[Chapter 7: Unwanted attention.]
While taking a break as we wait for the next set, finishing up setting stuff like lighting and the camera angle and such, Haruka-san and I sat on the bench waiting for them to finish.
I was keeping my mouth shut and didn't talk much. I was keeping quiet because, I'm still practicing normal language inside my head.
Then Haruka-san tried to brake the ice by making small talks.
"So, Yukiya-kun, why did you decided to take on this photoshoot?" Haruka inquired.
'She's my partner so it's okay to tell her right?'
"To be honest, I'm not good at talking to people" [He means talking normally without chuunibyou dialogues.]
I said while fiddling my hands holding back my Phantom self. Haruka took it as me being shy.
'Is he shy? ...Hm, I see. The reason he took on this job was to get exposure, so he would feel more confident. I see...' is what Haruka-san concludes seeing my assumably timid demeanor.
"That's why. I want to change." I told Haruka-san, in the back of my mind, I was thinking, 'So I could fit the role of a true shadow hero.'
"What do you mean by change?"
"I want to be cool." as a shadow hero.
"I see..." from my simple answer, Haruka-san thought 'He's a boy after all.'
Haruka-san seems amused, at the same time underwhelmed for my reason to change. It sounded childish but she felt it was cute in its own way.
"Yukiya-kun, Haruka-san, everything is all set. We'll start to resume the photoshoot soon."
Just finishing up my small talk with Haruka-san, Muscular Salon Owner called for us, notifying us that the photoshoot will resume soon
"Yukiya-kun, let's go!"
"Y-Yeah"
She grabbed my hand into the spotlight and...
"1,2,3 click*"
And so we took our shots that I thought would only be normal pictures, but will later be found at a certain monthly magazine at the day it publish.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its now almost dark outside by the time we finished taking our pictures for today.
After finishing taking the pictures, Haruka-san and I was waiting for the rest of the photos to be processed before we leave.
For the meantime, Haruka-san and I were waiting outside the editing room, as the staff including Mr. Owner was editing the pictures.
They said it would probably be done processing in around thirty minutes to an hour or so.
As we wait for the remaining photos, we were looking at the first of the bunch that was already printed.
"The pictures turned out great, did you already try modeling before? You seemed pretty experienced."
"No, this is actually my first time" [guy who likes taking poses a lot.]
It's not a lie since this is my first time taking actual photo shots. The ones I had before were taken using my phone for personal use, only for deciding which pose is the coolest as reference.
"That's definitely a lie. You've posed even better than me who has been training for the past three months since school started. Yukiya-kun definitely has a talent for modeling."
Haruka-san praised how well I could pose, looking at the photos we took alongside each other.
"Um, yeah. Thanks." I bashfully accepted her compliments.
"Oh, I know. Why don't you apply to our talent agency. That way we can see each other often. We can even have bigger chances of doing collabs." she offered, as if scouting young talent.
"Sorry, but this is actually a one time thing." I said apologetically scratching the back of my head.
"And why's that?"
"Actually, the person who was supposed to be your partner cancelled at the last minute. The owner, the muscly guy over there who took our pictures ended up picking me because I was the closest at the time."
'Is he talking about Mr. Director?'
"I see...I did hear something like that happen. You posed so well that I thought you were the actual guy." She complimented, and seemed to be a little disapointed that this was a one time thing.
"Yeh. It just so happens that I have the same physique for the clothes they prepared in the photoshoot. Plus, the guy who was supposed to be Haruka-san's partner would definitely look way better. He's a real model after all."
"You know, you don't have to be that humble about it you know. You posed so we'll- No, you might be even better. So don't put yourself down like that."
Haruka-san teased me of being humble, but I don't really get it because that is what I truly thought.
"I was thinking how nice it would be for us to be partners again, we were completely in sync back there."
"I guess we were, didn't we."
I then came to an epiphany, 'Wait, think about it now, we're having a normal conversation for quite a while now...' I was thinking that, 'I see, so this is the power of having a training partner. Her communication skills are top notch.'
'She even said we were completely in sync when taking photos earlier. I wonder how well we could fight in an actual battle against the evil of the world together?' Is what I thought to myself.
[Actually, this was from Haruka's experience and our Chuunibyou well performance in posing they were able to manage this results. They're not that close just yet]
I was holding back my inner dialogue all this time and I held it in pretty well. That just means that Haruka-san is a good training partner to the side charactization process.
Maybe it was because she's used to dealing with people as a part time model so her communication skills are unexpectedly high. I assumed she's a part timer because I couldn't see someone my age will be a full time model.
While thinking how nice it feels to have an actual conversation for once (excluding Ayaka), Haruka-san excused herself to get a drink at a nearby vending machine.
"I'm thirsty"
She stood up and asked me if I want anything to drink.
"Excuse me, I'll get a drink for a sec. Do you have anything you want to drink, Yukiya-kun? My treat."
"If you don't mind, I'd like a cola please."
"Got it"
She then walked out of the studio to go find a nearby vending machine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After about a few minutes, fifteen or so, Haruka-san still hasn't gone back with those drinks she said she was getting.
'Hm... isn't she taking a while...? I better check.'
I was getting quite thirsty as well so I decided to go after her and find the nearest vending machine in the area.
After walking not too long, I found a vending machine not too far from the studio.
The vending machine, as well with that, I also saw Haruka-san. However, it seemed like she attracted unwanted attention, there were three guys that were surrounding her near the vending machine.
The tree guys surrounding Haruka-san seems to be drunk. It looked like they just came out of the bar near the area, intoxicated and now they ended up tying to pick up Haruka-san because of her face.
"Come on now, don't be like that, we'll take good care of you."
"Yeah, with us you'll know true happiness."
"Come on, come on, let's go."
The three men continuously harassed Haruka-san, her legs shaking as the three men got closer and closer.
One of the guys hand got too closer aiming at grabbing her arm.
"No! I said I don't want to!"
"Haruka-san! I finally found you"
I grabbed Haruka-san's hand and pulled her away from the three guys that was harassing her.
"Who are you?"
The man said while in a somewhat angry drunk manner.
"Me? I am the ally of justice!" I said while extending my hand to my face, with one eye peeping through my fingers.
"Don't give me that crap!"
The three guys weren't your typical "I have a boyfriend" walk away type, so introducing myself as her ally didn't seem work at all. Not like I expected it to work though...