-99- Just beginning

In many ways, it was another eventful day, which ended under the uproar of Class D's students.

After school, Kushida Kikyou was taken away by other friends, so Hori and Sakura Airi could walk back to the dormitory together.

"This is just too much..."

"Sorry, sorry."

On the way back to the dormitory, Sakura Airi, rare as it was, kept complaining to Hori, who could only laugh and apologize repeatedly.

From Sakura Airi's somewhat exhausted expression, it could be seen that she had indeed had a harder day than usual.

But there was no way around it.

For Sakura Airi, who had communication issues, being surrounded by various people all day was terrifying.

This girl, who usually didn't even dare to look others in the eye when speaking, was involuntarily swept into various currents today, surrounded by the chattering voices of the girls in the class. She must have felt dizzy by now, right?

And if communication with the same sex was like this, it was even more difficult with the opposite sex.

Malicious boys repeatedly tried to approach Sakura Airi today, especially Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki, whose intentions were particularly obvious, looking excited and enthusiastic, resembling the previous fanboy who scared Sakura Airi.

Therefore, towards the end, Sakura Airi was almost unbearable, fleeing as soon as classes ended, seemingly hiding in the restroom.

Hori was quite helpless about this situation.

"I was hoping to at least get the girls to talk to you proactively, which should have helped you adapt a bit, but I didn't expect you to run away." Hori said somewhat amusedly, "Didn't you have a lively and cheerful expression when you were working as an idol?"

So, Hori always thought that Sakura Airi wasn't introverted, just a little shy.

But it seems that's not the case.

"That... that's just the expression I can put on in front of the camera."

Sakura Airi said somewhat ashamedly.

It is said that excellent idols can naturally show their best expressions and sides in front of the camera.

Sakura Airi should have this talent, right?

Even though she is timid and shy, once facing the camera, she can immediately put on the best expression.

This made Hori somewhat interested in Sakura Airi's work.

"How did you shoot before?" Hori looked at Sakura Airi and asked, "You're so shy, can you follow the photographer and staff's instructions properly?"

"Well..." Sakura Airi tilted her head and said with some trouble, "At first, I basically shot alone, until I was arranged for a special shooting process for magazine covers. But even then, the shooting didn't go smoothly."

According to Sakura Airi, every time she shot, she not only needed to spend several times more time than others, but the company also had to arrange a female photographer for her and tried to minimize the staff. It was really laborious.

And even so, the initial shooting was also very difficult. No matter what, satisfactory photos couldn't be taken until she got a little familiar with the photographer and staff later on, and Sakura Airi finally managed to reduce some of her nervousness.

"And, I gradually began to discover some tricks for shooting." Sakura Airi said embarrassedly, "Like emptying my mind to eliminate unnecessary emotions. By ignoring everyone and treating the shooting scene as my room, pretending that everyone else doesn't exist, I can endure it a little more."

Unfortunately, even so, Sakura Airi eventually reached her limit, so she stopped shooting.

In other words, the number of times Sakura Airi shot for magazine covers was actually quite limited, mainly relying on selfies as the main source of shooting.

"It's really amazing that you can still have such popularity like this."

Hori felt dumbfounded, but also admired Sakura Airi.

Despite having so many problems, as an artist, Sakura Airi still had impressive popularity. After entering this school, her photos were still used as covers for well-known magazines several times, indicating that her talent, charm, and popularity were impeccable.

It's not difficult to understand why the company where Sakura Airi works would make such a big effort to cooperate with her.

For ordinary artists, having so many problems would have been dismissed long ago.

And Hori almost understood.

"This is probably the reason why you're in Class D, right?"

The students in Class D all have some deficiencies in certain aspects.

Sakura Airi's flaw lies here, in her discomfort with social interactions and society.

If she could overcome this weakness, Sakura Airi would become a shining high-popularity idol in the future, and then go national, even global.

"A future star worth looking forward to."

That's what Hori thought.

But Sakura Airi seemed to feel sorry for her own incompetence, lowering her head and muttering.

"I'm really useless. Not only can't I talk to everyone properly, I can't do well in studying and sports either."

This muttering made Hori raise his head from his thoughts.

Speaking of which, Sakura Airi's grades were indeed not outstanding, and her scores in all subjects were below average during the mid-term exams, not bad but not good either.

As for sports, it was even more obvious that she wasn't good at it.

After all, with such abundant assets, it's difficult to excel in sports even if you want to.

Of course, Hori didn't dare to say these things, otherwise Sakura Airi might run away again.

At the moment, Hori could only pat Sakura Airi's head.

"Ah..."

Sakura Airi made a very surprised sound.

Hori continued to pat her head as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Everyone has things they're not good at, so there's no need to worry about it." Hori said while patting Sakura Airi's head, "If a person has no flaws at all, then that person won't grow."

Just like Hori Nanaya, who has inherited the name "Nanaya" perfectly in that clan.

"So, you should be happy, Sakura," Hori said, "You still have a lot of room for growth, and there's still a lot of potential for development."

This was Hori's genuine thought.

"Nanaya-san..."

Sakura Airi raised her head, gazing at Hori with flickering eyes.

Meeting Sakura Airi's gaze, Hori suddenly smiled.

"Don't worry, you'll soon adapt to all of this and grow, I promise you."

Hori said to Sakura Airi with a confident tone.

Seeing Hori's face, Sakura Airi's cheeks gradually turned red.

"Uh... Mm..."

After a while, Sakura Airi shyly nodded her head as if she couldn't bear the burden.

Only then did the two of them continue walking towards the dormitory.

For these two, their campus life at Advanced Nurturing High School is just beginning now.