Chapter 162 – How to make wine

After parting ways with Sakayanagi, Yukio arrived at the meeting point. They'd reserved an entire floor of a restaurant, and many classmates were already there, singing and celebrating the victory at the sports festival.

The celebration dinner had six large tables, filled with dishes like eel, seafood, grilled meat, and other specialties. Besides the aroma of the food, the air was also scented with various shampoos and body washes, as everyone had just showered before coming.

With all these different scents, each classmate's face beamed with joyful smiles, as the victory in the sports festival was largely due to their collective effort.

Yukio didn't act showy but joined in on the celebration, contributing to the festive atmosphere, and the students were having a great time, drinking one after another.

Even teacher Sakagami got a bit tipsy from the students' enthusiasm, almost losing his usual authoritative demeanor. If it weren't for Yukio's support, he might have ended up under the table.

Yukio humorously helped the class teacher to a row of empty chairs on the side, letting Sakagami rest for a while. This might be one of the struggles of being a male class teacher—if it were a female teacher, the students wouldn't be as eager to encourage drinking. But with a male teacher, it's often a relentless drinking contest.

After all, no matter how good someone's tolerance is, they can't compete with a group of high school boys drinking in turns.

"Hey, Yukio-san." Ishizaki approached, his words slightly slurred, indicating he'd had a fair bit to drink: "You should... should go check... Shiina-san, I think she's passed out."

Yukio raised an eyebrow, wondering why she drank in the first place. But given the joyful atmosphere, it was probably unavoidable. Yukio walked over to where Shiina was seated and saw her resting her head on her arms, fast asleep.

Though this position wasn't particularly graceful for a girl, it had a quirky cuteness to it. Yukio gently tapped her shoulder to wake her.

When she didn't respond, he had no choice but to slip one arm under her knees and the other under her shoulders, lifting her in a bridal carry.

Ishizaki watched as the boss and big sis left, feeling quite proud. Indeed, girls couldn't hold their liquor like him—a real man with a robust tolerance!

But before he could bask in his glory, there was a dull thud as someone hit him in the back. It jolted him almost sober: "Who... who did that?!"

"It's me!" Ibuki replied, tapping Ishizaki impatiently. When he turned around, she pointed to two female classmates behind her: "Where's Shiina? I saw her passed out, so let's have Kinoshita and the others take her back to the dorm."

"Oh, oh, no, no need." Ishizaki seemed to be flailing wildly, perhaps from drunkenness or just waving his hands in a confused manner: "Yu—Yukio-san—has—has taken her back."

"What?!" Ibuki's eyes widened, feeling a chill down her spine. What the heck? She just saw Shiina passed out, and went to get someone to help, but Yukio already sent her back in such a short time? How was that so fast?

Besides, she had checked earlier, and Yukio was still with the class teacher. How did he teleport back to carry Shiina off?

"Wasn't he with Sakagami-sensei?" Ibuki was confused; her plans for tonight were foiled before they could even start. She wanted to ask how this all happened.

"Oh, oh! About that!" Ishizaki perked up: "I—I was the one who—who informed Yukio-san!" He grinned, giving a thumbs-up, his simple face lighting up with a wide smile that exposed his teeth.

'Good grief! So it was you again, ruining everything!' Ibuki was beyond annoyed.

In the end, Ishizaki remembered almost nothing else. All he knew was that Ibuki suddenly brought a whole case of alcohol, wanting to drink with him, and he ended up passing out.

Outside the girls' dormitory, in front of Shiina's room, Yukio had no qualms. He casually reached into Shiina's pleated skirt pocket, pulled out her key, and opened the door.

He smoothly turned on the lights and took off his shoes. After a quick sniff, he noticed there wasn't a strong smell of alcohol, so she hadn't drunk much—no problem, he just needed to tuck her into bed, cover her with a blanket, and prepare a glass of water beside her bed before leaving.

While pouring water, he noticed the room's decor, with various items neatly organized and placed in an orderly manner. However, there were two small bookshelves filled with books in the living room.

It didn't have the usual pink decor or plush toys or teddy bears that you might find in a typical girl's room. Besides functional items, it was just books.

It was clear this was Shiina Hiyori's room, the bookish girl.

Yukio chuckled quietly, finished pouring the water, and was about to leave when he noticed something was off.

In his memory, after tucking her in, only Shiina's head and a bit of her neck were visible above the blanket. But now, she was pulling the blanket over her head, looking far from being drunk.

Yukio caught on: "So, you're just pretending to be drunk, huh?"

There was a small twitch from under the blanket, and Shiina slowly pulled it down, exposing just a bit of her fingers, tightly clutching the blanket as if it were a protective shield.

However, the blanket was pulled down only enough to reveal her forehead and eyes, with the rest covered below the nose, giving her voice a muffled quality: "I'm—I wasn't pretending to be drunk. I just, as soon as I got back to my dorm, I sobered up."

Those shimmering amethyst eyes blinked a few times, looking incredibly endearing. Even though she'd been caught, she wasn't willing to admit it. Yukio could easily imagine the blushing cheeks hidden under the blanket: "Sobering up doesn't look like that."

"Then—then what does it look like?" Shiina's voice was as soft as a mosquito's, as if she felt incredibly shy.

Yukio found it all the more amusing and adorable. It's just a discussion about sobering up; why so shy?

Spoiling Shiina a bit, he casually closed his eyes, squeezing his eyebrows together, with one hand on his forehead: "Usually, it starts with furrowing your brow to resist the headache from the hangover..."

As Yukio began acting it out, he suddenly felt someone getting close. Before he could open his eyes, a gentle kiss from Shiina landed on him.

After a long moment, Shiina, feeling even more embarrassed, hid back under the covers. Now, she was completely hidden; not even her eyes were visible, only her smooth white forehead peeking out.

Yukio had also had a few drinks, and his heart was stirring. He pulled at the blanket: "Shiina, have you thought this through?"

Shiina didn't respond. For a bookish girl, she'd already done as much as she could; saying anything more, she might just faint from embarrassment.

"Then, let me tell you how alcohol is made. That way, next time you pretend to be drunk, you'll know how to do it convincingly."

"?" Shiina suddenly lowered the blanket, her bright eyes filled with confusion. Given the atmosphere, Yukio was still talking about brewing alcohol? Was he kidding?

"First, the raw materials. Typically, they're made from grains, like two soybeans and one small bean."

Shiina's eyes widened. What grains? What on earth? So this is what he meant by "teaching about brewing"?

"Second, yeast is needed for brewing. Generally, we use a big mushroom, like mine."

"..." Shiina couldn't bear to look at Yukio anymore; she never knew that brewing alcohol could have such implications.

***

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