Vanilla
Page 14
Fumio glanced at his watch. “Almost twelve o’clock.”
“Are you sure your friend’s not coming home tonight?”
“Positive.”
“Then would it be all right if I spent the night here? I don’t feel like taking a taxi home.”
“No problem.”
They both fell silent for a long moment before Seiko suddenly broke it with a giggle. “This feels so awkward.”
“I know. As I told you already, I’ve never had a girlfriend before, so….”
“Well, this is when you’re supposed to ask me if I’d like to take a shower, silly.”
“Oh. Well then, would you like to take a shower?”
“Thank you. I think I will.”
He showed her to the bathroom, and told her where the towels and soap were. Then he returned to the living room to have another drink as he heard the shower go on. He lit a cigarette and smoked it, but put it out before it was even half smoked. And when he caught himself pacing back and forth, he actually stopped and laughed at how clichéd his reactions were.
When the shower stopped, there was silence as Seiko dried herself off within. And then the bathroom door opened as she emerged with only a bath towel wrapped around herself. She paused as if surprised to see him. Again she giggled.
“Fumio-san, please don’t embarrass me by making me tell you everything. You’re supposed to be in the bedroom by now, under the covers waiting for me.”
“Oh.” Fumio grinned. “I feel so ashamed. Maybe I should have bought a dating manual first and studied it. Okay, please go back into the bathroom and count to fifty.”
“All right.” But before she stepped back inside, she said, “And turn out all the lights in the house except for a small one in the bedroom.”
“Okay.”
As soon as she’d re-entered the bathroom, Fumio hurriedly extinguished all the lights in the apartment, leaving only the bedside lamp on. The whole place was dark except for its faint glow. He then stripped down to his briefs and slipped under the bed covers, waiting there with his heart racing.
Presently he heard the bathroom door open, and footsteps coming his way.
Seiko paused just outside the bedroom. “May I come in?”
“Please.”
She came over to the bed and, with the towel still wrapped around her, slid under the covers next to him. “I hope I don’t have to tell you what to do next.”
“No, of course not.” He pulled her to himself and kissed her.
Tonight her kisses were much more impassioned than usual and Fumio found himself becoming aroused. Yet what really excited him was the thought that he was in Tatsuya’s bed, where he’d so often satisfied himself with only the remnants of a finished banquet. Even now the pillows and sheets were permeated with the aroma of the body lotion Tatsuya always used.
Seiko began writhing around as she kissed him, and her towel came undone, leaving her naked body pressed tightly against his. He was surprised at how voluptuous her flesh felt. And now she became quite passionate, running her hands over his chest and down to his belly. As she slid her palm across the front of his briefs and felt his penis, she whispered, “Are you nervous?”
He nodded meekly.
“Well, you shouldn’t be.”
Then, to his surprise, she slid his briefs down and began touching him directly. When he glanced at her face, she had her eyes turned away in embarrassment. But happily, he felt his penis stirring in response to her caresses.
She put her mouth close to his ear. “Could you please use protection?”
“Of course.”
He got out of bed and opened the top drawer of the bedside table. Tatsuya had told him that the rubbers would be in here just in case he needed them. Quickly slipping one on, he rejoined Seiko in bed. Thankfully he was able to enter her with no problem, his erection remaining firm. He heard her moan softly as his penis slid all the way in.
From there on everything proceeded smoothly. He began slowly thrusting, and Seiko slipped her arms around him, pulling his body closer to herself. She was responding with soft moans.
Inside his mind, Fumio put himself in Tatsuya’s place, hoping to somehow magically acquire his friend’s confident skill with women. Perhaps because of this, he was able to continue making love with Seiko for quite a long time. But then, as her moaning suddenly got more passionate, he felt a twinge of panic. And when she began moving her hips with much more vigor, his penis abruptly went limp.
He stopped.
She was gazing up into his eyes. “What’s the matter?”
