▣ KO-FI ▣ DISCORD ▣

Chapter 5 : Touko Senpai, Are You Surprisingly Having Fun?

The plan we proposed, “Showcasing Cute Senior Touko,” was going incredibly well. Just a week into its implementation, Senior Touko’s followers had already increased to 5,000. In comparison, Rindō Akane had fewer than 7,500, and Karen had about 5,500, so we were definitely closing the gap.

Our efforts also positively influenced other aspects. Seeing our success, Minami-san and the others got motivated as well. Minami-san, by nature competitive, must have thought, “I can’t be left behind,” upon seeing our results. She began incorporating various innovations into her photos, revealing different charms of Senior Touko. Where there used to be more mature, elegant photos, now there were brighter, more feminine outdoor shots, likely to appeal more to freshman girls thinking about their “university debut.”

However, we hit a wall. We couldn’t think of “new ideas.” Our photos and videos were typically shot based on a predetermined theme or story, necessitating new ideas each time. This is the tough part of conceptual projects.

That day, Ishida and I were racking our brains over “new ideas” in the cafeteria.

“Ishida, got any good ideas?”

“Yū, any fun plans?”

We kept repeating the same lines. Looking at the A4 paper in front of me, which messily listed our past projects, I revisited them.

“We’ve done ‘A Day in the Life of Senior Touko,’ both a university and a holiday edition, ‘Imaginary Dates’ twice, ‘Shopping Edition,’ and ‘University Tour Edition.’ We’ve done quite a lot, haven’t we?”

Ishida, looking tired, nodded in agreement.

“It feels like we’ve exhausted all ideas. The ‘University Tour Edition’ was basically just a promotional video for the university.”

“Other candidates are doing similar stuff.”

“It’s understandable why Karen would go for ‘Teasing H Photos.’ Such photos don’t bore people and don’t need much innovation to draw attention.”

“That’s absolutely not an option for us. Senior Touko would never do that.”

We sighed simultaneously after that exchange.

After a brief silence, Ishida suddenly sat up straight.

“Yū, if it’s come to this, let’s make a bold move!”

“What do you mean, bold? Just to be clear, suggestive photos are out of the question.”

I made sure to emphasize this point as I looked up.

“I know. But cosplay doesn’t necessarily mean suggestive photos, right?”

“Cosplay, huh…”

I murmured. I had considered cosplay before. Karen had once said she was thinking about incorporating it.

Indeed, as Ishida said, cosplay in itself isn’t suggestive. It only becomes so depending on the specific cosplay.

But whether Senior Touko would accept this idea was another matter. Kazumi-san might oppose it too.

“It’ll be tough to convince them,” I thought.

But Ishida insisted firmly, “No, now is the time for cosplay. Yū, if we give up before trying, it’s game over!”

He quoted a famous line from a sports manga, but if he used it to justify cosplay, the original author might cry.

“‘Eh, cosplay?’” Senior Touko, Kazumi-san, Minami-san, and Manami-san all reacted in unison upon hearing our idea.

“Yes. Cosplay is a world of free imagination; it can expand Senior Touko’s charm even more!” Ishida argued passionately.

“But isn’t cosplay kind of niche? I’m worried it might ruin the ‘Cool Beauty’ image we’ve built up for Touko,” Minami-san expressed her concern.

Ishida looked surprised at her comment.

“What are you saying! Modeling is, in a sense, like cosplay. Cute university student cosplay, capable office lady cosplay, even a wedding dress is perfect bridal cosplay! Besides, the indoor studio Minami-san uses for photoshoots was originally for cosplay!”

“Well, that’s true, but…” Minami-san hesitated.

Minasan seemed to falter under the enthusiasm of Ishida.

Ishida’s passion is really something, isn’t it? He gets this excited when it comes to cosplay?

“I understand what you want to say, Ishida-kun. I also understand that there are valid reasons for cosplaying. However, cosplay costs money. It will have to come out of the club’s budget. We can’t afford something that expensive.”

Kazumi-san raised her right hand as if to hold back the conversation and gave her calm opinion.

But we’re already prepared for that. I spoke up.

“Don’t worry about that. Ishida has already contacted some of his cosplayer friends, and he’s arranged to borrow costumes and accessories from them.”

“That’s right! From goddesses and elves to female knights and thieves, and even kemonomimi girls and elite school uniforms, we have it all!”

Ishida added eagerly to my words.

Ishida is passionate about anime and manga, but it’s rare to see him this excited.

