Leave a comment

Just as Hadzuki said, he just fell in love with the wrong person. I’ve talked with the girl directly, so I could tell that she had someone she liked. Still, I asked her to at least hear him out.

「I tried to make it so both sides would have no regrets, though.」
「Love is complicated.」

Ah, Nagatsuki’s gotten depressed. Right after he was rejected, I had a tough time with the after care. It affected his work as student council president and for some reason I had to join and work with the student council when he couldn’t perform. It was really busy back then.

「I wonder why I’m unpopular?」
「It’s because you seem high maintenance.」
「It’s because you look stern.」

With me and Kaori in unison, Nagatsuki takes more damage. He’s also suffering intimidation from the still irked Kotori. After all, everyone here knows who you should never piss off.

「Still, your relationship really improved a lot compared to the beginning, Kotone, Nagatsuki.」
「Just as Kaori says. You two were so antagonistic at first and before we knew it, you’re close enough for a love counseling.」

Well, we have held events like this where we can be ourselves for more than a few times now, so it’s normal that we have a better understanding of each other. That’s why it’s good to be a bit unrestrained every now and then. Still, I don’t think it’ll be enough this time.

「Kotone~, more oolong high.」
「Why are you asking me for more?」
「Because you seem to be familiar with drinks. Is it really your first time drinking?」
「It’s just the side effect of hanging out with adults. Try being with those drunkards. Like it or not, You’ll be familiar with drinks.」

Akane and Shizuru drink alcohol like water even when I’m around. I sometimes sip tea to keep them company or get forced to make snacks for them.

「Still, it seems like everyone can hold their alcohol.」

As of now, no one has been significantly affected by the alcohol. Some of us have blushed faces, but nothing more. While poking at the hotpot, we continue chatting about the past and current events. We’ll likely have more opportunities to drink together in the future, so I guess we can’t disgrace ourselves here.

「Okay, who’s drinking vodka?」
「Stop, stupid idiot!」

The one who abruptly went berserk was Hadzuki. We finished the hotpot and even made rice porridge with the leftover stock. Kaori and I are now tidying up while everyone’s snacking with their drinks. And in the middle of this, he dropped that bomb.

「Allow me to be the first challenger.」
「Don’t just go with it!」

It’s not just going to burn your throat, you know? Nagatsuki gets more eager to join in when he’s got alcohol in him, but the downside is that he’ll be on board even with dangerous stuff. He might drink whatever he gets told to drink, it’s dangerous.

「Kotone~, make a delicious mix~」

Aya has started regressing to a baby, huh. It’s not actually that bad but it’s weird to see. I guess it’s why she seems sleepy. It’s still better than her making a racket.

「Kotone. Hug!」

The most troublesome one is Kotori. She’s awfully clingy with me and it’s hard to deal with. Her excessive skinship is troubling but I treat her like a little sister and somehow manage.

「Ghack-!」
「That’s why I told you to stop! Kaori, water!」
「Sure thing!」

My only salvation is that Kaori is relatively sane. She’s a bit high strung, but seeing her grow accustomed to us without reservation is a relief. As expected of someone used to working at a cafe.

「Here, drink Nagatsuki.」

To begin with, where did you get this shot glass? Don’t tell me Hadzuki brought it with him? In that case, this was a premeditated crime. He wasn’t going berserk. He’s barely even drunk.

「You not changing much is boring for me, Kotone.」
「I’m fine with being bored. If I get weird here, who’s going take control of the situation?」
「Personally I don’t care as long as it gets interesting.」

I agree with that sentiment, but that’s going to cause an awful mess in this room. Who do you think’s going to clean that up? Ah, Nagatsuki’s face is looking bad.

「Oi, Nagatsuki. Toilet’s over there.」

Hearing my words, he quickly ran to the toilet. I really hope he made it in time. The drunk clichés are slowly manifesting, but what do we do with the others now?

「Are you drinking everyone!」
「Don’t suddenly get wide awake!」

To think that Aya has a phase two. From her sleepy look, she’s now eyes wide-open with her glass raised to the sky. Thanks to that, some of its contents were spilled.

「Oi, how do we control the situation now?」
「I’d like to know myself.」

Don’t just abdicate responsibility! Hadzuki is sipping wine a good distance away to avoid getting dragged into the coming trouble, I detest him. Meanwhile I’m here doing a lot of work.

「Kotone, aren’t you hot? Let’s strip down together.」
「Stop!」

This girl, she’s got too many attributes! Now she’s into stripping people, scary. Now I finally understand why Kishita seemed so exhausted then. I never imagined I’d experience it first hand, though.

「You guys, enough already!」

There, I woke up from the dream. Drenched in cold sweat, I had a hand to the sky, so I’m pretty sure I would’ve punched someone if the dream continued on. For why I had this dream, there’s no other explanation.

「It’s because of yesterday’s ruckus.」

The fact that my desire was mixed into the dream is really embarrassing. To work at the cafe in the future. It’s nothing but wishful thinking. In reality, the path I can take after graduation isn’t even clear to me.

「Still, what a godawful dream.」

If that ever happens in reality, I’ll need to invite one more sane person along. I should invite Kishita. It’s still three years from now though, so it’ll depend on whether I remember by then or not.

「For now, time for a shower.」

Completely opposite of yesterday, the room is dead silent and I can’t help but feel a bit lonely. Anyhow, once breakfast time comes, it should get more lively. Akane will probably be asking questions.

「Let’s move on from that.」

This year is yet to end. Still, I feel like I’ve forgotten something. Something related to the academy, not with my daily routine. These past days the party and afterparty were the only thing in my head.

「What was it?」

If I forgot about it, then it must’ve been unimportant. Let’s leave it at that. And now how do I give the forgotten stuff to their owners.