Watching the blush on her face, Kaoru felt a stir in his heart—especially seeing her endure the shame, refusing to give up despite the embarrassment, and striving to cooperate with him.
So, Kaoru let out a relieved sigh.
It seemed Airi hadn't fallen into depravity.
Since she wasn't planning to post them online, combined with her earlier words, Kaoru could mostly confirm her intentions.
Kaoru didn't plan to break the mood right away.
After Tachibana Akane, Ichinose had told him his approach was flawed—even if a girl liked him, no one would agree immediately under such circumstances.
Because his current situation wasn't like normal romance. In a typical mutual affection, the sooner the truth was revealed, the better. But he had to consider them.
For a girl, accepting him meant accepting them—a decision requiring immense resolve.
Still, it was going too far.
Kaoru decided to teach her a small lesson.
"Airi, you've never taken photos like this before, have you?"
Airi shook her head with a flushed face. T
here was no way she had ever taken such indecent photos before.
Even disregarding whether she had or hadn't, just facing Kaoru's camera made her cheeks burn as if on fire, her entire body stiffening so much she didn't know where to place her hands.
Her fingers trembled slightly, and her legs were pressed tightly together, as though that could block Kaoru's gaze—but it was futile.
Her skirt was hiked up high, revealing her pale, soft belly, even the slight dip of her navel visible.
The slender, healthy lines of her skin curved downward, undeniable proof of the girl's delicate youth and vitality. It was as if her little belly contained boundless life energy, making one want to reach out and pat it.
From Kaoru's perspective, Airi Sakura had clearly never done this kind of photoshoot before—she was far too nervous.
Her movements were stiff, her poses not seductive enough, too inexperienced.
And yet, precisely because of that, she was more alluring than a professional model right now.
Even though she had been the one to suggest this, she unconsciously carried herself like someone being bullied by Kaoru, her eyes glistening with pitiful tears.
She didn't dare lift her head, much less look at him, her gaze shifting slightly to the side as if she were a small animal helplessly submitting to a man's teasing.
Kaoru took a deep breath, suppressing the restlessness inside him.
Truthfully, a pretty girl could be enticing just by standing still. He felt Airi Sakura could easily make a living off her looks alone.
"Hike your skirt up a little more, then lean against the table," Kaoru ordered.
Airi recalled the times she had posed for photo collections before. It seemed she had been directed like this by photographers then too—but this time was different.
It wasn't as if she had never hiked up her skirt before.
Like a trendy girl such as Karuizawa, she had secretly tried it a few times in private. But the results had been too indecent, so she had stopped.
In front of Kaoru, Airi felt for the first time just how embarrassing this action was.
Just tucking her skirt into her waistband had already thrown her into a flustered mess, her heart pounding so fast it felt like it might explode.
Once she had adjusted her skirt, Kaoru moved closer, crouching beneath her with his camera raised.
The distance between them was so small now that she could practically see his gaze through the lens.
"W-Wah!"
Airi instinctively covered her skirt. "W-Wait, I'm not ready yet!"
"It's fine, Airi. It's no different from the photos we took earlier," Kaoru said matter-of-factly. "And if we can't even get this shot, what about the more extreme ones later? How are we supposed to take those?"
'T-This was too much!' Airi's eyes welled up with tears.
She wanted to call the whole thing off now.
"We need to shoot the front, and the back too."
"Uuuu…"
"After the lower half, we'll do your chest."
"Aah!"
Airi crouched on the ground, clutching her chest tightly, her head lowered like an ostrich's.
"N-No more… uuu…"
Kaoru lowered his camera, unable to hold back a laugh.
"You can't handle even this?"
Of course she couldn't! Airi had never been good at facing other people's cameras to begin with, let alone taking photos like these.
She was already regretting her earlier impulsiveness.
"I-I-I need to think about it... T-tomorrow... I'll take the photos tomorrow... N-no no no... I-I'll take them myself and show you..."
Airi stole a glance at his expression. If she could just send him the photos like before, she felt she might barely be able to handle it.
"You're going to send me lewd photos?" Kaoru asked with evident interest.
Airi lowered her head again, closing her mouth like a naughty child.
"Airi showing me lewd photos would indeed make me happy," Kaoru said gently, "but being happy doesn't mean it's the right thing to do."
"I like Airi and want to be friends with you, not because I'm lusting after your appearance or constantly thinking indecent thoughts. I don't want Airi to have that kind of impression of me either. What I want is the Airi who can happily chat with me normally."
As if something had touched her, Airi's shoulders trembled slightly. She raised her head, her eyes misty as she looked at Kaoru.
Sometimes she would lose herself in her own world.
More often, she felt an overwhelming loneliness—ever since elementary school, she'd been taking care of the entire world alone, deceiving herself into keeping everyone at a distance.
She remembered the camera her father had given her, the words the talent scout had said, the countless times she'd secretly listened to her classmates' laughter.
"I... I'm sorry..." Airi spoke haltingly, "B-because you have a girlfriend now... so... so I thought maybe you'd abandoned me... forgotten about me... I don't want you to go to someone else, I want to play with you... I-I-I..."
Kaoru was momentarily stunned.
Looking at the girl before him, he realized for the first time how much she'd come to depend on him emotionally.
"B-being with you makes me really happy. You tell me so many stories—about the entertainment industry, teaching me photography, comforting me, showing me how to handle fans... You always praise the photos I send you. You helped me during the sports festival too, inviting me to join your group. I was so happy because you cared about me, worried about my grades. And I understand why you wanted me to be friends with Koko-chan and the others. I really, really didn't know what to do."
Growing more emotional as she spoke, Airi grabbed Kaoru's arm, clutching tightly at this first real friend she'd ever made.
"I... I know you have strange thoughts about me, that's why I thought of doing this... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make you angry..."
Kaoru felt something cool drip onto his arm.
The girl seemed to want to say more, racking her brains to properly express what was in her heart.
"Actually I—"
"I'm not angry."
Kaoru embraced Airi, cutting off her words. "Not noticing your feelings sooner was my fault. Drawing you out of your world only to neglect you—in the end, I was only thinking about my own wishes."
Airi was stiff at first, then gradually relaxed, trembling slightly in his arms as if crying.
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