CH 24

Midterms and Study Application Form (6)

My body was already heating up from the heat. The seniors stood in front of a junior one by one. It was the same for me. When I raised my head, I saw Senior Jimbo’s familiar face. That’s fortunate. Since it’s the face of a senior that I knew, he’ll pour me a little drink, right……? That was a huge mistake.

Senior Jimbo poured the wine into a large glass without hesitation.

“Drink a lot.”

It was somehow funny to say that with a slight smile. Although I was confident with my drinks, this amount was still too much.

I swallowed my saliva without realising. First, I smelled the scent, but strangely enough, it smelled sweeter than the unique scent of alcohol. I took a sip of it, wondering if it might be a weak booze. The drink went in smoother than I expected. After one sip, I ended up emptying the glass.

It wasn’t until I reached the bottom of the glass that I realised what I was drinking was grape juice that didn’t contain any alcohol, not wine. I tasted it again, just in case, but it was still the sweet grape juice. Senior Jimbo shrugged his shoulders and poured another grape juice for me. He was considerate of me.

“Thank you, senior.”

Senior Jimbo didn’t say anything in response to my greeting and motioned for me to drink up. As I drank the drink again, I savoured the sour taste that lingered in my mouth. Then, I looked around, and unlike me, the other students seem to be drinking alcohol.

Some of the students frowned and forced themselves to drink, while others had already collapsed and were sprawled out in the corner. Leto was neither of them. He emptied his glass with a blank expression, and I was unsure whether he was drinking grape juice like me.

There was a big male senior in front of Leto, and he filled the glass generously, mentioning to drink well.

“It must be alcohol.”

Senior Jimbo said, pointing to Leto.

“Alcohol?”

“That guy told me he wanted a freshman to drink a lot of alcohol today. Perhaps your friend was the target.”

I was worried about Leto’s physical condition. He was still not feeling well, so he shouldn’t be drinking too much alcohol. The senior in front of Leto appeared to have no intention of taking it easy for Leto. Seeing from how he smiled widely, there was no doubt.

Leto’s ears gradually began to turn red. Perhaps he had reached his limit, Leto’s brows slightly frowned. I couldn’t just stand still, so I tried to place the glass in my hand down for a moment.

“You can’t.”

Senior Jimbo stopped me.

“I have to stop him.”

“Then, will you be able to handle it if you get swept away too?”

No, I couldn’t.

I liked alcohol, but if I consumed that drink, which looked strong at first glance, I would immediately collapse. I couldn’t think of anything, so I lowered my head, but I heard a long sight in front of me.

“…… Stay here.”

Senior Jimbo handed me the bottle.

“Senior?”

“What’s the kid’s name?”

“L-Leah.”

“I’ll save your friend, so don’t be upset.”

He brushed his face with his hand as if it was bothersome. I felt sorry for Senior Jimbo, but I couldn’t just watch Leto. I nodded and he went straight towards Leto. With Senior Jimbo’s appearance, the atmosphere around Leto changed drastically.

The senior, who was pouring drinks for Leto, had a grim expression as if he didn’t like Senior Jimbo’s appearance. But it was the same with Leto. Staring at Senior Jimbo fiercely, he seemed sceptical of him.

Senior Jimbo and the fat senior exchanged words for a while like they were arguing with each other. I couldn’t hear their conversation well because of the noisy cellar, but it didn’t seem like it was a good conversation. Senior Jimbo sighed several times and the fat senior turned red. Only Senior Jimbo remained silent in the end.

At this rate, I was worried that Senior Jimbo might get involved. When I was wondering whether I should go and help, a black shadow fell in front of me. When I looked up, it was a woman with short hair. She smiled at me brightly and held two bottles of wine in her arms.

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“Freshmen?”

She was probably excited about the current situation, as her voice was high-pitched. When I nodded my head, she grinned and suddenly poured wine into my glass.

“Why is your glass empty? Come on, drink up! Hurry!”

Yeah, I got caught by the wrong one. When I didn’t know what to do, the female senior clapped and urged me to drink. A cup should be fine though. I drank up all the way to the bottom. Unlike the grape juice that went in smoothly, the wine stung a little each time it passed through the throat.

It wasn’t a normal drink, it looked like there was quite a lot of alcohol in it that it even went to my nose. I could feel my chest and lungs rotting already. My head felt dizzy.

“Wow, you’re a good drinker! One more!”

The senior in front of me poured alcohol into my glass again.

“……I feel like throwing up.”

“That’s normal! Come on, drink up!”

