A simple story - their story (06) (END)

(DATE: April 2015)


At 30, Yossi was now the owner of a restaurant—an eatery which sells western cuisine and one which she co-runs with her mother. It was a humble business. One that wasn’t making a lot of money nor was it losing any neither. She had started the business four years before, thinking of just passing time and keeping herself occupied since she couldn’t think of what else to do.

It all happened six years ago when her artiste career had ended prematurely after her agency had suddenly gone bust, and for a long long time after she had found herself remaining jobless. She had tried to approach other agencies to take her in but they had turned her down, and when she had finally decided to leave showbiz and settle for simple OL jobs, she was politely that she was under-qualified. The rejections were shocking and discouraging but she knew she deserved it—it was the price she had to pay for compromising her paper qualifications when she chose to join showbiz at a young age of 15. She began to feel useless and before long, she was diagnosed to be suffering from depression. The illness worried her parents more than her and they had suggested she start a small business with the money she had saved over the years. She did, was glad that she did and felt depressed no more. And now she was grateful to her parents; her life had gone back to normal.

Still there were times when she would reminisce about her past, not for the expired glamour and fame of being a celebrity but for the happy times she had spent her teenage days and sadly too, the missed chances with her loved one. Fifteen years, that was how long she had known her. And for all these years, she had kept her feelings hidden; all because she was afraid. And she never stopped hating herself for her cowardice, for it was precisely this ‘afraid’ that was keeping them apart even till this day.

Her heart ached. She would feel this similar pain almost everyday, when she had to walk down the long stretch of shops in the shopping district to get to her restaurant. It was quiet times like these, walking alone, that set her mind wandering, making her think of the past. And she hated it. She wished she would stop the tormenting thoughts, but she couldn’t. Sometimes, she had foolishly thought time would blur the memories, easing her pain, but with each passing day, it became more evident that she was still missing her badly.

And life was ironic. Despite the years that made her learn not to be afraid anymore, fate had turned cruel; they had lost contact. If only she had a wish now, she would turn back the clock; she wouldn’t be afraid anymore and maybe, just maybe, things might end up differently.

She stopped in her tracks. Have God just heard her pleas?

She blinked and squinted then her heart stopped…

Indeed, God had heard her…

There she was, just ten metres away…

She couldn’t believe her eyes. She looked up in the sky and smiled.

Yes, Lady Luck was shining at her…
Yes, God had not forsaken her…

But when she saw the child in her arms she stopped smiling. She realised she had interpreted God wrongly. True, God had heard her but it seemed God had simply sympathized with her. God had hoped she would give up, thus arranging them to meet again… but in this way.

After six long years, after a fleeting moment of renewed hope, this was to be their ending.

Yossi closed her eyes, feeling distinctively her heart bleeding. No doubt she had longed to see her again, but now as she had, the truth was too much to bear—Rika was married. Perhaps it was now time for her to end this unrequited love. Quickly choosing a different path, Yossi hastened away, feeling the need to get away fast, fearing her legs would find no strength to do so or…

“Yossi?”

Yossi pretended she hadn’t heard Rika calling out to her.

“Yossi? Yossi?”

Rika’s voice was becoming louder and when Yossi heard footsteps running toward her, she stopped. She had to. She couldn’t bear the thought of her friend running with a child in her arms; it would be dangerous. So, she put on a smile and turned around. “Ishikawa?”

“Un~ sono tori desu~”

Hearing the cheerful voice and seeing the gleaming smile bring back nostalgic feelings, and Yossi couldn’t help but notice how beautifully Rika had aged. It made her lonely heart stir and at the same time, sad.

“Aa~ ohisashiburi desu,” Yossi replied, trying to act surprised and happy. But when she saw how the cute child looked very much like her mother, a sad pang pierced her heart.

“Why are you here?” asked Rika, who still couldn’t hide her excitement at meeting her old friend.

“Oh, I work here,” said Yossi, pointing in the direction where she was heading.

“Where?” Rika asked again while she hoisted the child in her arms gently for a better grip.

The display of motherly love set off another tinge of sadness in Yossi. She tried not to let it show but knew her façade would collapse any time especially if she would to stay and look longer and be reminded of the lucky guy Rika’s happily married to. “A restaurant down this stretch,” she said. And then she pretended to check the time on her wrist watch. “I’m running late. Need to go…ermm… maybe next time—”

“But we just met,” Rika cut in, looking intensely at Yossi. “I… I’ve been trying to find you all these years. You just disappeared…”

Yossi’s eyes darted away. Her strong front was wavering and she knew she shouldn’t stay any longer. “Well…” she said. “We’ve met now. And I’m glad to know you’re living well.” She put on her best smile, still avoiding looking at Rika and her child. “I really need to go.” When she saw how Rika’s lips had worked into a pout she knew she was being ungraciously ‘nasty’… She thought for a moment and fished out her wallet. After pulling out a name card she handed it to Rika. “My contact, call me when you’re free,” she said tersely. But deep inside, she was hoping she would never see or hear from Rika again. There’s no point any more—she didn’t want to get more hurt.

When Rika said no more Yossi bade goodbye and turned to walk away, but her heart tore; this was to be their last farewell, despite them meeting again after six years. She quickened her steps and when she felt Rika have lost her in the crowd, she slowed down. Is this what I want? No… but what should I expect? She had moved on, I should too, she thought.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but feel lousy. She realised her limbs had gone numb, her chest was becoming hard of breathing and she felt like dying. Although she had come to her restaurant she just walked on and past it. She just wanted to keep walking, until her legs tired out or until her breath passed out, and hopefully she would feel the pain no more…

So, she treaded up and down the same street, and she had no idea how long she’d been doing it when she heard the familiar voice again.

“YOSHIZAWA!”

She stopped. Even from the single word, she could sense the anger and worry in the tone. She quickly turned around and immediately hated her own weakness. It surprised her she was actually happy to be able to see Rika again. Such is her weakness.

“Where are you going?” Rika asked as she quickly caught up with Yossi. “I just went to your restaurant and they said you weren’t back.”

“I…” Yossi stammered.

“I think…” Rika said as she took a step closer to Yossi. “There is a misunderstanding…”

When Yossi backed away brusquely Rika was hurt but she braced herself. “Your mom told me to find and get you back.”

The surprise in Yossi was evident. “You’ve met my mother?”

“Yeah, and she said when I get you back, you’ll have to give me a treat.”

Yossi thought it was a great joke. “Only you?” she mumbled under her breath. Then she realised Rika wasn’t with her child. “Where your son?” she asked audibly.

There was a mischievous glint when Rika smiled. “Oh! You mean my nephew? He is with his mother now.”

Yossi looked up, surprised.

Rika wasted no time to explain. “After my sister returned from the washroom, I told her I’d met you and she knew immediately that I wanted to go find you. So… here I am.”

The words sounded heavenly and Yossi unconsciously leaked a smile, but she suddenly turned solemn again. “But… you do have your own kids, right?”

Rika giggled. “That’s tough, considering I’m still left on the shelf. What about you?” she asked cautiously.

“I’m STILL single,” Yossi blurted out. When she saw how Rika was laughing at her eager reply, she paused for a moment to think. Then it dawned on her—she had misunderstood things. She couldn’t hold back her joy and broke out into laughter, feeling silly and at the same time, relieved. She could feel Hope beaming at her again…

Rika continued to laugh. She knew Yossi had misunderstood her. She knew it the moment when Yossi had walked away sadly and her nephew had begun to cry looking for his mother, she found a connect between the two matters almost immediately.

Rika stepped forward and this time, Yossi didn’t try to back away but was looking back intensely. Rika shied away. She could sense something more in those eyes, something she too, was feeling. She struggled a little before speaking. “You know, I really mean it when I said I was trying to find you all these years.” As soon as the words left her mouth, the area around her eyes began to feel warm. She looked up, trying to keep her emotions in check. A tear flowed when Yossi leaned closer.

“And these years…” Yossi took Rika’s hands in hers. “I’ve been praying…”


(more...)

A simple story - their story (05)

(DATE: beginning of YEAR 2002 - the rumor – part three)


No one was talking when they turned a left corner into an awaiting lift. Yossi waited, and then stepped forward to press on button ‘4’, watching as the steel doors closed before the lift started descending. She now knew why the meeting was held at the highest floor—for its privacy. The importance of it heightened. She watched their reflection in the polished steel walls, aware that Rika, whose eyes were looking at the ground, was avoiding her, and she began to wonder why they hadn’t talked, or rather, why they had stopped talking.

She reached out again, pressing on the ‘open’ button when the lift came to a gentle halt, its doors opening. She waited, allowing Rika to step out before her, her mind still wondering when they would start talking again.

Her prayers were answered, almost…

“ano,” Rika said as she turned back.

Yossi looked up in earnestness, feeling all her initial dreads banished. Her happiness was short-lived; it wasn’t to make up.

“Why don’t you head back first? I’m hungry, will get a bite from the canteen.”

Yossi could barely manage a nod when Rika walked past her, her eyes avoiding contact. When she heard the steel doors close, she felt her heart sink; her feelings inexplicable yet strangely unbearable. Her thoughts were drawn back to the conversation they were having after they had left the meeting room…

“I wonder why Sakimoto-san said there might be someone you like?”
“That’s not important, I wanna know what you think?”
“Hadn’t you already said ‘no’?”
“Ya, but…”
“nani…?”
“Nothing.”

“I just find it funny.”
“About?”
“That he hadn’t asked me the same question.”
“What if he did?”
“I would have said ‘NO’ too.”

Perhaps Rika’s answer was the reason she was feeling hurt, though she had no idea why she had said ‘no’ in her answer. Was she afraid? Was Rika’s similar answer retaliation? But why had she feared? She knew why. It was the truth she feared. The truth that she would lack the courage to face things even if they turned out the way she wanted, but, now that things definitely weren’t the way she thought they might be, it seemed to hurt her like never before.

She opened the door to the gakuya, finding the usual noise and chatters suddenly intolerable. When someone groped her from behind, she snapped.

