"Punching and Getting Punched at the Fainting Tavern" ep. 27 "The Lustful Bed Sheets of the Moonlit Lamp"

Dedicated to Yomogi-san

It was around the time when the flower-eggplant-colored sunset was slowly deepening into navy blue.

Having grown tired of singing the "Empty, empty, empty wallet~ or sorry, sorry, sorry, indulgence~ song" in chorus, I was staring blankly at the sky.

My heart was completely empty.

I wasn't sad. I wasn't happy either.

It was just a void, so empty it felt like it might make a dry, clinking sound.

That was when it happened.

♪ I just can't stop!

Suddenly, a remarkably resonant voice flew at me from behind.

When I turned around, Dai-chan had his hands on his hips and was swinging them with all his might.

♪ You shouldn't believe the rumors!

No matter how you looked at it, it was a full-blown Showa-era impression.

And he was serious about it, too.

...

I ignored him.

But Dai-chan wouldn't stop.

♪ My heart is innocent!

He spun around and adjusted his student cap to a jaunty angle.

For some reason, a determined look.

"Saku-chan! Hey, the chorus is coming!"

"...Stop it."

"♪ I just can't stop it~~~!!"

The moment he spun with all his might, he slipped.

The instant I saw that, a small laugh escaped my lips.

"...Pfft."

I realized my mistake, but it was already too late.

My shoulders shook as I tried to hold back my laughter, but it was impossible.

"Ahahahaha!"

Because I was laughing while running up the stairs, my footing became unsteady.

"Ah."

My right foot hung in the air.

For a moment, the world seemed to loosen.

"Saku-chan!"

Dai-chan's hand reached out.

Grab.

He caught my arm and yanked me back.

My heart gave a thud.

"You're laughing too much. What would you have done if you'd fallen?"

“It’s because you were doing that weird dance...”

Even as he said it, laughter still lingered in his voice.

The depths of my chest, which had been empty until just a moment ago, felt slowly warmed.

The sunset was already beginning to turn into a deep indigo.

“Hey, Saku-chan.”

“Hmm?”

“Which do you like better, the Purple Bed Sheet or the Great Gon?”

“Huh?”

It made no sense.

“It’s about literature. You like that kind of stuff, don’t you?”

I pulled my hat down low over my eyes.

“...I don’t care which.”

“Don’t dodge the question. Which one?”

He was persistent.

After a moment of silence, I muttered,

“...The Lustful Bed Sheet, I guess.”

A moment of silence.

The next instant.

“There it is! Saku-chan’s worst comment ever!”

Dai-chan laughed, clutching his stomach.

I laughed along with him.

We both crouched down halfway up the stairs.

We laughed until we couldn't breathe.

Night.

A small room in the boarding house.

Dai-chan is already sprawled out on the futon.

"Don't eat it... Uji-kintoki..."

He's talking in his sleep.

I sit at the desk.

I grip my fountain pen.

Blue-black ink slowly bleeds into the manuscript paper.

--The lustful bed sheet truly shows its worth at night.

I write it, then burst out laughing.

What is this?

But I can't stop.

--The bat-like Imperial University student babysits while holding a bat-umbrella.

I imagine it.

Students in black uniforms, cradling baby bats under a giant umbrella.

"Sleep, sleep, little child of the Imperial Capital..."

How ridiculous.

Still, it's strangely fun.

The emptiness of the day is turning into ticklish shapes on the paper.

"You're going to hell if you keep writing such nonsense!"

Iyo-san's voice from the back.

"Yeah, yeah."

I laugh.

Hell or whatever, I don't care.

As long as I can keep writing.

I suddenly look out the window.

The moon is floating mischievously.

The hundred bats that were flying during the day are now just two, sleeping upside down under the eaves.

It's quiet.

The anxiety from just a moment ago feels like a lie.

Dai-chan tosses and turns behind me.

"...Saku-chan."

Is he talking in his sleep, or is he half-awake?

"Hmm?"

"Don't fall."

He says just that, then goes back to his steady breathing.

I let out a small laugh.

I won't fall.

Even if I look like I might,

someone will grab hold of me.

Besides.

I am writing, properly.

The blue-black ink is the color of the night.

But beneath it, the laughter from the sunset earlier still remains.

The time I almost tripped on the stairs,

the strange impressions,

and the lustful bed sheet.

They are all proof of today's life.

The squares on the manuscript paper are filling up, little by little.

The wind blows outside, and the shadows of bats sway.

The moon keeps its mischievous expression.

Morning is still far off.

But it is only far off.

It's not that it won't come.

'It just won't stop~'

I try humming a little tune.

With a chuckle, I set my pen to paper once again.

My empty heart is beating properly now.

I have friends,

we share silly jokes,

and I secretly write down my dreams at night.

That alone is enough for a person to come back to life.

The Bat Imperial University student must be laughing somewhere, too.

I finished writing the last line and traced a small moon with the tip of my pen.

Tomorrow, too, I'm sure,

even while nearly stumbling,

I will laugh and run up the stairs.

(To be continued)