Joshoku

by Hildred Billings

  “I see you made it through to the end,” the nun said, addressing Reina. “And you have a job lined up? I’m impressed.” She looked at Aiko. “Who is this? A... friend?”

  Aiko was ready to dismiss herself as just that, but Reina firmly took her hand and said, “This is my girlfriend. Aiko, this is Sister Angela.”

  The nun bristled. “This is the girl, huh? So young and innocent looking. Never let it be said that the devil didn’t give you a type to corrupt.”

  “She’s the only one who came here to support me today.”

  “That’s not true,” Sister Angela continued. “I had an investment in seeing you graduate today as well. I’ve known you since you were a naughty girl in high school. Didn’t study a day of your life. Then you come here and graduate, let alone pass your classes on the first try? I never thought I would see the day.” A smile, which made those wrinkles even scarier. “Have a nice life, Miss Yamada. I’m sure it will be sinful and indulgent, but a nice one nonetheless. May the Lord have mercy on your soul when the time comes, because He could do a lot worse than you in Heaven.” The nun walked away to congratulate another graduate.

  Reina turned to her girlfriend. “That was bizarre. But she’s always been... bizarre.”

  “She thinks you corrupted me.”

  “You say that all the time!”

  They linked arms and embraced. Okay, mostly me embracing. But Reina was wearing a chilling perfume that day, lodged deep within her black sweater. One hit of it and Aiko felt warm again. “I’m still proud of you.”

  Reina stalked off, flustered. She’s not used to getting compliments outside of the bedroom. That just made it better. Aiko took off after her and soon heard, “Let’s go party!”

  It had been a good while since they went to a fun party together. Reina didn’t know of any that night due to the time of year, but told her girlfriend they didn’t need a rowdy group of friends in a bar to have a good time and celebrate their graduations. To affirm this, Reina treated Aiko to a private evening – at the strip club on the outskirts of Ni-chome.

  She would. Aiko sat at a table as a woman took her top off onstage. She would, she would! Not a nice dinner, not even a nice love hotel room for them to share. Of course not. Reina’s idea of an appropriate celebration was a freakin’ strip club. The same one she used to work at shortly after graduating high school.

  Aiko had been there before a couple of times, but now there was a new owner, and Reina didn’t know most of the staff anymore. It both suited her fine and made her antsy. On one hand it meant she could blend in more without being teased by her ex-coworkers, but on the other she had no friends to joke with or to invite to sit down and talk to. The only girl working there that night that Reina knew was a woman in a long blond wig who went by the stage name Glitter. When Aiko told her girlfriend what that name meant in Japanese, Reina scrunched her nose and said she wished she hadn’t known.

  One drink later, Aiko had seen more bare breasts and ass cheeks than in the nudie magazine her mother threw away months ago. She would say not as diverse, however, except one of the women working on the stage that night was Filipino according to a waitress.

  “Yeah, and I bet none of them but Glitter is gay.” Reina finished her drink. “That was a big problem when I worked here. It was billed as a lesbian strip club... you know, for lesbians. Women only. Except most of the dancers shoving tits in faces and giving private shows in the VIP room were straight as new nails. They liked working here because they didn’t have to deal with men. But the customers would get annoyed once they found out. Mi-chan and Glitter were the only gay women. Actually, I think Glitter is bi, but she’s at least had girlfriends.”

  Aiko was in the midst of folding a paper napkin into a crane. This is way more Reina’s thing. Not to mention watching women take off their clothes and pole dance made Aiko blush harder than ever. “Were waitresses like you more likely to be gay?”

  “Yeah. Because we didn’t have to be pretty. Just flirt a lot.”

  “Uh huh. Flirt.” Aiko finished her crane and flicked it in her girlfriend’s direction. It landed in Reina’s lap with a paft. “I know what ‘flirt’ means. You had sex with them.”

  Reina smiled over the edge of her drink. “Someone had to.”

  “You’re ridiculous.”

