Chapter 16 (Hisao)

Emi has been my girlfriend for six weeks now. Things have been kind of serious since the beginning for us, given the groundwork we laid during several months of friendship and we have been doing all the things a serious couple does. She's met my friends, and apparently has gotten really friendly with Chisato, who she talks with regularly now. I met her family recently, and we're going to visit mine at Christmas.

Today we're doing another one of these things, as I'll get reacquainted with Rin, who apart from me is the person Emi is the closest too.

We're driving to the city to go to a gallery that is hosting a special reception for her. We haven't actually talked about her a whole lot, so Emi is getting me up to speed during the drive.

"I'm pretty impressed that Rin ended up being such a big shot artist. I mean, I thought she had the talent, but I wasn't sure she would be the kind of person who could schmooze with people at an event like this."

Emi giggles, "Well, you'll see when we get there that she doesn't, really. She's still the same Rin. She doesn't understand people, they don't understand her."

"How does that work? Doesn't she need to be rubbing elbows with important people and stuff?"

"She probably would have been successful more quickly if she was good at that sort of thing. Near the end of her time at Yamaku, and for the first years after, she had a really hard time with all of it, and a couple of big events fell through because she couldn't handle that kind of pressure. She ran away on more than one occasion."

"Ran away? As in literally?"

"Yep. She ran away into the city to get away from all the people asking her questions she didn't understand or know how to answer. The art teacher had really gone out of his way to arrange it for her, but she couldn't handle it. He was a real jerk to her about it afterwards."

"Ah, Nomiya. Yeah, in my brief time around him he didn't seem like the nicest guy. Cared way more about art than his actual students."

Emi looks surprised that I knew who she was talking about for a moment, but then the light bulb goes off in her head.

"Oh yeah, Saki was in the art club for a while, right? I guess you have a pretty good idea of how he would respond to his star student disappointing him, then." I nod.

"Anyway, after that, she had a few more rough experiences and had a pretty hard first few years. I was checking up on her pretty often. She stayed at my mom's house every now and then because she didn't always have a place to stay. But, she kept at it, just making the art she wanted to make, and eventually it caught enough people's eyes that they were willing to look past her social shortcomings." Emi laughs, "Now, she's kind of legendary in the art world for her eccentricities."

"So…what does she do, at these receptions, exactly?"

"She mostly walks around the room silently watching people. If someone hasn't gotten the memo and tries to talk to her, she just ignores them. It works for her. Makes her mysterious, I guess. At this point, it seems to drive interest in her art. She has a mystique about her."

"So, she probably isn't going to talk to us at all?"

"Probably not during the event. We're going to get a late dinner with her afterwards, where we'll get to talk with her. Probably. As I'm sure you recall, talking to Rin isn't always easy. To be honest, that's one of the things that drew me to her back in school. I knew I could get fairly close with her, that we could care about each other and all that, but I'd never have to talk about all the stuff I didn't want to talk about. It was kind of perfect for both of us."

"That makes sense." I laugh, as I remember the very first time I hung out with Emi and Rin together. "I just remembered that you used to joke that the housing staff put you two together because combined you had a complete set of working limbs. It is kind of funny that you guys complemented each other in other ways too."

Emi laughs, "I hadn't thought of it like that, but I guess you're right."

—-

We're at Rin's art show. The small gallery is filled with dozens of people all excitedly discussing different pieces of art. I would have known this was Rin's art without anyone telling me, as it features the same bright colors and strange subject matter of the mural she painted for the festival one year.

Sure enough, Rin is there, standing in the middle of the room silently watching people with a neutral look on her face. This is the first time I've seen her not in her school uniform. While she has aged, she doesn't appear to have changed a whole lot. Her hair is pretty much identical to the way it was when I first met her. She's wearing a white button up shirt, with a blue cardigan over it, with the sleeves tied into familiar knots. She's also wearing a blue fedora, and she is of course barefoot.

Emi and I wave at her to let her know we're there, and her neutral face perks up a tiny bit for a moment. Her eyes sparkle slightly and there's just a hint of a smile.

We go around the room, admiring her art. One thing I notice is that she doesn't actually name any of her pieces. That must be another one of her eccentricities. The paintings are all the exact same size, and they all have the exact same eye-popping price. I nudge Emi and whisper to her.

"People actually pay this much for her paintings, huh?"

She nods, "Yeah. She had her struggles at the beginning. But she's doing really well now. It's…really great. She found a way to do what she loves the way she wants to do it, without compromising or changing herself at all, and she's making bank. I'm really happy for her."

"That is pretty great." I shoot her a mischievous smile "Hey don't you have a small painting of hers in your apartment?" What do you think we could get for that?"

