By the time I reached Kanako's building, the dampness
between my legs had dried to a sticky crust. It was uncomfortable
walking around.
The residential complexes on this side of the city were nothing
short of extravagant. Three, twenty-floor buildings form Murasaki
Heights, a location where many celebrities and company executives
across greater Tokyo made their home. I vaguely remembered Jun
mentioning that the monthly rent was upwards of 400-thousand yen,
over twice as much as my home.
I could see why.
Outdoor recreation such as tennis and badminton courses
were available, a small-scale golf course was located just behind
Murasaki Heights, and there was a restaurant and cafe dedicated to
serving residents of the complex.
The courtyard was lush with trees and brushes tended by a
team of gardeners. The walkway leading up to the building didn't
have so much as a smudge of dirt. There were even security guards
patrolling the area— something we didn't have.
All three buildings were completely different from each other.
Murasaki-A, B, and C, each subsequent letter being significantly
more luxurious and consequently pricier than the next. Kanako and
Jun lived in the A building. They almost lived in B after moving here,
but we gave Jun an intervention so he wouldn't bankrupt himself.
When I got to the lobby, a duo of receptionists behind the
desk, too busy to pay me any mind, kept their eyes low and focused
on something in their hands. It was a wide, ceramic-tiled area, with
many ivory lounge chairs that have never been sat on. Tall, glass-
crystal chandeliers hung from an overlit ceiling. A gaudy, medium-
sized fountain with koi statues spat pristine water into the air, their
pinnacle of excessive extravagance.
A security approached me, put a hand up to keep me from
walking any further, and said, "Pardon me, ma'am. Are you a
resident here? If not, I have to ask you to leave."I was taken aback. Then I looked down at my casual wear
and quickly realized that I didn't fit the part of the rich elite. I wasn't to
begin with, and while I had visited Kanako and Jun's place before, it
was together— not by myself.
"I'm not a resident, but I'm visiting my friend. Kanako Uehara,
she lives on the eighteenth floor," I answered.
I was about to pull out an ID, but his eyes lit up with
recognition as soon as I mentioned Kanako's full name.
"Ah, Kanako's friend. Mrs. Ninomae, right? Sorry about
stopping you, we can never be too careful." The guard introduced
himself as Masato, and punched in a code to let me into the elevator.
He came in after me and pressed the button to Kanako's floor, which
I learned the last time I came was protocol.
"Has Murasaki Heights been having trouble with break-ins?" I
asked.
Masato took off his cap to scratch his scruffy head. "Between
you and me, some people have tried to sneak in, pretending to be
delivery or family to get close to our residents. We have some
important tenants, so we have to be careful about who we let in."
I had no idea they had those sorts of concerns. Though it
made sense that high profile people were at risk. Celebrities dealt
with stalkers all the time, and the cut-throat competition in the higher
echelon of business functioned like crime syndicates in some places.
"Nothing we can't handle," he assured me, having sensed my
worry. Once the elevator reached Kanako's floor, the security guard
didn't follow me any further. He remained bowing even as the doors
closed.
Each floor hosted six penthouses. It went to show how large
the residences were that six could make up the size of the entire
building floor. Because I didn't remember which wing was Kanako's
place, I texted her that I arrived.
"Over here, Yui!" She popped her head out and waved, full of
energy and not looking like someone who was sick or bedridden.
"So about that fever…?" I asked, stepping inside her
penthouse.
Kanako shrugged and took the congee from my hands."It was a lie. I'm bored as hell and didn't feel like cooking," she
said without a shred of guilt.
I stood there with my hands on my waist. No use shaming
someone who was shameless. She had no idea I was molested on
the bus coming here, not like she could have known that was going
to happen.
"Mmmmm! I'm in love with your cooking. Be my wife instead!"
Kanako dumped all the toppings into the rice porridge and started
eating it like a starved dog.
"You could have just asked me to visit, and I would have…" I
muttered.
Since I was baited to come, I might as well make the most out
of it by relaxing in their almost half million yen a month penthouse.
