CHAPTER 3
I haven’t argued this passionately since the debate.
“I said I’m sorry. Come on, cheer up.”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
After being branded a “cringelord” by the students of Class A, Masachika roamed the hallway alongside Alisa in a bid to smooth things over with her. He understood why she was upset, though. After all, Alisa must have put on quite a show, since everyone had been cheering. She had failed once before, but this time, she finally caught a balloon after most likely missing countless times with her fishing string, so the taste of sweet revenge must have been incredible…until she turned around and realized that the two people who she came with weren’t even watching her grudge match and were enjoying themselves without her. Even Masachika would feel unbearably lonely and left out if Takeshi and Hikaru did that to him.
“<You’re supposed to be my partner…>”
“…Stop mumbling in Russian. You’re scaring me.”
Hearing her say that was unbearable for a whole new reason.
“Like…I know this just sounds like an excuse, but I was really planning on watching you yo-yo fish. But you saw the crowd. Everyone was surrounding you and blocking the way. You’re too popular…,” rambled Masachika, prompting Alisa to fidget with her hair and glance at him.
“…Says the guy who everyone depends on.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“When it was your shift, you naturally took control, and our classmates did whatever you said.”
“…Oh.”
She made a good point. Masachika provided a lot of direction to his classmates as a member of the school festival committee, whether he realized it or not. Nevertheless, even if opinions of him had changed, most of his peers probably thought he was some stupid, lazy nerd up until the end of the first semester. Of course, it wasn’t to the point that people would make fun of him to his face, but many viewed him as being beneath them, which probably also had to do with the fact that he came from a middle-class family.
Regardless, Masachika personally didn’t really care what his fellow students thought about him. If anything, he felt that being a little despised would actually help smooth the relationship between him and his peers. There were sayings like, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” and “He who knows the most often says the least” for a reason. Making himself stand out would get others’ attention, but if they thought little of him, then they would let their guard down, which would allow him to gain their trust. Ultimately, he could easily reveal his value after gaining their trust. Furthermore, once someone saw his value, they would change how they acted around him, and if they didn’t, then all he had to do was butter them up a little until he was the one in control. However, for the most part, Masachika didn’t want anyone to expect anything from him.
“Yeah…I guess you have a point.”
He couldn’t recall himself proving he had value, but he did feel like his class had started to see him in a more positive light. The cause of this change…wasn’t even something that he needed to think about. Everything changed after he joined the student council.
“It must have been the speech you made during the closing ceremony.”
“Huh? Oh… Yeah, probably,” agreed Masachika after pondering it for a moment. Looking back, he realized he’d told the entire school that he was the student council vice president in middle school behind the scenes—a sort of shadow vice president. Yuki was an extraordinarily capable partner, which was why he decided to do everything he could to support her from behind the scenes while staying out of sight whenever Yuki took the stage. That was why most students had no idea he was even the vice president in middle school until he announced it himself at the closing ceremony. Even his classmates were surprised when they heard the news.
“I guess it probably helped boost everyone’s opinion of me a little? Then once the second semester started, maybe I gained some of our class’s respect while working for the school festival committee? I’m starting to feel like I’m bragging…”
“That’s what I think happened. They depend way more on you than they ever did on me.”
“Nah, I mean… They’re probably just dumping all the boring jobs on me, since they know I’ll do it,” joked Masachika, concerned that she might start feeling like she wasn’t good enough to be his partner again. “But yeah… I guess you can’t hide talent when you’ve got it,” he said, grinning smugly while combing his bangs back with his fingers.
“<You should have tried hiding it a little longer…,>” whispered Alisa in Russian. Then she pouted and looked the other way.
“Uh… Are you still mad?”
“No. I was only worried that you might forget our promise.”
“Our promise?”
Masachika tilted his head in genuine bewilderment…and was met with her piercing glare. Flustered, he promptly traced his memories until it hit him: the conversation they’d had on the staircase by the music room.
