.
.
Sakurai had come home late again, but he was happy to see that Morioka had stayed up to wait for him. She was sitting on the couch. Sakurai walked closer and saw how she was sitting, legs curled up and a laptop on balanced on her knees. She was wearing one of his sweatshirts, which was adorably huge on her, with gray sweatpants and white ankle socks, and her hair was damp and tangled from a shower. Sakurai smiled, stepping behind her.
"Welcome back," Morioka said smiling, as Sakurai bent down to kiss her cheek. She reached a hand up to pat his face.
"Mm." Sakurai wrapped his arms around her shoulders, leaning into her back. "Moriko looks cute and comfy."
"Eh?!" Morioka's head snapped up. Sakurai smiled.
"I just was thinking how comfy you look in those sweats," Sakurai said, blushing happily. Morioka's face reddened.
"M-my apologies! Forgive me for not putting more care into my appearance!"
"Eh?" Sakurai blinked, surprised.
"I'm your girlfriend and we're living together, and already I'm dressing as if I've settled!"
"Moriko should have more self-confidence," Sakurai said, coming to sit next to her. Automatically Morioka set down her laptop and buried her face into his side. Sakurai smiled and stroked her head. "I like how comfy you look. It makes me happy that you're so relaxed."
"As...as long as you don't mind," Morioka said. She blushed furiously.
xXx
.
Sakurai had to leave early because of an early morning conference call, so Morioka packed a bento of leftovers and kissed him on the cheek, waving at him as he called goodbye. "I'm leaving!" he said, and Morioka waved.
"Take care!" she said, and he smiled goofily at her and closed the door.
As soon as Sakurai left, all the energy Morioka had roused seemed to dissipate, and that familiar black cloud hung over her head.
Ugh, she thought. I better take a look at myself. I haven't primped in awhile.
She stood in front of the mirror and switched on a light.
"GAAAAAAH! I LET MYSELF GO!"
Long hair, untrimmed and full of split ends. Bags under the eyes and unkempt eyebrows. A too-large T-shirt with holes in it. Underwear that was not so much sexy as it was geriatric.
Oh god, Morioka thought. Of course Yuta never said anything! He was too sweet and kind and he always worried about her self-esteem!
What should I do? Morioka thought, panicking. How did I let myself get like this?
This calls for something drastic, Morioka thought, and she marched over to the computer.
Online shopping. At least this way she could get a better idea of things. She needed to get a new outfit, or maybe a new haircut, or...
She double-clicked on the mouse.
Lingerie.
The image lingered in the air.
Oh god! She doesn't know anything about lingerie! She doesn't have any female friends and the closest person she could ask was Kanbe!
I'm sorry, Yuta, Morioka thought, miserably. Your girlfriend is a useless NEET!
(In her head, she could picture it: candles in the bedroom, rose petals on the bed, and an old haggard woman wearing a barely-there teddy: "Do you want to ravish me?")
"GAAAA! I CAN'T DO THIS!" Morioka said, and she banged her head on the table.
Maybe I should ask him what he likes? Morioka thought, and she scrolled through the different types of lingerie. She clicked the next page.
No! That's too embarrassing! And knowing him he'd just tell me I should just be comfortable!
Ugh, Morioka thought. I wish I could be cute like Lily!
And then an idea started to dawn on her.
xXx
.
"You want me to show you Lily's outfits?" Sakurai asked. He had just barely closed the door behind him when Morioka ran up to him, taking his briefcase and looking up at him hopefully. "That makes me happy! Nobody else is interested!"
Finally, Morioka thought. Now I can figure out what Yuta actually likes! She leaned against him as he logged into the computer.
Kimono! Swimsuit! School girl! Waitress!
"O-oh. That's nice. How about the undergarments?" Morioka said.
"O...kay." Sakurai blushed. "It's a little embarrassing. I didn't know you wanted to see that."
"I want to see all of Lily," Morioka said, firmly. Sakurai blushed and clicked on his mouse.
GAAAH! LILY HAS EVERYTHING! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YUTA LIKES!
"This is kind of embarrassing," Sakurai said, smiling nervously.
"Let me look," Morioka said, and she pushed into him, taking his mouse from his hand and scrolling through the different undergarments.
