A Little Too Comfortable, Pt. 1

On an empty pathway between two buildings, Megumi and I climbed a set of stairs leading to an overpass. Before I even made it up, she whipped out her phone and held it high.

"Hello, everyone!" she said, waving at the screen. "Megumi no Hana here, and it's a beautiful day outside. Today's forecast— Mm~ Feels like a solid sixteen degrees Celsius. Perfect for a walk! Um... M-maybe not for some, but to me it is! And what better way to spice up a bland walk than to force your friend to tag along with you?"

She whirled around at the top of the staircase, pointing the camera at me.

"Say hi, Shohei!"

"...Point that thing away."

"Hmm? Why? This is one way I connect with my fans. You should be grateful that the Megumi no Hana is willing to share the spotlight with you."

"Well, I guess you can say I'm one of the few who isn't willing to join you there."

"You're just weird. You've had me under your roof for a whole month, yet it still feels like we'd only just met yesterday."

"That's just me being cautious. You should learn a thing or two about that. If you happen to meet the wrong person, who knows what'll happen."

"Well, I guess I should consider myself lucky that I met you, hmm?"

I froze halfway up the steps to meet that snarky smirk, wondering how she could even say things like that so casually. She's not dumb. I know that. But the way she talks to the way she looks at me — it's hard to ignore the implications.

Still, I shouldn't assume, even if I want to.

"I guess so," I finally said.

"Heh. Megumi: one. Shohei: zero. Keep it up, and I'll have you beat by the end of the day with minimal effort."

"What...? Since when did this turn into a competition?"

"Hehe~ Since now. Anyway, chat,"—she turned back to her phone—"I'm feeling a bit hungry. What should I eat? Let's see, let's see..."

She tapped her chin in wonder before lighting up like a lightbulb.

"Oh! How about some takoyaki? That sounds really good right now, especially with how chilly it is. Maybe I'll stop by a shop and..."

Her words faded into the wind, leaving me frozen just a couple of steps from the top.

She's just talking to herself. Anyone would glance her way and think she was crazy, but because she's Megumi no Hana, it seemed like a totally normal thing. Here, she was in her element.

An actress, a model.

An influencer, a star.

If it were anyone else standing in her place, I'd stop and judge them. Hard. But because it's her... I couldn't help but respect it. So I lifted my camera and held it steady.

Usually, the sun's out around this time. Maybe it's because Winter's right around the corner, but it's been cloudy the past few days. Not the best weather for some nice pictures, but thankfully, I know my way around the camera.

Widen the aperture to capture more light.

Decrease the shutter speed slow the time between shots.

Increase the ISO to brighten the image.

And...

Snap.

At the sound of the camera click, Megumi turned away from her phone, stopping mid-sentence to look at me.

"Did you... just take a picture of me?"

"Yeah. Now, let's see here..."

I pulled out the screen and assessed the photo. For a sunless day, it looked pretty damn good. Megumi, however, wasn't as interested.

"Don't you know that taking unconsented photos of other people makes you a pervert?"

"Unconsented? Didn't you tell me to bring my camera for exactly this? And now suddenly, I'm in trouble for it."

"Hmph. At least tell me it looks good."

"See for yourself."

I climbed the rest of the stairs, stopping right before the top to show her the screen. As she assessed it with all the gravitas of a relentless interrogator, her eyes slowly widened.

"Whoa, hey! It actually looks pretty good. I feel like the clouds add to the wintery atmosphere."

"I agree. So? Am I absolved for taking unconsented photos of you?"

"Mm~ I'll think about it."

"Hah... Yeah. Sure. Also, don't post that video. People are gonna misunderstand."

"Ho~?"

When I took the last step, I turned to see her crossing her arms and wearing a knowing smirk.

"...Something wrong?" I asked.

"Is that bad if people misunderstand? You get to be lumped in with me, after all."

"W-what... It's because I'm gonna get lumped in with you that it's bad if people misunderstand. Don't you know what the internet does to influencers like you who go public with their relationship?"

"They get hanged?"

"And get tomatoes thrown at them."

"We could use those tomatoes to make pizza."

"Unless they're rotten."

"Ooh~ Yeah. Good point."

We locked eyes. Then, out of nowhere, we let out an airy laugh at the same time.

"I'm being serious, though," I said. "Don't post that. The worst thing an influencer can do is go public with their relationship. The second worst thing is giving the internet even a hint. They'll go through everything with a fine-tooth comb."

"I would know," she mumbled, crossing her arms. "Who even does things like that?"

"People who've got too much free time on their hands. No matter what you do, there will always be that one guy who'll investigate every piece of information about you. From what makeup you use in your photos to the type of clothes you like to wear."

"That's gross."

I shrugged.

"It is what it is. Too many people in the world for all of us to be normal. There's probably that one psychopath who has posters and pictures of you taped all over his wall. He's probably thinking how you'll be his girlfriend one day."

"E-ew!" she exclaimed, smacking me on the arm. "Quit saying weird things like that! I don't wanna have to think about that!"

"Haha! Sorry, sorry. But, you get my point now, right? Don't feed the sharks bait if you don't want them coming back for more."

"Fine. I get it, so stop it."

I raised my hand with an accomplished smile.

"Consider me stopped." 

"Pfft~ So stupid. Anyway, come on, Shohei," Megumi said, skipping ahead. "We've got a long day today. Let's not waste it on idle chitchat."

"Oh, so now you care about wasting time?"

"Huh? What are you... Hey! You're trying to distract me, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, hurry up. You don't wanna waste time on idle chitchat, would you?"

"Tch..."

She tucked her phone back into her pocket and followed me, though the excitement on her face was gone.

"Hah," I scoffed. "Megumi: one. Shohei: one. Looks like we're tied in points now."

"Huh?! T-that doesn't count!"

"Sure it does."

"No, it doesn't!"

"Well, to me it does."

"It doesn't matter what you think! I made the game, so I get to decide the rules!"

The back and forth continued, and the day had only just begun. This time, though... I was kind of looking forward to it.