The Two Who Blushed and Feared the Onslaught
“Yuki, I’m thinking about buying this.”
Suzuka said while we were having dinner and relaxing while watching TV.
Suzuka showed me the screen of her phone.
“A camera…?”
Suzuka had joined a photography club, and as a result, she had decided to buy a digital single-lens reflex camera.
After doing some research, it seemed she had finally decided on the one she wanted.
“I’m not very knowledgeable about this kind of stuff, and the photography club meetings won’t start for a while, so I don’t have anyone to ask. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a good idea.”
It wasn’t really my place to interfere.
If Suzuka wanted it, then it was fine by me. Of course, if I saw something I thought was a problem,
I’d speak up. But this time, there was no need for complaints, so I thought it was a good idea.
“Okay, I’ll ask for it~.”
“…Wait a minute. What if those two know about cameras?”
Before ordering a camera online, a sudden thought crossed their minds.
It was…
“It’s Miki and Tanaka-kun! Those two are always talking about equipment and stuff, right?”
“We’re complete amateurs. If we talk to those guys who’ve bought camera gear, we might avoid regretting our purchase.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Let’s message Miki and ask if this camera is a good choice.”
Suzuka sent a URL of the camera she was thinking of buying to Kaneda-san.
A few minutes later, she received a reply from Kaneda-san.
“Hmm, even though I’m into video equipment, I’m not that knowledgeable about still photos. But I think the camera Suzuka picked is a good choice. Oh, Suzuka… You haven’t forgotten something important, have you?”
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
Suzuka replied to Kaneda-san’s question.
“Do you have a computer? You can store, edit, and print photos with it. Well, you can manage without it, but it would be inconvenient.”
“I see. That’s what it was.”
I thought, impressed with Suzuka’s realization.
It was true that just buying a camera had its limitations.
To fully utilize it, we needed a computer and a printer, which was something we had overlooked.
“At this point, Suzuka, let’s get a computer and a printer.”
“Eh, but… the money…”
“Well, think of it as necessary for your studies. You’ll need them for writing reports, you know.”
While the prevalence of computers and printers in households had initially increased with the rise of the internet, the dominance of smartphones had led to a decline in the number of households with computers. However, for university students, having a computer was a necessity, especially for writing reports.
Although there were stories of people writing reports using just a smartphone, it was generally believed to be a challenging task.
“Alright, let’s buy them. We need them anyway. Oh, and Miki seems to know a lot about video editing and computers, so let’s ask her for recommendations.”
As we were in the middle of making these plans, Kaneda-san called them, possibly finding text messaging too tedious.
“Hello? Sorry about that, Miki.”
“No worries, go ahead. About the computer, I bought a new one for video editing, so if you don’t mind an older model, I can sell it to you at a low price.”
I could faintly hear Kaneda-san’s voice because the volume was loud.
“Huh, really?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Besides, if I were to sell it at a used electronics store, I wouldn’t get much money for it. So, I’ll bring it to Suzuka’s house next time.”
“…”
“What’s wrong? You suddenly got quiet.”
It was natural to become quiet because we hadn’t told our high school friends about living together.
Kaneda-san still didn’t suspect that Suzuka was living with me, which is why she mentioned bringing the computer to her former home.
However, we couldn’t accept it being brought to that house because Suzuka no longer lived there.
“Ah, uh, I-I’ll come pick it up, okay?”
“It’s just a laptop, so it’s okay. Suzuka’s house is on my way home from the university.”
“Oh, sorry, my parents are calling me, so I’m muting myself.”
Suzuka fiddled with her phone, turned on the mute function, and asked me in a hurry.
“In any case, there’s no point in hiding it. Should we talk about living together?”
“Ah, well, yeah, I guess it’s fine.”
It’s different from my university friends. We have shared three years of high school together.
“That’s right. Miki and others probably won’t gossip about it recklessly. Ah, ahhhh.”
Suzuka adjusted her tone and tried to tell Kaneda-san about us living together.
She looked tense, and I was quite nervous too.
“Oh, um, well, actually… I, uh, and, Yuki, uh, we’re living together.”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
A loud reaction echoed.
Well, it was natural for Kaneda-san to react like that when she was told that Suzuka and I, fresh high school graduates, were suddenly living together.
I was also nervous, and my heart was pounding.
“Uh, it’s not a lie. C-come on, look, Yuki, say something.”
“Are you throwing it to me here… Well, Kaneda-san, it’s like that.”
“Seriously, you guys are more of a couple than we are! You’re living together!”
She shouted in excitement.
If we had said we were married, Kaneda-san might have been so shocked that she would have fainted.
“So, how did this happen?”
“Really… It’s real… Well, yeah…”
“I’m not living at my parents’ house right now, so I’ll come to Miki’s house to pick up the computer.”
“No, I’ll go there. I’m really curious about where you two are living in.”
It became just as expected, but I still had mixed, indescribable feelings.
Suzuka peeked at my expression. I gave her a reassuring look that said, ‘It’s okay to invite her here.’
“Okay. Let’s meet at the station. When are you free?”
After that, we had a thorough discussion the house visit.
Once the discussion was over, we ended the call.
“Phew~~~~~~~~~”
Suzuka let out a huge sigh.
It was quite a burden on both our minds and bodies.
We knew that what we were doing, moving in together right after high school graduation, wasn’t something that happened often.
There’s something embarrassing about showing people something that’s not normal about us.
“Hey, Yuki, I don’t know if I could handle the embarrassment if we tell people we’re married.”
“Yeah, I feel the same. Just coming out about living together was already exhausting.”
Exhausted, Suzuka flopped onto the couch, wiggling her legs, then turned to me, looking unsure.
“Yuki~, it was so embarrassing. I can’t do it. I can never say we’re married.”
“Maybe we do have some issues after all.”
Lately, we’d only been seeing the positive aspects of being married. However, we were now reconfirming that there were also some unpleasant aspects to it.
The day Kaneda-san comes to this apartment is going to be terrifying, isn’t it?
