It was already quite late by the time the patrol of the school campus was finished.
Because he was worried about Amakusa Shino going home alone-after all, no matter how much she internally resembled a middle-aged man who loved dirty jokes, she was still a beautiful girl in the prime of her youth-Asakura tentatively waited until he had seen her home before starting his return journey.
Initially, he had planned to go back to the club room for a nap, but he felt that it would be a bit strange to go all the way back just to sleep after having already left the school.
"Maybe I should go to Rabbit House... I wonder if Ms. Kawaragi has fallen asleep yet..."
Asakura thought for a moment, but eventually abandoned the idea.
After all, she had run back and forth to Sobu High twice today, providing desserts for his class despite such a large flow of customers, and finally helped him send the three members of Kessoku Band home, so Kawaragi Momoka had worked quite hard.
Going to Rabbit House himself would likely disturb her. Considering that Rabbit House was going to have a trial opening tomorrow, it would be better to give Kawaragi Momoka some time to rest properly.
"Speaking of which, I feel like I haven't been home for a while..."
It wasn't until he started thinking about where he was going to sleep today that Asakura suddenly remembered he actually had a proper home.
So, with the thought of 'it's just sleeping anyway, it's the same no matter where I sleep', he snapped his fingers to call out his vintage car and flew directly through the night sky toward his home.
Unlike the bustling and crowded city centers like Ginza, the suburbs of Japan-even the area around the Tokyo metropolitan area-actually have almost no nightlife. Most of the time, by eight o'clock, there are few people on the roads, and even stores, except for 24-hour convenience stores, rarely stay open this late.
Looking down from the sky, although every household had their lights on, the empty streets gave off a subtle sense of loneliness.
Especially when compared to the Sobu High campus, which was still very lively two hours ago, this strange sense of emptiness and loneliness became even stronger.
"I'm feeling a bit unmotivated... Is this the so-called post-festival syndrome?"
Asakura leaned against the car window and looked outside, muttering thoughtfully: "Or is it that I'm also feeling lonely..."
After all, when he was at school, there were always members of the Magic Club by his side. Even if they couldn't help much with 'club activities', just having them around telling jokes and being silly gave off a very lively and sunny feeling.
Clearly, the vintage car was not intelligent enough to answer Asakura's question; it just glided silently through the night sky.
Asakura himself didn't take this sense of loss too seriously. He soon forced himself to cheer up and drove back to the apartment where he originally lived.
However, just a few steps after getting out of the car, he saw a heap of something slumped at his doorstep.
Asakura leaned in to take a look, only to find it was a person.
And it was actually someone he knew.
Hiroi Kikuri was currently slumped right at Asakura's doorstep.
The jacket she always wore, along with the bass she claimed was as important as her own life, were nowhere to be seen. Only a green dress remained. At this moment, the shoulder straps of the dress had slipped from her shoulders due to her unsightly sleeping posture, revealing her collarbones and a large patch of fair skin nearby.
But Asakura was completely unable to appreciate the curvaceous body under that fabric or the exposed scenery. He simply felt a headache.
"Miss Hiroi, why are you here? Wake up, don't sleep!" Asakura called out to her, and then couldn't help but knit his brows: "Ugh, such a strong smell of alcohol..."
Only then did Asakura see a few beverage cartons that had been hidden by her body due to the angle.
Considering Hiroi Kikuri's nature, Asakura didn't think this person would honestly drink juice, so those cartons were probably eighty percent alcohol, right?
"You... I won't say much else, but at least drink a bit less when you're at someone else's place." Asakura sighed helplessly, feeling a bit exhausted.
"Hehe, it's Asakura-kun I've been waiting for you for a long time"
At this time, Hiroi Kikuri finally seemed to sober up slightly from her drunken stupor.
"Is there something you need, coming to my place so late?" Asakura asked.
"Um, to put it simply..." the other party slammed her hands together above her head and leaned her body toward Asakura, making a prayer gesture that bordered on a kowtow: "I seem to have nowhere to live, please take me in for another day!"
"What about the place you lived before?" Asakura did not immediately agree or refuse, but instead frowned.
"I drank too much last night and accidentally broke a wall with one punch. But I'm penniless and have no way to pay for damages, plus I'm already half a month behind on rent, so I was kicked out by the landlord. I can only go back after I save up enough to renew the rent..."
Hiroi Kikuri scratched her head embarrassedly, letting out a shameless laugh.
"I remember you seem to have a pretty good relationship with the manager of the STARRY live house in Shimokitazawa..."
The underlying meaning in Asakura's words was naturally 'why didn't you go to Ijichi Seika when this happened, but ran to me instead'.
After all, the Ijichi sisters and she seemed to be old acquaintances, whereas he and the other party had only known each other for a month or two, and the number of times they had met was only in the single digits, mostly the kind where they brushed past each other at STARRY and exchanged a word or two.
"Because I don't want to disturb other people's lives!" The drunk bass player said with a serious and righteous face.
"May I ask if I don't count as 'other people'?" Asakura asked helplessly.
"Then let me correct myself, I don't want to disturb Senior Seika's life!"
"So it's fine to disturb my life?" Asakura grumbled, then raised his eyebrows: "Could it be that you already went there, but were rejected by the Ijichi sisters?"
"N-No, that's not the case..." The other party immediately looked guilty, her eyes darting around.
It looked like he had guessed correctly.
"I feel like Asakura-kun is a very straightforward and generous person, so it should be fine to let me stay for a bit, after all, I've stayed here before..."
Hiroi Kikuri said with an embarrassed grin.
"The last time was because Ms. Kawaragi was here so it was fine; today it would just be a lone man and a lone woman." Asakura said with a stoic face.
"It's fine, it's fine, I believe in Asakura-kun, and Asakura-kun should also believe in the me who believes in you!" Hiroi Kikuri said with a chuckle.
"...Forget it..." Asakura thought for a moment, feeling it wouldn't be good to leave this drunkard outside, so he finally sighed and let her into the house: "But let me state this first, if you dare to mess around in my house..."
"If I do?"
"All the alcohol you brought..." Asakura reached out and made a gesture across his neck: "Death penalty."
Instantly, the other party's eyes became incredibly clear: "Hah! I guarantee I won't do anything bad!"