[clum! '96 #18] The Observer's Demand for Payment

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Summer lunch break, 1996.

It was around the time the heavy atmosphere that had been hanging around Rei in the aftermath of the twins' public announcement had finally begun to clear. Just as Rei was catching her breath after finishing guiding the new club members in the kitchen, Takafumi Nose appeared without a sound, a 'Utsurundesu' disposable camera hanging from his neck.

“Good work, Rei-senpai. You’re looking even more translucent today. Oh, that expression right now, combined with the light from the window, is a perfect 100.”

“...Nose-kun. You’re teasing me again. I was thinking of taking some tea to the Science Club, but did you need something?”

As Rei went to take off her apron, Nose flashed a grin that looked somewhat like that of a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

“Need something? Or maybe confirming something... Rei-senpai, you haven’t forgotten, have you? About the favor for when I lent my name to the Cooking Club and became a ‘ghost member’?”

Rei stopped moving and lowered her eyebrows, looking slightly troubled.

“Yes... The promise to let you take pictures of Jin-kun, right?”

“That’s right. But you see, just regular Jin-senpai isn’t interesting. I can take pictures of that anytime in the basketball club.”

Nose stepped closer, held up his index finger, and said with eyes that seemed to be staring through the other side of the lens.

“What I want to take is... ‘the two of you, Oridate-senpai and Rei-senpai, being all lovey-dovey’.”

“...Eh!?”

Rei’s face turned as red as the tomatoes she had been handling just moments before in an instant.

“L-lovey-dovey... I can’t do something like that in front of people!”

“No, no, isn’t that exactly what the club president’s job is? Look, it’s been over three months since you started dating, and you two still have this pure, innocent air about you? There’s nothing but demand for this. The moment of ‘affection’ that Jin-senpai only shows to you, Rei-senpai... Ah, just imagining it makes my developer fluid feel like it’s boiling.”

Nose seemed to be joking, but his eyes were those of an artist genuinely chasing the 'perfect moment.'

“If you let me take this, I’ll put my heart and soul into drawing the Cooking Club’s promotional poster from now on. A legendary one that will have 30 new members rushing to join.”

“...30 people.”

For Rei, avoiding the threat of the club being shut down was a pressing issue.

However, if she were to say to Jin, 'Please, let me take pictures of us being close for Nose's sake,' what kind of face would he make?

“I wonder if Jin-kun will get mad...”

“It’ll be fine. If Rei-senpai says, ‘Please, Jin-kun,’ there’s no way that senpai could refuse, right? ...Oh, that anxious expression right now is also good. ...Well then, please set it up, President?”

Nose left the kitchen while humming a hit song from 1996.


Later, when she consulted Rikka about this, Rikka laughed out loud, saying, “Nose really has some nerve, as always!” but she also added this.

“But Rei-chan, wouldn't it be nice to have at least one photo with Jin? Jin is clumsy, so he probably won't ask for one himself.”

For the sake of the Cooking Club’s survival, and for the sake of the observer seeking the 'ultimate subject,' Rei would end up making the biggest 'request' of her life to Jin.

[This time's bonus]

Nose: “As expected, it was too red, like she had a fever, so that’s a no-go.”

Inagi: “Looking at just the picture, it looks like he’s hitting on her or trying to pick her up.”

Nose: “Well, in reality, I am hitting on her!”

Inagi: “I’m scared of what will happen to Jin-chan next time...”

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