***

Her fists were clenched, pressing hard against the walls, the small enclosure not helping much; her battle raged on. She closed her eyes, feeling her internal struggles; her knees locked in a sitting position her only relief. Then she heard it. Sounds. Soft at first, getting louder as if emotions, long controlled, were finally released. She rolled her eyes. Why do women like to cry in the toilet?

When the sobbing persisted she found herself getting increasingly agitated, mainly from the fact that she now knew she wasn’t very alone while engaging in something she considered private. She was saved when she heard a plop sound against the water. She flushed and recomposed herself, ready to meet the weeping girl outside, someone who she thought had come to hide after a dressing-down by her boss. But what she hadn’t expected was to see this someone she was so familiar with. “Rika-chan!” she cried out.

Rika looked up, equally surprised, but quickly turned away so that Yasuda won’t see her wiping her tears.

Yasuda saw it though. She walked forward, tapping on her junior’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Rika said, shaking her head, keeping her back turned.

“Come on, nobody cries for nothing.” Yasuda peered over Rika’s shoulder and saw the eyes red with tears. Rika dipped her head lower.

“Now...” Yasuda pondered before continuing. “Could it be you and Yossi had quarreled?”

There was shock in Rika’s eyes. “No,” she said feebly.

“No?” Yasuda narrowed her eyes. “Sure?” she asked again. “I just saw Yossi behaving weirdly.”

“She did?” Rika asked, knowing her tone had betrayed her feelings.

Yasuda now knew roughly what had happened. She placed a comforting arm around Rika’s shoulders and said: “Yeah~ she shouted at Tsuji when the kid tried to grope her from behind.” Then from the reflection in the mirror, she saw Rika turning pale. It was understandable—everyone in the group knows how Yossi dotes on Kago and Tsuji and how she always tolerates their pranks. “Aha~ so I’m right?” She gripped on the shoulders. “You two had a fight?”

Rika bit into her lips as she shook her head, an action that vexed Yasuda.

“Oh come on~” Yasuda threw her hands in the air, suddenly aware that she hadn’t washed them. She walked to the nearest basin, not feeling an iota of apology for having already touched Rika, and washed her hands.

With Yasuda’s back now turned Rika quickly wiped away her remaining tears and tried to recompose herself. Her efforts futile, she remained as unsettled as she now knew Yossi, too, was behaving weirdly, and that had made things worse; it had made her even more unsure of the situation.

The tap was turned off. “Now shoot! What happened between you two?” Yasuda said as she tore a paper towel from the dispenser.

“Nothing, really.”

“Yeah, yeah. Try telling that to Yaguchan.” She threw the damp paper into the wastebin and stood looking at Rika.

Rika wavered. She knew she was trapped, and Yasuda would not let the matter rest until she learned the ‘truth’. But to tell the truth was the last thing on her mind. So, she went on and on, telling a lie, with a storyline conjured impromptu. Though it only lasted a few minutes it turned out to be a convincing lie, until Yasuda could hear no more of it.

“omae baka darou,” Yasuda chided. “If you’re going to let stuffs like these affect you, you’re never going to survive in this business.”

“But—”

Yasuda raised her hand to cut Rika off. “Think on the bright side. As least you get the camera on you.”

Rika looked back, without the faintest idea what Yasuda was driving at.

“Look at Kaorin. That man jeers her all the time but it’s all thanks to him that people now know Kaorin is the one who sings ‘waratte’ in Summer Night Town, right?”

Rika remained expressionless.

“Now.” Yasuda held on to Rika’s shoulder to turn her around and then she looked into Rika’s eyes. “Say you’ll never let these things upset you again.”

Rika hesitated, wondering what would happened if her senior knew the real reason behind her unhappiness. She gave in when she felt the nudging on her shoulders.

“I’ll never let these things bother me again.”

“Good.” Yasuda nodded. “One more time.”

Rika cringed inwardly. She took in a deep breath. “I’ll never get upset again.”

“Very good.” Yasuda patted hard on Rika’s shoulders. “So, can we go out now?”

Rika nodded. “Thank you,” she said, but when she saw Yasuda have broken out into a genuine smile her heart was suddenly torn with guilt…

(more...)

A simple story - their story (04)

(DATE: beginning of YEAR 2002 - the rumor – part two)


“Alright, that’s about all for today. Dismissed. Oh Sakimoto-san, can you stay? Need a word with you.”

Soon, the meeting room was vacated except for two stoic-looking men seated opposite each other around an elongated oak table.

The older of the men cleared his throat. “I received this fax from corporate comms this morning.” He retrieved a piece of paper from his folder and handed it over to Sakimoto.

Sakimoto accepted the paper and began to read it.

“I see,” he said after reading. “And you want me to?”

“I want to hear your opinion.”

“Then I would say it’s just those normal gossips.”

The senior man waited, hoping to hear more.

“And it’s not that damaging compared to Abe’s…” continued Sakimoto.

The chief still looked skeptical. “That’s true. But actually, I’m not asking for these. I just thought, maybe You, as the girls’ manager know some things I don’t.”

“Well, since you have asked, I’d dare say there’s no truth in this,” Sakimoto assured.

“I see.” Nakamura locked his brows, thinking. His facial expression depicting he wasn’t quite satisfied with what he had heard. “Even so, I still hope some action will be taken.”

Sakimoto paused for a moment. “How does Tsunku see this?” he asked, but when he saw boss looking affronted at him, he knew he had over-stepped his boundaries—he shouldn’t have questioned his superior. He smiled back weakly. The silly grin further agitated the older man as he slammed his fist on the table.

“Tsunku thinks the same as you. But I wanna see things done. You understand?”

Despite his sitting position, Sakimoto quickly bowed his head. “Yes, yes, of course, I’ll get it done. Do wait for my report.”

Acknowledging with a slight guttural grunt from his throat, the angry man stood up and strode out of the room. Sakimoto didn’t look up until he heard the door close. Not wasting any moment himself, he stuffed his papers into his folder and left the room. Thoughts filled his mind: there were things to be done—serious things to be done—if he wanted to keep his job. And most importantly, he had to find a smaller meeting place and get hold of the two girls, and he had to do it quick…


The atmosphere of the room was sombre though not as icy as the one he was in earlier. Sakimoto looked at his girls, trying his best to maintain his smile, his mind contemplating if this was the right approach.

“Read or heard anything recently?” he asked.

The two clueless girls looked at each other and then back at their manager, they shrugged and shook their heads.

Sakimoto was drawn back to his thoughts. Now, it would be difficult to bring up the matter if both girls had no idea what everything was about. And since they knew nothing, which was a blessing, he had no wish to break the bad news to them. To him, the girls are young, innocent and blissfully ignorant, which is why he couldn’t understand how they have become the target of those baleful paparazzi. Why couldn’t they just leave his girls alone?

“Sakimoto-san, did something happen?” Rika asked cautiously after seeing her manager had gone quiet.

All right! Sakimoto slapped his thighs. What was to be done had to be done. But when his eyes met two angelic pairs, his heart softened and he began to stammer:

“Eh…”

An inexplicable bad omen rose instantly inside Yossi and Rika. Rika turned to Yossi, and when she saw how Yossi had an equally worried look, she gingerly reached out her hand under the table and held on to Yossi’s. They held each other assuredly and continued to watch Sakimoto quietly, their heartbeat doubling.

Sakimoto straightened his back. He knew he had to do it carefully. “Ok. Nothing much actually,’ he began. “Just a routine get together, to know how my girls are coping.” He smiled. But judging from the look on Rika and Yossi, he knew they didn’t believe him totally. He further explained. “I only called the two of you here because I thought there might be things you won’t say if others were around. You know, like conflicts with other members?”

“Oh,” said Rika, visibly relieved.

“Everything is fine,” Yossi added, and felt a light squeeze on her hand.

“I see. I believe so.” Sakimoto laughed. “Anyway, just a routine reminder again.” He became serious once again. “Okay, I just had a meeting and some points were brought up. Like I said, routine, just routine stuffs and some short reminders. Well, in the meeting, we discussed about the company’s policies.” He observed his girls who appeared to be listening attentively. “We want to know if you girls actually knew the reasons behind your group’s success?”

The girls nodded.

“And so, you will understand that to carry on with this success, you will need the continuing support of your fans but then… sometimes fans do get upset over things. And…” Sakimoto let out a slight sigh when he saw the girls looking lost in his words. “Okay. How about we do a recap of the clauses in your contract?” He uncapped his pen and began to scribble on a piece of paper.

Yossi and Rika nodded subtly, leaning forward to have a clearer view on the white sheet of paper.

“One…” Sakimoto started writing. “You are not allowed to be in a relationship.” He dotted a period at the end of the sentence with his pen and looked up.

Instinctively, the pair of hands under the table let go of each other quickly.

“Now, this is really important.” His pen proceeded to mark a few circles around the word ‘not allowed’. At the same time, Yossi and Rika began to hold their breaths.

“In showbiz, this is really taboo. I am sure you have seen many examples around you: idols falling out of fame when a bad scandal hits them. Get it? No? It is simple: if your fans’ hopes were dashed, they would stop buying your stuffs. You will lose your market value and then your company won’t see any profit grooming you anymore. You are back to square one, and most probably, you’ll end up regretting what you have done. You see, it is this cruel in showbiz and, sadly too, this is how things work.” Sakimoto stopped to take a breather and also to allow his words to sink deeper into the youngsters’ minds. “Although I had never brought this up to you, I did warn your senpai about these. You see, I thought they are more prone to making this mistake. But recently, as I realise both of you are approaching the age when you start thinking about matters of the heart, I feel that, as your manager, it is my duty to ‘inform’ you about these ‘dangers’.” He looked at both girls, expecting some response.

When Yossi nodded, Rika followed so.

“Good.” Sakimoto, too, nodded. However, he suddenly peered over at Yossi and asked an unexpected question. “Could there be, well, someone you like now?”

“No!” Yossi shouted as if she was truly taken aback. She then looked away, feeling greatly uneasy with her outburst. Rika, on the other hand, tried to keep her eyes straight even though she wanted very much to see Yossi’s expression when she had said ‘no’. When she realized her manager’s attention was now on her she softly said ‘no’ too, but suddenly felt sad, and before she knew it, she felt like crying.

