Appleton's Taste
We decided to humor Appleton's hobby. At first, Appleton was incredibly shy, but after Shine leaned in and whispered something in her ear, her initial bashfulness vanished, and she began taking photos with gusto.
She started capturing various landscapes as if testing the camera's capabilities. The resolution was mind-boggling; even when zooming in on a shot taken from afar, the image remained as crisp and clear as if it were right in front of her eyes. A blissful smile spread across Appleton's face.
"Are you having fun?"
"Y-yes! I'm having so much fun!"
Seeing my friend bubble with joy brought a smile to my own face. Sitting on a small bench and watching Appleton point her camera here and there, a sudden curiosity struck me, prompting me to ask her a question.
"Hey, Appleton."
"Yes?"
"Why are you only taking pictures of landscapes?"
"Oh..."
Appleton's true taste didn't lie in landscape photography. The photos saved on her broken camera had been entirely of male students playing sports. Though it wasn't my cup of tea, one must respect a friend's preferences. I worried that she might be refraining from taking pictures of boys out of concern that I wouldn't like it.
"You like taking pictures of the boys, don't you?"
"N-no, I don't!"
Appleton shrieked in sheer panic at my words. Perhaps because of her outburst, the students walking quietly nearby turned their heads toward her. Her face instantly flushed crimson, and she pulled her twin tails forward to hide her face.
"I-it's not like that, so stop staring!" she yelled at the surrounding students. Startled by her voice, they quickly scurried away.
"But Appleton, your old camera was packed with photos of boys. I respect your taste, really."
"Uuuugh..."
At my attempt at comfort, Appleton melted into a puddle like warm cheese. She kept her head hung low for a long moment before slowly raising the camera in her hands.
"T-the thing is... I actually tried to take some, but this sudden, overwhelming wave of aversion washed over me."
"An aversion?"
"Yeah... I don't know why, but I just couldn't bring myself to capture them in my camera."
As she spoke, Appleton aimed her camera at a group of boys kicking a ball around. A gentle breeze swept past, softly caressing her light blue hair. A quiet stillness settled over the surroundings. It was the perfect atmosphere for a photograph.
The moment a student dribbling the ball wound up for a spectacular shot, she prepared to press the shutter. I saw her small finger twitch. But that was as far as she got. She suddenly covered her mouth and lowered the camera.
"Uuuugh..."
"What's wrong?"
"I just... I just suddenly didn't want to take it."
Appleton slumped, her camera dangling limply. As I watched her deflated figure with concern, Rain, who was sitting next to me, spoke up.
"Then how about you take a picture of me?"
Rain hopped down from the bench and spread her arms wide. She struck what she clearly believed to be a magnificent pose, practically begging to be photographed.
Appleton nodded at Rain's suggestion and raised her camera. No shutter sound echoed. After standing there with a solemn, majestic expression for quite some time, Rain finally asked, "Did you take it?"
She must have. I had clearly seen her finger press the shutter. Appleton lowered the camera and nodded.
"Show me!"
Rain scurried over to check her photo, clinging to Appleton's side—a feat made easy by her tiny stature. Appleton lowered the camera so Rain could easily view the screen.
"Yep, yep. It came out great."
Curious to see how it turned out, I stood up to take a look myself. Just as Rain said, the photo was exceptionally well-done. Rain, standing proudly with her arms and legs stretched wide, looked absolutely adorable.
"So you can take pictures of people?"
"I guess so..."
That meant she didn't have a general aversion to photographing people. What was the issue, then?
"Didn't you take photos just fine this morning?"
"Y-yes..."
I stroked my chin, lost in thought. Wondering if the new camera was the culprit, I searched the model on my phone, but no one else had reported experiencing symptoms like Appleton's. However, I did learn one thing: this camera's performance was absolutely insane. If she used the magnifying lens included in the box, she could probably photograph stars in deep space. Though the price wasn't listed, it was clear this wasn't something you could just buy at a local shop.
"How do you feel when you try to take pictures of the boys?"
While I was busy inspecting the camera, Shine, who had been quietly tapping away on her phone, posed a question to Appleton. Appleton looked flustered but answered.
"W-well... I get this really bizarre feeling. Like, a sense of revulsion? Something about them just feels... gross?"
"Really?"
"Y-yes. It was never like this before..."
"Do you only feel that way when looking through the camera?"
"I don't think so... Even without the camera, I don't really want to look at them anymore."
"But you haven't lost interest in photography itself, right?"
"No, definitely not. I still love taking photos. Capturing a beautiful moment and preserving it forever... it's just so romantic."
