3. Chapter 3 (1/1)
a/n: most of this will be in shinobu's perspective, but every once in a while, i through in some of kyouya's perspective. tell me what you think, especially if you think kyouya is going ooc.
renge's interruptions over the last few days had been an annoyance, but they had revealed a market i hadn't yet explored to its potential. our auctions were going well, of course, but with tamaki's ideas becoming ever wilder, damages from the twins' antics becoming more disastrous, honey-senpai's sweet tooth only growing hungrier and the hole haruhi's first stumble had punched in our budget, we needed more revenue, otherwise we would have to start drawing from the school's budget. i refused to stoop to that. thanks to renge's meddling, we had her film which was already drawing in a good deal of revenue, but soon, that would dry up and we needed something ready to sell when the movie was no longer profitable.
the magazines were ideal seeing as they were relatively quick to make and we could do a series of themes with each of the hosts. the only issue with the magazines was that i had neither the time nor talent to produce them as quickly as i needed. managing school work, the host club and my own private investments was time consuming and i could not add another project to my plate without my other, higher priority endeavors suffering as a result. i also had never had time for leisurely pursuits like photography. i could always hire a professional, of course, as renge had done, but the club couldn't yet afford that cost. i considered assigning one of the club's members, but i didn't trust any of them to do it properly. mori-senpai would do a well enough job until honey-senpai needed his attention which meant he wouldn't ever have the time. honey-senpai would never sit still enough to get a shot that wasn't blurry. the twins would only take pictures of the rest of us at our worst. tamaki would take the opportunity to harass haruhi even more than he already did. haruhi probably had very little experience with photography and wouldn't be able to afford the kind of camera she would need. it would be unwise to add to her debt further—it was unlikely she would be able to pay it off as it was.
there was that girl though. shinobu yamamoto claimed she had photography experience and there had been a familiar look of confidence on her face when she said that. however, that didn't mean she was actually any good. it only meant she thought she was good. surely if she had any real talent, she would have joined the school's photography club. there, she would have had access to cameras and software that exceeded her personal budget.
when minako oshiro had first
ought her younger friend with her to our afterschool activities, i had of course done the usual background check on the girl. she was class b of her year, not because of her grades, but because of her family's financials. while nowhere near the level of commonness of haruhi, shinobu's family's yearly income was a small percentage of most students' attending ouran academy and the only reason she was able to attend our prestigious school at all was because the oshiros paid her tuition. the oshiros were mr. yamamoto's employers of just over eleven years and he had served as their private doctor for the entirety of that time. shinobu's mother happened to work as a nurse at one of my family's hospitals and her
other was currently attending medical school, though at a different institution than my own older
other was. it was expected that shinobu would eventually follow her family into the medical field as well. while that didn't seem like the recipe for a talented photographer, stranger things had happened and i found myself once again preforming an internet search for the girl. this time however, i focused on her talents rather than her family.
within a few clicks, i found that she had not lied to me nor had she overestimated her abilities. she had submitted dozens of photographs to various amateur contests over the past few years and all her submissions within the last ten months had won first prize. i downloaded them all before going back to look through the collection. they left me with a familiar feeling in my chest, similar to the one that grew every time i heard tamaki play piano. her photographs varied from shots of nature to skyscrapers to people to simple landscapes. each was a declaration on the world, more intense than i thought i picture could be.
there was no doubt in my mind that she could fulfill the job i had for her exceptionally well.
the only question was if she would accept.
i dialed tamaki, reaching only his voicemail. what was the point of having a cell phone if he was just going to leave it lying around and out of hearing? nonetheless, i left a message informing him that i had found a club photographer and that he would be expected to be with me when we extended the job offer tomorrow after school. tossing my phone back onto the table, i flipped through the downloaded photographs twice more before sending one last email and retiring for the evening.