Or rather, I’m a bit taken aback.

And Kazumi-san, Minasan, and Manami-san were completely overwhelmed by Ishida’s fervor.

Kazumi-san looked at Touko-senpai.

“What do you think, Touko? The decision is yours. If you’re okay with it, I have no objections.”

“Um… uh…”

Touko-senpai hesitated, seemingly overwhelmed.

“I don’t mind, as long as the costumes aren’t weird or anything…”

“Great, then it’s settled!” Ishida declared confidently.

“I’ll arrange the costumes and book the studio right away. Please wait for my contact!”

Ishida was ready to move immediately, but Kazumi-san gave him a final warning.

“Let us know about the cosplay plans in advance. We don’t want Touko to be suddenly presented with strange costumes on site. Also, let us check the photos and videos before uploading them to SNS. I’ll try to be there for the shoot as much as possible.”

Kazumi-san, fearing Ishida’s recklessness, didn’t forget to lay down these ground rules.

On Sunday of that week, Ishida, Touko-senpai, Kazumi-san, and I went to a neighboring town in Chiba Prefecture.

There, apparently, was a whole rental photography space.

It boasted both a fairytale-like indoor shoot and a similarly themed garden shoot.

We drove there in Kazumi-san’s car.

Exiting the highway, passing through fields interspersed with clusters of trees and houses, we reached our destination.

The studio was as cute and fairytale-like as something out of “Mouse Land.”

“Who knew Chiba had such a place?”

Touko-senpai remarked, impressed.

“Isn’t this place expensive, though?” Kazumi-san asked worriedly.

Ishida confidently replied, “Yes, it’s expensive.”

“Will it fit in our budget? If it exceeds, the club can’t cover it.”

Ishida assured her, “That’s taken care of. Today, we’re sharing this space with two other cosplay teams. We only have an hour and a half, but it fits within our budget.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s fine.”

Kazumi-san said, still looking uneasy.

It’s understandable. As the club president, she’s responsible for budget management.

Even if “Touko-senpai joining Miss Muse would result in a grant,” we can’t be reckless with spending at this stage.

“We’re allowed to freely use the costumes in the makeup room’s costume cases,” Ishida led us into the makeup room.

There were two trunk cases and two costume cases, along with several costumes hanging on a rack.

“So, which costumes are we using today?”

I asked, and Ishida opened the two costume cases.

“Let’s take a look at the costumes first. Touko-senpai and Kazumi-san, please help decide. We’ll prioritize whatever Touko-senpai wants to wear.”

We started examining each costume, deciding which to wear.

There was a wide variety: goddesses, elves, female knights, hunters, thieves, village maidens, princess dresses, elite school uniforms, sailor uniforms, maid outfits, cute waitress outfits, tennis wear, magical girls, and even spy-like black suits.

“Wow, they even have this?”

Kazumi-san picked up a uniform of the royal knights. It was flashy, with medals and epaulettes, a red jacket, and blue trousers. It even had a gold chain.

“That’s a costume from a popular female-oriented isekai series. The character is a woman disguised as a man to protect a princess, a kind of yuri plot.”

“I see. It does seem a bit small for a man’s outfit.”

“Why don’t you try it, Kazumi-san? It would suit you well.”

“Alright, but that means Ishida-kun and Itoshiki-kun are the thieves to be captured.”

“Wait, I’m part of this too? Just leave it to Ishida.”

While we joked around, I noticed Touko-senpai seriously considering her options. She seemed torn between a “traditional black maid outfit” and a “modern, cute maid outfit (with a miniskirt).”

“Do those two options interest you, Touko-senpai?”

When I spoke up, Touko-senpai looked up, startled.

“It’s not that I’m particularly concerned… I was just thinking how different these maid outfits are, despite being the same type.”

Then Ishida approached Touko-senpai, holding the modern, cute maid outfit.

“Please go with this one. The other one is more suited for an older head maid. This one is like the maid outfits in anime.”

Saying so, he hung the cute maid outfit on the rack.

“Eh, but isn’t that maid outfit a bit too revealing at the chest and back? And the skirt seems pretty short.”

“That’s the point. Nobody would be charmed by a mourning-like maid outfit!”

“Well, I suppose.”

Touko-senpai seemed unable to argue against Ishida’s confident statement.

“And this female knight outfit, I highly recommend it! It even comes with a holy sword. This sword is made of clear acrylic with LEDs inside, so it can light up!”

