Joshoku Read online

  “Study! What happened to you these past three years? Lobotomy?”

  “Change in life goals.” Aimless Reina wasn’t content with dead-end part-time jobs anymore. The only way she would get a steady job with benefits was by getting a degree of some kind. Choosing this school was natural since it required the least amount of effort for her to get in. Distractions like Sister Angela, however...

  The nun screamed for Reina to get out of her sight, and to never give reason to be summoned again. “Take your disgusting joshoku with you!”

  “If joshoku is a sin, Satan take me now.” Reina slammed the office door behind her, drowning out Sister Angela’s frothing madness. All the better to ignore her cries of disgust over a simple lust for women.

  Not how Reina wanted to start the first day of her higher education. Granted, she had no idea how it was supposed to go, since in high school she never assumed this day would come. So she followed her itinerary and the students who seemed to know what they were doing. Orientation in the campus auditorium; matriculation in the courtyard; too many damned things in too many damned places. Am I taking classes or following the herd? When they were dismissed to attend their first set of classes, Reina was ready to go home.

  Her inaugural class was in a small room with only three tiers of seats. As she would have in high school, Reina picked a seat in the back row behind two girls flipping through a magazine. She was fifteen minutes early, and few other students were there.

  I wonder how Ai-chan is doing... It was the first day of the new year for her too.

  “Wow, I like your hair. Totally against trend.”

  Reina snapped back to reality, where both girls in front of her turned in their seats and smiled at her. The one on the right was the one who spoke, a young woman of Reina’s age, maybe slightly younger, with big strawberry blond hair and a baggy mauve sweater. She flashed a set of perfectly white teeth at Reina.

  “Er, thanks.”

  “You don’t see hair like that much around here,” said the other girl, a black ponytail sprouting from the back of her head. “Its suits your face shape.”

  “Thanks?”

  They both inclined their heads in greeting. “I’m Hitomi,” the blonde introduced. “Hitomi Mochida. And you are?”

  Reina tapped the pen in her hand against the desk. Anything was better than making eye contact with these ladies. “Reina. Reina Yamada.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, Reina. That’s a pretty name.”

  “Your name is above trend as well! I’m Yoko, by the way.”

  Reina hoped these trend-obsessed girls would leave her alone. Maybe they were making a point to meet everyone in their classes. Maybe Reina was sending off a signal that she wanted to be talked to. (As if.) Normally she loved conversing with women, but this was not her element... not since high school, where she had no desire to be there and didn’t care how much trouble she got in. Besides, the women she usually surrounded herself with were gayer than a rainbow flag. In a place like this, Reina was more than likely dealing with straight girls. How was she supposed to interact with people like that? “Thanks.” It was all she could think to say.

  “Why don’t you come sit with us?” Hitomi gestured to the empty seat next to hers.

  “I’m fine, thanks.”

  Before Hitomi could open her mouth again, the professor walked through the classroom door with a call for attention.

  So began Reina’s first day of college. Only two years of this bullshit. Two years for two girls Reina could already tell would be a pain in her gay ass.

  “I wish underwear wasn’t so expensive.” Aiko wandered through racks of lingerie, flipping through hangers of bras and panties while her wallet burned in her purse. Why did Mother have to embarrass me? Earlier that week her mother Junko came into her room and pointed out that most of Aiko’s bras were coming apart. “There’s no quality these days,” Junko had said as she showed off the exposed underwires and reams of elastic. “In my day, a bra lasted you years. Didn’t you get this one a few months ago?” Aiko didn’t dare tell her that her bras weren’t living up to Reina’s sexual demands. The pervert had a habit of yanking on straps and ripping open clasps as if Aiko’s breasts were made of gold instead of flesh.

  Her girlfriend trailed behind her now, occasionally holding up a hanger so she could scoff at another frilly bra. “Try this one,” she said, placing her latest choice on top of Aiko’s blouse. “Zebra stripes are totally you.”

  “Mou!” Aiko shoved her hand away. “I told you. No patterns. Only solid colors. Well, maybe some lace overlays.” That statement was the result of her seeing a beige bra with pink lace sewn on top of it. She sighed in annoyance when she couldn’t find her size in it.

