Practical teaching, all I want is your reward.

As he spoke, Suzuki Toru suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulled her up, and ran.

"Eh?!?" Sakura Airi was completely bewildered, letting Suzuki Tetsu lead her around.

Suzuki Toru glanced at Yamauchi Haruki behind him, whose face was ashen, looking both shocked and angry but not daring to speak loudly.

However, the other party showed no intention of catching up.

After a while, Suzuki Tetsu slowly stopped, then looked at the girl next to him and instructed, "If you encounter something like that again, either go up and slap her, or run away quickly."

Suddenly being pulled along, Sakura Airi, who wasn't good at sports to begin with, felt dizzy, her face flushed, and she was breathing heavily. She almost dropped her schoolbag.

She had already changed into her school uniform; her gym clothes should be inside her backpack.

"I...I understand...I'm sorry..." Sakura Airi gasped for breath, her hand covering her chest, feeling her heart pounding too fast.

"I should be the one apologizing, because I still can't find the person harassing you." Suzuki Toru didn't look away; she had too many desires.

"No, no, Suzuki-kun did nothing wrong. I accidentally provoked him. Besides, Suzuki-kun helped me before and kept comforting me. Now he's helping me again..." Sakura Airi explained awkwardly. The more she spoke, the redder her face became, and finally her voice became softer.

The girl's blush made the atmosphere awkward, and Suzuki Toru asked, as if changing the subject, "Do you usually live alone?"

"Yeah, but I'm used to it." Sakura Airi looked up at him cautiously. "Does this... feel weird?"

"I'm just worried about your safety. There might be stalking incidents in the future. Some people can be terrifying when they go crazy," Suzuki Toru said calmly.

Perhaps because she rarely receives attention, Sakura Airi was a little embarrassed and whispered, "I'll be careful, and I rarely go out. Even when I do go out, it's just to take pictures."

Suzuki Tetsu remembered her camera; besides taking selfies, she would also photograph the scenery of the school.

"I don't think we can take photos of the school out of the house, right?"

“Oh, is that so?”

"According to regulations, no information about this school is allowed to be leaked. Didn't the salesperson tell you that when you bought the camera?"

“Okay, I think we did say that, but he said it’s fine as long as it’s not uploaded to social media.”

Sakura Airi looked at him cautiously. This man was a student council member, and he might arrest her and give her a public reprimand.

"Don't be nervous, I just wanted to let you know." Suzuki Tetsu smiled. "I've seen your tweets, they're mostly selfies, no information about the school, so it's okay in principle."

Sakura Airi breathed a sigh of relief, then blushed. She knew that her selfie was completely different from her usual style, and it felt like someone had discovered her little secret.

I feel so ashamed. I know I didn't expose anything, and it wasn't anything too outrageous, but I still feel so embarrassed.

Chapter 266 Photo Deception

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I... I don't look like my photos at all now, it always feels like I'm being lied to."

Although she hesitated a bit, Sakura Airi carefully expressed her thoughts.

Suzuki Toru suddenly scrutinized her pretty face. A pair of thick glasses, the prescription of which was impossible to discern, sat atop her delicate nose. Two braids hung down behind her shoulders. She kept her head down, appearing slightly hunched over, as if trying to hide her large breasts and avoid attracting attention.

Her attire was rather unfashionable, but the skin that was subtly revealed had a delicate, snow-white glow, and beneath her glasses were a pair of beautiful eyes.

If you were to lift her bangs and let down her braids, the idol in the photo would probably look like she stepped out of reality.

For others, the fear is that people will discover they don't look like their photos in real life. Turning off beauty filters leaves them looking like faded flowers.

However, Sakura Airi was afraid that someone would discover that she looked just like the photos, which is why she deliberately made herself look ugly.

“Saying things like that will make people sarcastic. You clearly have the potential to become an overnight sensation.” Even from a professional’s perspective, Suzuki Tetsu couldn’t find a single flaw in her.

These days, the competition among idols is fierce, and voice actors from other industries often compete for business.

In order to outdo their competitors, idols who originally only needed to be cute now have to learn all sorts of skills. Singing and dancing are already basic skills, and sometimes acting and variety show talent are also required.

but--

The most important thing about idols is still their looks.

Fortunately, Sakura Airi's looks are in no way inferior to those of the idols from the previous world.

"Becoming famous and such is too far removed from my life," Sakura Airi quickly denied Suzuki Toru's words, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Sakura-san, I know you feel unfamiliar with these things. You must have met some seniors when you were shooting the photobook, right?"

During her junior high school years, Airi Sakura debuted as a gravure idol and appeared in magazines, which is how she accumulated some fans.

“I met a few seniors, but because I’m not good at interacting with people and I’m afraid of men’s gazes…” Sakura Airi whispered, “so back then, it was the older women who helped me with my makeup, clothes, and photos.”

The "sisters" she mentioned are probably makeup artists, photographers, and agents.

Finally, Airi Sakura added one more sentence.

"...A senior colleague even gave me some pointers on what poses I should strike to look cuter."

