“These dried squid legs are delish.  The flavoring is off, but the original squid taste seeps through once you start chewing.”

“You smell just like an ossan.”

Mikadzuchi comments on the dried squid leg strips with apprising eyes.  Holding a refined cup of sake in one hand, she’s the fitting image of a heavy drinker.

With Ryui and Zakuro nearby, I sip the juice that was poured into my glass.  I’m in the middle of the banquet.  This is uncomfortable.  I want to run away, but I can’t run away.  All I can do is concentrate on drinking my juice, but it doesn’t work.

“…Hold on, we’re running low on squid— “You’re not going anywhere!”  Damn…”

Mikadzuchi pushes down on my shoulder.  Her hand is like a vice grip, forcing me to sit back down as I was standing up.  The message is clear.  This is my only warning.

“Haa, I’m bad with situations where I stand out like these.  I don’t have any interesting stories to share and I can’t think of anything interesting to talk about either.”

“You don’t need to worry about any of that.  You can have fun even without drinking sake.  Jou-chan, try the nori.  It’s good.”

What’s so good about this nori?  I don’t get it.  Actually, I’ve only been watching other people… but I can’t find a good target to watch.

“Yun-chan, just enjoy the atmosphere of this place.  Here, you can even hug onee-chan the same way Myu-chan does.”

“Ehh, no thanks.  I’m not a kid anymore.”

You can pose with both arms spread out all you want, I’m not going to jump into them.

“Aww, you’re so thick headed, Yun-chan.  But, this is a good spot, right?”

“Sei-anee?  Are you drunk!?  Why are you stroking my hair?  Hey.”

Sei-anee combs my black hair with her fingers.  I feel the warmth of her hand with each stroke.  I don’t particularly hate this.  Since it feels good, I close my eyes and let her stroke my hair until she’s satisfied.

“……”

“……”

“Are you satisfied now, Sei-anee?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I could have skin ship with Yun-chan.”

Sei-anee is smiling when I open my eyes.  My surroundings have also gotten quiet.  I turn to look and see grinning and smirking faces on everyone.

“It feels like we just witnessed a rare sight.”

“…The hell is that supposed to mean?”

I glare at Mikadzuchi.  I try to scare her, but she doesn’t look the slightest bit frightened.

“Sei, do you have any interesting stories where you can brag about Jou-chan.”

“Where I can brag about Yun-chan?  Let’s see.  Back when Yun-chan was younger, she was really, really cute.  She wanted to be just like me…”

“When does this story take place?  When she was an infant?  The first few years of primary school?”

Sei-anee is talking about the time us siblings were renowned as the [three beautiful sisters] around the neighborhood.  I’m a man, but because I wanted to be like Sei-anee, everyone thought I was a girl.

“Yun-chan became skilled in housework and learned to cook delicious food after that.  I guess her ability to tinker away at things came around then too?  I don’t remember where Yun-chan’s strange stubbornness came from, but as Yun-chan’s older sister, I still find her cute.”

She has her hand against her cheek as she praises me, but that second half was pretty rude.  There’s no way that was a praise.

“Hey, you’re not actually saying a praise, are you?”

“Oh, and after that, I’m a bit reluctant, but should I keep going all the way until the end?”

“““Yeah, keep going!”””

The warm gazes being poured onto me are too uncomfortable.  Sitting through them is way too much for me.  Unable to take it any longer, I turn away from Sei-anee with a pout.  It’s then that someone gives my cheek a light poke.

“Muu…  What do you want?  If you’re going to talk about me, then just go ahead and share all of my embarrassing stories!”

“Ohh!?  The theme’s now about Jou-chan’s [embarrassing stories]?  Who wants to hear them!”

Mikadzuchi changes the theme without hesitation.  Some of her guild members get caught up in the mood and raise their hands.

“Louder!  All right, from the beginning!

“I’m—” forced to listen to the disclosure of my embarrassingly odd and amusing moments.  Sometimes when I sip my juice, something is revealed that makes me spit it back out.  That makes other people laugh which in turn invites even more people to laugh, creating a surreal experience.

“Now, for our conclusion, let’s hear it from Jou-chan herself.”

“Haa?  What was that?  This is the first I’m hearing about that!”

“It’s just like I said and you’re not allowed to escape.  Even if you’ve just been quietly drinking your juice, your heart’s slowly been opening up to us with each secret we learned.  Didn’t you realize?  You’ve been smiling the entire time, Jou-chan!”

“Ehh?”

I touch my face and realize from the position of my facial muscles that I’m smiling.  The guild members look self-satisfied once I realize that this is a natural smile.

How unfair, I can’t sit by and just listen, nor can I leave.  I take a deep breath and choose, “an embarrassing story.”

“In that case, I’m very bad with horror— “““We already know that.””” –eh?”

Multiple voice drown out my one time confession.  Huh?  They already knew?

“Then, in that case— I like cute things, and sweets…”

“Come on, Jou-chan, do you really think no one’s noticed that?”

“Yun-chan sometimes misses.”

“People who eat that much cake at Cloude’s shop, the [Commonest Café and Clothier], obviously have a sweet tooth.”  Mikadzuchi throws out a tsukkomi.

