Sweet Cohabitation Romcom With My Senior Girlfriend and Alcohol Starts At Twenty - Volume 1 Chapter 1.1

Chapter 1: Can Legally Drinking Alcohol and Living Together After Turning Twenty

“Hey, Takashi-kun. Now that you’ve finally turned twenty, don’t you think it’s about time we start living together or something?”

Important decisions always seem to come out of the blue, and they never seem to give you time to think.

There she is, a woman wafting a mature air around her, luring me with her sweet voice. A beautiful woman with crimson hair tied to the side of her head, wearing a loose T-shirt that generously reveals the cleavage of her chest. She doesn’t seem to care that her black underwear is faintly visible through her thin shirt.

With her lips slightly moistened and a mischievous smile on her face, several empty cans lie beside her. There are well-known brands of alcohol cans scattered around, like Asahi Super Dry, and in her hand, a can of Lemon Sour.

“Kureha-senpai, how about we switch from alcohol to juice? Look, there’s your favorite Mr. Pepper.”

I take the half-finished can of Lemon Hall from the crimson-haired beauty Ootani Kureha-senpai and hand her her favorite drink instead.

But it seems like a big mistake to take away the alcohol from Kureha-senpai even if it’s her favorite.

“Which one is more important to you, living together or alcohol!?”

Suddenly, Kureha-senpai blurts out some nonsense.

It’s not about which is more important. If I have to say, it’s Senpai who’s important. That’s all there is to it. I don’t want to give a careless answer and hurt her.

“Listen, Kureha-senpai. We’re still kids. We’re not in a position to just decide to live together.”

“I’m twenty-one. You, as of today, are twenty. We’re both adults. Yay, we’re grown-ups! Let’s live together!”

“Are you really twenty-one, Senpai? Your thinking is quite childish.”

“What? Are you saying it’s bad that I’m drunk?”

“Your usual state is bad enough, but today is particularly awful!”

“You always say I’m cute though~ Why don’t we just get married quickly?”

“No, we won’t!!”

I truly care about Senpai from the bottom of my heart. Yet, my intentions never seem to get through to Kureha-senpai.

I’m not saying she’s bad, and just because we’ve turned twenty doesn’t mean we’re adults. At least, a university senpai who proposes something beyond living together on a drunken whim doesn’t seem like an adult to me.

Moreover, she’s not joking at all. She asks, “Shall we get married?” with a serious face, which makes her seem even further from being an adult.

“Listen, Senpai. It’s not that I don’t want to live with you. I’m just worried about whether your parents would approve.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ve already told them that maybe I’ll move in when my boyfriend turns twenty.”

“Isn’t your family a bit too laid-back, Senpai…”

While I feel happy that Kureha Senpai introduces me as her “boyfriend” to her family, I can’t help but worry because the content of what she’s telling them is not okay at all.

“Hmph, the key to my heart isn’t that easy to turn!”

“It is easy! Way too easy! The padlock on your heart melted into a puddle the moment we started dating!!”

“That’s because Takashi-kun’s heart is too hot~”

“This Senpai is hopeless. I need to do something about her soon.”

I can’t help but worry about Senpai’s inability to communicate.

“…Did you start to dislike me?”

“I wouldn’t be putting up with your comedy act if I did, Senpai.”

“Yay~. Just as I expected from the man I chose~! Go, Junon Boy!!!” (TV show)

“Isn’t that taking Junon Boy too lightly!?”

From a smitten, melted expression to a teary, anxious one, and then back to being smitten again.

Instead of hating her, Kureha Senpai’s constantly changing moods make me fall for her even more. She’s a drunkard that totally dependent on her kouhai (junior) like me, yet in front of others, she’s a beautiful woman who shows no weakness. But behind the scenes, she’s messaging me, “I want to see you, I want to see you…”

I’m utterly captivated by Kureha Senpai, who has me wrapped around her finger.

Even today, I was secretly happy when Kureha Senpai said she wanted to celebrate my twentieth birthday. I never imagined that she would bring up living together after getting drunk by herself.

I had been hoping that there might be a chance, and I want a little bit of my feelings back that I had put in that hope.

To end up in a bed on the anniversary of turning twenty—

Ah, no, it’s no good. It’s even more embarrassing when I think about it. No matter how much I like Senpai, there are things that are okay to think about and things that are not. What I was thinking just now is definitely one of the things that’s not okay…!

I’m writhing. Writhing at the alluring expression of Senpai that I had conjured up in my mind. And writhing in shame at my own greed for letting my desires take over and go further than I should have.

Writhing and writhing, I’m consumed by embarrassment until I can no longer see Senpai who is right beside me.

“What’s wrong!? Don’t tell me, you’ve come to seriously dislike me!!?”

“Eh?”

“Don’t ‘eh’ me. You’ve been holding your head in your hands, and I thought maybe I went too far and you hated me…”

I never imagined that I would make Senpai worry about me. Senpai’s face, peering into mine as I held my head, was filled with a sense of sorrow that was almost terrifying.

Hate? The words of my lover, spoken with such a sad expression, squeezed my heart tightly.

What am I doing, I thought.

“No, that’s not it. I haven’t come to dislike you at all! I was just thinking that I might have jumped to conclusions, that’s all?”

While pushing away the pain that almost made my initial words choke, I denied Senpai’s words.

Dislike? Why? Why would I have to dislike Senpai?

I love the time I spend with Senpai more than anything else.

“Really? You really haven’t come to dislike me?”

“I haven’t come to dislike you at all. I confessed because I find it fun when Senpai teases me, and I wanted to joke around with you even more, Senpai.”

“Is that so? Then, I’m glad…”

Kureha Senpai, relieved, returned to her usual gentle expression. Seeing my lover like that, I too felt relieved.

I’m glad. If even a little of my feelings got through, that was enough for me.

Satisfied, I let my guard down, not even realizing that I had given Senpai an opening.

“By the way, Takashi-kun, can I ask you something?”

“W-what is it…?”

“You mentioned earlier that we were being to hasty…, and I’ve been wondering, what kind of misunderstanding was it?”

“…!?”

Senpai hadn’t missed that. Even while feeling down, she was diligently searching for material to tease me with.

I’m no match for her. Truly, I’m no match for this Senpai. Her smile, now back to its usual mischief, is something I simply can’t contend with. Today, its especially seems impossible to compete.

Unlike any other day, today is special. It’s my twentieth birthday, and it’s also the day she proposed we move in together.

That’s why I’m more nervous than ever, because times like these invariably lead to something going wrong.