Koibumi

by Hildred Billings

  “Ah, Reina! Aiko!” That sharp voice could only belong to the token American in the room. Chloe shoved between two other patrons to land at the corner table. Fuck. Reina had seen her a few hours before, in their living room, where she asked all sorts of awkward questions about working in an office. All the way down to what it was like almost being assaulted by a perverted shithead. Chloe only left after Reina got up to use the toilet and never came back.

  “Hi,” she said through clenched teeth.

  “Konbanwa,” Aiko said.

  “I’m surprised to see you here.” If there had been an extra chair at their table, Chloe probably would have sat in it. Thank God there wasn’t. “You seemed exhausted earlier. But isn’t this the strip club you used to work in?”

  Reina pursed her lips. “A long time ago. It’s not quite the same anymore.”

  Somebody slipped a hand over her knee beneath the table. Reina refused to look Jun in the eye. “From what I understand she was only a waitress. Not a stripper.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. You are…?”

  Jun retracted her hand and gazed at Chloe in the darkness of the club. Before she could speak, Reina answered on her behalf. “She’s from out of town. Like you.”

  “Hello. I’m Jun.” She extended her hand.

  Chloe shook it with American ferocity – both Reina and Aiko stifled their snorts of derision at Jun’s arm flopping like a fish out of water. “Are you a friend of Reina?”

  “You could say that.”

  The server returned with their drinks. Reina picked up her beer and downed a quarter of it in one go. “Oi. Who dragged you here, anyway?”

  “I came here with some friends! They’re over –”

  A stripper slipped into their conversation, one tassel conveniently falling off her nipple. “Having fun tonight, hunni?” she asked in a sickeningly cute voice. Her fingers brushed some of Chloe’s curly hair out of her eyes.

  The foreigner stared at her, her nipples, and her navel as if she had never seen a naked woman before. “I…yes?”

  “Yokatta no yo. You’re going to play in our game later, right?” The stripper shook her small breasts and then gestured toward Chloe’s larger ones.

  “What game?”

  She and the stripper walked away together before Reina could hear the answer. “Games” could mean anything at this place. Back when she worked there, “games” usually meant orgies going on in the VIP lounge. “Well this night got more annoying.” She drank more beer and took a cigarette from her back pocket.

  As if on cue, Jun flicked her wrist and produced a spark from her lighter. Reina leaned in and let her friend light her cigarette for her. “She’s cute. I didn’t know you had foreign friends.”

  Reina finished her first drag before passing the cigarette to Jun’s waiting fingers. “She’s not a friend.” Smoke blew through her nostrils. “She’s doing a project about Japanese lesbians.”

  “Really? And you’re participating?”

  “I apparently have no choice.”

  “And you, Aiko-san?”

  Aiko snapped herself awake. She had been checked out for most of the day – most of that week, actually. When they made love the night before, Reina noticed her wife’s more-than-usual lethargy in the bedroom as she lay like a mannequin beneath her spouse’s body. When asked about it, she shrugged it off as general malaise. Now, however, it seemed even Jun’s presence could not shake her out of her funk. “I’m writing an essay about what it’s like to be a lesbian. Or at least I’m supposed to be…” She glanced down at the table and never finished her sentence.

  Jun handed back Reina’s cigarette. “An essay about being a lesbian, eh? Where do I sign up to write my memoir? I’ve got sixty-three women who need to be immortalized in my life.”

  Reina didn’t think twice before taking another drag of her cigarette. “You’ve counted?”

  “Yes. Haven’t you?”

  Nicotine flooded Reina’s veins quicker than the alcohol could. “No.” She stifled a laugh. “You’ve only slept with sixty-three women…” It paled to Reina’s over-four-hundred.

  “And five men.” Jun yanked the cigarette back.

  “Ew.”

  “I know. How dare I explore my sexuality in university.”

  Cheers exploded behind them at the announcement of a show coming up in two minutes. “I went to college too, but you didn’t see me fucking men.”

  “Good damn thing, since we were dating,” Aiko said. “And my idea of sexual experimentation was sleeping around with you.”

