Chapter 11 Shijou-san Suggests a Drinking Party

Shijou-san Suggests a Drinking Party

“Fufufu, well, you don’t really have to worry about that… oh, right!”

“Yes? What’s it this time?”

“Well, come to think of it, Sawashiro-kun, you haven’t been having any drinking parties lately, have you? If so, if you’re free tonight… Why don’t we go out for the first time in a while?”

“Eh, a drinking party? Ah, yes! That’s right, there’s been so much going on lately that I haven’t had a chance to drink at all, so maybe I’d like to go!”

Shijou-san suddenly suggests a drinking party. But I feel like she was avoiding my previous question…but I don’t really care.

“Fufufu, I’m glad to hear that! Sawashiro-kun, I know you’ve been going through a lot lately, so let’s have a drink today and forget about all the hard stuff!”

“Yes, thank you, Shijou-san! I’m really glad you said that! And I like drinking too, so I’m glad we can have a drink after such a long time….”

Actually, I used to be a pretty good drinker, so I used to enjoy drinking parties where everyone could get together and have fun.

But recently I was forced to quit the club suddenly, and I’ve been working a lot of part-time jobs, so I haven’t had a chance to drink at all lately.

So I was very happy to hear Shijou-san’s invitation to a drinking party.

“Oh, but Shijou-san can’t drink at all, right? So, is it okay to have a drinking party? Can we just go out for dinner?”

“No, it’s totally fine! I really like the atmosphere of a drinking party, and I also like the fact that I can talk about anything without hesitation. So I’m totally cool with a drinking party!”

“Haha, drinking parties are definitely fun! Yeah, I get it! Then let’s have a drinking party today!”

“Yes! Okay!”

I know Shijou-san is not much of a drinker, so I was worried, but she smiled and said it was okay. So today we decided to have a drinking party after a long time.

“Okay, so who else should we invite to today’s drinking party? Should we ask all our mutual friends who don’t seem to have any plans?”

“Eh? Uh, yeah, I guess so… But it’s kind of a spontaneous drinking party tonight, so maybe everyone else has already made plans?”

“Oh, I see. Of course, everyone has plans for tonight. Well, if we invite our friends now, it might end up being a nuisance….”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure that’s true! Well, it’s such a spontaneous drinking party tonight… Why don’t you and I have a drink together?”

“Yeah, sure! Let’s go out for a drink tonight!”

“Great! Fufufu, then let’s just have fun together today….”

When I said that, Shijou-san replied with a very happy smile on her face. I can really feel how excited Shijou-san is.

(Haha, well, I’m looking forward to it too!)

I’ve been friends with Shijou-san since we were first students, and we’ve had dinner and drinks together many times.

So I wouldn’t be nervous if I had a drinking party with Shijou-san alone now; it would just be fun. But it would be different if we were sitting next to each other like we are now.

“So where should we go to have a drink? Well, it’s too spontaneous today, so we haven’t checked out any places yet, so let’s just go to the big pub in front of the station where we usually go.”

“Hmm, well… But it’s just the two of us today, so it doesn’t have to be a big pub… Ah, that’s right! Then how about having the party at Sawashiro-kun’s house?”

“What? My house?”

“Yeah, yeah! You know, it’s better that way, because we can buy our favorite alcohol and enjoy it as much as we want, and it’s cheap, right? Fufufu, that’s why we’re going to have a lot of fun today… I want to talk and have fun at Sawashiro-kun’s house….”

Shijou-san continued to smile happily and made such a suggestion to me.

(Drinking alone with Shijou-san at my house, huh….)

That was a pretty attractive suggestion for me as a guy.

Because an incredibly beautiful girl came to my house by herself and suggested that we go out for a drink together? That would be the best thing a guy could ask for. But still….

“Hmm, that’s a bit of a no-no….”

“Eh? W-why?”

But I gently declined the tempting suggestion.

Shijou-san looked surprised and immediately asked me why. So I looked her in the face and continued.

“That’s because, of course… A girl shouldn’t go to a guy’s house all by herself. You know, with a man and a woman alone in a closed room, there’s a possibility that Shijou-san might be in danger, right?”

“Eh, uh… well, that might be true, but Sawashiro-kun would never do something so cruel or violent, right? So I’m okay with it.”

“Yes, of course, I would never do such a thing. But there are men in the world who do strange things when they are alone with someone, right? There’s been a lot of news about such dangerous incidents lately.”

“Uh, yeah. Well, that’s certainly true… It may be true….”

“Yes. That’s why I said it wasn’t a good idea to go to a man’s house alone and that I shouldn’t go out drinking with Shijou-san alone. Besides, Shijou-san is my best friend at this university… I never want to see you get hurt….”

“Ah… Sawashiro-kun….”

So I said that to Shijou-san as if I were gently admonishing her and giving her a warning.

(Ah, come to think of it, Shijou-san came to my apartment on her day off a while ago, too.)

As I said, Shijou-san is a bit vulnerable, so she has a habit of coming to me alone, like that day or trying to get close to me, like today. She’s probably a very pure girl who believes in the goodness of human nature.

Of course, I know that this is a very nice part of Shijou-san… But I thought there was a possibility that she might be in danger one day if she kept doing that, so I said that as a reminder to be very careful.

Because I definitely don’t want Shijou-san to get into any danger….

“…Fufufu, yeah, that’s right. After all, Sawashiro-kun is kinder than anyone else… You really are a wonderful person….”

“Yes? Ah, sorry, your voice was a little low, and I couldn’t hear you… What were you saying?”

“Ah, I was just saying that Sawashiro-kun was right! Well then, let’s have a drinking party at a pub in front of the station today as usual.”

When I said that, Shijou-san immediately gave me a bright smile. It seems my words were well understood.

“Okay, I get it! So what time shall we meet? Anytime is fine with me, so I’ll work it out with Shijou-san’s schedule.”

“Thanks, Sawashiro-kun! I have class until 5th period today, so I’ll call you on LIME as soon as I’m done!”

“Okay! I’m really looking forward to drinking with Shijou-san today!”

“Yeah, me too! Fufufu, let’s have some fun today!”

With that, we smiled at each other and looked forward to today’s drinking party.