I get poked in the ribs for my comment, "Yes, but I would never sell it, Hisao. Don't you go stealing it either."

"Fine, fine. Probably better to hold on to it anyway. Seems like these are a pretty good investment." She rolls her eyes at me.

We arrived during the last hour of the reception, and just during that time two of her paintings were sold, leaving me quite impressed.

Once everything was dying down, Emi and I went to wait outside. Eventually, Rin emerges without saying a word. She looks around to make sure no one is looking, smiles at Emi and puts her body up against Emi's and puts her head on her shoulder. Emi hugs her back. It is a surprisingly touching moment.

"Hey, that was really great in there, Rin. By the way, this is Hisao. I've told you about him, that we're dating. Remember him?"

Rin looks at me with appraising eyes. "You're the one who likes watching girls sleep and has a problem in his pants, right?"

Emi looks confused. She looks at both of us searching for answers. I can't help but be impressed that Rin remembers our first meeting, given how scatter-brained she is. Of course, with most people this would be an inside joke, but I'm not sure she's kidding.

"Yep, that's me. That's the stuff you asked me about when we first met, anyway."

Emi still looks a little confused, but she's used to that feeling around Rin, so she pushes past it.

"So, should we go get some food and catch up?"

Rin shrugs, but follows me and Emi as we look for somewhere to eat.

—-

While we were out walking, I recognized a noodle stall that I used to frequent with my old Yamaku friends, and that's where we decided to go. It is amazing how it is virtually unchanged from what it looked like more than 16 years ago.

We decided on this more casual meal partly because Rin's manner of eating isn't appreciated by restaurants.

It has been awhile since I've seen it, so it is a bit of a shock to see Rin so deftly use her feet to eat.

Emi devours her food, and Rin eats about half of hers before losing interest. I'm still eating but the girls are done, so Emi tries to start a conversation.

"So, Rin, how are things?"

"Which things? There are some things that are good and some things that aren't. Really there are all kinds of things. Isn't everything a thing? Good things and bad things are everywhere aren't they?"

"I…should have been more specific. How are you?"

"I'm not sure.. Not too many bad things around me, though."

"Well, that sounds…good. Did you enjoy the art show tonight?"

Rin shrugs. I can see that Emi is getting frustrated, despite being so used to Rin's quirks.

Then to our surprise, Rin starts her own line of conversation.

"You seem more Emi. Is it because of this person?" She gestures towards me with her head.

"...more Emi, Rin?"

She nods. "More Emi. You're your Emiest when you run. Lots of times you're not as Emi, but you pretend to be Emi anyway. Right now you are at your Emiest, even though you aren't running."

She's using her name as an adjective? I strain my mind to try and figure out what she means, but apparently Emi has cracked the code first. I chalk it up to the fact she has significantly more experience with Rin than I do.

"So you mean…happy, Rin? How I am when I run?"

Rin thinks for a second and then nods. I feel slightly moved, at least as much as one can be by such a confusing conversation.

"Yes, I think I'm um…Emier…because of him. We've both helped each other be…Emier."

She looks at each of us. "That's good then, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's very good. We're both happy." Emi reaches out to grab my hand.

Rin looks at our hands and smiles at me, ever so slightly.

"I hope he's okay in the pants, then."

This makes me chuckle. "Oh, so that was a joke earlier, huh?"

Rin's smile gets slightly bigger.

Emi looks confused again but plays along, "Yep, things are good there."

"What about you Rin? Any men in your life these days?" As soon as the words leave her mouth she winces, realizing her mistake.

"Lots of men in my life. There were some there tonight, weren't there? Like this person." She gestures towards me with her head again.

"Yes but uhm…any romance, Rin?"

She shakes her head.

"What happened to that sculptor? What was his name again?"

Rin makes a pained face and looks down at the table in a way that absolutely breaks my heart.

"He didn't understand me. He didn't want to try to either. I thought he did. I'm forgetting about him. I'm good at forgetting."

It suddenly dawns on me how hard being Rin must be. She thinks so differently than everyone else, finding someone who really gets you has to be next to impossible. I mean, even Emi doesn't really get her, and she might be the world's foremost expert. Finding someone who you think gets you and then doesn't has to be absolutely devastating. That's certainly the story her face is telling.

Emi moves next to her friend and hugs her. "That's tough. We can talk about it if you want, okay? Just you and me?"

"No talking. Can't forget if I keep talking."

Emi nods as if that somehow makes sense.

Rin clears her throat, "Thank you for coming. I'm going to go home now."

She stands up and walks in the opposite direction of where we are parked before either of us has a chance to say anything.

