When Takashi and Wakana returned with the packed fried chicken buckets, the five of them sat against the wall and began eating.
"Takashi, I can't eat anymore, here you go."
Marin, afraid of overstuffing herself and bursting her tight-fitting C-cosplay outfit, didn't dare eat too much and only had a little.
What she couldn't finish, she handed over for Takashi to take care of.
Takashi accepted it without hesitation.
Back when he was dating Eriri, he often finished her leftovers, so he naturally took the unfinished fried chicken bucket and placed it in front of himself.
Wakana watched Takashi so naturally and skillfully take Marin's unfinished food — just like a boyfriend handling his girlfriend's leftovers — that he forgot to chew the chicken wing he had just brought to his mouth.
Tanaka Kota and Otani Shota leaned in close.
"Spill it. What's your relationship with Kitagawa-san?"
Takashi casually bit into a chicken drumstick, his tone flat:
"Just ordinary friends."
"Ordinary friends hand over their unfinished food like that?"
"That's boyfriend-level treatment!"
Takashi glanced sideways at the two of them.
"That's how it is when you're handsome. You wouldn't understand."
"F**k!"
x2.
Once everyone finished eating, Takashi gave them no time to rest and immediately ordered them to get up for more shooting.
Thanks to earlier experience, Takashi and Marin became increasingly in sync.
Whenever Takashi activated the wireless earbud to buzz her a little, Marin would immediately know which pose to switch to and how to coordinate with him.
Soon, they moved on to the final set of photos.
The final setup involved one person sitting on a chair, holding onto Marin.
Takashi turned to Wakana.
"You or me?"
Marin parted her lips to speak, but at a small buzz from Takashi, she immediately flushed bright red, clenched her teeth, and closed her mouth in grievance.
She looked up at Takashi, her eyes full of complaint, resentment, and a slight coquettish glimmer.
'Why are you asking Gojo-kun?'
She didn't understand why Takashi would ask Wakana before each set.
It almost felt like she was Wakana's girlfriend.
But she wasn't!
Even if she were, wouldn't it be even worse to manipulate someone else's girlfriend in front of her boyfriend?
Still, when she thought about it — secretly being teased by another man behind her boyfriend's back, her eyes turning into little pink hearts — it felt… strangely thrilling.
'Wait, could it be… Takashi actually likes this kind of setup?! That's why he keeps asking Gojo-kun before shooting?!'
Marin's eyes widened like saucers, as if she had just cracked the case.
Takashi was a bullfighter!
Takashi, however, had no idea that in Marin's mind, he was now being equated with the most lecherous kind of villain.
He was simply staring at Wakana, waiting for his answer.
Facing Takashi's gaze was like confronting some ferocious beast. Wakana quickly avoided eye contact, not daring to meet his eyes.
"I-I'll take the photos for you guys," Gojo stammered.
Saying that, he hurriedly tried to grab the camera from Takashi.
Takashi didn't let go.
Wakana couldn't pull it away, but he was too embarrassed to tug hard, so they ended up stuck awkwardly.
Takashi stared straight into Wakana's eyes and said slowly, word by word:
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance."
Wakana understood the underlying meaning.
It felt like all the hidden emotions he thought were well concealed had been brutally exposed, like rats and cockroaches being dragged into the sunlight to be scorched.
The shame of having his pride torn apart — realizing that everything he tried so hard to hide was so painfully obvious — made him hang his head even lower.
"Thanks for your help, Gojo-kun," Takashi said, pushing the camera into his arms.
Tanaka Kota nudged Otani Shota with his elbow and whispered,
"That's a crush, right?"
"Obviously."
Otani Shota leaned against the wall, arms crossed, smirking:
"I love these red-nosed clowns the most. The ones who like someone but don't dare act, just standing there moved by their own delusions."
"They secretly watch her social media, like what she likes, hate what she hates, thinking they know her better than anyone else.
Probably patting themselves on the back for being so 'special.'"
"And when she actually gets a boyfriend, they just quietly disappear."
…
"Seriously, why do you keep staring at my crotch? Are you some kind of crotch-staring cat?"
"Come on, lift your head a bit higher — yeah, like that.
Not that I'm criticizing you, but if you're lifting your head, don't stick your tongue out! What the hell is wrong with you?"
Sitting on the chair, Takashi had the metal chain around Marin's neck looped a few times around his right hand.
He tugged upward slightly, his gaze playful, like he was toying with some new gadget.
Marin knelt between his legs, her white swan-like neck gracefully arched, glaring at him with reddened eyes full of humiliation.
Right now, she looked exactly like one of those heroines in an R18 visual novel — forced and humiliated.
Click!
Click!
Standing behind Takashi, Wakana held the camera, mechanically and numbly taking photos.
The face hidden behind the camera began to twist slightly from the pain.
Watching Marin being led around by Takashi, he found it hard to breathe. It felt just like watching his own wife make love to another man before his eyes!
"Gojo, let me see the pictures? Gojo? Go—"
Takashi called Wakana several times before he snapped out of it. "Huh? What? Kitahara-kun?"
"Let us take a look at the photos."
"Oh, okay."
Wakana mechanically handed the camera over.
Taking the camera, Takashi lowered his head to check.
"I want to see too! I want to see!"
Marin propped herself up on Takashi's knees with both hands, then sat down directly on his lap, pressing her head against his to check the photos together.
Watching this scene, Wakana felt like a fish that had been washed ashore and was about to dry out and die, the suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe growing even stronger.
Takashi frowned. "Get off!"
Marin pouted and whined, "My legs are numb from crouching. What's wrong with sitting for a bit? Takashi, don't be so stingy~"
"If you're tired and want to sit, I can give you the chair. But get off my lap."
He was here to perform, not to sell his body.
Even Utaha, Eriri, Shizuka, and Nagisa had never sat on his lap.
"I can pay extra!"
"Please, sit as you like."
Takashi immediately had no objections.
When the money's good, even he wouldn't say no.
"Takashi, how about I drizzle some yogurt on my face to make it look like milky white liquid makeup?"
Looking at the photos in the camera, Marin thought her face looked too clean — it needed to look a little "tainted."
"Yogurt's too white. Personally, I'd suggest using Telunsu milk!"
"Or maybe hold some in my mouth?"
"I'm afraid it won't pass the review."
"Yeah, with how strict the internet regulations are these days. I heard one of the reviewers even switched over from Hedgehog Cat. The slightest slip and you get instantly flagged."
"Don't even mention it. Even Singularity is looser than their standards."
While Takashi and Marin were chatting away boldly, suddenly, Marin felt a continuous vibration below her.
Originally being so open and unrestrained in their conversation, her face instantly flushed red.
She shot Takashi a flirtatious look.
This guy was talking just fine, and now suddenly doing that endlessly?
Wakana was still behind them watching!
But... maybe that made it even more exciting for him?
Takashi immediately saw through what Marin was thinking and said expressionlessly, "Get up, you're sitting on my phone!"
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