Episode 2: Isn’t That Distance a Little Unfair.
The entertainment district in front of the station. Friday night, the asphalt still gleaming like it had just rained.
Laughter spilling from every bar.
…I have work tomorrow, for the record.
A chain izakaya. The banners outside were aggressively cheerful, and the noise reached you before you even walked in.
In the middle of all that, I was walking a little behind everyone else. Six of us from the cohort — three women, three men — and me at the back.
“We’ve got one table open~!”
The server’s shout moved us inside in a loose shuffle.
We took off our shoes and climbed up to a sunken-table booth.
By the time I’d settled into the far corner —
Riwa-san had slid right in beside me.
(Why is she — why next to me?)
“Okay, first round’s draft beer, yeah!”
“Who — who ordered green tea?!”
“So hey, Mio-chan, what are you having~?”
Her Kansai accent, clear as spring water, came pouring into my ears.
“Uh — um… oolong highball, please…”
“Oolong highball! Got it~”
Laughing, she reached for the touch-panel to order.
…She was close again.
I looked over and we made eye contact.
Something around her mouth softened, just slightly.
— What was that smile?
That one was directed at me, wasn’t it?
Outside of work Riwa-san drops straight into full Kansai.
She calls the women by their first names, too — maybe that’s just how she keeps work and everything else separate.
The orders flew in one after another and conversation started rising naturally around the table.
The guys were especially loud — probably because Riwa-san was there.
Always like this, I bet.
…And yet.
I glanced over and we made eye contact again.
Like she was smiling at me. Or like it was just coincidence.
I couldn’t tell which.
Why does it keep feeling like she’s looking this way?
Probably just me being self-conscious. Almost certainly.
◇◆◇◆◇
“…So okay, can anyone set me up with someone? I’m seriously running out of options out here.”
“There she goes, Ashida-san hunting for guys again.”
“Excuse me! With a job like this you don’t exactly get a lot of opportunities, I’m genuinely looking okay?”
“But didn’t you say a while back you were kind of seeing someone?”
Kato Shiho-san, one of the other women our age, jumped in.
“Oh, that? …Nah, nothing came of it. We hung out on my day off but the vibe was just off — yeah, that’s over.”
“And ‘hunting for guys’ is a bit much? I’m open to anything, so if you know anyone who seems interested just let me know. I’ll think about it from there!”
She laughed that easy laugh, tipping her glass.
“Oh, and just to be clear — none of you lot, okay? Don’t go falling for me by mistake~!”
That got a chorus of as if! and I’ve got a girlfriend!, laughter all around.
But my hand around my glass had gone slightly unsteady.
“What about you, Mio-chan? We’ve never really talked about that stuff. I mean — tell me if it’s too personal.”
Riwa-san suddenly turned it on me, and the table looked over.
“Oh — ah, no, I don’t really — I’m not seeing anyone…”
My face went hot all at once.
The tremor in my fingers felt like it might travel right through the glass.
“Yeah, I kind of figured. But you’re so cute, it’s a waste. Right, everyone?”
The guys knew better than to press on that one,
but Riwa-san just grinned and leaned her shoulder into mine.
Her hair fell against the side of my neck.
The smell of an unfamiliar shampoo. And, underneath it — alcohol.
Whether it was the drink going to her head or just this, my pulse jumped.
(…wait, what am I thinking?)
“Hey, you’re a little too drunk, aren’t you?”
One of the guys teased her.
“No no, this is just how Ashida-san is even sober. Totally normal.”
“Shiho~! That’s rude! I’m completely wholesome — a pure love kind of girl~”
“Says who?” / “Wholesome is definitely not the word~”
As everyone bantered around us, I fixed my eyes on my glass and let out a quiet breath.
I understand what all of it means. Why everyone’s laughing.
This is what sloppy means when it comes to Riwa-san.
(…yeah, I really don’t do well with this kind of thing.)
The type who smiles at everyone and touches everyone, who stays just a little too close — in distance and in energy.
I’m not used to it.
And besides —
(why is someone this casual and sloppy so good at her job?)
That even annoyed me, a little.
I was starting to want to go home. I checked my phone quietly.
…Last train was still fine.
That’s when a hand reached into my field of vision and rested against my glass.
“…Hey, you’ve barely drunk any. Did you not like it?”
Riwa-san murmured, unprompted.
I was a beat slow to react. My shoulders tensed.
But the words fell out before I could think.
“N-no, I just — the pace was a bit…”
“Oh, fair enough. Drinks are all-you-can anyway, so I’ll take that — order yourself something new, yeah?”
Laughing, she slid my half-melted oolong highball toward herself.
Set it beside her own glass and clinked them lightly together. Took a sip.
(…what. is that not a weird thing to do?)
I frowned inwardly.
But somehow, the small sound of the glasses touching stayed in my ears long after.