Sweet Cohabitation Romcom With My Senior Girlfriend and Alcohol Starts At Twenty - Volume 1 Chapter 7.3

Love Calls

“Okay, let’s stop joking around.”

“It’s a bit too strong for a joke…”

“I was thinking of having a sleepover at Yuu-chan’s house today.”

“At Yuu’s house…?”

Kureha Senpai, having finished her breakfast before me, tells me about her plans for the day while soaking the dishes in water.

Her expression is calm but also serious. It’s not for teasing; she’s serious about it.

“Yeah. I want to get a bit closer to Yuu-chan. Oh, don’t worry. I won’t forget my love calls to Takashi-kun!”

She doesn’t forget to tease me casually.

“Could you please stop saying things like you’ve always been doing this!? I’ve hardly ever received such love calls from you, right?!”

Despite confronting my Senpai with the truth, her face unflinchingly confident, she doesn’t show any signs of being perturbed.

On the contrary, she grins as if she had been waiting for my retort all along.

“So, you don’t want me to do it?”

“I do want you to…”

It’s as if she knew what my answer would be.

A love call from Senpai.

It would be strange not to be interested. Not just for today, but every day, no, I’d want it three times a day if possible.

I can feel Senpai’s love with just a whisper in my ear.

The sensation is surely indescribable.

She offered me an experience I’d never had before, so there was no reason to refuse. No, I never intended to refuse in the first place.

Surely, Senpai must have seen right through me when she suggested the love call. I can’t let my guard down.

“It’s settled then. You can send me a love call too when you feel lonely, okay, Takashi-kun?”

“So it’s a given that there will be love calls…”

“You won’t do it?”

“…If you say you want me to, then I will.”

“So, will you?”

“O-okay, I understand.”

I’m sure I’ll be the one to feel lonely first and end up making a love call to Senpai.

Imagining all the possible futures as I ponder what Senpai does in Yuu’s room during the times she’s not with me. I reach my limit…

Looking into Senpai’s eyes as I imagine these scenarios, I can’t help but feel a warmth deep in my chest.

In the end, I was teased for it when I made an early love call during lunch brea…

***

“Ah… I’m so bored…”

University is over, and now it’s eight o’clock at night.

Lying on the sofa with no particular purpose, I feel like a melting slime.

Lethargic, lifeless, and just existing there.

I’ve become “something” in the shape of a person.

“When Senpai is not in the room, it’s this boring, huh… I finished eating in no time, and I’ve already completed my assignments at the university. What should I do now…”

Perhaps because I’ve gotten used to eating with Senpai, I’ve started to eat breakfast properly, and the smell of hamburgers I cooked lingers in the kitchen despite the ventilation fan running.

Maybe because cuddling with Senpai in the room has become a daily routine, I’ve developed the habit of finishing my assignments and studies at the university first.

As a result, I find myself with almost nothing to do at home because Senpai is not here today.

“…Maybe I’ll have a drink.”

After some contemplation, I decide to indulge in another of my daily routines: having a drink in the evening.

I take out a sweet drink from the kitchen storage that Senpai likes. But I don’t just stop there.

I suddenly had an idea and went through it.

“Since I’m at it, why not mix them?”

What I brought from the kitchen was peach liquor and citrus liquor. I pour them one-to-one into a glass, both bottles already half empty.

Peach and citrus. It’s not an unusual combination. They’re even sold mixed in canned forms.

The thick flow of the peach liquor and the refreshing citrus scent of the mandarin orange liquor blend together, creating a tropical atmosphere in the glass.

My mouth waters naturally, and I find myself desiring it.

“…It’s okay, just for today.”

Drinking alcohol in a place without Senpai somehow felt like a taboo that I couldn’t shake off.

Although I mixed what should have been Senpai’s usual drink, the result was an unfamiliar liquor that exuded an even sweeter aura than usual.

On reflection, this might be the first time I’ve ever drunk alone.

With that thought, an unknown fear of the drink in front of me intensified.

Usually, we’re sweetly flirting when I’m with Senpai, so I’ve never felt strongly intoxicated.

No, perhaps it was Senpai’s presence that allowed me to disguise my drunkenness, and I never had to face the fear of alcohol.

The drink before me now is fifteen percent alcohol by volume. It’s almost the same strength as what I usually drink with Senpai, but the quantity is different.

The situation is different. The feelings are different.

Just as I was about to distance myself from the tropical drink, the moment came.

Ring.

A familiar ringtone. And yet, it was a special one.

“…Senpai?”

It was a call of salvation.

The fact that Senpai would call me at the very moment I was feeling lonely made me mistakenly think that my feelings had somehow reached her, even from afar.

“Hi~! Takashi-kun! It’s your second love call of the day~!”

Unlike earlier in the day, it was a video call.

A bright and cheerful Senpai appeared beside an unfamiliar silver-haired beauty who was blushing and waving her hand.

“…Um, who might this be?”

“Wh-what do you mean, ‘who’? It’s me! Yuu!”

“Yuu!?”

The voice was unmistakably Yuu’s own. The tone was undeniably Yuu’s. And yet, I couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before me through the video call.

Yuu who had always stubbornly refused to remove her hood in public was now revealing her face.

And her face was that of a beautiful silver-haired girl, so much so that I couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment.

No, it was difficult not to be surprised.

After all, I had answered the phone seeking Senpai, only to be greeted by my best friend’s unveiled face.