  “Now that’s my idea of college.”

  “I am outnumbered in this regard.” Jun finished half of Reina’s cigarette before passing it back a final time. “Just as well.” More laughter erupted from the main crowd of the party. “Nee, let’s go have some fun.”

  Before Reina could inhale the last of her cigarette, Jun yanked on her arm and tried to pull her out of her chair. Reina sent her a wife one last desperate look – she met a small hand wave and a shrug. “I’m not in the mood,” Aiko said, elbow on table. “You two go on and have some fun. I’ll sit here and try not to have a headache.”

  Jun released Reina’s arm; Reina blinked at her wife. “Daijyoubu?”

  “I’m fine. Go on.”

  “If you say so. We’ll be back.”

  They joined the crowd that now gathered in front of the main stage. As they stood off to one side, Reina leaning against the wall, Jun said, “I hope Aiko-san is okay. Is she sick?”

  Reina shrugged. “She’s been moody all week.”

  One of the strippers hopped up on the stage to a round of applause. “Any reason?”

  None of your business. “Something about wanting a baby.”

  Even in the darkness of the club, Jun’s shock was palpable. “A baby?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Reina tried to focus on the impending strip show on stage. She remembered a time when she used to see women twirling on that pole almost every night. My best friend was one of them.

  Jun creeped closer, her arm looping around Reina’s. “Good thing you have me to keep you company tonight, eh?”

  Loud, shuddering music erupted from the stage as the stripper bounced to life to the roars and calls of the lively lesbian crowd. A femme woman too tipsy for her own good bumped into Jun before falling forward laughing. Reina caught a glimpse of nude breasts on the stage before the stripper made her first round with the pole. “You underestimate me,” she said, low enough for only Jun to hear. “If you weren’t here I’d find somebody else to hang out with.”

  A hand grazed her hip before sliding behind her, caressing her rear. “But I am here. And I’ve been thinking about you all week.” She wrapped her long, skinny fingers around Reina’s throat and brought her face in for a kiss.

  It wouldn’t be Reina’s first time making out in a public party; it also wouldn’t be her first time making out only a few meters away from a strip show; and she also doubted they were the only couple locking lips at that moment. But in the darkness and the small bit of anonymity afforded them in a pressing crowd, she forgot everyone else and indulged in a heavy kiss from Jun. She let her control it for the whole two seconds Reina stayed pressed against the wall.

  Damn, she was a good kisser. The way Jun moaned into her mouth from only one twist of the tongue was better than watching any stripper on stage.

  Just as Jun got the idea to covertly shove her hand beneath Reina’s shirt, a body careened into the both of them.

  “Sumimasen!” A head of long black hair shot up and down in the bows of apology. Reina disengaged from Jun long enough to grunt a “Don’t mind it.” Where were we? Maybe they should grab Aiko and leave the party early. Reina was fond of the hotel room Jun always stayed in. “Ah! Reina-san!”

  Now who?

  Kaori. She stood with one hand over her mouth, her entire visage beaming red as she realized what Reina and her friend had been doing. Of course Jun had to be mid-fondle of Reina’s abdomen, although her face
expressed curiosity at the young lady addressing them. “Another friend of yours?”

  Reina gently shoved Jun’s hand away. “Ex-coworker.”

  Kaori bowed again. “I’m so sorry for disrupting you!” She had no idea, but the stripper strung her bare omanko against the pole to the chaotic hoots of her adoring crowd.

  “Kao-chan!”

  Oh. Of course. Couldn’t have rice without her miso. Haruka appeared behind her girlfriend, one hand snatching hers – surely to abscond her away from the quickly maddening crowd. I know everyone here. Including carnal knowledge.

  Later Reina could not recall how such events transpired, but the next thing she knew Jun had suggested they get drinks at the bar. Reina thought it stupid as shit – Kaori and Haruka only agreed, timidly, because of the social disparity. They found a cluster of seats at the end of the bar and sat in their respective pairs.

  “I have good news, Reina-san!” Kaori still could not look her in the eye after working together for so long. “I got a part time job at the resource center!”

