Volume 1 - CH 4

“I’m talking about that. Yuu-kun, maybe next time we can go shopping together for a surveillance camera?”

Kanade suggested that we buy a surveillance camera and install it in my room at a cafe we stopped by on our way home from club activities. If what we were thinking was wrong, and there was nothing suspicious about the two of them, I would be a b*****d for snooping on her and her best friend together.

“That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“I understand what you mean. I’ve been thinking about what I should do since that day.”

Kanade was a little teary-eyed.

That’s understandable, they’re my girlfriend and best friend, but for Kanade, Hazuki is her best friend, and Kouki is a friend who has been with her since she was a little girl. I now realize that I am not the only one who is suffering.

How much am I pretending to be a tragic heroine? I was so frustrated by my inadequacy.

“If nothing happens to those two, we can just use it as a home security camera, and if we don’t tell them, I don’t think they’ll find out. If we can clear up the confusion and be the same four good friends we are now, it’s a small price to pay, isn’t it?”

“I agree. The best way to do this is to use a security camera. Okay, well, let’s go buy a surveillance camera next time!”

“I’m sorry I made you deceive those two, Yuu-kun…”

“It’s okay. If Kanade hadn’t suggested it like that, I would have just been moping around all by myself for a long time. I’m glad to hear that.”

Saying that I stroked Kanade’s head like before, but this time Kanade just laughed “Ehehe” and didn’t resist at all.

———

The shopping trip for the surveillance camera was this Friday when there were no club activities.

She had done much research beforehand and showed me the candidates on his phone.

Kanade recommended a surveillance camera that allows you to view the video in real-time and even hear the audio. The surveillance cameras Kanade showed me ranged in price from a few thousand yen to 20,000 yen.

So it was not as expensive as I thought.

It is true that it is an unexpected expense, but I am not the type of person who spends a lot of money, so I can afford to buy it with the money I have been saving up for the New Year’s holiday.

Kanade said, “I’m the one who suggested it, and I’ll pay half the cost,” but I politely declined since this was a matter between me, Hazuki, and Kouki.

“The four of us will play the week after next, won’t we? We’ll have to test to see if it shows up properly by that day!”

“Yes. I may need your help with some things, but when I do, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Un. I’ll be totally fine. I’ll do my best, Yuu-kun.”

Seeing Kanade’s kind smile made me happy thinking that I have a really good friend.

———

On Friday after school, Kanade and I met up in the club room, even though we had no club activities.

If we went home immediately, there was a possibility that we would run into Hazuki, so we decided to kill some time in the clubroom before going to buy a surveillance camera.

We arrived at one of Tokyo’s most famous electronics districts and arrived at our destination building, having dodged the pressure of a large number of maids.

“Oh, hey. Are you sure this is the right place?”

“Ummm, yeah. It shouldn’t be wrong…”

The building in front of us was dimly lit and a bit scary, unlike the shiny buildings on the main street. No, it was pretty scary.

“Okay. I’ll go in first, and you follow me.”

” I understand. I never knew Yoo-kun could look so dependable…”

“I’m always a reliable man, you know!”

I and Kanade enter the building fearfully, talking foolishly so as not to lose the suspicious atmosphere of the building.

Then, as we both nervously boarded the elevator, which was so old that I suspected the wires would break at any moment and we would fall out, Kanade smiled mischievously at me and said, “It’s a bit like an adventure, isn’t it?”

———

“Wow, that’s a lot of stuff.”

“I can’t believe how many products are in here, I hope they have the surveillance cameras we’re looking for.”

We restlessly scurried around the store and started rummaging through the items. However, we had lived a life so far away from surveillance cameras that we had no idea what to look for, so we asked the clerk to help us narrow down the list to three candidates.

“Now, which one shall we choose…?”

“They all look good, don’t they? The point is, how beautiful do you want the image to be?”

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t really know, but the difference in price between the regular and high resolution is only about 10,000 yen, so I’ll take this opportunity to buy a good one. The microphone also seems to be very powerful.”

“If the image is rough or the sound is full of noise, it might be ruined, right?”

“Well, then, I’ll go to the cash register and buy one!”

Shopping with Kanade is kind of fun, I think, but then I look at the surveillance camera in my hand and let out a big sigh.

What’s so sad about me is that I have to buy a surveillance camera.

I chuckle to myself as I pull out a couple of money from my wallet to buy a not-so-cheap surveillance camera.

———

“Thanks for today.”

Before we left, we stopped at a family restaurant to discuss our future plans.

“We’ve got to set our sights on the next Saturday for now.”

“You’re right. I’ll have to set up a surveillance camera and test to see if it’s working.”

“Yeah, right! It would be a shame if the video didn’t show up on the day of the event, wouldn’t it?

“As expected, I’d like to avoid that…”

With that said, I recalled that Kanade was in the checkout line behind me.

“Speaking of which, didn’t you buy something at the store earlier? I didn’t see anything there that Kanade would buy, so what did you buy?”

“Heh, heh. I’ll keep that to myself!”

“What’s with the stinginess? You can at least tell me that.”

“Absolutely not!”

Kanade was laughing cheerfully, but gradually her expression turned shadowy.

“It totally stinks that we’re laughing like this. While we’re trying to deceive and spy on two of our friends.”

“Kanade doesn’t have to feel responsible for this. I was the one who made the decision to film the two of them with the surveillance camera. It may have been Kanade who suggested it, but I could have rejected it, so don’t worry so much.

“I know, but you can’t just dismiss it like that.”

“If nothing happened to them, we should get down on our knees and apologize. I’m sure they’ll forgive you.”

Kanade nodded a small “yes” with a downcast look on her face.

“What kind of schedule should we make for Saturday, the day of the show?”

I made a deliberate attempt to sound cheerful, and Kanade laughed and said, “Hmmm.”

Then, Kanade and I made a plan to deceive my girlfriend and best friend.