My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 378

"That's right, freshmen will use this interview as a reference."

When Yuigahama and Totsuka arranged the meeting, she had already conveyed the purpose of the free information magazine. For various groups, this was an excellent publicity opportunity. After listening to me, Totsuka seemed to have made up his mind and raised his head.

"I...I'll do my best..."

Then, he gently clenched his fist in front of his chest and focused his mind.

"I see... Okay, good luck."

While it's good that I managed to convince Totsuka, I feel like I tricked him into taking photos with sweet talk. What's with this guilt...? No, wait. This isn't guilt... it's more like a sense of duty! Hmm—in some ways, I'm actually more motivated!

"OK, then I'll do my best to take these photos."

"good!"

Hearing Totsuka's spirited reply, I raised my camera.

"Let's pick up the racket and take a look this time."

"Okay, sure."

I photographed Totsuka's racket-wielding pose from a low angle, and captured his dynamic stride as he moved, even including his slight hops when he lost his balance. The opportunity for a shot had arrived! (Note 30: A line from the protagonist "Kazuya Maeda" in the anime "Koi-sou Kyoudai".)

After capturing the Totsuka event to our hearts' content, the photography moved on to the next stage.

"Next, hold up the racket and take a look."

"Uh-huh?"

Totsuka tilted his head, clutching his racket tightly to his chest. I kept pressing the shutter, shooting left and right, even using panorama mode. Then, I asked Totsuka to drape a towel over himself. Not bad! That's it, you can be a little bolder with your pose—I got more and more into shooting, until Isshiki, standing beside me, finally showed an expression of exasperation.

"Senior, isn't that enough...?"

"Really? Well, I guess so."

"Um."

Isshiki nodded. Okay, what she said makes sense.

"Indeed, enough photos of me holding a racket. OK, the next ones are of me without a racket."

"what?"

I left the stunned Isshiki aside, looked through the viewing window at Totsuka, and pondered my next photography plan.

"Totsuka, could I ask you for a favor?"

"……Um."

Totsuka was probably tired; his reply sounded listless. My cat also makes that exhausted expression when I play with it for too long. In other words, Totsuka is just as cute as my cat!

Following my instructions, Totsuka placed his racket at his feet, then sat down on the ground with his hands around his knees. I took several photos from the front and from a slightly angled angle. Next, I asked him to strike various poses, dividing them into versions facing the camera and versions not facing the camera. For the ones facing the camera, I also asked him to make two expressions: a smiling one and a slightly gloomy one.

"Hachiman...isn't filming finished yet?"

Totsuka, with a stiff smile, asked me in a broken voice.

"Uh, well..."

Totsuka is also a bit tired, what should I do...? As I was thinking, a sudden inspiration struck me.

"Let's take a break first."

"We'll continue later..."

Totsuka's shoulders slumped. Hmm, seeing how exhausted he looked, my decision to rest was definitely the right one. To prepare for the second half of the battle, I picked up my camera and checked the photos I'd just taken. Then, I noticed something serious.

"One color".

I called out to Isshiki, who was watching from afar. He seemed too lazy to pay attention to me and went off to cool off somewhere else. Only now did he walk over with an impatient look on his face.

"How is it?"

Do you have a spare memory card? This one is out of capacity.

"How many photos did the senior take...?"

"I've already deleted all the unnecessary parts..."

When Isshiki heard what I said, he sighed deeply, then grabbed my coat sleeve and turned to leave.

"That's enough! Totsuka-senpai, thank you so much for today."

"Oh, um. I should be the one saying thank you, really."

Totsuka, who was sitting on the ground, looked up and answered Isshiki with a smile.

I really wanted to capture that smile in a photograph, but Ishiki was holding my sleeve, preventing me from even raising my camera. I could only silently press the shutter in my heart, etching Totsuka's smile into my own.

× × ×

I was pulled along by Isshiki's sleeve as we went to visit the soccer club.

Their practice area is the playground next to the tennis courts, and the two aren't far apart. Incidentally, I'm not particularly interested in the soccer club either.

I just wanted to take a couple of quick photos and leave, but of course, Isshiki wouldn't allow me to do that.

"Hmm~ It's about over there. Please center your attention on Hayama-senpai. Ah, now!"

Isshiki was patting my shoulder frantically beside me, instructing me on when to press the shutter. After each photo was taken, she would take the camera to check it.

"Let me take a look... Senior Hubu is slightly in the picture, I'll delete it."

After deleting the photos, Isshiki shoved the camera back at him. Come on, what's the harm in having Hobu in the picture... anyway, nobody will even notice he's there, right?

We kept taking photos and deleting them, deleting and taking photos again, but there was no progress for a long time.

"I mean, that's about enough, the storage is almost empty..."

"The storage is almost empty, whose fault is it?"

Isshiki puffed out his cheeks and glared at me sideways. I couldn't deny it either... As a result, we kept taking pictures like that until the soccer club's practice match ended.

The match finally ended, and Hayama walked over from the field.

"Hayama-senpai~!"

Isshiki waved his hand and shouted loudly, and Hayama also raised his hand slightly in response.

"Yui told me that you guys are making a free information magazine, right? It's still the same old thing, you do whatever people ask you to do."

Ye Shan's smile was bright and cheerful, but his tone carried a hint of helplessness.

"As I've already said, this is how our club activities are, and I don't want to be told this by someone who specifically interrupted their practice for this interview. Sorry to bother you."

"Your way of expressing gratitude is really strange."

Ye Shan smiled, shrugged, and turned to look at the courtyard.

"It's cold, isn't it? How about we go over there to handle the interview?"

