Neither of them were in any mood to go home, so they decided to take the road to sobriety and went to a nearby 24-hour convenience store. From the way they walked in, it was clear as day what mental condition they were in, despite it being a little before 2 in the morning.
"You guys all good there?" They weren't sure whether the clerk was being sarcastic or genuinely concerned. Perhaps the former, since the scene before him wasn't anything he wasn't used to. If anything, Taki and Mitsuha were probably one of the more sober couples he's seen walk in this late.
"Oh, yeah! We're, uhh, we're just gonna get some water!"
With the erhaps they were a little more drunk than he thought, so he chuckled and just said "okay".
They walked around the store for what seemed like an hour, stumbling and almost devoid of balance. When they finally found the water, the two of them looked at each other with a look that said "you pick it up".
"Ugh. Fine. I'll get it." Within seconds there were multiple large water bottles on the floor, creating loud thuds and snaps of plastic as they hit the ground.
"Pick it up, please! You're making a scene!"
"Okay, okay! Uhh…"
Every moment that passed made picking up the bottles increasingly difficult. Each hilariously failed attempt to pick one up was followed by a grunt of frustration.
"Oh forget it, I'll get them."
"Yeah! Let's see how you like it!"
"I believe I have to…wait. Where'd they go?"
"The bottles are over here, you fool."
"Oh. Yeah I knew that."
The clerk had seen enough and ventured across the store to their much-needed assistance. "Okay, I think I can take it from here. Just two of these bottles?"
"Wait, who are you?"
"JUST…go to the counter."
On his way back to the register, he mentally prepared himself for the crusade that would be either of them finding a way to pay for the water. Determined to redeem himself for failing to pick up the bottles, Taki the initiative to pay for the stuff. "Phew. Okay. One moment, sir."
Taki reached into his wallet and pulled out a couple pieces of paper that definitely weren't bills of yen. The clerk was both amused and somewhat annoyed when he saw that Taki had pulled out the receipt from the ramen restaurant and the stub from the museum ticket, instead of the money that would pay for the water.
"That's not money, Taki! You're embarrassing me!"
"Hang on, I'm trying!"
It almost seemed like this was being done on purpose, because Taki was emptying his wallet of everything except the 1000-yen bill he needed to pay for the water. Splattered over the counter were credit cards, business cards, and as luck would have it a lewd picture of Mitsuha.
"TAKI, WHAT IS THAT?!"
"Oh!" Taki swiped the picture back, hoping the clerk didn't see it. "You, uhh, weren't supposed to see that."
Without another moment's hesitation, two men entered the building, and placed a 1000-yen bill on the counter, cleaned up the mess on the counter, and helped Taki and Mitsuha out the building, but not before apologizing to the clerk for their current state, who just laughed and held up hand up in farewell.
Outside, both men were fuming, at a loss for words that they had to bail Taki and Mitsuha out of a pretty embarrassing situation. "Are you guys okay?"
"Heeeyyy, did you steal that water from the store?"
"Okay, that's it, you guys are done. We're taking you home, where do you guys live?"
"Weee live on the other side of the raaaiiinbooowww…"
"Oh check his driver's license." The stocky brown-haired guy remembered that that was one of the cards in the mess Taki had made in the store.
"Oh yeah, it's right here." The black-haired man in glasses shuffled through the cards he picked up and found Taki's driver's license, and pinpointed his place of residence.
"Phew. Thankfully it's not too far away. Let's get these guys home."
Along the way, the two men conversed while laboring the drunk couple home. "Huh. Looks like Taki found someone after all."
"Yeah. He did. It's weird though. It'd been so long since we'd seen him that it's probable that they've been dating for months. And, like, this is our best friend."
"Heeeyyy, are you guys talking about meee?"
"Just keep moving, buddy. We're almost there. I think."
Taki and Mitsuha got heavier and heavier as the journey went on, and the fatigue started to settle in. They walked almost aimlessly for miles, and eventually they were so tired that they themselves almost felt drunk in a way. But they signed up for the task, and were determined to see it through. It's not like could've just left them in the middle of nowhere. When they finally got to Taki's apartment complex, one of them happened to glance to the side, and quickly became disappointed with what he saw.
