Chapter 8 (Emi POV)
It is lunch time. It's Hisao's day to make the food, and I think he's bringing that carbonata thing…or whatever it is. Really good is what it is. Damn I'm hungry.
Hisao arrives with the food in tow and slides me my lunch box, which I eagerly open
"Yess, I thought it was going to be this. I was craving it hard."
Hisao laughs while I go to town on the food, enjoying every minute of it. Only once I come out of my food orgasm stupor do I realize that Hisao looks like he's in a really good mood. One of the best I've ever seen him in.
"What has you so smiley?"
"Well my friends – you know them – Chisato and Mitsuru – took a short vacation, and they're going to the beach. They invited me. And they want you to come too. Unfortunately since we're in the middle of the semester I think we'll only be able to make a day trip out of it. But what do you say? Want to go to the beach on Sunday?"
"They…invited me?"
"Yep. They know how close you and I are now, and Chisato said they always liked you back in the day, and 'any friend of mine is a friend of theirs' anyway."
I'm actually not a huge fan of the beach. Partly because they aren't very prosthetic friendly. But it does sound kind of fun since Hisao will be there. He seems really excited about the idea of me going with him.. And it would be nice to meet – well - become reacquainted with, Hisao's friends.
"Sure, that sounds like a good way to spend a Sunday."
—-
We had to leave early to get the most out of the beach today, and it was a bit of a pain, but now that we're here it looks lovely.
Mitsuru and Chisato have already staked out a nice spot on the beach, and we are trying to find them. I have had to wrap plastic around my prosthetics, because they can easily get damaged by sand and water, and I feel pretty silly as a result, but it is probably better than me crawling on my hands and knees.
Eventually we find them laying on towels and using one of the spots that are set up on the beach for people to rent. There's an umbrella over wooden patio furniture, including two chairs and a cabinet.
"Hey guys!" Hisao is excited to see his old friends. And they're excited to see him too. Chisato runs up to him and gives him such a hard tackle hug that I'm a little worried about Hisao's heart. Before long Mitsuru makes it a group hug. Its pretty cute, but I feel more than a little awkward being the odd one out. Eventually they break their hug and Chisato waves at me, and to my surprise she runs up and hugs me too..
"Hey Emi, it has been a long time. It's really great you and Hisao have reconnected."
She breaks the hug.
"Anyway, you guys need to change, right? The changing rooms are about 100 meters that way."
"Okay, we'll be right back." Hisao says, as we drop off some of our stuff on the beach and find our swimsuits in our bags.
I change into my swimsuit in the changing area. It's a string bikini that does a surprisingly good job of highlighting my rather modest breasts, and a really good job of showcasing my butt. I look pretty damn good, apart from the garbage bags I'm wearing over my prosthetics.
When I leave the changing room Hisao is ready to go in his swim trunks and a shirt. As we are walking back to the beach, Hisao tells me that he, Saki, Chisato, and Mitsuru went to the beach once when they were all at Yamaku, but Saki made them all miss their bus home. It seems to be a really good memory for him, and I can't help but laugh with him.
Chisato hears our laughter and turns around, "Welcome back, you two" she says as her eyes dart from me to Hisao and back to me again. Is it just me, or does she have a mischievous grin on her face? Maybe that's just how she smiles, I don't think I know her well enough to tell.
I sit down on one of our chairs and take off my legs. I'm only going to bother with these damn things if I have to, but I mostly plan on lazing around on the beach, so I shouldn't really need them.
Hisao comes over and picks them up "Emi, is there somewhere you want me to put these? They can't get wet or sand in them, right?"
I let out a frustrated laugh, "That's right. We don't have to worry about any water or sand here though, right?" This prompts a laugh from everyone.
Mitsuru says, "Hisao, behind one of those chairs there's a wooden cabinet. You can put them in there."
He does so and I thank them both.
"Well, let's get sunscreen on you two. Would you like me to put yours on your back and neck, Emi?" It is nice of her to ask, though I feel more than a little awkward about it. Still, I do need to put some on. "Sure Chisato, thanks." I lean forward on the beach chair and she gets behind me, her legs straddling the chair. She starts to apply the sunscreen.
"Damn, you have quite the body. You're nothing but lean muscle and curves in just the right places. I'm jealous. I guess it's all that running, huh? Maybe I should be running too." She laughs.
I laugh, embarrassed, but I do genuinely enjoy the compliment. I am pretty proud of my body. "Thanks, you look really good too Chisato." She scoffs, as if her body could never compare to mine. But truthfully, hers is nice too. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little envious of her much larger breasts.
Chisato finishes with me, and turns to Hisao. "Okay, your turn."
He takes off his shirt, and I realize this is the first time I've seen him shirtless. It is hard for my eyes not to be drawn to the prominent jagged scar down the center of his chest, and a more subtle scar on his left collar bone. After looking at those however, I notice he has a nice body. He is well on his way to having a classical "runner's body." He has the hint of some abs, and his legs are made up almost entirely of lean muscle. I feel some pride that I have helped him achieve these results.
Chisato is impressed with the results too, "Hisao, your body looks amazing too! Hey, Mitsuru, we both really need to start running every day, look at how hot these two are!"
Is she really…asking her husband to check me out? Oh well, I guess she's asking him to check out Hisao too.
He just laughs at her without actually looking at either of us. He's probably used to her silly behavior.
Then he asks, "Hey Hisao, do you want to come body surfing with me?"
"Sure." He turns to me, "Hey Emi, we're going to go bodysurfing."
"Have fun. I think I'm just going to stay here and enjoy the ambiance." Especially because I would have to basically crawl out to the water if I was going to join them. I honestly feel more like being lazy on the beach anyway, otherwise I could ask Hisao for some help.
Chisato responds, "I'm going to stay here too. Have fun boys!"
While Hisao and Mitusuru are body surfing, Chisato and I decide to get some sun. I get myself out of the chair, crawl over to a spot in the sun, lay out my towel, and lie down on my stomach, using my elbows to prop me up so I can see the ocean and the antics Hisao and Mitsuru are up to. Chisato does the same next to me. She doesn't waste any time starting a conversation.
"Soooo…you and Hisao have gotten really close huh?"
What the hell is up with that tone?
"Yeah, he has been a really good friend to me. I really appreciate him."
She looks out towards where Hisao and Mitusuru are. "Yeah, he's a great guy. One of the greatest, really." She pauses for a moment, " I want to thank you, by the way."
"For what?"
"Well, when he was still living in Tokyo, he was in quite the rut. