Warmth Of A Genius | Classroom Of The Elite

Move 13 - Photography 101

"Ayanokouji-kun, you're not posing right! I need something more natural. You're as stiff as a board!"

"I can't help the way I stand, Aoi."

"Aoi-SENPAI, Ayanokouji-kun!" The brown-haired girl yelled from a distance as she kept taking pictures of me.

This... definitely wasn't how I expected my afternoon to go.

*10 minutes ago*

"Excuse me, can I take a moment of your time?" A brown-haired girl approached me with a big smile on her face, holding a camera in her right hand with a strap that went around her neck. Probably to prevent it from falling.

"Yes, what is it?" I asked.

"Can I take a picture of you? Are any of your friends here? Maybe you could all pose together!" The smile she had on her face kind of reminded me of Ichinose's smile when she's talking about her friends.

"Uhm, is this a new way of stalking or something?"

"Ah- sorry, let me introduce myself first!"

The girl took a step back and pulled out her student ID from the pocket of her blazer, proudly positioning it right above her chest while looking at me with her hazelnut-colored eyes.

"My name's Aoi Sachi, I'm a 2nd year of class A and I'm part of the photography club!"

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

Aoi looked at me for a few moments before tilting her head in confusion. After noticing my expression went unchanged, she burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.

"Ayanokouji-kun, I was expecting more of an introduction than just your name. What class are you in? Are you part of any clubs? Give me something to work with here."

"I'm in class 1-A and I'm in the infamous 'going home club'. You might've heard of it."

She put her hand up to her chin, assuming a thinking pose while letting out an audible 'hmm' before nodding to herself.

"Right, right. I have heard of the infamous 'going home club'. I see you're a man of culture who enjoys that kind of thing, Ayanokouji-kun."

Okay at this point I'm not sure what's happening anymore. I was trying to crack a joke, but having Aoi go along with it and try to take it a step further was not in my predictions. A joke is better off being too short than too long after all.

"So what was this about taking a picture, Aoi?"

"Eh?" She tilted her head again, her eyes widening slightly.

"Ayanokouji-kun, you should address your upperclassmen with respect. That's Aoi-SENPAI to you! What would you do if the student council President, Horikita-senpai talked to you?"

"Horikita? I've already talked to him."

"HORIKI-" Aoi seemed to choke on her own spit as she started coughing while desperately trying to recompose herself. And failing miserably to do so. After a few more moments she finally took a few deep breaths and continued talking.

"I'm glad I stopped you now. It's been a while since someone's made me laugh like that," she said with a bittersweet smile on her face.

"Anyways! Right! Pictures!" She pulled out her camera again and removed the lens cover.

"Every year when summer comes along, the photography club takes the time to photograph as many first years as possible for their yearly 'fresh faces' project."

Aoi turned around and stepped towards a bench that had a backpack on it. She reached inside of it and pulled out a book that was labeled 'Summer 2024 Fresh Faces Project'.