Sakimoto lay back in his chair and breathed out loudly, feeling apologetic for his weird behaviour. He knew his girls weren’t lying, the reason was simple: their crazy work schedules simply don’t allow them to indulge in other activities, let alone date. But he had asked, perhaps just to put his mind at ease. He admitted that he had had his reservations when he had noticed how his superior was pressed on the matter, so he thought there would be no harm in asking, at least now, he knew the truth and could report back to his boss. However, as he looked at the girls again, he felt a great sense of guilt; Rika’s face was turning white while Yossi’s eyes were darting. He had, never before, seen such serious expressions on his beloved girls, and he started to regret his decision to call them into this meeting room, and also his cowardliness. It was his duty, as their manager, to protect the girls, what he had just done, was the opposite…

(more...)

A simple story - their story (03)

(DATE: beginning of YEAR 2002 - the rumor – part one)


Nothing could wipe the triumphant grin from her face as Yaguchi slammed the magazine on the long table around which Yasuda and Abe were seated. The rude gesture drew immediate frowns from Yasuda and Abe which didn’t bother the perpetrator.

“I TOLD you. Didn’t I tell you before?” Yaguchi’s grin had grown wider.

Yasuda and Abe peered over at the folded magazine on the table. The page showed two out-of-date photos of two girls they were familiar with, one of the titles in bold read ‘よっすぃー「大切な人」は男の子？それとも女の子？

Abe quickly grabbed the magazine. As she read her eyes widened and her brows danced rhythmically. When she finally put down the magazine she exclaimed: “Goodness me!”

“And you said I was wrong?” said Yaguchi.

Abe smiled awkwardly. “I didn’t. Yasuda did.”

Yaguchi needed no reminder on that as she now looked reprovingly at Yasuda, who was frowning as she picked up the gossip tabloid to know what was causing the big fuss.

“Now you see?” said Yaguchi eagerly. To her, revenge is sweet.

Yasuda just gave the article a quick skim-through. “Yeah, I see how you’re as ludicrous as these tabloid reporters,” she said nonchalantly as she threw the useless magazine back onto the table, crossed her arms and leaned back against her chair. Her stance was challenging. “You should be in this business long enough to know you can never trust these tabloids.”

“Is it alright?” Abe asked nervously, not truly understanding a word of what Yasuda had said. “Are they going to get into trouble? I mean if they think it is ‘true’ enough to be published?”

Yasuda was inflamed. “Oh, come on. This is a small-time tabloid, there’s no credibility involved. You know they’ll write anything just to boost sales,” she retorted.

Yaguchi shifted in her chair and looked at Abe, who had turned solemn. From the facial expression, Yaguchi knew Yasuda’s words had brought back painful memories to Abe; nobody should know better than Abe who had been a victim herself.

When Abe looked down and sighed, Yasuda realised she had been insensitive. “Sorry,” she quickly apologized. She didn’t mean to drag Abe into the picture. Then she looked chidingly at Yaguchi—if only the petite gossip-monger hadn’t brought up the topic. She raised her brows urging Yaguchi to say something, anything.

Yaguchi got the cue. “maa~ I guess it is all rubbish.” She retrieved the magazine, closed it and stuffed it back into her capacious bag.

“Yeah~ this is all crap,” Yasuda reiterated. “We’re idols and idols should be reading informative stuffs, not stuffs like these; we should be paying more attention to national or political news. We can’t make Morning Musume look like a group of uneducated ignorant girls.”

Yaguchi went ouch! while Abe just sank deeper into depression.

“You know,” Yaguchi finally said to Yasuda after looking at Abe. “You should just keep your mouth shut.”



(more...)

A simple story - their story (02)

(DATE: near the end of YEAR 2001)


Everyone appeared to be absorbed in their own doings, but like vultures eyeing their prey the seniors were in fact watching the juniors surreptitiously, meticulously capturing and remembering their every little action. And in this room, one particular lady was starting to get restless.

She made a wink at Yasuda and then at Abe, but that was all she could do as she deemed the room to be too crowded for any serious talk or, in this case, gossip. She pretended to go back to reading her magazine, though she would look up from time to time, anticipating when the kids would leave the room for their lunch break.

Half an hour later, her prayers were answered. As soon as the room was left with three women, Yaguchi slammed her thick fashion magazine on the table and burst out: “Now, what you girls think?”

Though equally piqued, Abe and Yasuda pretended to be unbothered and continued to flip their magazines casually. It worked because it irritated Yaguchi more.

“Come on~ We won’t be alone for long.” Yaguchi glanced over at the round clock on the wall. They would have, the most, ten minutes of privacy before the kids would come back to the gakuya.

Yasuda lazily lay down her magazine and looked at Yaguchi. “What’s it?”

Yaguchi tried not to roll her eyes, and had to use more effort to contain her climbing anger. How could Yasuda not know? They were talking enthusiastically about it just an hour ago until the crowd started coming in, interrupting their discussion. Yaguchi, in an attempt to leave Yasuda out of the chat, diverted her attention to Abe and said: “For me to decide, I think it is true.”

“Are you sure?” Abe asked, peering over her magazine. Yaguchi almost laughed at the speed how Abe’s pretense had faded. “I am not VERY sure. But I do trust my intuition,” she said, straightening her back and getting ready; she knew she had successfully started the ball rolling again.

Abe pouted her lips and nodded silently, and seemed to have fallen into deeper thoughts. Yasuda made a little cough. Yaguchi, who was still feeling sore, purposely ignored the attention-seeking gesture and continued to just talk to Abe. “You would have noticed it going on for some time now, if you’re observant.”

“I don’t think so,” Yasuda interjected loudly; she was now bent on being part of the conversation.

Yaguchi gave Yasuda a dirty look; she couldn’t stand girls who would act classy when they were, in fact, inveterate gossipers. But being a magnanimous girl that she was, she decided to give Yasuda another chance. “Why?” she asked Yasuda.

A smile flashed across Yasuda’s face. She cleared her throat, ready to share her views. “Because you can’t gauge, based on things like that! They’re from the same generation. Just look at you and me. We’re from the same gen too, which makes us generally closer, though…”

“Though?” Yaguchi challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Yasuda took a quick moment to think of a better euphemism. “We have nothing in common,” she finally said, secretly pleased with her new-found sensitivity, knowing it was better than saying they actually hated each other’s hobbies or they could never see eye-to-eye in their views.

Yaguchi paused momentarily, clearly lost for words. She couldn’t believe how easy Yasuda’s seemingly innocuous statement had refuted all her beliefs. Yasuda was right: there was no doubt that she was close with Yasuda, and if she was to see Yossi & Rika’s closeness as being an item, wouldn’t others felt the same for her and Yasuda?

She looked at Yasuda, and mimicking a retching face. She just couldn’t entertain the thought of Yasuda and her being buddy as dating. It was simply revolting.

Yasuda smirked, knowing well enough that the rude gesture was something Yaguchi could only do whenever she was on the losing end of a deal.

“But Marippe and you are different,” Abe said innocently.

Yaguchi’s eyes brightened up at Abe’s timely intervention. She looked toward Abe, her eyes beseeching.

Abe felt herself momentarily flustered by the sudden attention. She looked at Yaguchi and then at Yasuda before clearing her throat. “I can’t really explain. It’s more about feeling…” She stopped, continuing only when her listeners had shown no signs of interrupting. “Now, where am I?”

“You said we ARE different!” Yaguchi and Yasuda both said at the same time. They quickly looked at each other, surprised at the rapport they suddenly shared.

“Oh yah! You see, when you’re talking or bickering or doing things together or just being beside each other and doing nothing—like now—the way you look at each other is different from the way they look at each other,” explained Abe.

“Yah!” exclaimed Yaguchi. “So, you agree with me?” she asked, feeling herself getting excited all over again now that she had found someone who shared her views.

Abe nodded subtly.

It was now two against one, but Yasuda wasn’t going to give up without a proper fight. “Nonsense,” she challenged. “They look at each other normally. As far as I’m concerned they are just girls who happen to be good friends with each other. And the word I’m talking about here is Kinship, KINSHIP. I wonder how long the two of you had left school.” Yasuda looked disbelievingly at her friends as if their existence were as archaic as samurais. “When I was in high school, I knew girls who were very close but it was just about kinship, being sisters. People thought they were together but later, and most of the time, too, they would end up dating boys. Everything is, but a passing phase.”

Yaguchi was annoyed; she couldn’t understand why Yasuda was being obstinate. “Haven’t you heard of the word lesbian?”

The casual mention of the word made Abe cringe; in her mind, blasphemy was the other word that had popped up.

“They’re not,” Yasuda rebutted. “They’re young. They just enjoy each other’s companionship, but they don’t love each other in the sense a girl is attracted to a boy or vice versa.”

“I saw them hug each other!” Yaguchi almost shouted.

Yasuda’s look was one in great shock and it was not Yaguchi’s words that surprised her but Yaguchi’s naivety. “SO? If you still remember. I had kissed you on before! Does that make us lesbians?”

Yaguchi wanted to talk back but she looked as if she had lost her voice.

Yasuda continued on her ride. “I didn’t kiss you in the way I was attracted to you. We did it out of fun—pure fun. And I don’t see why by simply hugging each other makes you think they’re sexually attracted to each other.”

“Then how do you explain they’re always together? Or why can’t they speak normally but have to whisper into each other’s ears? Or why are they talking softly, but laughing out loudly? And their hands are all over each other!”

“You mean like this?” Yasuda suddenly struck her hand at Yaguchi’s bubby. Yaguchi dodged quickly and slapped the offensive hand away. Seeing that Yaguchi’s face had turned red, Yasuda and Abe burst out laughing.

Yaguchi felt chagrined. The tide had turned; it seemed Abe was now on Yasuda’s side. “Why can’t you believe my theory?” she insisted, stomping her feet.

“Because I was young before, I’d seen more than you. So, I am telling you they’re not!”

“Why can’t they be in love?”

Yasuda rolled her eyes. She knew the argument could go on forever. “Marippe,” she said, her tone turning serious. “We’re Morning Musume. We have fans. Teenage girls all over Japan look up to us. We’re role models. There’s a reason why Tsunku has chosen us. There is one thing I can tell you for sure and that is, ‘They are’—read my lips—‘no lesbians in Morning Musume!’”

