At the inn—
"As everyone knows, eighty percent of the reason we came to Miyako Island was for the 'round drinking' experience."
"But for some reason, the place we booked suddenly closed temporarily, so we had to give up."
Right after the two upperclassmen regretfully announced this, the entire room was filled with their wails of despair!
"Ehhhhh?!!"
"Noooo!"
"God, why?!"
"This can't be real!"
"..."
(???)
The trio—Shiro, Izumi, and Kohei—watched the scene expressionlessly. Not only did they feel no pity, they even felt a wave of relief.
What a joke!
There's no way they believed the reserved bar suddenly closed. It was obvious they were scared of them!
So just what the hell did this group do last night?!
It was only one night, wasn't it?!
"Round drinking is where everyone stands in a circle and downs their drinks one after another without pause, right?"
Aina asked the three. She had seen it before coming—it looked like a terrifying way to drink.
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter anymore~"
"Ah~ we've finally escaped from that endless nightmare."
"A peaceful and calm Miyako Island night~"
The three had expressions blooming with flowers. While they didn't mind parties, they drew the line at alcohol-related events where death by drinking was a real possibility.
Endless one-shot chugging?
Just imagining it was terrifying!
At that moment, Tokita wasn't finished speaking.
"But since we came all the way to Miyako Island, we have to hold our own round drinking event!"
"Ohhhhhhhhh!!!"
"Urah urah!"
"Drink!!!"
"..."
The roars of beasts echoed through the room!
Without a moment's hesitation, Shiro and the others bolted for the door!
They had a gut feeling—if they didn't escape now, something truly terrifying was about to happen!!!
But...
Once you stepped into this room, leaving wasn't going to be easy!
One senior casually poured an entire bottle of liquor on the floor, making it slippery and stopping their movement.
At the same time, two other seniors rushed forward and pinned the three to the floor!
"Hey now, don't be so nervous, first-years."
"Come on, let's get this party started!"
Shiro and the others looked up in horror—what they saw was a scene straight out of hell!
The gates of hell weren't opening…
Hell itself had descended upon the earth!
...
"Of course we're going to run from reality!"
"What the hell is PaB's version of round drinking?!"
"Don't tell me it's all oolong tea?!"
The three stared in horror at the massive tub in front of them. That thing could easily fit them all inside!
Normally, round drinking involved beer or something, right? Shiro had only spotted a few bottles of beer among Chisa's group. Just what were they planning to drink?!
"Haha, no need to get impatient."
"We're about to explain."
Tokita and Kotobuki were smiling. After finding out the izakaya was closed, they came up with the perfect solution!
"This time, we're all going to drink from the same tub!"
"Since it's rare for us to go on a trip together!"
Shiro and the others nodded. They weren't blind—the giant tub was right there. Besides pickling vegetables, the only other thing it could be for… was drinking. It really did feel like one of those huge communal rice pots.
"But here's the thing."
"It's actually pretty hard to find a drink that suits everyone."
The three nodded again. "That's true."
"Everyone has different preferences."
"Different brands, carbonated or not, different drinking habits—it varies from person to person."
Seeing how understanding the three were, Tokita and the others moved on to the main point.
"But if everyone drinks something different in different ways, it feels a bit… lonely, doesn't it?"
"So, we came up with a brilliant idea!"
With determined looks on their faces, the two declared, "To keep things fair, we'll all drink something equally strong! That way, no one's at a disadvantage!"
"YOUR IDEA OF 'FAIR' IS TOTALLY SCREWED UP!!!" ×3
The three of them shouted. How could this possibly be fair?! There was no way their alcohol tolerance could match the seniors'!
And weren't those seniors usually the "drink whatever's available" types?!
They… weren't they the kind who only ever checked the alcohol percentage?!
The two seniors looked away. Now was not the time to listen to three juniors whining.
Bang!
Tokita and Kotobuki stood in front of the massive tub!
"So now, one by one, we'll pour in our favorite drinks!"
"And before you pour, you must say an 'opening line'!"
{{(°△°; "}}!
"Opening line?!"
Kohei was startled. For someone with social anxiety like him, wasn't this a bit too much?!
"Just like those anime lines, you know? 'To the sea! To adventure!' or something like that."
"Ohh, I see..."
Hearing Shiro's explanation, Iori nodded. He understood, but… he had no idea what to say!
Even though he always joked around with the seniors, at a moment like this, he was completely at a loss for words.
Why did the mood suddenly shift like this?!
Shiro was also deep in thought. He had plenty of experience—after all, being a host taught you that words are everything.
But now, he didn't want to say the usual clichés. PaB had given him a completely different feeling.
One he hadn't felt in the past 20 years.
Maybe his high school self would laugh at who he'd become.
But let him laugh. Shiro was truly enjoying this life now. He didn't want to leave it behind!
"Well then, let us go first."
"We'll start with a few serious words!"
The two seniors held their bottles like microphones, their expressions softening.
"Though we all come from different places, we're now gathered like this."
"Riding the same boat, drinking from the same tub—it's such a joy!"
Their heartfelt words moved everyone, and the only sound left was that of alcohol being poured into the tub.
"Everyone here shares the same passion!"
"Even if we go our separate ways in the future, the time we spent together will never disappear!"
"Please treasure this as a memory of your youth!"
"Never forget this day!"
"Uwaaaahhhhh!!"
The entire room was swept up in the seniors' speech!
Shiro and the others were genuinely moved too!
But then—they accidentally saw something.
The bottle in the senior's hand…
It was Polish rectified vodka. 96% alcohol.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MINDS?!"
"What kind of youth memory is this?!"
"This stuff won't leave memories—it'll erase them completely!!"
That was Polish rectified vodka, for god's sake! At least respect the fact that it's labeled 96%!
Shiro and the others trembled. They had a very bad feeling.
Today...
They might not make it out upright...