"Come on, dude, go ask her for the photo already."
"But, I don't know…"
"Don't tell me now you're embarrassed!!"
"…. What if-"
"'What if' my balls!", &$%"! He followed this sentence with a slap on my back, pushing me to ask for a photo from a girl who was cosplaying as 'Emilia', one of the characters I was supposed to take a photo with.
" You're going to take a picture with her, because you're Subaru, right?"
"Don't hold me against you…"
"Come on, go for it!" He gave me a thumbs-up, which seemed more ironic than real.
At that moment, I made up my mind. I cleared my mind and approached.
Before I could speak, the girl saw me and realized I was going to talk to her.
"Oh, do you want a picture with me?"
" Oh, yeah, if you could make me one, I'd appreciate it."
"Yes. Don't worry."
"&$%"! !"
Ahhh… I really did it. Does my voice sound weird? Do I sound nervous? I'm going to die…
"I'll come now."
"Do you want me to pose somehow?" the girl said.
" Well…" There, I struck a pose that perfectly matches my character:
My left hand on my hip, and my right arm extended in front of me, making a peace sign with my hand.
"Is that okay?"
"Yes." She struck the same pose I was in. While posing, &$%"! took the picture.
"Uh, thank you very much…"
"No, no, thanks to you!"
"Why?"
"You're the first Subaru I've ever taken a picture with, and I really like that!"
"Ah, um, well, it's nothing. And thanks again."
She nodded and said goodbye. She wasn't alone; she'd left with a group of friends.
"Dude, you're lucky that chick's so nice, because you've talked to her like crazy."
"But I haven't said a single weird thing!"
"No, but you've acted VERY weird!"
"So what do you want me to do?! I was nervous!"
"It's not my fault you're such a faggot."
"You faggot, you haven't asked anyone for a picture!"
"Oh, really? I could take 100 pictures if I wanted to!"
" Then do it! I want to see you mess things up!"
We struggled, though not in a bad way. We were just fooling around. We were both laughing.
We goofed around the place for a while, and &$%"! Managed to get a few photos here and there.
While I finished taking a photo of him, someone approached us. Well, no. More like, tapped me on the shoulder.
"Um…"
I was scared for a moment. I stopped what I was doing with &$%"!, and turned around. "Y-Yeah?"
It was a girl dressed as Rem, and behind her was a supposed friend of hers dressed as Ram. Both costumes were in my photo plan. Yeah, I had planned that.
The first one was a little shorter than the second. She had a look that screamed at me how insecure she was. It's like how a nerfed _¨*^?¿· would be like.
Since I didn't know their names yet, I called them by the characters they cosplay. I prefer that to calling them 'Girl 1' and 'Girl 2'.
"Can we take a picture with you?" Rem said.
"Oh, yes, please-"
&$%"! leaned close to my ear, whispering in a mocking tone.
"You won the lottery, buddy."
"Shut up."
"So, do you want me to take the picture?"
"Yes, if you don't mind," Ram said. Unlike Rem, she was much calmer and gave the impression of being very kind and considerate.
Rem looked to be about my age, while Ram was probably a year or two older. Although they were both shorter than me, Ram almost reached my height. I'm not even tall myself... How come there are barely any girls taller than me?
...And my sister doesn't count for that either. I feel like she's the only girl taller than me in this world...
After we settled in, he took the photo. I didn't know how to pose, so I just gave a thumbs-up while smiling. I was really nervous. After the photo, the Rem girl spoke to me.
"Um, this… This might be a bit weird, but… Could we take a photo with our hands up now?"
"Excuse me?"
"Subaru's 'Victory' pose," Ram said. Rem went blushing when her buddy put that into words.
It wasn't just a pose, it was one of the poses. It was just raising both hands in the air, though.
In the series, Subaru would do it after doing a series of morning exercises, but I guess we'll skip that step for the photo.
"Ahh, that one. Y-yeah, I don't mind."
"Really!?" Rem got even more excited. Right after getting excited, she blushed and tried to hide her face.
"S-sorry."
" No, it's okay."
After that, they both shook my hands, and we raised them to the sky.
"Say: 'Victory!'" said &$%"!, trying to annoy me in the worst way possible, with a grin showing on his face. I had to force myself to play along.
"Em, Victory!" "Vi-Victory!" "Victory!"
We all three said it at the same time, but each of us said it in a different way. How pathetic… and how embarrassing.
People are staring at me… I can't take it anymore…
" Well, thank you very much!"
"No, thank you very much."
When I said that, Rem smiled shyly.
" No, I didn't do anything." Ram put her arm around Rem's neck, giving a thumbs-up sign.
"You're welcome!" Ram said. She literally sounded nothing like Ram, with her cheery and energetic mood. So much so, I gave in and followed her play.
"No, no, the pleasure's all mine!" I said in a gentlemanly but joking tone, placing my hand on my chest.
"…" Rem looked as if she was going to say something to me, but in the end, she remained silent. There was a very brief moment when no one spoke.
I laughed a little, but started scratching my nose reflexively.
After that, they both said their goodbyes and left, thanking me once more. I honestly didn't think anyone would approach me and ask for a photo...
"...He bet on black... ¡AND HE LOST IT ALLLLL!"
"What are you even saying now?!"
&$%"! He began to speak like a football commentator, pretending to have a microphone in his hand.
"He was so close to scoring a goal! But his cowardice made him hit the post!"
The girls from before heard him, because they turned around a little when they heard him speak. The worst part was that Ram laughed a little.
"Shut up already, damn it!"
" You're so pathetic, I shouldn't laugh at you." It wasn't an insult. He was laughing his head off, and it wasn't like he was offending me, but it did bother me.
"So what do you want me to do, ask for their number like a weirdo?"
"Well, you could have. I was about to see if you hadn't come up with that 'Oh no, thanks to you' nonsense."
"Well, if I see them again, I'll do it! Maybe that way I can shut you up."
"Then go after them! Right now!"
"Um… I'm not going to do that…"
"Then you're a loser!" he said, pointing at me.
"I will if I see them again!"
"On top of life taking pity on you, you let the opportunity pass you by." he didn't just say it to tease, he was even laughing.
I didn't want to say anything else. I just sighed.