“Uh, yeah, that sounds good too.”

Hmmm, Ishida. Are you making decisions based purely on your taste?

“And we should include a magical girl too.”

Saying this, Ishida began rummaging through the costume case. He was completely in his own world.

Then he suddenly exclaimed with excitement.

“Oh, this is perfect! Let’s go with this, Touko-senpai!”

What Ishida happily pulled out was…

“A leopard print bikini!?”

The three of us, excluding Ishida, expressed our surprise.

But Ishida, undeterred, started explaining.

“This isn’t just leopard print. It’s from the anime ‘Cute Animal Girls,’ the most popular character, Serval-beauty. Look at these cat ears. They’re bigger than normal, right? That’s the characteristic of Serval-beauty.”

No one cares about such minute details.

This costume also came with a large cat-ear headband and cat paw gloves, along with boots of the same leopard print pattern as the bikini.

“Touko-senpai would definitely look great in this! I highly recommend it! Let’s choose this!”

Ishida pressed on.

Touko-senpai’s eyes widened.

Then, a hand snatched away the leopard print bikini. It was Kazumi-san.

“Ishida-kun, you’ve been imposing your preferences and not considering Touko’s opinion! There’s no way Touko would wear something like this. Choose something more appropriate.”

Kazumi-san’s words were a bit harsh.

Even so, I also opposed the animal print bikini.

There’s no way we could put Touko-senpai in such an outfit and upload it to the internet for everyone to see.

“It’s a shame. Touko-senpai would have really suited it… What a waste.”

Ishida muttered as he searched for another outfit.

Eventually, we settled on three outfits for the cosplay: “A cute (slightly revealing) maid outfit,” “A female knight with a glowing LED holy sword,” and “A blue bolero-style jacket with a fluffy, white long dress.”

The backgrounds included “A European street,” “A white living room in the style of Southern France’s Provence,” “The same in a white bedroom,” “A garden spa,” and “A cute western-style backyard.”

Scenes ranged from standing on a street corner, a melancholic expression as if waiting for someone, to gracefully bowing at the entrance of a house, and enjoying tea time in the backyard.

There were also scenes of preparing for battle with the holy sword laid on the bed.

“Touko-senpai, lean a bit more against the wall and look this way… Yes, that’s great! Can you give a gentler smile?”

Ishida, like a professional photographer, gave such directions while taking photos.

He’s pretty good at engaging the subject.

His directions to the model were spot-on, and his encouragement felt natural.

This mustn’t be his first time doing something like this.

After the photoshoot ended…

“Perfect!”

Ishida, checking the images on his DSLR camera, seemed quite satisfied.

Touko-senpai, not used to photoshoots, let out a deep sigh.

“Then I’ll go change. The costumes we used, they need to be cleaned before returning, right? Should I hand them to you, Ishida-kun, when returning them?”

Saying this, Touko-senpai headed to the makeup room.

“Then, let’s clean up and put everything away while we have the chance.”

We started putting the equipment back and did a quick cleanup.

We couldn’t dawdle too long. Other cosplayers might arrive soon.

After most of the cleanup was done, Kazumi-san muttered, “Touko is taking a long time to come back.”

“I’ll bring the car to the front of the studio. Ishida-kun, start moving the equipment and tools we brought. Itoshiki-kun, can you check for any forgotten items and wait here for Touko?”

“Understood!”

“Got it.”

Ishida and I responded.

Ishida quickly began moving the equipment outside the studio.

Still, it was unusual for Touko-senpai to take this long.

She was just supposed to change and bring back the used costumes.

Did she lose something important?

I headed towards the makeup room.

Not wanting to burst in, I knocked and called out, “Touko-senpai?”

No response. I knocked and called out again. Still no response.

After knocking and calling out three times with no answer, I wondered if she had already left the studio.

I tried the doorknob.

It wasn’t locked. It seemed Touko-senpai had already left.

Just to be sure, I decided to open the door.

And then… I encountered an unbelievable scene.

Touko-senpai was dancing in the “Serval Cat Bikini”!

She hadn’t noticed me, as she was facing the mirror.

“To, Touko-senpai…”

The door closed on its own.

Touko-senpai still hadn’t noticed.

Dancing and striking poses.

When she finally turned and our eyes met…

Touko-senpai stopped moving. Not just her movements, her expression froze too.

Her eyes widened in shock.

“Hya, hyaaaaa…”

Touko-senpai let out a shriek and crouched down, trying to cover herself.