As if to mark a dramatic closure to her statement, the door swung open with a loud thud. Tsuji and Kago, with others following behind, marched into the room, looking gleefully at their bentou on the trays they’re holding, oblivious to three pairs of startled eyes looking at them.

“maa~” said Abe to her comrades, glad that their tension-filled conversation had come to a premature end.

Iida, who had walked into the gakuya, joined their table. She placed her bentou on the table, sat down and rubbed her hands together. As she looked around she wondered why three women were staring at her. “Aren’t you all hungry? You better hurry before all the nikus are snapped up.”

“I’m on diet,” Yaguchi said spitefully.

Yasuda and Abe wanted to laugh; Yaguchi never knew that she actually looked cute when she was angry.

“We’ll get her one,” Yasuda said to Abe as they left the room.

But Yaguchi wasn’t feeling an iota of gratitude. And no, she wouldn’t touch the lunch they would bring back. She was still feeling sore, her lips pouting. Why didn’t they believe her? She looked around the once-again crowded room, her eyes soon locked on the couple sharing a double-seater sofa and food.

Arghh! she screamed inwardly. Fate was playing a fool on her. Why had Yasuda and Abe left the room at this time? She pricked her ears and listened…

“Why are you giving me your ebi-fry?”
“It’s your favourite, isn’t it?”
“How about you? Your lunch box now looks empty.”
“I don’t like ebi.”
“But there are other choices just now…”
“It’s all right,” Yossi told Rika.

Then Yaguchi saw Rika looking at Yossi, smiling.


(more...)

A simple story - their story (01)

(DATE: YEAR 2007)

The loud slamming of the door startled everybody in the makeshift canteen. Like everybody, Rika quickly looked around. When she failed to find her friend who had said was getting another plate of salad, she began to worry. She knew her friend had left the room, and had slammed the door when she did; perhaps she hadn’t like what she had heard. In fact, nobody else did, and somehow, the person who everyone thought possessed the best composure had been the most affected.

Not wasting another moment, Rika stood up and bolted after the escaping girl. Out of the canteen, she shouted when she saw the tall girl striding down the corridor on the left.
“Yossi!”

Half-running Yossi stopped and turned back. “What?”

Rika hastened her steps to catch up. “Where are you heading?” she said, paying extra attention to Yossi’s facial expressions as if it would tell her exactly what her junior was thinking right now.

“Toilet,” Yossi said, her tone sounding calm. When Rika said nothing, she turned and continued on her way to the washroom. She slowed down her pace though as if expecting Rika to join her. Rika did; she quickly caught up and they walked side by side. Although Rika had tons of things to ask Yossi, the latter’s body language told her that she had no wish to engage in any conversation, at least not at the moment.

She quietly followed Yossi into the ladies washroom that was located inconveniently at the furthest end of the winding hallway. Once inside the privacy of the washroom however, Yossi’s cool demeanour took a sudden change. Resting both her palms on the sink counter, she dipped her head below her shoulders and sighed loudly. Rika anticipated it; Yossi wasn’t taking the news too well.

“Why do I feel that my graduation is a jinx?” Yossi said under her breath.

Rika walked up to Yossi. She raised her hand, hesitated before putting it back to her side again.

“Why can’t she hold on to it? Is it too much to ask of her?”

Rika tried to speak, but no word came out of her mouth. When she saw Yossi’s raised head in the reflection, her heart tugged; those beautiful eyes were red. There weren’t tears, nonetheless, there was pain, or was that anger?

“I hate to see the group reduced to this state. I don’t know why bad news keeps coming. I don’t know what’s wrong with everybody. Why are they doing this? We don’t used to be like this…”

Rika knew exactly what Yossi was saying, or why she had felt sad or angry. “But people do change.” she said.

Yossi turned, looking deep into Rika’s eyes. “You didn’t. I didn’t!”

When Rika averted her eyes, Yossi turned back to face the mirror. When she saw Rika still looking away, she turned on the tap and placed her hands under it.

Silence ensued, except for the gushing sound of running water.

Rika spoke after a while, “you know things will never be the same when Tsunku-san started graduating us one by one—”

“I don’t care about them graduating!” Yossi said, looking up again, catching a glimpse of Rika in the mirror. “I just hate him for putting me in the group for seven years. Seven long years. Two years longer than you.”

When Rika remained quiet, Yossi looked back down. “I hate being a leader. I never liked to lead. I never liked to be in-charge. I never liked to make decisions. I was never good with all these. You should know better…”

“But you did a great job, didn’t you? Everyone loves you.”

“The HELL I had to go through just to do this great job! I hate it!” Yossi gripped the tap tightly to turn it off. “Why? Just when it’s time for me to pass it on she pulls this feat.”

Rika was rendered speechless; she couldn’t agree more. But she hoped Yossi would understand that not everyone shared their same way of thinking.

“I tolerated it for two years, yet she couldn’t even last for two weeks. And she makes it look like it is ALL my fault again.”

“She’s just careless. As long as, I mean, it’ll soon blow off,” Rika tried explaining.

“Shouldn’t she have known better?”

Rika looked up, appalled. “Do you mean you already knew about it?”

Yossi turned to face Rika. “No! Isn’t that ironic? That the tabloids know before us? US! As in everybody else who is supposedly close to her.”

The sound of a flushing toilet startled them. Rika and Yossi looked at each other, visibly alarmed. They had been careless to assume that they were the only ones in the washroom. Before someone would come out from the cubicle, they mustn’t make the same mistake again…



When the part-time staff stepped out of the cubicle to confirm her guess for whom the speakers were, she found the washroom already empty.



(more...)

Yoshi (extras) (18)

“What do I exactly see in YOU!
You are the most unromantic person,
You sleep with your socks on,
You never bathe,
You eat in your bed,
Your jokes are lame,
You dig your nose AND
You’re getting FATTER EVERYDAY!!!”

“WOO~ WOO~ WOOH!”

Yossi sprung upright.

“What’s it?” a blurry voice asked.

Yossi looked at the bleary-eyed figure who was stirring beside her, and felt a never-before sense of relief wash over her body.

“Nothing, I think I just had the worst nightmare.”
(more...)

Yoshi (extras) (17)

“hai, ichi ni san.”

click~

“ii, ato.”

click~

“hai, hai, ii yo. motto.”

click~

“ano Ishikawa-san motto dake. hai, hai.”

click~

“ii yo, ii yo. Ishikawa-san, a little more to your right please? Your lips.”

Ishikawa stepped back from her partner and raised a hand at the photographer. “Wait a minute, do we have to do this?”

The reaction from Yoshizawa was immediate; she stepped away too, her frown almost evident.

“Just a close shot. onegai?” the photographer said.

When Ishikawa looked at Yoshizawa, a thousand thoughts went through her mind. She understood that frown. She countered it with one of her own but knew she was losing the frowning battle; no one could see her brows under those mesh.

“Can’t you be a little more professional and get it done?” Yoshizawa rebuked. After giving a stare at Ishikawa, she resumed her position, clicking her tongue loudly.

Everyone in the studio could see Ishikawa giving Yoshizawa a baleful look before she got behind Yoshizawa and had their face close together. When Yoshizawa turned her face slightly toward her, she brought her chin closer, holding her breath.

“hai, kono kanji.”

click~

“ano Yoshizawa-san, you’re frowning. You need to look neutral, be cool about it.”

Yoshizawa could hear someone snort. She tried to relax the muscles around her temple and felt her irritation growing with every second.

“I need two shots, quick ones. Ishikawa-san, First, I want you to look at the camera, then another at the lips.”

click~
click~

“Ok!”

They repelled like magnet of the same poles. Both started toward different corners of the room where a seat and a bottle of mineral water on a table await them. And both had the same thoughts in their mind:

When is this darned thing going to end?

An AD approached Ishikawa and explained what the next series of shots would be. Ishikawa listened to every word with growing contempt. Her eye caught Yoshizawa talking to another AD, and based on the disdainful look, she knew Yoshizawa was equally revolted by the idea.

One particular detail she just heard irked her. “Wait, why must we pull each other’s hair? Why can’t I just pull her hair? Why must I let her pull my hair? I’m supposed to be Angry, the angry one, not her.”

“Err… I’m not sure about this. I was told by the director to tell you this.”

When she saw the chair that was moved to the middle of the set, she said again. “Isn’t there a bigger chair? I’m not going to share the chair with her. That chair is so small. I’m not sitting on her lap.”

“Err… You won’t be sitting in her lap. She’ll sit behind while you occupy the front of the seat. The width looks narrow but it’s deep enough—more than enough space, minimum contact.”

When the AD walked away to leave Ishikawa alone, he couldn’t be more confused. He stood in the dimmest corner of the studio, joined soon by his colleague who had accomplished the same mission with Yoshizawa.

“Girls, get ready,” the photographer called out.

The two AD remained silent as they watched how the girls move torpidly to the chair while avoiding eye-contact at all costs. The men gave each other a bemused look. Everything they had seen today—now—was contrary to what they had heard. It was clear that the girls hate each other’s guts.

The taller of the two men spoke, “I’m not gonna believe any word that you say anymore.”

“Hey, where did that come from?”

He leaned forward and whispered. “You told me they are an item. rezu. Together, as in with each other.”

“Yah…”

“Tell me, do they look like it now?”

It took some while for the shorter man to reply. “No, I don’t think so— Eeww~ did you see how she was pulling her just now?”

“Do they hate each other?”

“No way, they are supposed to be close, they are both from momusu.”

“That’s what makes you think so?”

“Well… I heard they are close.”

“Heard? From the same source again? How long have you been in this line? Don’t you know that the real truth always differs?”

“I don’t know…”

“Damn. I promised them some big scoop. To think I was all excited when I knew I was going to be involved in this. What am I going to tell them now? It’s all your fault.”

“But— Ouch~ that must have hurt…”

They broke from their conversation and watched the girls wrestle each other with increased intensity, presumably spurred on by their inherent dislike for each other.

When the photographer was satisfied with his work and finally called it a day, Yoshizawa and Ishikawa left the place separately without talking to each other, and the two men couldn’t be more sure of something, not to mention at the same time greatly disappointed that they had just failed to earn themselves a few extra bucks from uncovering some scoop.


