None of the girls from µ's seemed to be entirely sure where the sizable bottle of rum came from, other than that it only came in one of their rooms. The assumption was that it came complimentary with the room Kotori's mother had been using, but since she swapped rooms at the last second to make sure she was in the middle-ground of the other three, it went unnoticed by the principal. As could be expected by a group who trained for hours upon hours to master their trade, the accomplished school idols showed a tremendous amount of willpower by waiting until after the Times Square performance and after all their chaperones had already retired to bed before even acknowledging the "happy accident" aloud. After that, however, it was only a short amount of work before it had been split evenly for the most part between the nine teenagers.
Going around the room late into the night, Umi was the one most closely resembling sobriety with the exception of Eli, whom Nico had joked earlier on was protected by her Russian genes. It had to be earlier, of course, considering Nico was now huddled into a ball on the small window-side couch and crying over nothing in particular. Sitting by her side on the floor against the couch was Maki, who was complementing the spontaneous fit of tears with a delirious and endless parade of giggles. The two had never harmonized so well before. Speaking of quote-unquote "harmonizing," Eli's superhuman alcohol tolerance was perhaps cancelled out by the complete and utter lack thereof harnessed by her student council partner, who was nearly blacked out after one shot (of a grand total of "too many") and was now smothering Eli in kisses and other such flagrant displays of affection against the wall. As such, Umi felt that she had been stuck once again with her typical role as the responsible one.
She sat on the one of the two beds which was closest to the door and shared with Rin and Honoka. The orange-haired duo was bouncing erratically as they very loudly played patty-cake. Umi kind of wanted to say something to quiet them down, but she knew they would just somehow find some even more irritating thing to do and everyone else seemed to be unbothered or else… preoccupied at the very least. This was especially true of Hanayo, who had somehow managed to avoid the alcohol together and fall asleep in spite of the gang's ruckus. Umi honestly felt jealous of that ability; she was close enough to making her way to one of the other rooms on her own and falling asleep herself, but walking alone frankly terrified her and she didn't exactly trust many of the others to make a good designated walker. Besides, if she was gone, who was going to look after the rest of these idiots?
Hanayo's soporous self wasn't the only one towards whom Umi was starting to feel a bit jealous, however, as she caught herself peeking once again at the dynamic duo of NozoEli. The blonde girl pinned on bottom had always warranted her share of stares from Umi, but the archer had always operated on the presumption that it was merely a platonic admiration that she felt for her. Tonight seemed to be different, though. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but then again, she had only had a single shot, so it probably wasn't. More likely it was the compromising position that Nozomi had placed her in, softly cooing "Elichi~~~" into her ear as she brought her lips to whatever of Eli's almost assuredly delightfully soft skin she could reach, neck to cheek to lips. Yet more likely it was the way that Eli seemed to be perfectly comfortable in it, laughing along playfully as she rested her steady hands on the maiden's back and said, "Nozomi, you're drunk and others are staring…" as if it were not so much of a deterrent as it was a simple statement of fa- wait a second. "Others are staring?" Umi blushed and darted her eyes away in a painfully obvious manner, sure now that she had been caught red-handed (and red-cheeked) like a common peeping tom. Eli didn't seem to be upset and Nozomi blatantly made a comment along the lines of "let them" but slurred beyond recognition, but somehow that only managed to make her anxieties flare up more.
This was the situation she found herself in when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and heard her name. She recognized the voice immediately because, even if they hadn't been close friends since childhood, Kotori's voice wasn't exactly something you could forget, and yet she still jumped at the sudden startle. "Oh, I'm sorry," Kotori said once Umi had turned her way, "I didn't mean to startle you, Umi-chan." Umi wasn't entirely sure where Kotori even came from, but she was well aware of the fact that Kotori's look of concern was being betrayed by the way her lips curled up at the edges in what would've resembled a smile if Kotori wasn't as good as she was at hiding her own amusement behind the feigned apology. The only reason even that much of a tell was showing at all was because of the alcohol, Umi was sure, but even so she had known Kotori long enough to tell when her perpetual kindness was being used to mask something else. The answer was a simple and easy "almost always;" the hard part was determining what was underneath.