“What are you doing?”

My voice was also shaky and hoarse.

“Uh, um, this isn’t what it looks like! I thought this was… part of another costume, I made a mistake…”

“But isn’t that the costume from ‘Animal Girls’ that Ishida mentioned earlier?”

“Eh, eeeh, was it?”

Touko-senpai’s eyes flickered uncertainly.

“But, but, look, there might be… some other use for this… I thought… maybe?… probably not.”

Are you contradicting yourself?

“But I like cats! I thought wearing this might help me understand how cats feel… maybe?… probably not.”

Touko-senpai looked down for a while but eventually raised her face as if resigned.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to see what it felt like to wear it…”

I was still dumbfounded.

Seeing me like that, Touko-senpai shyly made a cat paw gesture with a red face and said:

“…meow.”

It seemed like she was trying to playfully distract from the situation.

I burst out laughing involuntarily.

“Don’t laugh! Don’t laugh! It’s embarrassing! I want to die!”

“I’m sorry. But Touko-senpai, why were you dancing?”

“Uwaa! Don’t mention it! Don’t mention it!”

Touko-senpai screamed like a child and then sat down on the floor with a thud.

Removing her wireless earbuds, she placed her hands between her thighs.

“I was actually interested in this ‘Cute Animal Girls’ costume… I’ve watched the anime a few times and thought the ending dance was cute… So, I just wanted to try it on… and when I did, I remembered that I had the song on my phone, and thought I’d listen to it… and then, since I was at it, I danced a little bit…”

Touko-senpai really has some surprisingly childlike aspects.

But that’s what makes her cute.

And…

Once again, I looked over Touko-senpai in her “Serval Cat Bikini.”

The leopard print bikini top that beautifully contained her full, white bust.

And her slim, toned waist.

Below the bikini bottoms, her smooth, white thighs drew perfect curves…

I inadvertently scanned her figure – from overall → chest → waist → hips → thighs → overall, in a loop.

Ishida was right. This would captivate any man. Though it can’t be posted on SNS.

Erotically cute – this must be what they call “ero-kawaii”…

“It’s okay. And it really suits you. You look incredibly cute.”

“Really?”

“Really, can I take a picture as a keepsake?”

“Eh, absolutely not! That would be a stain on my life!”

“It’s not like that at all. You’re really cute. And you were interested in it, right? You won’t get another chance to wear something like this.”

“…”

“It’s okay, I won’t upload it to RinStar or show anyone. It’ll be our secret.”

“Can you really keep it a secret?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Do you really think I’m cute?”

“Absolutely! I’d stake my life on it being cute!”

“Then, Itoshiki-kun, join me.”

I set the camera on my smartphone to self-timer and sat next to Touko-senpai.

“Itoshiki-kun, do the beckoning cat pose too! I don’t want to be the only one embarrassed in a photo!”

I laughed and raised my right hand next to my head in a fist.

I waited in front of the makeup room until Touko-senpai finished changing.

When she came out of the makeup room, her face was still red.

She seemed too embarrassed to look at me.

“Um… you’ll keep what happened just now a secret from everyone, right?”

“Ah, yes, don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, don’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t worry. The photo is my treasure.”

“…Can you send me the photo later?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Touko-senpai really has her surprising moments.

But that’s what makes her incredibly cute to me.

These “Touko-senpai cosplay photos” were published on SNS after being supervised by Ishida and checked by Kazumi-san.

Being known as the “Pure and talented beauty with intellect,” Touko-senpai’s photos received a lot of attention.

Her follower count jumped to 6200.

This is a significant increase, almost catching up with Karen, while Rindō Akane has barely changed at 7700.

…Good, this pace is promising. Rindō Akane is now within reach.

I grinned to myself.

At that moment, a comment caught my eye.

It read…

> Touko, aren’t you getting carried away?

Until now, there had been hardly any negative comments about Touko-senpai.

But since uploading these cosplay photos, I began to occasionally see such comments.

> Are you trying to win by uploading such photos?

> What about being the “Shadow Miss Jyouto University”? Disappointing.

…Looks like the number of detractors has increased.

Of course, I had anticipated that detractors would appear.

The higher the popularity, the more visible you become, the more inevitable it is for detractors to emerge.

But the timing of these detractors’ appearance and the subtle nature of their comments in the section caught my attention.

…I hope it doesn’t go in a bad direction…

A slight anxiety began to spread within me.