  “Really? That’s good.”

  “Yeah! It’s better than nothing! Mayumi-san thinks I might be able to go full-time by the end of the year. And I get to do real work. No more coffee making for me.”

  Haruka placed a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Unless you’re in a good mood?”

  As they nuzzled and cuddled at the bar, Jun leaned in toward Reina with a calculated grin. “They are adorable. Especially the tomboy.”

  Did anything about this woman make sense? Reina had never met an example of androgyny-bordering-on-butch who liked other masculine and semi-masculine women so much. It takes all kinds, I guess. “Would you be shocked to know that I’ve slept with her?”

  “Oh? You sleep with your coworkers?”

  “I didn’t say I slept with her.” She jerked her thumb toward Kaori.

  “Hmm.” Jun leaned her chin on Reina’s shoulder, hand sliding between two thighs pressed together. A jolt of neediness finally erupted inside her groin. Can we leave and fuck already? “Are the tomboy’s tits as good as they look from here?”

  That got a smirk out of Reina. “Better.”

  “Ooh.”

  As if she knew they were talking about her, Haruka popped her head up and stared in their direction. Reina looked away – she saw Jun’s face briefly redden before settling into a cocky countenance.

  Reina nicked her on the calf. “They’re monogamous.”

  “So?” Jun hid behind her drink. “I didn’t know group sex didn’t count as monogamy.”

  “What about group sex?” Kaori sounded like a child asking where babies came from. Fuck. No. Babies.

  Jun leaned across the counter, her red hair highlighted in the stark blue lights. “Sometimes it takes more than two to tango.”

  Haruka sputtered on her drink while Kaori went pinker than Aiko’s favorite color. The only one not having a visceral reaction to Jun was Reina, who merely rolled her eyes and put a firm hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Calm down, tiger-san. These kids wouldn’t know how to handle you.”

  While Kaori continued to hide behind a handkerchief, her girlfriend flung a finger in their direction. “Reina-san, your friends are really…”

  “When you to get to be our age, kid, you care a lot less about sexual formalities.” Jun picked the olive out of Kaori’s drink and stuck it between her lips. The way her tongue rolled around the fruit’s green edges made Reina smile. “Sexual prime, and all that.”

  “Omoshiroi…” was all Kaori said when the olive pit dunked into her drink again. The blank expression on her face told Reina she imagined Jun’s tongue doing that to her clit. She’s really not that bad at it. Reina could only be so smug because she knew she would be the one to bed Jun that night, whenever the party was deemed over.

  “You know what this town needs?” Jun continued, her hand back on Reina’s arm. “A lesbian swinger’s club.”

  Both Kaori and Haruka were ready to have another dual heart attack. Reina couldn’t decide if they were endearing in their naiveté or positively obnoxious. Both. “Now, now,” she said in an even voice. “There’s that one club we met at where women do it in public. It’s basically the same thing.” She ignored Haruka and Kaori exchanging perplexed glances. How have they never heard of that place?

  “No, I mean a genuine swinger’s club, with some privacy.”

  “There’s a group that meets every three months or so for couple’s swinging.” A while since Reina and Aiko last went, mostly due to time constraints or menstruation getting in the way of a good time. But they had fond memories of broadening their sexual horizons with other female couples who were looking for the same thing.

  “Well that doesn’t do me any good.”

  Reina took out another cigarette, this time keeping it out of Jun’s reach. “Don’t you have a girlfriend now?” She vaguely recalled Jun moaning about some woman playing around with her down in Nagoya.

  By the way Jun turned up her nose – and not from the cigarette smoke – it was likely. “She’s not really my girlfriend.”

  Kaori still stared at them as if they were sporting three heads apiece. “What’s a ‘swinger’s club?’”

  “You don’t know?” Haruka almost fell from the counter.

  “I’ve heard of them before, but never in any good context.” After smacking her girlfriend on the knee, Kaori turned back in her seat. “Mou, don’t make fun of me. We don’t all have gay dads doing gay dad things in our lives.”

