Take the offer

“How could I refuse? Of course. All my money is already dirty, a little extra more won’t hurt anything.”

Mikka’s smile widens. “I knew we would get along. Years of fucking around and not spending shit is gonna start paying off now. I can hardly wait to see what else we can accomplish together!”

“Now, for this to really workout, we need a way to get your friend in there out of the picture. There isn’t a chance in Hell he’d let one of his clients get touched.”

“Let’s get the drinks, yeah?”

Mikka looks at you as you walk beside him. “We’ll start off light at first, but once we start getting them buzzed, I’ll start lacing the drinks with something a little stronger, OK?”

You nod in agreement and continue to help him get the drinks that he promised to provide the group. The thought of doing kinda makes your heart race. This was certainly evil, but not the worst you’ve done...yet…?

You order a platter of beer, as well as a few specialized drinks. “Apple bombs”. Once you are away from the counter Mikka explains that the three apple bombs are for you, himself, and then Sachio. As the night goes on he’ll spice her drinks accordingly.

By the time you got back, everyone had relaxed enough to start singing. It was Ruprik that was taking the spotlight. He was singing a tune you weren’t really familiar with. Akiko watched him with a pained expression while Kenji and Sachio bantered, completely disjointed from the others in the room. She waited for the platter of drinks to be put down before partaking of one of the beers. Ruprik was quick to snatch one before your platter touched down however. Kenji took one as well, but when Sachio reached out, Mikka immediately suggested the Apple bombs. From the looks of it, she was about to decline the offer, but Kenji unintentionally helped Mikka and his plan by telling her that he'd had something that looked like that one time.

Sachio swallowed and then took the specialized drink. She looks up at Mikka and asks what it is. He quickly replies: “It’s an Apple Bomb! You’ll love it!”

Your eyes can’t help but widen as she downs herself the drink in an instant. Kenji watches too, shocked by her oblivious action. She coughs as she squints her eyes. “What’s in this?!”

“It’s an alcoholic drink,” you explain. “Depending on who made it, the ingredients can’t differ between what kind of **** was used.”

“It’s...burns the back of my throat.” She sighs. She looks at Kenji, who has his eyebrows arched slightly still. She stammers and looks back at Mikka and you. “But I like it!”

She downs the rest of it, trying to convince the room she isn’t lying. You watch her place the glass down. You can’t help wonder if this is her first time drinking. Ruprik asks if anyone wants to take the next song. There aren’t any offers until Mikka shrugs and says he’ll take it.

Kenji starts drinking a second glass. You double check. Third glass?? You haven’t even finished your first. Akiko stands up and sits between you and Sachio. As Mikka’s terrible vocals rattle the room, she nudges you. It doesn’t look like she’s drank anything from her glass yet…”Was this what you expected?”

“What...what was expected?”

She gestures towards Kenji and Sachio. “Them talking and drinking like that. I didn’t take Kenji that much as an enthusiastic drinker.”

He places down his third drink and offers Sachio another. Mikka is watching, his grin is disgusting. You look back at Akiko and nod. “She told me she was thinking about this for some time, so I’m not too surprised. Though I am surprised by Kenji.”

She looks at him too, but she watches them both clink their glasses together. Kenji is a quick drinker. Sachio tries to do the same, and manages to finish her glass shortly after he does. “I’m surprised by both.”

You lean towards the table to drink your Apple Bomb. You drink it, finding it to have a fairly powerful punch and burn to it. It was made cheaper than the last one you had. It had a strong whiskey taste to it— the sweetness from the apple was dulled out and replaced by something older and artificial. You offer a drink to Akiko, who half-reluctantly accepts it, and tries it out for herself.

She only takes a little bit. Her face cutely twists. She coughs and hands it back while apologizing. Not her ideal drink...another song, this time it's Kenji.

He’s relaxed a lot. By far, he’s got the best voice. You aren’t familiar with this song either, but it doesn’t really matter. Akiko continues to talk to you. Everyone besides you and Akiko, have drank almost everything from the platters. Mikka offers another round and looks at you for assistance. Sure, why not?

Same thing as before, but this time he stops right outside the room. He pulls out a clear bag with a few red pills and breaks half of one into dust. He sprinkles the dust into one of the Apple Bombs and mixes it. He looks at you. “This is for Sachio. Give it to her.”

“Why me?” You ask.

“Just making sure we’re on the same team here. You should also get the next song, liven up the girls a bit.”

“I love singing.”

You walk inside, not letting Mikka ask you if you were serious or not. You place the platters down and give the mixed drink to Sachio. Kenji tries to take it, but you offer him yours as fast as you noticed his hand reaching for it. His rosy cheeks and lazy stare lights up when he sees you handing him a separate glass.

As promised, you take the next song. This does seem to lessen the remainder of the tension inside the room - Akiko takes the next song and Sachio chases her. You start getting buzzed so you stop. Akiko finally finished her first pint and stopped drinking. Mikka stopped as well, but he was already fairly drunk. Ruprik too. Kenji was drifting, making you all look bad with at least a dozen pints laid out. Of course, however, he’s been through more recently and was probably looking for a deeper escape. Sachio looked a little dizzy, but remained active.

“Alright,” Akiko says. “I’m done for the night. Tomorrow is a rare late day and I’d like to get some decent sleep.”

The time was 11:56PM. Sleep didn’t sound too bad to you either. But Mikka protested.

“One more song?”

She shook her head. “You’re free to do whatever you want. But I need someone to walk me back.”

Mikka looked at you. This was your chance to get Kenji out of here!