“O-ohhh, that? You mean how we promised we’d check out the school festival together? …Wait. Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”
“This… This doesn’t count. You didn’t even invite me.”
“…? Is that important?”
“Very. Besides, the promise wasn’t that we’d check out the festival together. It was that you’d show me a good time.”
In other words, she wasn’t having fun right now. In fact, she was in a bad mood because of Masachika, so it wasn’t even up for debate.
“<Plus, it wasn’t just the two of us, either.>”
Oh, right… Good point.
“<And you should actually ask me, too.>”
I’m sorry.
“<Be more romantic about it.>”
Now you’re just making things difficult.
It sounded like Alisa wanted him to formally ask her out on a date, and judging by her behavior, she wanted to maintain the high ground where she was a princess and had all the power. It was as if she were saying, “I suppose I could allow you to show me a good time at the festival if you swallow your pride and invite me,” and if that were the case, then Masachika could kind of understand what she meant when she said this didn’t count.
“I’m sorry… I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, okay?”
“…Okay,” she replied curtly, before looking away with a pout, clearly upset that he was trying to claim that this was him keeping his promise.
Uh… What now? I mean, obviously, I’m in the wrong here, but still…
If anything, I should be grateful that she gave me the chance to make it up to her, he thought, while watching Alisa briskly walk ahead.
However, when he noticed a student up ahead holding up their phone, Masachika swiftly slid in front of Alisa and stretched out his robe with his right hand to conceal her body.
“Not so fast. I completely understand why you would want to take a picture of this beautiful elf, but you must get permission first,” warned Masachika somewhat jokingly. The male student grimaced before swiftly running away, but Masachika’s relief only lasted for a few seconds.
“Really? We can get a picture as long as we ask first?”
A handful of female students nearby crowded around them with smartphones at the ready, as if they’d taken what he’d said seriously. Masachika froze, but it didn’t stop there. Other students, who happened to be passing by, stopped in their tracks as if they realized this was their chance.
“No, uh… It was more like a figure of speech, so—”
“Alisa! Look over here!”
“Elven Princess! May I take your picture?”
“Excuse me. If you don’t mind, I’d love to take a picture with you…”
Numerous extroverts slowly closed in on Alisa while paying no heed to Masachika.
Hey?! They’re being really pushy! What should I do? Should I be more forgiving, since we’re in the middle of an election campaign? Surely these girls aren’t going to be taking any lewd pictures, either… Wait. If I let one of them take a picture, then every single person on school grounds is going to want one.
Masachika decided to see what Alisa wanted to do first, so he turned around, only to find her already looking up at him with a troubled gaze.
Oh, uh… Yep. She’s in no mood to smile for a picture right now. I need to be firm and politely tell these girls to leave her alone.
But right as he faced forward to politely refuse…
“Ladies, being pushy isn’t an attractive trait.”
Everyone, including Masachika, looked in the direction of the dignified, silencing voice, and their minds instantly went blank, for standing before them was a band of female knights—courage and virtue personified. Standing at the fore was a radiantly beautiful girl with honey-blond hair tied into two spiral-curled pigtails. She was the captain of the girls’ kendo club and the vice president of the disciplinary committee, Sumire Kiryuuin.
“Sumire…!”
“How fierce…!”
Even the girls who wanted to take a picture with Alisa were captivated by Sumire’s gallant charm. She leisurely approached them, then locked eyes with Masachika. Understanding that she was there to help, he lowered the hand holding his robe open. After a smug snort of satisfaction, Sumire shifted her gaze back toward the female students and suggested:
“You should be chivalrous when approaching a lady; don’t surround her. Observe…”
Sumire elegantly pushed back her cape, then took a knee and placed her right hand over her chest while holding out her left hand to Alisa.
“O beautiful elven princess, would you do me the honor of allowing me to capture this moment for eternity?”
“…O-okay.”
