It had been four years since I married my husband, Souji
Ninomae, and took on his surname to be his wife. Three years since
we moved to Shinjuku, where he works as a regional sales manager
for Ushigome Enterprise, a computer hardware exporter based in
Shibuya. And one year since I, Yuina Katsuragi, now Yuina
Ninomae, stopped working as a cafe barista to be a fulltime
housewife at 29-years old.
Of course, I was reluctant when he first told me to leave
behind coffee grinders and espresso machines. Having worked at a
cafe to pay through my university days and continued to a few years
after, it was hard to hang up the apron. I adored the smell of freshly
roasted coffee, seeing the smiles on my customers face when I
handed them their beverage.
However, Souji was the real breadwinner between the two of
us. As a business degree graduate, he was able to find work right
out of university. In a matter of years, it was clear he had a keen
business sense, and became a regional sales manager at a senior
level earning over twelve-million yen a year.
After 365 days of seeing him off at the door, today on a
sweltering Monday in August, marked one whole year of when I
became a housewife. I was beginning to feel, for once since we
married, a little lonely.
As he was putting on his shoes, I reached out to hug him from
behind.
"Yuina?" he said my name as he had hundreds of times
before, but was today unaware of what I'd resolved to tell him.
When Souji turned to face me, I planted a kiss on his cheek.
He turned around completely, enveloped me in his arms, and we
kissed deeply.
I took a deep breath.
"This may come as a surprise, but… when you come home, I
want to talk to you seriously about having a baby."Souji's eyes went wide with shock, rightly so. To have a child
was a big step, but it was what I wanted and hoped he did, too.
The silence continued for what felt like an eternity. In those
seconds, I thought for sure, by the life draining away from his eyes,
that he didn't feel the same. That having children was the last thing
on his mind.
"S-Souji? What's the matter?" I asked.
His grip around me tightened, spun us around a few times,
and let me back down on my feet, dizzy and confused. Tears welled
around his eyes, and at that moment, the same spark of love I had
for him strengthened.
"I'm glad!" he shouted. "You have no idea. I just didn't know
how to bring it up! I mean, you're the one who will carry a big lump of
fat for nine months—"
I slapped his face to silence him. "Don't call our baby a lump
of fat!"
"I'm sorry, sorry. I really am happy you brought this up.
Whenever I came home, it just didn't look like you were happy. So I
was getting worried," he said.
"Darling." I pressed a finger to his lips and pointed to the clock
with my other hand. "We can talk more when you come home. You're
going to be late."
"Oh, shit!" Souji sprung to action, finally getting into his shoes
and grabbing his briefcase.
I helped smooth out the creases of his shirt and tie, then gave
him another kiss.
"Off you go," I said, smiling warmly.
"I'll be off, Yuina." He scratched his nose, blushing up to his
ears.
Souji shut the door as he left. I squatted down and waited until
the sound of his footsteps could no longer be heard. Then I started
screaming into my hands. Like an obsessed fangirl finally seeing
their celebrity in person, I screamed.
My heart was about to explode with joy, yet doubt clouded the
back of my mind. I knew Souji well, and just then it really seemedlike he was about to break some bad news or something. It must
have been my imagination. Right now, I should be celebrating.
"I have to tell Kanako about this!"
When I got to my feet, the doorbell had already rung twice.
Thinking that Souji had forgotten something, I threw the door open
not to the sight of my dearly beloved husband, but of my next door
neighbor, Kei Tanaka.
He was in a fighting stance. his meaty hands were clenched,
hovering in the air as though preparing to give someone a wallop. He
blinked a few times, unsure of what to make of the situation, then
returned to a normal posture and cleared his throat.
"I heard screaming, so I thought something had happened. I
seem to be mistaken…" he said, scratching his beer belly over the
stained white tank top in embarrassment.
Mr. Tanaka was the third floor's handyman. Our apartment
complex was unique in that they hired live-in repairmen, one for each
floor, on significantly reduced rent and decent pay. He had helped
Souji and I a great deal when we first moved in, and could be
considered our first friend in Shinjuku.
"If I woke you up, I'm so sorry! I was just so excited, I couldn't
contain myself. Get this, Mr. Tanaka— Souji and I decided to have a
baby!" I exclaimed to our neighbor.
I wanted to tell my best friend Kanako the news first, but Mr.
Tanaka deserved to know, too. We had known each other for three
years now, after all.
"That is wonderful news," Mr. Tanaka said, nodding to himself.
"I expect to get a lot less sleep at night from now on. Haha!"
It took a second for me to process what he had meant. I
buried my face into my hands as realization hit. Of course, Souji and
I would need to start having sex again.
"Mr. Tanaka, please… that's embarrassing!" I struck him
lightly on the shoulder and the both of us laughed it off.