Aside from mildly blunting her trademark poker face, Kotori seemed relatively the same as she always did even several more drinks further down the line than what Umi had managed. It was honestly more than a little disconcerting. Kotori continued with her worried diatribe, "You looked a bit flushed, is all… I shouldn't have made you drink with us. I'm sorry." Umi remembered the words that Kotori had used earlier back when she was still throwing a fit about the trouble of being found out, let alone the sheer safety concerns of drinking – "I think Umi-chan's right about this being risky…" she said, even though she had been the one to take the first shot, "But it's too bad that now that it's already opened, the easiest way to make sure we don't get caught would be to get rid of what's left… It's harder to hide an empty bottle than explain a half-empty one…" Back then, she had given Umi the same look she was giving now. It didn't matter whether it was apology or persuasion, those honey eyes of hers were the controls that launched a barrage of anti-Umi missiles. Even if she knew that it wasn't entirely sincere, Umi couldn't help but to melt like putty right into the palm of Kotori's hand.
"No," Umi said, now somehow finding herself on the defensive, "It's not your fault. I honestly didn't drink too much, so I just think the noise is getting to me." As if on cue, Rin and Honoka raised their hands into the air and started shouting "OOOOOOOOOH" together. There was no reason for this.
Upon hearing this, Kotori's eyes lit up in a way Umi had never seen before, even though her face was spreading out into the same wide beaming smile as always. Before she even realized she was moving, Umi felt Kotori's hand grasped around her wrist, as if it had teleported there. Lifting her arm, which moved along with no hesitation, as if she was one of the posable figures that she was so used to using for costume design, Kotori said, "I'm sure I can help you in some way, Umi-chan! Maybe there's medicine in the bathroom…" With the rest of the world blocked off in their own little bubbles, the two of them were able to escape toward the front exit of the room and the suite's restroom without any curious glances thrown their way.
The restroom was too bright for Umi at first, and when she told Kotori to dim the lights, she heard her burst into a hearty chuckle. "Did you want some more intimacy, Umi-chan?" She complied with the request without any further teasing, but Umi was noticing that the façade of kind sobriety was cracking and giving way to a flirtatious drunk faster than she could take it all in. Now that they were finally alone Kotori was becoming a different person almost before her very eyes. It all started when she looked into the mirror (even though Umi was sure she was still peeking at her through the corner of her vision) and reached up to remove the ever-present green ribbon from her long hair. After that, most of the change was in the way her eyes shimmered, as if she was planning something. It was the way her wide and toothy grin thinned into a slight, seductive curl of the lip. It was the fact that all of Kotori's speech came quicker and every line was bolder than the last; there was no pause between when Umi stopped speaking and Kotori began, and the only chance for Umi to process what was happening was in the seemingly growing space between the coquettish quips and the final lilting delivery of "… Umi-chan" which was always accompanied by a tilt of the head.
With all this build-up, Umi should have seen it coming, but she was still caught off-guard when she felt Kotori's soft mouth on the base of her neck. She had somehow been wrapped up so much in the fast-paced dialogue that she didn't notice each deliberate step across the room or feel the way her hand cupped around the small of her back and pulled her in close. As much as she immediately enjoyed the sensation, the shock alone would have been enough to make her scream out loud if it were anyone else, but with Kotori it all felt strangely comfortable. "I'm still…" she said, slowly, trying to keep her breathing steady between every croaked-out word, "… mostly sober. Are you sure you're not too drunk for this?"
"I'm fine," said the other girl, "I've been wanting to do this for a long time now." Alright, that sounded like a fake line from a romance manga, not that Umi read such scandalous material on her own. Why then did it seem that it was one of the most sincere things she'd said all night? The endorphins must be making her gullible.
"Were you responsible for getting the alcohol then?"