"Oh my god, dude… look."
"Wha-… aww. Are you serious…"
Both of them were feeling pretty dejected when they realized the entire walk back could've been prevented, had they known that there was a train station right next to Taki's apartment complex.
"Well. Now we know."
"Yeah. Okay, now the fun part. How do we get them upstairs?" Taki's room was on the second floor, and thankfully not on the 3rd or higher. They were met with a few different dilemmas here. It didn't help that both of them were pretty beat from the walk, but neither of them knew exactly how to address Mitsuha, or who would be the one to carry her up.
"Okay, look, I'm spoken for, I don't wanna have to do that."
"But you're, like, smaller than me. Wouldn't it make sense that I carry the heavier person?"
"Wha- I'm smaller than you, what's that supposed to mean? Anyway, it's gonna be a struggle either way, guy."
"Grrrr. Fine! I'll take the girl."
"Are we going on a roller coasteeerrr?"
"Yes, Taki, you're gonna go on a ride now."
On the way up, the larger of the two felt the need to comment on a couple things. "The girl's been awfully quiet. Actually, they've both been pretty quiet."
"Yeah."
"What was the girl's name, again? Misoha?"
"Iii'm Mitsuhaaa."
"Okay. Mitsuha. Sorry."
When they finally got to Taki's room, they were tired enough to collapse and spend the rest of the night at his door step. But it didn't matter what would happen here if they didn't get Taki's door open.
"Get his key, dude."
"What, just take it from him?"
"Look at him. Do you really think he could stop you if he wanted to?"
"Good point." The man carrying Taki took his front door key, and opened the door to Taki's apartment. They made a B-line to Taki's bed to set them down. Mitsuha was set down gently, but Taki was almost thrown onto his bed.
"Dude! Are you trying to make him vomit or something?"
"Okay, they're honestly not too far of that at this point."
"And make sure you turn them to their side too! Wouldn't want them to drown in their own vomit."
"I sure hope you're joking."
"I'm not. People lying on their back actually choke on themselves when they throw up."
"Well, excuse me for being civil and never being drunk ever."
Despite what their bodies may have been experiencing, Taki and Mitsuha at least looked to be sleeping peacefully. The feeling of the bed more than likely knocked them out. Without an idea of what else they could do, the two men decided to depart.
But before they left, one of them took a pen and paper from Taki's desk, and started writing.
"What are you doing?"
"Just leaving them a note. They probably won't remember any of what just happened."
"Oh, shoot. I'm not feeling so good either."
"You okay?"
"Well I had a little bit to drink too. And all that walking and carrying them probably didn't help."
"Then, here. Take this." He handed him a nearby wastebasket fearing for the worst.
And not even a full second later, he found himself trying to ignore the sound of his friend vomiting. I'm really glad I don't drink. As he was finishing his note, he turned back to his friend, mostly in impatience.
"You done?"
"Phew. Yeah. I'm good. We can go now."
Waking up to darkness generally wasn't a good thing. It only meant bad sleeping habits were forming. But waking up to darkness and a throbbing headache was a different story. Taki felt like there was a big metal block just sitting on top of his head, and a big metal clamp pressing the sides of it. It was one of the most torturous feelings he'd ever experienced. Suddenly, he felt his stomach start to churn, and the slightest movement would twist his stomach in all sorts of different directions. Not wanting to take any chances of soiling his sleeping area, he sprinted to the bathroom, and unloaded his bowels into the toilet.
And while his head was in the can, he felt like his was on a tilt-a-whirl, spinning rapidly and uncontrollably. The dizziness would just induce more vomiting, and he remained in the bathroom for another 20 minutes, the last 5 of which was spent painfully dry-heaving.
When he recollected his composure, and regained the mental stability to make his way back to bed, he glanced in the mirror, noticing that he was wearing exactly what he wore the night before. Or rather just a few hours ago. It was fairly obvious what happened, but this whole feeling was new to him. He'd never gone that far with alcohol. Jeez, what happened last night?