Long, white leather couches surrounded an electric fireplace,
the 100-inch flatscreen TV played a rerun of last night's comedy
show, a shelf contained every gaming console from the past three
decades on each level— I was already jealous.
If that wasn't enough, their island kitchen had a bar stocked
full of brand name wine. I would love to have dinner staring out the
ceiling-high windows that offered a view which my place paled in
comparison.
Although the indulgent material wealth of Kanako and Jun's
home made for perfect eye-candy, the spotless ivory walls and
carpet left me wanting. Suffice to say, it was bleak and depressing—
far too spacious and empty for my liking.
"Alright, Kanako. You called me out here. Take responsibility
for my boredom," I demanded.
By now she had finished eating and threw all the tupperware
into the sink. Then she threw herself onto the couch next to me.
"I actually had a reason to trick you over, but you wouldn't
believe it unless you saw it yourself. The NTL app has a special
game event I wanna play." She showed me her phone, which had a
menu screen detailing a limited time event just like when it offered
me a loan.
However, unlike my loan, Kanako's was a 'Speed Round
Game x5' where options would be given to us one after another. Wewere allowed to ignore the choices, but if we completed them one
after another without skipping, an increasingly higher bonus would
be added to the sum total.
"Of all the things you want to do, you want to play this
instead?" I asked, then pointed to the gaming consoles on the shelf.
"How about that instead?"
"I think it'll be fun. We can both earn points. Besides, I want to
earn some more to buy something from the shop," Kanako begged.
With only the two of us, it couldn't possibly pick anyone else
to commit lewd acts with. My fear was that it would ask us to have
sex, but the rules did say we were allowed to ignore the choices. I
supposed it would be fine if we picked the harmless options.
"Fine." I agreed, sighing.
Kanako jumped with joy and entered our names into the
player slots. My phone pinged with a notification, syncing our game
together.
The first choice popped up immediately.
[Take all of your clothes off.] +1,000pts
[Go topless.] +500pts
[Go bottomless.] +500pts
Kanako gave me a knowing look and said, "It's just us girls,
and we've seen each other naked plenty of times."
I saw my face turn bright red from the reflection in my phone.
She was right, but several of those times were an accident or while
changing in the locker rooms during school. Of all the people to
show myself naked to, Kanako probably wasn't the worst of them.
It was a tame choice for an easy 1,000 points, and it will clear
my debt completely.
"Alright," I responded, turning around to start taking my
clothes off. Then I realized the curtains were still pulled to one side,
the other buildings were in full view. "Should we pull the curtains just
in case?"
"Don't sweat it. We're like one of a hundred other windows.
Who's gonna look? Besides, it couldn't hurt to give some old geezer
a good peep or two." Kanako brushed my worry aside and was
already undressed.The both of us were down to our birthday suits. Even if it was
just Kanako here, it didn't make this any less embarrassing. I was
still iffy about leaving the windows uncovered. All it would take was
one person with a camera to put our pictures permanently on the
internet. The world wide web was a terrifying place.
I placed my clothes on the couch and noticed Kanako staring
hard at me.
"What?" My hands instinctively went to my private parts'
defense.
Kanako's hands, however, rose up like grapplers of a claw
machine. "Maybe if I had knockers like those, Jun would show me
more attention."
I couldn't exactly refute her. My body was blessed— though I
would sometimes say cursed— to be busty. Kanako wasn't small by
any means either. Her D-cups matched her toned physique perfectly
from all the swimming she did in college. From what I understood,
she continued to swim every weekend and had a rather sexy bikini
tan show for it.
"Alright, quit staring at my boobs and tell me what the next
choices are," I said, chopping her head.
It was hard to focus. My eyes kept snapping to the window,
and then back at Kanako and my phone. I couldn't help but feel like
we were being watched.
Kanako put music on. Jazz music filled my ears, playing from
speakers at every corner of the living room. She took my hands
away from covering myself and started swaying to the beat.
"Lighten up, Yui! We're supposed to be having fun like it's
college all over again!" she shouted over the music.