  The only reason she brought Reina with her was because it was date day. Otherwise Aiko would have come on her own. Reina could be an embarrassment when it came to clothes shopping – let alone underwear shopping. She snickered at beautiful patterns and colors meant for adding some spice to a woman’s wardrobe. “A paisley bra?” She snorted. “Here, put some teardrops on your boobs.” What did Reina know about bras? The lucky shithead never even had to wear them since she was flatter than the bottom of Aiko’s sneakers. She pulls on a sweater and she’s done. Reina didn’t even wear bras during the summer when she brought the T-shirts out of her closet. More than once Aiko watched Reina walk around town with her nipples sticking out, and she couldn’t care less! Sometimes Aiko was convinced she dated a doorknob.

  “Excuse me,” Aiko said, stopping a saleswoman and holding up a green bra. “Does this come in any other color?”

  While the saleswoman took the bra to go look in the back, Reina dangled a silky black bra and panty set in front of Aiko.

  “You should get this one,” she said, jerking the hanger back and forth. “I bet you’d look really sexy in a piece like this.”

  Aiko glanced around the shop, only temporarily relieved when she saw no one paid them any mind. The cramped store was stuffed with racks of underwear and women talking over one another as the cars on the street drowned out their voices. Nothing could drown out Reina’s voice, however. It was right in Aiko’s ear, taunting her with that seductive tone that had once awakened her inner lesbian.

  “I need something practical.” Aiko tried to be collected, but whenever her girlfriend teased her like that, she turned into jelly. She busied her hands by flipping through a rack she had already inspected twice before. “That material would scratch my skin if I wore it all day.”

  “You’re not supposed to wear it all day. This is shit you wear to make you feel sexy and to make your girlfriend want to jump your bones.”

  “Like you need help with that.”

  The saleswoman came back with a pink version of the bra Aiko liked. “Would you like me to open a changing room for you?”

  “That would be great, thanks.”

  Reina stayed out of the changing area while Aiko was shown into the one at the far end of the hall. After locking the door, she stripped off her top and the one bra she had left that Reina had yet to destroy with her pawing. One strap drooped down her arm as she admired – as in criticized – her figure in the mirror.

  Have I gained weight? Aiko turned to her side and stuck her leg up in the air behind her. It made her back suck in and flatten her stomach. Maybe not. Skin stretched across her abdomen as she twisted it around to get a better look. By the time she decided she was not obese – yet – both of her bra straps had fallen down, reminding her of what she came in there for.

  Three bras hung from the door, each one the usual style and colors Aiko liked. When a woman knows what she likes... She hopped up and grabbed the pink bra she wanted.

  Trying on clothing of any kind was a test in patience. There was getting the damn things on; making sure they fit snugly, but not too snugly; checking to see that the color matched her skin tone; looking for any spots that would itch or irritate her later; turning in every direction
to catch the best angles; pretending to be a model in a sexy magazine. Aiko spun on her heels and laughed in frivolity as someone pounded on the door.

  “I’m fine!” she called, assuming it was the saleswoman. “I’ll be out in a bit.”

  Another thump. “Ai-chan!” It was Reina. “Open up! I wanna show you something.”

  “Eh?” Aiko snatched her shirt and held it up to her chest. Slowly, as if the dressing room was full of people ready to check out her nipples, Aiko eased the door open and gazed at her girlfriend through the crack.

  Reina swung the door open and marched into the changing room, arm laden with bras.

  “Are you trying something on?” Aiko dropped her shirt and bent to pick it up again. When she stood, she saw her girlfriend latching the door shut, a sinister smile on her visage. “I didn’t think you wore...”

  The sexy black bra popped into her face. “I brought some stuff for you to try on.”

  “What? Me?” Aiko backed against the mirror. “I already have things to try on.”

  The black bra did a dance in the air, and puppet master Reina continued, “Nothing sexy.”

  “I’m not buying anything sexy like that.”

