𝚈/𝚗'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"A photo of us?" Chika-san repeated.

"Yes! We're making a pamphlet for Shuchiin Academy, so I would like all of you to model for it." the principal explained.

"We're going to be models? That sounds like fun! What shall I wear?" Chika-san wondered.

"Your school uniform, of course." the principal answered. Wait...what about Kaguya-san?

"Excuse me...I'm sorry, but my family's policy doesn't allow my face to appear in any media." Kaguya-san informed.

"We can't show your face at all? But doesn't your Historian take pictures of your faces?" he questioned.

"Oh, I am aware of that policy, so I take photos of her without showing her face." I replied.

"Kaguya-san, could you do something like this then?" I asked, doing a pose where I covered my face.

"What kind of pose is that?!" President retorted. I guess not then...

"Don't worry about me. You guys do it. I've never been photogenic anyway." Kaguya-san reassured.

"Really? The pamphlet I wish to make, in a nutshell, will make kids think, 'I want to spend the springtime of my life at that academy!'. So please show me your bubbly best!" he requested.

Our bubbly best? How do we even do that?

"Go on, vogue!" he aimed the camera at Chika-san.

"L-Like this?" Chika-san stuttered, trying to find the right pose.

"Fujiwara-senpai's bubbly best is like a bratty child." Ishigami-kun commented.

"L-Like this?" President asked, his body is way too stiff.

"A three-year-old's first photo session." Ishigami-kun quietly chuckled.

"Thank you, next!" the Principal aimed the camera at me. Out of instinct, I hid behind Ishigami-kun.

"Why do you hide yourself?" the Principal questioned.

"I-I usually take photos of others, so it feels weird when I'm the one being pictured. It's very embarrassing..." I answered, stuffing my face inside of Ishigami-kun's blazer.

Ishigami-kun...smells nice.

"Non! What a waste when you have such a beautiful face!" he sighed, he seemed to be disappointed.

"B-Beautiful?" I repeated, peeking from Ishigami-kun's back to take a sneak peek of the Principal.

"Precisely! When you're so pretty. Please show me that cute face." his voice darkened. He's going to kill me if I don't do it!

I stopped hiding and came out. He snapped multiple photos of me. This is so embarrassing...

I avoided the camera lens and tried to find something to focus on. The snapping of the camera isn't helping.

"Don't be afraid. Entrust me with your body!" he exclaimed. No way, that just sounds wrong.

"L/n, you look wonderful! You really are a goddess!" Ishigami-kun cried. Stop saying that...it's embarrassing when you say it...

"Ishigami, would you stand next to her?" the Principal asked.

"M-Me, too? I can't...if I stand next to a goddess, I'll melt." Ishigami-kun responded.

"Just do it!" he persisted. Ishigami-kun finally gave in and stood next to me.  Taking a picture with Ishigami-kun is kinda...giving me this weird feeling in my stomach again.

He stood next to me and I think I forgot how to breathe. Not many people can take my breath away, but you don't even have to try.

"Shinomiya, would you fix Ishigami's hair?" the Principal requested. Kaguya-san agreed to fix his hair.

"And you look a little stiff, L/n. Please loosen up a bit, it's not like you're standing next to your crush or something." he laughed.

Yeah the thing is, the person standing next to me is my crush!

Kaguya-san fixed up Ishigami-kun's hair and I could see his other eye. He looks so different when it's showing...

Chika-san even decided to style my hair with Iino-chan being her assistant.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! The vibe I get is two students who are secretly in love with each other. They're dying to know, but afraid to find out!" he exclaimed.

Well, it's true that I like...or maybe love him, but I don't think he likes or loves me back.

I look at you, you glance up. I look away.

I look at you. You're looking at me. I glance away.

This little dance of peeks and glimpses...it continues on.

I hope you are braver than me...

"Next, I want Fujiwara and Shirogane! Come on!" he brought us outside where the windows were to create some kind of background.

Sometimes, the principal speaks Japanese. Then he put squeeze in some French words. And he'll sprinkle a bit of English in there.

After he finished with his picture taking with Chika-san and the President, he called Ishigami-kun and I once more.

"I would like to have another photo of the two of you with this background. But the two of you are really stiff when you're being pictured..." he explained.

"Perhaps, it would be easier if I gave you a hypothetical situation. All right, let's say you two are girlfriend-boyfriend." he declared. Girlfriend-Boyfriend?!

We got into position, standing in front of the window, next to each other. Pretending to be girlfriend-boyfriend is a bit too much and too difficult, to be honest.

"You're talking in the hallway. Your hands accidentally touch." he narrated. I have no choice...

I gave Ishigami-kun a glance and already saw him staring at me. We both looked away when we met each others' gazes. I wonder what I look like in your eyes.

I hate making eye contact with you. The reason I hate making eye contact with you is because I completely lose the ability to think properly.

Our hands unintentionally brush each other. Heat rose to my cheek as I retracted my hands back.

