"I'm so jealous of how you can go wild without drinking. I can't even imagine a celebration without alcohol anymore. Or rather, other people wouldn't accept one without alcohol..."
"That's how middle-aged men are."
I chimed in, and Hiratsuka-sensei nodded vigorously, a trace of exhaustion showing on her face. Was that it...? Had work dinners worn her out...?
Though it was only my imagination, adults—especially Showa people from the previous generation—probably drank at every event. Like how "New Year's has to feel like New Year's." Celebrations, Year-End Parties, farewell parties—of course those sorts of events came with alcohol. If you drank something nonalcoholic at one of those, some busybody would probably latch onto you, saying, "You dare refuse the drink I poured for you?!"
"I want to drink too..."
Hiratsuka-sensei exhaled white smoke with a sigh.
It wavered for a moment before quickly dispersing into the air.
Hiratsuka-sensei looked out the window as though following the smoke's vanishing trail. Curious about what was there, I looked too, but all I could see was the evening sky and the athletic field. Nothing special.
The scenery she was watching surely wasn't here.
"...That's why I miss it so much sometimes."
She murmured softly, a gentle yet sorrowful smile curling her lips.
"We had so much fun without drinking. We could play until morning without getting drunk. We could talk forever with nothing but bottled tea."
Her tone carried memories of a distant past, days that would never return. Things were beautiful because they were lonely, and because time could not be turned back, words of nostalgia sounded especially sweet.
"Even late at night, even in some park by the roadside, even in front of a vending machine, even while we were still wearing our uniforms, the conversation never stopped. No one suggested