  “Aw, come on, you’re not even gonna try them on? How boring.” Reina dropped the bra to her side. I’m still not used to this haircut. If it weren’t for those thin lips and the usual clothes Reina wore, Aiko would not recognize her without long hair. “Not even for me?”

  “Why would I do it for you?”

  “Harsh.”

  Aiko turned around, but she could still see Reina in the mirror, pretending to pout. Is this one of her pervert things? One year with Reina was not enough to understand how she worked beyond the scope of normal people. Normal relationships wouldn’t allow a man into a woman’s dressing room, aside from maybe a severe emergency. But this was not a normal relationship. Maybe it was normal to Reina, who was used to ogling the women she changed with, but not to Aiko, who until a year ago would be trying on sexy bras with the intent of exciting boys. Will I ever get used to this? A rare moment for Aiko to reconsider her recent relationship choices.

  “We don’t have that much time for me to sit here and play with lingerie.”

  Bra straps whipped Aiko’s bare spine.

  “My point exactly.”

  “Oh come on. Just do one. For me?”

  “Why?”

  Reina grimaced as if she were asked to lick the wall. “Why does there have to be a reason other than it’s fun?”

  Rolling her eyes, Aiko snatched the bra from Reina’s grasp and told her to turn around. The games I get into for her. No gal pal of hers would ever ask her to model a bra like this. Aiko knew why her girlfriend wanted it. To get off on it. Such a thing would have scandalized Aiko a year ago, but now she was too used to some of the hinky things Reina got involved in to be shocked. Surprised, sure. But shocked? Ha. Ha.

  The bra fit as well as any of the others, snug against Aiko’s skin but roomy enough to let her move and bend. It’s functional, I guess. But she wasn’t sold on how it looked. She had never worn a black bra before, and it drew so much attention to her breasts she was almost embarrassed. Especially when she realized it was a push-up bra, shoving her modest breasts up and making them look bigger than they were. Aiko tentatively cupped her breasts to feel how secure they were – and to cover them up.

  “Now that’s sexy.”

  Aiko jumped half a meter into the air at the sound of her girlfriend’s naughty voice. “I didn’t say you could look yet.” Even though Aiko had made love to Reina too many times to count by now, there was something humiliating about being caught by her in this lingerie. I feel so exposed. This wasn’t a private room where no one would disturb them as they took off their clothes for each other and made love. This was a changing room in a lingerie shop where anyone could hear them at any moment. At least there were no cameras, as far as Aiko saw.

  “How can I not look when you look like that?” Reina placed her hands on Aiko’s shoulders and nuzzled her cheek. A mark of affection Aiko associated with tenderness, but in Reina’s case she wanted to play. “I could eat you up like a piece of cake.” Hot breath entered Aiko’s ear. The smirk she saw in the mirror made her blood run cold. No, not here!

  Too late. Reina’s hand was on her breast, and the heart attack commenced.

  “Maybe I will.”

  “Iya da,” Aiko said, squirming a little. She didn’t have the energy to protest more, simply because she fed off this attention. She thinks I’m sexy... Reina gazed at her girlfriend’s body in the mirror, wearing nothing but the black bra and a short skirt. The skirt gradually came up Aiko’s thighs, thanks to Reina’s wandering fingers. “We can’t do it in here.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s public!” Aiko slapped her hand over her mouth. Yes, an outburst would totally help her case.

  Reina ignored her, whispering into her ear, “That’s the point. It’s a thrill to almost get caught as you come.”

  Aiko’s face turned a frightening shade of white in the mirror. “That’s crazy... who would be into such a thing...” She knew the answer.

  Their eyes met in the mirror. “You,” Reina mouthed.

  Me.

  The kisses came bit by bit, pecking against Aiko’s throat as Reina rubbed her arms and sniffed her skin like a hound. She’s going to do it... Aiko remained frozen as her girlfriend pulled up her skirt, kneeled down, and kissed the outside of her bare thigh. We’re going to do it... In a damn changing room!

  What if someone saw them? Reina guided her girlfriend to the wall opposite the mirror and leaned her against it. What if someone heard them? They kissed, Aiko’s arms wrapping around Reina’s sharp shoulders.

