Chapter 196

Just then, Ishikawa Hayato's shout rang out from afar, "Passed! Next!"

"Huh!!"

Nijika was so startled that she stiffened up.

She looked towards the "execution platform" with trepidation.

Kita staggered back, looking as if a gust of wind could blow him away, with a faint white ghost hanging from his lips, as if he might die at any moment.

"The portrait seems to have come in handy."

Ryo watched as Kita returned, completely calm, and even let out a wry laugh, as if he already had a plan.

She even smiled and said it to Nijika.

"Take care."

Nijika turned around and glared at her before heading towards the filming location.

But after taking only two steps, she heard encouragement from Hitori.

"Nijika-chan, do your best..."

Nijika paused for a moment, then turned around and smiled back at Hitori, giving him a firm affirmation with a clenched fist.

"Um!"

The two, who had not yet been persecuted, watched the filming location from afar by the tree, curiously observing how cruelly Nijika would be treated on the "execution platform."

Hitori, whose eyesight was better, could see very clearly that after Ishikawa Hayato finished speaking, he stared intently at Nijika. Nijika also tried her best to make faces, attempting to appear more melancholic.

A moment later, they heard Ishikawa Hayato say this.

"How about we do a few dozen cuts first, let Nijika experience the pain before we start seriously?"

His voice was slightly loud, like a warning to others, and it reached them.

The two leaned back in fright, and then heard Nijika's trembling voice as she instantly got into character.

"No!"

When Nijika returned, the ahoge (cowlick) on her head that had been floating there had all fallen down, and she looked down with an incurable melancholy. She slumped to the ground and silently gazed at the sky.

She murmured, "I really want to drift in a sea of clouds... Ah, it seems someone has come to pick me up..."

It'll be cold next.

Ryo glanced at Nijika's lifeless red eyes, and only slowly walked over after Ishikawa Hayato's repeated urging. She knew that running away was useless in this situation.

She walked up to Ishikawa Hayato and calmly threatened him.

"I'm your girlfriend. If you dare to treat me badly, we're breaking up."

Ishikawa Hayato saw through her bluster and said calmly.

"Then I'll be 100 times stricter with Liang."

Before Liang's expression could even change, her legs went weak and she almost collapsed, but the ruthless Ishikawa Hayato still managed to pull her to the filming location.

Fortunately, she was naturally expressionless, and the style of the song was Hitori similar to her own, so she didn't need much acting skill.

She passed easily after only a few retakes.

Hearing Ishikawa Hayato say "that's too much," Ryo breathed a sigh of relief and, struggling to support her legs which were about to give way, walked back under the tree amidst the disapproving glares from Kita and Nijika.

Finally, there's Hitori.

After Liang returned, she walked over on her own, her back slightly bent, her hands nervously twisting together.

Ishikawa Hayato looked at the Hitori -long road in front of him and let out a long sigh.

"Hitori."

"Yes!"

Hitori was so frightened that he stood up straight like a soldier.

"Relax your body a little, and don't look at me. Memorize the movements first, then think about your facial expressions."

Ishikawa Hayato issued instructions slowly and concisely, like a commander. He knew that Hitori too complicated would cause confusion, and that simplicity was the fastest way to pass the level.

Extremely nervous, it took Hitori a short while to memorize before she nodded.

Meanwhile, the new trio under the tree watched the filming progress.

After being hit several times in Hitori, Kita sighed in horror.

"Wow... Hayato-kun didn't even show Gotou-san..."

It took nearly two hours, amidst the girls' blood and tears, for Ishikawa Hayato to finally finish filming all the shots as planned, and even added some backup footage.

Ishikawa Hayato sat under a tree, holding his notebook, pondering the inspiration he had just regained, and wondering if he had captured all the necessary scenes to bring that inspiration to life.

Hitori squatted down next to him, curiously looking at the entries in his notebook.

Liang stood on his other side, leaning against a tree. She didn't seem very interested in the photoshoot and was resting with her eyes closed.

Less than a step away from Ryo and Ishikawa Hayato, Kita and Nijika watched their tearful history with a camera.

As they watched the various images on the small screen of the camera, their expressions gradually became indescribable.

Nijika sighed, her voice trembling with emotion, as if she were about to cry.

"Great shot..."

"This is the result of two days of torture..."

Kita wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes, tears that he couldn't tell were of joy or pain, and sobbed.

Nijika no longer Ishikawa Hayato for tormenting her so badly, and after a sob, she said to Ishikawa Hayato.

"Hayato-kun, go back and make me a copy first."

"Me too!" Kita quickly added.

Hitori also raised his head hopefully and looked at Ishikawa Hayato.