  The latest show ended, and Glitter the gay dancer hopped down, still topless, and made her rounds like every stripper did after a show. She would sit at tables, urging patrons to buy drinks and attempting to entice them for a private show in the VIP room. If she couldn’t get that, she would say some more sweet words before hopping to another table. Eventually she stopped at Reina and Aiko’s, an exasperated sigh escaping her throat.

  “My, my, if it isn’t VIP Reina.” Glitter sat in an empty chair at their table and leaned back. She wasn’t even trying to seduce them. Instead it looked like she was on break and chatting with a friend – while happening to be topless. Aiko stared at the woman’s breasts before refocusing on another paper crane. I’m gay. It took her a few months to fully accept that, but now it was the first thing she thought when she ogled another woman’s chest. Gay, gay, gay. The paper napkin twisted in her hand. “You got a haircut! I like it. This your girlfriend?”

  Reina picked the paper crane out of her lap and tossed it at Glitter. “Yeah, you remember Aiko. What are you still doing in this dump? New owner can’t be that good.”

  “She’s all right. I got a raise when she took over, so that is pretty much what kept me here. After being here so long I make good money. Got clients and shit. Regulars who come in to get a private dance out of me and to keep them company while I’m buckass naked. I could do way worse in life. But tonight is dead. It’s boring. Nee, entertain me. I miss you.”

  Reina laughed, her eyes catching Aiko’s for a moment. “You want some fun tonight?”

  The stripper sat up in her seat, breasts covered by the long synthetic hairs of her wig. “You got something in mind? Or don’t you party anymore?”

  “I party.” Reina looked at her girlfriend again. “I mean we party, if you get my drift.”

  “Ooh. Doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t get off work for another four hours.”

  The smirk on Reina’s face was one that Aiko was very familiar with by now. “Is the VIP room open?”

  As they picked up their belongings and wandered toward the private room, Aiko asked her girlfriend how she could afford such expenditure for an hour. When she was told it didn’t matter because Reina had a job now... Aiko chastised her girlfriend for wasting money, but was brought into a kiss as Glitter went to get them drinks.

  Aiko had never been in the VIP area before. It was brighter than the main room, but black lights took the place of regular lights, creating an eerie glow further perpetuated when Glitter entered with her fake blond hair and white mini-skirt, both of which glowed like radioactive energy. “Here’s your highball,” she said to Reina, passing a glass. “And here’s your gin.” Aiko took her glass and immediately had more than a sip.

  The only place to sit was a long couch in the center of the room. Aiko sat on one end while Reina took up the other. Between them Glitter sat, one leg crossed over the other as she leaned back and showed off how she got her name – body glitter covered her skin, which twinkled in the black lights.

  “Been a while since you were last in here,” she said to Reina. “Boy, you got a lot of action in here a few years ago.”

  Reina snorted. “Someone had to keep the customers happy.”

  “And you didn’t even get paid for it.”

  “I believe that’s called prostitution. Never had a taste for it.”

  “I like the way you think.” Glitter stood up again, one hand wrapping around a pole in front of the couch. She swayed back and forth, her ass poking out from beneath her skirt. Someone wasn’t wearing any underwear. “It’s your hour, you cuties. Should I get naked?” She unzipped the back of her skirt, and now Aiko saw mo
re than the top part of her ass.

  “Isn’t that...” she choked on her gin. “Illegal?”

  Glitter stopped her skirt halfway down her thighs. “She’s adorable, Reina.” A laugh finished her skirt off as it pooled around her feet. Glitter turned around to reveal how groomed most strippers tended to be. “Where did you find her?”

  Reina didn’t answer that particular nugget. “Technically it’s illegal,” she said, reaching over to take Aiko’s hand. “But so are lots of other things that go on all the time. Like gambling. You’re not supposed to gamble, but look at the public pachinko places that get around that law. You’re also not supposed to have dance clubs, but God knows they’re everywhere. This is the same thing. We paid this nice lady to get naked for us. That ain’t all she’s gonna do either.”

  “Oh, you scoundrel.” Glitter put one knee on the leather couch and her hands on her bare hips. “You make it sound so naughty. With the VIP room you get drinks, a strip, and a dance. Anything else is against the rules.”