With his head still pounding, he lumbered back to bed, and found Mitsuha passed out on his bed, also wearing the same outfit from the night. And as he reclaimed more and more of his awareness, a foul smell became more apparent. As if he had to wonder what it could be. Where's it coming from, though? It wasn't before long before he found his wastebasket stained and filled with vomit. And the worst part was he had no idea who'd done this. But it wasn't like he could remember, anyway.
He picked up the wastebasket to dispose of the excrements, but not before he noticed a note on his desk. His disorientation made hard to even process the characters, let alone what they meant at all. So using all of his concentration, he was able to read and understand what the note said:
Taki and Mitsuha:
You guys probably don't remember anything from last night. You guys went pretty hard! Anyway, if you haven't already noticed, we went ahead and took you guys home. Neither of you were in any condition to walk back. Anyway, despite whatever hangover you guys will inevitably feel, I hope you guys had a good time last night, because we sure as hell did. It was nice to meet you, Mitsuha, and it was nice to catch up with you again, Taki. It'd been a while since we last talked. We should definitely hang out again. Just hit us up whenever you wanna grab drinks. Maybe not as many as last night though. Anyway, god speed and a peaceful journey back to sobriety, guys!
Shinta and Tsukasa
Shinta and Tsukasa. Taki's two and only friends on high school. Of course with the way their lives were progressing, none of them had much contact with each other. But regardless, he held the two of them to a pretty high esteem.
To him, it wasn't fair though. Mitsuha had the luxury of remembering her reunion with her friends. And the joy and laughs they all shared together. Even though he'd met them before, he'd come to genuinely like Saya and Tessie. Perhaps not so much bitter that he didn't really get to see his friends again, but rather he was embarrassed that they got to see him in such incapacitation. For everything he didn't remember, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that their phones were almost at capacity with pictures and videos of Taki's drunkenness. Ones that they would inevitably use for blackmail or punishment in the future.
Despite all of that, he wished he'd been able to see them, and remember what they'd done last night. It had indeed been a while seen they'd last spoke. But the sentiments quickly melted away, because the smell of the vomit in the bin became overbearing and he went ahead and cleaned it out, dumping its contents into the toilet. His head began to spin again, and before long, he lost control of the bin he was holding and fell forward, barely catching himself and preventing a harsh impact with the granite surface. One by one, his body parts gave up on him, and his legs folded and put him on the floor.
"Taki?"
Wh-…what? Mitsuha?
Taki could feel and hear heavy, disoriented footsteps towards the bathroom, and he was soon met with a hungover and very dizzy Mitsuha, who, just like him, collapsed from her body abandoning her.
She ended up on the floor, right next to Taki. She was still a pretty loopy, but nothing was going to stop her from pouncing to Taki's rescue. Even though she herself was in no condition to do anything. But she somehow made her way over to Taki. And dragged herself on top of him and cradled his head with her arms.
"Are you okay, Taki-kun?"
Despite both of their drunkenness, the lust in their eyes was still there, and the clouded judgement created ludicrous fantasies that would normally be deemed too raunchy under regular circumstances. So at 3 in the morning on the bathroom floor, they did the totally normal thing and kissed, disregarding the fact that either of them could vomit instantaneously.
30 minutes later, they were in a mental state where then they could at least pretend to be sober. After Taki helped Mitsuha off the floor, she wrapped her arms around his neck and fell into him again. Taki did the same, holding her and stroking her back to soothe her.
"You know how I know last night was fun?"
"How?"
"I don't remember anything."
"Did you see the nice note on the table?"
"Yes I did. That was very noble of them."
"Indeed. We should probably thank them some way."
"With what? More drinks?"
It was funny for just a few seconds, but the idea and taste of liquor made them very sick very fast. And the queasiness overtook all other emotions.
But Taki took a second to think about what was going on. And wasn't surprised in the slightest. Every time he felt like he'd had every experience possible with Mitsuha, something new happens. Last night was the first time he'd ever gotten drunk with her. He was sure she felt the same way, but it was of course really endearing to know that he could trust her when he has a little too much to drink. That was a rather gratifying feeling.
