In addition to this, there is a very serious issue - money.

Hotaru didn't know if her father had paid her mother every month to make ends meet. But she knew that after her mother's death, the family's passbook (the kind that could be transferred in) had never received a penny.

My mother's savings were not much during her lifetime, and she was able to hold on until the first year of junior high school entirely because the young man used his own money to raise her. When he left, the money was quickly out of his reach. Even if you get a job distributing flyers, it will be difficult to fully make up for the shortfall in living expenses.

Just when Hotaru has a headache over this, she accidentally opens the door to a new world.

"Models?" Hotaru, who was working part-time and holding a bunch of flyers, looked at the man who suddenly appeared in front of her and blocked her way.

"Yes," the man nodded. "We think you're a model, so we want you to model and take a photo shoot — for pay, of course."

"How much does an hour cost?" Hotaru asked, apparently impressed.

"It depends on the number of photos you take and the number of sales," the man explained. "According to the previous children's grades, it was about 1,000 yen. But the children have to be much more beautiful than them, and if the efficiency is not bad, you will earn more than them. ”

"......," Hotaru thought for a moment before nodding. I can give it a try. ”

————

Weekend.

"Do you want to choose one of these clothes?" Hotaru, who was dressed in casual clothes, gently put her fingers on her thin lips and looked at the vast array of clothes in front of her, which could almost be called dazzling.

"That's right," the male photographer not far away nodded. "Just pick one you like."

"Excuse me......" Hotaru took both sets of clothes off the pole where they hung at the same time. Do you get paid the same for both outfits? I mean in the same amount. ”

The two clothes she was holding were a very conservative white gown and skirt with a skirt length, and the other was a white short-sleeved skirt with the bottom of the skirt barely reaching about eighteen centimeters above the knee even after being pulled to the lowest height.

This length is a bit shocking for junior high school girls whose minds have not yet formally connected to the adult world.

(In the 90s, the average height of girls aged 18 to 25 was 159.1, with a knee height of 41 cm and a perineal height of 71.1 cm, while Hotaru Mizuko is now 146, considering that her body proportion is relatively good, the knee height is about 39 cm, and the perineum is 68 cm high.) Eighteen centimeters on the knee is probably equivalent to the effect of pulling five centimeters up on the knee skirt that is common in girls' high schools now.)

"Uh......" The male photographer hesitated slightly, but still said. You think the skirt on the right is too short, don't you? ”

(In the '70s and mid-'90s, Japan was heavily influenced by undesirable girls, and students became popular with long skirts that almost fell to the ground, and it wasn't until the mid-'90s that they gradually switched to short skirts.) Although the miniskirt trend landed in Japan in the sixties and seventies, it did not catch on due to Japan's strict etiquette. ）

"There's some length between the two skirts, like ten centimeters above the knee over there—" Before the male photographer could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Hotaru.

"What I want to ask is," Hotaru said again. "Do you have to make more money wearing this short skirt than a long skirt?"

"Of course," the male photographer nodded. "Our magazine itself is a girl in a short skirt, so if you wear it shorter, you'll definitely wear it-"

"Then I won't wear this short dress." Hotaru shook her head and put the two outfits back on the hanger.

Before ......the male photographer could persuade Hotaru to try the more conservative clothes, he found that Hotaru had actually started rummaging through the clothes again.

Then, she took out another outfit of clothing. "I think that's a good fit."

"Which one—" The photographer had just asked halfway through when the words were completely cut off as if someone had choked them.

Hotaru held the dress, her eyes narrowed into crescent moons. "Excuse me, is this dress okay~"

"Ah...... Ah......h

That's a ...... Very simple clothes in every sense of the word. The reason why it's easy is that this outfit is even more revealing than the short-sleeved skirt I got before—if the photographer remembers correctly, this is one of the most revealing outerwear items stocked here.

"What's wrong?" Hotaru looked at the photographer with a smile. "Is it because I can't wear this? But you see, this dress is really beautiful! ”

In her hand was a black micro skirt that was much shorter than the previous skirt (a skirt that is shorter than a miniskirt that only covers the hips, and if you use the example from the Japanese side, it is equivalent to 30 centimeters above the knees of a normal student...... Yes, thirty centimeters on the knee...... Neither knee-jerk nor thirteen...... This length means that even just bending over or moving too much will cause you to walk away) And hanging with this skirt is a black crop top that will show your belly button no matter how you look at it, and this dress actually has a special opening at the chest!

"That dress is too ......," the photographer felt his throat dry. That's too ...... for you."

"Why?" Hotaru tilted her head, curious. "From the note I just found on the hanger, isn't it the highest basic remuneration and sales share for taking pictures in this dress?"

"But ......" The photographer instinctively tried to find a reason not to choose this revealing outfit - although she chose the job, she was still a child, and this kind of dress was a little too large for a twelve-year-old.

Just as he was nervously trying to find a reason, his gaze suddenly rested on the chest of the crop top, and then an excuse came to mind.

"You're only a twelve-year-old girl, aren't you?" The photographer hurriedly said. "You...... It's not mature yet, this crop top is very demanding on the figure-"

"Hmm-" Hotaru sighed as she glanced at her chest. "That seems to be the case......

"Look," the photographer said, relieved. "So let's change to a normal one-"

"I can wear a high-necked, tight, light-colored sweater, so that I can show off my body's curves—"

"No way!" The cameraman immediately reacted to what she meant, and stopped. "In that case, the navel will be covered, and the purpose of wearing this dress will be lost!"

(Even if it's a girl with small breasts, there is a way to make others think that her breasts are big, and that is - to create a more delicate body curve!) Because after putting on clothes, outsiders have no way to intuitively judge the size, and to a large extent, they are judged by the assistance of body curves. ）

"......" Hotaru looked embarrassed, and then turned her gaze back to the pile of clothes. Hmm————!!! ”

Hotaru's eyes lit up suddenly, and she pulled out a white crop top skinny turtleneck sweater from the pile of clothes - this sweater was about the size of a black crop top, and it didn't cover much skin if it was just enough to cover it completely. "That's okay, right?"

As she spoke, the sweater slashed across the surface of the black fabric, finally fabricating Hotaru's figure to the fullest.

(The three magic weapons of flat chest - light-colored tight high collar ~ If these three can't be helped, hanging a point on the chest can also create a visual sense of expansion of the ornament ~~~)