I Drink Every Night With a Lookalike of a Popular Idol on the Riverbank
“Hey, Yosuke. I heard from Hiori that yesterday was quite an eventful day.”
Nanase, who was sitting next to me on the riverbank as usual, suddenly spoke up in a cheerful voice.
“Oh… Yunagi herself was here for some reason…”
“Hmm. Apparently, there was a reckless company employee who refused to give up her seat to two national idols. Is that even possible? How could he not move his seat when such a cute girl was sitting next to him?”
“Ugh…”
I almost choked on the lemon juice I was about to drink when that topic came up.
“No, it’s not that… it’s not such a dramatic story…”
“Hmm? Then what kind of story is it?”
Nanase peered at me with a sly smile. There was no escape. I gave up and confessed, averting my gaze slightly.
“…Because that’s where Nanase-san always sits.”
“Hmm. Right. So?”
“Well, it’s just… I didn’t want to give it up to anyone else, or rather… If Nanase-san came later, someone else would be sitting in Nanase-san’s spot…”
By the time I said that, I felt my face flush with embarrassment at what I had said. I thought to myself, what a possessive, troublesome man I am.
Then Nanase smiled contentedly, looking very happy. That smile was more devastating to my heart than any idol’s smile.
“I see. I’ll mark it then.”
“You’re not a dog…”
“I’m glad I peed on it…”
“Eh… really?”
“No, it’s obviously a joke.”
Nanase gave me a stern look for almost taking it seriously.
“By the way, what were you doing yesterday? You didn’t come here, did you?”
“Ah… well, I was just busy… you know, that kind of thing.”
It felt like she was being vague.
“Nanase-san is busy too, huh…”
“Yeah, pretty much. Hey, Yosuke, what’s the difference between me and Yunagi?”
“Hmm… I can’t really put it into words… It’s like the parts of my body that react are different…”
“Is that a dirty joke?”
“No! When I’m with Nanase-san, it’s like… my stomach feels warm, but when I see Yunagi-san, it’s just my heart racing… that kind of difference.”
“Huh… that’s weird.”
“Well… it is weird, I guess.”
As I vaguely agreed, Nanase-san smiled a little and moved closer, sitting down one can’s distance away.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, my butt is cold.”
“It’ll get colder…”
“Then let’s switch places. I want to warm my butt with your warm ass.”
“Why do you call my butt ‘ass’ but your own butt is just ‘butt’?”
“Wow, you’re sharp…”
Nanase smiled slyly, turned forward, and drank her sake.
“Well… I have no intention of giving this spot to anyone else.”
“Oh, that’s a good point.”
Nanase, who was starting to feel a little drunk, said this in a high-pitched voice and lightly punched my shoulder.
◆
“Aikawa… Look. Someone took my usual spot…”
As soon as she arrived at the office, my colleague Chisato Narumi was fuming with anger.
Our company has adopted a free address system with no fixed seats.
However, there was an unspoken understanding, or rather, a vague sense that each person had their “usual spot” where they always sat. Where Chisato was pointing, a male employee was indeed sitting at the window seat she usually used, working on his laptop.
“It’s not Narumi’s seat, is it? It’s a free-address system, so anyone can sit there, right?”
As I tried to calm her down while drinking my coffee, Narumi blurted out, “That’s not the point! Humans have a sense of territory!” as if she were a wild animal.
“Then why don’t you just pee on it?”
“……Huh?”
“……Sorry. Never mind.”
I thought to myself that Nanase-san would have laughed at that, but maybe that’s a sign of terminal symptoms.
I was surprised that the center was clearly off-center, but I also thought it wasn’t so bad.
Maiasa