For him to have cracked a joke like that goes to show his
crass personality. But the humor took a load off my shoulders.
Bearing a child and raising one was not a decision to be made
lightly. Souji and I had a lot to think and talk about. It saddened me,because I couldn't remember the last time we were sexually intimate.
But as the laughter died down, we stood there awkwardly
waiting for the other to say something. I never had another man in
the house when Souji was gone. He occasionally brought home
drunk coworkers, and every now and again we'd invite Mr. Tanaka
over for dinner, but Souji would be here with me.
It dawned on me that if someone were to break in, I would be
alone. If a large man like Tanaka came in with foul intentions, my life
would be in danger. Or worse…
"Mrs. Ninomae?" Mr. Tanaka's voice snapped me out of my
unfounded and panicked thoughts.
I shook my head and clapped my cheeks with both hands,
surprising the guest at my door. "Sorry. I got caught up thinking
about things…"
"Having a baby is a lot to think about. I should get going.
Toilets to unclog and pipes to clear," he said, pulling out his vibrating
cell phone. "I'm happy for you two. If you have a boy, don't name him
Kei— it's a bad luck name!"
As I closed the door on his way out, my hand clutching tightly
on the doorknob, I had trouble discerning the distressed emotions
bubbling within me.
I made a call to Kanako to meet up at a cafe in the city. She
complained over the phone that a coffee place was always my first
choice, but when I pestered her to pick someplace instead, she
acquiesced.
It was typical of Kanako to shove the planning to me, but I
didn't mind. I held back telling her about the baby thing until we were
in person.
"Whaaaaat?! No way! That Souji had the balls to say 'yes, I
want to put a child in your gut' like a real man?" Kanako bellowed
loud enough for the whole cafe to hear of my marital milestone.
"Sh! Sh! You're way too loud… Oh, my god…" I hid my face
as the waiter handed us our piping hot cappuccinos.
Once the aroma reached my nose, I'd all but forgiven
Kanako's outburst. Brewed with kona beans, the fruity scentaccompanied by the sweet fragrance of cinnamon powder carried
me onto a cloud. The pretty heart shape at the surface swayed when
I picked up my cup. It was still a little too hot, so I let it be for now.
Kanako, however, didn't care. She took a long sip of her
coffee, not minding the burning she was subjecting her tongue and
throat to. She brushed the wavy blonde-dyed hair from her eyes and
sank into her seat. Black roots were crowning at the top of her head,
and soon she would need a touch up.
"Aw, man. My cute Yui's gonna pop a kid. Like hell you'll have
time for me when that happens," she said, sinking into the seat of
our booth.
Kanako Uehara was also a fulltime housewife. My dear
kouhai from university was the wife of a full time stock trader, Jun
Uehara. He had struck big investing early in an electric automobile
manufacturer, sinking his entire inheritance and savings. Now they
both lived a life of luxury off dividends and net returns. Sometimes
they struck big, other days they lost money.
It was a risky venture, but the few times I spoke to Jun, he
sounded confident in what he was doing. Not everyone can make
that gamble. Others, like my husband, had to work hard for that
money.
"You look and sound depressed, but I know you're going to be
the first to beg to see my baby," I teased her.
"Well, hell yeah!" Kanako exclaimed. "To hell with having a
baby of my own, too much work. I'll live vicariously as a mother
through you. Let me spoil and play with the kid while you raise 'em.
No charge."
"As long as we make it clear who the real mother is… by the
way, Jun doesn't want a kid, either?" I asked.
She froze the moment I brought up her husband.
"Jun, huh? Ahhh… I haven't kept you up to date, but I only
see him on the weekends now. Our passive income is through the
roof so he's been going out all the time with his friends. God knows
what he's doing."
"Have you tried talking to him?" I suggested."Won't matter. Not like he's gonna up and start giving me
more attention, ya know?" Kanako shrugged and laid her head on
the table.
It was the same reason I thought about having a child. I only
saw Souji two hours out of the weekday. His routine coming home
was shower, eat, and then sleep. On the weekends, he hung out with
coworkers, and brought them home drunk late at night, so we never
had time together.
"Being a housewife ain't as great as mom made it out to be…
good thing I have fun things to keep myself occupied with." Kanako
clinked our glasses together as though making a toast, then realized
her mug was empty.
Both of our mothers were housewives to our fathers. I had
always thought my mom held a strained smile whenever dad was
around. It was possible she didn't enjoy being a housewife either.
Still, my family was in a better situation than Souji's side. He sent
monthly checks to both sides of our family, but I heard his brother
had been mooching off their parents.
I wonder if my life was fated to be the same way, spending my
prime years at home with no career or excitement to chase.
