Morning Photography

On holidays, students at the Advanced Nurturing High School slept in until the sun was high in the sky, not much different from students at outside schools.

Shiraishi Makoto occasionally lazed in bed too, but today he got up well before dawn, changed into casual clothes, and headed down to the teaching building.

A girl carrying a travel bag was waiting downstairs.

She had twin tails, wore an old-fashioned square-framed pair of glasses, and her bangs scattered across her forehead covered the upper half of her face. With her head perpetually lowered and her back hunched, it was hard to make out her true features.

"G-good morning... Shiraishi-kun." The girl had noticed Shiraishi Makoto's arrival long before, but only when he drew close did she greet him, somewhat flustered.

"Good morning, Sakura-san." Shiraishi Makoto reached out a hand. "Give that to me. It doesn't look light."

"N-no, it's fine." Sakura Airi shook her head like a rattle, but the bag was still easily taken from her by Shiraishi Makoto.

"Let's go. Where to? Your classroom?" Shiraishi Makoto asked.

"Yes..." Seeing Shiraishi Makoto holding the bag steadily, Sakura Airi lost the courage to ask for it back. She could only nod like an ostrich.

Shiraishi Makoto walked ahead, while Sakura Airi followed two or three meters behind. Soon, the two reached the first-year Class D classroom and pushed the door open.

Since the entire school was covered in surveillance cameras, and getting caught stealing would deduct class points, no classroom needed to be locked. This also saved having to designate a student to come early and open the door.

Of course, it also made it convenient for the two of them to enter the classroom.

"Where should I put it? On the floor?" Feeling that the bag had quite a lot inside, Shiraishi Makoto worried that opening it might cause everything to spill out. If something broke, that would be bad.

"I-it's fine, please do..." Perhaps startled by Shiraishi Makoto's sudden question, Sakura Airi's voice trembled noticeably.

But Shiraishi Makoto already knew what kind of person Sakura Airi was. Now wasn't the right time to comfort or coax her, so he just kept his usual demeanor.

"Please wait a moment. I need to change clothes." Sakura Airi took out the outfit she planned to wear today, along with a makeup bag, and hurried off to the restroom in small, quick steps.

Shiraishi Makoto stepped out of the classroom. Staying alone in Class D's room felt a bit strange.

After about ten minutes, Sakura Airi came jogging back, carrying her things.

"Slow down. Don't trip." Shiraishi Makoto glanced from a distance and didn't dare look too closely.

Sakura-san's athletic shortcomings were even worse than Ichinose-san's.

"Sorry... for making you wait." Sakura Airi stopped about three meters in front of Shiraishi Makoto.

"That's the most common school uniform style out there." Shiraishi Makoto looked her over and commented.

Sakura Airi wasn't wearing the school's wine-red blazer. Instead, she had on a black blazer, with a white shirt and blue tie underneath, paired with a black pleated skirt and brown round-toe leather shoes—a very standard "JK" style.

Today's shoot theme was "classroom," so the style fit perfectly.

Compared to before, Sakura Airi had taken off her non-prescription decorative glasses and changed to a fluffier hairstyle, letting her wine-red hair fully spread out. Her whole aura shifted, transforming into the idol "Shizuku."

"Really beautiful. As expected of the idol 'Shizuku.'" Shiraishi Makoto praised.

Sakura Airi, acting as "Shizuku," was probably the prettiest girl in the entire school.

"It's... it's not that exaggerated..." Maybe because she'd never received a compliment in real life before, Sakura Airi lowered her head again, both hands gripping the edges of her blazer. It was especially cute.

"Alright, alright. Let's go inside and take photos. It'll get late soon." Seeing Sakura Airi starting to get shy again, Shiraishi Makoto changed the subject.

The two entered the Class D classroom. Sakura Airi took out a camera from her bag. Shiraishi Makoto had seen the same model at the electronics store in Keyaki Mall before. It probably cost over 60,000 personal points, meaning Sakura Airi had spent half of the savings she'd accumulated since arriving at school on this camera.

"Does Shiraishi-kun know how to use a camera?" After adjusting some settings for a while, Sakura Airi suddenly remembered to ask, her voice soft.

"I understand the basics like shutter and focus, but I've never tried adjusting parameters to change the image quality." Shiraishi Makoto answered honestly.

