They both looked at Aiko.
“Eh? Nani?” She pointed to her nose.
Her friends exchanged one last glance. “You think she’s done it?” Nana whispered across the table. Tomoko shrugged.
“Done what?” Aiko scowled. “If you mean…in my…well, no.”
Those two perverts continued to analyze each other, as if they sent psychic energy about Aiko’s sexual condition back and forth with a will of the minds. God, they’re probably debating whether or not I’m a virgin. Aiko had known them since starting university earlier that year, but never went into the details of her dating life beyond “I’m dating him,” and “I’m not dating him anymore.” She had yet to mention Reina.
“Actually,” Aiko said with square shoulders, “I have an announcement. I’m dating somebody new.”
Nana was the first to squint her eyes; Tomoko followed with a turn of the head. “Ara?” Nana said. “Who is it? I haven’t seen you talking to any guys lately.”
“Ah! It must be Higarashi-san from the interschool English study group, ne?” Tomoko’s smugness was almost priceless. “I heard that he thinks you’re cute. He must’ve asked you out.”
Aiko shook her head. “No. We don’t study with this person.” She was careful to avoid the use of pronouns in her native language.
“What’s his name, then?” Nana put a hand on the corner of the table near Aiko. “Is he cute? Can he kiss?”
Warmness infused Aiko as she sipped the last of her tea; her grin stretched all the muscles in her face. “This person’s name is…” She frowned, realizing she had to be careful since Tomoko knew Reina from high school. “Ren. We haven’t kissed yet.” Soon.
“Ren? Sounds like a bad boy.” Nana took off her glasses and cleaned the lenses. “Anyway, you should kiss him soon. Nothing worse than a boyfriend who can’t kiss.”
“Are you going out with him on Christmas?”
Aiko met Tomoko’s gaze with a forced smile. “Maybe. We haven’t talked about it yet.”
“Saa, a boy who won’t go out with you on Christmas is no good at all.”
Nana agreed and added, “Pray he gets you something.”
Aiko let the topic drop and watched her friends go back to wrapping presents while they chatted about the latest music and television shows. While they debated whether the latest Dreams Come True album deserved all its astronomical sales, Aiko cleared the teacups and took them to the kitchen.
The moment she stood, the doorbell rang.
“Who could that be?” The family didn’t expect any packages. Aiko dried her hands on her shirt and went to the front door, wondering how she could drive away the latest salesman.
She did not, however, expect her ex-boyfriend to stand on the other side of the door.
“Daisuke!” Aiko jumped the moment she saw him dressed in layers of jackets and mufflers. “What are you doing here?”
Thumps from the living room echoed around Aiko. Before Daisuke could lower his muffler to speak, both Nana and Tomoko stood behind the genkan. Aiko kept her eyes on Daisuke, as if he would enter without her permission.
“Forgive me, Aiko.” He bowed into the house, but his feet did not cross the threshold. A cold and snappy breeze flew in and rattled the umbrella stand. “I know I shouldn’t be here right now, but I had to see you.”
“You saw me last week, didn’t you?” Aiko let go of the door handle and crossed her arms. “I broke up with you! Why are you still hanging around my house? Kimoi!” She spat the offending word.
“I know.” Daisuke looked up, his eyes widening at the sight of Nana and Tomoko. “Could we talk in private, you think?”
Aiko shivered, but not from the cold. He was never this creepy when I dated him. But now he’s acting like a panty thief! “No. Whatever you have to say, you can say here in front of my friends. And make it quick.” She wondered if her eyes hurt from the chill or from furrowing so hard.
Her ex-boyfriend stood straight again, though his eyes continued to wander around the entrance hall like a criminal with a confession brewing inside. Every time Aiko attempted to make eye contact, he bit his lip and fumbled his muffler. “I just want to talk to you. About what happened between us.”
Nana huffed behind Aiko, and Tomoko made some strange “hnnn” sounds. “I don’t know what there would be to say. I broke up with you. I don’t want to be with you.”
“But why? You never told me!”
