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Private Notes
I just moved from Tokyo to Nagoya. I was looking forward to experiencing Nagoya's unique dialect and food culture, but so far no one has spoken with an accent, and they don't actually put miso on everything they eat. I was honestly a bit disappointed... but then, on my way home from school, I heard a girl speaking with such a heavy accent that she sounded like a cat! It seems her name is Yatogame Monaka. I wonder if I'll ever see her again...
The student handbook belonging to Yatogame-san that I picked up yesterday has a packet of miso taped to the back... She can't be a normal girl if she carries that around. On the way to school, I glance inside a café... and see Yatogame-san! This is my chance not only to return her student handbook, but to talk to her again! So I head into the café...
I was having trouble deciding which club to join at school, but apparently, someone decided that I'd be joining the photography club. Frankly, I wanted something a little more exciting... As I opened the club room door, I saw a girl feverishly taking pictures of Yatogame. I was hoping she'd show me some cute pictures of Yatogame... so how did I get roped into taking pictures of tourist spots instead?
Today is my photography contest with Yatogame. We were supposed to meet at Nagoya Station, but I couldn't find her anywhere until we ran into each other near a golden clock. She said the golden clock is the only place where people meet up at Nagoya Station, but how was I supposed to know that?! So now Yatogame is dragging me off to take pictures of famous spots around Nagoya... but just where is she going to take me?
I just can't seem to make friends with Yatogame... I keep trying to find things to talk about with her, but she always brushes me aside. Why did Tadakusa-chan volunteer me for the photography club? Isn't it because I'm an outsider that I can't get Yatogame to be my friend?! But come to think of it, Tadakusa-chan and Sasatsu-san aren't from Nagoya, either... So is there some other reason?
I finally managed to exchange contact info with Yatogame! I thought that meant I'd be able to enjoy her accent from anywhere, but every reply she sends me is in standard Japanese... Sasatsu even said that Yatogame's messages to her are in the Nagoya dialect, but she won't use it when messaging me. Her replies are always so blunt, too... I wonder if I did something wrong...
The other photography club members are throwing me a welcome party. Due to our lack of club funds, each of us can only bring up to 300 yen worth of snacks. I ended up buying Baby Star, Young Donuts, and Kuppy Ramune, but now Yatogame is whispering something to Tadakusa-chan and Sasatsu...
Since I'm in the photography club, I should have my own camera! I'd love to have an awesome camera like Tadakusa-chan's, but those things are way more than a high school student can afford... So I asked Yatogame where she got hers, and she said it came from a second-hand store called Komehyo (which I thought was a rice shop at first...). The club members agreed that we'd all visit the Komehyo in Osu together the next day, but it's long past our meeting time and Tadakusa-chan and Sasatsu are nowhere to be found...
We joined up with Tadakusa-chan when she was finished fangirling like crazy at her idol concert. Apparently she loves cute things like idols and anime characters. As we were talking about that, Yatogame suddenly blurted out, "It's 2:00!" and took off somewhere. And we still haven't run into Sasatsu yet. Where the heck are those two?
I grabbed a tonkatsu lunch from the cafeteria, but it was too crowded to eat in there, so I headed for the club room. Yatogame was already inside when I got there, about to eat a lunch she brought from home that she apparently made herself... but the only things in it were cucumbers, grilled eggplant, konnyaku, and tofu, all things that came straight out of a package and took no preparation. So I commented that she had nothing to complement her rice, and she pulled out something new...
Hot... hot... it's way too hot. Summer in Nagoya is so ridiculously hot! This heavy, muggy heat feels like it's plastering itself onto my entire body, and even my eyesight's starting to fade... But the next thing I knew, I was underground, with Yatogame and Tadakusa-chan next to me. Did they carry me down here? Yatogame says I must have a death wish, walking above ground in Nagoya during the summer. Just what the heck is the deal with summers in this city?
There's no school today, so I'm hanging out with the photography club gang. We decided to meet up at 8:00 AM, which is pretty early, but they tell me there's a good reason. So I've followed them to... Rent-a-Car? Is this just a karaoke place that called itself Rent-a-Car, or did we walk into a car rental place by mistake?! There are still so many things in Nagoya that are a mystery to me...
