29 Vol 1. pt. 29 Ramen and Bourbon (1/2)

Ryouta drunkenly makes his way back to the booth after emptying his bladder. The girl that he was staring at before going into the bathroom almost looks as if she is expecting something when he comes out, but he just walks past her without paying her any attention.

Of course, he is paying very little attention to anything at all right now.

”I… think I dranked too muchmuch,” Ryouta says before giggling and practically falling back into his seat.

Spencer catches Ryouta and helps him sit down. ”Yeah, I think you did, too,” Spencer says

”Shorry, this izz what always happensh, doesn't it?”

”It is, but it's alright. I expect it to happen. Plus it's cute to see you like this.” Spencer pats the top of Ryouta's head.

Ryouta's canid ears twitch.

Wait.

He feels the top of his head, probably looking very strange to anybody looking his way.

Fenrir's ears are not there, yet it feels like they are. It's like he can feel them twitching and reacting to Spencer's hand even though they don't exist.

”Dozh your mind play fuuunnee tricks on you after that gamey wamey?” Ryouta asks, giggling some more from his own stupid speech.

”You could say it does. I think it might be related to what they've been talking about on the news lately – like how the game's mental manipulation can have aftereffects in reality. So if your mind keeps on telling you to believe and feel like you have something that you don't, then that might carry over to reality. For example, I sometimes don't roll over when I'm lying down to sleep because I keep on thinking that my antlers will stop me, but then I remember – you know, no antlers in reality,” Spencer explains.

”Yeah, 'at!”

”Yes, that.”

A loud smack comes from a few booths ahead, drawing the attention of nearly everybody in the bar.

Cassandra's right hand is raised while her left hand is pulling the top of her costume up as far as she can get it. Her face is bright red and she looks as if she's trying not to cry.

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One of the men sitting down in front of her has a bright, red mark and a stupid grin on his face. ”What's the matter? You're already showing off those tits – who cares if we get to see the rest of them? It's not like you're leaving much to the imagination,” the man says, his hands making groping gestures in the air as they approach her chest. Going by blush on his cheeks, in addition to where he was slapped, and the hazy look in his eyes, Ryouta isn't the only one who drank too much. ”You don't show off great tits like this if you don't want them to be looked at and touched, ain't that right?”

Ryouta hates cliché, sexist men in reality just as much as he does in-game. A ship with cannons manned by Serra would be pretty helpful right now.

While he may not have a ship nor a cannon-addicted assistant, that doesn't mean he's going to just sit back and watch some girl get harassed.

He's too drunk to notice the bouncer already on the way over to break things up and kick the offending party out.

”Hey! What're you guysh… think you're doin'?” Ryouta asks, placing himself between Cassandra and her molester.

Now, when a man asks a question, he usually waits for an answer before doing anything else.

Ryouta? Well, Ryouta goes and punches the man in the face almost immediately after asking the question as if he can't decide on whether he wants to solve this peacefully or forcibly.

There are two problems with this.

One, Ryouta is not Fenrir. Fenrir is strong. Ryouta is not.

Two, the man that Ryouta just bloodied the nose of is much larger and looks like the kind of guy who makes obnoxious noises while lifting not-actually-that-heavy weights at the gym.

Spencer pulls Ryouta away just in time to keep him from getting his face smashed in. ”Sorry about that, my friend here drank a bit too much,” Spencer tries apologizing to the man, but all the denied retaliation does is inspire him and his friends to get up from their booth.

The bouncer arrives. While the molester may be a large man, the bouncer is larger and more intimidating in every way possible. He looks like the kind of man who makes obnoxious noises at the gym but only because he's lifting weights that actually require them. His biceps look like they are going to tear through his shirt if he flexes. ”Get out of here before we call the cops. Now!” he shouts at both the molester and Ryouta.

Naturally, a drunken man willing to try and tear off an innocent girl's costume and then try to punch a guy less than half his size is also going to be willing to try and attack the bouncer.

The bouncer does not take kindly to this, blocks the man's attempt at a punch, twists his arm behind his back, and drags him over to the entrance. ”You're going to fuckin' break my arm, let it go!” the dragged man shouts. The bouncer doesn't care. The rest of the guy's friends follow him out of the bar, not wanting to suffer the wrath of the bouncer.

Ryouta turns to look at Cassandra. ”Are you alrigh—” he starts asking but is interrupted when the bouncer comes over for him.

”Out!” the bouncer demands.

It is clear that Ryouta does not intend to listen, but Spencer intervenes and drags Ryouta out himself. ”Sorry, we're going,” Spencer apologizes for him.

Fortunately, the problem men are already walking away in the opposite direction of where Ryouta and Spencer need to go by the time they get outside. They don't want their egos bruised any more than they already are.

”Hey! I was…n't done drinking, and stuff, and we needs to give them the moneys!” Ryouta whines to Spencer.

”The last thing you should be worried about right now is paying for your drinks,” Spencer says.