He shook his head and got off of her, turning away. He had failed. Again.
But then he felt her hand gently touch his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Fumio-san,” she said, “it’s all right.”
He remained silent, feeling absolutely wretched. She whispered softly: “You came, didn’t you?”
Before he could deny it, however, he suddenly realized that he’d just been handed the perfect alibi. He merely had to remain silent.
“Don’t worry, Fumio-san, I’m not upset. It sometimes happens. In fact, I should probably take it as a compliment.”
“Still, I’ve let you down.”
“No you haven’t. Not in the slightest.” She hugged him from behind, her breasts pressing against his back. “Don’t believe for a second that you let me down. I won’t let you blame yourself.”
“You’re so sweet, Seiko. Thank you.”
“Oh, Fumio-san, it’s not important. Maybe we can try it again in the morning.”
“All right.” He slid out of bed and tugged some tissues out of the box, covering the condom with them as he pulled it off. She must not see that there was no semen inside it. Wrapping the condom up completely, he dropped it into the wastebasket before rejoining her in bed. She kissed him again and again as if to reassure him of her feelings. To his surprise, Fumio felt something welling up within him—something very much like love.
As they snuggled together, he whispered in her ear, “May I ask you a very personal question, Seiko?”
“Of course.”
“How many men have you been with? I mean, besides that assistant professor you told me about.”
She remained silent for a while, then said, “Is it because I was being so forward tonight?”
“No, no, it’s not that. I’ve told you how inexperienced I am. And….”
“…and you’re worried that you might not measure up against the other men I’ve been with…is that it?”
“Yes. Something like that.”
She fell silent again. And then: “All right, since we’ve promised to be honest with each other, I suppose you should know. I’ve been with five men, not including you. My first time was—”
“No, you don’t have to go into any details. It’s enough to know that you’re being honest with me.”
“Do you consider me promiscuous?”
“Not at all. If anything, you’re probably on the chaste side for a girl of your age. And I should be grateful for your previous experiences; otherwise you might have been less understanding about my…failure.”
“Fumio-san, since we’re being honest, I should inform you that what you consider a failure is quite common. Especially on the first time. But as we become more comfortable with each other, it’ll get better, don’t worry. So please don’t blame yourself, okay?”
“All right.”
She kissed him on the lips, and Fumio felt a renewed burst of affection for her.
“Good night, Fumio-san.”
“Good night, Seiko.”
She wrapped her arms around him and they hugged each other tightly.
Long after he suspected she’d fallen asleep, Fumio continued to lie there awake. He too knew from his own experiences that premature ejaculation was not uncommon among males. If anything, a man who could physically satisfy a woman in bed—the way Tatsuya could—was probably very rare. That being the case, there should be no problem with marrying Seiko. If she mi
stook him for a premature ejaculator, it was still preferable to her knowing the real reason for his failure. Perhaps there were many married homosexuals out there who faked their orgasms in order to deceive their wives.
Somehow he managed to get to sleep, though he kept waking up throughout the night. He suspected that Seiko’s sleep was just as light as his own. But sometime toward dawn he really did fall into a deep sleep, and the next time he woke up, he had a firm morning erection. As he turned toward Seiko, he sensed that she too was awake, so he got up and put on a condom to give it another try. But once again, after about two minutes of successful copulation, just as she was becoming increasingly passionate, he suddenly went limp and had to pretend he’d ejaculated. Yet Seiko remained as forgiving as ever.
She got out of bed to take a morning shower—apparently she’d come prepared, with a change of underwear in her handbag—and after she was done, he took one himself. When he emerged from the bathroom, Seiko was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. It was only scrambled eggs and toast, but tasted quite delicious. After breakfast, Seiko made the bed and cleaned up the house a little before leaving. She certainly had all the makings of a very good wife.