The knight’s decorum was that of a fairy-tale prince that all girls dreamed of. Even Alisa unconsciously gave her approval.
“““Squeeeal!!”””
The girls’ squeals reverberated through the hallway to the point that the windows almost started to shake… In fact, they actually did shake. Sumire then casually stood back up in the midst of their excitement, as if to protect Alisa.
“Do you understand, ladies? A lack of manners has no place in Seirei Academy,” she reprimanded softly. “However, I don’t expect any of you to be able to instantly be as graceful as I am, so I suppose I could teach you all how it’s done,” continued Sumire as she cast a sidelong glance at the closest girl.
“You, try what I showed you, and I’ll help.”
“O-okay… Um… W-would you do me the honor…?”
“You do not have to force yourself to recite it word for word. Use your own words but be chivalrous.”
“Um…! Would you mind if I took a picture of you?”
“Be my guest.”
After an elegant chuckle, Sumire posed and smiled perfectly for the camera while simultaneously waving her free hand behind her back, prompting Masachika to take Alisa and rush off. Of course, he didn’t forget to whisper a few words of gratitude before leaving, either.
“Thank you, Violet.”
“It’s Sumire!”
It appeared that even during a time like this, she still wasn’t going to let him get away with that. Masachika smirked a bit as he watched her pose for pictures while directing traffic.
“Wow, she has real talent for handling stuff like that. It’s like she knows exactly how to enchant others. She can be a little theatrical with her approach like her cousin Yuushou, though,” he muttered in admiration, although perhaps the only reason why he always found Yuushou’s noble behavior somehow nasty was because he was a guy.
“Anyway, are you okay, Alya? I guess that’s just the price you have to pay for being so popular.”
“Yes, I’m fine… Thanks for sticking up for me,” she said softly, while averting her gaze.
“Don’t worry about it. If anything, I probably made things worse, so I’m really sorry about that.” He shrugged.
“Don’t blame yourself. Besides, I had no idea what to do, so I have no right to blame you for anything.”
“Well, this isn’t going to be the last time something like that happens, so maybe we both have to work on how we handle these situations.”
“…Yeah.”
Not much was said after that. While it seemed like Alisa was feeling better, there seemed to be a little tension in the air, which Masachika was trying to figure out how to clear. His gaze began to wander for answers when he suddenly locked on a nearby classroom.
“Oh, this must be the magician bar that Masha and Chisaki were talking about. Want to check it out?”
“Huh? …Sure, I guess.”
“All right, then. Excuse me. Can we get a table for two?”
“Come on in, and take a seat wherever you’d like.”
When the student at the entrance escorted them inside, Masachika immediately squinted, surprised by how much dimmer it was than he expected. Jazz was softly playing in the background, which complemented the relaxed mood of the place. Long tables were lined up, creating a U-shape with the opening facing the entrance, and each table had a different close-up magic performance.
“Oh, Alya! Kuze! Thanks for coming. ♪”
They turned in the direction of the familiar voice to find Maria waving them over.
“Whoa! Masha… You look really…mature, I guess you could say.”
“Really? Thanks. Wow! Alya, you look so cute, too!”
Her usual cheerful smile almost made Masachika smile, but it was her bartender attire—a shirt and vest—combined with the relaxed atmosphere that made her charming in a more mature way than usual. Although Maria had always been older than Masachika, she really seemed like the sweet, mature, big sister type right now, which made his heart race.
Oh, gosh… This isn’t good… If an older woman like this pressured me to drink, I’d probably drink until I dropped.
That was the first thought that crossed his mind as he made his way over to Maria’s table. A large tablecloth hid its short legs, perhaps to prevent the customers from seeing anything below the magician’s waist. The tables also seemed to be positioned in a way that prevented customers from approaching the magicians from behind.
“Oops. I kind of sat before even asking you if you were okay with this table, Alya.”
“It’s fine… I’m not sure we’re actually going to be able to see any magic at this table, though.”
