Even with the [Emotion Perception], Kaoru was still utterly confused about the girl's feelings.
Suddenly handing him the camera and telling him to take the photos himself?
It seemed Airi was genuinely angry.
Kaoru hesitated, not voicing his thoughts as freely as before—he didn't want to risk upsetting her further.
Kaoru fiddled with the digital camera; it had been a while since he'd handled such equipment.
Then, he saw the photos Airi had just taken.
The poses were slightly bolder than her usual style, not deliberately cute or innocent, but subtly flaunting her figure—plump thighs, perky chest, and snow-white skin—undeniably highlighting her striking beauty.
Even without overtly seductive poses, just sitting on the chair, her stunning figure was alluring enough.
And in the last few photos, she playfully lifted her skirt, as if teasing the viewer's gaze.
Noticing he had paused for a moment, Airi suddenly realized what he was looking at and let out a soft "Eep!", her cheeks turning cherry-red.
Clearly, she knew he had seen the photos.
Her small hands clutched her skirt nervously, her face burning as she stared at him. Despite her shyness, she didn't stop him from continuing.
Shy as she was, Airi was eager to know Kaoru's thoughts.
How would he feel seeing these photos? Would he remember what had happened between them before?
If Kaoru told her now that he wanted her to send him more photos like this in the future, she knew she wouldn't be able to refuse—she might even go further.
Airi's blush spread to her ears. How shameless of her to imagine such things!
Besides, Kaoru had a girlfriend. Wasn't she acting like she was trying to seduce him? Airi began to feel disheartened.
But she needed to clarify one thing: Had Kaoru ever liked her?
If not, why would he harass her with an alt account?
Strange thoughts swirled in her mind, followed by worry. What if Kaoru really did like her? What should she do then?
She probably couldn't compete with Honami Ichinose. And Kaoru had admitted to having multiple girlfriends—could she handle that alone?
Her chaotic thoughts eventually led to one possibility:
Kaoru inviting her to join his harem.
"T-That's just too much… I'm doomed…"
"Airi?"
"N-No, I'll give you my answer tomorrow!"
For some reason, Airi was flustered, waving her hands frantically. Kaoru had no choice but to flick her forehead to snap her out of it.
"What are you even saying?"
Airi clutched her head with a soft "Ouch!" and stared at him, finally realizing she'd said something she shouldn't have.
"Did you… like them?" she asked cautiously.
"They're nice, but something's missing," Kaoru replied. "Let's take some outside."
"Eh? Outside?" Airi suddenly flushed bright red, her pretty face burning. "No, absolutely not! I can only take photos for you to see!"
This was terrible—she never expected him to have such tastes!
"Why not? The scenery outside would be even better, wouldn't it?" Kaoru looked at her strangely.
"Of course not! There are so many people outside... I... I could never!" Airi was both embarrassed and frustrated.
Just asking Kaoru to take photos of her had already taken all the courage she could muster in her entire life—how could she possibly agree to pose outside?
"No, no, I meant taking you to the rooftop. You can capture a much wider view from up there," Kaoru explained. "Taking photos by the window here is too limiting. There are more angles up top."
Airi froze.
So... he wasn't asking to photograph her, but the scenery?
Noticing her confusion, Kaoru added, "I have the key to the rooftop, so you don't need to worry about that."
He thought this would cheer her up, but instead, the girl puffed up her cheeks in anger.
"No scenery shots allowed!" Airi snapped. "Right now, you can only take photos of me—and they have to be... risqué ones!"
Now it was Kaoru's turn to be stunned. This was the first time he'd seen Airi this furious.
Of course she was angry!
She had dropped so many hints, and Kaoru had even seen her selfies—yet he showed no reaction at all and was only interested in the background scenery.
Before, he would've outright demanded her selfies and even forced her to take suggestive photos!
On top of that, Kaoru had been secretly dating Ichinose—and who knew how many other girls—while leaving her untouched.
This only made Airi feel even more wronged.
"What do you mean by 'risqué photos'?" Kaoru's initial intrigue quickly gave way to suspicion as he frowned and eyed her warily.
"Did someone ask you to take those kinds of pictures?"
Though his stern tone made Airi instinctively shrink back in fear and unease, knowing he was concerned for her melted away most of her earlier anger.
"N-No... I... I wanted to take them myself... but I couldn't get them right, so I wanted Kaoru to help me."
