine."
Her smiling face was reflected on the screen; he had put all his effort into the lighting and angle of every single shot.
Marin Kitagawa's lips curled into a smile. Holding her skirt hem with one hand, she whispered in his ear.
"I'm very satisfied."
"That's great. It's all thanks to you being so beautiful, Kitagawa, that the shoot went so smoothly."
As the photographer, Chihaya Kaiser knew he had to lay on the compliments; he might get another job out of it next time.
She blushed, stealing a glance at his profile.
The photo studio was only divided by folding screens, so they could hear the voices of other customers, who could naturally hear their conversation as well. Still, it offered a bit of privacy—at least they couldn't see each other.
That was probably the price you paid for a cheap place.
Marin Kitagawa blinked, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh. She hugged his arm and lowered her voice, "I'm already very satisfied, but are you satisfied, Kaiser-kun? Want to shoot a little more?"
"Ahem, I think that's enough. There should be plenty of photos for social media." He could feel the softness enveloping his arm and averted his gaze slightly, avoiding her neck.
From this position, his line of sight could easily drift to a patch of snowy white.
She was always so forward, as if deliberately teasing him just to see him blush.
The more Chihaya Kaiser ignored her, the more forward Marin Kitagawa became. After a few photoshoots, she was now clinging to him directly. He didn't dare to imagine what would come next.
However, there was still a quest to do.
A thousand followers... Looks like this will be a long-term project. He wondered if he could use any ideas from his past life to complete the quest quickly.
While he was lost in thought, Marin waved a hand in front of his face and tilted her head.
"Kaiser-kun, what are you thinking about?"
"Sorry, I zoned out a bit." He gave an apologetic smile, looking at the girl's pretty face.
Remembering their conversation from before the shoot, she tried asking again, "Are you sure you don't want to go to the comic convention together?"
He adjusted his camera and said, "Saturday... Let's get in touch closer to the date. I need to see if I have anything else on."
"Really? That's great! I'll contact you beforehand." Marin Kitagawa's eyes lit up. She had thought he was just making an excuse, but he was actually considering it.
Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks were tinged with pink, and the corners of her mouth turned up, forming a lovely curve.
"Kaiser-kun."
"Hmm?" He turned his head.
Marin Kitagawa stood on her tiptoes and whispered close to his ear.
"You know, generally speaking, when a guy and a girl go out together, it's called a date."
Her breath tickled his ear, and he could see her dazzling smile.
He turned his head away, but Marin just followed, moving to look at his face from the other side.
"I'm really looking forward to it. See you on Saturday."
"Yeah." He removed the memory card and handed it to her. "Here, hold onto this. You can give it back on Saturday."
"So it's a date, then."
She took the memory card with a smile, put her hands behind her back, and balanced on one leg, tapping the other foot behind her and swaying slightly.
"Want to hang out nearby for a bit?"
"Maybe not. I have some other things to do."
It wouldn't help with the quest, so naturally, he wouldn't go. Still seven hundred followers to go... this felt like it would be a long-term quest.
He didn't notice the flicker of disappointment that crossed Marin's face, an expression so fleeting it was almost imperceptible.
In the next instant, she was back to her usual self.
"Then wait for me to change, and we can go to the station together, okay?"
"Okay." Chihaya Kaiser also had to return the lights and stands and pack his camera bag. Plus, there was another important reason.
He hadn't been paid yet.
A little over ten minutes later, Marin Kitagawa had changed back into her JK school uniform and came jogging toward him, carrying a bag.
"Sorry for the wait."
"I just finished packing up myself." He slung the camera bag over his shoulder and watched as the small accessories she had removed for the cosplay now returned to her body. Her blonde hair was tucked behind her ear, revealing her studs and earrings.
She was smiling, a black lace decoration around her neck, the hem of her shirt tied into a bow, and her blue plaid pleated skirt was shorter than the standard length.
It looked better than their school's uniform. In fact, Marin Kitagawa was better-looking than the vast majority of people at school.
Thinking about it, there really weren't many people in their class who could compare to Marin. Yanami certainly couldn't, though maybe the new transfer student could.
In an anime, Marin Kitagawa would be the absolute main heroine, the kind of female character who would instantly capture everyone's attention.
Chihaya Kaiser walked out beside her. Before they left, she took three thousand yen from her wallet, pressed it into his hand, and held it there.
"Thank you, Kaiser-kun. You always make me look so good in your photos."
"No, it's because you're so beautiful, Kitagawa, that the shoot went so smoothly. I should be thanking you."
A classic case of mutual business flattery.
A smile appeared on Chihaya Kaiser's face as he slipped the three thousand yen into his pocket.
Money was still the most reliable thing.
The girl's cheeks reddened. She met his gaze for a few seconds before looking away at their surroundings.
Suddenly, she saw a stray cat perched on top of a wall, staring at the boy beside her.
"Wow, what a cute kitty!" Marin Kitagawa took out her phone and started taking pictures of the cat.
Unfortunately, the cat didn't even look at her. It kept its eyes fixed on Chihaya Kaiser, then jumped down from the wall and started rubbing its head against his leg.
Passive talents really were too useful.
"Huh?" Marin Kitagawa crouched down, trying to pet its head, but it dodged her and continued to circle around Chihaya Kaiser's legs.
She opened her bag and, from some unknown corner, precisely and elegantly pulled out a cat treat stick with her index and middle fingers.
A girl's bag is like a magician's hat; they can always pull out the most random things with unerring accuracy. Only they know in which corner each item is hidden.
______
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