It was liberating, being able to dance with my best friend
without a care for who was watching. I'd nearly forgotten we were
dancing in the nude.
The notification alerted us to the next set of options.
[Call for delivery.] +4,000pts
[Walk around the floor naked.] +6,000pts
[Call for room service.] +8,000pts"Room service, huh?" Kanako was seriously considering the
option that would put someone in the same room with us while we're
naked.
"H-How about delivery instead? I'm feeling kind of hungry!" I
said, trying to avoid the third option as strongly as possible.
Disappointment was written all over her face. It was the option with
the least points, and she wanted to play this game to earn as much
as possible.
Much to my relief, she sighed and acquiesced with delivery.
"So, whaddya wanna eat? We've got a diner downstairs that
can do delivery," she offered.
Leave it to Murasaki Heights to also have a delivery service. I
thought we were just going to call for pizza, but if she was offering
their catering services, who was I to refuse?
Both of us agreed on Korean barbecue, and ordered a buffet's
worth of cow tongue, galbi, and bulgogi. This style of dining usually
had you sit at a table with its own grill for yourself or an employee to
cook. Since we ordered delivery, they were going to cook it before
bringing it up to us.
Despite having to wait, we were still awarded the points for
making a delivery order. That made for 5,000 points in total, and an
additional bonus of 2,000 points for being on a roll. Kanako's eyes
glittered like jewels from seeing her points go up. It was like a drug.
Everytime the numbers shot up and celebratory fanfares trumpeted
through the phone speakers, I wanted to dance.
Our third set of options came soon after the points stopped
running up.
[Take a video of each other kissing.] +5,000pts
[Take a video of one person performing cunnilingus on
the other.] +9,000pts
[Take a video fingering each other.] +7,000pts
A wicked grin crept up on Kanako's face. She put a peace
sign over her mouth and licked between the fingers. I slapped the
hand gesture to get her to stop.
"Well, my dear, Yui. What do you wanna do?" she asked.The look on her face told me she was fine with any of them.
But weren't we crossing the lines if we performed any of the three?
Kanako put an arm around my shoulder and stuck a leg
between mine. Her thigh brazenly brushed against my slit. We were
face to face, only inches apart, and she looked ready to kiss me.
I could easily say no. That was an option available to me, and
there was no penalty for chickening out. Her warm breath caressed
my lips, hotter as she drew closer. I didn't move, then we finally
kissed.
It was a simple peck on my lips, but just when I thought it was
over, she went in for more.
Kanako's tender kiss pressed against my stiffened lips. I was
frozen, shocked by her boldness. My eyes were wide open, but hers
was closed as though to enjoy it. Humans lips had so many nerves it
was classified as an erogenous zone, so eventually the pleasure got
the better of me, and I began to kiss her back.
The faint taste of ginger from the congee filled my taste buds
as her tongue found its way into my mouth. Unable to control myself,
I sucked on her tongue, and fought back to push my tongue into her
mouth where she did the same to me.
I was making out with my best friend and liked it.
My hands came around and grabbed the back of her head
and shoulders. Kanako squeezed a handful of my ass. Our breasts
squished against each other's naked bodies, and I felt her perky
nipples getting hard.
Only after we parted did I realize Kanako was recording this
entire time.
"Damn. Look at you go, sucking on my meat. You kiss Souji
with that mouth?" Kanako snickered.
I covered my face in embarrassment. The video replayed the
intimate moment which lasted a whole minute. I hadn't noticed we
were going at it for so long.
The app awarded us the 5,000 points, and then another 4,000
points— doubled from the previous bonus. It alerted us to a fire
streak to earn more points if we continued to play. Already my mindwas swirling with ideas on what to buy. Aside from the loan, this
would be the most I ever earned.
My heart jumped when the front door buzzed. I reached for
my clothes, but Kanako put a hand over mine and shook her head.
"This is the most exciting part," she said. "I know the delivery
guy. He's this part-time pensioner. Makes shit for money and gets
even less from the government. The least we can do is give him a
good show, yeah?"