"My goodness. It's only Saturday morning."
"Yeah. I love how long these weekends feel now."
"Hey. You know what'd be really cool?"
"What's that?"
"If we can get everyone together for lunch or dinner. I think everyone would get along. Granted I don't remember any of how Shinta and Tsukasa acted, but I'm sure they're swell guys. I mean, they took us home, after all."
"Oh yeah, huh. Well, sure. That sounds good!"
"Not much we can do now, though. It's not even 4 in the morning."
"So! How was this morning?" Shinta was still reeling over the two of them being embarrassingly drunk, but was still genuinely curious to know how that morning went.
"Mitsuha, I can't believe you got drunk! Oh, I wish I could've seen that, ha ha ha ha!" Saya could never have envisioned a scenario where Mitsuha had so much to drink that she started to act really silly.
"It was alright. Pretty interesting way to wake up, right, sweetie?" Taki turned to his girlfriend, only to find her disgruntled and clearly humiliated by the whole thing. Not in any mood for discourse over her little episode.
"Hehe. She's doing okay. Anyway, where's Tsukasa?"
"With his fiancée."
Oh. That's right. Tsukasa's fiancée. Okudera-senpai. Even though it shouldn't have really mattered, Taki still felt a little embittered that they ended up together. After everything he'd been through. It worked out in the end, because he found his true soulmate and everything. But his own cynicism caused him to interpret his last conversation with Miki a little differently than most people would. Almost like she was happy that she didn't end up with Taki. She means nothing to me, anymore.
Mitsuha was afraid, though. She knew him better than anyone else. He'd opened up about her before. Even going back to when they were teenagers. She was well aware that emotions concerning Okudera were bitter, almost hostile, and it's by proximity and relations that he now has a small amount of resentment toward one of his own best friends.
Only because she understood his sentiment. She wasn't particularly thrilled when Saya and Tessie got engaged. Of course she was happy as a friend, but at some point she herself felt a little unpleasant that she was still alone. So even though Taki was grateful that Tsukasa took him home, part of him wanted to have nothing to do with him. Because it was a part of him that he'd rather leave behind. Mitsuha didn't want that.
It was, of course, nice to know that Taki held her to such a regard that he felt like she was all he needed. Since that was exactly how she felt about him.
"Oh. Okay." The indifference in his voice was obvious, letting everyone at the table, which included Saya, Tessie, and Shinta, that he couldn't care less about Tsukasa at that moment. In the middle of the same café where he'd spent so much time, where he shared a lot of happy memories with his friends and of course Mitsuha, he was having a little internal conflict, casting a little bit of a cloud over the mood at the table. Mitsuha figured it'd be best to change the subject.
"That's okay! We're all here! It's so nice that we all got together."
"That's right. It was really nice to meet you, Saya and Tessie. Here's to good times. May we hang out and do cool things together for a long time."
Taki seemed to perk up a little, and joined the table as they bumped coffee cups in cheers. Honoring their new friendship.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A/N: Salutations, readers! So yeah, it has been a little longer than I intended from the last time I put up a chapter, but I got it done. One of the things I've noticed is that since the story is moving into a more progressive state instead of a recounting one, the narrative isn't quite as eloquent or articulate as it was when the fic was young. So I can only hope that the dialogue and course of action is enough to create a good story. Regarding this chapter, I tampered with liquor for the first time about a week ago (in a controlled environment, of course), and the hijinks and subsequent agony gave me inspiration for this chapter. I'm really happy to be getting the other characters into the mix, and I've got so many ideas for how that's gonna go along. So that being said, anyone whose stuck around since the beginning, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every time I feel like the fic is heading towards discharge, there's always something that brings me back. Old and new readers alike, you guys are awesome, and this one has really become one for you guys. Everyone has their own ideas for the afterstory that Taki and Mitsuha so definitely deserve, and it's nice to know mine has this kind of support and following. Again, thanks guys so much for reading. I'll catch whoever in the next one. Hopefully not too long now. Cheers.