The night at the izakaya was bustling and noisy with people coming and going.
In a private room of an Izakaya called "Snow Cherry," warm-colored lights bathed everyone's smiling faces like water.
As they clinked glasses and drank, the sparkling liquor splashed onto the exquisite dishes that were already half-eaten on the table.
But where there is light, there is darkness, and where some are happy, others are troubled.
Not everyone in this private room was having a good time.
At least, for Toda Ken, he wasn't enjoying himself.
Before this, his life had been smooth sailing.
Born into a well-off family, he never worried about food or clothing.
He was handsome and had girls chasing him since he was young.
He worked hard and got into a prestigious university.
Anything he wanted, he could get with a little effort.
So, he often lost interest in things that were easily attainable.
After entering university, he joined the basketball club based on his high school interest.
One day on the court, he met a girl who piqued his interest.
Unlike the shorter girls around, her tall and agile figure moved swiftly on the court, her long black ponytail dancing with her graceful and quick movements, exuding elegance.
Her handsome face, sharp eyes, and assets far beyond those of other girls her age caught his attention.
Woman, you successfully caught my eye!
With his excellent academic performance, impressive family background, and handsome looks, Toda Ken didn't think any girl could resist his pursuit.
He thought this time would be no exception.
But the result was a harsh rejection.
Literally, he hit a wall.
Besides feeling hurt and embarrassed, the wall he hit gave him no response.
The gifts he chose, his caring words, and his carefully prepared confession seemed to sink into the sea without a trace.
The gift boxes gathered dust, his caring messages turned into red exclamation marks, and his meticulously planned confession was swept into the trash by the school security.
Because he had resources far beyond the average student, his method of pursuing girls was clumsy and direct.
In his view, as long as a girl got to know him a bit, although she wouldn't necessarily fall for him immediately, but at least she wouldn't have a bad impression.
So he didn't understand why his pursuit and confession were so painfully rejected.
It wasn't until this get-together that he found out the girl he was interested in had a boyfriend.
To him, her boyfriend had nothing special besides a somewhat good-looking face.
Logically, if Yuuka liked that pretty boy, there was no reason she wouldn't like him.
Thinking he wasn't any worse, Toda Ken looked at his reflection in the black phone screen, seeing his own handsome face, and felt puzzled.
After downing a few cups of sake and thinking for a long time without understanding where he went wrong, he decided he needed to use unconventional methods to win the beauty.
His family had money, and naturally, money attracted followers.
With their influence, he wasn't good at pursuing girls, but he was adept at playing tricks.
In school, the top students, the handsome ones, the outgoing ones, and the rich ones were the most popular with girls.
That guy's other qualities were uncertain, but with his looks, he was certainly popular with girls in school, just like now.
So, he just needed Yuuka to know that her boyfriend did something unfaithful at school, and their relationship would naturally crack.
Then... hehehe~
As for making Yuuka believe her boyfriend did something wrong, it was simple: just play a game.
Even if he hadn't done anything wrong... impossible, completely impossible.
'Just put yourself in his shoes.'
'If you had a lot of money, would you resist buying things?'
'If you were very handsome, would you resist talking to beautiful girls who approached you?'
Especially knowing that Sasaki was a high school student, Todake was even more certain it was impossible.
In high school, girls rarely cared about material things.
'If you were handsome, you could easily experience their unimaginable enthusiasm.'
And since ancient times, even heroes couldn't resist beauties.
He didn't believe a mere high school student could remain so pure and chaste.
Ridiculous!
Absolutely ridiculous!
With his plan in mind, Toda Ken called over his lackey sitting across from him and whispered a few instructions in his ear.
Understanding his boss's intentions, the lackey patted his chest in assurance, gave an "OK" sign, and after some words of promise, he got up and walked to the table with the most girls, where Sasaki was sitting.
Taking a seat familiarly, the lackey suggested to Ayaka Kurokawa on the other side:
"Kurokawa-san, we've had enough to drink and eat. How about we play a game?"
Since it was a get-together, it was normal for someone to suggest playing games.
The girl didn't find it strange. She put down her glass and asked the students around:
"What do you think? Want to play a game?"
"Sure~"
"Playing games sounds good!"
"Yes, yes, let's play a game!"
"Yeah, yeah, drinking with Yuuka is making me feel like I might throw up."
The other classmates also gave affirmative responses.
Yuuka tilted her head back and finished the remaining sake, wiping the sparkling liquid from her rosy lips with her hand, and let out a satisfied sigh.
Turning her face, which now had a charming blush, shr looked at Sasaki with her misty, water-like eyes and softly asked:
"To... Fuyumi~ do you want to play?"
Having drunk too much, her originally smooth question came out in broken pieces.
But because of this, her breath, mixed with the scent of alcohol, gave her usually strong demeanor a cute, silly charm.
Moreover, they were drinking sweet sake, which didn't leave a strong alcoholic smell.
At least to Sasaki, Sister Yuuka's breath, warm and sweet on his face, mixed with her faint personal fragrance, wasn't unpleasant.
Letting her rest her head on his shoulder, he poured her a cup of warm tea and placed it on the table in front of her, then nodded and smiled at Ayaka Kurokawa, who was looking their way:
"Since everyone wants to play, let's play."
Having received unanimous approval from the table, the latter turned to the lackey who suggested the game and said:
"We're okay with it, but what game do you want to play?"
Hearing that Ayaka Kurokawa's table agreed to play, Toda Ken stood up and said:
"We don't know each other very well yet, and since there are couples here, playing the King's Game might be inappropriate. How about Truth or Dare instead?"
