I woke up the next morning in a daze. The events of last night
felt like a fevered dream, one that I wished was just that.
It wasn't, of course.
The increased points in my app was proof of my sin—
adultery, with none other than Mr. Tanaka.
Deep down, I wanted to confess to Souji. Admit my mistake
and hopefully preserved our marriage before my actions ate a deep
hole in my heart. The other side of me was scared Souji would leave
me right then and there.
I was cooking over the stove when Souji embraced me from
behind.
"Oh. Tamagoyaki with a hint of condensed milk? Reminds me
of when you used to come over to my apartment all the time to make
me breakfast," he said, resting his chin on my shoulder.
The sensation made me think back to my neighbor doing the
same when he had mistaken me for his wife. The rest of the
memories came flooding back. Mr. Tanaka's penis in my mouth, the
thick cum that flowed down my throat, the odor of sweat and tobacco
in the air, these thoughts made my heart race again. Thoughts that
were soiling my peaceful moment with my husband.
"Souji, you know I can't cook properly if you're holding me like
this," I scolded him.
"Sorry! Just needed to recharge my Yuina gauge." He
released his hug and took a seat to wait for his meal patiently.
The morning news was playing on the television. Souji turned
the volume up so both of us could hear it.
A news anchor was speaking to a marriage counselor about
rising infidelity between married couples in Japan. The expert
believed that while adultery in marriage— largely due to emotional
and physical disconnect between two partners— and was
exasperated by overemphasizing work over domestic life, that
reason has since changed in recent times.There was reason to believe that in recent years, even if
spouses were happily married, the act of adultery had become a
social rite of passage. An anonymous survey taken of 10,000
married couples in Osaka, a whopping 60% admitted to cheating on
their spouses. Of that same percentage, 50% of couples mutually
agreed to committing adultery.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How could people treat
adultery as such a normal part of their lives? And then to have gone
as far as mutually agreeing to it?
"People have their kinks," Souji said, sipping on his coffee.
"But another couples' life isn't our life. You're really all that matters to
me, Yuina."
The butterflies in my stomach fluttered, and it felt like I was in
college again.
"You're certainly a flatterer," I teased, handing him a plate of
tamagoyaki with a side of grilled fish and natto.
"Of course, when we have a child then he will be just as
important!" Souji exclaimed.
I sat down across from him, resting my chin on my palm. Then
surprise struck. "What? You want a son?"
Souji looked up with a mouthful like a chipmunk stuffing his
face. "Did you want a daughter?"
"I'll settle in the middle and have both. You just need to put it
in me," I answered, winking.
I saw Souji out the door again and leaned against the
doorframe. There was an apologetic expression on his face.
"I know we promised to talk about the whole child thing
yesterday morning. It's my fault for falling asleep early, I was just so
tired." His eyes were cast down to the floor, so I grabbed his face.
I hesitated to kiss him. My lips had touched another man's
thing. It felt wrong, but I brought him to my lips nonetheless. "No
need to be sorry. It's not just about if I'm ready. It has to be when
you're ready, too. Okay?"
Before he could say anything in response, I kissed him again.
Thrice. Then a fourth time until he was red in the face."Y-You're making this hard for me to think clearly about. Can't
say I don't like aggressive Yuina though," he grinned.
As always I had to push to get him going to work.
I swear, if that husband of mine didn't need to work like Jun,
we would be going at it like rabbits. Kanako and Jun were going
about their marriage all wrong in my mind.
As soon as Souji left, I ran to the bedroom and locked myself
inside. The game app, NTL, stared back at me. Even though I
regretted what I'd done, it was hard not to explore the game. It was
like licking ice cream and letting the flavor linger in my mouth,
teasing me to taste it again.
Kanako said she purchased a bullet vibrator using the points
in the shop menu. The way she made it out sounded like it didn't
cost her a single yen. It boggled my mind that this app would send
you free stuff using digital currency.
Most game apps these days were unethically monetized in
such a way that it drained your wealth through gambling. That was
how they made money— but how did NTL make money?
The more I thought about the app, the more mysterious it
became. If I wanted to learn more about it, I needed to explore its
other functions. Namely, the shop.
A dropdown menu opened up when I clicked on the shopping
cart icon. There was a long list of purchasable items. Scrolling
through it barely made a dent to the scroll bar. A search box was
provided at the top of the list, but I didn't really know what to buy.
The cheapest item was a single condom worth [50pts].
Next item was a box of 12 condoms priced at [500pts].
I couldn't help but laugh. Even in apps like these, purchasing
in bulk was always the better option.
Condoms weren't the only things listed. Dildos, vibrators,
lingerie, everything kept getting more and more expensive. There
were even anti-contraceptives like the morning after pill and birth
control pills. My thumb started getting tired, and I stopped at a sybian
machine priced at [300,000pts].
A part of me was curious how much more expensive things
got. The maximum amount of points that can be stored was5,000,000. The scroll bar was only 1/3rds of the way through, so
there must be more to buy.