Emi yells after her "Okay Rin, let me know next time you have an art thing!"

"She looks…really sad. Are you sure you don't want to go after her?

Emi sighs, "I would, but I know with her there's not anything I can actually do. She wants to be alone, she doesn't want to talk. Doesn't leave much room for me to help her. I think hanging out with us tonight probably helped her a tiny bit. She'll bounce back, but I get why she is so sad. She seemed happy with him. They were together for around a year."

Emi punches her own hand and makes an angry face. "I wish she would at least tell me his name so I could track him down."

I laugh, "And then what would you do?"

"Kick his ass, Hisao. I think it was pretty obvious from my gesture, wasn't it? He's an artist, I can take him."

She's trying to look scary, but all I see is cute.

I laugh, stand up, and offer her my arm. "He better hope you never find him, then. Shall we?"

She nods and loops her arm in mine and we head back to the car.

"Maybe I'll do a Google search, I mean how many Japanese sculptors can there be?"

—-

When we walk in the door to Emi's apartment, she immediately gets entirely undressed and walks towards her bedroom. She takes a second to look back at me in the threshold of the door before passing through it.

I follow her, and when I get there she has taken off her legs and made herself comfortable on the bed, laying on her side facing the doorway expectantly. She looks disappointed when I walk through the door.

"Hisao, clothes off! Now!"

"Hey, that's the voice you use on the track. Don't use it here! It makes me want to run. It does not make me want to have sexy time with you."

She rolls her eyes at me and then changes to an over-the-top sultry tone of voice, "Hisao, take your clothes off for me and come over here. I want you."

"See? Now that is much more effective."

I do as she asks and I lay next to her. She sits up and puts her hand on my chest and starts kissing me, as I wrap my arm around her, feeling her bare skin, letting my hand linger on her butt. About a minute of this is enough to get me fully erect.

Emi notices and laughs, "Am I that good of a kisser?"

"Well, yes. But it could have something to do with the fact that we're both already naked."

She giggles and reaches down and wraps her hand around me and we resume kissing. I reach down and begin caressing her as well.

We lay there for a while like this, both moaning softly as we kiss each other. Eventually, she breaks the kiss and smiles at me.

"So I have a suggestion for what we could do tonight. I have been thinking about it since last time, because we enjoyed that we each had a turn. This will let us have a turn at the same time. I think it will be easier if I just show you. She kisses me on the cheek, slides down, and takes me into her mouth prompting me to gasp.

So far we aren't doing something different, so I'm not sure what I am supposed to do.

Just as I start to get lost in the pleasure of her actions and close my eyes, I feel her start to shift her body. She rotates around without taking me out of her mouth, and I suddenly realize what she meant.

Now she has flipped herself around, so her legs are next to me, I realize this next part is going to be difficult for her if I don't help. I grab her thighs and help her position herself over me, prompting a squeal of approval from her. I enter her with my tongue, and return the pleasure she is giving me.

This is really amazing. We have never done anything where we can pleasure one another so intensely at the same time. We're both basking in pleasure while helping give it to the other, and moaning into each other's most sensitive places.

I can feel myself getting close to my limit, but I don't want this to end just yet. I change the target of my affections to her clitoris, which leads to her body convulsing slightly. I start to use my tongue to circle it and flick it from different directions. This eventually results in her losing focus on what she is doing to me, as her pleasure intensifies. This allows me to get further away from the edge, while getting her closer. Eventually she adjusts to the new level of pleasure, and intensifies her own actions, fitting me into her mouth as deeply as she can, and moving up and down.

I am getting close to the edge again, I try to accelerate my own actions so that we can have an orgasm around the same time, but ultimately she wins the race. Pleasure surges from deep inside me, and I empty myself into her warm mouth over the sound of her proud moans.

I take a few moment to recover, and then I continue to pleasure her, and she reaches climax about half a minute later, her body convulsing and contracting on top of me as she moans my name.

We lie there for a moment in that position, before she shifts her body so that we are oriented in the same way, and she nuzzles into my chest.

"That was fun. Especially because I won." She said with a wink.

I chuckle, "I had a feeling you would look at it that way. Was that really just a race to you?"

She smiles, "Well not just." She looks away and blushes. "As usual I loved it all for embarrassing romantic reasons too, but I always do sappy and emotional afterwards, so I'm trying not to focus on that part this time. I'm trying to be cool, okay! Let me be cool for once!"

"Okay, but I'd like to point out you had a head start. Next time it will have to be more fair."

She laughs and kisses me on the cheek, "You're cute, but you're never going to beat me in any kind of race. You know that, right?"