Epi.11-1: The First Sake Offered to Her

It was the usual streaming scene.
Misaki kept drinking in her steady way, and Yuka talked with cheerful, exaggerated gestures.

“—So! Today, I have something to give Misaki-san!”
She clapped her hands and added an excited “Yaaay!” with her voice.
From off-screen came Sayuri’s “Yay!” and the sound of two pairs of hands clapping.

Misaki stopped her hand and looked at Yuka with a puzzled expression.
“Huh? What? This is kind of scary…”

She was clearly on guard.

She hopped to her feet and stepped off-screen.
When she came back, she was holding a shigōbin (720 ml).

“Ta-daa! This is a sake aged in a wine barrel!”
Yuka held the label up to the camera.
“Look, it says right here—‘Red Wine Barrel Aged.’ Isn’t that unusual?”

“Sake in a wine barrel? Why would they do that?”
Misaki murmured in puzzlement.

“The truth is, unless we offer one isshō’s worth of sake to Misaki-san, we’re not allowed to stream here. And it’s every month. So let’s all offer sake to Misaki-san together, okay?”
She flashed a peace sign and spoke with a bright smile.

“That has to be a joke…”
Even as she said that, Misaki’s eyes were fixed on the unusual sake.

The comments were warmly watching over their exchange as well.

“Are wine glasses okay?”
Yuka asked as she stood up.

“That’s fine. And bring me two ochoko as well.”
Already having opened the bottle, Misaki called out to Yuka.

“I don’t mind, but what are you going to use them for?”
Two glasses and two ochoko were set on the table.

“Just opening the bottle made it smell really good. So, I’m going to share it with Sayuri and Shinobu. It’ll only be the scent, though.”
After pouring for all four, she gently lifted the ochoko and placed them at the edge of the table, out of frame.

Then, the comments filled with questions like, “Can ghosts even smell?”
Misaki answered gently, “It doesn’t matter either way—this kind of thing is a gesture.”

“Wait! Alcohol is not allowed for minors!”
Yuka cried out in a panic.

The comments, too, worried in the same way as Yuka, saying things like, “Now that you mention it, they are minors,” “If it’s only the scent, maybe…,” and “Is it okay because it’s an offering?”

“But they were both born in the Meiji era, you know,” Misaki said plainly, stating the fact just like that.

“What!? Sayuri the grandma?”
She turned her astonished face toward Sayuri.

“I’m not a grandma!”
Sayuri floated up in protest, and Yuka laughed with an amused “Ahaha.”

From off-screen came Shinobu’s voice: “I’m not a grandma either,” and the comments grew lively in a warm, cheerful way.

After Misaki and Yuka gave the scene a light glance, they touched their glasses with a small clink and poured the liquid down their throats.

“Wow, this is delicious.”
Yuka exclaimed with a beaming smile, and from off-screen the other two could be heard happily saying, “It smells so good.”

“Really—the aroma is wine, but the taste is firmly sake.
I could drink this endlessly,”
Misaki said, her gaze drifting dreamily to the bottle.

“You really do drink a lot, Misaki-san,”
Yuka said with a happy laugh.