"Well done, new members. Now that you've accepted the cup — welcome, officially, to Peek-a-Boo!"
"OHHHH——!"
The upperclassmen of every year leapt up and raised their cups toward Sebastian and the others with a roar of welcome.
"Heh heh heh...."
Sebastian wasn't quite sure how to respond, and settled for raising his cup and producing a couple of dry laughs.
Come to think of it, this was his fourth welcome party, wasn't it? Even if there were only four new members total.
Iori and Imamura beside him looked similarly at a loss — though Sebastian could see Iori pinching Imamura's backside, presumably still holding a grudge over that remark about girls.
Was this guy secretly a sister-con?
"Anyway — formalities aside. This is a drinking party, so drinking is what matters most. You've all waited long enough. First round — bottoms up!"
Tokita, presiding over the proceedings, stepped forward, filled his oversized cup to the brim with vodka, tipped his head back, and drained it in one go.
"OHHHH!"
Kotobuki and the upperclassmen cheered, then followed suit — filling their own cups with assorted drinks and downing them in one.
"Right — your turn!" Tokita, cup empty, waved it cheerfully in Sebastian's direction.
With little choice in the matter, Iori and Imamura exchanged a look, reluctantly uncorked a nearby white bottle of unknown contents, filled their cups, squeezed their eyes shut, and forced down a mouthful.
"Cough — cough cough...." Entirely predictably, both choked.
"What is this stuff? The alcohol content is insane."
Iori was coughing hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. Imamura's face had contorted into something barely human.
"You'll get used to it. This is our standard. You're in Peek-a-Boo now — acclimating is non-negotiable."
Kotobuki said this while helpfully thumping Iori on the back, very nearly knocking his eyes out.
Meanwhile Sebastian, a step behind the others, reasoned that whisky must have a lower alcohol content than vodka — and quietly reached for a different bottle, one with some color to it.
"Sebastian — no shortcuts at a drinking party. Let me show you how it's done."
Sebastian's plan was spotted before he could execute it. Tokita covered the distance in a few easy strides, uncapped a full bottle of vodka, and shoved it directly into Sebastian's mouth.
"Pfft — cough cough...."
The ambush left Sebastian completely unprepared. After the first involuntary mouthful, he felt his soul quietly leave his body and hover roughly half a meter above his head.
"That scheming man — honestly, never stops plotting his little underhanded moves for even a second."
Iori, cup already drained, watched Sebastian's suffering with cheerful schadenfreude.
"You ran away. What standing do you have to criticize anyone?"
Sebastian heard him and erupted, jumping up ready to climb on top of Iori.
"Hmph. Children, the lot of you." Imamura gave a cold sniff and stepped to one side to watch without a shred of hesitation.
"I say — you three, why does any free moment immediately turn into a brawl? Fighting is for children. Let me show you how real men resolve their differences."
Before Sebastian and Iori could actually come to blows, Tokita and Kotobuki each grabbed one of them.
Then, one senior per new member, they pinned Sebastian and the others down onto the long drinking table that had been set up and waiting nearby.
The long table, draped in a clean white cloth, was loaded with bottles of every shape and size — easily several hundred in total.
"Right — I just thought of a game on the spot.... Oh, Imamura, you followed us over? Perfect, more people makes it better."
At that moment Kotobuki spotted Imamura, who had tagged along purely to watch the entertainment. Without further discussion he grabbed him and pressed him down at the table alongside the others.
"W-Wait a moment! I never said I wanted to play — I actually can't drink, I have haemor—"
Imamura looked at Sebastian's and Iori's already-wretched faces and felt his resolve rapidly evaporating.
"Now that you're all seated, there's no point saying things like that."
Kotobuki gently plugged Imamura's mouth with one finger, then stood up and explained the rules to the three of them with an amiable expression.
"So we said earlier that you three new members should all toast each other, right? I just thought of a rule to go with that."
"The rules are simple. Every time one person voluntarily drinks a cup, the other two must each drink two cups. No cycling back. The game continues until nobody can drink anymore. Understood?"
"The rules aren't complicated — but can this game even get off the ground? If nobody wants to drink first, then...."
Before Sebastian could finish, Iori — who had been looking thoroughly miserable across the table — suddenly lit up as though he'd been injected with something.
He grabbed the bottle in front of him, filled his cup, and in under ten seconds drained three cups in a row.
"Your turn."
Iori set the empty cup down at a leisurely pace and looked across the table at Sebastian and Imamura, both staring in disbelief.
A face that Sebastian had grudgingly acknowledged as reasonably handsome now looked, from every angle, utterly contemptible.
"Bastard!"
Sebastian and Imamura cursed in perfect unison.
"Iori has voluntarily drunk three cups, so you two each owe six. Note that voluntary cups only start counting after the penalty drinks are finished. Off you go."
Sebastian was still seething — but across from him, Imamura appeared to have achieved some form of enlightenment. He made an immediate decision, dispensed with the cup entirely, uncapped two bottles of vodka, crammed both necks into his mouth simultaneously, and began pouring.
The two slender bottles protruded from Imamura's mouth as the liquid spiraled downward, forming two small, frothing whirlpools.
"Cough cough — two bottles — call that eight cups. Cancels out my six, which means you two each owe me four."
"Wasn't this guy just claiming he couldn't drink?" Sebastian stared, genuinely shaken.
Were these two people even fully human?
"Sebastian — you haven't worked it out yet, have you?"
Kotobuki stepped over and helpfully explained:
"In this game, the real advantage goes to whoever can rack up voluntary cups fast enough to bury the other two in penalties. Drag your feet and you'll be drowning in debt before you've done anything."
Sebastian blinked — and realized that in the time he'd spent standing there, he'd already accumulated a ten-cup deficit without lifting a finger.
"Those two scheming— how do their brains get so sharp the moment something like this starts?!"
But before the curse had fully left his mouth, something struck the back of his skull and sent his vision spinning dark.
There was no question who was responsible. That resentful little system that Angel had saddled him with.
Ding. A daily mission has been triggered.
Mission: Defeat Imamura and Iori in the drinking contest.
Reward: 5 mission points.
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