“Heyyy. ♪ Rude. ♪ Your big sister here has more than a few tricks up her sleeve. I practiced a lot, you know?”
Maria placed a hand on her hip with a pout, but her lips almost immediately curled into a bubbly smile while she handed them a menu.
“What will it be? This goes without saying, but there is no alcohol in any of these drinks, so you don’t have to worry.”
The menu was full of what appeared to be countless mocktails, which were consistent with the magician bar’s concept. However, although Masachika had a faint idea of what some of these drinks were, Alisa seemed to be absolutely clueless. She was frozen in front of the menu as if she were staring at a bunch of gibberish. Nevertheless, her pride most likely wouldn’t allow her to even ask her sister what anything was, so she only continued to glare at the menu in silence.
“I’ll have the Cinderella,” she finally said.
“Oh, I’ll have the same thing…”
“Two Cinderellas coming right up. ♪ Giggle. The prince isn’t going to know what to do when he sees this. ♪”
Even Maria must have realized that Alisa was too proud to ask for help, but she pretended like she didn’t notice, took their menus, and squatted, but after some rattling and clinking, she stood back up with a cocktail shaker and glasses in her hands.
“Please give me a moment while I prepare your Cinderellas. ♪ I’m no fairy godmother, but I’ll try my best.” She mentioned this, strangely, while pulling the shaker in half before pouring bottled water into the lower half.
“Hmm? Hold on.”
But despite Alisa’s confusion, Maria connected the two halves of the cocktail shaker, shook it a few times, took off the lid, then began pouring…a yellow liquid into a glass.
“Huh? Ah!” uttered Alisa in genuine wonder before immediately closing her mouth in embarrassment. Nevertheless, her surprise didn’t go unnoticed, and a smile curled Maria’s lips as she placed the glass before Alisa.
“Ta-daa. One Cinderella for the lady.”
“Wow!”
Masachika began to clap, followed by Alisa, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Of course, Masachika saw right through the trick, since he was a nerd and understood that one day he might be kidnapped and forced to play a game where his life was on the line, so he’d memorized every single cheap trick and sleight-of-hand move that he could in order to prepare.
The secret to this trick was simple. There were independent containers already in the top half and bottom half of the cocktail shaker, and the top half’s container already had all the necessary ingredients inside of it to make a Cinderella. Of course, Masachika wasn’t the kind of person who would obnoxiously point that out, though, since it would only be polite to pretend to be surprised even if you really weren’t.
“Are you ready for my next trick?”
Maria proceeded to take out a place mat and a deck of cards. She then spread the mat over the table and put the deck of cards on top of it with a very natural movement, showing just how much she must have practiced.
“All right, I am going to separate the deck into two piles. Kuze, I want you to tell me to stop whenever you’d like, okay?”
“Sure.”
Masachika continued to pretend like he was a clueless audience member and followed orders.
Like Alya, I was a little worried at first…but she’s going to be fine. But, well, I guess it makes sense. Masha always acts bubbly when she’s around Alya, but she’s actually a really hard worker.
He was relieved for the time being, but that was only due to his ignorance, for he had no idea that there was a relatively distinct rule pertaining to whether Maria was a big sister or a bubbly sister. It was, however, actually a rather simple rule. The more Maria felt like she needed to get it together and take something seriously, the more of a big sister she became. This change would occur when she met someone who she needed to be wary of or when she was with someone who was utterly helpless on their own. On the flip side, the more she could trust the person she was with, the less pressure she felt to pull herself together, which allowed her mind to wander freely, making her into a bubbly sister—aka an idiot.
Now, who were the two people she was currently with? Alisa and Masachika—the two people she trusted and loved the most. Thanks to these two, her level of joy was through the roof, bringing her to cloud nine. A big, fat, happy cloud. If one were to measure her current IQ, it would be 50 when rounding up. As a result…
What the…? Shouldn’t she have done a double lift there?
