I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

At first, I only intended to drink just one can.

But as I drank, one can became two, and two became three—it was like magic.
In the past, this amount wouldn’t even have tickled my liver, but maybe because it was the first time this body had alcohol, I was already feeling pretty buzzed.
And Li Mei Ling, who was drinking beer at a pace incomparable to mine, was already on her fifth can before I realized it.

Considering it had only been about 30 minutes since we started eating, the speed was honestly astonishing.
“Aren’t you overdoing it?”
I asked with a worried tone, and Li Mei Ling tilted her head and replied,

“I’m not drunk.”
“Your face is red though.”
“I swear I’m not! Look at this!”

She said that, then stood up and spun around in place.
Considering the food table was right in front of her, it was a dangerously close move.
“How about that?”

“Alright, alright—just sit down already!”
I quickly sat her down before she could cause an accident.
Li Mei Ling plopped back into her seat, giggling away.

Until now, she’d always seemed a bit stiff, but maybe the alcohol loosened her up.
After taking another sip of beer and dipping a slice of sashimi into soy sauce, she asked me,
“So, do you have a girlfriend?”

“Eh? Me?”
“Yeah.”
It felt a little out of the blue in this situation, but I answered honestly.
“No. I don’t.”

I did get confessed to by a junior not long ago, but I politely turned her down, so it doesn’t count.
“Why not?”
“Even if you ask me that…”

Honestly, I didn’t have much of an answer.
I was busy with studying and training, and didn’t really see the point of forcing myself to get a girlfriend.
Of course, if things lined up with the right person, I’d be willing to date.

“Hm…”
After suddenly striking a nerve, she looked me up and down, then placed her hand on her chest and said,
“What about me, then?”

“…Huh? You?”
I blinked at the completely unexpected term.
“Well, I’m five years older than you, right? It’s not like it’s weird.”

“I mean… {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} yeah.”
Ever since I trained excessively and became a muscle monster, I hadn’t called anyone “noona” before, so it felt oddly refreshing.
“Wanna try saying it?”

“Uh… Mei Ling-noona?”
I muttered awkwardly, and she rested her chin on the table with a soft smile.
“Being called noona isn’t so bad after all.”

For a moment, I found myself staring at her radiant smile—but without showing it on the surface, I shoved food into my mouth.
“So, are you going to answer my question from before?”
I swallowed what was in my mouth and said,

“I figured you were joking.”
“About half.”
“So the other half was serious.”

I held my chopsticks in my mouth and thought seriously for a moment.
A girlfriend five years older, and a college student…
Setting aside nationality, it’d definitely be long-distance.

She probably entered Japan on a tourist visa.
Not to mention, if she was a world-famous top-class female fighter, there must’ve been plenty of people already trying to date her.
Probably similar to Minato’s case—realistically, a normal relationship wouldn’t work.

I nodded and said,
“Yeah… I think it’d be too hard.”
“Too bad.”

Mei Ling said it was too bad, but her expression didn’t look disappointed at all as she downed the rest of her beer.
In the slightly awkward air that followed, I asked something I’d been curious about.
“By the way, what kind of person is your master?”

I’d heard before that he was one of the legendary ‘Seven Fists’.
But the only Seven Fist I knew was Sasha’s father, Ivan—and he didn’t leave a good impression.
I mean, how are you supposed to like someone who tries to kill you the first time you meet just because you wouldn’t join his side?

Anyway, after hearing my question, Li Mei Ling opened a new can of beer and began to speak.
“He was one of the so-called ‘golden generation’ fighters at the first GOF 18 years ago. That first tournament was held to determine who was the strongest in the world, and it was on another level. If I had competed back then, I wouldn’t even have made it to the quarterfinals.”
“Was it really that intense?”

“Most of them are retired now, but the lineup back then was full of people who could’ve been called grandmasters in their respective fields.”
To be honest, just hearing about it didn’t help me picture it.
I mean, what kind of romcom world even has people like that?