20
Fumio and Seiko arrived first at Do-Re-Mi-Land, the karaoke place where they were to meet Tatsuya. After leaving a note at the counter for him, they rented a room and ordered some soft drinks and snacks. It was now two weeks since Seiko had finally gotten the cosmetic surgery done on her eyes. Fumio had easily talked her parents into agreeing to the operation, telling them that it was his own wish for her to have larger eyes.
Seiko had stayed home for two days with bandages wrapped around her eyes, and when they’d finally come off, her upper face had had a bruised look for half a week. But after the bruises went away, even her parents had to agree that she looked so much prettier than before.
Fumio was glad to be able to introduce the new, cuter Seiko to Tatsuya. While they waited for him to arrive, Seiko selected several songs from the menu and picked up the microphone. She had always been known among her friends as a good singer. In fact, there had been a time when she’d seriously considered becoming a pop singer. But now that dream found its only outlet in places like this.
Tonight she seemed more energetic than usual, belting out a Nakamori Akina song as if she were on stage before hundreds of people. On the video screen of the karaoke machine, a young couple were enacting a melodramatic story which had nothing to do with the words to the song. Fumio flipped through the menu searching for something to sing.
There was a knock on the door and Tatsuya came in.
“Sorry I’m late.” He grinned at them awkwardly.
Seiko lowered the volume of the music and put her microphone down. With a brief bow, she said, “Hello. So you’re Tatsuya-san. I’m Seiko.”
“Finally we meet,” he said. “I was really surprised when Fumio told me he was getting married, but he never even hinted at how cute his fiancée was. You are a lucky man, Fumio.”
“Well….”
“No wonder you look so happy nowadays. I envy you.”
Seiko brought her hands up to her face in a girlish gesture of shyness, and Fumio felt a pang of annoyance. Picking up the room phone, he ordered three steins of beer. When they arrived, the three of them clinked their glasses and drank.
Tatsuya was gazing at Seiko in a pleased manner. “Now I know why he wants to move out, after being my roommate for only three months. At first I thought it was because he found living with me a big pain. But I’m happy to learn the real reason.” He turned to Fumio. “Still, I didn’t think you were the type to get married so young.”
Fumio felt a chill go through him, wondering what Tatsuya had meant by the remark.
Seiko set her glass down and picked up a single potato chip. Taking a tiny bite from it, she said, “Tatsuya-san, I’ve heard so much about you from Fumio-san.”
“What has he been telling you?”
“Oh, only good things, I can assure you.”
“Then he was lying, because I’m anything but good.” He grinned at her boyishly. “May I ask how the two of you met?”
“My father introduced us, actually.”
“Your father?”
“The famous Professor Akiyoshi,” said Fumio. “You might have seen him on TV sometimes.”
“Oh yes….” Tatsuya turned to Seiko. “I always watch that quiz show where he’s a regular panelist. It has pretty high ratings, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. And you can be sure he’s quite vain about it too,” she laughed. “He thinks himself quite the star, even though he’s only there as the token academic to set off the young actresses and comedians.”
“Well, he is a star, in a manner of speaking.” Tatsuya glanced at Fumio with a crooked smile on his lips.
Seiko brightened up. “And how about you, Tatsuya-san? Are you thinking of getting married soon? Or do you find it hard to give up your freedom?”
He laughed with a self-deprecating gesture. “I don’t know if you can call it freedom when I’m in search of a job at the moment.”
“What I meant is that, with your looks, you probably have lots of girlfriends,” she said.
“Well....”
Fumio was surprised at how animated Seiko’s face was. There was a glow in her eyes that made her look more alluring than she’d ever been before. Of course any woman would become excited in the presence of a man as attractive as Tatsuya. Still, it irritated him to think how easily his wife-to-be had fallen for him. As for Tatsuya, he seemed quite taken with Seiko himself.
“We’re running out of snacks to go with the beer,” said Fumio.
“Why don’t you order something while I visit the ladies’ room?” Seiko got up and left.