“Hey, what makes you think she owes you any explanation?” Nana bent over the genkan, her nose closer to Daisuke than Aiko’s was. “She said she broke up with you, so that’s that! You really are creepy! Do you hang around the house of every girl who breaks up with you? Maybe that’s why she broke up with you. You’re creepy!”
That wasn’t it at all. He was a perfect gentleman. “That’s enough.” Aiko held up a hand in front of Nana’s glasses. “Daisuke, if you really want to talk to me, it’ll have to be at some other time. I’m with my friends right now. This isn’t an appropriate time.”
“Yeah, and she has a new boyfriend, anyway.”
Aiko spun her head to see Tomoko wagging a finger in Daisuke’s direction. “Tomo-chan!”
“Yeah, and he’s manlier than you’ll ever be.”
“Nana-chan!”
Daisuke, however, continued to stutter while Aiko’s friends babbled about a boy who not only didn’t exist, but was not even a man at all. And Reina isn’t my girlfriend! We’re just dating! “I’m sorry, Aiko… I’ll… I’ll… shitsureishimasu!” He bowed and excused himself once more before scurrying through the Takeuchis’ yard, his kilograms of clothing shuffling like a giant boulder on his body. A fog rolling through the street obscured him in a matter of seconds.
Aiko had no desire to explain herself to Nana, Tomoko, or anyone else. They returned to the living room and recommenced drinking their tea and wrapping their presents with few words. The silence grated on Aiko to the point she turned on the TV and they all watched Christmas cartoons for the remainder of the afternoon.
To their credit, Nana and Tomoko helped Aiko clean up the wrapping paper, tape, and dishes when they finished, but the moment they put the last teacup away, Nana announced she was tired and ready to go home. Tomoko in turn decided to leave as well, and together Aiko’s friends took their presents and left with cordial goodbyes. Aiko closed the door a final time behind them, but not before scouring her tiny front lawn for any sign of Daisuke. Nowhere.
Blessed loneliness was Aiko’s. Her mother and father wouldn’t return home from their day trip to the countryside for another few hours. She wished she could enjoy the privacy, but after growing up in a house with four older siblings, she wasn’t sure she knew what to do all by herself.
She passed the time with a music show on TV. During a long performance by a traditional enka singer, Aiko picked up the remote. She flipped through various medical and detective dramas before landing on a movie channel showing the same lesbian film she watched a few days before.
The first thing she did was lower the volume – what if the neighbors heard? But she didn’t change it, nor did she look away. Minutes crept by before the first love scene, and Aiko’s lips dried from her mouth hanging open.
God, that looks like it feels good. Aiko surprised herself with the thought. She yelped and covered her face with her hand as the two characters took off their clothes. Aiko hadn’t noticed the first time she watched that one of the characters’ nipples hardened fast enough to stab out an eye. I wonder what another woman’s body feels like.
After the love scene ended with both women falling asleep together, Aiko turned off the TV and went to look for her jacket. In the front pocket she kept Reina’s phone number, given to her when they last split up at the train station.
Of course, she had to stand in front of the hallway phone for five minutes before she had the gumption to dial Reina’s number. What if she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore? The phone rang once. If she wanted to see me again, she would’ve called by now, right? Twic
e. What if she’s not home from work yet? Thrice.
“Moshi moshi?”
The phone froze in Aiko’s hand at the sound of Reina’s husky voice. “Rei…Reina. This is Aiko. Are you busy?”
“No, I’m not busy. What’s up?”
“Yokatta.” Aiko’s muscles relaxed. “I was just calling to see if you were busy for Christmas.”
“Christmas? No. I have that day off, but not the days before or after. Why?”
“I thought maybe we could, you know…”
“Go out?”
“Yes.”
“Ehhh? A Christmas date, huh? I don’t think I’ve had one of those in a couple years.”
“Me neither.” Not since high school, anyway. “So is it okay, then?”
“Sure. Actually, I was going to call you later and ask if you wanted to go out tomorrow afternoon. What do you think?”
