Evening after you were forced to drink

Two hours of poster presentations were done. Sora was drained, and yet there were more lectures to attend. Even thoughtit was clear that there was no way she could comprehend information after talking for so long, who cared? This was how conferences operated.

She took off her poster and folded it. Oshiro approached her,

"Need help?"

"Oh, it's you, Oshiro-san, no, I am okay."

"You did great, I observed you for some time. I think you are very interested in what you are doing, and it shows. People liked to listen to you."

"Uh, I hope so, I am not certain... When I get too excited, you know, I am a bit over the top."

"Ha-ha, one might say that. Others might say you are charming." He tilted his head.

Sora's eyes started running around nervously, "He-he you're just saying it to be polite..."

"No, " he looked serious, "I am very clear about what I see."

"Okay, well, shall we go then?" She hugged her poster, "Do you intend on going to the environmental implications of social isolation panel?"

"Indeed, I am going there..." He followed her out.

After the panel he came up to her, smiling again, "Sora-chan, I forgot to tell you, but several researchers invited us tonight for a drink, I hope you won't mind coming?"

She hesitated, "Em, I guess..."

"There will be several well-known faces, you should definitely come!"

"O-Okay, if you say so, Oshiro-san..."

"We can go there after we have some rest in the hotel, I think we meet at seven thirty there."

She looked at her phone, it was already five. There was one final lecture left. She nodded.

At home, she fell on her bed feeling exhausted. "I forgot how tiring these conferences are! One day more... Belle, are you there?" she called in the bracelet. "We are going to drink tonight. I hope they don't push me too much. Also, no news from Maki-kun all day, I wonder if there was any info! Hey, where are you?"

Belle appeared in front of her, annoyed, quite as always. "I am bored. If this is how human life should function I give up. I fell asleep several times today. The only fun part was when you were talking, and still, sometimes I lost the train of thought. Too complex for me."

"Oh, Belle, you are not involved in the field, so of course it will be technical for you. Do you want to rest tonight, or go with me?"

"If there are any conversations like these ones from today, I will pass, thank you!"

"As you wish. Those are the people from the field, so I think it's not going to be fun for you. Okay, here is my phone, I am going to the shower, and then to the bar."

"Sure..." Immediatly distracted by TikTok Belle went silent.

After showering Sora put on the same clothes from today, changing the shirt to a new one. The whole look wasn't very different. She appreciated it still, so she left the room in a hurry, realizing it was getting a bit late. Belle didn't even notice she'd left.

In the lobby, Oshiro was already waiting for her. He waved for her to follow him and left the hotel. As they walked closer to the city center, more and more buildings caught their eye. Sora didn't notice how her jaw dropped, and she observed her surroundings in awe. Oshiro didn't distract her with questions or small talk.

They entered a nice bar, where all the other researchers had already gathered. They ordered beers and some snacks to go with it. After greeting everyone she sat next to Oshiro and tried to look normal. He tilted his head,

"You are hungry, do you want to order something?"

"Ha-ha, it is obvious? I think I am, Oshiro-san..."

"Okay, I'll order okonomiyaki for you, deal?"

She waved her hands, "Oh, Oshiro-san, I can do it..."

He caught her hand and looked into her eyes, "Sora-chan, let me take care of you, please."

She nodded, feeling a bit hot. She waited for the okonomiyaki pancake almost salivating. Oshiro sat beside her, not paying her any more special attention. The night went fast, as the people around them were indeed very knowledgeable and interesting to talk to. Sora didn't feel awkward, but a bit overwhelmed due to the amount of people she had interacted with today. Finally, the social fatigue started to feel overbearing, so she chose to step outside, as if for a smoke. Outside the stars were visible in the sky, and the surrounding noise of people drinking somehow complemented the atmosphere.

In silence, Sora let an audible sigh.

"Tiring, right?"

She turned around to see one of the PhD students from their table. The girl lit her cigarette and breathed out slowly. Her appearance was average, and hard to remember from the first glance.

Sora cleared her throat realizing she had no idea what the girl's name was, "Oh, I am sorry, I didn't see you there..."

"No matter," the student gestured with her cigarette, "I understand, it is too much for me too."

"I love talking to people, but when it's all day long, and then all night, I am, well.."

"Overwhelmed?" The girl grinned at her. "I know. And you have to pretend till the end, because it's your career, colleagues. All of this. I don't like this about academia, that people pretend they like each other and are so polite all the time, and the conversations never get anywhere interesting."

Sora listened attentively, "I understand, but to me even though the conversations are not very deep, they are still entertaining, it's not like we're talking about the weather. And... people are generally being polite, especially in professional settings, so..."

"Yes, yes, I guess it's my issue that I've decided to continue in academia. Sometimes I wonder if it's best to work in some music shop when I am done with my PhD. I feel like I am fed up with this whole field. It's pretending to be too clean, while there are too many problems in psychological science in general...Anyway," she put out her cigarette, and gestured towards the door, "Shall we return?"

Sora followed her back, and as they sat down, it was apparently sake time. She tried refusing but was pressured to drink. Oshiro gave the cup to her, smiling somehow in a twisted way, she thought. After finishing that cup she immediately felt very drunk. She turned to Oshiro,

"Oshiro-san, I think I am drunk... I don't know if I should sit longer or drink more..."

He held her shoulders, "indeed. You seem to be very drunk. Okay. I shall take us home."

He stood up, "Gentlemen, ladies, we shall take our leave, my student here seemed to not be able to hold the sake. We are going to the hotel, " he bowed to all of them, "We kindly thank you for this evening, and hope to see you tomorrow!"

She tried to search for the girl in the crowd, but her vision was muddy. It seemed that no one looked especially worried or concerned. She gave up, her head hurt. She bowed politely while Oshiro said his goodbyes, and they left. He continued holding her shoulders. "Sora-chan, you seemed to have overconsumed your normal amount of alcohol! Good, you are not the one presenting tomorrow. I will take you to the hotel..."

"Mn..." She felt disoriented. Weird, she never got this drunk in her life. The space around her even seemed to bend.

"Hop! Don't fall, careful!" He caught her in his arms, "Okay, I think we need to change the position." He grabbed her tightly, and went to the hotel, as quickly as he could.

She didn't notice how they went into his room, neither the bed. Her head was so cloudy, she tried searching for her phone in her pockets, but it wasn't there. "Where is it!?" she mumbled, "Belle, that crane..."

"Who?" Oshiro thought she might be too drunk, spitting nonsense, and didn't give it much thought. "Whatever. Sora, can you hear me?" He slapped her cheek slightly. "Sora? Great, you might be too drunk now... And when I finally have you all to myself, you are not even present like I wish you were. Hey!" He clapped his hands. She wasn't very responsive, lying on the bed passively. "That bitch didn't say it'll be like this." He glanced at Sora again and bit his lip. "Yet, now she isn't saying "no" either, so I guess it works too?"

He poked her. Realizing she still didn't care, he grinned and unbuttoned her vest. Seeing no response, he proceeded to unbutton her shirt too. She wore a basic bra, which made his face twitch - what an instant turn-off. Now he suspected that her underwear might not even match the bra, which was very underwhelming. He unzipped the pants and looked. Indeed, the panties were pink and boring. He sighed. "Whatever, I am not here to appreciate the view, I guess." He pulled her pants down and started undressing himself hurriedly when he heard a strange noise behind him. He turned back reluctantly.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Yoshi stood there, breathing heavily, his black wings folded behind him. His staff was in his hands ready to strike. He frowned with disgust.

"Oh, that's you. The hero, I see. So you were worried, huh?" Oshiro's face looked smug, but the subtle fear was obvious.

