Epi.11-3: When She First Died?

“So, um… Misaki-san, why did you think about dying?”
Sayuri spoke up suddenly.
Shinobu reacted in shock, saying, “H-hey, Sayuri-chan,” and Yuka gasped, “Whaaat!? That happened!?”
The comment section also began to buzz.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Misaki said, sounding exasperated.

“Because I was curious.”
She had her forehead pressed against the table, shaking her head from side to side.

“Huh? Could it be… are you drunk?”
Yuka shifted her gaze to Sayuri.

“…Drunk… I’m not!”
Just as she lifted her forehead from the table, she leapt up high and hit her head on the ceiling.
There was a sound loud enough to be picked up by the stream, and saying “Oww,” Sayuri wobbled as she drifted back down.

Then, all of a sudden, she clung to Shinobu and started crying, saying, “Shinobu— the ceiling is bullying me—.”
Shinobu had frozen at the sudden turn of events, but then she gently hugged her and stroked her head, saying, “I see… that’s awful, isn’t it.”

“…Hey, Shinobu.”
“What is it, Sayuri-chan?”
“I love you. Let’s stay together forever.”
At Sayuri’s words, Shinobu’s face lit up brightly.
“Yeah! Yeah! Let’s stay together forever.”

“She’s drunk, all right. Well, they both look happy, so let’s just leave them be.”
Misaki drank as she absentmindedly watched the two of them.

“Sorry, we don’t care about humans, so please show the ghosts”
”I can feel waves of preciousness”
”Yuka-chan, don’t slack off at work”

“What do you mean ‘don’t care’!? We’re going to talk about what happened when Misaki-san died, you know! Misaki-san, you’re up!”

“I’m not dead.”

“Was she a sake-bound ghost?”
”If that’s the case, then that amount makes sense.”

“What do you mean a sake-bound ghost? I told you I’m not dead.”

“A sake-bound ghost is a ghost bound to sake.”

“I get it without you explaining!”

“Okaaay, Misaki-san. Here’s your sake.”
Yuka said with a smile as she handed her a glass filled with sake.

“Honestly…” Misaki muttered, then downed the glass in one go.

“So, what happened? I wanna hear it,”
Yuka said with a grin as she poured more sake.

As if she had resigned herself, Misaki let out a small sigh and then began to speak.
“I was working an office job back then. And I don’t know when it started, but every time I just drank water, people around me would start whispering, and my boss would get angry at me. I had no idea why. Everyone else was drinking tea or coffee, you know. Just thinking about it again makes me mad.”

“Whaaat, that’s awful.”
Yuka protested as if it were happening to her herself.

“Even if it was just an excuse, I wish they’d given at least some kind of reason.”
“The part about the people around her too is what bothers me.”
“Were you drinking durian-flavored water or something?”
The viewers, too, were questioning the scolding over water.

“What do you mean durian water? I wouldn’t drink something like that. But back then, I came across an incredibly delicious flavored water and was drinking it every day. I’m still drinking it now, too.”

“Oh, really? It’s that good? What’s the water called?”
Yuka showed interest.
The comment section was also flooded with guesses and curious reactions.

“‘Jōzen Mizunogotoshi.’”
Misaki answered with complete confidence.

“…Huh? That’s…”
Yuka was at a loss for words, but the comment section was gaining momentum.
It was filled with similar opinions like “It’s sake” and “That’s not water,” and Yuka went along with them, saying, “Yeah, that’s true.”

However, Misaki confidently laid out her own argument.
“It literally says mizunogotoshi—‘like water,’ doesn’t it? So it’s water. You guys are going to get scolded by the brewery.”
She finished the glass with a satisfied look.

“The brewery, lol.”
“Aren’t you the one who’d get scolded?”
“‘Like water’ doesn’t mean ‘it is water,’ you know.”

Seeing the lively comment section, Misaki let out a big sigh.
“You guys say the same thing as my boss.”

Yuka poured more sake into Misaki’s glass.
“Hey, I mean… even I’d say that.”

From off-screen came the cheerful voices of the two ghosts.

“In the end, the one who asked the question isn’t listening at all.”

“Ah!”
Misaki and Yuka cried out at the same time and turned their eyes toward the playful ghosts.

At the heartwarming scene before her eyes, Misaki’s cheeks softened, and she wrapped up the stream, saying, “Alright then, that’s it for today.”

“Huh? No, that’s not okay.”
Yuka cut in with a serious look.