Yoshida was heartbroken.
The object of his affection was a woman named Goto, two years his senior, who worked at the same company. Gentle and considerate, Ms. Goto had been a helping hand since Yoshida's days as an intern; before he knew it, she had become a "spiritual oasis" for this weary corporate drone.
But...
"If you already had a boyfriend, you should've said so from the start!"
"I'm telling you, that's the sixth time you've said that today."
Yoshida could no longer remember how much he had drunk. He could only vaguely make out the silhouette of his companion. Sitting across from him with a look of feigned indifference was Hashimoto, who lightly clinked glasses with him while chuckling.
The two were close friends who had joined the company in the same year. If they weren't, Hashimoto wouldn't have bothered coming out in the middle of the night to listen to his grievances.
In his fifth year at the company, Yoshida finally plucked up the courage to ask Ms. Goto out on a date. She had agreed quite readily.
Feeling like he had a real chance, Yoshida went to the rendezvous with a heart nearly bursting with anticipation. After trying his best to create a romantic atmosphere at the zoo, they shared dinner at a trendy French restaurant.
What the animals looked like or how the dinner tasted, Yoshida couldn't remember at all. All that remained in his mind were Ms. Goto's smiles and those trembling, massive breasts.
Everything was progressing perfectly. Cheering himself on, Yoshida seized the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to extend a further invitation.
"Would you like to come over to my place for a bit?"
They were both adults; the meaning of those words couldn't possibly be misunderstood.
As Yoshida looked at Ms. Goto with eyes mixed with hope and anxiety, he saw her flash a slightly troubled smile.
"Even though I haven't mentioned it at the office... I actually have a boyfriend."
...
"Then why did you even come to the date?!"
"That's the seventh time."
"I'll say it ten thousand times if I have to!"
"Give me a break. You called me out so suddenly I thought something major happened. I can't stay out too late if it's just heartbreak grumbling."
Hashimoto smiled bitterly and clinked glasses again, watching his friend drain a cup that had long been empty.
"Shut it. Don't I spend all day listening to you brag about your happy life with your wife?"
"It's not bragging, it's complaining."
"To the person listening, what's the difference? It's all just rubbing it in!"
Despite venting so much, the thought that Hashimoto belonged to the "winners of life" camp made it even harder for Yoshida to dispel the gloom in his heart.
"I'm such a fool... pining for a woman with a boyfriend for five whole years... I was tricked... Give me back my feelings..."
Uttering these pathetic words like a form of self-torture, Yoshida turned his face and slumped onto the table.
After that, he learned from Ms. Goto that she'd had a boyfriend for five years already. In other words, she was spoken for the moment Yoshida met her.
"Anyway, if she has a boyfriend, just let it go. Five years is a solid relationship."
"My plan to do 'this and that' to those huge tits is totally ruined!"
"Hey, lower your voice."
Noticing an office lady at a nearby table peeking over, Hashimoto apologized to the room with a bitter smile and a bow.
Yoshida, usually a serious person to a fault, lost all sense of shame once he was drunk—just like any other drunkard.
"Just thinking about that little hand that patted my shoulder and that mouth that told me 'good job' being 'developed' by someone else... it hurts so much..."
"...Your delusions are too specific."
"Even if I can't be her lover, at least let me have one go at it."
"Whoa, are you really Yoshida? You weren't swapped by aliens, were you?"
The saying "truth in wine" was proving true, but Hashimoto didn't look down on his friend. At their age, love and sexual desire were long past being separate entities; it was only human nature.
"Well, thanks to you, at least one mystery is solved."
Realizing it wasn't good to let his friend keep spiraling into weird talk, Hashimoto took the lead in the conversation.
"Mystery?"
"Actually, everyone was wondering if a beauty like Ms. Goto had a boyfriend. She's 28 this year, right? That's about the age women start worrying about marriage."
"Damn it, don't use my heartbreak to satisfy your curiosity."
"Relax. In all these years, have you ever seen me spread gossip? ...But you really can't drink anymore. I'm staying until the last train, at most."
"I know, I know."
"When the time comes, I'm leaving. No matter how bad you feel, I'm not looking after you."
"No problem, no problem."
Taking Hashimoto's advice as white noise, Yoshida continued to "drink the air." Whether he was consuming alcohol didn't matter anymore; he was just searching for a momentary escape from the pain of rejection.
...
"Blegh... urgh... hack..."
Yoshida was on all fours over a roadside drain, dry-heaving.
As soon as he stepped out of the izakaya and the cold wind hit him, he threw everything up. Vegetables, meat, and the alcohol-scented liquid—as his stomach emptied, his mind cleared up quite a bit.
Hashimoto said his goodbyes only after confirming he was okay. However, as soon as Yoshida got out of his taxi, the urge to vomit returned.
"Damn it..."
