But still, just a light hug a moment ago and she reacted that much... Has Nijika's fondness for him reached this level?
He hadn't really done anything to Nijika these past two days, so how did her affection rise so quickly?
"...Mom, Sister Ho'olheyak, let's go over there and take photos for Doctor."
Having escaped Hachiman's grasp, Ijichi Nijika let out a long breath and quickly pulled Ijichi Seika away from the bench, walking out of the pavilion to the garden's pondside.
She didn't know why either, clearly she'd only had her tail toyed with by Hachiman and had a few photos taken by him, yet her whole body felt "uncomfortable."
Good thing she was someone who'd been through big scenes, with plenty of shared senses and synchronized senses, not to the point of being unable to hold back from just this little physical issue.
"Sorry to trouble you, Doctor. Come take photos for me and Suzuran."
Ijichi Seika forgot the character setting again, directly calling Ijichi Nijika by the code name Suzuran, but at this point nobody bothered correcting such a small issue with names.
PA, who was playing Ho'olheyak, also gave a light nod and followed the Ijichi sisters to stand by the pavilion.
The others got up and followed upon seeing this. Shiba Miyuki maintained her Kamisato Ayaka young-lady posture, unhurriedly shifting forward in small steps to stand to the side, smiling as she watched Hachiman take photos of everyone one by one.
Today she had already had her time alone with Nii-sama, so she was already satisfied, no need to compete for favor with these people.
To be precise, of everyone present, aside from Nijika, none of the others needed much worry.
Perhaps the others didn't all enter relationships with Nii-sama for benefits, but only Nijika and Nii-sama truly interacted as classmates and friends in a pure relationship.
If she built a good relationship with Nijika, then in the future Nijika could not only support her "ascension," but also serve Nii-sama together with her.
Although she was already considering the Shinomiya family, as heir of the Yotsuba family, she couldn't consider just one or two families. Just one or two families couldn't form a massive conglomerate power, their Yotsuba family alone had several branch families, let alone the various large and small powers managed under those branches.
The Saegusa family, where Mayumi-senpai was from, was probably also trying to win over various major families right now, thinking of every way to catch up to the elf princess's position beside Nii-sama.
However, no matter which conglomerate, the focus of their considerations would be the same as the elf princess Iris, how to serve Nii-sama well.
"First take a few of Sister Seika alone, then a few of Sister PA alone, and finally some group photos together, is that okay?"
Hachiman raised the pink camera in his hand, the same color as Lala's hair, and aimed it at Ijichi Seika in all black.
Actually, whether Ijichi Seika or Vulpisfuglia, their heights weren't considered tall, but their body proportions were good, so the photos should all come out looking nice.
"No problem."
Ijichi Seika nodded, stepped in her high-heeled boots, and turned her back to Hachiman.
"Sister Seika, do you have any poses you want to shoot? You can think about how Vulpisfuglia looks as an assassin, or I can come up with a few poses?"
"No need, I have my own ideas. Just take a few for me first."
"Okay."
Ijichi Seika directly flung back the cape on her body, gripped the somewhat oddly-shaped but rather good-looking prop longsword in her hand, and looked at the camera with a blank expression.
Not just the cosplay outfits, weapon props corresponding to the cosplay characters were certainly prepared for them too.
With such perfect cosplay outfits, plus various exquisite props, even the tail and ears accounted for, casually striking a few poses was hardly difficult.
However, as Hachiman pressed the shutter and took several cool Vulpisfuglia cosplay shots of Ijichi Seika, Ijichi Seika's expression shifted slightly, something seemed off.
What's going on, her body felt a bit numb...
'This strange feeling...'
Noticing Ijichi Nijika was staring at her, Ijichi Seika took a breath, shook her head sharply, and continued posing.
This was nothing like Nijika being pulled into an embrace, even their cosplay outfits were very covering.
This kind of perfectly proper photo shoot, she had absolutely no reason to be thinking so much.
Ijichi Seika endured it and found that although her body felt somewhat hot, what she got in exchange was heightened emotions, very accurately grasping the cosplay character's state, Vulpisfuglia's cold assassin image.
Front, side, back, turning, sprinting, looking up... Taking off the jacket, propping her chin, taking off shoes... Perhaps because their cosplay outfits had built-in shine, or because the camera in Hachiman's hand was high-end, they didn't need lighting around them at all. Just find the right angle and the photos would come out looking excellent.
Of course, Hachiman's photography skills were also very good. Even when she suddenly jumped, he could precisely capture it, almost always in one take.
Hmm... if only she could remove the excessive exercise-induced suspicious redness on her face, it would be even better.
"Sister Seika, actually you can smile a little. Vulpisfuglia is an assassin, but she's also good to her family, you don't have to be expressionless the whole time."
"Okay... stop, pause for a moment... let me rest first..."
Constantly switching poses, successfully producing a dozen or so perfectly angled photos, Ijichi Seika was already sweating at the forehead, hands gripping her knees, panting as she stopped. Hearing Hachiman continue telling her to change poses for more photos, she quickly spoke up to stop him.
How long had it been, only about ten minutes of shooting, averaging one photo per minute, most of the time spent thinking of poses, and she was already this exhausted?
Was she really this old? Or had she been lacking exercise lately... She'd only had a little alcohol, and she hadn't stayed up late either...
However, when she came to Hachiman's side and saw those few cool, cold cosplay photos, she felt it was all worth it.
Ijichi Seika nodded in satisfaction and looked at PA beside her.
"PA, your turn. I'll go rest first."
Too tired, if she kept shooting in this state, she'd be taking defeat photos.
"Mm... sorry to trouble you, Hachiman-kun."
PA had watched the whole process of Ijichi Seika being photographed and already knew roughly how to pose. She immediately stood in Ijichi Seika's original spot, pondering what kind of expression the Ho'olheyak she was cosplaying would show.
Vulpisfuglia was a cold-faced but warm-hearted assassin mom character. Either expressionless or with a faint smile, hardly needing much expression.
The Ho'olheyak she was cosplaying should be a bad woman character, somewhat arrogant, playful, and the smile she showed should emphasize both the badness and the allure.
Although she didn't talk much, PA really wanted to take good cosplay photos. With so many cosplay outfits and props that looked exquisite and expensive at a glance, she couldn't have come for nothing.
[🎉 Shoutout to Pablo, N8tive and Ferocious_Beast for joining p@treon. Consider joining to keep the stories going. Thank you very much.🤗]