Was Kanako and I allowed to complain? We didn't need to lift
a finger past house work, were given comfortable lives by husbands
who make more than enough, and had steady disposable income to
spend at our leisure.
Yet… it still felt unfair.
A notification ping alerted Kanako to her phone. She raised an
eyebrow looking over whatever it was on the screen, but it appeared
to amuse her. I tried to look over, but she flipped her phone over on
the table.
Kanako suddenly shot a hand into the air and shouted,
"Excuse me! Can the cute waiter come back to refill my coffee,
please?"
The younger waiter who was servicing us looked old enough
to be a college student. It wasn't uncommon, seeing as this side of
Shinjuku was home to several college campuses. He hurried over as
soon as he finished with another table, twirling a platter on his fingerand carrying a pot of coffee in his other hand, clearly trying to
impress a pair of older women. There was an air of optimism
appropriate for his age that reminded me of myself when I was
younger.
"Would you like another latte or just regular black?" he asked.
Kanako waved her hand, gesturing for him to lower his head.
As he did, her other hand tugged on the collar of her already low-cut
shirt, revealing to him an eyeful of her breasts. She pulled her shirt
up after a good few seconds, leaving both me and the waiter
stunned.
of the ordinary. "Yui?"
"Nothing. I'm fine," she answered, as though nothing was out
I had to physically shake away the shock of what Kanako did
to answer.
"No— uh, we're ready to pay. Thank you," I said in a panic,
trying to keep my cool, but my trembling fingers lost hold of my wallet
purse. It tumbled to the ground with a light pat.
Leaning under the table to fetch it, Kanako's lack of etiquette
while wearing a skirt gave me an eyeful of her laced panties. That
was when I noticed, attached to her upper thigh was an ovular
device with a pink wire leading into her underwear.
When I popped back up, the waiter was gone and Kanako
was zipping up her purse.
I had so many questions, but first…
"Why did you flash him? We could've gotten kicked out," I
whispered, fuming.
Her eyes darted around, scanning the cafe like a burglar
about to show me the prize of their heist. She flipped her phone over
to reveal a black screen of two purple horns hovering above a
golden halo.
"Is this one of your elaborate jokes?" I asked.
"It's an app. A friend from my swimming circle introduced me
to it. Every now and then it will randomly generate you a couple of
raunchy choices, and if you complete it, you earn points. See?"
She pointed to a number at the top of the screen which
showed [3,200/5,000,000]. There were icons on the bottom of thescreen— a shopping cart, a red circle for recording, and a gear
which I assumed was for settings.
I wasn't sure what I was seeing, but it seemed like Kanako
was playing a dangerous game with this app. "You're telling me, you
commit public indecency for the sake of shits and giggles? And that
thing you have on your thigh…"
"The bullet vibrator? I got it for free spending points in the
game. It even lets me earn points passively when it's turned on. I'll
show you—"
"No!" I grabbed ahold of her hand to stop wherever she was
about to reach. "You don't have to show me. W-Why would you play
something like this?"
Kanako set her phone down and placed a hand atop mine.
The wicked grin on her face reminded me of her promiscuity during
college. The same look she gave when she brought a new boy toy to
our apartment every weekend.
"Because it's exciting! I've been sooo bored. Jun isn't helping,
so I tried it on a whim, and I'm addicted. You should try it!" she
declared.
I pulled my hands away from her.
"N-No… there's no way I could— Hey!"
She snatched my phone like an alligator latching onto prey. I
tried to get it back, but she deftly dodged every attempt I made to
retrieve my phone. When I got out of my seat to box her in, she
tossed it back into my hands, seemingly content with whatever she
had done.
"The deed is done," she said, clapping her hands.
"What did you… "
In the fifteen seconds Kanako had my phone, she managed to
install the app called 'NTL'.
"Oh, I can't believe you. What if this has malware?" I asked,
rubbing my temple.
Kanako's handiwork stared back at me. The app, which had
the halo and purple horns as an icon on my front screen, seemed to
pulse with a red color, highlighting itself and then fading away.She pressed her hands together in a plea more so than an
apology. "It doesn't. I promise you. Try it, just once. If you don't like it,
uninstall it."
"I'll think about it," I said, sighing.
Kanako's phone pinged again. She checked her phone and
made a victory fist.
"Don't tell me you're going to do something lewd again?" I
asked.
"Nope!" She showed me her phone.
The number in her app that had previously shown
[3,200/5,000,000] was now [13,200/5,000,000]. It made no sense to
me, but her score had risen significantly.
"I got a referral bonus for getting you to join!" she cheered,
grinning from ear to ear.
"You're a real piece of work!" I shouted, chasing her out of the
cafe.
Kanako and I had spent a few more hours in the plaza before
we parted ways.