First a date on Christmas, and now the next day? Aiko’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Okay.” But then she remembered, after all that, what happened that past Sunday in the café bathroom. “I’ve been thinking about last time. I’m sorry for putting you in that position.”
She wondered if the pause was from Reina staring at her phone as if it had the plague. “Don’t worry about that. Maybe I’ll get that kiss out of you tomorrow.”
Good thing she couldn’t see Aiko’s cheeks turn red. “Maybe.” Aiko let out a breath. “So, how was your day today?”
Reina laughed at the abrupt change in subject. While she spoke about her job and the bar she went to the night before with Michiko, Aiko leaned against the wall and listened to the deep tone of her voice. If she closed her eyes and concentrated on it, she could imagine Reina was there, beside her, having a conversation with her about the most mundane things.
A flash of that movie played on the back of her eyelids, and something stirred inside her.
As if she could sense the change in Aiko’s body, Reina asked, “Saa, what are you wearing this evening?”
“Huh?” Aiko’s eyes snapped open. “What do you mean? Just jeans and a heavy shirt? Why?”
Her candidness made Reina laugh again. Am I really this naïve? “Damn, I was hoping you were wearing lingerie.”
“It’s too cold for that.”
“Not here.”
Now Aiko imagined Reina in her bedroom, bedecked in a dark negligee, her sleek, long hair and heavy eyelashes making up for her lack of bodily curves – Aiko shifted against the wall. “Are you wearing something?”
“For all you know I’m naked.”
No way. She’s messing with me. But the tempting thought of Reina nude in her bed, on the phone with the likes of Aiko, made fidgeting the only way she could keep her thoughts pure. “Usotsuki no yo,” Aiko chided. “You’re not naked.”
“In your head I could be. Don’t you know that you’re naked in my head right now?”
That voice achieved a new level of melt-worthy. “How dirty.” Aiko couldn’t muster a scathing tone; instead, her own voice came out meek. She’s killing me.
“Maybe I’m naked and I’m touching myself.”
“What! No way!”
“Ah, but with a cute voice like yours on the phone?” Reina went from toying to the kill in less than a second, a perfect cat with Cleopatra lashes. “I’m too wet not to take advantage of it.”
“How’d you like it if…” Aiko’s knees turned to gruel. “You’re just flirting.”
“I don’t flirt without a purpose.”
Aiko’s chest itched for a touch. “And what purpose do you have?”
The pause was long enough for Aiko to place the tip of her fingers on her clavicle. “My purpose?” Reina’s whisper sliced through like a sword, and the casualty was Aiko’s hand grabbing the neckline of her shirt. “I’m going to make you touch yourself before you hang up this phone.”
Oh, God, yes. “You perv!”
“Yet you haven’t hung up yet. Are you touching yourself?”
“I…no!” Aiko searched the hallway, convinced her parents would walk through the door. They’re still hours away. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you want to.”
Aiko shook her head. “What would I even touch?”
“Eh? Don’t you know?” Reina chuckled. “It doesn’t matter, so long as it feels good and you want to keep doing it until you melt.”
Hands hovered over Aiko’s breasts. They want me to touch them. Even beneath layers of clothing, she became hyper aware of the nerve endings in her breasts touching their covers. One opportune stroke and she’d be finished. “I can’t just do that.” She couldn’t hear her own voice.
However, Reina did. “Why not? Do you need inspiration?”
“What kind?”
Through kilometers of telephone wiring, Aiko imagined Reina sitting next to her phone, smirking and scheming up ways to get a virgin to undress and touch herself. She is such a pervert. “Do you want me to tell you what to do?”
Aiko shuddered. “Only if you keep talking like that.”
She swore she heard Reina’s gratuitous smile. “Jya, then put your hand up your shirt and rub yourself.”
Aiko’s free hand rested on her stomach, the hemline of her shirt just a little reach away. “Will you do it, too?”
“Maybe I am already.”
The sound Reina made after that was somewhere between disgusted and pleasurable. Had Aiko stayed blissfully naïve, she would assume disgusted. Maybe she has a pang in her stomach. But the not-so-longer naïve Aiko leaned toward pleasurable. Maybe she really is touching herself. Her legs rubbed together, and the next thing she knew she had one hand up her shirt.
