Chapter 53: After party
[That night, you attended a teachers-only party.]
[To cheer for Roland's love story, you were forced to participate in a ping pong match with vodka 96% alcohol, and your opponent was Scathach — someone with an incredibly strong competitive spirit.]
[The two of you had an intense ping pong match like never before and drank several bottles of vodka.]
[After that, you completely lost all memory of what happened…]
[...]
...
Time slowly passed.
The calendar had flipped to May 26.
[May 26, sunny.]
[Inside someone's bedroom, within Chaldea Academy City.]
At 7:30 in the morning, the sunlight outside the window was already brilliant.
The warm sunlight shone on Eikou's sleeping face.
The sun dragged him out of his dream with the noise of the world and its blinding light.
"Ugh…"
Eikou slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt was a splitting hangover, as if he'd been slashed by Jeanne Alter's longsword.
Right after that came a deep fatigue that hadn't recovered after the long night — clear proof that he had been playing ping pong with Scathach all night long.
"Last night was seriously insane…"
As Eikou recalled the ping pong battle with Scathach — the overwhelming pressure she exuded, the intense physical exertion, and the terrifying burn of the alcohol — just thinking about it made his skin crawl.
As he was thinking about it, he suddenly froze.
Wait a minute, what happened after that?
Where the hell am I right now? Is this the guest room the guys rented?
"..."
Eikou's eyes widened as he looked around the room in confusion.
What met his eyes was a clean and spacious bedroom. Everything was neatly arranged — or rather, too neatly arranged. Even though the room carried a lived-in feeling, it was far more organized and spotless than any hotel room, the floor shining like a mirror without a single speck of dust.
If a room reflects its owner's personality, then the owner of this room must be someone upright, serious, and obsessively meticulous.
Eikou tried to recall what happened last night, but the more he thought, the worse his headache became.
Apart from the ping pong table and alcohol, he remembered nothing.
He was just about to sit up and take a better look around when he suddenly felt something soft, warm, and heavy pressing against his chest — and that "something" was curled up inside the blanket.
The sensation of silky hair, the warmth of skin, the gentle rhythm of steady breathing, and a faint, sweet fragrance…
"???"
It took less than a second for Eikou to realize in horror what was hiding under the blanket.
This isn't good — it's a woman!
Even though he was wrapped in a warm blanket, his heart instantly turned cold.
His brain froze for a few seconds before trying to piece the situation together.
Last night…
Just as Instinct had predicted, he'd been "wrapped up and carried away" by one of the women at the party, hadn't he?!
He had tried so hard last night, pulled out all the flags, and still didn't escape in the end?!
Then who's the woman under the blanket now? Is it Murasaki Shikibu or Medb? How the hell did either of them sober up this fast and take him away — are they seriously Endurance E-rank?!
"No, instead of guessing blindly, I should just check who it is…"
If he wanted to know, all he had to do was lift the blanket.
"At this point, the ideal situation would be Astolfo…please... be Astolfo"
Muttering under his breath, he nervously lifted the blanket.
As the blanket was slowly pulled back, the first thing that caught his eyes were strands of slightly messy purple hair, scattered around like silk ribbons.
"??"
Just by seeing that hair color, Eikou already knew who it was.
His body stiffened in shock. He hurriedly pretended as if he hadn't seen anything and pulled the blanket back down.
"..."
But a few seconds later, he couldn't resist opening it again to confirm.
The cold, breathtakingly beautiful face of the queen was revealed under the sunlight streaming through the window. Those delicate features, bathed in that faint light, seemed to radiate a divine, transcendent aura — like a piece of porcelain delicately carved, so beautiful it could steal one's breath away.
Especially following the curves hidden beneath the blanket, Eikou could imagine just how alluring and toned her figure was — both sensual and powerful.
And at this moment, that overwhelmingly beautiful woman exuding a mesmerizing charm was peacefully sleeping in his arms.
Eikou could clearly hear his heart pounding wildly.
That was…
The Queen of Shadow Land, the homeroom teacher of the Britain class — Scathach!
This was honestly the worst and most embarrassing outcome possible! He… he actually slept in the same bed as Scathach-sensei?!
It's over. Don't tell me she's the one Instinct was warning me about — the one who would "wrap me up and carry me away"?!
No, calm down, nothing might have happened yet! At least they were both still in their underwear!
It must've just been the alcohol. They probably passed out and slept together accidentally. That's all. Umu.
"...No, even that's already bad enough! It was already embarrassing enough just bumping into the homeroom teacher at a party, and now it's leveled up?! What kind of urban romance plot is this?!"
Eikou felt like his brain was turning into mush.
His eyes suddenly sharpened.
"I've got it. The best solution now… is to let her crush me with a pillow and be done with it. Then I won't have to worry about anything anymore."
He let out a long sigh and ruffled his hair in frustration.
His brain was a mess; he didn't even know what to do anymore.
Anyway, calm down first… then borrow Da Vinci's time machine later…
"If I'd known it would turn out like this, I'd rather have gone with Medb or Murasaki last night…"
He regretted it bitterly.
Just then, perhaps because of the bright sunlight, Scathach's long, thick eyelashes trembled slightly.
Then, she slowly opened her ruby-red eyes.
A sweet but painful little moan escaped her lips — probably due to the hangover from last night.
After that, with a slightly dazed expression, Scathach glanced around, confirming where she was, and then…
Those glowing red eyes locked directly onto Mochizuki Eikou — who was trembling in fear right before her.
Scathach didn't say a word. She just stared at him in silence.
"..."
After a long moment of silence, Eikou finally opened his mouth:
"...Thank you for the meal."
Whoosh!
The very next second,
He sprang out from under the blanket and bolted straight for the bedroom door in a panic.
At the same time, Scathach instantly got up. Her eyes flashed with a sharp killing intent — two blood-red spears appeared in her hands, ready to unleash the True Name of her Noble Phantasm.
Hunting time had begun!
"Mochizuki Eikou, explain to me what happened last night!!"
"I—don't—know—a—thing—!"