I bit down on my lip. "But showing myself to someone else…"
This game made me commit adultery twice already. Once with
Mr. Tanaka and another with Miyata. To think, I even enjoyed it.
Before being introduced to it, I never would have considered the
idea.
Kanako grabbed my head with both hands and clenched.
"You came here without any underwear. I know you're still playing
the game, and you've probably done a lot more, too. You can't tell
me, you're not having fun."
Why was she being so aggressive about this? Was what I
wanted to ask her.
My friend had always been the forceful type. Sometimes that
side of her came off as annoying, but I never genuinely disliked her
for it. Recently, she started acting out. As the one person who knew
her better than maybe her own husband, I could tell she was hiding
something from me.
"Alright," I nodded.
We walked to the door together, but Kanako was the one to
open it. A man too old to still be working was carrying an insulated
delivery bag the size of his chest. He was bald and had sun spots on
his head, wore a blue and orange uniform that was too big for his
small frame. The smartwatch monitoring his heart rate blipped as he
saw two grown women, naked from head to toe standing before him.
"M-Mrs. Uehara— I h-have your delivery… I'm sorry. Is this a
bad time?" he stammered, face turning bright red. The man didn't
know where to look, his eyes shifted between the two of us. Even
though I was the naked one, I became embarrassed for him."No. You're just in time. I see they're still treating you like a
pack mule, Goto. It's because you're still fit as a horse that they can
trust you with this work." Kanako made small talk, but the man
named Goto had a hard time coming up with a response.
Goto's hand hovered listlessly in the air with several to-go
boxes of Korean barbecue. I relieved him of the weight, and Kanako
paid through her phone using the online order system. I was getting
nervous because the door was wide open, and if anyone came out of
the other rooms, they would see us.
However, the joy that I felt from hearing the app notifications
moments ago suddenly turned to dread. We had already completed
three rounds. Only two left.
Kanako, who had her phone in hand, looked at me and then
licked her lips. I glanced down at my own phone after putting the
food down, and saw the choices she saw.
[Invite Goto in and give him a blowjob.] +7,000pts
[Invite Goto in and give him a lap dance.] +9,000pts
[Invite Goto in and have a threesome with him.]
+16,000pts
"I have an idea, Goto. You don't get paid enough, so why
don't you come in and we give you a special tip?" Kanako asked.
I was just as speechless as Goto..
Kanako pulled him in and shut the door, giggling like a
teenage school girl. Meanwhile, the old man was tripping over his
words like a broken record, apologizing profusely thinking he had
done something wrong. It hadn't registered in his head how perverse
and strange this situation was. Years of working in the service
industry has him operating in auto-pilot.
It wasn't until Kanako unbuckled his pants and pulled out his
erect penis did he finally snap to his senses.
"Wait, Mrs. Uehara! This is wrong— you're married, and I'm
old enough to be your grandfather!" he said in a panic.
"It's fine. Jun doesn't have to know. Besides, I bet this thing
hasn't seen any action in ages." As soon as Kanako licked Goto's
penis, he was no longer protesting. I watched my best friend suck
the dick of an old delivery man, someone who wasn't her ownhusband, with a smile on her face. Goto grabbed her head and
thrusted into her mouth until he came.
"I'm... ah! You don't have to do that— oohh!" Goto tried to
push away, but Kanako held a vise on his hips. The sound of her
gulping the ejaculate was somehow louder than the music.
She wiped her mouth, looked at me with a grin, and asked,
"You want in on this?"
"No, I don't!" I shouted, mortified by the thought of it.
"Yui, we're on a roll! Two more rounds. Do you know how
many points we can get?" she asked, stroking Goto's still erect
penis.
How she could so shamelessly ask me to commit adultery
was incomprehensible. Yet, the more I thought about it, the more
guilty I felt. I wasn't any more innocent than she was. In fact, I might
be the worse offender between us, seeing as I had sex with a man
other than Souji.
Kanako was still on her knees, servicing Goto with her tongue
and mouth. Her hands massaged his testicles, and his own hands
came down to grope her breasts.