But Ishikawa Hayato looked up from his notebook at them and flatly refused.

"No, I won't allow unfinished products to appear on the guests' tables!"

Nijika was immediately terrified.

"Wait, Hayato-kun, you're not planning to delete it after you've finished editing, are you?!"

Ishikawa Hayato, now in perfectionist mode, chuckled.

Please don't do that!

Kita could almost see his own bloody and tearful history being cut into pieces.

After confirming that no footage had been missed, the five packed up the filming props they had brought, tidying them up and putting them into two small bags. Ishikawa Hayato picked them up casually without saying a word.

Nijika and Kita finally calmed down.

Nijika conducted a final search of the vicinity, and after confirming that nothing had been left behind, she looked at the scenery that they had been quite curious about before coming here, but now only remembered in their nightmares.

Under the gloomy sky, everything in the world seemed gray and dreary. The barren land with hardly any weeds and the dense cypress forest next to it gave off a nightmare-like feeling.

She shuddered, abandoned the thought, and walked toward the four people who had gathered, asking Ishikawa Hayato, who was slightly lost in thought, with a hint of surprise.

"I had no idea Hayato-kun would be making films!"

Kita wasn't surprised, after all, she still had photos of Ishikawa Hayato taken for her on her phone.

But she glanced at Ishikawa Hayato, looking at his lazy and casual demeanor, and said...

"Hmm, he doesn't seem like someone who likes taking photos."

Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, Ishikawa Hayato sighed and shook his head. He felt that since he hadn't mentioned it for a while, everyone had forgotten who he was.

He took a deep breath, focused his energy, and spoke forcefully.

"Looks like everyone's forgotten. I have to bring it up again: I'm a pervert! A professional pervert!"

"You need to understand that 'perversion' is a super category that includes art, sex, and countless skill trees!"

"These things are, of course, as natural as humans walking or birds flying to me—I can learn them instinctively!"

The three girls sighed, as Kita wondered if this person would eventually face divine retribution.

A muffled thunderclap, seemingly capable of tearing the sky apart, echoed from afar.

The five people were startled and all looked into the distance.

A thick bolt of lightning suddenly appeared in the distant clouds.

The four of them turned around again and quietly looked at Ishikawa Hayato.

He quickly recovered from his stunned expression, shaking his head helplessly as if it were nothing serious.

"Looks like that kid Takemikazuchi is tired of living."

Seeing that Ishikawa Hayato was still playing, Nijika took a deep breath in anger and yelled at him.

"Seriously, it's going to rain! Hurry up and run, you idiot!"

Without waiting for Ishikawa Hayato's reaction, she grabbed his arm and started running towards the station.

The other three quickly followed.

The five people, dressed in dark, somber clothing, could not hide their excitement.

At the end of this summer vacation, they left their joyful footprints in a new place.

Upon arriving in Shimokitazawa and getting off the train, Ishikawa Hayato Nijika.

"Are all those scenes Hayato-kun really usable?"

Ishikawa Hayato, with an expression of utter certainty, smiled and denied it.

"Of course not, it definitely needs to be cut by me."

"Then..." Kita asked in response.

"No."

Seeing the man's smug expression, and thinking about how their hard-earned results were about to be cut, the two almost couldn't help but punch him.

The five people left the platform and entered the station.

"Then I'll..."

Once inside the station, Liang glanced at the timetable and was just about to slip away to enjoy some time alone when he heard a rapidly increasing whooshing sound overhead.

The five of them were all startled, exchanged glances, and then quickly ran towards the station entrance.

Rain in summer and autumn can easily become very heavy.

The raindrops pattered down on the world with great force.

Water gathered and flowed in the streets, and the eaves were covered with a curtain of water, with the drains spewing water violently out in bursts.

This is the scene that the five people standing at the station entrance saw.

154. Act

With the torrential rain pouring down, even Ishikawa Hayato couldn't say anything.

"Sorry... it seems the weather is really bad today."

He quietly watched the heavy rain outside the station, and without turning his head, spoke to the four girls beside him.

He checked the weather forecast before going out today; it predicted cloudy skies. There's nothing he can do about this kind of situation.

"Wasn't it Hayato-kun was punished by heaven for boasting?"

Nijika didn't care about being stuck at the station and pretended to be angry as she complained to Ishikawa Hayato.

Kita glanced at Nijika, and being a girl herself, she could tell that Nijika wasn't hiding her true thoughts.

She smiled and said to Ishikawa Hayato, completely unconcerned about the heavy rain outside.

"There's nothing we can do about it; the style of our music is just suited to this kind of weather for filming."