Although Masachika felt like something was off, Maria continued as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
“I am placing the card that Alya picked into my pocket, but with a little magic… Three, two, one!”
Maria’s fingers might as well have been two wet hot dogs as she attempted to snap over the stack of cards. She then grabbed the very top card and began to flip it over…before placing it back facedown.
“Hmm?”
““…””
She was supposed to flip the card over, and yet they were once again staring at the back of a card, for some reason… It was the last thing a magician would ever want the audience to see.
“Sorry, Masha, but do you think I could get another glass of this?”
“Oh, sure. Coming right up.”
Unable to come up with any words of comfort or surprise, Masachika decided to just pretend like he hadn’t seen anything. Not even Alisa seemed to know what to say as she took another sip of her drink. Even though Maria was her sister, she didn’t seem like she was even comfortable joking about it.
“A-anyway, my next trick involves a cup and a ball!”
Thanks to their kind gesture, Maria promptly tried to move on to different props for her next tricks…but everything else she tried that day ended in disaster. Not a single trick went as she announced it would, and the audience saw everything they weren’t supposed to see, to boot. Every time Masachika and Alisa saw a mistake, they would take a drink, and before long, they were each on their fourth Cinderella.
“Mmm… I’m really sorry. It looks like today’s just not my day.”
“Just like every day,” Alisa stated.
“No, uh… I think you did really well. It’s just really hard to perform in front of family, isn’t it?” Masachika said sympathetically.
Like this, every failure was met with a cold remark from Alisa, so Masachika chimed in with a few words of encouragement until eventually, the door to the classroom slid open. Maria curiously turned toward the entrance, and her face immediately lit up.
“Oh! Chisaki! Come over here!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Masha?”
Standing at the door was Chisaki, wearing bartender attire and a violet crystal earring dangling from one ear. Although she was wearing pants, she looked really good in them because she was tall, and her sharp facial features only further complemented her mature look.
“Whoa! You look badass.”
“Ha-ha! Thanks.”
Even the way she smiled back at the genuine compliment made her seem confident and mature, almost making Masachika gasp in admiration. On the other hand, his body temperature also dropped three degrees, but he pretended not to notice.
“I’m so sorry. ♪ I keep messing up all the tricks, and I feel really guilty, so do you think you could show them a trick or two?”
“Huh? Oh, sure…”
After curiously blinking a few times, Chisaki stuffed a hand into her vest pocket while trading places with Maria.
“Ahem! All right, then. You want to see a trick? Then how about this? Here is a single coin.”
She took an arcade token out of her vest pocket and placed it on the table.
“As you can see, it’s just any ordinary coin. Feel free to pick it up and see for yourself.”
After clinking the token on the table a few times, Chisaki handed it to Masachika, who softly rolled it around in his hand for a second before passing it to Alisa. Most of the time, there was nothing special about the coin if the magician handed it to the audience. If anything, the coin was only handed to the audience to buy them some time to start the actual trick, such as replacing said coin with a trick coin, and that was why Masachika was more interested in what Chisaki’s hands were doing than he was in the token.
Well, she doesn’t look like she’s holding anything, and if she’s going to do a trick with a single coin, then maybe it’s going to be all technique and no gimmicks?
Numerous thoughts flew through his mind until Alisa finished checking the coin and passed it back to Chisaki.
“Now, pay close attention, for I am about to split this coin in half,” announced Chisaki with a grin oozing with confidence.
“You’re going to split it in half?”
“Hi-yah!”
“Whoa!”
“…?!”
The magician’s hand sliced right through the coin like paper, creating two semicircles with their edges bending in the opposite direction.
“Ta-daa. I have split the coin in two.”
“Yeah, you did. Wow.”
“Huh? How…? Huh?”
The two fragments of metal clinked in the palm of Chisaki’s hand.
“Next, I’m going to squeeze both halves of the coin together,” she revealed, squeezing both halves of the coin in her right hand and raising her fist to eye height while starting a countdown with her left hand.