His words weren't aimed at anything specific, just an outlet for his misery. Yoshida wobbled to his feet; his stomach was empty, and staying hunched over was a waste of time.
Enduring the world-spinning nausea, he walked a few paces and looked toward the utility pole not far ahead. If he turned right at the intersection where that pole stood, he'd be home soon.
That was when he noticed something out of place. The familiar scene was different from his memory. The pole itself was fine; the problem was underneath it. Someone was crouching there.
Is it another drunk like me, or...
Despite his reluctance, the urban legends he thought he had long forgotten began to surface in his mind one by one.
I hope it's a pretty female ghost... When did I get this thirsty? Yoshida laughed at himself.
As he got closer, Yoshida realized it was indeed a female, and a high school girl at that—at least judging by her clothes. She wore a crimson jacket on top and a grey plaid skirt. Because she was sitting on the ground with her hands hugging her knees, it was easy to see that her underwear was black.
She was a genuine high schooler, not the type playing cosplay.
Yoshida came to that conclusion instantly.
If you walked through certain streets, you often saw women dressed as high schoolers to solicit customers. Compared to their cheap, brand-new erotic uniforms, the uniform of the girl sitting under the pole was too plain, too "lived-in."
"Hey, you there. JK."
Yoshida glanced at his watch. Confirming it was 1:00 AM, he couldn't help but call out to her.
The girl raised her face from between her knees and chest, looking at him blankly.
"What are you doing out this late? Hurry up and go home."
"...The trains have stopped."
The girl blinked and replied.
Looking closely, she was quite cute. Her hair was a brownish color close to black, her eyes were large and narrow, and the bridge of her nose was beautiful though the tip was a bit round. It was perhaps too early to call her a "beauty"—she still had a touch of childishness.
"Are you going to stay here until morning? It's going to be cold."
Yoshida seemed completely unaware that his words sounded like he was trying to kidnap her.
The girl tilted her head and whispered something to herself, then looked straight at Yoshida, sizing him up.
"Mister, let me stay the night~"
Before Yoshida could break the silence, the girl spoke shocking words in a flirtatious voice.
"Mis— Listen here, what kind of high school girl follows a man she just met home?!"
Feeling annoyed by the "Mister" label and her vaguely frivolous attitude, Yoshida raised his voice.
"But I have nowhere to go."
"Aren't there plenty of net cafes or hotels near the station?"
"I don't have money."
The girl's answer was so matter-of-fact that it left Yoshida speechless.
"I won't let you put me up for nothing. How about I sleep with you for the night?"
"Sorry, you're not my type."
Are high school girls these days really this open? Yoshida found it very hard to accept.
"I see..."
The girl nodded and seemed ready to get up and leave. Penniless and sexually open, her only way to solve her housing problem was to keep looking for a man willing to let her "pay" for a room with her body.
Why did I have to run into this mess when I'm heartbroken, drunk, and have a headache like I'm dying? Yoshida rubbed his temples hard.
"Excuse me~"
As it turned out, Yoshida took the high school girl home in the middle of the night.
Though his position would be very dangerous if a neighbor saw him, he was too sober now to just leave her.
"Let's get this straight: you're the one who asked to stay."
"Mm, yeah?"
"This is definitely not a kidnapping!"
"Haha, Mister, really. I get it~"
The girl looked around and flashed a bright smile, but Yoshida couldn't smile at all. In today's world, if a man and a woman have a dispute, the man is almost always the villain. Cases of men taking in runaway girls with mutual consent only to be arrested for kidnapping were common in the news.
"Your place is a bit messy, Mister."
"Where else would a single man's place be?"
"There are some very neat ones, you know?"
Hearing the girl's casual remark, Yoshida nearly tripped as he walked toward the bedroom.
"Is something wrong?"
The girl, half a step behind him, leaned forward to look at him, seemingly confused.
"...Nothing."
Yoshida clenched his knuckles.
No matter what kind of life she had lived or why she came here, it had nothing to do with him. A stranger's business didn't matter; he just had to remember to kick her out tomorrow.
In silence, they finally reached the bedroom. Yoshida lay down on the bed without even taking off his clothes. Too much had happened today; holding out this long against the alcohol-induced drowsiness was his limit.
"Ah, are you going to sleep, Mister?"
"Mm... you find somewhere to sleep too..."
"Aren't we sleeping together?"
"Don't make me... repeat it... not interested..."
"I see..."
The pitch-black bedroom went quiet. Just as Yoshida was about to fall into a deep sleep, the girl's voice reached his ear again.
"Is there anything you want me to do for you?"
Just be quiet. And I hope when I wake up, the valuables in the house haven't vanished with you.
However, Yoshida couldn't say those words.
He was too tired. His mouth, no longer obeying him, couldn't form long sentences.
In the haze, a very strong desire gradually became clear.
"Miso soup..."
Yoshida blurted out involuntarily.
"I want to drink miso soup..."
With that, he lost consciousness.