The Tokyo Cat & Dog Expo, to put it simply, was a live exhibition and sale of cats and dogs. Not only did it showcase some competition-level animals, but it also featured some rare and exotic ones. The most crucial part was that the exhibition required no admission fee, making it a true blessing for many animal lovers.
Just after entering the exhibition hall, Mori Shinra saw a group of penguins walking around in a glass display case, surrounded by a large crowd of onlookers taking pictures with their phones.
Huh? Why did Yukinoshita Yukino take out her phone too?
Watching her take photos so seriously, Haruno crossed her arms and came over to Shinra to chat. "See? Yukino-chan really loves small animals."
Shinra said, "What about you, Haruno-san? Since you're willing to accompany her to a cat and dog expo, you must like small animals too, right?"
Haruno replied casually, "I'm neutral. I neither like nor dislike them. Compared to Yukino-chan, Haruno-chan is actually a very boring person."
"Then it seems what you like is Yukino."
"Who wouldn't like such a cute little sister?"
"Are you openly declaring your sister-complex?"
"Haha... that's the one thing I've never hidden," Haruno said with a laugh.
Shinra said, "But come to think of it, there's nothing to hide."
Haruno replied, "True, but there are quite a few like me in Chiba City."
"I can't refute that. I know a guy who is also a sister-con, and a very blatant one at that," Shinra said, referring to Hikigaya.
"Does Yukino-chan know him too?"
"She does."
"Then you should introduce us sometime so we can exchange experiences."
During their conversation, Yukinoshita Yukino walked back with a satisfied look on her face, holding her phone. At some point, an exhibition map had appeared in her other hand.
Perhaps because her mood had improved after seeing the penguins, she no longer had a sour face for her sister like she did when they got out of the car. Although she wasn't smiling, at least when Haruno spoke to her, she would respond.
"Are we going to the cat exhibition area next?" Haruno asked.
"Yes. If there's somewhere you need to go, you can go by yourself," Yukino hinted again. Only this time, she was hoping her sister would go wander somewhere else so she wouldn't say strange things in front of Mori Shinra.
Originally, she thought her sister would pretend not to understand and shamelessly tag along like before. But unexpectedly, Haruno actually nodded and said, "Big sister really does have an exhibition area I want to check out. I'll be going then. Call me when you're done."
Speaking of phones, Haruno seemed to remember something. She smiled, opened her dialer, and handed her phone to Shinra. "Let's exchange contact info."
Shinra naturally had no objections. Setting aside the fact that she was his biggest Wish Request client at the moment, just based on her identity as Yukino's sister, he couldn't possibly refuse.
After getting his contact information, Haruno casually picked an exhibition hall to visit, leaving Yukinoshita and Shinra standing there, speechless.
"I'm sorry, my sister caused you trouble. Please don't take her words to heart."
"Why are you being so polite all of a sudden?"
Yukinoshita sighed and said, half-joking and half-complaining, "Would you only be satisfied if I were impolite to you?"
"That won't be necessary," Shinra said, thinking that being polite wasn't so bad. "I saw you took a lot of pictures of the penguins just now. Can I see them?"
"Here." Yukinoshita naturally wouldn't refuse such a simple request. She unguardedly unlocked her phone and handed it to him.
Her photography skills were surprisingly good. It was clear that she often took pictures of small animals; each photo had its own unique composition.
"Do you want me to take a picture of you with the penguins?" he asked.
Yukinoshita hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she couldn't resist the temptation of a photo with the penguins and nodded in agreement. "Then I'll have to trouble you."
Click.
The electronic shutter sound of the phone recorded the moment of the girl and the penguins.
Taking the phone back, Yukinoshita looked at the picture. How to put it? It wasn't a good photo, but it wasn't a bad one either. After all, the phone's performance was what it was. As long as you had some basic photography skills, the picture wouldn't be too bad.
But compared to the photos she had taken earlier, the difference was immediately apparent. Normally, she wouldn't keep a photo of this quality on her phone. But considering it was taken by him, and deleting it directly would be a bit hurtful, she decided to mercifully keep it.
Of course, keeping it was one thing, but a sharp critique was still necessary.
"Perhaps you can use this expo to practice your photography skills more."
High EQ: Practice your photography skills more.
Low EQ: Your picture is a piece of crap.
"I'm just not used to taking pictures of small animals," Shinra said, feeling the problem wasn't him, but the animals.
If it were just taking pictures of people, he felt that his photos would definitely be better than most people's.
It wasn't that his skills were that good, but the three elements of portrait photography were all there. With Yukinoshita as the model, even a dog tied to the camera could take a good picture.
"We're going to the cat exhibition area next, right?" he asked, seeing the red circle she had drawn on the map.
"That's right."
The cat exhibition area was her main goal for this trip. The thought of being able to pet such a cute creature up close made her feel as if she was about to be filled with happiness.
...
"That's a wall," Shinra kindly reminded her.
Yukinoshita's delicate body stiffened, the tips of her ears turning red. She said in a slightly flustered tone, "I know. I was just... just..."
She 'just'ed for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason. He never expected his club president to have such a bad sense of direction.
This exhibition area wasn't even that big. But considering the sprawling, block-like layout, it was indeed possible to get lost with just a map.
To this, Shinra could only hold out his hand to her. "Hand it over."
"Oh..."
Realizing she couldn't find the way, Yukinoshita obediently handed over the map. Shinra glanced at it, then looked up to find the name of the nearest shop, checked the location, found the right direction, and started walking.
Yukinoshita followed closely behind, but she didn't give up. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, not missing any clues related to cats, like a detective.
In just a few minutes, he had brought her to the cat exhibition area. Before he could even say anything, she was like an unbridled wild horse, rushing to the nearest cat.
So just how much does this girl love cats?