***

“Rika-chan! Come here quick!”

A lazy head peeped out from behind the door frame of the bathroom. “nani?”

“Come here.”

She wasn’t wearing her contacts and hadn’t seen Yossi gaping, which would surely get her out of the bathroom quicker. She was faster already; at least she hadn’t bothered to waste time in getting a towel to cover her modesty. She propped down beside Yossi in the bed and felt a tingle through her skin from contact with the cool sheets. A particular somewhere was hardening without her knowledge; the cool air blowing from the air-con not helping.

“Did you read this?” Yossi pointed to a line on the stack of stapled papers she was holding. When she looked up, she then realized Rika was stark-naked.

“No. What did it say?”

“It says…”

A hand went straight for Rika’s chest and cupped her right breast. It was quickly slapped away.

“Is that one of your silly antics to get me out here so that you can start groping me?”

Yossi laughed. “I just can’t help it. And hey!” she asked, after noticing the standing nipples. “What have you been doing in there?”

“What?”

“You’re getting excited.”

Rika screamed. “Because you just touched me there!”

Yossi grinned. “I’m just getting my revenge in advance.”

Rika felt her patience really running out. “What are you saying?”

A hand went around her neck, and she felt herself pulled closer to Yossi. Then the papers were shown in her face, within reading distance. She started to read the text where Yossi had pointed out before…

But she wasn't reading, her mind was thinking why did she have to do this now? She's already all tired from the photo shoots today, made worse by the fact that they constantly had to put on a show... a tiring show...

Then her eyes read something interesting...

one of the scenes for tomorrow’s promotional video filming requires her to…

“WHAT!” (more...)

Yoshi (extras) (16)

(This is what happens when they watched too much DVDs together…Stein… I said Stein…)

“Why is that you never make any noise when we’re making love?”

Yossi hushed loudly. A silent rictus of shock began to show on her face. She looked around frantically. What had gotten into Rika and why had she asked such a question and in such a place? And luckily for them, the cold storage alley was practically lifeless except for an elderly woman who was standing ten metres away, peering at her bag of carrots and appearing not to have heard the atrocious question.

Yossi raised her hand to feel Rika’s forehead with the back of it.

“I’m not sick!” Rika answered loudly.

The elderly woman looked up this time and gave a disapproving frown. Yossi wanted to hush Rika again but instantly changed her mind when she saw another intimidating frown.

“Now… now…” Yossi pushed the shopping trolley and tried to lead them away from the only listening ear within distance. “Should we get more milk?” she said while her eyes scanned through the varieties of milk displayed neatly on the shelves of the cooler.

Rika stopped in her track. “But why?”

Yossi smiled back awkwardly. She knew Rika was still waiting for her answer but she really didn’t like the idea of answering a very private question in a very public place. She made a motion to move further down the aisle but when Rika just stayed put, she backtracked slowly, pulling the trolley along until she was beside Rika again. “What was it again?” she asked, pretending not to have heard the question just now.

Rika crossed her arms across her chest. “I SAID you never make any noise when we’re making love,” she said in a tone which was just too loud for Yossi’s comfort. “And I never know if you’re enjoying it.”

Yossi cleared her throat.

“And when I go down on you—”

Yossi began coughing loudly, very very loudly.

However Rika continued. “I don’t even know if you like it because you’re so quiet.”

“Yah…” Yossi stopped coughing and looked behind and saw the elderly woman had somehow inched closer.

“You see, I make noise. In fact I make a lot of noise and you know I’m enjoying it and you’re doing it right. But…” Rika’s voice changed into a resigned tone. “Maybe you don’t like having sex with me?”

“No. I mean NO.” After the initial shout, Yossi quickly lowered her voice into a soft whisper, “I love having sex with you.” She hesitated on putting an assuring arm around her beloved girlfriend but finally refrained from doing so because she knew someone right behind them was watching...

“Then why aren’t you making any noise?” Rika fretted.

“Because…” Yossi slowly swallowed the lump stuck in her throat. “I…” Her eyes fleeted around and when she caught Rika’s overwhelming stance again, her mind went into a blank. She realized she hadn’t really got an answer.

“Alright!” You’re not touching me until you learned to talk,” Rika said and stormed off. (more...)

Yoshi (extras) (15)

“Are you sure that’s the reason it won’t play?”

“Yep. Yep,” Yossi said. She had gotten up from the couch and was squatting in front of the TV console. She pulled the DVD player out, looked behind its back and saw a dozen of metal sockets sticking out from the panel where only a cable with yellow, red and white pins, was plugged in. “Ermm…” she said unconsciously, not realizing the light around her had dimmed when Rika came forward.

“Maybe we should just forget it?” Rika said, placing a hand on Yossi’s shoulder. She looked beseechingly at Yossi. She didn’t mind to miss the movie even though Yossi had it planned for days. Besides, the night’s still young and there were so many other things they could do - like snuggling together to watch local TV shows or sharing a booze over a card game or thrashing each other out (well, more likely it’s her thrashing Yossi out) on a Wii tennis game or retreating into the bedroom for some other activities…

Yossi looked up. “But I really want you to watch this.” As a bead of sweat treaded down Yossi’s forehead, Rika looked up at the air-conditioning unit and wondered if the unit was not working but when she saw the pair of louvers moving up and down and left and right, she guessed Yossi was perhaps just being frustrated or nervous. She wiped the sweat away with the base of her thumb, and something struck her…

“Now… now… now…” she stood back and waved her index finger. “It’s not PORN right?”

When Yossi shot back a look that was filled with unabashed guilt and surprise, Rika knew at once her guess was correct. Her stare quickly became a menacing one. “No~ no~ no~” she waved her finger fanatically and disapprovingly.

Rika shook her head. What had gotten into her girlfriend? Shouldn’t Yossi have known better? They have talked about it and she had told Yossi how she disliked porn. She didn’t like Japanese porn where the AV actresses were forever shouting ‘yamete’ when their faces were clearly showing their pleasures as the hideous male anatomy banged in and out of their dripping holes. Foreign porn wasn't spared. Rika disliked them too. She hated it for the wanton look on the European girls and the plain fact that they all had giant synthetic boobs that simply wouldn't sag even when they were lying down. She called it ‘Laughably pseudo’.
In short, Rika simply resented porn of all sorts.

Yossi stood up. “No~ no~ no~ This one has no guys,” she tried to explain.

“No guys!!!”

Now, it only made Rika feel all the more disgusted. Of all the porn produced in this world, Rika hates Japanese lesbian porn the most. Rika felt there was never a good lesbian porn, not when she knew the actresses are in fact straight women posing to be lesbians, who make such clumsy and tasteless love to each other that it becomes very obvious that the film is only made for the male audience. If you are wondering how Rika knows, it is because every love-making scene will have these women groaning and moaning almost unnaturally while trying to drown each other with their spittle or to squeeze whatever milk that may be in those breasts. And almost inevitably, it will then transpire into them trying to stuff each other out with every vegetable they could find in their refrigerators or every longish object that is forever lying conveniently around.

She remembered she was once tricked into watching a scene where the women were trying to use, what they think was an interesting combination of, white furry bird feathers (read: bird) and black slimy squids which had freaked her out so badly that she demanded Yossi to turn off the set immediately. That night, she warned Yossi never to do that to her (not that Yossi had never tried to) and even refused to let Yossi touch her, and for the many days to come, until Yossi finally surrendered and bought her the ladies Rolex watch she always wanted. Yossi had, till this day, fondly called it ‘blackmail’.

Now, it seemed to Rika that her adamant lover still hadn’t learnt her lesson…

“It’s a film by Viku Tomasu,” Yossi said, “Maichin says he’s a good lesbian-movie director. The actresses are real lesbians and every scene is beautiful unlike… you know,” she shrugged her shoulders and looked sheepishly at Rika.

“Wait a minute, how come Mai-chin knows?” Rika asked skeptically. She just found another reason to be angry with Yossi. Why was Yossi and Maichin discussing porn? Under what circumstances? Were they talking about women too? Other women? However Rika found that she was angry for this other reason - that now Maichin must have thought she liked porn too. Feeling her anger surged, Rika grabbed a cushion from the couch and threw it.

Yossi caught the flying cushion easily. And she did it with such flair (from the frequent practice she was subjected to) that she even did a pirouette on the spot. And when she looked at Rika, she tried her best not to appear smirking, lest it upset Rika further.

Rika threw her arms in resignation and plopped down on the couch. A pout slowly worked its way to her lips.

Yossi quickly joined Rika on the couch. “Now~ now~ what did I just do wrong?” she asked as she placed a coaxing arm around Rika.

Rika stared back angrily. The moment she saw a pair of supplicating eyes – the way Yossi had always look when she knew Rika was being unreasonable again – looking at her, her stance softened slightly. Yossi was right. What had she done wrong? She had merely wanted to watch a porn movie (which she often did so pathetically alone) and had only wanted Rika to watch it because someone had told her how different it was from all other porns.

Then Rika remembered. She was angry not because Yossi had forced her to watch porn but because Yossi had painted a wrong image of her in front of Maichin. And of all people, Maichin! Everyone knows how blabber-mouthed Mai-chin can be sometimes. Rika could feel herself sweating as she imagined the outcome if Mai-chin slipped and told this in their radio show. The repercussion... and her fan’s reaction...

OH!!!

Rika slapped hard on Yossi’s thigh. “Why must you tell Maichin I like hentai?”

“No I didn’t!” Yossi denied quickly. Her bare skin stung where Rika had struck but it wasn’t bothering her the most right now. She tightened her hug around Rika.

“When I’m not hentai at all.”

“Yeah, I know,” Yossi said as she rubbed her hand consolingly up and down Rika’s arm. Hearing the crack in Rika’s voice, she knew how Rika hated being maligned.

“But you told her I like hentai…”

“I didn’t, really.” Yossi reached out to hold Rika’s hand which was resting on her thigh and had their fingers intertwined. She knew Rika was getting really upset, and it was something she didn’t like to see happen.

“But you know that I don’t like hentai?”

“Yeah, I know. Of course I know.” Yossi leaned and rubbed heads with her sulking girlfriend and felt Rika snuggling into very crook and cranny under her arm.

