I stood up, letting her guide me.
“Here, lean on me.”
Shizuku, who was tall for a girl, offered her shoulder. I draped an arm around her as I stumbled like a newborn fawn.
“Hey, Okuda! You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah, man! The night’s just getting started—hic!”
“You all need to stop drinking so much. Tonight ends after the second party, okay?”
Now that I think about it, Shizuku was always strangely good with alcohol.
That’s irrelevant now, though.
As I leaned on her shoulder and left what seemed to be a traditional-style pub, someone grabbed the hem of my shirt.
“Oh no~ Senpai, you’re leaving already?”
A sultry, slightly intoxicated beauty with a dreamy look in her eyes was holding on to me.
“…!?”
Impossible.
What’s she doing here?
“Tooru… why are you here?”
“Why? Because this is a club drinking party, of course.”
This Tooru—she’s different from the one I knew.
The Tooru in front of me now looks… younger.
Even I, slow as I am, could piece it together by this point.
I must have… time-leaped back to the past.
Not just any past—back to university, before I started dating Tooru.
It all started to make sense.
“Senpai, let’s go to the afterparty!”
“Kiryu-san? You’ve had too much to drink.”
“I’m not drunk at all~ And besides, give me back my Senpai!”
“He’s not ‘yours’—you’re not even dating.”
“Oh, right… hehe.”
The two exchanged sharp, sparking glares.
Now that I think about it, Shizuku and Tooru never got along very well.
Wait… this situation… feels familiar.
That’s right. I remember now.
Back then, I gave in to Tooru’s temptation and ignored Shizuku’s protests. I went to the afterparty.
After that, I walked a drunken Tooru home.
* * *
“Senpai, I’m feeling sooo good right now~”
“Ah, you’re really drunk.”
“So… make me feel even better, won’t you?”
“W-what are you saying?”
“Aww, you’re so cute when you blush, Senpai~”
That’s how it went. In the end, I chickened out and didn’t make a move.
After that, though, Tooru started clinging to me.
And I, with no experience in love, quickly fell for her charms.
My university life after that was a disaster.
I stopped going to club events, spent more and more time alone with Tooru, and eventually drifted apart from Shizuku.
At the time, I thought it was fine.
But what a foolish choice I made.
“Kei? Please, let’s just go home.”
“Yeah… let’s go.”
I wanted to glare at Tooru, but I knew it wasn’t fair.
At this point in time, she hadn’t done anything to me yet.
Sure, the Tooru I know had done plenty behind my back. But blaming this younger version of her for something that hadn’t happened yet? That would be absurd.
If I did that, I’d just seem like a crazy person.
“If Senpai’s leaving, I’ll go too~ Okay, Senpai?”
“Huh? Uh… yeah, I guess.”
“And maybe… you could walk me home~?”
That sweet, seductive voice.
Last time, it completely disarmed me.
When you’re a young, hormonal college guy and someone pulls this, it’s hard not to fall for it.
“Sorry, Kiryu-san. As you can see, Kei’s had too much to drink. If you need someone to walk you home, ask someone else.”
“Oh~ How can you tell he’s drunk, Kato-senpai?”
“I’ve known him since we were kids. I can tell.”
“…Fine. Later, Senpai! Let’s drink again soon—just the two of us~♡”
Tooru whispered this into my ear, her earlier drunken demeanor suddenly gone as she walked away with steady steps.
“Well, let’s head home too.”
“Yeah… okay.”
* * *
“I don’t like badmouthing people…”
On the way home, now alone with Shizuku, she broke the silence.
“But you should stay away from Kiryu-san.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know if it’s true, but… I’ve heard she’s involved with some dangerous people. That’s what kids from her high school said.”
“Oh…”
I remember this, too.
It was around the time Tooru and I had grown closer and planned to drink together at her place.
Back then, I was completely ecstatic, infatuated with the idea of being close to a girl.
Even then, Shizuku had warned me.
But I—
“There’s no way that’s true! I can’t believe you’d gossip like that, Shizuku. I’m disappointed in you!”
I said some terrible things to her.
And that was the end of my relationship with Shizuku—we drifted apart after that.
“I’m scared of her, Kei. I think she’s set her sights on you. I can tell.”
“…”
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