"That sounds so gentle."

"But, in the end, I still couldn't hold on. I'm too cowardly."

Judging from her personality, the filming work at that time was mostly very time-consuming and energy-intensive.

Suzuki Tetsuya suddenly asked, "Why do you want to go down this path?"

Sakura Airi paused slightly. She seemed to have answered this question many times before, whether to whom or now, there should only be one answer.

"I...I want to try being a different version of myself."

However, under his slightly gentle gaze, his answer seemed a little different.

"A different version of yourself?" Suzuki Tetsu roughly understood and couldn't help but smile. "Thinking about it this way, Sakura-san is completely different from the person in the photo now."

Sakura Airi kept her head down. Although she knew Suzuki Tetsu didn't mean to mock her, she felt a dull ache in her heart, a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on.

“The biggest difference is that you’re smiling in the photo, and you’re smiling very cutely,” Suzuki Toru said abruptly.

Sakura Airi blushed instantly; this guy was seriously teasing her.

"That was an act. My senior said it would make me look especially cute."

"So, Sakura-san is very cute."

"Guh... Please, please stop talking, this isn't what I really look like, sob sob..."

"Are you referring to yourself now?" Suzuki Tetsu asked, looking at her flushed face. "Actually, when you're not smiling, you have a different kind of cuteness."

"Please...please stop teasing me, Suzuki-kun." Sakura Airi subconsciously puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. This guy was so annoying, still teasing her.

"I'm not kidding. Some idols can put on a grumpy face and still have fans in the audience who are still fascinated." Suzuki Toru witnessed a group of weird fans being insulted and still excitedly cheering loudly.

At that time, he felt that these otaku were hopeless.

Sakura Airi thought he was lying and pouted, "Don't think I don't know that giving fans a sour face will cause a stir."

"So you need to carefully cultivate your public image. Think about it, if a girlfriend who is usually a well-behaved girl suddenly blushes and calls you a pervert, wouldn't you find it novel and exciting?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Sakura Airi instinctively moved away from Suzuki Toru.

Then, realizing she had gone too far, she quickly asked, "What did you want to ask me to do just now?"

"Sorry, that was just an excuse." Suzuki Toru ignored the hurt he felt from taking a small step back.

"Oh." Sakura Airi didn't know what to say. She wasn't good at finding topics to talk about, so she just lowered her head and followed behind him.

However, she would occasionally steal glances at Suzuki Toru's back.

This person is currently the only classmate I can talk to, and we have common topics. When we talk about things like idols, he seems to know more about them than I do.

In a previous conversation, Suzuki Tetsu had shared a lot of his experiences in the entertainment industry with her and guessed her former company and magazine.

Toru Suzuki could even discuss photography techniques with her, and he even knew a little about posing, lighting, and makeup.

It’s incredible!

More importantly, Sakura Airi never imagined that someone would be so compatible with her.

Even though he was a boy, he didn't deliberately peek at me, which was unlike any other boy in the class.

"By the way, Sakura-san," Suzuki Toru suddenly said, "I might need your help from now on."

"Huh? Why?" Sakura Airi was startled. Could this be the prelude to a confession?

"Since Class A and Class D are cooperating, we should see each other quite often before the official competition, right?" Suzuki Tetsu looked at her with a puzzled expression.

So that's what it was about! Oh, that's what they were talking about!

Sakura Airi's face flushed, and she wanted to run away from his gaze. What was she thinking? It must be because she had heard Yamauchi Haruki talking about confessing his love, and that had affected her thoughts.

"Your face is so red, did I say something wrong?"

"N-no, it's just too hot!" Sakura Airi raised her voice slightly, fanning her face to cool it down. "I-I have to go back, I have things to do later..."

"You're not still thinking about updating your tweets, are you?" Suzuki Toru asked with concern.

Updating the tweet meant he could see her photo again, and Sakura Airi's face turned even redder; it was really burning hot.

"No...no...it's not over...it's not like that at all...I won't be updating anymore...it's over..."

Suzuki Tetsu looked at her incoherent speech and wondered if he had stepped on any landmines.

"Suzuki-kun... do you really want to see it?" Sakura Airi suddenly whispered, "You want to see a different side of me, is that it?"

"Do you want to hear the truth, or a lie?" Suzuki Toru couldn't control his conditioned reflex.

"Please, please don't lie," Sakura Airi protested softly.

"The truth is, I think Shizuku-chan on the internet is very cute, and Sakura-san in front of me is also very cute. I enjoy watching them both." Suzuki Tetsu paused. "The lie is that this is the first time I've seen a different Sakura-san. I think she's amazing. Her first step was something that many people never even thought of."

Before she could feel shy, Sakura Airi stared blankly at him, his last words echoing in her mind.

Chapter 267 Too Arrogant (Bonus Chapter 4/12)

The following afternoon, Toru Suzuki put on the student council armband and looked at the sports warehouse in front of him.

"This is the warehouse register, which records all the equipment. And this is the fault registration form. If you encounter any damage, please write down the number and details immediately."