I couldn’t escape it. Eventually, I closed my eyes tightly and emptied the rest of the drink. I think I could only handle two drinks and nothing more than that. And my uneasy gut feeling was not wrong. As soon as I emptied the glass, the senior smiled silently and filled the glass again.

This senior was going to make me drink until that bottle was empty.

“I don’t think I can drink anymore!”

It was no use trying to fight back.

I was going to die first while trying to save Leto. In the end, I emptied the rest of the glass and my vision became blurry. At this rate, I was going to faint. I tried moving to escape, but it was too late as I tripped and fell forward.

“Bree!”

“Hey, are you okay?!”

Then, Senior Jimbo and Leto, who finally found me, ran towards me. Both of them supported me at the same time. Facing the two men in front of me who looked hazily, I smiled. Not only were their faces hard to see, but they soon turned bizarre.

The figure was quite funny that I laughed without realising.

“Oh god, you’re completely drunk.”

“Then, why did you come to me? Why weren’t you with her?”

Leto said to Jimbo.

“Leeaah, don’t be angry. Okay?”

Even if I was drunk, I thought I should stop Leto so I said it with difficulty. My tongue was all twisted and my voice was strange. I didn’t feel like I could control my whole body.

“Woah, I’m dizzy. I need to sit down.”

I really felt like throwing up. I got up, leaned against the wall and headed towards the chair. The two men came up to me and tried to support me, but it was useless. Every time they touched me, I felt like my whole body was burning up. I sat down and closed my eyes. 

Ah, I think I’ll survive.

“I should bring her outside.”

“Senior stay here. I’ll bring her out.”

“Then you’ll be caught. So, you stay here.”

Leto and Senior Jimbo didn’t budge from each other, even though they had just talked to each other for the first time today. I just wished someone, anyone, would bring me out.

Then, someone sighed. My head was dizzy, so I couldn’t tell who was talking or who was sighing. In the end, one of them seemed to have given in and the other came and helped me. I guess I’m finally going to escape this cramped cellar.

I nodded and grabbed the arm of that person as he led me out. A strong arm held me up so I wouldn’t fall. As I took a step slowly, it looked like I was finally outside. The cold breeze grazed my face.

My boiled-up body calmed down slightly and my stomach felt better. My vision was still blurry and the sound was all muffled, but it was much better than before.

While holding the person’s arm tightly, I suddenly felt nauseous and my legs became loose.

“Are you okay?”

Who is it? Who’s talking? I shook my head.

“This won’t do. Let’s take a break at the fountain.”

I nodded at the voice. He sat me down by the fountain and gently patted me on the back. I felt the alcohol I drank was refluxing strongly. I wanted to spit it all out, but it didn’t work, so I became frustrated.

Moreover, my body was hot. I felt like I was going to melt. At this point, my body might even evaporate. I took off my cardigan. 

“‘S hot.” (It’s hot.)

Even after taking off the cardigan, the heat of my body did not disappear. I had to take off more. I took off the vest over my cardigan and threw away my tie.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

He grabbed me, but I ignored him and started unbuttoning my shirt one by one.

“W-Wait a minute.”

He quickly grabbed my hand.

“Waa’r” (Water.)

“What?”

“I wan o dink waar.” (I want to drink water.)

“Water? Wait a moment.”

He moved, turned and gave me water as I requested. But it was hard for me to open the bottle cap with my strength now. As my hand kept twisting the wrong place, he muttered ‘What are you doing?’ and opened the bottle. Then, he placed the bottle on my lips.

“Mmph.”

“Swallow it.”

Even swallowing the water was difficult. It was uncomfortable to feel the water spilling from my mouth. But, I kept struggling to drink the water.

“Don’t keep spilling it. There’s only one sip left.”

He stole the water bottle from me.

“Sigh, what to do?”

I wanted to drink water. I felt like I was going to burn up. As I flailed my hand, he took a deep breath and suddenly grabbed my head.

“It can’t be helped.”

He put his thumb on my lips. A familiar scent flowed in as his thumb gently pressed my tongue. My mouth opened naturally.

“Open up more. So, it can get in.”

He spoke in a low voice. As I opened my mouth further, he poured the water in and quickly pulled out his finger. Then, he closed my lips and I gulped and swallowed it. When the cold water flowed down my throat, my stomach finally calmed down and I gradually became sleepy. My eyes slowly began to shut. At the same time, my head fell on his shoulder.

“Bree?”

He called my name.

“Wake up.”

“…….”

“Fine. Just sleep.”

His shoulders felt perfect to lean on. His scent was also subtle, so smelling it felt soothing.

I fell asleep shortly. It was a deep and sweet sleep, just like when I drank the grape juice earlier.