Curiosity ended up getting the better of me, and I used the
scroll bar to bring me all the way down to the most expensive item
priced at [5,000,000pts]. There was nothing. Instead, the item icon
was that of a black square with a question mark inside it.
Looking at all these sex toys and lingerie was getting me
horny. My free hand instinctively moved down to my already damp
crotch. Using my credit card wasn't an option, it would show up on
our statement for Souji to see.
If what Kanako said was true, and these points could actually
be spent...
"What can I buy with 6,500 points?" I mused to myself.
A red silicone dildo priced at [5,000pts] caught my attention.
I'd never purchased a sex toy before. Not even a simple dildo. Until
recently, my fingers and Souji were sufficient to get the job done.
It was five inches in length, of modest girth, and shaped with a
curvature. Souji was a solid seven, so this wasn't an upgrade to him.
If I buy this, I could pleasure myself while he wasn't home. Using my
hands was an option, but I was curious how the shop function
worked.
Would it be sent discreetly?
I pressed the big green buy button and was surprised to see it
didn't ask me for a mailing address. Instead, it just said 'Purchase
Complete' in the middle of the screen. The window blinked for a few
seconds longer, and then disappeared.
"Was… that it?" I asked myself, and perhaps even to the app
out of confusion.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I nearly jumped off my bed from
a heart attack.
"It couldn't be… could it?"
A screen panel by the bedroom's light switch provided access
to the front door's camera. When I turned it on, no one was there.
Just blue skies and skyscrapers shown in the distance. There was,
however, a brown box at the bottom of the screen.I made my way to the front door and took a few deep breaths
to calm my nerves.
On top of knowing who I interacted with, the app also knew
where I lived. Fear didn't begin to describe what I was feeling. I
almost wanted to call Kanako or Souji, but I wasn't ready to reveal
that I'd been playing the game to my best friend, and it wasn't a good
idea to disturb my husband while he was at work.
I opened the door just a crack. Warm summer air sucked into
my cool, air-conditioned home. There was no one up and down the
hallway. Someone delivered this to me, almost right after I
purchased it. Even if I wanted to find out who it was, the person must
be long gone now.
The box was incredibly lightweight. It had neither a mailing
address nor return address, only a taped note written with my name
on it.
The same suffocating feeling was closing in on me again.
What I held in my hands, wrapped in a bubblewrap sheet, was none
other than the sex toy I purchased using the app. Kanako most likely
received her items the same way. She wasn't fazed at all when she
introduced NTL to me, or when she talked about getting her bullet
vibrator.
But was this safe?
"Good morning, Mrs. Ninomae! Getting some fresh air?" Mr.
Tanaka asked as he came out with a cigarette in his mouth. He
noticed the package in my hand and pointed to it. "What'cha got
there?"
I closed the lid so he couldn't see what it was. He blinked a
few times, confused at my panicked response to an otherwise
harmless question.
"It's nothing. Just my family sending me a gift," I answered,
gulping.
Seeing my neighbor elicited a whole slew of memories that
came flooding back. I turned away to hide my blush. Certainly, he
didn't remember. Mr. Tanaka was drunk out of his mind, and even
believed I was his ex-wife."Anyway, I wish you a pleasant morning." I'm about to head
back in when a large hand grabbed my arm at the threshold to my
home.
He let go as quickly as he grabbed me, bowing in apology for
the sudden contact.
"Your bento box," he said. I saw in his hand the container I left
by the couch. "Thank you for the food, it was really good!"
I had to reposition the package under my arm to take the
bento box from him. The look on his face didn't seem to let on that
he was aware of what happened last night.
"It was nothing. I just feel bad for not getting it to you sooner
because I forgot. Your apartment door was unlocked, so I let myself
in to hand it to you," I replied.
"No, no. I should apologize that you had to see the sorry state
of my house." Mr. Tanaka scratched his belly, which I was fast
learning he did out of nervousness.
I offered a laugh that he would make light of his own living
situation. It took a certain level of confidence to poke fun at yourself
in spite of being in tough straits. His unhealthy lifestyle might not be
the best, but he lived it nonetheless with a grain of humor.
It was honestly admirable.
"You're always helping people on this floor, so I don't think
anyone has a right to judge you. If you ever have a craving for my
cooking, feel free to give me a call, okay?" My offer brought a big
smile to his face.
"I have no choice but to take you up on that offer every now
and then!" he bellowed, patting his stomach.
I exhaled a stale breath, relieved that Mr. Tanaka was too
drunk to remember what I did. As I turned to head inside, my foot
caught on the metallic sill of the doorframe. I tripped forward and
threw out my hands to catch myself, but doing so lost hold of my
package and the bento box, both of which clatter behind me.
"Are you alright?" Mr. Tanaka moved to help, but hovered
above, unsure about touching me.
"I'm fine, my foot just—" I glanced back to see my package
emptied on the ground, the red dildo was at his feet.Mr. Tanaka followed my gaze to the sex toy wrapped in plastic
next to his feet, no longer concealed by bubblewrap or a cardboard
box. His eyes went wide.
"Excuse me—!" I sprung to my feet, picking up everything on
the ground in haste and retreated back into my house.