“So you know I’m not hentai?”

From the tone Yossi could sense that Rika was feeling better already. “Of course I know,” she assured.

Seeing how the area on Yossi's snow white skin had turned red from the slap, Rika spread her palm and started to rub gently on it. “But Mai-chin thinks I am.”

Yossi rolled her eyes. “No, she doesn’t.”

"When she thinks I’m, you didn’t tell her I’m not when you know I’m not the moment she thinks I’m?”

Usually, no one could ever understand Rika when she’s being paranoid, but Yossi always did. “No,” she explained patiently. “I didn’t tell her because I don’t think she thinks you’re hentai.”

“But she knows you’re hentai, right?”

“Yeah, she knows, I think...” But isn’t it obvious? Yossi thought.

“Then she’ll think I’m hentai too.”

“That I don’t think so…”

“You don’t think so?” Rika sat upright and eyed Yossi. “Now you said you don’t think so?”

Yossi knew she was trapped. She gave a titter and looked at Rika, and when she realized how near and enticing Rika’s lips were, she leaned forward to kiss it and somehow hoped the kiss could expiate for everything.

But their kiss lasted no longer than a peck. Rika pulled her face away. “But I’m not hentai!”

“Now you are.”

“I’M NOT!” Rika insisted.

Yossi laughed. “Look where your hands are.”

Rika followed Yossi’s vision to where her hand was. When she couldn’t explain why her hand had gone in-between Yossi’s thighs and was caressing, she quickly withdrew it and giggled. Maybe Yossi was right about her being hentai, but hey! Even if she was, she was only hentai for this one person in this entire world.

Yossi laughed again. Not that she had minded. In fact, she even kind of regretted telling Rika. She was just getting into the mood. She leaned forward for another kiss, and this time, she found Rika just as eager. But before her hand could snake its way up from under Rika’s t-shirt, Rika broke the kiss for the second time and quickly pulled Yossi’s hand out. “Didn’t you say the DVD is good?”

Taken aback, Yossi looked at Rika who was trying to look as innocent as possible and yet whose lips had curved into a mischievous grin. And there’s something about the grin which Yossi just couldn’t put it. It was neither the cheeky grin that Rika had when she was game for something nor the dirty grin when she had some dirty thoughts. It was more a grin she had when she’s planning something and knowing that she was on her way to getting it. And seeing how hard Rika was actually trying to hide it, Yossi couldn’t be more suspicious. She knew Rika just too well.

Rika should know that she never have to plan to have Yossi make love to her, since Yossi never denies Rika of one. And even if they were about to have sex soon, Rika needn’t look so happy. And that was besides the fact that Rika would seldom look this happy when they were about to make love. So just what was Rika up to? Yossi didn’t know. She couldn’t think of other reasons other than the fact that maybe Rika just wanted more arousal.

“But it won’t play right?” Yossi said tentatively. At the same time, she tried to hide her frustration on why Rika had insisted on wasting time when both of them were clearly aroused now?

“Well.” Rika cleared her throat. “I was playing Wii this afternoon…” she didn’t try to complete her sentence. She guessed Yossi would have known by now what had happened, though she did feel bad about not showing any remorse at all in her speech.

Yossi understood it clearly. She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she got up. The moment she did the necessary arrangements at the back, the black TV screen flicked back to life. But since the movie was playing all the time, sounds of moans and groans instantly filled the room and Rika found herself hurrying for the remote control to have the TV volume lowered. But she kept her eyes away. She really didn’t like porn.

But she began to peep. She couldn’t help it when the soft moaning sounds sounded so different from those she detested.

The moving picture of two long-haired women partially undressed - one blonde, lying down on the bed and one brunette, straddling the blonde - burned her retinas and aroused her senses. She couldn’t help but think how beautiful they looked humping each other. To her, it was more an art than cheap pornography. And the fact that they were still in their undies made Rika feel all the more turned on. She was suddenly reminded of the times when Yossi was touching her behind some fabric - rough cotton bra or soft silky undies. How it gave her different sensations every time; how it was always satisfying and yet never really enough…

How those women must be feeling the same pleasures right now…

Rika felt her chest had swelled and her nether was getting damp. After Yossi had gotten up to switch off the lights, leaving only the lights from the TV as illumination, she found herself nestling once again under those comforting arms when Yossi rejoined her. She found a comfy spot on Yossi’s shoulder and rested her head on it. All the while, her eyes had never left the screen. She knew well enough where all these would be leading them later to, but right now, she just wanted to watch two women make love to each other, in a way she and Yossi never did…

(more...)

Yoshi (extras) (14)

(a time around April 2008)

Yossi hoped the floor hadn’t creaked. Actually it didn’t, but she thought it did. So as gingerly as she could, she crept up toward the sexy figure, who was too engrossed in the mechanism in front of her to be noticing what was actually happening behind her. And when Yossi reached just standing behind her target, she slipped her arms around and planted a kiss on the nape of the neck.

Rika looked up momentarily before she moved her eyes away again. Although Yossi had wanted it to be a surprise, judging from the look on Rika just now, she knew Rika wasn’t the bit is.

“Why are you out here?” Rika asked as she relaxed back against her comfortable backdrop.

Quickly remembering Rika’s earlier order to be left alone, Yossi found herself suddenly stammering. “I… I wasn’t s..spying on you, really… but…” she tried to compose herself and found she was taking on a skeptical tone. “Just what are you doing?”

“I…” Rika hesitated. Her eyes wandered across the buttoned panel below her before she looked back at the face snuggled close to hers and smiled.

Yossi couldn’t resist the urge to kiss the puffed up cheek. “Do you know you’ve been standing here for like ten minutes already and doing nothing?” She said. Although her tone had sounded cheeky, it was nevertheless, worried.

“Is it? I…” Rika mumbled while she continued to eye the panel wearily. With Yossi’s lips now working its way down the neck and up onto the back of her ear, Rika raised her shoulder to nudge at Yossi’s chin that was resting on it. “Stop it, please,” she insisted. As much as she liked the touches, there were more pressing issues at hand now.

Yossi buried her head resignedly into the crook of the neck and blew out a sigh. “All right, all right, what’s wrong?” she asked after raising her head.

Rika didn’t answer immediately. Instead she allowed her fingers to hover over the panel and after a final tap, she said. “I don’t know how to operate this!”

“What !?!”

The moment Yossi grasped what was being said, she began to laugh loudly, really loudly. Rika thinned her eyes. She loosened the grip around her waist, stepped aside and stared. “Now, DO you have an issue here?”

Yossi zipped up almost instantly. “No,” she said in a mock serious tone and shook her head. And when she looked up at the white ceiling, she couldn’t but notice an ant taking a stroll across it.

“Is it THAT funny when a person can’t operate the washing machine?” Rika spoke in a tone that demanded Yossi to look at her.

“No, of course not, but…”

“What ?!?” Rika’s pitch rose a notch higher.

“Err… I just thought the instructions are written at the side?” Yossi pointed innocently to a piece of sticker stuck to the top right most corner of the washing machine.

Rika crossed her arms across her chest and continued to glare at Yossi. “Yes I know. I can read. It SAYS put the clothes in, select the program and press start. But just WHICH button is WHICH?”

Yossi looked at the panel before her and strained her eyes. She wasn’t wearing her contacts and after a moment of reading, she realized Rika seemed to be right as there were at least ten buttons just under the word ‘program’.

“Ah~ I don’t care.” Rika moved aside and gently pushed Yossi toward the machine. “You do it. It’s mostly your clothes anyway.”

Yossi took another look at the complex panel before letting out an unexpected laugh. With an unapologetic grin still on, she turned to Rika and waved dismissively. “You know my mother never allowed me to do this back at home.”

“SO?’ Rika said defiantly, because Yossi seemed to have forgotten the fact that her mother wouldn’t have allowed her to do it too. And Yossi should have known better. The older lady would drop by every weekend to help with the washing and drying so that Rika never have to bother with it, until now of course, just because somebody else’s dirty garments were piling up.

“So? It just means,” Yossi said, feeling the need to explain even though Rika wasn’t asking for one. “Like you, I can’t operate this thing.”

“Aha~ and who’s laughing just now?” Rika said acerbically.

Yossi knew exactly what that look on Rika means. She took a back step until she’s safely out of reach before she turned and fled back into the house. “I’ll go get that fellow back for you~”

Normally Rika would have given chase and make sure Yossi met her ‘doom’ on the living room’s sofa but this time, she stayed put. She had no time and no mood for games. It had kind of bothered her that she couldn’t even do a simple housework. And what a lousy girlfriend she was? But she was determined at the same time...

If she had even learned to cook...

She walked to the kitchen’s wall and picked up the handset. Help was just a few buttons away…
(more...)

Yoshi (extras) (12)

(8th Dec 2007: In a certain training camp.)

Yossi hated ‘gasshuku’ time. It was the time when she found herself boarded up with tens other members in a relatively stupid camp and though blessed with all the basic necessities and facilities, it was still a stupid place to be in. She really hated it. Not for the rigid schedule, the tough training, the mass bunking nor the dalliance after the day. She hated it because even though they were sleeping together, they were sleeping together with five other people.

With unnecessary furniture moved to one side and futons laid, they sat around in a circle, campfire-like. Although they all had a tired day, it seemed other than herself, no one had shown any signs of languor nor needs to retire early. Everyone, including the perpetually shy Koretty, seemed to be enjoying the idle talk that was like going on for hours…

Suddenly, Shibata stood up and walked toward the door. Just when everybody was wondering what she was doing, she turned a knob on the switch just beside the door and had the lights dimmed. As the room turned almost dark now, Yossi found herself smiling again. Even Shibachan had thought it was time for bed. But how wrong she was…

“This should set the mood,” Shibata joked.

It made Yossi more peeved. She didn’t need any mood-setting for things she couldn’t put into action. She remained silent while her eyes fleeted from silhouette to silhouette, the same way conversation was passed around the room. And all the time, she realized she couldn’t bear to look at the girl seated just to her right. It would only remind her that they weren’t really going to do anything else for the night. And she felt cold…

“Now, who opened the darned windows?” Miki suddenly barked.