As soon as she was gone, Tatsuya picked up his pack of cigarettes. “Is Professor Akiyoshi the one who called you on the phone when you first moved in with me?”
Fumio nodded.
“The one who’s infatuated with you? The queer?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re going to marry his daughter?” Tatsuya paused in the act of pulling a lighter out of his pocket. “This is turning out to be quite interesting. Do you mean to tell me that you and the professor, behind her back…?”
“No. Sensei and I never had that kind of relationship. He’s happy just to have me as his son-in-law, living under the same roof with him. There’s nothing irregular going on.”
“I see.” Tatsuya tapped his cigarette against the tabletop before lighting it. “That’s good. Otherwise, things could get quite complicated, I imagine.”
Fumio resisted the urge to light up a cigarette himself. “You see, the professor wants me to teach at one of his jukus. I’ll start out working part-time during my last year of school, but as soon as I graduate, I’ll be accepted as a full-time employee.”
Tatsuya took a long pull at his cigarette and said, gazing abstractedly at the silent video screen, “Does Seiko-san have any brothers or sisters?”
“No. She’s an only child.”
“So that means you’re being adopted into the family?”
Fumio nodded.
Tatsuya narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Which means that, somewhere down the line, you stand to inherit a whole lot of money.”
“I guess so. But I don’t want you to get the impression that I’m marrying Seiko for that reason.”
“No, of course not.” Tatsuya stared hard at him, and for a moment Fumio felt a stab of panic. But then, to his relief, the other merely laughed. “Looks like you’re on easy street now, Fumio. I envy you. Getting married to such a pretty woman, and having a secure job lined up for you: every young man’s dream.”
Fumio flushed. “Listen. Do you mind if I sing a little? There’s a song I’ve been wanting to try out.” He picked up the song menu and flipped through it looking for the title he was after. As he punched in its number code, Tatsuya pulled the menu to himself, looking for the songs he wanted.
Fumi
o held the mike and sang, but his voice wasn’t in very good form tonight, and when he was done, he handed his mike to Tatsuya with relief. Seiko returned just then, sitting down next to Fumio to listen to Tatsuya sing.
“You’re quite good!” she shouted as he finished the first verse.
Fumio clapped along with her, but as soon as Tatsuya was done, he excused himself to go to the toilet. After relieving himself, he went out to the lounge to have a long smoke before returning to the karaoke room. When he got there, Seiko and Tatsuya were laughing together at something.
“What’s so funny?” he said.
Tatsuya turned to him. “We were just talking about the singing abilities of some of these pop stars. Listen, Fumio, I’ve just finished singing my song so it’s your turn at the mike. And I know just the one for you.” He picked up the remote control and, checking the number codes in the menu, punched in his selection. Immediately the song’s introduction came on, a sweeping crescendo of violins. Fumio groaned as he recognized the opening strains of a hackneyed lovers’ duet.
“Just the thing for you two,” said Tatsuya. He picked up a pair of microphones and handed them to Fumio and Seiko.
“No thank you,” said Fumio. “I don’t care for this particular tune.”
“But we have to have something romantic to celebrate your engagement,” Tatsuya pleaded.
“Then why don’t you take it?”
“If you insist.” Without any further ado, Tatsuya took back the mike and gazed at the screen as the lyrics of the song came on. The first verse was for the man, with the woman’s reply immediately following. Tatsuya and Seiko, each holding their own mikes, sang the sentimental duet in a campy, exaggerated fashion, but when their voices blended together on the chorus, it sounded truly heartfelt. Fumio had a strangely agitated feeling as he watched the two of them singing. Certainly it wasn’t jealousy, he told himself.
As the song came to its climactic ending, Tatsuya and Seiko gazed deeply into each other’s eyes, and Fumio applauded them loudly. Seiko, her face looking a little flushed, smiled awkwardly at him.
He glanced at his watch. Not without a hint of malice, he forced himself to yawn. “It’s getting a little late. Maybe we should call it a night.”