The drinking party is a mess. Kazuo gets annoyed. The party continues until late in the night. The second crime is coming soon.
The drinking party is a mess.
Kazuo gets annoyed.
The party continues until late in the night.
The second crime is coming soon.
Their second wine bottle disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“I suppose... that is the end of the wine?” Zaino asked, a sharp look in his eye.
“Looks like it,” Kazuo answered.
Zaino said “Well then, let's have some whiskey. Sugishita, get some ice and water.”
His face was as bright a red as if he'd just drank lava. His usual arrogant tone was dulled by heavy slurring in his words. His eyes were unfocused.
“I wanna beer.”
Yumi also sounded half-conscious as she held out a beer.
“'Ey, Sugishita, open my beer for me. C'mon, open iiiit...”
She was obviously hammered out of her skull. Kazuo did as he was told and pulled the ring on the can, then handed the beer back to Yumi.
“Uwuh, Yumi, you're such a sneak. Thas' great. Gemme somethin' too, servant boy.”
Mikiko was barely comprehensible.
“Sugishita,”
Zaino turned his head.
“My ice and water... I see... So you'll do something if Yumi asks you to, but you won't listen to me? So, you think I'm an insignificant man, is that it?”
He was in tears. Kazuo hurriedly got to his feet.
“Ah, I'll bring it right now.”
He jumped off the sofa and ran out of the parlor.
Man, what a pain... Kazuo thought as he pulled the bucket of ice from the kitchen freezer. It had been nice, sitting in the parlor, but it took less than ten minutes for him to find out why no one had drank at dinner last night. All three of them were pathetically weak to alcohol. Seriously, who got drunk that fast? Thanks to that, he hadn't had any time to drink for himself. Even though he was a better drinker than the rest of them, there was no way he could enjoy the taste of wine with lushes entrapping him on all sides.
When he returned to the parlor, Zaino was laughing out loud. Dear God, the end times have come, Kazuo thought. Zaino's once-sharp features had softened to putty. Was it even biologically possible for a man to change that much?
“Ahahahaha, you see girls? This old man's pretty great! I own a house in Chiba, I have an annual income like an entire trading company, I get bonuses every five and a half months, and I always pay my loans on time!”
“Wow, old man, you're so cool.”
Mikiko's eyes widened and she muttered something or other.
Yumi stood up and addressed Kazuo.
“Oi, Sugishita, why are you jus' standing there? Siddown and eat somethin'.”
She clattered over and punched Kazuo in the shoulder.
“Hahahaha, hey, Sugishita, make a mizuwari. This old guy says he wants a mizuwari, and when a guy like that says he wants somethin', he gets it.”
“Yeah, yeah...”
Kazuo obediently did as he was told. He knew that antagonizing drunks was more trouble than it was worth.
“Wha-”
Zaino groaned at the first sip of the glass handed to him. His face was bright red and he looked a few seconds away from exploding. His eyes were creepily fixed on Kazuo.
“Why are you making me drink such a thin drink? Are you saying I'm only qualified to drink such thin drinks? Is that what you mean? Since I'm an old man, it's okay if I only get to drink thin drinks? I understand. You can just say it. Even though I work so hard, I only get to drink thin drinks like this once in a while? Is that it? Am I such a lifeless person to you?”
“No, I was just afraid if I gave you anything stronger, you'd poison yourself.”
“No, don't start with that. You're just like my wife, who made me quit smoking because it was 'poisoning my body'. She acted like she was all concerned, but it was just an excuse to cut my allowance. Cigarettes were my only comfort in life, and she just took them away. That's why I threw away all our ashtrays, hid my lighters, and had to start smoking outside instead of at home. I know she knows that I fill up with three cigarettes at the front door before I leave for work, that I buy deodorant spray to get rid of the smell, and that I'm still buying cigarettes. And I know that even though it's pathetic, everyone at the office talks about it behind my back, I know that, dammit! They all whisper behind my back 'oh, the deputy director's started smoking again'. Even so, I put up with it all for the sake of the family finances... *sob*...”
“Hey, don' cry.”
Mikiko put no feeling behind her ask.
“Iss no fun if you start cryin'. Here, lemme show you the REAL way to make a drink, not like that...”
She poured whiskey. Then she kept pouring. And pouring. And pouring... Not only her words, but her hands looked like they were starting to get a bit shaky.
“Ah, I think that's a bit much for me...”
“Iss fine, come on, old man, bottoms up.”
Mikiko cradled him like an infant.
“Hey, c'mon, there's no reason to be cryin' right now, right? Yer such a great guy, affer all. Your bonus is suuuuuper high, right? And you got a loan fer yer house?”
“Uuuuuuuhh... *Sob* Thank you. You're the only one who's ever nice to me. Everyone else is so cold.”
“Hey. Sugishita. Drink.”
Yumi smacked him on the shoulder. She clearly had no sense of moderation.
“Uh, yes, I'm drinking.”
“Liar, your drink hassn't gone down at all. Miki, lemme have that for a bit.”
“What the heck, why are you makin' it so strong fer him?”
“Shut upppp! If he's really a man, he'll be able to drink this noooooooo~ problem.”
She forced it on him.
“Well, you're just a salaryman after all, a salaryman. You have to be nice and flatter people even if you don't like them. Are you single? Well, it doesn't matter. Women don't have time for poor men! I'm not poor, I own a house in Chiba!
“My boyfriend's a salaryman, and even though he's on vacation, he won't take me anywhere, he just keeps sayin' 'Aw, I'm tired, I'm tired' and sleepin' all day.”
“I can quit this company any time I want, it's you who will have to deal with losing your precious sugar daddy.”
“Yeah, yeah, quit, quit! Do your best!”
Zaino and Mikiko kept saying things that only kind of made sense as responses to each other.
“Hey, Sugishita, wha's the deal with you?”
Yumi smacked him on the back several times.
“Who gave you the right to manage such a great guy, huh? I betcha pick off his fangirls like a sneaky lil' bottom feeder, don'tcha?”
“I don't do things like that.”
“You do! You totally do. You tell Mr. Hoshizono about what a go~od job you're doing, but you see his fans behind his back. You must be a good liar. You've definitely got one of those faces.”
“Just what sort of face is that?”
“You look like, like... like a bad guy. You use Mr. Hoshizono as bait to get all the goodies you want.”
“I don't really do that ever.”
“Quit lyin', jus' be honest. How many notches is it now, huh? How many people've you done it with?”
She hit him repeatedly again. So this was how a 20 year old girl got drunk...
“It was jus' a random date, so I put on my Chanel, and where did that dumbass take me? A gyoza place! A frickin' gyoza place! 'Oh, but iss famous, and it tastes so good' – shut up! Who the hell do you think you are, jackass!?”
“That's totally his fault. Even I think so, it's definitely his fault.”
“Izn't it, though?”
“I might be an old man, but when I'm with the youth, I always go to restaurants where I can show off.”
“Iz fine to splurge every now an' again, as long as it makes ya look good. Just spend now, think later!”
“It's not like I have no ulterior motives or anything, but just saying 'thank you for the food' and splitting up as soon as you leave the restaurant is so inconsiderate, isn't it?”
“Well, my boyfriend, y'know, iz not like he'sh got no feelings or anything, but he'sh a real-”
“Hey, Sugishita, open my beer.”
“Isn't that so terrible? Even though he's my boyfriend, I-”
“And now, the old man's karaoke! First off, this is Masataka Zaino with 'The Tree-Lined Road of Life'.”
“WOOOO! GO FOR IT, OLD GUY!”
“SUGISHITA! DRINK!”
Yumi barked, Zaino wailed, and Mikiko cheered.
The alcohol-fueled cacophony continued for three more hours.
At around 2:30 A.M., Kazuo finally started to recover.
Yumi and Mikiko were collapsed on the sofa, and Zaino was barely able to keep his body off the table, but he slowly looked around the room. On the table, empty cans and sweet wrappers were strewn about. It looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster.
“So, time to call it a night?” asked Kazuo.
Zaino's response was surprisingly coherent.
“Ah, yes, let's.”
“What do we do about them?”
Kazuo looked down at the two girls flopped on the sofa.
“We have no choice but to leave them. There's no way either of us can carry them to their lodges.”
“I agree.”
“With the two of them together, it's unlikely any incidents will occur here, and if we leave the stove on, they won't catch cold.”
Thus decided, Kazuo grabbed a spare blanket from the mattress room for Yumi and Mikiko.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Sugishita.”
Zaino's face was cold and expressionless, but his tone made Kazuo feel surprisingly close to him. Maybe this guy just wasn't good at expressing himself... It might have just been because he was himself a bit drunk, but Kazuo didn't care about the insults from yesterday anymore. After seeing him cast off all his dignity, his usually hard expression no longer looked so unfriendly.
Zaino gently pulled the blanket up to their necks. They were both sleeping like innocent babes. Mikiko's sleeping face, unrecognizable without makeup, was surprisingly innocent.
“I hope my daughter never drinks.”
Zaino was looking down at Yumi's long, disheveled hair.
“How old is she?”
“Second year of elementary school. She's really starting third grade soon, huh?”
With that, Zaino gulped down a glass of water, then stood up sharply.
“Come on, let's go back to sleep. I had been planning to stay up tonight, but with both of us here, I don't think anything will happen.”
“Alright, but please be careful.”
“It's okay, I set up a little trick.”
Zaino poured himself another glass of water.
“I just hope we can get home tomorrow.”
He downed it in one gulp.
Outside, the wind was still howling.
“I'll be off, then.”
“Good night. Don't let your guard down.”
“Same to you.”
Perhaps because he was the type to get drunk quickly, he also sobered quickly. Zaino disappeared down the hall with the nimble movements of a ninja.
Kazuo turned the stove to maximum heat, leaving only a small lamp for light. Then he whispered “Good night” to each of the girls on the sofa. Neither of the sleeping tigers moved an inch.
He went back to the second floor, put one of the cues back against the door, and sat in his chair. He'd left the stove on, so the room was still warm. Finally, he felt like a human being again.
Well that was weird, he thought with an ironic smile as he wrapped himself in a blanket. But he guessed it was good that he'd had a chance to release all the stress that had built up. Zaino and the girls, too, must have needed to escape from all the feelings that had grown pent-up from their depressing circumstances. In a place like this, the best way to cast off fear was to have a drink and forget what was happening.
The snowstorm outside the window hadn't stopped.
White snow danced up and down in the darkness.
There were only three lodges that still had their lights on, all on the right. The one closest to him was Akane's, and the other two were Yumi and Mikiko's. It looked like they'd both left their lights on when they left. Was Akane still working on her manuscript? To be able to work, even in a situation like this... As Asako said, she was a true workaholic. That may have been the only thing that allowed her to conquer every row of shelves in the bookstores.
As if they'd sunk to the bottom of a jar of ink, the lodge village was dark and quiet. Asako's lodge had been lost to the darkness, visible only as a faint outline.
Was Asako asleep?
Or was she burying her face in her sheets, shivering with fear?
Deep in the darkness outside, Kazuo pictured Asako's smiling face with heavy eyelids. Slowly, the pale, imaginary face melted into the darkness. Light intoxication, heavy fatigue, and the warmth of the stove gently wrapped themselves around Kazuo's body.
It was getting late.
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