"Ah, that's fine too~"

The central courtyard was surrounded by the entire school building, so there was no need to endure the cold wind. Next to the vending machine was a plain-looking bench, and with a grin, Iroha and Kazuma ran over first, sat down, patted the empty seat next to them, and waved for us to come over. So cute…

I told Hayama to go ahead, then I went to the vending machine and bought black coffee and red tea. I tossed the piping hot beverage cans over to Hayama.

"Just say something that sounds plausible. You're good at that, aren't you?"

As I spoke, I tossed the canned coffee to Ye Shan. He caught it in surprise, examined the coffee in his hand for a long time, then let out a soft sigh and said with a half-joking wry smile:

Was that a sarcastic remark directed at me?

"I was just praising you. Whatever you say, I'm counting on you."

"...Yes, I will try my best to live up to your expectations."

After answering, Ye Shan smiled slightly, raised his hand slightly to me, and turned to face Isshiki.

"Alright, let's begin the interview~"

Isshiki took out her smartphone and opened the voice memo app. I placed the black tea next to Isshiki, then stepped back and raised my camera. Through the viewfinder was the familiar Hayama Hayato, but he seemed slightly different from the Hayama with the wry smile on his face just now.

× × ×

After the interview and photography session with Hayama, we visited several more locations, covering all the clubs we were assigned to. Anyway, we managed to capture Hayama making the clay-making gesture that elite interviewees love to use, so the photos in our hands should be usable in terms of both quality and quantity.

Yuigahama and Yukinoshita, who are in charge of interviewing the girls' clubs, are probably also working through their assigned clubs one by one. That means only Iroha Iroha's cover photo is still unfinished.

Based on Isshiki's wishes, we took photos at the library.

We walked around the courtyard back to the school building entrance, changed into indoor shoes, and passed through the faculty and staff offices before arriving at the library.

It had been quite a while since school ended, and the library was almost empty, filled with a tranquil atmosphere.

"Why did you take a picture in the library...?"

Ishiki wandered around the museum, looking for a suitable spot for taking photos. I asked her a question as I looked at her back, and she turned around to look at me.

"Isn't a library supposed to give people an intellectual feeling?"

"Your words are utterly ignorant..."

"It doesn't matter, it's just a matter of image."

Isshiki turned her face away and continued walking, stopping to observe every few steps. After walking and stopping for a while, she finally found an ideal spot and sat down at a table with her back to the bookshelves. Then, she took out a small mirror and excitedly tidied her appearance.

The bookshelves stood tall as if protecting the girl before them, the dark spines of the books forming a uniform backdrop that accentuated her flower-like beauty. Perhaps for the sake of reading comfort, the library remained brightly lit even as dusk approached, casting a slightly warm glow on her fair skin.

Although I'm just a layman and don't know much about this, I can still feel that Yi Se's demeanor is captivating, like a living painting. She knows exactly how to present her most charming side.

"Well then, I'll take a few pictures like this."

When Isshiki heard what I said, she didn't answer me directly, but instead silently put her chin on her hand.

She gave me an alluring look, her eyes slightly upturned, her moist pupils and long eyelashes captivating my gaze; her slightly confident smile still retained a touch of childishness, her soft and beautiful pale red lips exuding a sense of maturity.

I had already pointed the camera at her, but forgot to press the shutter. A cough sounded beside me, bringing me back to my senses.

I quickly pressed the shutter button a few times, then checked the captured image. To shift the focus and conceal my earlier distraction, I said to Isshiki:

"You seem very comfortable in front of the camera..."

Isshiki was staring at herself in the mirror, contemplating her next pose. Hearing my words, she tilted her head towards the mirror.

"Really? Taking photos isn't something that happens all the time?"

"It's not always like that."

People only take photos to remember or commemorate special occasions like traveling or holding events. At least, that's the kind of environment I grew up in.

However, Issaku's views were completely different from mine. She closed her side mirror and glanced at me. Although I wasn't pointing my camera at her, she still gave me a faint smile.

"Memories are very important."

For Isshiki Iroha, this was a matter of course.

What she meant was that there was no need to distinguish between the "everyday" and the "extraordinary," and that even the unchanging scenery of everyday life was a record worth embracing and cherishing.

"...That's true."

After a brief reply, I picked up my camera again. So, would the following photos become "everyday" memories or "extraordinary" records? I pondered this in my mind as I pressed the shutter.

× × ×

Several days have passed since we officially started work, and we have roughly collected all the necessary materials. The introductions to the clubs and attractions are being completed at full speed, the interview notes are almost finished, and the layout design is also progressing smoothly. The entire newsletter is being completed page by page.

The text sections of those intelligence publications, once supplemented with some detailed explanations and adjusted in their headings, will be nearly complete. The president's interview transcripts have also been largely edited into an article format.

Everything went very smoothly. It should have gone very smoothly.

All the club activity introductions, local attraction descriptions, interview content, and the assignment to translate Isshiki's language into standard English have been completed. The photos taken during the interviews have also been confirmed by the respective clubs. I even successfully dealt with Isshiki's request for a cover photo.

But why isn't my writing assignment finished yet?

"Why did it turn out like this...?"

Because I took it too seriously? Indeed, I was extremely serious from beginning to end. Not only did I do my own writing, but I also went to help Yukinoshita and even went to urge the game company to submit their manuscripts on behalf of Yuihama.

Until now, I've been completely focused on my work every day. Perhaps this is the reason... because I've been so busy, I've forgotten about other tasks I should be doing.

Only two days left until the deadline! And I haven't even written a single word for the column.

Just as I was burying my head in my hands in distress, Isshiki poured some tea for me from a plastic bottle.

"Please have some tea. Well then, good luck, senior."

After finishing speaking, Isshiki put the plastic bottle back in the mini-fridge under the table and sat back down at the other table diagonally in front of her.