Kawaragi Momoka opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.
She found herself curled up on a gray and white bed, the air had the scent of a high-end dehumidifier, and the air conditioner on the wall hummed almost imperceptibly, clearly running.
As her consciousness seemed to float out of a swamp of alcohol, sunlight had already cut through the dimness like a letter opener through the gap in the curtains.
Even without the sunlight, Kawaragi Momoka could clearly see that the room had very few furnishings and furniture, a so-called 'minimalist' decor style.
She sat up from the bed, pulled open the curtain by the bed, and saw rows of single-family houses, seemingly in an upscale neighborhood, completely different from the low, dilapidated walls outside her rented room.
"Where is this?"
Kawaragi Momoka's alcohol tolerance wasn't very good, but perhaps because of that, she hadn't fallen into a state of hangover. Her head was just still a bit groggy.
She first checked her body and found that she was still wearing yesterday's clothes. Although her clothes had a slight smell of alcohol, there was nothing strange about them.
Then, fragmented memories from last night gradually surfaced from the depths of her brain.
She remembered finally eating that lavish dinner at the izakaya, and that Asakura had been quite generous, refilling her and the woman named Kikuri's drinks several times (though only draft beer).
Then, as she drank, she blacked out.
If that's the case, could this be Asakura's house?
The strange thing was, even though she considered herself quite cautious and usually maintained her composure at drinking parties, never getting completely drunk in front of unfamiliar members of the opposite sex, for some reason last night she had let down her guard and drank until she blacked out.
Could it be that Ms. Guitarist really possessed the ability to bewitch people, like the legendary Siren?
No, thinking about it carefully, aside from a purple-haired person who kept chattering and chugging draft beer while occasionally urging her to drink, the main reason she drank too much was that Asakura gave off a strange feeling, as if he possessed some kind of magic that made it difficult to resist his words…
Could I be into younger men?
Kawaragi Momoka muttered to herself, no, considering that he already had a girlfriend, there was also a slight possibility that she was into married men…
"Oh, you're awake already?"
Suddenly, a male voice, which had become somewhat familiar from the previous night at the drinking table, came, startling Kawaragi Momoka.
She instinctively blurted out: "No, it's nothing like that, my orientation is perfectly normal—"
"Huh, the conversation doesn't connect at all—" Asakura walked into the room, muttering to himself in confusion: "Is he still drunk?"
"No, I'm completely awake now—" Kawaragi Momoka immediately said: "In fact, I'm extremely sober! Excessively sober!"
As she spoke, her gaze swept across the minimalist room, finding her guitar case in the corner. Phew.
Good, as long as she grabbed that, she could run away at any time…
"Since you're awake, come out and eat breakfast."
Asakura opened the door and pointed outside: "However, I'm a Chinese breakfast adherent, and there aren't many ingredients at home, so today there's only plain congee and some side dishes. I don't know if you'll be used to it."
"Um, I don't need…"
Kawaragi Momoka was about to refuse, but her stomach rumbled, as if her stomach and liver were conspiring to condemn her for not eating a steaming bowl of rice porridge on the morning after blacking out.
So she could only sigh in resignation, and asked self-deprecatingly: "Do you have miso soup? Clam miso soup would be even better."
"You're really like Hiroi…"
Asakura exclaimed.
"Huh?"
Kawaragi Momoka immediately remembered that purple-haired drunkard from yesterday. If it weren't for that person constantly chattering and urging her to drink, she wouldn't be in this dilemma now. Being told she was like that person made her feel somewhat indignant: "How am I like her?!"
"The part where you want clam miso soup as soon as you wake up."
Asakura honestly replied: "That guy drank more than three times as much as you, and later even ordered a bottle of Onikoroshi during the chaos, but he woke up earlier than you today."
"To have the same taste as someone like that, ugh, kill me…"
Although she mumbled strange words like a knight princess, Kawaragi Momoka quickly left the room with her guitar.
However, after stepping out of the room, she froze.
If the room could be described as minimalist, the living room outside was completely devoid of any decoration except for a coat of wall paint, utterly empty, with only an old sofa piled against the wall, giving it an oddly ruinous feel.
The kitchen, however, had a bit more stuff. Near the kitchen, there was also a small solid wood low table that inexplicably brought to mind a kotatsu without a blanket, probably serving as a dining table.
At this moment, the purple-haired female drunkard named Hiroi Kikuri was curled up behind the small low table, looking restless. Seeing Momoka and Asakura appear, she immediately wailed: "Um… can I have my alcohol back? If I keep going without alcohol, I feel like I'm going to become a good-for-nothing crushed by future anxieties…"
"It's okay, realistically speaking, you already are. It doesn't matter whether you drink or not."
Asakura refused with a smile, but his words were so cold that the teary-eyed Hiroi Kikuri shivered.
"…Is this her personality?"
Kawaragi Momoka asked in surprise.
In her impression, the other person should have been the type who was quite uninhibited and acted boldly.
"This is her true self. What you saw yesterday was just her acting emboldened by alcohol."
Asakura explained: "Last night, he was dead drunk, in worse shape than you, so I just left him on the sofa. Luckily, he didn't throw up, otherwise it would have been quite troublesome."
"Is it really okay for me to sleep in the room? Where did Asakura sleep himself?"
Kawaragi Momoka couldn't help but ask curiously: "Did you sleep with your girlfriend?"
"Hitori has a curfew at home, so she won't stay here overnight."
Asakura replied: "As for you, what are you even saying at this point?"
"Huh?"
Kawaragi Momoka looked at Asakura in surprise, feeling that his words just now seemed a bit off.
"Don't you remember?"
Asakura replied as a matter of course: "Yesterday, you already said you would sell yourself to me."
"…Huh—?!"
"Oh, right, don't call me Asakura anymore, it's easy to cause misunderstandings."
The young man enjoyed her flustered expression with a smile, and said delightedly: "My name is Asakura Takuma, you can call me Boss."