Alcohol and Ogre-girls ch53

Boys' basketball
is so boring.
I feel ya.
Yeah.

I'm hungry...
I wanna get home and drink the provisional alcohol.
It's disgusting, though.
I know!

Since there's nothing better to do,
let's play tag. [tn: Known in Japan as "oni gokko" (pretend ogre)]
Ooh, aight.
Better than nothin'.
Eh?

It should warm us up.
You game too, Hinata?
Y-Yeah,
sure.

Okay.
Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.
Urgh, seriously? This sucks.

Okay, let''s run!
Hey.

Wait, dammit.
Ahahaha.

Hey, you girls! What are you doing?
We're playing tag!

Hinata's the ogre!

And then!?

Naori and I made drinks for the college festival!
And then we were attacked by a monster~

My word.
Shuten-doji's descendant teaming up with a human to drive off a monster...

Amazing, right!? My bartender's cabaret skills are off the chart!
Cabaret...?
Yeah, cabaret!

What's more, Naori's really kind!
She makes drinks for me everyday.

Man, I could talk about Naori forever!
Or, I guess, gush about her?
At this point.

...Such a peculiar one.
?
Naori?

No, I mean you.
Nobody would think you were the descendant of Shuten-doji.

If anything, you mingle with others better than most humans... It seems you're well-versed in human society.

Eh? Is that a compliment?
Fufu.
Indeed it is.

I see.
Happy to hear it.
...I really am, but...

I think that's because... I'm not a human.
I'm an ogre who wants to be human.

I doubt humans spend every moment thinking about how they're human,
but I think about human things all the time so that I can imitate them.

Those who "aren't" are desperate.

Are you not your true self in the human habitat?

Well,
I don't have pubescant thoughts like "this isn't the real me" or anything like that.

But this is the way I am... I've been rebelling against my parents since before I can even remember,
and even when I went to the human habitat, I felt uncomfortable deceiving everyone.

Naori's the one who gave me a place to belong.

"Ah, if I'm with this girl...
I'll be okay..."

It was the first time I ever thought that...
Gahahaha!

Oh! Your glass is empty, Naori-sensei.
Drink up!
Wahoo~ It's overflowing!

Man~ This rules! It really is all-you-can-drink!
Yay!
Does this inn even make a profit!?
Not so loud...

Who cares!? There's nobody else here.
That's true, but...

I know you're happy about the free drinks, but please don't drink too much.
I can't carry a drunken Notarou-san by myself.

Sorry, Naori...

but you're not exactly one to talk.
Yeah, I geddit, Notarou-shan!

Huh? Didja get fatter, Notarou-shan?
Hey~ I'm over here, Naori~
What is that ornament even doing here?

Well, it's fine.

Uuh~...
Everyfin'sh all blurry...

You okay. Drink some water.
...

Sorry... for making you drink with me.
Oh, you're awake.

The more I can drink, the better.
Besides, it's a relief to see you so gallantly wait for Hinata to come back.

Like, no offence, but you really are amazing... sticking with a pain in the ass like her and all.
She's outrageous and a big eater, after all.
That's cos...

You don't know anything
about Hinata-san.

Hinata-san is... how should I put it,
amazing.

p10

It's hard to put into words, but...
Naori's special.

And it's not just because she's my bartender...
It's her own charm...

When Hinata smiles... my chest becomes warm with happiness.

When I'm touched by Naori's kindness and sincerity, it makes me wanna cry.

I love both her serious face when she makes drinks
and her defenseless face when she's sleeping.

She's so cool when in battle.
And her relaxed face when she's drinking my alcohol is...

p11

Her bedhair that always springs up in the same place.
Her small hands when holding a shaker.
The way she'll always cough twice in a row.
Her finger movements when grasping a bar spoon.

The pointed roundness of her red horn.
Her fang that peeks out when she laughs.
The way she tries all sorts of words to give impressions of drinks.
Her shining blonde hair that soaks up the sunlight.

