That joy could not outweigh his worry for Miku, whose whereabouts were unknown. As soon as Naga left the towering building, he drove for the third time to their future home.
There was still no one there. The renovation worker, who was on his lunch break, locked the door. After opening it, he found that the bedroom where Miku was temporarily staying was exactly as it had been when he arrived that morning.
He had a strong feeling that Miku and Ami were together. The guy who had likely been planning something ever since he raped her was clearly targeting Miku.
He had always vaguely sensed the hidden purpose, but his cooperation with Ashi was too wonderful, and he deliberately ignored what he should have noticed under the control of his physical desires.
Not knowing where to look anymore, Naga left the apartment building and returned to the company as the construction workers finished their afternoon work. Ami wasn't there, and the rest of the HR department, led by Matsushima Kae, were struggling to handle Naga's assigned tasks. Given their abilities, the result would only be a complete mess.
In this female-dominated company, Naga only acknowledges that the only office ladies with at least entry-level skills are Keiko Kuroki, Miku, and the woman in her thirties from the finance department. It's best not to have too many expectations for the rest.
After getting back to work, Naga's attention was finally temporarily diverted. If she still hadn't heard from Miku by the time she left work, she might as well keep working until late at night. With her mood constantly switching between joy and worry, Naga naturally had the idea of escaping.
To alleviate his growing frustration, he sent an email to Yoshimi, taking a few minutes to forcefully rub the cruel ornaments on Yoshimi's nipples in the men's restroom, which had almost become his temporary paradise, and ejaculated with pleasure as her soft lips rubbed against them.
Without realizing it, he had become addicted to the feeling of treating women as playthings... Naga straightened his clothes and watched Ryomi, who was on the verge of tears, wiping her face, lips, and clothes stained with semen by the sink. The satisfaction of dominating her made him feel a little uneasy.
When did these emotions, which used to only occupy his mind in dreams, begin to invade his real life? If this is a side effect of dream-devouring, then... will he one day do the cruel things he did to Nami in reality? He leaned against the door frame, rubbed his throbbing forehead, and realized with some panic that he, who once felt guilty for raping Seto Asaka in his dream, could now do similar things in reality without any scruples.
Was it Ashi's seduction, or did he unknowingly confuse reality with dreams?
He had prepared to work overtime, but just before he was about to leave work, Naga's phone rang. This time, the number he most wanted to see finally appeared on the screen.
He breathed a sigh of relief, put the phone to his ear, and pressed the answer button. No matter what happened, as long as he could see Miku, there would always be a solution.
"Hello, is this Mr. Yumeno Naga?" came the voice of an unfamiliar man.
Naga's heart clenched instantly, as if gripped by an invisible hand. He swallowed hard and asked nervously, "I am... who are you? Where's Miku?"
Was she kidnapped? Or did Ashi do something to her? In an instant, countless terrible thoughts raced through his mind, making him almost want to throw his phone aside.
Fortunately, it was all just a pessimistic fantasy stemming from his dreamy nature. Upon hearing his admission, the person on the other end visibly relaxed, saying with a sigh of relief, "Ah, thank goodness! You must be Ms. Shimokawa's boyfriend, right? Excuse me, I'm the manager of XX Bar. Ms. Shimokawa is extremely drunk, to the point of being unable to move. Before she passed out, she was holding the phone, about to dial your number. We had no other choice but to try calling. We're about to get very busy, Mr. Yumeno, would it be convenient for you to pick up your girlfriend? Our address is..."
"Okay, keep an eye on her for me. I'll be right there!" He abruptly dropped the work he was doing, not even bothering to give a proper explanation, and dashed towards the elevator. Seeing the flashing floor indicator light stuck on the first floor, he angrily punched the wall, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he rushed into the stairwell.
After teetering on the edge of speeding and crossing more than a dozen intersections, I finally arrived at the bar with the kind manager.
Naga was extremely cautious about alcohol, and even when they were alone together, she had never seen Miku this drunk. Her face was as red as if it were on fire, and her long, disheveled hair covered half of her face, damp with what looked like sweat or tears. She must have vomited in the bathroom; there was still some filth at the corner of her mouth. Her fresh scent had been completely replaced by the smell of rotten oranges, and the pungent stench of alcohol made Naga frown.
It wouldn't be entirely accurate to say it was all out of good intentions. Miku drank the most expensive wine here and vomited on most of the sofa. All she had in her bag was her phone and a small makeup kit. If the manager wanted to get paid, the only options were to sell this drunken woman or contact her family.
