Miyajima Tsubaki enthusiastically visited several more shops.
Hayato, trailing behind her, felt a bit numb; indeed, girls possessed unparalleled talent when it came to shopping.
And Miyajima Tsubaki truly stuck to her principle of "just looking, not buying"; after purchasing the hairpin, she didn't spend another cent.
Except for...
"Wow, I can't believe these machines still exist?" Miyajima Tsubaki exclaimed with emotion.
In front of her was a camera... more precisely, a "photo sticker booth," a "vintage item" with considerable history.
Ever since smartphones became increasingly popular, these machines had gradually been phased out.
Many young children might not even have heard of them.
"There used to be so many of them everywhere," Miyajima Tsubaki said to Hayato. "Now you barely see any. It seems the owner of this place is quite nostalgic."
Hayato: … … … …?
Which "used to" are you talking about? This kind of thing was already rare ten years ago, wasn't it? At fifteen or sixteen, how can she speak so smoothly as if she's saying "when I was young"?
"Heave-ho." Miyajima Tsubaki pulled out a whole bill from her sling bag. After breaking it, she grabbed a handful of coins, pushed aside the curtain, and walked over to the photo booth.
Hayato wasn't interested, so he waited outside. He only heard Miyajima Tsubaki muttering to herself inside.
"Huh, do they still have these special effects now?"
"...So silly, like a pig."
"Hahaha, how weird."
A string of silvery laughter.
Hayato took out his phone and glanced at it, receiving messages from Sanada Minako and Nanao Akane.
He ignored the former and opened the chat with the latter.
"Lin-chan, are you coming over today? I'm bored."
"If you're bored, go do some practice problems."
After giving a reply full of "affectionate" care, he planned to check the news when he heard Sawamura Airiri call out from inside, "Hey, Senior Kobayashi, quickly come in and help me look, what is this?"
Hayato helplessly put away his phone and walked inside the curtain.
In front of him was a machine with a huge display screen. Due to its age, although the screen was quite large, the resolution was truly "touching."
It was currently counting down: "8," "7," "6"...
"Will it explode?" Miyajima Tsubaki asked innocently, then giggled foolishly. Clearly, she knew that such a thing was impossible.
Hayato gave her an exasperated look.
This kind of machine was originally for girls to pose together or for couples to take photos. It was unlikely that two grown men would come together to pout and take sticker photos. So the internal space was quite cramped. Hayato was a tall person with long limbs, and Miyajima Tsubaki was also tall, and her figure was quite voluptuous. Hayato would touch her soft body with every movement.
"This is, 'time-lapse photography'..." Hayato's words had barely fallen.
The camera, as if responding to his expectation, flashed with a "click."
Then a row of three photos slowly emerged from the photo exit.
The content captured in the photos was...
Hayato was looking at Miyajima Tsubaki with an unamused expression, while Miyajima Tsubaki wore a foolish grin that didn't match her age.
Only, Hayato's head had pink cat ear effects, and there were three "whiskers" on either side that didn't quite fit his face.
Miyajima Tsubaki picked up the photos, looked at them carefully for a few moments, then handed them to Hayato: "They're quite cute, do you want them?"
Hayato: … … … …
"Throw them away."
How could a tough guy like him be paired with such special effects... Well, actually, it was because his appearance wasn't too tough, and with these cute special effects, he always had a somewhat effeminate vibe, which was truly unbearable.
"It would be such a waste to throw them away." Miyajima Tsubaki smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "Since you don't want them, I'll keep them."
Hayato: … …
This girl seemed to be having too much fun shopping, completely losing her previous worried look. Her eyes were filled with excitement...
"Do you want to take two more?" Miyajima Tsubaki asked.
"Absolutely not." Hayato refused directly. He pushed aside the curtain and walked out, while Miyajima Tsubaki, after looking at the row of photos for a few moments, did not operate the machine again, but followed him out, looking satisfied.
"Ah." Hayato.
"Ah..."
The former stopped abruptly. Miyajima Tsubaki, unprepared, could only hit her nose on the former's back.
A repeat performance.
"What are you— " Miyajima Tsubaki was about to question.
Then she looked past Hayato's shoulder and saw a certain girl whose eyes met his.
The, the second one?
Miyajima Tsubaki sized up the girl. She wasn't tall, but a little taller than the previous side-ponytail girl. Her golden-brown long hair cascaded over her shoulders, her face was round and looked plump... Not just her face, but her figure as well...
Miyajima Tsubaki couldn't help but exclaim, are high school students nowadays so well-nourished? Those plump breasts truly had weight... They were probably even fuller than her own well-developed daughter's. Due to her height, her legs weren't very long, but the proportions were balanced, and long black stockings under her skirt squeezed her thighs.
