Smile! (Sugawara x Reader)

Chapter 14

"Which one of these two photos should I keep?" I asked Kaneko showing her the camera.

"Mmh... This one."

We were at photography club. The teacher had let us use the hour for our projects. The ones who didn't participate were doing something else with her.

Kaneko was helping me select the good pictures. I hadn't finished completely, I still needed at least one session with the female team, but I didn't love doing the selection and Kaneko enjoyed it, so she helped me out.

"That's a good one, but it's a bit blurry. Do you have a similar one?" she said.

"I think so, let me... This one?"

"I'd include that one."

So I did. I completely trusted Kaneko's intuition.

We'd selected a story. The individual ones with the things they did best, such as Kageyama's sets or Yui's serves to represent talent. The warm ups, cleaning up, water breaks... to represent perseverance and practice. Then general photos of the teams training that represented teamwork and effort. The match against Nekoma: the competition, the final trial. Finally, celebrating the victory. And, of course, shaking hands with the rival, which represented sportsmanship.

I also had the pictures of them losing, but I decided I wasn't going to include that.

"You're not still trying to win, are you?" said a familiar unpleasant voice. Yamada.

"You bet I am," I gritted my teeth.

Kaneko shot me a warning look that was telling me to calm down.

"I don't even know why you bother," she continued.

But she was making it very difficult to calm down.

"And I don't even know why you talk to me," I muttered loud enough.

"Wait, are those the pics? Good luck, then," she laughed.

"Okay, I had enough." I stood up to punch her in the face, forgetting about the consequences, but Kaneko stopped me on time.

"We are not interested in your opinion. Goodbye." Her tone was not kind, it was controlled, as if she were restraining herself, which she probably was.

Yamada shrugged and left with a smile I didn't trust. I wish I'd punched her, but I was grateful for Kaneko's serenity.

"Five minutes left, guys!" said the teacher: our cue to go.

"I can print some of the photos if you'd like," Kaneko offered.

"That would be great! Thank you!"

That way I could examine the quality and show the teams. Also, it was exciting to see my own pictures printed.

"But I'm going to need the camera..." she said.

"No, you only need the pictures," I said. "Here's the memory card."

"How will you take pictures without the memory, though?"

"I always have a spare card, I'm not an animal."

Kaneko just shook her head and took the card. I could've sworn I heard her say you're hopeless, but I let it slide.

"You should make a copy," she commented.

"Nah, I trust you."

"It's not a matter of trust. You could lose it or something."

"There is no way I'd lose something like that. Don't worry!"