Chapter 123: [【Drinking Broadcast】Let’s enjoy a drink late at night! Students with orange juice!]

[【Last Stardust】Surprise Offline Collab! The Night Party Begins!]

“Izumi, aren’t you way too good at this?!”

Koga’s desperate cry echoed, but my movements didn’t stop.
Since Akabane and Utsumi’s characters were already down, all I had to do was take down Koga to secure my victory.

• This is a complete massacre
• Isn’t Mei-chan on a seven-win streak right now?
• And she’s switching characters every time too

“Hehe…”

The flood of praise in the chat felt so good that I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

Izutomos always seem to enjoy messing with me during streams.
But at the same time, they’re the ones who love it the most when I show off like this.

Man, having so much popularity is tough!
…Alright, let’s finish this with style.

[What I’m carrying isn’t something so light.]

“Ahhh?!”

As I input the final special move command, my character—Satoru, the old man—lowered his head and took a battōjutsu stance.

Koga, flustered, tried to come up with a countermeasure, but there was no way she could pull it off.
I had executed my finisher at the perfect timing—impossible to dodge, impossible to block.

Even if there was a way to counter it, there was no way she could figure it out in less than a second.

[That’s why… I can’t lose…!]

Satoru slashed through Koga’s character, Black Cat, with a flash of light.
Despite being a finisher, the move wasn’t flashy at all.
Simple.
Clean.
Just one lightning-fast strike.

That was Issen, the ultimate move of the utterly ordinary man—Satoru.

[Not knowing that… is your loss.]

With those words, Black Cat collapsed onto the ground, and the match was decided.

[Oh dear, oh dear. This is too much for an average old man like me.]

With Satoru’s victory quote, the game came to an end.

[【Drinking Stream】Late-Night Sips! Students, Stick to Orange Juice!]

After the Last Stardust stream wrapped up, we were supposed to end the broadcast.
But thanks to a certain familiar’s suggestion, an impromptu drinking stream began instead.

Of course, since I’m still under 20, drinking alcohol is illegal for me.
So, I settled for the orange juice and cola Koga had at home.

For snacks, we had the curry that was originally meant for dinner, the takoyaki we had ordered earlier, and some frozen karaage from the fridge.

“I’ve never tried drinking with curry before…”
“Akakat! Same here, but I think it’ll be fine. Well, if you really don’t like it, you can always just eat the takoyaki or karaage.”
“It’s not that I hate the idea or anything… Well, if Yukari says it’s good, I guess I’ll give it a shot.”

• Ayakari teetee

While Koga was finishing up the curry, the rest of us—Akabane, Utsumi, and I—chatted with the viewers while waiting for her.
We had offered to help, of course, but Koga insisted she could handle it alone and asked us to keep the viewers entertained instead.

“Izumi, you’re still 17, right?”
“Ah, yeah… I just turned 17 this year.”
“So, you still have to wait three more years before you can drink? That’s a bit unfortunate, Akakat!”

In Japan, people are considered adults at 18, but for some reason, the legal drinking age is still 20.

You’re officially an adult at 18, but you can’t drink—one of the things most associated with adulthood—until 20?
Isn’t that weird?

Not that it really matters to me, though.
Even in my past life, I was never much of a drinker.

• So, Nekoto-chan really isn’t coming after all…

“Unfortunately, it looks like Nekoto fell asleep. I tried reaching out again earlier just in case, but there was no response at all.”

“Oh, she actually did message me a little while ago.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. A-about five minutes ago….”

“Well, it wasn’t to say she was coming, though.”

I took out my phone and showed Utsumi the chat log from Misscord.

[Aki Nekoto: (Photo)]
[Aki Nekoto: Finished Miki-chan’s route too. I’m exhausted.]
[Aki Nekoto: I’m going to sleep now. Have fun, everyone. (ο_ _)ο]

The photo showed Aki posing with a V-sign in front of a game screen, her eyes half-closed as if she were dozing off.

“…That’s so like Nekoto.”

“Right? Akakat!”

Just as they said, it was a very typical message from Aki.

“Alright! The curry is ready!”

While the three of us—
Well, to be precise, mostly Akabane and Utsumi—were chatting, Koga set the pot down on the table with a smile.

As the sweet aroma of the curry wafted through the air, my mouth started watering instinctively.
A quick glance at Akabane and Utsumi showed they were just as captivated, their gazes fixed on the pot without a single sign of movement.

“Then, let’s dig in!”

“L-let’s eat….”

“Suzuha, I shall now evaluate your cooking skills!”

“…Can’t you just say ‘let’s eat’ like a normal person?”

[-Our princess doesn’t do ‘normal’!]