"Which ones do you like the best?" Morioka asked. She clicked through the pictures. "Which ones do you think are sexy?"
"Um..."
"Do you like babydolls or bodices? Body suits or bustiers?"
"W-well..."
What has gotten into her? Sakurai thought. Morioka clicked through the pictures like a woman possessed. He had never seen her so aggressive. Morioka clicked with authority: "This looks like it'd be hard to take off."
'Take off'? Sakurai's mind spun. Why would she want to take Lily's clothes off?!
"W-why do you want to take them off?" Despite himself, Sakurai was blushing furiously. "It's not as if I haven't tried. But they pixelate the private parts, although you can download a nudity mod..."
"Eh?" Morioka said.
This was too embarrassing! Moriko would think he's a huge pervert!
"But that's not important. Why did you want to see Lily's undergarments?"
"Oh..." Morioka fidgeted. "I suppose I was just wondering what Lily would wear if she and Hayashi were in an intimate relationship. I mean! I know that's weird, but we're together now and I was just wondering, and, ano..."
Morioka laughed nervously and waved her hand. "Nevermind! Nevermind! It was silly! I shouldn't have asked!"
"No, no, it's not silly at all." Sakurai furrowed his brow, looking at the monitor.
Did...did Moriko want to do that? Sakurai's ears burned. They'd been intimate for awhile now but he never dreamed Moriko would want to cyber.
Well, if that's what she wants, Sakurai thought grimly, who am I to deny her?
xXx
.
Morioka was washing the dishes when Sakurai asked, "Do you want to play tonight?"
"Don't you have another early meeting tomorrow?" Morioka stepped to the side as Sakurai took a dish to dry, setting the plate back on the counter.
"It's fine. It's been awhile since we've played together privately."
"That'd be nice," Morioka said, and Sakurai pressed a kiss to her cheek and started saran-wrapping the leftovers.
xXx
.
When Morioka first moved in, they had trouble trying to find a place for her computer: they tried to put her computer next to Sakurai's, but her computer desk wouldn't fit next to his, and she felt she'd be too far away from him if they put her desk against the opposite wall. Instead, Morioka moved her computer to his entertainment station, hooking it up to his TV with an HDMI cable and getting a wireless mouse and keyboard. It was a nice set-up: one of them could take the desk while the other one would sit on the couch, and they could play together without having to sit too far apart. The only drawback was that they still physically couldn't see each other unless one of them turned around.
Morioka sat on the couch, logging in with the wireless keyboard, while Sakurai logged in on the computer behind her.
"So what type of mission do you want to go on?" Morioka asked. "There's this raid that I've been eyeing but we can do something else if you'd rather do something more lowkey. You have to go to bed on time tonight, right?" She tapped on the keyboard.
"Oh, um. Let's just hang out. We can take in the atmosphere," Sakurai said. Morioka glanced back at him. She could only see the side of his head.
"Yeah, we can do that! The developers really outdid themselves here." In-game, Hayashi looked around at the pink sky and the fingerling clouds wafting above him.
In-game Lily sighed, smiling. "It really is pretty, isn't it?" Lily said.
"It is," Hayashi agreed. The grass moved gently in the breeze.
In real life, Morioka typed on the keyboard.
"I wish we could go somewhere like this in real life. It's just so serene and peaceful."
"It is a little romantic, isn't it?" Lily said. And all her clothes disappeared.
What the- Morioka jumped. Lily was standing in the field stark naked, her entire torso pixelated.
Was this a glitch? Something wrong with the programming?! Morioka threw a glance behind the couch. Sakurai was hunching in his chair.
Lily blushed. "Does...does my body seem appetizing to you?" And she began cupping her pixelated breasts.
In-game, Hayashi stuttered, "Lily! What's gotten into you?" Morioka figured he was probably kidding because of the glitch.
"It...it's just...Hayashi-kun is so manly, I just can't resist him!"
"HAH?!" Morioka's head snapped back toward Sakurai, who was hunched over his keyboard and typing furiously.
"Hayashi-kun's arms are so...manly. And his eyes are...are so manly. And I want him to take me in a manly fashion!"
Wait, what is he saying? Morioka thought. He actually wants to do this with me?!
Crap. Dirty talk embarrassed her but maybe she could muster something in-game.