  “Anything else she says.”

  “You know better than anyone that ‘anything else’ is given away for free.”

  “Mm, if you want to keep your clients, yeah.”

  “Oh, but you weren’t keeping clients, were you?” One hand went on Reina’s shoulder and massaged it. A streak of jealousy zoomed down Aiko’s spine, but she redirected her energy to her glass of gin. “You were a horny woman who wanted to fuck her way through Ni-chome.”

  Reina was also strangling her glass. Is she offended? Why? Reina was never offended when people brought up her past promiscuity. Who am I kidding? She’s still promiscuous. The only difference now was that Aiko was privy to it when it happened. Like now. “This is true,” Reina said, after taking a drink. “I had no clients to keep. You, on the other hand, aren’t exactly a pure virgin either. I remember some of those parties.”

  “Like you, Reina,” Glitter continued, running the back of her fingers against Reina’s cheek, “I don’t give away anything I don’t want to. Now, who am I dancing for?”

  Both she and Reina looked at Aiko, who clung to the arm of the couch and pretended to find the olive in her drink utterly fascinating. More fascinating than the naked skin coming her way. Or the sweet perfume spritzed in Glitter’s fake hair. Or her devilish smile as she sidled up next to Aiko.

  “You don’t have to...”

  “My girlfriend graduated from a four year university. She deserves a special gift.” Reina sent Aiko a seductive glance. I can’t say no to that. The alcohol, the thick air, and the scent of this other woman were making Aiko weak. I told her on our anniversary that I wanted to do it with another woman again. Here one was, already naked and purring in Aiko’s ear. But Aiko didn’t think it would be like this. She’s a... she’s a sex worker. Reina always found new ways to make her girlfriend feel too submissive to function. “And she’s not as inexperienced as you may take her for. She’s been my girlfriend for three years now. Trust me, she looks cute but her mind is almost as dirty as mine now. Nothing you could do would shock her.”

  “Oh, you wanna bet?”

  I’m right here you two! Aiko shrank into the corner of the couch, most of her drink now consumed. When did that happen?

  “Let me take that for you.” Glitter plucked the glass out of Aiko’s hand and sat it on the floor. She popped back up in time to see Aiko blush so hard her face was as pink as the sweater she wore. “Are you nervous?”

  Aiko’s mouth went dry. “Wh... what are you going to do?”

  “Just dance for you. Do you think I’m good looking?”

  A curt nod was what Aiko could muster.

  “Aw, thank you. Everything you see here is natural. Well, except my hair. Should I take off my wig? Or do you like my character? For Reina’s girlfriend, I will go either way.”

  Finally Aiko looked directly at Glitter, who was straddling her patron’s legs. Breasts with small pink nipples were all Aiko could look at. Reina doesn’t have breasts... not like these. If Aiko learned anything from her nudie magazine, it was that she liked breasts. Her own, her girlfriend’s tiny ones... all women’s. Even when she was a kid she found the way women could have differently shaped breasts fascinating. It wasn’t until she met Reina she realized why she thought about them a lot. “I like you as is. You’re beautiful.” She would be beautiful without the wig too, Aiko was sure.

  “Reina, she is so sweet that a tramp like you clearly doesn’t deserve her.”

  “Shut up. I want to watch you arouse my girlfriend.”

  “And you’ll take the benefits, I’m sure.”

  Ice clinked around Reina’s empty glass. “If you’re half as fun as I remember you being, you can have some too.”

  Without another word, Glitter initiated her private dance routine, and Aiko was her captive – and willing – audience.

  The way she moved was beyond sensual, like a painting come to life as she pushed her body toward Aiko, breathed on her cheek, and chirped lovely compliments into her ear. Such a professional. If this were an act, then it was no wonder Glitter made a killing at her job. Women like Aiko were putty in her hands. She wants me to give myself to her. To want to touch her, kiss her. But this was part of the dance. All enticement. Breasts barely touching Aiko’s nose as she was completely shadowed by this beautiful, naked woman. Aiko sank even farther into the couch, her sweaty fingers searching for Reina’s.