After witnessing Kanako do this, I couldn't continue on with
the game.
"I can't. I'm dropping out of the event here." I apologized to
Kanako and let the invisible timer run its course.
The fifth and final choice appeared on the screen.
[Have sex with Goto.] +13,000pts
[Have sex with Goto.] +13,000pts
[Have sex with Goto.] +13,000pts
What kind of joke was this? All three choices were the same.
This never happened before. Even before the event, every option
presented to us varied. Was this a special case because we were
playing an event?
Whatever the case was, Kanako had also seen the new set of
options. The first person she turned to looking up from her phone
was me. It was as though she was asking for permission.
"Kanako, you can't…" I pleaded. Not just to her, but also for
my own sanity. I wasn't going to do it, that was a given. I couldn'twatch my own friend have sex with a man other than her husband.
That was a guilty conscience she didn't deserve.
She gave Goto's penis a sloppy kiss, pulled his pants back
up, and sent him out the door. The man was still in shock when he
left, but he looked better than most 70 year olds did. Then again,
how many pensioners were lucky enough to be surprised with a
blowjob from a young woman?
I slumped onto the couch and expelled the stale breath from
my lungs.
"You're unbelievable," I said as she took a seat next to me.
"Got your heart racing didn't it?" Kanako asked.
I punched her arm.
"Holy shit! I got 31,000 points from four rounds. Ahhh! Maybe
I should have had sex with Goto after all," she lamented.
Because I didn't participate in the fourth round, I didn't earn
the points from what Kanako did. Instead, I received all the points
from the previous rounds for a grand total of 16,000 points. 1,000
was deducted to pay off my remaining debt, leaving me with 15,000.
My current points were [26,000/5,000,000], significantly more than
double I had previously.
Both of us sat naked on the couch staring into our phones.
Kanako was scrolling through the shop, checking out what she could
buy with her newly earned points. I wasn't as excited. Deep down, I
wanted to look in the mirror and chew myself out for being such a
hypocrite.
Who was I to tell Kanako what to do when I was the one who
cheated on Souji?
Kanako's grin suddenly warped into a frown.
"What? Not enough points to get what you want?" I asked.
No answer.
Instead, Kanako began to tear up. She put her phone aside
and buried her face into her hands. I had no idea what was going on,
but tried to console her nonetheless. Then she grabbed my
shoulders, cheeks stained with tears, eyes red as a cherry, and face
contorted with a mix of anger and revulsion."I'm sorry for dragging you into this," she finally said. Her next
words were a struggle to say. "Jun hasn't just been spending more
time with his friends. The truth is, he's been cheating on me."
We cleaned ourselves up and got dressed. Kanako gave me
all the details while we dined on Korean barbecue.
In short, she had caught onto Jun's infidelity with an old flame
from high school. This had apparently been going on since January.
I was hurt to only learn of this now. For all that Kanako and I
had been through, there were some topics we kept to ourselves. It
occurred to me that maybe we didn't fully trust each other with the
secrets we had.
"The nerve of him, right? He's still buying me gifts. Maybe
that's his way of placating me. I just can't wrap my head around why
he's poking another broad," Kanako complained, stuffing her mouth
full of briskets.
"What if Souji and I go with you to confront him?" I suggested.
The four of us had been friends for a long time now, and while
our husbands didn't work in the same field, they still kept in touch
from time to time. Just two weeks ago, Souji found time to go out
drinking with Jun.
Kanako grabbed my hand and sighed. "I'm scared, Yui. What
if we do and it turns out he wants to be with her? I love Jun, I love
this life— I don't wanna let all this go."
"You'll get through this. I'll be with you every step of the way." I
squeezed her hand to assure her.
"Like how you chickened out on the fourth round?" she asked,
raising an eyebrow.
"I—"
"Just kidding! I don't blame you for that. I wouldn't!" Her
laughter cut through the tense atmosphere.
If she hadn't chimed in, I wouldn't have known what to say.
The fact of the matter was, I did leave her hanging. Even though she
said she was kidding, it sounded like she meant it.