“Ready? Three, two, one, haaah!”
She tightly clenched her fist with what sounded closer to a battle cry than a magic word, then slowly opened her right hand to reveal…
“Ta-daa! The two halves of the coin have magically turned into a pachinko ball!”
“Wow.”
“A pachinko ball…?”
Although clapping, Alisa tilted her head in confusion, which even Masachika could empathize with. After all, the surface of the pachinko ball had the same pattern on it that the token did. Nevertheless, nobody pointed this out, since that was the polite thing to do, and it definitely had nothing to do with them being afraid of her.
“So? What do you think? Pretty cool trick, right?”
“You could be a world champion.”
“I think I just witnessed a miracle…”
Masachika nodded firmly back at Alisa, making Chisaki bashfully scratch her blushing cheek, although it wasn’t clear whether or not she knew why they were so impressed.
“Really? I’m so glad you liked it. I’m going to have to thank my master later for teaching me how to do that.”
“Who’s your master??”
“Uh… She’s actually my grandmother.”
“An elderly woman sage…? Wait. No. Maybe a being from an elder race?”
“I’m really happy you two had fun. Anyway, it sounds like Masha messed up a lot, so feel free to pay whatever you think is fair.”
“That actually sounds like a threat after what we just witnessed.”
“Wait. What?”
“Nothing.”
After paying their genuinely puzzled schoolmate the menu prices for the drinks, Alisa and Masachika retired from the classroom.
“…So much for seeing a magic show, huh?”
“Yeah… Neither of them really showed us any magic.”
Whatever you would call what they witnessed at the end was probably more impressive than magic, though.
“How did she do that with the token, though? Maybe it was some sort of soft metal?”
“I don’t know. I’m starting to wonder if that was even a trick.”
“It definitely wasn’t as obvious as all the tricks Masha did. Sigh… I feel like I’ve had tons of magic tricks ruined for me in just a single day…”
“Ha-ha. Yeah.”
“Sigh… How does she do it? I hear that a lot of students really count on her as a member of the student council, too…”
“…”
Masachika smiled back at her skeptical gaze. Alisa must have really believed that her sister was some bubbly, carefree airhead. Ultimately, that was actually how she always acted whenever Alisa was around, so it was no surprise she would get that impression.
She’s probably never seen just how strong and reliable her sister can really be.
Although it was kind of a shame, Maria herself wanted Alisa to see her as this “unreliable sister,” so Masachika didn’t say a word, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Anyway, it’s about time we get back to work. Want to go get changed?”
“Oh… Yeah, sure.”
“I’m guessing we should stop by the craft clubroom to give the costume back?” asked Masachika, checking out Alisa’s high-quality elf costume. Alisa promptly agreed, so they decided to head there together first.
“Oooh, Masachika. Welcome.”
“Oh, hey.”
He waved to the female acquaintance at the door. She was a beautiful, petite girl with long black hair that was tied back into a ponytail. Put simply, she was the kind of girl you would want to introduce to your parents. Back when Masachika was the vice president of the student council in middle school, she was the captain of the craft club and his classmate as well, so they had a very give-and-take relationship. Furthermore, she was what some would describe as a beautiful, sweet nerd, which made her quite popular with certain boys. However, to Masachika, she was Professor Side Slit—a name she’d earned after some words of wisdom she’d once offered long ago. Again, she was not a professor but Masachika’s classmate.
“It doesn’t look like you came to check out our exhibition.”
“Yeah, we’re here to get Alya changed back into her clothes.”
“Roger. I’ll call the girls who made that costume. Oh, feel free to check out our exhibition in the meantime, okay?”
The instant they stepped into the room, they were surrounded by full-sized mannequins and mannequin torsos dressed in everything from the usual wedding dress to gothic Lolita attire, a dancer costume, a tuxedo, and even a military uniform. The room was crammed with handmade clothing asserting everyone’s own tastes and preferences.