At this point, I was starting to get curious about what the original manga was even about, but I put that aside and asked,
“Have you ever met any of the other Seven Fists?”
Li Mei Ling shook her head.

“They don’t usually operate publicly. Out of all the direct disciples like me, I’ve only met one—Michael, the runner-up of this year’s GOF.”
“Michael?”
“He’s an American who studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. A classic grappler type.”

I made sure to remember that piece of information.
I might have use for it someday.
As we chatted and continued drinking with our meal, it was already past 10 p.m.

We felt like we could keep eating, but decided to clean up the table before it got too late.
If we lingered any longer, we’d be bothering the inn staff.
After calling someone to clear the dishes, we opened the bedroom door to sleep.

“……”
As if it were meant to happen, the futons were laid out side-by-side in the room.
Mei Ling, standing next to me, said,

“Looks like the inn staff got the wrong idea.”
I quickly pushed the futons apart left and right.
“I wouldn’t mind sleeping close together.”

“Ma’am, you shouldn’t say that so casually.”
I scolded her lightly, then laid down on my futon.
Maybe because I was taller than most people, my feet stuck out from under the covers.

But since it was summer and not cold, I just dealt with it.
Seeing me lie down, Mei Ling also lay down on the futon next to mine.
“Not going back for another soak in the hot spring?”

She replied in a lightly amused voice,
“I told you the other day—I don’t really like soaking in hot water for too long.”
Now that she mentioned it, she had.

“Well, it’s not like this is our only chance. I can always go in tomorrow morning.”
If that’s what she wanted, I didn’t have anything to say.
When the buzz from the alcohol first kicked in, I wanted to fall asleep quickly, but now that I was lying down, I couldn’t sleep at all.

No—my brain was as sharp as if I’d taken stimulants.
I’d been doing my best not to think about it up to now, but being here like this made me realize it all over again.
I was about to sleep in the same room as a girl.

Of course I was nervous.
With the lights off, I just lay in the dark, staring up at the ceiling wide awake, until Mei Ling spoke.
“Are you asleep?”

“…No.”
“If I said anything weird while drunk, don’t take it too seriously, okay? I was just in a good mood and said whatever.”
She went silent for a moment.

“You… chose Mt. Fuji because you were thinking about me, didn’t you?”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“There’s no need to pretend you weren’t. If training was the only goal, we didn’t need to come all the way to a tourist spot like this. There are plenty of quiet places you could’ve chosen.”

She took a breath.
“Still… I had fun today. It’s my first time in Japan, but I think this’ll be a really good memory.”
I realized she was seriously misunderstanding, but in this kind of warm mood, it felt wrong to correct her.

So I kept quiet and just acted like I’d planned it that way.
“I’m glad you had a good time.”
“Yeah. If we get the chance, let’s come again.”

After that, she didn’t say anything more.
From the sound of her breathing, she’d probably fallen asleep from the alcohol.
I turned to look in her direction once, then slowly closed my eyes.

***
Chirp, chirp! Chirp, chirp!
“……”

The faint sound of sparrows woke me.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
And unfamiliar-feeling sheets.

As I blinked my dry eyes to adjust to the light, I finally remembered we’d slept at the inn last night.
Normally, I’d have gone out for an early jog, but I must’ve overslept today because of the alcohol.
The futon was warm with body heat, and I didn’t want to get out of it, so I rolled myself up in the blanket and turned slightly to the side—

And got the shock of my life.
Gasp!
“Nnn…”

Maybe her yukata belt had come loose while she was sleeping, but Li Mei Ling was lying right in front of me, practically half-naked.
I immediately shut my eyes and pretended to be asleep, but maybe because she was a professional fighter and sensitive to movement, she stirred and rubbed her eyes.
Then, as soon as her half-asleep gaze met my frozen one, she smiled softly and asked if I’d slept well—only to glance down and realize her clothes were hanging pretty open.

Then she looked back up at me and said playfully,
“Pervert♡”