Chapter 55: Doesn’t “Self-content” Also Mean Masturbation?

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“I’m going home. I’m never drinking alcohol ever again… Tell Sara I said bye…”

While I desperately tried to piece together what had happened, a completely shattered Temari pushed herself to her feet and stumbled toward the door on unsteady legs.

“Are you going to be okay? Can you make it home by yourself? I can walk you back if…”

“Having you walk me home, Yuuya, would probably just traumatize me even more, so I’ll pass… Sorry…”

“…Right. Okay.”

My attempt at being considerate got completely shut down. That stung.

Still, I had stayed out all night without calling home, so I wanted to get back before adding more fuel to my mom’s raging fire. But sneaking out before Naegi-san returned felt a bit too awkward.

After hearing the front door click shut, I decided to ask Mahiro, who had stayed behind, to fill me in on everything.

“I wonder if Temari will be okay…”

“Well, she probably has a hangover, but she seems conscious enough, so she’ll manage. Putting Temari aside for now, just tell me what happened yesterday. My memory is seriously so blurry I have no clue what’s what.”

“…You really don’t remember.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying.”

“Yeah… U-Umm, well, first, you grabbed an alcohol bottle and punished all the guys who tried to force you to drink…”

“Punished…?”

I vaguely remembered something like that, but that word sounded way too dangerous.

“Yeah. I don’t think anyone died, though.”

“You don’t think so?!”

“You didn’t hit any fatal spots. But it caused a huge uproar, and all the guys restrained you while yelling, ‘Someone do something about that Rampaging Shogun!!'”

“What am I, Tokuda Shinnosuke? If we’re going there, then all those frat-boy idiots at the scene had the unique skill ‘Rampaging Dick’.”

“Then, after you were pinned down, Yoshizaki-senpai came up to you and said, ‘Going on a rampage is out of the question. This is a drinking party, so if you want to fight, do it through a drinking contest. The only place you should be going wild is in bed’…”

“Huh?”

“But Naegi-san pointed out that Yoshizaki-senpai had slipped something into your drink. So the suddenly started drinking contest ended with Senpai getting disqualified. Naegi-san said she would handle the punishment, and Senpai got dragged away by the guys you had just punished.”

“Oof.”

I see. I had wondered how someone like me, with zero alcohol experience, could beat Yoshizaki-san in a drinking contest, but there had been a trick behind it.

But what kind of punishment did she get? Based on Sasou-kun’s stories, it was probably something like getting her ‘Inventory Pussy’ completely stuffed with white chocolate instead of Country Ma’ams.

If that was the case, then those guys who were messing with Mahiro were basically a White Chocolate F**k-tory. A sperm production factory. In the end, those bastards just wanted to f**k anyone, didn’t they?

“So things turned into a total mess, and we talked about going home too, but Temari drank too much and threw up. It got on our clothes while we were taking care of her, so we came over to Sara-chan’s house to get them washed. Up to that point, it was fine, but…”

“Ah, so that’s why you and Temari weren’t wearing any clothes. But does that mean Yoshizaki-san barged into Naegi-san’s house after that for some reason?”

“Yeah. Yoshizaki-senpai and that guy you beat up for forcing drinks on you.”

I had no idea why Naegi-san’s personal information was leaking like a sieve. Someone might have followed them. If that was the case, they were nothing but the worst kind of frat-boy scum.

“Did another huge mess happen there?”

“…Do you really not remember?”

“My bad.”

“…I see. U-Umm, well… Yoshizaki-senpai and that guy suddenly started begging us.”

“Huh?”

“I think it was just the alcohol talking, but they said things like, ‘Please give us an unforgettable memory,’ and ‘If I can’t be your boyfriend, a sex friend is fine too’…”

“…Say what?”

For a moment, it felt like my brain was about to boil over. But nothing had actually happened yet. Calm down.

Still, that guy’s sudden shift in attitude after relentlessly targeting Mahiro gave me some seriously bad vibes. He had treated Mahiro like some pure, untouchable goddess, so there was no way someone like her would just happily agree to be someone’s sex friend when asked.