"I'm glad you still enjoy it, at least."
"Yeah... I guess I should count my blessings..."
Appleton took another photo. This time, of Shine. She seemed startled by her own action and flusteredly apologized.
"I-I'm sorry! I suddenly felt this urge to take one and pressed the button without thinking."
She apologized to Shine and scrambled to delete the photo. But Shine shook her head.
"It's fine. You don't have to delete it."
"R-really?"
"Instead, could you tell me why you suddenly wanted to take it?"
"Oh... well, yes. I felt a sensation similar to before. You know, like when I usually want to take a photo."
"Like when you used to photograph the boys?"
"It was similar, but... a bit different."
"How so, exactly?"
"Um... it's hard to put into words. My heart was racing, and..."
"Yes? And?"
"I just wanted to keep looking..."
"I see."
Shine let out a soft chuckle at Appleton's response. At that exact moment, Appleton snapped another photo.
"Ah!"
"It's fine."
Listening to their conversation, I crossed my arms and scowled. I felt annoyed. Not because they were leaving me out of the loop, but because it felt like I was being forced to share my Shine with Appleton.
"Hey, Appleton."
"Ah, yes?"
The moment I called her name, she abruptly raised her camera. Her finger moved. A look of confusion crossed her face as she stared at my heavily scowling expression.
"Did you just take a picture of me?"
"Oh. Yes... Why, why did I do that?"
She looked utterly bewildered, as if she couldn't comprehend her own actions. I checked the photo she had just taken. On the screen was a white-haired girl, arms crossed, looking thoroughly pouted.
"W-why did you take a picture of this..."
Embarrassment washed over me. I had no idea what kind of face I was making to others, but seeing it captured in a photo made me incredibly self-conscious. The problem was that I looked way too childish. The girl in the photo practically screamed: I'm throwing a tantrum right now, and if you don't coax me, I'm going to make a huge scene.
"Could you delete that, please?"
"Sure, I'll delete it right away."
Appleton nodded at my request and began tapping the camera controls.
"Wait. Don't delete it yet."
"Oh."
Shine, who had been sitting on the bench, quickly stood up and placed her hand over Appleton's camera. Blocked from deleting the photo, Appleton froze. In the blink of an eye, Shine operated the camera and transferred my photo to her own phone.
"You can delete it now."
"Ah, okay."
Appleton nodded at Shine's permission and deleted my photo.
I stared at Shine, dumbfounded. "Hey, Shine. Why did you save that?"
"Because you're cute."
"C-cute...? That...?"
"Yes."
Flustered by her blunt response, I took a step back. Shine immediately took a step closer to me.
"Look. Isn't it cute?"
"Well..."
The photo on her phone screen showed my pouting face in high definition. Objectively speaking, yes, it was cute. But knowing that it was me made it feel entirely different.
"Ah—"
As I hung my head in embarrassment, Appleton snapped another photo. This time, it captured both Shine and me in the same frame.
"Did you take another one?"
"Ah... sorry."
"No, it's fine, but..."
I was dying to know what her criteria for wanting to take a photo actually was. What kind of feeling was driving her to snap pictures like this? Shine and I checked the newly taken photo. In it, I was backing away with a thoroughly flustered, blushing face, while Shine was stepping toward me with a sly, knowing smirk.
"Send me this one too."
Shine once again transferred the photo to her phone.
"Me too!"
Rain, who had been watching from the side, chimed in to get the photo sent to her as well. Why on earth did they want a picture like this? I pursed my lips and let out a soft sigh.
"Um... did that make you uncomfortable?"
"No... not at all."
Appleton was sweet enough to worry about my feelings. Since I wasn't actually upset about having my picture taken, I shook my head. From then on, Appleton kept snapping photos. Most of them were of me, Rain, and Shine. Shine had every single photo of me transferred to her phone, wearing a deeply satisfied smile the entire time. Rain also hoarded the photos, beaming happily whenever she looked at them. Was she really that proud of her "majestic" poses?
Before the afternoon classes started, Appleton ended up taking photos of other students as well. Not a single male student was captured in her camera; it was filled entirely with girls. I had no idea why her tastes had suddenly shifted so drastically, but she looked happy, so I figured that was all that mattered.
Resting my chin in my hands, I watched Appleton as she smiled happily at her desk. She was sorting through her photos, categorizing and grading them.
"What's your grading criteria?"
"O-oh, just... whichever ones I like best..."
"Hmm..."
I simply nodded at her answer. While I couldn't pinpoint her exact criteria, I was starting to get a general idea. She had developed a taste very similar to Rain's.
Was this... a good thing?