Kotori giggled, lifting Umi's head up toward the ceiling and kissing under her chin at the crux of the neck and moving her way up towards her cheek. Her hand was wrapped tightly around a sheaf of Umi's hair as she pecked gently towards her lips. "I'm not that cunning… Someone like Nozomi would be able to do that, but not me. May I have this kiss, Umi-chan?"
Kotori's lips hovered mere inches away from Umi's now. Umi wanted to open her mouth and say yes, but her nerves were rending her speechless, so she merely nodded. She could taste the sweetness of the rum on Kotori's lips, as well as the subtle hint of her gloss, which she attempted to identify as she closed her eyes and let loose a simpering moan. When Kotori drew her lips away again, it was accompanied immediately by a sharp gasp from Umi, her own unintentional way of asking for more. All Kotori said was, "Green tea." The lip gloss. It was green tea.
Thinking back to what she had said before, Umi looked into her childhood friend's eyes with her mouth hanging open for a moment before she finally thought of what to inquire next. "… Were you the one who asked Nozomi to get it then?"
Kotori placed a finger to Umi's lips, tracing around the edges in a repeating circle. "You're so smart, Umi-chan," she chuckled, "It's not like Nozomi needed very much convincing. She's having just as much fun with this as I am, as I'm sure you noticed when those pretty little eyes of yours were glued to Eli earlier." There was another peck on the lips, to keep Umi from shouting out in embarrassment.
"Y-you saw that?" Umi said, blushing and looking away. Her face was completely red. This short break from Kotori's relentless kisses gave her an opportunity to focus on the feel of Kotori's relentless hands, which were rubbing all over her body almost too fast to keep up with. Her hands were much more forceful than her kiss had been, petting her down heavily as if to balance out the tender impression of lips on skin.
Now, Kotori's hands were sliding up the front of Umi's chest, finding the top button of her two-piece sleepwear and fiddling it loose. There was a break in the topic of conversation to make way for more playful banter ("So soft… I'd love to fall asleep in this…" "I can lend you the pajamas." "I meant inside of you, silly." "S-stop being so lewd!") before Kotori replied, "I see a lot of things, Umi-chan. You should know better than to play with my sweet, fragile little heart like that. I want you all to myself…" By this point, two more buttons had found themselves undone. Without her typical kind-hearted inhibitions holding her back, Kotori had become a force of nature.
"M-maybe," Umi stammered, reaching up and gripping the edges of her top, pulling them back together, "If that's the case… We should go to one of the other suites. It's probably more comfortable than the bathroom."
"Stop being so lewd, Umi-chan," Kotori echoed confidently.
"T-that's not what I meant and you know it!" Then again, maybe that was what she meant. Kotori probably knew it even better than she did herself. She shouldn't be allowed to be such an enigma on her own accord and also be good at reading other people. That was just an unfair combination. Everything about her was just so unfair.
As Kotori turned around with a full 540-degree twirl, showing off her full body and drawing Umi's attention down to the shorts that she would be too embarrassed to ever wear, she grabbed the door handle and then turned back to face her partner. "Before we go, Umi-chan…" she stammered, looking down at the ground with a picture perfect imitation of sincere bashfulness, "It's my first time, so… be gentle."
Umi almost screamed, but instead she managed to cup her hand to her mouth with a loud slap that finally broke Kotori's coy persona and brought the seamstress down with her hands on her knees, filling the room with uproarious laughter. The last words said in the bathroom that night were a series of unintelligible attempts at forming a complete sentence from Umi followed by Kotori's own, "I love you, too." Then there really was a scream. Quickly, the two rushed out into the hotel's hallway before the rest of the gang could react to the commotion, with Kotori's hand once again pulling Umi along by the wrist. Umi wasn't sure when she started, but she had joined in on Kotori's infectious twittering. The only remaining evidence of their time in the restroom was the green ribbon that was carelessly draped across the floor. With all of their built-up excitement pushing them like wind under the sail of a ship or the feathers of a newly-hatched chick, the night continued.