……

No, there’s a chance he had heard it from someone.

The fact that Mahiro had actually been quite the s**t during high school.

Mahiro had calmed down considerably since then, but a relapse would be Chihiro-san’s worst nightmare. I needed to set her straight.

“U-Um, I properly turned them down, telling them, ‘I’d rather be Yuuya’s… than become a sex friend with you’…”

“Listen here, Mahiro. I won’t stop you from getting a boyfriend, but absolutely do not become a sex friend! There are no benefits beyond physical pleasure. If you’ve completely given yourself over to physical desire and don’t care about anything else in life, that’s one thing, but you could end up throwing away every other kind of happiness. The whole concept of a ‘sex friend’ exists purely for a man’s convenience. If there’s even the slightest part of you that still wants to find genuine love, then don’t do anything reckless. Got it?!”

“A-Ah, y-yeah…”

Perhaps overwhelmed by my intensity as I gripped both her shoulders, Mahiro frantically nodded.

“…Sorry. I got a little carried away. So, how did you get them to leave?”

“Ah, well… they barged in, started making ridiculous demands, and even tried to force themselves on Temari. Sara-chan completely lost her temper and called her dad.”

“…Ah, I see. So that’s why Naegi-san isn’t here.”

“Yeah.”

At least Temari’s yuri virginity seemed to have remained intact.

Still, Naegi-san’s Father Cannon, huh? Another devastating blow. Yoshizaki-san had always been the one doing the taming, but what would happen if she ended up being the one getting tamed? Not sexually, of course. Strictly in the physical sense.

“Anyway, as long as it didn’t turn into a huge incident, that’s fi—”

“…Yuuya.”

“Hm?”

“Do you… have any intention of making a sex friend?”

The conversation derailed so violently it was like flying through the air, spinning nine times before crashing back to earth.

“Huh? What are you even talking about? I’ve never even had a girlfriend. There’s no way I’d skip straight to having a sex friend, right?”

“T-Then… what if a girl came up to you and said she wanted to be your sex friend?”

“A situation that convenient would never happen… but even if it did, I’d have to refuse.”

“…Why? Isn’t that basically every guy’s dream?”

“Only if it ends with pleasure. The moment sex is involved, pregnancy becomes a possibility, doesn’t it? I’ve heard birth control pills can make some people sick if they don’t react well to them, and even with contraception, nothing is ever one hundred percent effective.”

“…”

“Worst-case scenario, what happens if you get completely carried away and the contraception fails? An abortion comes with serious ethical and financial consequences. And since the relationship never became boyfriend and girlfriend, neither person is mentally prepared to take responsibility if something goes wrong. Even if the guy can’t run away and ends up taking responsibility, he never made the conscious decision to get married in the first place. There’s no way that relationship ends well. A divorce on your record would be the least of your worries. If things spiral out of control, the chances of your entire life falling apart just skyrocket.”

“…”

“I believe sex is instinct, but love is resolve. That’s exactly why, as someone living within society, I can’t bring myself to have sex while completely ignoring the love that should come with the resolve to take responsibility. At least… that’s how I see it.”

“I-I see…”

While passionately explaining myself, I remembered the fear I’d felt earlier.

It had genuinely terrified me.

The thought that I might accidentally get Temari or Mahiro pregnant and be forced to take responsibility flashed through my mind. It felt like every life plan I’d worked so hard to build until now would crumble in an instant.

It made me realize once again that this was something you should only do with someone you truly loved—someone you were fully prepared to take responsibility for. Even if that belief ultimately amounted to nothing more than my own self-satisfaction.

Well, nightlife establishments were different. There, responsibility came in the form of money, so I excluded those from the equation.

“We got completely sidetracked. There’s no point in me giving a passionate lecture like that. So, basically, I didn’t do anything inappropriate to you or Temari, right?”

“…”

Hey, Mahiro, why are you exercising your right to remain silent on the one question I want answered the most?

And why do your eyes look so lifeless?

…

Then something suddenly occurred to me.

Based on everything I’d heard so far…

There was absolutely no reason for Mahiro to be completely naked.

…Wait.

Did I… actually do something?