I Drink Every Night With a Lookalike of a Popular Idol on the Riverbank
Unable to bear the cold, we ended up drinking at Nanase’s place.
Whether it was because she was getting used to having people over or just work stress, Nanase was clearly drinking faster than usual tonight.
Sitting next to me on the sofa, she gave a soft, cat-like smile. Her cheeks were flushed a beautiful pink. She was completely drunk.
“Hey, Yosuke. Suddenly, I kinda feel like playing a party game.”
“Just the two of us!?”
“Well, there are party games you can play with just two people, right?”
“Well… like Mario Party or something.”
“Werewolf, right!?”
“Just the two of us!? That’s just villager or werewolf, right!?”
“Yes! Then, I’ll be the werewolf!”
“Volunteer system!?”
Nanase-san seemed to be in a pretty good mood.
I pulled out my phone and, as instructed, installed and launched the Werewolf app. The screen displayed ‘Please check your role’. I peeked at my own screen.
[You are a Villager]
Alright, I thought, mentally pumping my fist. The instant I did, a devilish chuckle reached me from beside me: “Fufufu…” The game was already over at that point.
There was no doubt about it. Nanase-san was the werewolf.
Right then, with a cute, ferocious roar of “GABOOO!”, Nanase-san clung tightly to my arm.
Soft skin and the sweet scent of alcohol enveloped me.
Burying her face in my arm and nuzzling away, she looked less like a werewolf and more like a small dog.
“W-Wait, Nanase-san!?”
“The werewolf ate the villager. I win, right?”
Her face still buried in my arm, she chuckled contentedly. My heart was pounding at an insane rate. Was this because of the game, or the alcohol?
“…One more round!”
The first round ended in mere seconds, and like a child, she demanded a second round.
“What’s fun about this…?”
“Well, as a werewolf, it’s not fun at all, right?”
“Right!?”
“But it’s fun, isn’t it~?”
Nanase-san laughed heartily and patted my shoulder. This person is pretty wasted…
Reluctantly, I operated the app to start the second round. The screen announced the roles again.
【You are a Werewolf】
As I checked my role, Nanase-san next to me stared at me with an unusually eager look.
“Come on, come on~. Werewolf-san, come gobble me up~”
“Nanase-san, you’re way too drunk…”
“Just come on, come on~”
She lay completely defenseless on the sofa, waiting for my “attack”.
Resigned and embarrassed, I slowly reached out toward her.
“G… gobble”
Then, I gently pinched her apple-red cheeks between my thumb and index finger. That was the most “attack” I could manage.
At my pathetically weak assault, she flushed, smiling shyly and happily.
“Th-that… wasn’t so bad.”
“Well… I mean… going all out would be a bit much…”
Just then, click, the front door lock turned.
“Huh?”
My spine froze.
Who? Coming in with a spare key at this hour? Could it be… her boyfriend…!?
If he saw us having fun playing Werewolf, it would definitely be hell.
As I panicked, the door quietly opened, and a familiar expressionless face peeked into the living room.
“…Ah… Asagiri…san?”
“…Indeed. Asagiri Hiori, at your service.”
Standing there was Asagiri Hiori-san, dressed in black sweatpants.
“Why are you here, Asagiri-san!?”
“…I came to play a game. Or rather… no, I see. Did I interrupt?”
“N-no, not at all! It’s not interrupting at all!? Right!? Yosuke!?”
Nanase-san smoothed her slightly disheveled hair, trying to cover it up. I nodded frantically too, not wanting to be suspected of some weird relationship.
“Y-yeah, totally! We were playing Werewolf together just now!”
Asagiri tilted her head.
“…Is that fun?”
“Fun! Fun! Fun!”
My voice naturally synced with Nanase’s.
“…It’s a dream come true where only joy exists.”
She said this in her usual flat tone, then rustled her convenience store bag as she stomped up the stairs into the room.
“Huh? Wait, why did you let her in!?”
“…Spare key.”
Hiori-san said this casually, pulling a key out of her pocket to show me.
The words echoed in my head. A relationship where you share a spare key. That meant, well, that kind of…
“Wait, do you two… are you dating…?”
“Ha… What kind of idea is that?”
“…Well, we do take baths together and sometimes stay over…”
Nanase-san and Asagiri-san exchanged glances and laughed, denying it.
“We just gave each other keys so we could wake each other up in the morning. That’s why she comes over to hang out like this.”
“…Right. share keys to wake each other up so we don’t get late for work.”
“Exactly!”
“Oh, I see… That’s tough for a stylist. You’re basically doing manager stuff too.”
The moment I voiced that sudden realization, Nanase and Asagiri exchanged a meaningful glance.
“Y-yeah… that’s right. It’s… tough, you know.”
“…I’m always the one getting woken up. I’m terrible in the mornings.”
“Oh, now that there are three of us, wanna play Werewolf? Rule is when you bite, you have to go ‘GABOOO!’ in real life too!”
Nanase-san suggested this, seemingly to change the subject. Asagiri-san grimaced.
“…So you were doing stuff like frivolous college students.”
“It’s a wholesome game, okay!?”
Nanase and I both scrambled to deny it. But the truth was, that moment when we played Werewolf just the two of us… I couldn’t help but feel regret that I hadn’t gone for the bite with more gusto.
Maiasa