CH 38

I arrived at the classroom five minutes before the first period lecture was to begin.

The lecture to be given is one in which tests are easy, absences are allowed as long as they are less than one-third of the class, and credits can be easily earned if one is not concerned about grades.

I heard that university students are weak in the morning and have a hard time attending lectures in the first period.

But the large classroom was nearly full.

According to Yashiro-senpai, the rate of absenteeism will increase from now on, so the attendance rate will eventually reach 70% at most by the fifth lecture.

Suzuka is also taking this lecture, but she is not taking it with me.

She has her friends and I have mine.

It would be a shame to stick to each other and end our student life in a world of just the two of us.

“Oh!”

I finally found an empty seat in the middle of the desks.

The seats at the edges are popular and people sit there quickly.

On the other hand, the middle seats are unpopular and often empty.

“I’m sorry. Can I please pass through to the back?”

I asked the seated students to pull back their chairs a little and managed to get into a seat in the middle.

I put my bag on the floor, spread out my pens, writing utensils, loose-leaf paper, etc. on the desk, and waited for the lecture to start.

Next to me was someone I didn’t know, just waiting for the lecture to start.

“Um, I forgot my notebook, can I have one of your sheets?”

A woman sitting next to me asked.

Apparently, she didn’t know anyone in the class like I did, so she asked me for a paper sheet, which I had left on my desk for her to see.

“Oh, yes. Just in case one sheet might not be enough, here are two or so.”

“Oh, thanks a lot. I don’t know anyone in this class, and I forgot my notebook, so I was wondering what to do about it.”

“Please let me know if you need more.”

“Thanks~. By the way, it would be great if you could show me your notes and stuff when you take a break. This lecture doesn’t emphasize attendance, and I can take five full days off.”

If you don’t care about your grade, you will get credit even if you miss five times.

That’s why they take a break.

However, this is an act that can only be done if you have friends, and it is impossible if you don’t have friends taking the same lecture.

Unlike high school, a college class is 90 minutes long.

Without notes, it is impossible to keep up with the lecture, and some mean-spirited teachers even write things on the board that are not in the textbook so that they can be used as answers to the test.

Without notes, it is impossible to keep up with the lecture, and some mean-spirited teachers even write things on the board that are not in the textbook so that they can be used as answers to the test.

Of course, these are very kind words from Yashiro-senpai.

Not being a person with a strong sense of justice, and not being a person who has no problem lending a notebook or two to others, I readily agreed to do so.

Soon after that, the first period lecture started.

Then, in the evening.

Today, I came to the cafeteria for the activity of the “Eating and Walking Club” which I joined in addition to the Outdoor Club created by Yashiro-senpai.

The “Eating and Walking Club” has a ridiculously large number of members.

The activities are easygoing, after all.

Simply go out to a downtown station and form a group to eat and walk around.

And if you want to discuss eating and walking, after the eating and walking activity, you can have parties as you like.

Last time it was just recreation. This time, we will actually form groups and head to the downtown station.

The club leader asked us to form a group – and the group formed and went.

The seniors in the second, third, and fourth years are also actively talking to the first-year students and pulling them into their own groups, looking for interaction and to solidify with those who have already become friends with them.

I was hanging around with Shima, who became my friend on the orientation day, trying to get into one of the groups.

“Oh, you’re Fracture-kun!”

“Hmm?”

“You gave me a sheet of paper in the first period lecture. Have you forgotten already?”

“No, I remember it. Then, it’s not “Fracture-kun,” but “Sheet-kun,” isn’t it?”

“Well, your right hand is injured, you know. That’s more memorable.”

“… You have a point.”

“Right? Oh, yes. Fracture-kun, what is your name?”

“I’m Shindou.”

“My name is Kumazawa Akemi. Nice to meet you.By the way, Shindou-kun. Why don’t we eat and walk around together as a group? Oh, and of course, bring along your friend, Shindou-kun.”

Me, Shima, Kumazawa-san, and her friends.

We added two people who were walking around there in pairs to our group, making a total of six of us eating and walking together.

So we arrived at the downtown station and started walking around eating.

My right hand still can’t grab anything.

A hand that is not fit for eating is tossed about, I am told that they will feed it to me, and then it is thrown into my mouth.

By men.

It all started when Kumazawa-san said to me, “It looks hard to eat, doesn’t it? Oh, does this look like something you should force?” I didn’t think it was anything more than a casual remark.