"You should be worried, monkey. The whole university knows now about your little past. You won't have a chance tomorrow if you are still alive, that is. I can't let you fucking live after this." Yoshi seemed mad, "How dare you put your hands on her?"

"Oh really, why do you care? Aren't you supposed to be with that woman of yours?"

"So you think you know everything, scumbag?" He rapidly struck with his staff, yet Oshiro managed to block the first blow with his hands.

"Ouch! That hurt..."

"Pathetic." Yoshi turned around and hit him with his toe. This time it worked, and Oshiro almost bent down, letting the staff go. Yoshi then hit him in the head, multiple times, almost beating him unconscious. Suddenly he heard Sora looking up at him.

"Yoshi? You came to save me..." She smiled and fell asleep again.

He stopped in midair. Just now he saw her for the first time clearly, half-undressed, hair disheveled. But her smile was so open and innocent. A rapid thought went through his head - she might not want me to kill him. He looked back at Oshiro beneath him. He kicked him again and sat down pulling his head by the hair. "You, pig. You soon will see the end of it. If not, I'll kill you myself. Never even think of getting close to her."

"Fuck you, the only thing that makes me happy, is how stupid you are, you don't even know about your past, what can you say about her or me?"

Hearing this, Yoshi's emotions became even more turbulent, "Shut up, or I'll skin you right now!"

"Sure," Oshiro spit blood, "do whatever, I don't care. He promised me the power shall be mine, and that you won't find me. So I guess there is no sense in resisting."

Hearing Oshiro mentioning the guy he got distracted, "Tell me about him!"

"Ha-ha, he is the only thing that interests you in this life, ain't it? Funny, and pathetic. I won't, 'cause I have nothing to say. He is well hidden and very secretive, you see. You might have seen him, but you'll never know. He helped me because he thought I might be useful to him, otherwise, he wouldn't have spent his time on me. He found me on the street, lost and ugly, he gave me the appearance I always dreamed of, and the chance to finally have any woman I want. The only thing he wanted me to do was to consume her power. I can do it only while having sex, he said. He told me to kiss her too. I don't know if it's true, or not. The moment he made me the way I am I never questioned him. I began to live like I always dreamed of - women sighing when they see me, men obviously jealous. You won't know, since you look normal, how it was for me before. I was ugly, no one ever wanted to talk to me, no girl, no woman, I had to..."

"Yes, this was a great excuse to rape a student!"

"It wasn't rape, she came to me!"

Yoshi threw Oshiro's head on the ground with force, "You disgusting piece of shit!"

Sora moved on the bed, mumbling something, and as he raised his eyes at her, he noticed that she still was undressed. He abandoned Oshiro, and appeared in front of her, trying to button all the buttons on the shirt and zip up her pants. He then picked her up and teleported to her room, where Belle was crying.

"You, stop this, look after her, get her to drink some water," he put Sora on the bed, "I have to leave, message Maki that it's okay and I made it on time!"

He teleported back, where Oshiro was plastered unconscious on the floor. Yoshi poured some water into the cup and then splashed it into Oshiro's face. The blood mixed up with wet hair, made his sorry self even uglier.

"Wake up, you haven't finished talking, asshole."

"T-this hurts, you don't even try to be nice, do you?"

"Why would I care about scum? Continue."

"I told you everything. There is nothing to tell. He wanted me to take Sora's power, I believed it would be easy, it's even visible around her. But no. I guess he knew you might come, and still, he didn't care about me. I guess that's how it is."

"You are not being clear enough."

Oshiro laughed, "There is nothing clear when it comes to him, so there is nothing more for me to tell you. Now, what do you intend to do with me?"

"Oh, that's very clear," he picked Oshiro up, "we are going to Tokyo. You are to meet with Maki's friend." He punched him in the head knocking him out and teleported to the forest outside of Kyoto to head back. There was no one to see that his flying was a bit too slow and a bit unstable, his breathing uneven, and his eyes tired. As if he had spent too much power on trying to get to Kyoto on time.