"Truth or Dare?"
"Yes!"
Sitting at the table, he took off the watch from his wrist, placed it on the table, and said:
"We can use a spinning wheel. There are twelve of us in total, so we can ask the shop for a twelve-section wheel.
Each person picks a number, and when the pointer stops on that number, they have to answer a question we've written."
"The questions can be sharp and personal. The more private, the more exciting. If someone doesn't want to answer, they can choose a dare as a punishment, like drinking or performing a talent."
"Of course, the punishments should be tough enough to keep things interesting.
Otherwise, everyone will just choose dare, and it won't be fun."
Pointing to his watch on the table, hr continued:
"Also, if you choose truth, you have to be honest. To avoid someone lying to get out of a punishment, we can use a heart rate monitor watch. If your heart rate fluctuates too much, it counts as a dare."
"What do you think?"
"Sounds fun! I want to play!"
"Okay, okay. Can we ask any question?"
Hearing this, Toda Ken replied with a charming smile:
"Well... it's best to think carefully. The questions you write might end up being asked of you, so make sure they are within your comfort zone."
With Sasaki setting the precedent, the girls didn't find his smile particularly charming.
So after getting his response, they thanked him and quickly started discussing what questions to write with their friends.
'Tsk~'
Clicking his tongue in disappointment at the girls' lack of discernment, Toda Ken, seeing that they had no further questions, instructed his lackey to ask the shop for the needed items.
They tidied up the table in the meantime.
Once everything was ready, the twelve people sat around the table, which now had a black and red twelve-section spinning wheel the size of a water basin, along with cards with questions written on them and a heart rate monitor watch.
Before the game even began, everyone's eyes were filled with anticipation and caution.
They were all eager to see others make a fool of themselves, while hoping desperately not to be the one chosen.
Everyone has secrets and embarrassing moments.
Some past embarrassments are so bad you'd want to curl your toes in shame, let alone share them with a crowd.
If asked a fatal question, any chance of finding a date at this gathering would sink.
Ignoring others' thoughts, Toda Ken glanced at his lackey, who gave a slight nod.
Smiling, he addressed the group:
"Everyone's seated. Let's start assigning numbers. Kurokawa-san is the organizer, so she'll be number one. Is that okay, Kurokawa-san?"
Since this was entirely based on luck, Ayaka Kurokawa didn't care which number she got.
After the boy asked, she nodded decisively:
"That's fine."
"Alright, then the rest of you will follow clockwise. So, Yuuka is number two, Sasaki is number three... and I am number eight..."
After arranging the order, Toda Ken placed his hand on the button of the spinning wheel and said to everyone:
"If there are no issues, I'll start now~"
"Okay!"
"Let's start!"
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
...
Scanning the room with a mysterious smile, Toda Ken pressed the red button.
Beep~
The thin white pointer on the wheel started spinning rapidly.
Since it was electrically driven, who the pointer would land on was entirely random.
At least, that's how everyone perceived it.
So as the pointer began spinning, everyone was incredibly tense, their eyes glued to the pointer on the spinning wheel.
After about five seconds of breath-holding, the spinning pointer began to slow down.
'Please not me, please not me...'
With everyone silently praying, the slowly stopping pointer crept past one section, then another, finally stopping at the edge of the third section.
"Yay~ It stopped, it's not me~"
The girl sitting next to Sasaki clapped her hands in joy as the pointer landed on the third section.
The others also breathed a sigh of relief and clapped enthusiastically.
While organizing the cards, they had all seen the questions written on them, and they were quite... provocative~
So with a "victim" now chosen, everyone was keen to watch the show, especially since it was Yuuka's boyfriend, making it even more entertaining.
"Truth~ Truth~ Truth~"
Worried that Sasaki might back out and choose a dare, the girls started clapping their small, white hands, cheering and laughing.
Knowing Sasaki wouldn't back out under the pressure from the girls and Yuuka's expectant gaze, Toda Ken didn't say anything.
"Alright, alright, I'll choose truth, okay?"
Unable to bear Yuuka's curious gaze any longer, Sasaki put on the heart rate monitor and picked up the top card.
"Is your first time still intact? If not, who did you give it to?"
"Oh!!!!!!"
Before Sasaki could respond, the girls, having peeked at the card's content, laughed and looked at the couple with knowing eyes.
"Answer quickly! Answer quickly! Answer quickly!"
Given the local culture, where many people have their first experience in junior high, and considering Sasaki's looks, it wasn't assumed he was still a virgin.
Therefore, the eager spectators didn't think he still had his "first time."
They were more interested in finding out who he had given it to.
But the answer they got...
Seeing their surprise, Sasaki removed the heart rate monitor and said to Yuuka, who had been staring at him:
"I've saved my first time for Yuuka."
"What? It's true?"
Seeing no significant fluctuations on the monitor, the girl sitting on Sasaki's other side exclaimed in surprise.
Due to local culture, boys talking about this subject in public, whether they have experience or not, would generally deny still being virgins.
For boys, admitting they are virgins can be seen as a lack of charm and attractiveness.
It's easily a source of rejection.
So before Sasaki's answer, they weren't expecting whether he was still a virgin or not.
They expected to hear who he had given his first time to.
But the answer they received...
Seeing their surprise, Sasaki removed the heart rate monitor and said to Yuuka, who had been staring at him:
"One must live up to one's standards.
When we get married, I hope we both have our first times together."
Well, he didn't say his first time was still intact.
But he indicated that Yuuka would always have his first.