Kumazawa-san just said it out of the blue, and I don’t think she had the slightest intention of making me eat.

However, the guys overreacted and took the melon bread that I was eating with my left hand and shoved it into my mouth.

“Here, eat up, eat up. I’m not gonna let a girl do that.”

“Stop it. Why should I have you guys feed me when I can eat normally? I mean, really, quit it. You almost made my throat choke with all the fluid in my mouth.”

I complained to my male friend Shima.

The others laugh at it.

We were enjoying eating and walking around like that.

The allotted time of one hour for eating and walking had passed.

We were free to disperse, and there was no plan to gather at the end of the day, but Kumazawa-san suggested, “Why don’t we walk around some more?”

I accepted Kumazawa-san’s invitation and extended the walking tour for a bit longer.

We spent an enjoyable day walking and eating, and at the end of the day, we exchanged contact information and started to go back to our respective homes.

I should go back to where I live with Suzuka, too.

“I’m home.”

“Welcome home. Did you have a good time walking around?”

“”Yeah, it was fun. I found a great bakery that serves curry bread, would you like to go with me next time?”

“I’ll be there. Hey, Yuki, I want to buy a camera. Can I buy one?”

Suddenly she asked me if she could buy a camera because she wanted one.

Suzuka was active in the photography club while I was having fun in the eating and walking club.

I guess she was hit by that and wanted a camera.

“You can buy it if you use it properly, okay? Although, if you feel free to buy what you want, the money will run out soon…”

“That’s right.”

We have money.

We can afford a certain amount of luxury, but I’m afraid that we’ll get used to that luxury and start spending money like crazy.

That’s why, even now, I’m trying to live a life that is properly money conscious by dividing the food budget properly each month.

“That’s it. How about we reduce the amount of money we’re allocating as free money until we reach the cost of the camera?”

“I see. The one I want is 50,000 yen, so if I deduct 5,000 yen for 10 months from the money I have allocated as free money …, I may not overspend.”

“Well, that’s it. I think it’s okay to be a little extravagant.”

“That carelessness could be fatal, you know? I decided to go for it. I will buy a 50,000 yen camera and take 5,000 yen off my allowance for 10 months!”

Suzuka gasped.

I was really glad to have a partner who thinks about how to spend money like this.

It would have been normal for us to fight over differences in values.

“I’m going to ask you what you did in the photography club. Come on, you can talk about it.”

“I’m pissed off because you’re acting all high and mighty.　Well, okay. I’ll talk so much that you’ll say, Quit talking, and that’s fine. So today, I took pictures with my SLR camera and copied the data to my phone. Look, look, look.”

She showed me the screen of her phone.

Ah, it sure is clearer and more beautiful than the pictures taken with a smartphone camera.

“I see. Show me a little more.”

“Yes, that’s good.”

I borrowed her phone and scrolled through the photos she must have taken today.

“Hey, you. When did you take these pictures?”

While I was looking at various photos she had taken with her SLR camera, I found one photo.

It was a picture of me sleeping with a very silly look on my face.

“I love you so much, Yuki. I thought you looked so cute even with your silly face that I took this picture of you. Should I erase it?”

“You did a really cute thing, … You don’t have to erase it. Rather, just keep on taking pictures.”

Imagine being told that the girl you like likes your face so much that she took a picture of it while you were sleeping.

Of course I’m going to love her even more.

“Ehehe~. Thanks a lot. Oh, I’ll take a nice picture of you next time I have a new camera!”

“Oh, please do. Oh, and you know what? After you buy a camera, we should go on a trip, right?”

“Yeah, I want to go! SLR cameras are awesome. Unlike the camera on my phone…”

Suzuka talked about cameras and photography, and I told her about the unexpected things I had discovered while walking around eating.

Thus, we enjoyed chatting until late at night.

And the next morning.

“Click.”

I woke up to the sound of the shutter, which was made deliberately by the machine.

“Tehe~ Yuki said I could take pictures, so I did.”

“Good morning. You’re really cute when you say that…”

“I know, right~? I’m going to make breakfast now.”

Smiling with satisfaction after taking a picture of my sleeping face, I hugged her as she tried to get off the bed where I had been sleeping.

“I let you take my picture. Can’t I at least take a few?”

“Yuki is such a spoiled child. I can’t help it. I have first period class today, and I don’t have much time, so it’s only for a little while, okay?”

Then, as long as time allowed, I spent a happy morning with her.