If Miki hadn’t spoken, Yossi would have thought it was only her feeling cold in her heart.

“Sorry!” Konno sprung up from the futon and rushed to close the sliding windows. “It was warm just now.”

As Konno resettled herself, Yossi thought she just found an opportunity. She stood up, got to the stacks of woolen quilts behind her, grabbed some and passed them around. After everyone had received it with gratitude, Yossi got back to her spot, got behind Rika and sat herself down with Rika just in front, between her legs. Then she covered them with the thick blanket. After she locked her arms around Rika’s waist, she knew her mission was accomplished.

As if knowing what was happening under the blanket, five pairs of eyes began to roll.

“A good thing the kids aren’t around to see this,” Satoda was heard saying.

“Why worry, it’s too dark to see anything anyway,” Miki said sarcastically.

“What? You mean the kids don’t know yet?” Koretty asked.

“Because they’re dense, just like you,” Miki retorted.

Laughter broke out. Everyone was reminded of the shock on Korenaga’s face back when she had heard for the first time, with her virgin ears, that her captain and Rika were actually a couple.

But Yossi didn’t quite like what she heard. “So what if they knew? It’s not like we’re having an illicit affair,” she protested and snuggled her face real close to Rika’s. When Rika returned the gesture lovingly, Koretty screamed mockingly. “Ah~ my virgin eyes!”

More raucous laughter followed. Everyone seemed to be surprised at their best player’s anomaly new found humor, not that they minded it though. Yossi wanted to protest again. However when she felt Rika tugged at her arm, she understood it as a cue to let the matter rest and remained quiet, though almost unwillingly.

Satoda saw it and quipped. “Sometimes I wonder what Rika-chan fed her with.”

“JUICES, what else?” Miki said nonchalantly.

Seemingly to have understood what Miki was driving at, Shibata broke out yet again into laughter. Slowly, one by one, as the girls started to comprehend, they began to jeer and make cat calls at the loving couple in front of them. And funny though, instead of getting offended, Yossi found she was somehow getting amused and a little something started to stir inside her. Like her hands suddenly had a mind of their own, they moved and rested on the inner thighs of Rika’s and that’s when she heard a quiet gasp.

As other girls continued with their gossips, Yossi realized she wasn’t feeling that bored anymore. Not when she had Rika secured in her arms. Her teammates could entertain themselves with their prating while she would find ways to entertain herself… and her.

Just the thought alone was killing her. She knew she was clearly getting aroused and the heat emanating from her girlfriend’s body seemed to be sending out the same signal. But wanting to be sure, Yossi trailed her finger playfully along the band of the track pants when she heard Rika whispered very softly, “Not now.”

Rika should have known better; pleas of any kind would only serve to make Yossi more determined. Yossi slipped her right hand inside the pants and headed straight for Rika’s groin. With the cotton fabric still in the way, she cupped the womanly mould and massaged gently. Although she felt Rika’s hands quickly unto hers, holding her back. A few titillating rubs later, Rika’s tensed body had relaxed and lain back against hers. She knew consent was given.

As Yossi continued to caress Rika down there, her other hand had gone under Rika’s bra and was already working hard on a pair of tits and some very hardened nipples. The conversation around her became incoherent and vague. All she could hear was herself breathing hard down Rika’s neck and maybe a little moaning here and there from Rika. Since both of them were unusually quiet now, Yossi wondered if her teammates had any idea what Rika and she were doing, or rather, what she was doing to Rika, but then again, the thought that they knew, further excited her.

As Rika’s body got weaker and weaker, Yossi knew every rubs and teases were working well. As soon as she felt the dampness seeping through from the last piece of defense, she too, became very turned on and her own groin started to ache badly. She moved her hands away onto Rika’s thighs. Securing a good grip, she thrust her own hips forward. The pressure on her mould provided a moment of relief for her aching groin. But she knew the little stimulation just wasn’t enough. And Rika seemed to know it too. Before Yossi knew it, Rika’s hands had gone back to grab her on her ass and they had begun grinding each other.

As pleasure heightened, time became nonexistent and noises became muted. And when Yossi felt Rika leading her hand back to her mould, she waited no longer. She parted the panty and slid her longest finger into the wanting hole and felt warm juices - those that Miki had mentioned - gushed and coated her palm…
(more...)

Yoshi (extras) (10)

(a time around May 2007)

Yossi thought she felt something nudging her. She wasn’t sure, however doing what everybody would do on instinct; she shifted her body slightly away. Then she felt it again, this time on her arm. A little frustrated, she turned to her left, tugging along the blanket as she did. But before she could drift back to unconsciousness, she felt it again, very clearly this time. Little nudges on her back, she thought it was slight taps or pokes or whatever but nevertheless it was very irritating. She began to wonder just how much of the bed Rika actually needed before she was allowed some decent sleep.

She grunted softly, and into her pillow; her subtle display of disapproval meanwhile hoping that it wasn’t yet enough to evoke anger from Rika. She waited. It seemed to have worked. The nudging stopped.

Soon Yossi was feeling sleepy again. But the sleep she so badly desired never arrived. Under the warm sheets, a gelid foot that was suddenly on her bare back shot her wide awake. As the foot was still on her back, she couldn’t turn herself around and had to be contended with the thought that Rika must be having some action packed dreams that would somehow explain the taps, the pokes and the kick. Deciding to shift herself into safer zones, Yossi contemplated moving slightly away but stopped when she realized she was already nearing the edge of the bed. Another move and she would find herself on the cold floor beneath. Deciding on another way, she moved her hand back to try to navigate the offensive foot away when a palm landed on her cheek with amazing force and accuracy.

“What’s that for?” Yossi sat upright and faced her perpetrator. She rubbed her burning cheek and squinted.

Rika didn’t move at first. Then she raised her arm and pointed to where the dressing table was.

Yossi followed the hand and asked. “You need something?”

After a half-yawn laced with irritation, Rika finally forced the words out of her mouth. “Your stupid phone!”

In semi-darkness, Yossi looked where she placed her phone and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Then she heard it. Soft, incessant thuds - the sound of her cell phone vibrating against the table top through her jeans. And she quickly realized what had happened.

“Who’s the idiot?” Yossi cursed.

“You, who else?” Rika chided. “Why didn’t you turn off your phone?”

Yossi wanted to give some excuses but quickly decided against it. She didn’t want to anger Rika anymore. She knew why Rika was angry. Being a very light sleeper, Rika had warned her countless times to switch off her cell phone whenever she’s around for sleepovers.

Doing what’s most right for the situation now, Yossi apologized and got out of bed. The nuisance gadget stopped vibrating the moment Yossi yanked it out from her jeans’ pocket. It made Yossi curse again. If only you did so earlier…

Though very much tempted to check who the caller was, Yossi didn’t, lest her darling princess would then complain that the dim light coming from the phone screen was blinding her and disrupting her sleep.

Placing the phone back on the dressing table, Yossi walked back to the bed and got back under the sheets. With Rika facing the other side of the bed now, she snuggled up close and hugged Rika from behind. Rika didn’t budge. When Yossi then heard Rika snoring, she knew Rika was only pretending to be asleep.

“Gomen, gomen, gomen,” Yossi whispered and kissed on the nape of Rika’s neck.

Rika turned around slowly until she was facing Yossi, but her eyes were still closed and she was still snoring, like what she did was only a routine turn between sleep.

However, Yossi thought she just caught a smirk on Rika. She inched forward and kissed Rika. “Gomen, gomen, gomen.”

Rika opened her eyes. She kept a straight face for a while before she broke out into a giggle. And when she started rubbing her nose against Yossi’s, Yossi knew that Rika wasn’t angry with her anymore.

…buu…buu…buu…

Rika got angry again. She sat up and slapped Yossi on the shoulder. Yossi quickly jumped out of the bed and dived for her phone. She fumbled with it in darkness, trying to locate the on/off button as quickly as possible when she realized her phone was lying insentient in her hands.

“It’s… it’s not the phone,” she told Rika.

“Then what was it?” Rika half-screamed.

They kept quiet and listened.

~…masaka saa…~

Rika quickly turned red. Realizing the source of the sound too, Yossi made a slight grunt and walked over toward Rika’s handbag which was hung behind the door. Getting it down from the hook, she dug into it, found the culprit and passed it to Rika. She said nothing when Rika received it quite solemnly although she was tempted to ‘scold’ back. But as soon as she saw the sorry look on Rika, the thought dissipated.

Seeing that Rika was now checking her emails, Yossi decided to do the same for hers. She took her phone and plopped down on the bed. As she read through the shocking contents of the email, she still wasn’t quite sure she got it right, but looking up and seeing Rika looking at her with the same shock expression, Yossi quickly understood that they had gotten the same message from Tsuji…

“USO!”

(more...)

Yoshi (extras) (11)

(何日君再来)

Keep your hands off her!!!

Yossi growled and grunted and felt her fingers dug into the PVC of the arm rest. She could sense the woman sitting beside her throwing her glances but she couldn’t care less. Nothing’s more important than what’s going on on stage now.

HORA! HORA!!

Yossi’s vision zoomed in on the hand around the slim waist. She could feel something starting to bubble inside her. When the coarse fingers closed in, Yossi squirmed and closed her eyes.

It’s just an act… it’s just an act…

She opened her eyes.

Did he just fondle it?
DID HE JUST FONDLE IT!!!

It took Yossi almost all her will to refrain from standing up.

THAT’S IT!

Yossi shut her eyes and turned away. The volcano inside her was on the brink of erupting. When she opened her eyes to look again, she thought she just saw Rika smiling at the soldier. At this very moment, Yossi only had one thought. She wished for an iron mallet just so that she could smash the grotesque hand flat, no, rotten.

Recognizing that the act on stage was soon coming to an end, Yossi stood up, crouched a little and headed toward a door on the left side of the theatre. She knew she attracted a few stares from people whose view she had blocked and might even risk the chance of being recognized, but she couldn’t really be bothered now. She needed to get to backstage fast. When the crowd applauded the end of Act II, Yossi opened the door and walked in.