  “You pretty thing,” Glitter cooed, one fine nail tracing a circle on Aiko’s cheek. It made her close her eyes and breathe through her lips. I’m on fire. It was warm in the room. Too warm. Aiko was sweating through her sweater. “No wonder Reina scooped you up. I bet she treats you really well too. I’m jealous.” A peck to the nose. “Nee, do you want to touch me, Ai-chan?” Such a pro! She knew how to jump to informalities without being offensive. It was like they were bosom buddies of the highest order. I’ve known her for fifteen minutes. “You keep being so attractive like this, and I might want you to touch me.”

  “She wants it,” Reina said candidly. Her fingers were entwined with her girlfriend’s on the couch. “This is part of her act.”

  “I like the act...” Aiko snapped her eyes open when she realized she said that.

  “Oho! Someone likes real seduction.” Glitter snapped her fingers at Reina. “Unlike you.”

  “Are you done dancing?”

  “Almost.” Glitter pressed her naked body against Aiko’s, one arm curling around the back of the couch while the other encircled Aiko’s torso. Breaths as hot as the fire burning inside Aiko heaved against her throat, then her chin, and then upon her lips as Glitter came so close to kissing her. This woman in her lap... Aiko knew they both must be ready for sex. We just met! Even for picking up women in bars, this was fast.

  But it was Glitter’s artistry that really did Aiko in. This professional seducer knew how to play with Aiko’s desires, to deny her what she wanted but in such a lovely way that it made her want it more. This was a subtlety Reina would never understand. She was blunt, forward. When Reina was ready to make love she went for it, stopping only if Aiko asked. Glitter was a different kind of lover. She wanted Aiko so wound up that she was liable to snap in orgasm just from smelling that sweet perfume. Synthetic wig hair tickled her chin as Glitter lowered her head and licked Aiko’s throat. Just once. It was enough.

  “Ah!” One woman on top of her, and now another next to her. Reina licked the edge of Aiko’s ear and then worked her way down to her girlfriend’s lips. We shouldn’t do it like this. Shouldn’t, but the moment they kissed, Reina’s tongue emerging so quickly, Aiko knew that’s how it was going to be. Once the shock wore off, she went with it.

  Oh my God. Aiko stole herself as Glitter opened her patron’s legs and kissed her stomach through her sweater. She’s not...! The world spun behind Aiko’s closed eyes as Reina pushed more on top of her, one hand up her girlfriend’s shirt while the other encouraged her to open her legs. Is this som
e plan? Three years and Aiko was still trying to stay two steps ahead of her girlfriend’s plans. When would she learn? It’s so naughty to do it like this! In some seedy strip club with a woman who worked there. Was Glitter in on it? Did she want to do it? She said she gave it away because she wanted to... after all, Aiko wasn’t a prospective long term client. Stop thinking about it! Reina pinched her nipple, and it made Aiko’s legs jerk open as Glitter pulled up her patron’s skirt.

  “Do you like that?” Reina asked before kissing her girlfriend again. The tip of Glitter’s nose brushed against Aiko’s lingerie. One shudder later, her clothing was out of the way, and Aiko was melting into the couch as a naked woman she barely knew licked her omanko. “I think you do. Glitter likes it too. She makes it sound like I was the only one in here giving shit away for free. Don’t listen to her. She’s trying to make herself sound better.”

  Aiko couldn’t respond – her body was weak, and her voice was lost as long, careful strokes to her slit came from Glitter’s warm tongue. Reina didn’t want her to speak anyway. She kissed Aiko again, this time with a passion that elevated them from simply making out on a couch to having sex with a third woman.

  Trapped within a dichotomy, Aiko had no idea how to act. One half of her wanted to freeze up and be toyed with like she was used to. Reina said she was submissive, in a good way, and Aiko never refuted it. But the other half of her wanted to indulge in this moment, this adult moment brought to her by two women who wanted to initiate her in their sinful worlds. Somehow she managed to compromise with herself by submitting to Reina, who massaged her breasts and made love to her lips, and drawing her legs up onto the couch so Glitter could do whatever she wanted down there.