She's irreplaceable.

p12

That's exactly why

I want Hinata-san to stay the way she is...

I want to be human...

p13

...How come?

I only just remembered this... but back in middle school, I played tag.
We were killing time while waiting for the other team to finish up their match.

I lost at rock paper scissors, so I became the "ogre".
The "ogre" gives chase
and catches the humans.

I know that's just how the game works.
But it still hurt me somehow.

I love Naori.
It's because I love her,
that I don't want to stand next to her as "a race people run away from".

I don't wanna be an outcast...

p14

She got dead drunk and fell asleep while gushing about Hinata...

Hey, wake up~
Mm~...
You'll die if you sleep like that.

...

So like,
if you love Hinata that much, are you really okay with just being her "bartender"?

Maybe you should rethink your relationship before making Hinata human?
Uuh...

p15

Hah!
Wah!

...Did I fall asleep?
My head hurts...
Yep.

If you're awake, let's get walking. I'll see you to your room.
Get to sleep already.
I get the feeling I said some embarrassing stuff...

At any rate, I hope you can find the Shinpen Kidoku Sake soon.

I got to transform into a human first, after all!

...How do you like being human?

It's pretty fun.
There's a lot more things you can do with longer limbs.

But y'know,
I'm still a tanuki at heart.
A stupid and weak ghost tanuki.

p16

That won't change, can't be changed, and I don't want it to change.

...

p17

!

...Okay, it's ready.

p18

Here you go.
One Ballet Russe.

Wah~ I'm so happy~
I've been waiting for this!! And look at that pretty color!!
I was wondering if there was cocktail that matched the sunrise I saw this morning...

Nnng!
This rocks!

The acidicity of the blackcurrant and lemon is seeping into my tired body~!
And yet despite that, the alochol's still doing its thing, so I'm happy!
Glad to hear it. I was hoping it'd relieve you of your fatigue at least a little...

Yeah, I am pretty tired. Used a lot of energy and all that.
Thanks for your hard work...

p18

But don't worry! It really was just like a blood donation and didn't hurt at all!

Besides,
getting to drink with you brings my energy right back up, Naori.

...

Fwah...
Hey! You're totally sleepy!

Come on.
Get some rest!

Let's sleep together then.
You didn't get much sleep last night since you were drinking with Notarou, right?
...

p19

Hehe.
Good night then!
Good night.

...
...I guess,

thinking she's the most wonderful the way she is
is just my ego?

p20

Oh right!
!?

While I was sharing my energy with them,
I became friends with this god and we talked about our life stories.
And then the god said he'd use his connections to look for the Shinpen Kidoku Sake!

Ain't that great? We had made zero progress for the longest time!
I need to go share more energy after a day of rest, so I'll ask if they have any clues then!

Ah, but will there even be any clues after just one day?

U-Um...

About that...
Maybe we should stop
looking for... the Shinpen Kidoku Sake.

...Huh?

p21

...I've been doing some thinking...
and I think you should treasure the race you born as more, Hinata-san.

Even if there's some uncomfortable parts,
I think there's meaning in the race you were born as.
It's not something you can cast aside easily.

...What's going on here?
You've been supporting me becoming a human all this time, haven't you?

...I changed my mind.

...!
B-
Besides,

p22

if I stay an ogre, I'll have to become Shuten-doji!

And if I become Shuten-doji...
there's no telling if I'll be able to stay with you, Naori!
That's why
we should search for a method that lets you be happy as an ogre!

There's no such thing!

You've seen how the Ibuki family have treated me all this time, haven't you!?
I left home so I could undo my curse and become human!

I was wondering why you've been acting weird lately! This is what you were thinking about!?

...But I don't think any good will come of it.
Even if you stopped being an ogre, it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem...
For starters,

how can you say you want to become human so badly...
that you'd cast aside your own race just like that...

p23

How?

You don't get it...?

If you don't get it,
then fine.

p24

...I'll go sleep in the other room.

...

Warning