"..." Hayato narrowed his eyes.
"Who is this again...?" Miyajima Tsubaki whispered into Hayato's ear.
Because she leaned so close, Hayato's earlobe felt a wisp of fragrant breeze.
This time, he must have met his girlfriend, right...? Miyajima Tsubaki thought to herself. She wanted to explain, but she couldn't help but feel a little regretful... How to put it, it was a feeling of regret that "the happy time had ended."
"My junior." Hayato said.
It was Sanada Minako.
Bored. ← This was Sanada Minako's thought for the entire day.
Normally, on such a rare day off, she would go out with Nogami Izumi and Hinata Sae to explore shops or tease those pathetic and sad sugar daddies.
But ever since she clashed with Hinata Sae, she had lost interest in shopping with them.
However, sugar daddies could still be reeled in. After all, among the three of them, she had the most "dogs." It was truly interesting to just find someone to play with and drain their living expenses with a few sweet words.
But when she arrived in Shibuya by train and started looking for her target, Sanada Minako, who was originally very skilled at such things, felt at a loss.
It wasn't a decline in skill.
It was... she didn't dare.
Looking at the crowds in Shibuya, she suddenly lost the courage to make a move.
...Because, she might be discovered.
Discovered by Hayato.
The message she had sent him earlier had not received a reply, so Sanada Minako didn't know where Hayato was at the moment.
Is it possible...
He's in Shibuya? If she were to run into him while reeling in a sugar daddy, then... Thinking of that scenario, Sanada Minako couldn't help but tremble.
He would definitely dislike her.
She absolutely didn't want Hayato to dislike her; in fact, she had to act in a way that Hayato would like her.
Because only then could she lord it over Nogami Izumi.
Only then could she completely let Hinata Sae know that her tablet still couldn't beat her...
The fun of reeling in sugar daddies versus the risk of being disliked by Hayato... Sanada Minako weighed the two, feeling that Hayato was more important. If anything went wrong here, she would be doomed.
She was so bored she was growing mold... even her fur was starting to itch to the point she was kicking small stones on the roadside when she received a message from Nogami Izumi.
Izumi had barely sent any messages in this group since her falling out with them.
"Oh, I see you two talking so excitedly here, I really thought Lin had a thing for you two. Turns out he's just a backup, huh? How come on such an important day off I see Lin shopping with another woman?"
With another woman...?
Sanada Minako was initially angry. Lin, you scoundrel, you're playing both sides—
But then her heart panicked. Wait, if he's with other women... If it were like usual, it would be fine, but if he lost interest in her because of that woman, then what would she use to get the upper hand on Nogami Izumi?
Not good!
She had to first scout the enemy and see who that woman was.
"Where? And with whom?" Sanada Minako quickly asked.
"Here in the Shibuya underground passage mall, I think her name is Sawamura Airiri..." Nogami Izumi also "kindly" answered, "You two shouldn't be deceived by that man anymore. It's obvious he's just stringing you both along... He's so good to that Sawamura Airiri..."
Actually, Nogami Izumi didn't really see how good Hayato was to that Sawamura Airiri...
But, it had to be said, she always had to provoke Sanada Minako's anger.
Sanada Minako's heart tightened even more. She wasn't far from where Nogami Izumi had said, so she put away her phone and jogged over there.
After searching a few circles in the underground passage, she finally met Hayato... and that "Sawamura Airiri" in front of a certain photo sticker machine. Before, she had racked her brains for a long time but couldn't figure out where this Sawamura had come from. Now that she saw her, she was even more certain that she had never met this person.
Although Sawamura Airiri was dressed like a trendy young woman, her face was well-proportioned, her features delicate... and she seemed to possess a mature charm that high school students didn't have. Even her own chest, which she had always been proud of, seemed somewhat vulnerable in front of this person.
…Lost, a huge loss.
Sanada Minako gritted her teeth. Even if she was unwilling, she could only come to the above conclusion.
But, what was even more terrifying was that she saw Hayato seemingly clicking his tongue in displeasure, and his eyes towards her were filled with trouble.
"Why are you here? Do you want to ruin my good time?"
Sanada Minako heard Hayato's eyes saying the above words.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly bowed and said:
"Uh, uhm, Senior Kobayashi, I, I didn't expect to meet you here... Sawamura, I and Senior Kobayashi are just senior-junior classmates, please don't misunderstand... I, I'll leave right away."
Absolutely, she must not let Hayato dislike her because of this!
Sanada Minako said as if making a vow.
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