“Uh… Wow. I feel like I’m in a cosplay shop.”
“That’s essentially what it is. Everyone just made whatever they wanted,” replied the Professor.
“Whoa! This is some elaborate lace! This looks extremely well done…”
“This dress looks like something a pro made, too…”
The unbelievable degree of perfection captivated Masachika and Alisa, almost making them forget the entire reason they came. They continued to check out all the outfits on display for a while after that until Masachika suddenly glanced at Professor Side Slit and asked:
“Hey, seeing that Alya is wearing an elf costume you guys made, does that mean that you’re renting out all the costumes on display here?”
“Huh? Oh, uh… We usually don’t rent out any of our costumes, but if the person who made it says it’s okay, then…?”
“In other words, as long as you look like a model, you’re good.”
“Yeah, basically. But you also have to be able to fit in the outfit, too. Of course, some minor adjustments can be made on the spot, though.”
“Interesting… Hey, can you do me a little favor?”
They began to whisper back and forth, but when Alisa approached them looking skeptical, Masachika suddenly ended their conversation.
“…? Is something the matter?” asked Alisa.
“No. I was just telling her about how incredible your costume was and how everyone was trying to take your picture.”
“Yes, yes. I totally get why they would want a picture, though.”
Masachika inwardly thanked Professor Side Slit for playing along while he firmly nodded. Even though Alisa pressed her lips together into a thin line, she didn’t seem to doubt them at all.
“It’s not like this is anything new…but I never know how to respond whenever someone I don’t really know asks me for a picture.”
“Huh. Do people often ask you for a picture?”
“Sometimes. I always tell them ‘no,’ though.”
“Man, that’s rough. Sounds like being beautiful comes with a price,” replied Masachika sympathetically. Alisa’s gaze fell, and she began to fidget with her hair and whispered:
“<I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to take my picture, though.>”
Seriously? thought Masachika, taken aback. Obviously, he would love to have a picture of her right now if given the option. After all, an elf this realistic needed to be caught on film. But even then, he still felt a bit hesitant to ask her for a picture after just shooing away so many others who wanted one…
Mmm…! What should I do? I know she’ll let me take a picture if I ask, but that doesn’t make it any less embarrassing! B-but if a moment of embarrassment was all it would cost to get a picture of Alya, then…!
After a few seconds of brain-frying consideration, Masachika had finally reached his answer.
“Alya.”
“…?”
“I know this is a little strange of me to ask after all that…but do you think I could get a picture before you change? You know, something to remember today by,” Masachika asked nonchalantly, being as casual about it as he could. Alisa’s eyebrows instantly jumped up, before her eyes devilishly narrowed with amusement.
“Oh? Do you really want to take a picture of me that badly?”
“…I mean, as a nerd, I feel like it’s my duty to capture an elf this realistic on film.”
“…Uh-huh.”
Although his response seemed to rub some of the amusement right off her face, she flicked her hair back and replied:
“Sure. You have my permission.”
“Awesome. Thanks. Then—”
Masachika suddenly felt his shoulder being tapped a few times, so he looked back to find Professor Side Slit grinning at him while pointing toward the room next door.
“You’re free to use the room where we usually store the costumes, if you want,” she suggested.
“R-really? Thanks.”
“Perfect.”
When Professor Side Slit walked them to the room next door, the first thing that caught their attention was the dressers lined up on each side. Although most of the room was slightly dusty, the area by the window in the back was extremely well kept and free of clutter.
“You can use that area over there. The amount of sunlight you get is perfect for taking pictures,” she assured them while pointing at the back.
“Yeah, it sure looks like it.”
But only after having Alisa stand in the back did he realize just how nice a shot it was going to be. The clubroom building’s architecture was Western-inspired, so it also worked relatively well as a background for an elf. Plus, there was something magical about having Alisa stand against the sun peeking in through the window.
“All right, I should head back to work,” Professor Side Slit said.