  “Reina...” Although she whispered it, Aiko was still afraid it was a sonic boom in the lingerie shop. A clerk would come running at any moment to catch them in their act. An act Aiko didn’t want to admit was giving her a rush the longer it went on.

  Her heart thumped in her chest as Reina kissed her way down breast and stomach, leaving a wet trail that turned cold in the open air. Aiko tried to keep her eyes on the top of her girlfriend’s head but was soon distracted by her own face in the mirror... then by her legs coming apart as Reina’s head disappeared between them.

  “Ah!” Aiko grabbed Reina’s short hair, which pushed her breasts up between her arms and made them look like they were about to pop out of the black bra. It wasn’t until three strokes of the tongue later that Aiko realized Reina was going down on her.

  Reality was split in two. On one hand Aiko shivered at every lap of her girlfriend’s tongue as it maneuvered beneath her underwear and massaged her omanko. On the other, she was on high alert for any sound of someone coming into the dressing area. She would be mortified if they were caught, her legs spread open as a woman ate her out with no remorse.

  And yet...

  They would be so envious. Of course it made no sense. Aiko knew it, and yet she thought it, over and over, her body warming to the flux of hormones swarming inside her. It knew it was having sex – that Reina was stimulating her to orgasm. Who cared where they were? This could be a love hotel or one of their bedrooms for all her body knew. Just because Aiko’s mind knew...

  A knock on the door almost made Aiko scream, and not in pleasure. “Are you okay, Aiko-san?” came a clerk’s peppy voice. “How are those garments working out for you?”

  Reina did not let up. She was like a motorist plowing through a yellow light as it was about to turn red. A brush with death was clearly the same as a brush with being caught mid-coitus. “I’m... I’m fine!” Aiko somehow managed to contain a loud moan as Reina sucked on her clitoris. “I need a few more minutes!”

  A lingering pause. She knows! Aiko prepared to shove Reina off her and pull her skirt down. Then, “Okay! Please take your time.” Light footsteps padded away.

  Aiko smacked her head against the wall and came, imagining
the saleswoman peering through the door to watch how two women had sex in the most inappropriate of places.

  “You dirty girl,” Reina said, bouncing back up and breathing air laced with Aiko’s scent. She kissed her girlfriend’s cheek, pulling up her legs around her waist and feeling for her omanko with impatient fingers. Aiko whimpered as she clung to Reina, the loose bra straps falling down her arms as if they were in bed. There’s more? With Reina there was always more. “You got so fucking wet when that woman showed up.” Two fingers penetrated Aiko’s omanko.

  “Oh... oh, God...” Aiko held one leg up in the air, allowing her girlfriend to push in deeper. Reina did not wait long to start fucking her with unbridled strength. The wall groaned against the force of their actions; a hanger holding a pink bra fell to the ground. Aiko held onto her girlfriend and focused on making as little sound as possible.

  Impossible, since Reina pushed her tongue inside the black bra cup and nipped her teeth against Aiko’s firm nipple.

  “Reina!” The gasps came, sharp enough to convey Aiko’s sexual fury as another orgasm rose, but demure enough to keep them from being heard. Or so Aiko hoped. “Oh, fuck.”

  She saw herself in the mirror.

  Of course she was aware of its presence that entire time, since it was hanging in front of her. But she had ignored it, embarrassed to see how she looked in the midst of fornicating in a nondescript changing room. I can’t ignore it now. With Reina’s head out of the way, there was nothing but Aiko’s body being pleasured like a goddess. Her long hair shook in the air; her mussed clothing while Reina was still fully dressed made her look needy and sinful. Like I couldn’t control myself. She needed Reina so badly that she ripped off her clothes and begged her girlfriend to fuck her. Aiko squeezed her eyes shut when Reina made it to the third knuckle.

  “Iku...”

  The time, the place, and for God’s sake the woman in her arms made Aiko come again quickly. A wave of good feelings washed over her, but all she could do was bite the cloth of Reina’s shirt to contain her groans of pleasure. Tongue and saliva lashed against her nipple. Fingers came to a gradual stop in time to her orgasm.