"I-it's fine. I've already set everything." Sakura Airi handed the camera over, along with a tripod. "Shiraishi-kun just needs to put the camera on the tripod, aim, and press the shutter."

"Got it. How should I frame the shot?" After taking the camera and familiarizing himself with it, Shiraishi Makoto asked further.

"Please stand at the second seat from the right in the third row. Yes, that distance should be fine. Can you capture the classroom door and the full blackboard?" When the topic turned to photography, Sakura Airi's speech became much smoother.

"I can get it." Shiraishi Makoto set up the camera position as instructed.

Sakura Airi stood behind the podium. Just as she was about to strike a pose, she suddenly realized she wasn't alone in the classroom, and her movements stiffened.

"What's wrong?" Shiraishi Makoto noticed her awkwardness and asked.

"N-nothing." Seeing that Shiraishi Makoto was completely focused on the camera, Sakura Airi took a couple of deep breaths, then struck the pose she wanted.

The early morning light streamed through the classroom's glass windows, slanting diagonally onto the blackboard. The interplay of light and shadow added layers to the entire room. With the camera's built-in filter, Sakura Airi in the frame shed her usual restraint, looking exceptionally radiant and striking.

"Three, two, one."

Click.

The camera's shutter sound was very soft, but in the quiet classroom, it was unusually crisp.

"Sakura-san, take a look. Is this okay?" Shiraishi Makoto took the camera off the tripod.

"Just a moment. Let me see." Sakura Airi composed her expression and carefully took the camera. Her fingertips gently swiped across the screen to check the photos, and a smile gradually appeared in her eyes.

"I-it's fine. Shiraishi-kun took a really nice picture."

"Then let's keep going." Shiraishi Makoto picked up the tripod and moved to a different spot.

Under Sakura Airi's detailed guidance, he roughly understood how to pay attention to light, angle, height, distance, composition, and other details when shooting. Sakura Airi's movements became more and more natural, and they took over twenty good shots in a row.

"That should be enough. Thank you, Shiraishi-kun." After confirming all the photos, Sakura Airi bowed deeply to Shiraishi Makoto.

"Don't mention it. It's getting late." Shiraishi Makoto pulled out his phone to check the time. "In a little while, more students will be around school. That would be troublesome."

After waiting for Sakura Airi to go to the restroom, remove her makeup, and change clothes, the two walked out of the school building.

"So I still don't quite understand why Sakura-san invited me to help you shoot." When they were almost at the dormitory building, Shiraishi Makoto brought up his doubt again.

"Mm, because you're the only one in the whole school who knows I'm doing idol work, Shiraishi-kun, and you're very gentle..." Faced with this question, Sakura Airi fidgeted for a while before giving her answer.

"Gentle?" Hearing this evaluation, Shiraishi Makoto was a bit surprised. Where did this "yasashii" development come from?

"Didn't Shiraishi-kun support our class with 20,000 points?" Sakura Airi said quietly.

So it turned out that after Kushida Kikyo returned to class, she had spread the news about Class A's support and also clarified how many points each student had lent out.

"Uh... that's a small matter." It seemed he could no longer say that he was the culprit behind the Class D expulsion incident.

"And Shiraishi-kun, after finding out I'm 'Shizuku,' didn't look at me with strange eyes, unlike the other boys."

No, that's because I've always known you were "Shizuku"...

"There are very few angles I can choose for selfies, and it's also inconvenient, so I wanted to try inviting Shiraishi-kun..." As she spoke, Sakura Airi seemed to trail off again, lowering her head.

"It's fine, you can call me anytime you need help in the future, as long as I'm free." The two entered the elevator.

"Th-then I'll trouble you." Sakura Airi actually used honorifics.

"No need to be so polite. See you next time, Sakura-san." When the elevator reached his floor, Shiraishi Makoto stepped out and waved.

"Goodbye, Shiraishi-kun." At the moment of parting, Sakura Airi showed a faint smile.

Returning to his room, Shiraishi Makoto opened the door, and a figure suddenly appeared before him. Immediately after, a fist slammed into his arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shiraishi Makoto was startled and blurted out a curse.

But the other party's hit wasn't very heavy, and Shiraishi Makoto recognized her—it was Kushida Kikyo.