Great — barely a month into the simulation and she'd already located her target.
Yoshiiro Chiose had spent that whole month preparing thoroughly… but still.
Chiose straightened her clothes and reached down to help up the grey-haired girl she'd just crashed into.
But — why was it this person again?! Honestly!
The storeroom doorway had never in its entire existence seen this much foot traffic. The white-haired girl extended her hand and pulled the grey-haired girl back to her feet.
Staring into those achingly familiar pomegranate-red eyes, Chiose nearly broke character.
"I'm Yoshiiro Chiose, the new intern! Please take good care of me!"
"Ah — oh… oh, my name is Takamatsu Tomori. I've been working here for four years already."
Japan had a long tradition of senior staff hazing their juniors, but Tomori had never had much feeling for that sort of thing.
She was busy with her self-introduction and helping Chiose gather the scattered things from the floor at the same time, flustered in a way that took her right back to her awkward high school days.
Back in high school, Takamatsu Tomori had once collided with a pink-haired classmate too. That pink-haired girl had transferred away on the very first day of school — to Tsukino Mori, or maybe Hanasaki River, she couldn't quite remember.
"Senpai, why are you spacing out? Are you really okay?"
Chiose reached up with genuine concern and wiped the fine sheen of sweat from Tomori's forehead. The gesture was so endearing — and Tomori was certain that concern was completely real, not an act.
"Let me take you to the hospital?"
"It's fine, I'm fine, thank you…"
Ah. She'd said more words to a stranger today than she had in the entire past month.
Tomori handed back the documents she'd picked up from the floor, unsure how to keep the conversation going.
Everything she thought of saying felt awkward. Maybe she should just… make a run for it!
But the moment Tomori stepped back, Yoshiiro Chiose grabbed her by the arm.
"Senpai! Listen up!"
Chiose hit Tomori's heartbeat with the full force of her radiant smile.
"When we're done for the day, let's go grab a drink!"
"Huh? We just met… and I don't really…"
"Oh come on, I just realized we're in the same office! We're going to be seeing a lot of each other, so let's start things off on a good note! I'll go drop these documents off with the other senpais first — don't you dare sneak out before I get back!"
"I——"
Chiose bounced around the corner and vanished, all energy and enthusiasm.
Tomori watched that brilliant smile disappear, and something hollow settled in her chest.
It felt like she'd seen this person somewhere before. Which didn't make any sense.
...
RING Ⅱ — a drunkard's paradise buried in the shadows of the city.
"Takamatsu-sis! Don't be shy, tonight — ah, we are going to drink properly!"
The bar's atmosphere was unfamiliar.
She couldn't say she disliked it, but it was nothing like the stereotypical bars she'd seen on TV. This was Takamatsu Tomori's first time in a place like this.
Her small feet, hidden inside black stockings, shifted restlessly beneath the table. They were tucked into one of the bar's small booths, and sitting across from Tomori was the junior colleague she'd only met today — Yoshiiro Chiose.
Chiose was already… a little drunk?
Her cheeks were so flushed that just looking at her, Tomori felt like she might catch it.
Right — drunk from looking. Tomori hadn't touched a single drop yet.
"I really can't drink, honestly. Sigh."
The tiny, animal-like sigh earned a satisfied look from Chiose.
It had been just over a month since the simulation began. The identity the system had assigned her was that of an only child from an ordinary family.
The simulation started from when Yoshiiro Chiose was twenty-two and fresh out of university — everything before that had been skipped.
Her simulated parents had died in a car accident one month before the simulation began.
That was the basic information she'd had to work with at the time.
The system had already warned her that the simulation's target would appear naturally on their own, so she only needed to go with the flow and lay the groundwork slowly.
Go with the flow… which meant trying to build up a persona for herself. Like right now——
CLUNK!
The beer glass was slammed onto the table with gusto, the impact making the adult Tomori sitting across from her flinch.
"Senpai~ time to drink up! You did say you were paying tonight, so it'd be a waste not to have more than a little, wouldn't it!"
"Huh?"
What? When did I ever say I was paying?!
Takamatsu Tomori's eyes went wide as she racked her brain trying to remember when, exactly, she'd agreed to any such thing.
But Chiose gave her absolutely no time to think.
Before Tomori knew it, her thin lips were being pressed against the cold surface of a glass.
"Mmph?"
"Drink up, senpai! It's really good, I promise — Hoegaarden is a classic!"
The liquid rushed past the gaps in her lips, cascading down her throat and flooding through her from the inside. It churned, it fizzed, it leapt — delivering a tremendous shock to Takamatsu Tomori, who had never drunk a drop of alcohol in her life.
The soft glug-glug-glug was the sound of alcohol invading her body.
Tomori found, strangely, that she didn't want to resist. Every time the impulse to pull away rose up, it was smothered by the warm, spicy-sweet scent drifting off Chiose.
The fragrance was rich and fresh all at once — like wild lilies suddenly blooming between mountain valleys.
Takamatsu Tomori was released, having been made to drink nearly half a glass.
"Hehe, so? Good or not, Tomori-senpai!"
She'd already dropped the last name and gone straight to given name, just like that!
Takamatsu Tomori's head was spinning a little. She didn't think she could handle this junior colleague.
"I — I don't think I even tasted it. Stop — stop reaching for that glass, I really can't drink any more…"
"Senpai! When it comes to drinking, more is always better! We working stiffs should be embracing it, not fighting it!"
"That theory… and I've been working four years and this is the first I've ever heard of it."
Takamatsu Tomori took Yoshiiro Chiose's proclamation as a joke, but her posture, though still technically upright, had started to squirm, as if something scorching were burning away inside her.
"Chiose, do you really like drinking that much?"
Using her given name for the first time, a little tentatively — Takamatsu Tomori couldn't stop her fingers from fidgeting with the beer glass in front of her, the small amount of liquid remaining sloshing gently back and forth.
She didn't really understand… why Chiose liked drinking so much.
She'd only just graduated, after all. Shouldn't she still be at that uncertain, wide-eyed stage of life?
Though this Chiose — warm and enthusiastic and so very gentle — was also very likeable in her own right! You could even say, in fact, that this version of her left an even stronger impression on Takamatsu Tomori.
Probably the kind she'd remember her whole life.
"Mmhm! Because drinking makes you forget everything — so I just can't help myself."
Her small feet kicked idly under the table. Yoshiiro Chiose produced a bottle of Kisatsushu from somewhere and happily drank straight from it.
"Everything?"
"Yeah — like worrying about the future!"
"Pension problems, rural depopulation, no matter how hard you work you're still broke, the wealth gap… life is full of problems. But the moment this stuff slides down your throat, you can't remember any of it!"
"I don't really follow… but that sounds incredibly impressive."
"Hehe, I call it the Happiness Spiral! Drink enough and your troubles can't catch up with you! You should try it too!"
That's not something you can just learn.
Tomori stared at the full glass of beer in front of her. What she'd drunk just now had been… Chiose's glass, apparently.
She took another small sip from her own glass and found that a certain distinct flavour was missing.
Chiose's taste…
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