“Eh, th- then, another embarrassing story, something embarrassing—”

What can I say, what can I say, I keep wonder what I can say as I look back on my past.

“I gotta stop.  My black history is going to be revealed at this rate.  Do I even have an “embarrassing story” left to share?”

“Looks like we’ll be able to see Jou-chan’s teary face any minute now.”

“You’re a horrible person, Mikadzuchi.”

Sei-anee and Mikadzuchi are talking about something, but I miss it while thinking of something to say.

“Etto, well, Taku and I sang in an Anison choreography.”

“““……….”””

My voice grows distant in a single breath.  What?  Did I say something strange?  The way everyone’s focusing on me is scary.

“…Sei, do you know what song it was?”

“It’s alright, I’ll download it now.”

“Well then, Jou-chan, we’re looking forward to it.”

“You’re looking forward to it,” is what I wonder as I’m giving a stick that resembles a microphone.  Meanwhile, Sei-anee operates the OSO menu to purchase a song which then lavishly begins playing.

Back in real, Taku used to task me with the role of singing during karaoke segments of rhythm games.  He always made me use an anime voice.  Myu and Sei-anee were in charge of the dance segments.  I learned a lot of singing techniques in order to improve my voice.

“This is…”

“Come on, sing for us, Jou-chan!”

Mikadzuchi takes Zakuro from my knees and forces me to stand up.  The song’s intro begins to play.  I’ve sung this song a lot during rhythm games.  How can I not know the lyrics?

“— — — —!?”

I clutch the stick in place of the microphone and sing.  I begin so naturally that it’s almost as though a switch had been flipped inside of me.  I’ve been mumbling to myself quite a lot lately, so being able to freely release my voice with all my heart feels great.  I step with my right foot and uncurl my body while twirling my left hand to the side.  My voice accompanies each step and fills the room.

I sing with my all for five full minutes.  Having gone so long without singing, I relish the sense of refreshment that washes over me.  I’m so immersed within the afterglow of having sung, I don’t realize how quiet the room has become.

“Ah, etto… sorry for hurting your ears.”

As embarrassment overcomes me and I lower my head a little, everyone begins to clap and whistle.

“No, that surprised me.  Even though it was a moe song, that singing was amazing.”

“Even though Taku-kun made Yun-chan imitate an anime voice, Yun-chan herself strangely got into it and was able to get a high score.”

“Sei-anee, stop.  You’re embarrassing me.”

All the praises I’m receiving one after another embarrass me even more.

“That was magnificent.  Have more confidence.”

“That’s because I like singing.  Doing it in public is a completely different thing.”

Besides, karaoke isn’t one of my hobbies.  It isn’t a skill I can use all that much.

“I think Cloude would say something like those are the words of a shy voice actress.”

“Happily so, but more than that, that outfit needs a complete make over.”

Truthfully, I’m a bit tired as I take Zakuro back from Mikadzuchi and return to my seat beside Ryui.  For some reason, the usually shy Zakuro is very calm.  While I’m pondering that mystery, I notice that something is strange.

“Cloude?  What are you doing here?”

I hold Zakuro up to my face as I look around, but my heart isn’t into the search and I hear a frail whimper.  The weak cough that follows comes with the burning smell of alcohol from Zakuro’s nose.

“Zakuro, did you drink alcohol?  Ryui, sorry, but can you make some water?”

I have the magically created water poured onto a nearby dish and let Zakuro have small sips of it.  “Kyuu~,” Zakuro releases a tipsy sounding squeal as he laps up the water.

Meanwhile, I glare at the one responsible.

“Mikadzuchi, what alcohol did he drink?”

“Sorry, Jou-chan.  I was so captivated by your singing, I didn’t notice him lap up someone else’s abandoned drink.”

I take a whiff of the cup she holds out to me just to make sure.  Like a chuhai cocktail, it has a fruity scent to it.  I’d probably mistake it for juice.

“Good grief, what kind of alcohol is this?  I don’t know of any cures for hangovers or motion sickness.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll get better with some time.  I’ll help you nurse him until then.”

“I’ll have you do…. Huh?”

I’m staring at the murky orange liquid within the cup when I notice spots of amber yellow and red.  Some crystalized things are also sinking towards the bottom.

“Mikadzuchi, what did you mix together to make this drink?”

“Haa?  I- don’t know.  Right now I’m drinking this.”

Mikadzuchi holds out a light brown 1.8 liter bottle.  However, pickled around the alcohol inside the bottle are paralysis inducing poisons that would be used against MOBs.  That amber color is currently very easy for me to recognize.

---

T/N:  For a moment, I thought everyone in the guild was going to go out and PK Taku out of envy.  I’m kinda disappointed that didn’t happen.  Anyway, looks like this get Yun-chan outside party has back fired.  Yun is going to try and learn bartending techniques to mix that poison, Sei will get mad, and the Yun will have to find a proxy to mix the ingredients for that poison concoction.  That’s my guess anyway.  Well, with these two chapters, I’ve somewhat satisfied my OSO craving enough to wait for the next update.  On that note, does anyone think that Rem from Isekai Maou looks like Yun??  Every time I see Rem, I think of Yun.

-Gandire

<Only Sense Online 290