"That's it! So innocent! Adolescence personified! The springtime of youth! Tres-tres-tres bien!" he shouted, taking a bunch of pictures of our awkwardness.

"Now bring your faces closer together." he ordered. Isn't that a little too much?!

Ishigami-kun wrapped his arm around my waist and brought his face closer to mine. I stared at him and quickly looked away. Too close!

"That's it! How cute!" he fanboyed, taking another set of pictures. His arm is around my waist...his face is so close to my own. If I moved 1 inch forward, our lips would make contact.

That's right...I fell in love with you because of the million things you never knew you were doing to my heart.

"All right, let's go to the rooftop!" he clasped his hands together as he made his way to the rooftop.

The rest had already followed him while Ishigami-kun and I stayed here, in the same position.

"Ishigami-kun?" I called.

"S-Sorry." he apologized, gently letting of my waist as he ran to catch up with the others.

I placed my hand on top of my chest and rested it there. I can feel my pounding heart. It's so noisy...

Dont think about it too much, Y/n! He did it for the pamphlet, nothing else. But then...he didn't let go even though he was told to.

I shook my head to shake the thoughts off and ran to catch up with my fellow student council members.

"Well, let's take a group photo with the schoolyard behind you. Everyone, line up, please." the principal kindly asked.

The evening had sent the birds to their roosts and the crickets to sing in the swaying grasses.

The sandy soil was on its way to becoming a rich sable and the cloudless sky promised an unfettered view of the heavens.

The heat of the day has ebbed to a comforting warmth. The sunshine has lost its brightness and the colors of the sky had softened.

I feel the soothing breeze, become absorbed in the music of crickets, letting the gentle energy of nature wash in.

Up here, it's like looking down at the world. You can see the trees, the flowers, the running track, and the many numerous buildings.

Up here it's like standing on a giants' back, exploring the world in awe. What a wonderful sight.

A group photo...come to think of it, I've never taken a photo like that before. I have always been the one taking the group photo, I have never been in one.

So, Kaguya-san...I understand what you're feeling right now. Even though you don't show it that much, I know.

"I don't like this." I mumbled, stomping towards the principal and suggesting an idea. Chika-san, Ishigami-kun, and the President came to agree with the idea.

Eventually, the Principal agreed with the idea. Iino-chan went to get Kaguya-san to join us for the last shot.

"Shinomiya, please come over here. For the last shot, let's take a keepsake photo." the Principal ushered.

"But...you don't have to do this for me." Kaguya-san mumbled, staring at the ground.

"I'm not. This is what your friends want." the Principal replied, the both of them turned to our direction.

"Any more photos taken will be private! We can use your cell phone if you'd like." he offered. Kaguya-san was about to hand it over until wind decided to join us as well.

The wind greets concrete and skin just the same, yet I am blessed to feel it.

I have always thought of the wind as so free, chaotic even, yet it too has its path, even if there are infinite possible destinations.

It is air with passion, a drive that powers onwards, every direction an option.

I grow strong against this wind; muscles working all the more. It is the freshness over my skin, that which makes a fine flag of my hair.

In the trees it is a gusting chorus, a song so confidently sung. There are times I feel it within, that push and swirl, that stirring to show what is solidly there.

I'm okay with it, I am. For the calmness of sweet days ahead will be such plain sailing.

I have always loved the wind, for it comes to me so boldly, touches my skin.

In coldness it rouses me to wakefulness, an alertness that lets me savour the moments in dryness and rain just the same.

In soft breezes it is finer than silk, smoother than water. In the gales it sings through the trees, sending loose leaves on a dancing funfair ride, hypnotic, beautiful.

In the summertime wind is cooling, allowing the warmth to gently enter muscle and bone while my skin feels so at ease with the world.

Today is almost still and I find myself in joyful anticipation, absorbing the bright colours of the new foliage and buds, taking a moment to watch a dragonfly pass by, its back a brilliant electric blue.

Due to the wind, Kaguya-Dan's hand slipped and she dropped her phone. My eyes widened and my body moved on instinct.

I ran for the phone, reaching my ahnd out before it would fall. But I was too late...the phone tumbled down the roof.

"Do you think it's broken?" Chika-san womdered.

"Non..." the Principal muttered.

"I'll go get it." I said, getting ready to leave and make my way downstairs to retrieve the phone of Kaguya-san.

"No need, I'll retrieve it." Kaguya-san chuckled sheepishly, before making her way down the stairs. That's a fake laugh...one that is trying to hide the pain.

"Kaguya-san..." I mumbled. She took a picture of us the other day and saved it as her wallpaper...there's no way we can bring back the pictures she took. That is an old model, after all.

Not only is the model old, but I'm sure it has corporate proprietary specs. I'm sure there aren't any parts left to fix it and I'm afraid there's no way to save the data.

If she had an SD card attached, it might be possible, but with that model, all of the data is stored internally.

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