Eri and Yukiko scrambled through the pile of photos, desperately searching for shots that could rival Shuichi's.
But out of over thirty photos of their group of five, fewer than ten featured them. The rest were all of random pretty girls at the amusement park.
"Kogoro, what's the deal?" Eri demanded, her voice sharp with accusation. "What kind of photos are these?"
"I gave you the camera to shoot us, not to snap pictures of every cute girl who walked by!" Yukiko fumed. "And honestly, none of them are even as pretty as me!"
"Get over yourself. This is supposed to be beautiful?" Eri smirked, holding up a bungee-jumping photo of Yukiko. Her face, twisted in terror and mangled by Kogoro's shoddy photography skills, was barely recognizable.
"You're one to talk!" Yukiko shot back, brandishing a photo of Eri. The girl in the image, equally distorted by fear and overexposure, looked three parts human, seven parts ghost.
As the two girls glared at Kogoro, he scrambled to defend himself. "I'm not a professional photographer! It's normal for some shots to come out bad!"
"Then why are all your photos of random women so perfectly clear?" Eri gritted her teeth, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I bet you did it on purpose!" Yukiko added, her face flushed with anger.
"Alright, enough blaming Kogoro," Hayashi Shuichi interjected, trying to calm his friends. "It's probably just the lighting or something. Let's sort out the decent photos for now."
After some effort, they sifted through the stack. All twenty-one photos of random park-goers were, frustratingly, flawless. Of the nine photos of their group, only Shuichi's bungee-jumping shot and a group photo of the five of them turned out well. The rest were either overexposed or taken at such awful angles they were practically unwatchable.
"Man, Kogoro, I kinda wanna punch you too," Shuichi said, rubbing his temples. "If you'd put half the effort into our photos as you did chasing random girls, we wouldn't be in this mess."
Kogoro let out a nervous laugh, snatching the stack of stranger photos and bolting for the door. "I'll be back when the izakaya opens tonight!"
"Just toss the bad ones," Shuichi said with a sigh.
"What about these two?" Yukiko pointed to the group photo and Shuichi's bungee shot.
"The group one can go up in the shop," Shuichi said, glancing at his solo photo. "As for this one…"
"It's mine!" Reiko declared, clutching it possessively. "I found it first!"
"Let your big sister take a peek, Reiko," Eri said, her voice syrupy sweet. "I'll give it right back."
"Don't fall for it," Yukiko chimed in, her grin sly as a fox eyeing a henhouse. "Let this sister see it first."
"Do I look like an idiot to you two?" Reiko snapped. "If I hand it over, I'll never get it back!"
"Let me see!"
"Gimme a look!"
When sweet-talking failed, Eri and Yukiko resorted to outright grabbing.
"No way! It's mine!" Reiko held on for dear life, refusing to let go.
Shuichi watched the chaos unfold, about to intervene, when a sharp rip cut through the air. In the three-way tug-of-war, his photo tore into three pieces.
Reiko and Yukiko each ended up with a chunk of his body, while Eri held his head.
"Onii-chan's been torn apart…" Reiko's eyes welled up. "You owe me a new photo!"
"It's Curly Fox's fault—she grabbed it first!" Eri said, deflecting blame before snatching the head piece and making a break for it.
"No way, it's Glasses Girl's fault for pulling too hard!" Yukiko retorted with a nervous laugh, grabbing her piece. "I, uh, need something from the storage room."
With that, she bolted too.
"Onii-chan!" Reiko wailed, throwing her arms around Shuichi. "My photo…"
"It's okay," Shuichi said, patting his little sister's head with a smile. Then, raising his voice deliberately, he added, "We've got the negatives, don't we? We'll just get another copy printed."
"Right, the negatives!" Reiko's face lit up. "Onii-chan, let's go print it!"
Eri stood up from the cash register, and Yukiko poked her head out of the storage room. For once, they were in perfect agreement: "I'm coming too!"
…
The next morning, Shuichi woke to the blaring of his alarm. Yawning, he got dressed, ready to head out of his room, when he remembered his promise to Yukiko.
He had to fake being sick and go with her to her audition.
What a hassle…
With a sigh, Shuichi stripped off his clothes and crawled back into bed.
Bored out of his mind, he lay there until Reiko's alarm rang next door. Quickly, he pulled the covers over his head and rubbed his hands together vigorously.
Moments later, his little cousin, up and getting ready, noticed he wasn't around and knocked on his door.
Already flushed from the blanket, Shuichi yanked it down and pressed his warmed hands to his forehead. "Reiko, come in."
"Onii-chan?" Reiko pushed the door open. "Why aren't you up yet?"
Shuichi coughed weakly. "I'm feeling a bit feverish today. Go grab breakfast at the convenience store."
Before he could finish, Reiko darted over, pressing her hand to his forehead.
"You're burning up!" Her face filled with worry. "If I go to school, what'll you do? Should I ask the teacher for a day off to stay and take care of you?"
"No need," Shuichi said with a faint smile. "It's just a little fever. I'll be fine after a day's rest. I'm a grown-up—I don't need a kid like you fussing over me."
"But…" Reiko hesitated, still concerned.
"Don't worry," Shuichi reassured her. "By the time you get home this afternoon, I'll be good as new."
After finally convincing Reiko to leave, the doorbell rang. It was Kogoro Mouri, here to walk to school together.
"You're up late today," Kogoro said, yawning. "Usually, you're the one waiting for me."
"I'm not feeling great, so I'm skipping school today," Shuichi said, putting on a frail act. "Can you tell Mr. Murakami I'm out sick?"
"You? Sick?" Kogoro blinked, incredulous. "You actually get sick?"
"I'm human, aren't I?" Shuichi said, exasperated. "Why wouldn't I?"
"We've known each other for over a decade, and this is the first time I've seen you under the weather," Kogoro said, scratching his head, his face creasing with concern. "Maybe we should hit the hospital, just in case it's something serious…"
"You trying to jinx me?" Shuichi shot back, half-laughing. "It's just a cold. I'll be fine after a day's rest."
"Alright, I'm off to school then," Kogoro said, still hesitant. "But if you start feeling worse, go upstairs and get my mom to take you to the hospital…"
(End of Chapter)
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