"Well, Lily-san is so cute, and she's really cute, and..." Morioka's face burned. "And I want to kiss Lily-san because she's so cute!"
"I want to kiss Hayashi-kun because he's so manly!" Lily answered, and head-butted him.
OH GOD. WE CAN'T EVEN SIMULATE KISSING IN THIS GAME. Morioka cringed as Lily got down on her knees.
"Come here, Hayashi-kun. Come here and stand by my face!"
Morioka didn't move Hayashi, just watched dumbstruck as Lily knelt in front of him, not doing anything, because apparently this was how you gave a blowjob in-game.
This is terrible, Morioka thought, and cringed at the screen.
Behind her, Sakurai was sitting at the computer, panicking internally. He had installed the nudity mod on his computer, but he didn't think to do it on Morioka's. Oh god, how embarrassing, he thought. This scene was definitely more x-rated for him! He cringed internally as he made Lily kneel in front of him.
This is what Moriko wants, right? Something to spice up their sex life? It made sense, she really liked MMOs and it was probably something she's been wanting to do with him, but was too shy to ask...
But he's terrible at writing and dirty talk is embarrassing!
I'm just as nervous as the first time we did this, Sakurai thought. He stole a glance back at the couch, where Morioka was sitting. She wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were glued to the screen. But that was in real life and at least back then I knew what I was doing!
"D-does Hayashi-kun want to head to the main course?" Lily smiled awkwardly. "My body is ready, Hayashi-kun! Ravish me with your...with your manliness." And on-screen Lily went into a sleeping position.
"H-Hayashi-kun. Lie down on top of me. That way we can do it properly."
"EH?" Hayashi jumped.
"Please Hayashi-kun, put your hardness inside of me!"
"L-Lily!"
"I want Hayashi-kun to make sweet love to me. I want to feel Hayashi-kun's hot cum spurting inside of me!"
"I'm sorry! I can't do this!" Morioka said, and Hayashi winked offline.
"Moriko?!" Sakurai jumped up. Morioka was shaking. "Moriko? What's wrong?"
"It's just too embarrassing..." She was crouched on the couch, knees to her chest and red-faced, shaking. "I-I'm sorry! I tried to be natural but I'm not very good at this."
Sakurai sat next to her. "No, it's my fault. I know I'm not a very good cyber partner."
"N-no! You're really good! I'm just easily embarrassed. I know how much you wanted to do this," Morioka said.
"Eh?" Sakurai said. Morioka stared at her hands.
"I have to admit, I was a little surprised when you started propositioning me, but if Yuta wants to cyber, I will try to do it better!"
"You...you don't like it?" Sakurai said, surprised. Morioka shook her head.
"I...I don't mind it," Morioka said, carefully. "If it makes you happy, I'm willing to try it. But cybersex isn't my thing, it's a little too embarrassing."
"Oh no." Sakurai put his head in his hands. "I thought you wanted to look at Lily's underwear because you wanted to cyber."
"EH?!" Morioka said, and Sakurai reared back.
"F-forgive me! I really thought Moriko wanted to cyber with me!"
Morioka groaned and clasped her head.
"My apologies! I'm so bad at communicating, I should have asked you directly." Her voice lowered. She spoke into her hands.
"I just...I just wanted to know what Yuta thought was sexy." She hunched further into herself. "I'm so embarrassed! There's nothing sexy about me."
Suddenly, Sakurai remembered their conversation the day earlier. She wanted to dress up for me, he realized. Beside him, Morioka was curled up into a smaller and smaller ball, shaking with embarrassment and hiding her face behind her hands. He smiled, then gently peeled back her hand.
Morioka looked up. "Y-Yuta?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't understand." Sakurai smiled kindly at her. He reached up and gently tucked back a strand of hair from her face. "I think Moriko is already very sexy. And I'm a very lucky man."
Morioka sniffed. "Even when I haven't done my eyebrows and I'm sitting around in sweats?"
Sakurai smiled. "Especially when you're in your sweats," Sakurai said, and he settled her against his chest.
"Ne, Yuta?"
"Hm?"
"Do you still want me to 'ravish you with my manliness'?" Morioka asked. Sakurai considered.
"So long as it's in real life, then yes," Sakurai said.