Instead of cooperating with me, Kurosawa-san pushed himself against the wall and clung to me like a desperate lizard about to drown. The more I tried to pry him off of me, the tighter his hold became. 

Eventually, I had to call it quits and give up on throwing him off. This guy was really too strong even while inebriated.

"Masato-sensei, do you like me?" 

Kurosawa-san’s question was so unexpected that it gave me a powerful jolt of surprise. My heart thumped loudly and I almost smacked him across the head out of embarrassment. 

Who the hell asks such a question out of the blue like that?!

"What are you talking about?! Of course, I don't like you!" I barked. But, even as I spoke the words, I felt my cheeks heating up.

"Tsk, so mean. You are so mean, Masato-sensei." He pouted and whined.

"Yes, yes, I am mean and awful. So why don't you get along somewhere else?" I snapped, giving him a harsh shove.

I never really had patience with drunk people. They always talk nonsense and never remember anything the next day. Just like this guy. He’s been acting weird for days, not telling me what’s wrong and now he comes here like this and acts out on the account of alcohol? As if I would care for him!

That shove, though, seemed to have attracted his attention, because the next moment he stopped struggling and stared at me fixedly. His gaze was blurry and unfocused, but his eyes had a peculiar glow inside them. It felt intense, as if he was scanning me and seeing right through my soul. 

I tried to repress a shudder, while backing away from him. However, that triggered him into action.

It took him only a single step to reach me, his arms wrapping around my body like two hungry snakes. A moment later, he lowered his head and his face came closer and closer, until all I could see were his eyes. Then, his lips were touching mine and he was kissing me. 

It wasn't a gentle touch, nor the awkward movements one would imagine from someone this drunk. No, his lips were kissing me with a smoldering passion, his tongue chasing mine like a hungry hound chasing its prey. I could feel the urgency and the rising heat of his feelings through every single touch. His hold was becoming more and more unbearable and I felt faint from the lack of oxygen.

Maybe it was because my mind became fuzzy from the shock, but I thought I heard some whispers lingering inside my mind. Soft and gentle, like butterflies, they were swirling inside my head, desperately trying to cross over that barrier. 

For the first time, I could even hear sporadic words, but they were interrupted by the same static sound as before. It sounded like a broken-down radio unable to reach a good frequency.

‘Masa… Keita … I … Masato… you… please… look at… Keita…’

I couldn’t hear a single proper sentence. Soon, even those broken words faded away.

Just when I was about to struggle further in order to regain my freedom, Kurosawa-san suddenly stopped his actions. The next second, I felt his body dropping down, pressing heavily onto me. It appeared that he lost consciousness due to the alcohol and was sliding onto the floor, while dragging me down with him.

"Kurosawa-san, if you dare to forget everything you've done to me tonight, I swear I'll crack your skull open and force you to remember every single thing if it's the last thing I do!" I said, seething with anger. 

First being harassed, then forcefully kissed, and now pressed down on the floor by an unconscious lump of meat. This definitely proved to be a memorable night for me.

~~~

Just as expected, the next morning Kurosawa-san couldn't remember a single thing. And the fact that we had been in a state of cold war this entire time, made the current situation even more embarrassing.

"Uhm, Masato-sensei, why am I here?" He asked in confusion when he saw himself lying on my sofa.

"Oddly enough, I was going to ask you the same thing." I retorted while holding a cup of coffee, leaning against the wall across from him.

"Could it be that... Did I come here... by myself?" He asked tentatively.

"Or else what? Do you think I went downtown and kidnapped you last night while you were dead drunk?" I snapped, feeling a strong urge to hit this absurd person with something large and preferably deadly.

"No, uhm yes, you're right, ha-ha." He actually dared to laugh, scratching his head in awkwardness. 

"I must have come here by myself. Last night we had a drinking party with everyone from the editorial department, and I must have overdone it. I apologize for barging in like this and causing you trouble. I hope I didn't do anything too shameful, did I?"

His hopeful gaze only lit the fire of malice inside my chest. I wanted to viciously lay out everything he did and see how his innocent expression changes. I wanted to see the color fading from his eyes when he realized just how much he had embarrassed himself in front of me. Especially after he had avoided me like that for so many days.

"Oh..." I began, feeling an insidious smile curving my lips. "Depends on what you want me to begin with. Perhaps the drunken confession of infatuation? Or better yet, the lame kiss you've given me right before you lost consciousness?"

The effect was exactly as I had expected. 

The moment my words fell, Kurosawa-san's expression changed abruptly. His face paled to a deathly white, his lips trembled and his eyes ogled at me like that of a dying fish. 

Seeing this, I felt satisfied and considered it my payment for the hassle I went through last night. Therefore, I decided to be merciful and spare his life.

"Don't worry too much." I said, waving a hand leisurely. "I don't take to heart what a drunk person says or does."

With that I ended the conversation.

Later, Kurosawa-san left without saying much, except for another bout of apologies and assurances that it will never happen again.