Koga’s curry was absolutely delicious.
Sweet at first, but with a subtle kick of spice in the aftertaste—it was so good that I couldn’t help but be impressed.

I had mentioned earlier that I wanted a hint of spiciness, but I never expected it to match my taste so perfectly.

“Is it good, Izumi?”

“…Yes. It’s really d-delicious.”

“Alright, then shall we have a toast?”

At Utsumi’s suggestion, everyone picked up the glass in front of them.
Mine was filled with orange juice, of course, while the other three had beer.

“The toast should be led by our responsible big sister of the second-gen—Suzuha!”

[-She’s technically the shortest, though.]

“Haa?! I can see chat, you know?! I know that was you, Soramates, bringing up my height!”

“Akakat! Suzuha, being overly conscious about your height isn’t a good look.”

“…You’re only saying that because you’re not short. Anyway, let’s all continue to get along! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

The crisp clink of glass rang out as we all took a sip of our drinks.
Then, after a light round of applause, we each grabbed our preferred snacks and continued our conversation.

“You know, alcohol actually goes pretty well with curry.”

“Personally, I think fried chicken and curry make the perfect combination.”

[-Wouldn’t that make it too soggy?]

“Fool. Of course, you dip it in just a little while it’s still crispy.”

“Careful not to spill, Izumi.”

“A-ah, s-sorry….”

“It’s fine. I’ll wipe it up for you, so stay still.”

Of course, the ones talking the most were Koga, Akabane, and Utsumi….

Me? I had already shown off a ton earlier during Last Stardust, so I was fine just listening….

Before we knew it, the night had stretched into the early hours of the morning.
Akabane and Utsumi finally called it a night and headed to their rooms, leaving just Koga and me….

[-Suzuha-chi is so cute!]

“Hmm… Is that so?”

The stream was still going.
To be exact, it was because Koga, who was drunk, insisted that she didn’t want to end the stream, so I ended up staying by her side.

Since we’d already cleaned up the food earlier, the only things left on the table were the glasses and a plate with some leftover snacks.

– But why did you suddenly do an offline collab today?

“The reason… for the offline collab…? Hehe…”

Koga let out a silly laugh, something she normally wouldn’t do, and then suddenly started pointing at the screen.

“It’s all because of you guys…”
“K-Koga?!”

– ?

Sensing that things might take a dangerous turn, I tried to stop Koga, but she lightly brushed my hand away and continued speaking.

“Izumi and I are this close… We talk on the phone almost every day… We chat all the time… But because you guys keep spreading rumors about us not getting along… Izumi got upset…”
“J-Just a moment?!”
“Don’t make such a cute and gentle person upset like that…! You have no idea how sad it is watching from the side… Seriously, you’re all so mean…”

– Isn’t this getting a bit dangerous?
– Suzuhachi is completely drunk…

“From now on, no more rumors about—”
“S-Sorry! That’s it for today’s stream!”

I quickly cut off Koga’s words and hurriedly ended the broadcast.

…This is definitely going to get clipped, isn’t it…?

“Uh, K-Koga? The stream is over now, so let’s go to bed…”

But telling a drunk person that was probably pointless, so I decided to just focus on getting her to go to sleep.

Earlier, when I glanced into the room, Akabane and Utsumi had already laid out futons on the floor and fallen asleep, so Koga and I could just use the bed.
Since we were both small, even a single-sized bed should be fine.

As I was thinking that and trying to help Koga stand up—

“…Mmm.”
“Hiiik?!”

Koga shook her head and suddenly hugged me from behind.
Then, she slowly shifted her position, using my lap as a pillow and closing her eyes.

“Koga…?”
“Yuika-nee.”
“Uh, um…”
“Yuika-nee.”
“Y-Yuika-nee…”
“…Yeah?”
“Shouldn’t we… go sleep in the room…?”

I tried my best to persuade Koga to sleep in the room.

“Can’t I just stay like this… for a little longer?”
“Ah, o-okay…”

Seeing Koga looking up at me with such a pitiful expression, I couldn’t say anything.

I had no choice.
This was totally unfair…

So, I quietly let Koga rest on my lap without saying a word.
Then, after about 30 minutes, when I suggested we move to the room—

“Mmm…”

She finally gave a small nod and slowly made her way to the room.

…Seeing Koga stay still like a little cat was kind of fascinating.

And the next morning.
As soon as Koga saw my face, she blushed and apologized.

I see.
So she’s the type to remember everything she did while drunk.

“…Sorry.”
“I-It’s fine, hehe…”

Well, considering I got to see a lot of sides of Koga that I normally wouldn’t, this was actually a win for me.