As the guards all recognized her, Yossi managed to get to backstage without any difficulty. But the moment she stepped foot into the dim, spacious and noisy room, her blood seethed. Instead of seeing Rika, she saw the owner of the offensive hand looking at her. When he smiled, Yossi could feel all her nerves snapped. Then thinking that Yossi probably hadn’t seen him, his smile broadened. And Yossi felt more disgusted.

Yossi returned a smile, which strictly speaking, couldn’t even be called a smile and looked away. Enough was enough. She knew she was losing it and another minute spent looking at the revolting face, she couldn’t be sure what she wouldn’t do. The only thing she could be sure was that the guy was going to be very very sorry.

The sound of approaching footsteps made Yossi turn. She smiled. But just after a quick glance on Rika’s attire, her smile was quickly gone, replaced by a slight frown. And she thought she saw an almost imperceptible smirk forming on Rika.

“You’re here?” Rika said, trying to sound as casual as she could as she walked past Yossi toward her dressing table. She was well aware of a not-so-familiar young female extra nearby looking and smiling brightly at them. The girl had the word ‘star-struck’ written all over her face.

Yossi nodded at Rika and stood around for a while. When she saw the girl being called away, she walked to where Rika was, pulled out the nearest chair and sat down.

“Now…” Yossi began while trying to clear an invisible lump in her throat. “It’s quite COLD in here, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you at least COVER up a little more? Ermm… in case you catch a cold.”

Rika tried to hold her giggle. She knew what was going on just by looking at the jealousy-filled face. She had caught Yossi staring at her co-star when she was walking in just now. And she knew actually just how to perk Yossi up. She took the white lab coat hanging on the back of her seat, put it on and struck a sexy pose. As a satisfied smirk appeared on Yossi’s relatively active facial expression today, Rika rolled her eyes.

Rika then put on the pair of black-rimmed spectacles and proceeded to unbutton her coat slowly.

Yossi felt her face twitched. And when Rika had left to go onstage after whispering into her ears, Yossi could feel her throat had gone dry and her body was burning hot…


******

Yossi gulped. She could clearly feel her heart pulsating while looking at the same nerdy spectacles, the same white coat, the same angelic face and the same devilish figure from just now. The only difference: they were now in the privacy of their own room where there was only one actress and one audience.

“And then you make a turn here, that’s when you have to pay attention to this part—” Rika looked up, “—Yossi !!”

“Eh! Yeah?”

“Are you paying attention? I’m trying to teach you here.”

“Yes, I am…” Yossi gulped again. The truth was; she couldn’t concentrate anymore… not when she kept thinking of what Rika had told her…

“You know I rather take them off for you…”

Yossi stood up from the bed. She grabbed Rika by the waist and with another swing, ended them both on the bed.

“Now’s not the time for practice,” Yossi said as her hands quickly worked to unbutton the obstructing coat.

(more...)

Yoshi (extras) (09)

(continued from Yoshi-Extras (08)

Miki wasn’t going to waste any more time on her nonsensical leader. She took out her MD player and plugged on.

“Damn!” Yossi cursed as she checked the reception bar on her cell phone’s screen. She dialed again.

“DAMN!!!”

Miki heard everything quite clearly but decided to keep her earphones on, showing no more empathy. The same mundane issues involving Yossi and her princess just couldn’t interest her anymore, at least not at this moment. She just didn’t feel like ‘kicking Yossi in the ass’ for the second time.

“DAMN!!!!!!!!”

Miki heard it again. She could feel her frustrated leader giving her furtive glances. She closed her eyes and pretended to go to sleep.

When she opened her eyes from a nudge on her shoulder half an hour later, Miki realized she had really fallen asleep. She took off her earphones, chucked it into her bag, stood up and waited for Yossi to move down the bus aisle before she followed. And judging from the flustered look still on Yossi, she reckoned that her leader’s problem still hadn’t been solved and if she wasn’t wrong again, it wouldn’t take long for Yossi to start bothering her. And how right she was…

“I can’t get her,” Yossi turned back and said the moment she got off the bus.

Miki so knew this was coming but she thought Yossi would at least wait until they had gotten into the lobby.

“Didn’t you say she’s sick?”

“That’s why I’ve been trying to get her. I’m worried.”

Miki rolled her eyes. “That’s why she switched off her phone. IDIOT! She needs rest!” However Miki said otherwise, “Why worry? Don’t we all stay in the same hotel? You can go find her.”

Yossi smiled.


******

Rika thanked and bade Erika and Yui goodnight. With her body still aching and her fever showing no signs of subduing, her fellow group members had been kind to escort her back to her hotel room. And being really sick and very alone now, Rika realized that just having to close the door had taken her double the usual effort. After making sure the door was closed and secured, she dreaded when she thought of the pain she had to endure before she could drag herself to the comforts of a soft bed. She turned, but when she saw a figure lying on the said bed, she summoned whatever strength still left in her and screamed…

“WHAT!!!”

Yossi jumped off the bed. Seeing the scared look on Rika, she then scanned the floor, looking fanatically for - what she believed - the insect which was scaring the wits out of her girlfriend.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?” Rika shrieked. She quickly covered her mouth and hoped Erika and Yui were gone far enough to not to hear her.

“Why?” Yossi looked back bemused. A cool three seconds passed before she realized she was the source of Rika’s panic.

Like the shock was some panacea that had granted her new strength, Rika strode up, grabbed and shoved Yossi to the door. “You’ve done that. Now, leave.”

“Wait a minute…wait a minute…” Yossi protested as she applied more pressure on her foot, slightly resisting the pressure on her back. “You’re sick, you need me to take care—”

“Have you forgotten how I got my flu?” Rika was screaming again.

And when the door was opened, Yossi began to laugh sheepishly. She couldn’t stop Rika from opening the door but was somehow confident she could get Rika to change her mind later. “Aha~” she said, still trying hard even when she found herself standing outside the room now. “The carrier should be immune by now—”

The door was slammed shut even before she could finish her sentence.

“Rika? Rika?”

“Rika???”

When there was no response, Yossi sighed and allowed her hand to slide down the door. When she turned to walk away, she found that she wasn’t really quite alone.

“Yoshizawa-san?”

… …


******

(two weeks before… how Rika got sick? And if you remembered someone looking sick during a certain Haromoni New Year episode…)


Rika waited impatiently for the director to shout “CUT”. And when the latter finally did, Rika quickly walked out amid bows of apology, a little bothered that she was the first to leave the studio, this time even before the director does. However, once outside, the matter was quickly chucked behind the back of her head as she began to race against time, running along the corridor and up the stairs until she reached Morning Musume’s designated dressing room. Not bothering to knock, she pushed open the door and stepped in, but instead of finding the person she wanted, she was surprised to see the room totally lifeless. Shifting into Plan B, she went back to her dressing room which was just two units away, changed out of her yukata and in ten minutes, was already in a cab heading towards somewhere in Tokyo.

It took just ten minutes for her to reach her destination. She greeted Mrs. Yoshizawa politely as she stepped into the house and was somewhat glad to know that the male authority of the house wasn’t home yet.

After having mentioned her daughter was taking a bath, Mrs. Yoshizawa excused herself to her unfinished chores in the kitchen while Rika allowed herself into Yossi’s bedroom and waited.

Another fifteen minutes passed slowly before Rika saw the door knob turned and Yossi stepping in.

Yossi paused right under the threshold. “Why are you here?” she asked.

“Why?” Rika countered. She couldn’t but notice her girlfriend looking kind of stupid with a towel draping over her wet hair.

“Yah,” Yossi said as she closed the door behind her. She glanced at the calendar on her dressing table. “Today’s not Wednesday,” she said as she walked across the room and sat down next to her girlfriend on the bed.

“I know,” Rika said. She knew what Yossi was thinking. It wasn’t Wednesday, she shouldn’t be here as she would only come over on Wednesday, just like how Yossi would go to her place only on Saturday.

“Then?” Yossi asked.

Rika didn’t feel like answering. Seeing how Yossi was doing a bad job trying to dry her own hair, she reached out for the towel and took over.

“Don’t you know you have to dry them well or you’ll catch a cold?”

Yossi knew Rika was just trying to avoid her question. She kept still and felt Rika ruffling her hair with the dry towel like she was a drenched puppy. She began to wonder what made Rika decide to come. And it dawned on her.

“I’m ok now, you know. Just muscle aches,” she said.

“Yeah right~” Rika put down her towel and tried to comb down the spiky hair with her fingers. “You were so weak just now; they have to leave you out of the games.”

“Nah, I faked it,” Yossi said. It was clearly a lie. The fact was, her forehead was getting hotter with each passing hour.

“Are you sure? All right, the nurse is leaving then.” Rika stood up to leave. But before she had the chance to carry out her threat, Yossi had pulled and pinned her down on the bed and started kissing her. She tried to push Yossi away - her initial reaction since everything happened just too suddenly. And this, of all, wasn’t the reason she was here. She wasn’t here for sex. She was here because she was worried. But judging from the force Yossi was holding her, she began to doubt if her girlfriend was really sick. And when she felt she was slowly getting aroused, she felt sicker…

As Yossi slipped a hand under her bra, Rika gave up all her internal struggles and moaned into Yossi’s mouth and felt a shiver traveled to her groin as another cold finger touched on her nipple.

Hearing the moans, Yossi could feel blood gushing up her head and her nether stirring. Rika’s cries never failed to turn her on. As for the heat on her forehead, it was definitely getting hotter.

Every undressing and exploring and savoring was done slowly. Nobody wanted to waste a moment of this unscheduled love-making. So it took longer than usual when Rika’s body finally convulsed against Yossi’s probing. And when it was over, they exchanged a deep kiss and lay down, satiated.

Weird. Yossi then thought. The sex was great, in fact, it was one of those she really enjoyed but what she couldn’t understand was that she wasn’t sweating and that was despite the fact her body was burning hot. She looked sideway at Rika, who on the contrary, was covered in sweat that were leaving sexy trails glistening down her forehead and neck. When Rika looked back, Yossi felt a tingling sensation in her nose and when she sneezed, a streak of water flowed down her cheek from her nostril, her fingers reaching out just too late to stop the flow.

Rika giggled. Now she was convinced that her lover’s really sick. And when she thought of Yossi’s charged libido, even when sick, she felt aroused again…

(more...)