As if Reina watched her, guided her: “Ah, that’s it. You’re almost there, Ai-chan.” The first time she ever called her something so familiar. “It’s okay. You should know how it feels.”
Aiko brushed her hand against her bra. “I think I have too many clothes,” she said.
“Hm? Just push it aside. I would help you, but…”
Closing her eyes again, Aiko saw Reina there, her hand an escort. Aiko bumped her bra out of the way and pressed a finger against her areola. The sensation washing over her was divine.
“Ii yo.” She pulled her hand out and smoothed the creases from her shirt. “I think that’s enough of that silliness. Should we make plans for tomorrow?”
Sleep did not come easy to Reina that night.
She turned over again in her futon, and then again, and again. She wanted to kick back her comforters and flail in free air, but with her space heater off it was too cold to dare. Flannel pajamas already cloaked her body, and Reina kept the top comforter pulled all the way up to her nose. The inside of her futon was the warmest place in her house.
Yet she could not sleep; would not sleep. Sleep made the night go by faster, and the day come sooner. With the day came work, and although she loved her friend, she did not love her work or the life surrounding it. All day, every day, they practiced the same song and dance routines, and while Reina was a decent singer when she paid attention, she did not enjoy dancing. Why do I have this shitty job again? Because her and Michiko were underage at their last jobs at a strip club, and Reina thought they could make more money becoming stage monkeys. So much for that idea.
And after work, she would go on a date with Aiko, the little good girl who flip-flopped on her position in Reina’s life. Girls like Aiko came and went. Sometimes literally.
Reina blew a breath into her comforter and stared at one of the windows in her room. Outside a forgotten towel on the neighbor’s balcony flapped in the midnight breeze. I need to finish my letter.
That letter remained in her desk, out of sight and out of mind. But Reina always thought about it. To My Precious One… Not Reina’s style. She never called anyone “Precious.” Michiko often jested it was a miracle Reina knew anyone’s name.
She brushed her hand against the body next to her. It mumbled something in English before settling again.
She ca
n sleep so easily.
Reina curled next to Michiko and wrapped an arm around her, careful to avoid an afflicted stomach. She happened to be there earlier when she was hit with her seirei, a biological bomb in her own body. It took every medicine they both knew to get her to finally stop crying about the pain and discomfort. One of those pills she carried must have knocked her out.
To My Precious One…
A dark energy hung over her like a tainted shadow. Reina wanted to stay near Michiko, but the next day she would go on a date with another girl. It’s like cheating, right? But Michiko wasn’t her girlfriend, and never had been.
At least she wasn’t alone.
“Sugoi desu!” Aiko pressed her hands and face against the glass of the crane game – inside a plush white cat glided across empty space and fell into the receptacle. Reina the Magnificent pulled it out with a satisfied grin.
“It’s easy.” She kissed the frowning kitty and winked at the flabbergasted Aiko. “It’s all in the wrist.”
“Ehhh.” Aiko looked into the UFO catcher again and saw a matching black cat. “Do…do you think you could…”
Reina followed Aiko’s finger and scoffed. “Give me 200 yen and I’ll get you one of each.”
“What! I have to give you the money?”
“Do I look like I’m made out of change?”
“Mou, shinjirarenai no yo.” Aiko pulled out her change purse and fished for two one-hundred yen coins. “If you’re dating somebody you’re supposed to be a gentleman and pay!” She handed the coins over with a huff.
When Reina took them, her mouth wavered between a smile and a scowl. “Do I look like a man to you?” She licked her lips while studying the best plan of attack to win a black cat.
“No.” Aiko put her change purse away and pretended to study the case as well, even though she had no idea how to game these machines. She peered out of the corner of her eye, studying Reina’s profile to make sure she looked suitably “unmanly.” With her long hair hanging by her face and the baggy charm bracelet dangling from her lever-manipulating wrist, Reina looked like a fashionable young woman, but most certainly not a man. I hope I didn’t offend her.
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