A small flicker of happiness sparked in her chest—he still cared about her.
"I'll only send them to you. No matter who asks, I won't give them to anyone else."
"But taking those kinds of photos..." Kaoru's expression turned odd.
Should he try to talk her out of it?
"I-I just want to document myself, that's all!" Airi blushed furiously, scrambling for a flimsy excuse.
"D-Don't ask any more questions! Just help me take them, no matter what!"
Truthfully, Kaoru was more than happy to oblige the girl's request.
But at the same time, he was genuinely worried about Airi's state of mind.
Was this because of his influence?
Kaoru couldn't be sure. But since Airi had come to him for help, he decided to play along for now, observing her reactions to figure out what was really going on.
"Fine. But what kind of photos do you want?"
Even with "risqué" photos, there were still questions—what outfit to wear, what poses to strike, what angles to use.
These were all worth considering.
This stumped Airi as well. She racked her brain for a while, but unfortunately, she had no prior experience with this kind of thing.
"If nothing else works, then just—"
"U-Um... down there!"Airi Sakura interrupted Kaoru, her face flushed red, "You can take pictures of my lower half, my chest too, whatever you want to shoot, I'll do it all!"
Kaoru nearly dropped the camera.
Watching her grip her skirt, her entire demeanor radiating shyness, he even briefly wondered if she was deliberately trying to seduce him.
"Airi?"
"I... I'm Shizuku-chan now... s-so I'll do my best to cooperate. You can do anything you want with your idol..."
Then, Airi added in a whisper, "B-but only for you, as a fan... don't get the wrong idea..."
At this point, Kaoru quickly realized—the girl wasn't repulsed by discovering his secret account. Instead, she was trying her hardest to accept him.
In Airi's eyes, he was probably just an extreme fan—someone who wore a polite mask in public but obsessed over her in private.
Kaoru opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again.
Well... he couldn't exactly argue with that.
The only puzzling part was that despite knowing his identity, Airi had chosen to accept him.
"Airi is Airi. Shizuku-chan is just a persona," Kaoru said softly. "I was never Shizuku-chan's fan to begin with. Compared to Shizuku-chan, I like Airi more. I'm your fan."
Halfway through his words, Airi's eyes had already widened.
By the time he finished, the girl was completely at a loss.
Her heart had never pounded this fast or this violently before—it felt like all the blood in her body was boiling, her mind going blank as she stared at him in a daze.
The next moment, the sound of a camera shutter suddenly snapped her back to reality.
Kaoru was holding up his camera with a mischievous grin—he'd clearly captured her previous expression.
"W-wait, no! Don't take that!"
"That's not what you said earlier. Besides, I'm taking photos of you right now, not Saku-chan."
"Guh..."
At this moment, Airi felt this was the most embarrassing time of her life.
Yet, despite the humiliation, she inexplicably felt an overwhelming joy that made her almost unable to contain her excitement.
Her heartbeat was so loud it drowned out her thoughts.
"Airi, can you lift your skirt now?"
Airi stiffened, seeing Kaoru holding the camera with a serious expression, his gaze alternating between her lower half and her chest—clearly up to no good.
Normally, under such a lewd stare, Airi would have bolted immediately.
But the situation was different now. She had willingly allowed Kaoru to look at her this way, so she had no reason to run.
Biting her lip tightly, Airi's cheeks burned crimson with shame.
Her hands, which had been clutching her skirt, gradually lifted the hem under the lens of his camera, revealing plump, fair thighs.
The smooth, delicate inner thighs pressed together slightly, fleshy and soft, as she slowly exposed the color he had glimpsed earlier.
The more aware she became of her actions, the more she wanted to flee, her heart racing wildly.
Never in her past had she imagined she would strike such a shameless pose before a man—before a camera.
Click—click—
Despite the shutter sounds, he didn't tell her to stop.
Airi could only endure the intense humiliation and continue raising her skirt.
No—rather than lifting it, it was more like she was exposing herself completely, like an exhibitionist. Even her lower belly was now visible.
"Uuu…" Airi regretted it deeply.
She should have chosen a different method—this was far too humiliating!
Yet, even as she thought this, she failed to realize another issue: she felt only pure shame, not the slightest reluctance to let Kaoru see her this way, nor any objection to him taking these risqué photos.
The girl even recalled Kaoru's earlier words to her, growing anxious as she pondered how best to satisfy him.