She had no idea when she'd fallen asleep, or when she'd ended up here.
Takamatsu Tomori opened her eyes again to find it was already morning.
She and Chiose were lying in the bathtub, fully dressed in their uniforms.
It seemed like… they'd just stayed like that the whole night? Her fingers had gone all pruney.
"Never drinking again…"
The water in the tub was still faintly warm. Tomori gazed serenely at the surface lapping up toward her neck as her brain slowly started working again.
Alcohol tasted bad, and it made you feel awful afterward — though it did seem to genuinely make you forget your worries.
The Happiness Spiral, that abstract little concept, had never felt more real than it did in this moment.
"Good morning~ Tomori-senpai ♪~"
Warm arms wrapped around Tomori from behind. Yoshiiro Chiose, coiled in the bathtub like a water snake, pressed her legs together around one of Tomori's, looped her left arm around Tomori's neck, and cradled her victim's midsection with the other.
"Ch — Chiose? Is this really…"
This was really weird — she felt completely swallowed up in a cocoon of warmth.
Every inch of Tomori's body was flushed and hot, especially the part caught between Chiose's thighs, which burned with an odd, particular heat.
Limbs like lead, mind at a standstill, body aching all over… and she was still in her clothes, soaking in cold water! Drenched so thoroughly she could practically feel her bones going soft.
By any reasonable measure, wasn't this supposed to be the worst possible situation?
And yet Tomori didn't feel it at all. She wasn't distressed, wasn't sad — the quiet inside her even held a faint, soft flicker of joy.
But that small flicker vanished almost as soon as it arrived.
Beep — beep —
Beep — beep —
Beep — beep —
The clock by the door chimed on the hour, mercilessly announcing that it was now six in the morning.
"!!!"
Splat. The faint little happiness dissolved on the spot.
"We're dead — we're going to be LATE!"
"Huh? Huh! HUH!! Right, we do seem to be running late — oopsie."
"Quick, we need to shower first — we're almost out of time!"
And just like that, a perfectly lovely morning was ruined the moment work entered the picture.
The two of them scrambled into a panic. That's just how it goes.
...
"This is the first time in my life… I've ever clocked in with a second to spare."
And also the first proper day on the job!
Today's assignment was the same as always — logging and managing stone inventory to keep the stock data accurate. Same old routine.
Takamatsu Tomori had gotten to the point where she could zone out and handle her work at the same time.
Chiose, however, could not.
"Hey hey hey! Senpai, senpai — what do I do with this data?"
"Oh, for that one you just import it into the database."
Something heavy was resting on top of Tomori's head — that something being Chiose's chin, pressed down with her full weight.
Yoshiiro Chiose had wound herself around Tomori from behind, the gesture so familiar that Takamatsu Tomori found herself wondering whether they'd somehow known each other in a past life.
Or maybe… new hires were all this enthusiastic these days? Had she just fallen behind the times?
Steam was practically rising from her head, but Tomori pushed through her embarrassment and answered every question earnestly.
"Thanks, senpai — you're seriously so dependable and amazing — hey, why don't we get a drink after work!"
"Those two things! What… what's the connection?"
"There isn't one, tehehe."
Yoshiiro Chiose flashed an adorable grin, then reached under her skirt and produced a row of Kisatsushu cartons, a bottle of vodka, and two small glass shot cups.
"!!!"
Where on earth did all that come from?!
"Hehe — this was actually supposed to be yesterday's haul, but since senpai so kindly covered the tab, I saved it for today so we could share it together."
"Um, ah…"
"Senpai! It's not like anyone's around — the walls aren't glass, and there aren't any cameras installed… how about we have just a little drink!"
"This — this can't be a good idea?"
This was way too wild. None of this felt like it belonged in her own life.
Tomori's resolve was wavering. They'd only known each other for a day, and yet she'd already started thinking of Yoshiiro Chiose as a friend.
She had no other friends, which meant her one and only friend had immediately become her very best friend — how pathetic.
Turning down her closest friend was something she simply couldn't do. But drinking at work still made her stomach twist with anxiety.
"Hehe, senpai! Come on, drink up! Top-shelf cheap Kisatsushu — not exactly gourmet, but there's plenty of it!"
Chiose draped herself right over Tomori, wearing a drowsy, dazed expression as she held out a carton of Kisatsushu with a straw already poked in.
"But the work?"
"The work! Pshh, we'll knock it all out together in a bit! And senpai just taught me a ton of stuff, so I can definitely pull my weight from here on!"
"Well… alright then." Tomori stopped resisting, and gently went along with Chiose's antics.
She didn't know why, but she just had such a strong natural fondness for Chiose — and on top of that, she was the only person Tomori could actually talk to…
Refusing her really was out of the question.
Kisatsushu was a fairly low-grade spirit — its one redeeming quality being that it wouldn't drain your wallet dry. Tomori didn't love the taste, but it was just barely tolerable.
She had only one cup before getting up to open the window for fresh air. Any more than that and she might be drunk before quitting time.
"Hehe — drinking's best with some music, don't you think? Does little Tomori know how to play anything?"
Getting bolder by the minute! Not even calling her senpai anymore — straight to her name, or 'little Tomori' or whatever else. The last time someone had talked to her like this was back in middle school, when they were putting together a band.
"I don't sing."
A clean, flat refusal. Any request involving singing was something Takamatsu Tomori absolutely would not agree to.
Crychic had disbanded ten years ago. In those ten years, Takamatsu Tomori had never opened her mouth to sing again — and barring some unforeseen change, she wouldn't sing a single lyric in the next ten years either.
"Then I'll hum a little something — I want to sing my all-time favorite track! "Welcome to the Black Parade"!"
Without giving Takamatsu Tomori any chance to react, Yoshiiro Chiose wrapped up both their share of the work during the conversation, then tapped her fingers on the office desk to beat out the rhythm.
"When I was a young boy,"
"My father took me into the city,"
"To see a marching band,"
"He said, Son when you grow up,"
"Would you be the savior of the broken,"
"The beaten and the damned?"
The song cut off abruptly. Chiose, thoroughly delighted with herself, cracked open another Kisatsushu and started drinking on her own.
"That's so good… what kind of music is this?"
Chiose's voice was, without question, one of the most beautiful Tomori had ever heard.
"Punk! And this song is literally called the anthem of punk!"
"Anthem?"
"Yep — but I'll explain the details next time, my dear Tomori-senpai~ Lunch break's almost here — aren't you going to head out and grab something to eat?"
"I usually bring my own bento. Today's the first time I didn't have a chance to prep one."
"Hehe, then let's go!"
As if none of the past hour had happened at all, Chiose gave a breezy laugh and waved her hand:
"After work this afternoon, we're going… for a drink! I know a place that's got punk and amazing drinks both. Tomori-senpai… is not going to be disappointed!"
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