“Oh, okay. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” replied Professor Side Slit like a badass as she exited the room.
“Okay, then… Ready?”
Masachika took out his smartphone.
“Huh?! But I need to think of a pose…”
“You’re fine just like that for now.”
“Really?”
There was no telling how she would look unless he tried, so Masachika opened the camera app, peered into the screen, and began to adjust the exposure, increasing brightness…
“Whoa…”
Standing before him was an elf straight out of a fantasy world, and staring at her through the camera lens only made her seem less real.
“All right, you ready?”
“R-ready.”
Their hearts were pounding nervously while he tapped the button, but when he saw the picture on his phone, he instinctively gasped in admiration.
“…So beautiful…”
“What? D-did the picture really come out that good?”
“Yeah…”
“R-really? Then do you want to take a few more?”
“I would love that,” he replied in a straightforward manner, forgetting he was ever even embarrassed. Immediately, Alisa averted her gaze, albeit rather cheerfully.
“<Ready to admire and cherish me?>”
No.
“<I suppose I wouldn’t mind if you rubbed my head.>”
…Not happening. Are you still letting that joke I told Yuki bother you? he thought. Fed up, he narrowed his gaze and just continued pressing the shutter button, taking one picture after another. Each time Alisa changed her pose and he took another picture, he would find something new that captivated him until he became completely immersed in his role. It was only after he’d taken around thirty or so pictures when…
“Hmm?”
…he suddenly felt like something was off and promptly checked the pictures he’d just taken.
“…?!”
Masachika’s eyes opened as wide as a fish’s, for Alisa’s white skirt displayed on the screen…was undeniably see-through, creating a silhouette of her lower body. He had no idea why he hadn’t realized this sooner. Regardless, the bright sunlight coming in through the window seemed to have been working in perfect harmony with the camera settings to create what could only be described as a miracle. Of course, her underpants weren’t transparent or anything. Obviously. But…the outline of Alisa’s beautiful legs under the white skirt was extremely lewd.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, uh…”
But Masachika’s struggles only truly began after he reflexively denied that anything was wrong. Alisa had no idea that he had taken such a miraculous photograph. In addition, it wasn’t like you could see anything too risqué, like her underwear. Nevertheless, the gentlemanly thing to do would be to delete the picture. On the other hand, as a single man, deleting a miracle from existence like this would feel like a major loss for all of mankind. It would be truly unfortunate.
What’s it going to be? Should I tell her the truth? But if I do, then she’s definitely going to delete it. It’s not like I meant to take this picture. In fact, I wouldn’t be able to take another picture like this even if I tried!
Although the entire scenario was all over within three seconds, he struggled and struggled and struggled. Maria, the angel, even appeared to him in a vision, but before she could get a word out, the devilish Yuki kicked her to the curb. And thus, he claimed:
“It’s nothing. Nothing at all. I was just surprised by how the pictures came out.”
I didn’t see a thing. Yep. It was all in my head. The lighting just made a few weird shadows. That’s it. Duh.
He did everything in his power to lie to himself while he went back to taking pictures as if nothing had happened…until Alisa narrowed her gaze.
“Show me.”
“Huh?”
“Show me the picture you just took,” she insisted, before swiping the phone out of his frozen hand in the blink of an eye.
“Ah—”
By the time he even thought of stopping her, she had already clicked on the picture to enlarge it—
“Masachika.”
“Yes.”
“What is this?” asked Alisa with a frigid glare. Masachika closed his eyes, unlocking his hidden powers of negotiation to their full potential. The next five minutes that followed were filled with a man’s quibbles thinly veiled as artistic theory, in which he vehemently argued that this was art and not smut, until he somehow forced Alisa into agreeing with him. And in the end, he somehow managed to win the right to keep this miraculous picture under the condition that he would keep it stored somewhere secure, where no one else would see it. However…
“<I knew you had a leg fetish, you creep…>”
…Alisa might have thought slightly less of him now.
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