After paying the bill, apologizing to the bar manager, showing photos on his phone to prove he was indeed Miku's boyfriend, and leaving his driver's license number as a guarantee, Naga was finally allowed to take her away.
Fortunately, they ran into a conscientious bar manager; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Seeing the completely drunk Miku, Naga thankfully went over to carry her away.
"Who? Don't touch me... Get away..." The drunken Miku weakly pushed him twice, and after he lifted her up, she immediately started yelling, "No!... Don't touch me, get away... I... I'm calling the police!"
Seeing the suspicious looks from the manager and bartender, Naihe reluctantly let go of her, rubbing his temples. "Excuse me, could you please get me a glass of ice water? Thank you."
"It's not the time to get into a fight at the bar. We can talk things out at home." Naga steeled herself, took the ice cubes out of her water glass, and splashed them directly onto Miku's face.
This stimulation finally sobered the drunkard in front of her up a bit. She opened her eyes and stared blankly at Naga. After some effort, she finally managed to focus her pupils and exclaimed, "Naga... you... are here."
"It's me. You're too drunk. Come on, let's go home. We can talk about it slowly when we get home, okay?" The patience he had honed during his time of failure came in handy. He squatted down next to Miku and gently coaxed her.
Miku raised her hand and touched his cheek, mumbling, "It really is you... That's good. Don't... hand me over to someone else..." Having confirmed that the person in front of her was indeed Naga, her eyelids drooped again. "Waaah... I'm so sad..."
This time, she finally didn't resist.
He rolled down the car window, secured her to the passenger seat with the seatbelt, and drove her all the way back to their newly renovated apartment. Downstairs, she was unconscious again, completely drunk and unresponsive. Her body felt heavier than usual, and Naga, who had absolutely no experience with picking up drunk women—a common AV scenario—struggled for a while before finally managing to place Miku, covered in sweat, on the bed.
It looked like she was going to vomit again. Naga didn't even bother to change her clothes. While telling the dedicated decorator to leave work early, she took the basin from the bathroom to the bedroom, closed the door, unbuttoned Miku's shirt, and wiped her face with a wet towel.
If it weren't for his childhood memories of taking care of his drunken father with his mother, he would have been completely at a loss.
A few minutes later, Miku's upper body twitched a few times, and she suddenly sat up and turned her head to one side. Naga, who had been waiting for this moment, quickly placed the basin directly underneath her, went over to support her arm, and stroked her back up and down.
"Ugh... Ugh..."
A strong stench of alcohol wafted out with the vomit. Naga frowned as she watched; she didn't seem to have eaten much during the day, and what she vomited was almost entirely liquid.
"Hey, remember to eat something. No matter how important the social engagement is, you can't drink on an empty stomach. It's bad for your health." Not long ago, Miku, who was by his side, reminded him of this several times. But now, she let out a sad groan, convulsed and vomited because of it, as if she was about to die.
After confirming that she had vomited most of it, the electric kettle next to her finished its work and poured half a cup of warm water into her mouth. Naga finally saw that her expression calmed down a bit, and her body was no longer curled up because of discomfort, but naturally relaxed and stretched out.
He let out a sigh of relief, took off his coat, unbuttoned his shirt collar, covered Miku with a blanket, opened the window, and began tidying up.
Night gradually fell, and neon lights chased away the moonlight, shining and dominating the city. Naga pulled up a chair, looked out the window at the almost black night sky, and sat down next to Miku.
If he fell asleep now, he would surely enter Miku's dream. Seeing her brows still furrowed even in her sleep, Naga felt a slight throbbing pain around his heart.
"I don't believe it...you're lying to me." Whether it was a dream or a murmur brought on by the effects of alcohol, Miku's rosy lips parted slightly, uttering a delicate sound.
"I won't agree, I won't agree..."
"Ugh...why...why did you do this..."
It seems she really did go to meet Ami. Naga felt a headache coming on, suppressing the urge to enter Miku's dream after falling asleep, and stayed awake waiting for her to wake up.
Around 10 PM, Naga's stomach was growling with hunger. After confirming that Miku was alright, he tiptoed out of the room, first calling home to say he might not be home that night, then going downstairs to buy a bowl of ramen and bringing it up. Worried that Miku might be hungry when she woke up, he also ordered a large bento box.
He turned on the living room light, but the bedroom door remained closed. Naga sighed, sat down by the bay window where the renovations were nearing completion, and opened the bowl. The ramen takeout packaging was quite secure; once opened, the aroma of the broth immediately filled the air.
He picked up his bamboo chopsticks, about to start eating, when he heard Miku's still slightly drunk voice behind him.
"I want ramen, how about you have a bento box?"