Chapter 29: Shopping.

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
Can also mean Mr.
-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

“Hey, I don’t expect you to be glued to my shoulder, but isn’t that too much?” I said.

“…”

“Couldn’t hear you.
I’m too far away.”

“I just didn’t say anything.”

We were just waiting for the boss to show up so we could go shopping for camping supplies.
It’d be just the three of us today.
But still, the president of our club being this late for an appointment was unusual, to say the least.
She usually is at school before anyone else, so she would definitely come here as well.

Then I realized we haven’t exchanged contact info yet.

“I’m a bit embarrassed from raising my voice.”

“And I’m embarrassed from standing next to you.”

“I had an inkling.”

Yuki’s voice was barely audible and she stood far from me.
This is because of how it’d look like to other people, and truthfully, their glares would hurt.
Maybe someone in class would pass us by and think, “Wait, are the two going out?” or something like that.
Well, I could just tell them we were clubmates and nothing more, and that would be the end of it.

“Sorry, I’m late.
My homeroom took too long,” the boss arrived.

“Don’t worry, we didn’t wait for long.
Shall we go then?” I greeted her back and we started walking.

The outdoor supply store we’re going to today is relatively close, being just in the next town over, two stops in the opposite direction we usually take by train.
That got me thinking, people generally only get stuff from the city they live in.
This info paired with the fact boss doesn’t have experience with the outdoors leads me to believe she must’ve done a fair bit of research beforehand.

—Wait.
Oh, yeah.

“I was just thinking, don’t we need a way to contact each other?”

“Is it necessary?”

“Well, I just thought it would be better if we did.”

“Got it.”

We both took our phones due to the flow of the conversation.
Meanwhile, Yuki is giving off “not my issue” vibes.

“C’mon Yuki, get your phone out.”

“Why me?”

I’ll admit you are consistence incarnate when it comes to defying my every action, but I really hope you’ll accept this one.
It’s necessary after all.

“I think we need to have each other’s contacts in case something happens, y’know, emergencies.
It would be a problem if we didn’t.”

“Tch.”

She reluctantly took out her phone, but she was so slow and flustered I couldn’t wait for it any longer.
I snatched it from her hand and finished exchanging e-mails on my own.
Her address was the messiest number-filled thing I’ve ever seen.

“Basically, we’ll mostly talk about what we need regarding the club.
Is that okay?”

“It’s better that way.
I don’t usually get glued on my phone just to keep in touch with friends.”

I don’t think the three of us are any good with communication.
Some people out there talk ten times over online than they do in real life, but it doesn’t seem to be the case for these two, myself included.
Anyhow, since limiting the reasons for sending a message was the boss’ suggestion, I don’t need to be worried.

Actually, why should I be restrained by others in my free alone time anyway? I mean, if I did recognize anyone as a ‘friend,’ like I used to in middle school, then being called or messaged wouldn’t be so bad.

“I don’t care if it’s an emergency.
Don’t message me,” Yuki glared.

“Yes, yes.”

“Whoa, the store is bigger than I thought.
I’m really excited.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

It would be better if we list what we already have at home before shopping.
We did just that.

“I remember my house has a cooler box, a lighter, and a little hammer axe.
Not much else.”

“Other than that, my house has folding chairs and desks.”

“How about you, Yuki?”

“I live alone, so I have nothing of the sort.”

“Oh, you live alone? I’ll drop by sometime.”

“You can come if you don’t mind me reporting you for stalking and trespassing.”

“Stop it.”

How much does she actually hate me if she’s even willing to bring the police into it? Nevermind that, a high schooler living alone? Is she rich after all?

“Moving on.
Well, I’m sure every house has dishes, though disposable ones are fine as well.
What was the other thing though?”

“One sec… Tents, fire pits, axes, cookware, light sources, rugs, igniters…”

The boss took out a piece of paper and listed what he had talked about yesterday.
It was a well-written summary.

“I think I can bring a rug or at least a blanket.
I’m sure we can get the cooking utensils from home as well.”

“Then we’ll get the other stuff now.
If anything catches your eye, we’ll buy it.”

So we picked our way through the tents and other doodads and started finishing up at the checkout.
We paid and packed our bags.

I chose the cheapest tent in the shop.
I didn’t care how nice it looked, and I didn’t mind it not having any special functionalities.
So long as it allowed me to sleep, it was fine.
Also, on paper, I originally intended to buy an axe, but after reading the description on the pop-up in the store, I decided to buy a machete instead, as well as a wood-splitting stand and a knife.

As for whether the boss bought anything special, she got a cooking utensil called a mestin.
She said with a twinkle in her eye, “I’ve always wanted one,” so maybe it was true love after all.

I bought a personal chair too.
The boss said she had a folding one at her house, but when I asked her what it looked like, it didn’t sound very comfortable.
I wanted to read in the best environment, the strongest condition if you will.
I’ve been guzzling down novels lately.

“Would you like to take this home with you? We also offer a delivery service,” the clerk offered.

I declined, saying this amount of stuff wouldn’t be a problem to carry around, but still, it was a hefty load, and this stuff wasn’t the only thing we’ll need to bring to camp.
I might need a backpack or even a carry cart before the day of our outing, or I might not be able to get my stuff on site.

“Well, that’s it for our camping gear shopping.
We’ll decide when we’ll go camping when the teacher is around.
I’ll contact you two again about our next club activity after I hear when she’s done with the newspaper club.”

And so, our shopping spree was over