  Reina kept her cigarette in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to face the potential embarrassment of explaining that to her ex-coworker. Some mortifying situations were still too fresh. Instead Jun explained, her voice as conversational as possible. “I believe what Reina-san is describing is a private gathering where couples go and switch partners for the night.”

  A long trail of smoke blew between them all. “Yup.”

  “Really? People are into that sort of thing?”

  Haruka kept her lips locked tight. Ah, yes, that whole “we slept together but you never told your girlfriend” thing. Reina knew it well. “You should ask your new boss Mayumi about it. She’s the one who arranges it with her girlfriend.” The only thing Reina could commend Mayumi for doing. She wasn’t into the whole activism thing. Unless she’s actively going at my omanko. Mayumi was fun when she lightened up.

  “Oh, I think you’ve almost made her gasp herself to death, Reina-san.”

  She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to playfully chide Jun about her overt sexuality – the irony would be delicious – when a stumbling figure slammed into the corner of the bar. “There you are,” Aiko said, hair obscuring her face as she grabbed Reina’s drink for herself. “It took me forever to find you in this place.” Indeed, a crowd of people were gradually pushing against them now.

  The young couple exchanged pleasantries with Aiko, grateful to have an out from talking about such scandalous things like swinging. On better nights Reina would whisper about it in Aiko’s ear, stimulating the memory of her being serviced by multiple women at once, but tonight she seemed more interested in taking two pain capsules and going to bed early. Maybe I should send her home. Jun was one of her pre-approved sex partners, so Aiko didn’t have to be there when they did it.

  “Well, here I am,” she said. “What about you? Got tired watching tits all by yourself?”

  Aiko finished Reina’s drink for her and then started on Jun’s. “I was getting lonely.”

  Lonely! In a place like this! But before Reina could open her mouth again, feedback from a sound system zipped through the club, making her wince.

  “Ladies and more ladies!” came the voice of the proprietor. A space cleared around her on the main floor, and she was flanked by four half-naked strippers. Dream job. Too bad Reina knew the new proprietor was almost as sleazy as the one she used to work for twenty years ago. “Thank you everyone for coming to our wonderful party tonight! We hope you enjoyed the wonderful pe
rformances by the fantastic Momo-chan and her friend Poppy, but now we want to get your involvement in one of our games!” A roar of applause and cheers went up like fireworks. Aiko leaned her head on Reina’s shoulder before the five of them slinked away from the bar to see what was going on. “We know that lots of women of various ages would like to get in on a little stripping action, but we can do better than that tonight.” The proprietor held up a thin white T-shirt, inciting more cheers. “We’re looking for a few volunteers to make this night a bit more magical for everyone. Any takers?”

  It took a lot of coaxing, and a lot of group pressure to get the first couple of women, both petite femmes, to pop out into the clearing like two lost puppies. The strippers handed them T-shirts and asked them to change in one of the restrooms.

  “Come on, that’s not nearly enough! How many of you are here as a couple tonight?”

  A slow sea of hands went into the air, including Haruka and Kaori’s. Reina and Aiko also begrudgingly raised theirs since they knew they couldn’t get away with not doing it – not when everyone and their sister knew they were a couple. Jun was the only one of their small party to not indulge the proprietor’s snooping.

  “How about I make you all a deal?” she said, her finger pointing at every hand that went up. “Submit one of every coupling to participate!”

  A brief second of silence permeated the room before the more drunken women hooted in acquiescence. Soon women were shoved forward by their partners to grab a T-shirt and disappear into the restroom. The strippers made their way through the crowd, stopping at every couple to pass T-shirts.

  Reina braced herself for the inevitable.

  “Ara, look who it is.” The stripper approaching them was an old acquaintance of theirs, one of the few workers there who was a genuine lesbian. She fanned a T-shirt in front of her breasts and shook it in Reina and Aiko’s direction. “Who’s gonna do it?”

  Judging Aiko’s still morose mien, Reina disengaged from her wife and went to take the T-shirt. Some sacrifices must be made.

  The stripper snatched it back. “Rhetorical question. Everyone’s seen your flat tits.”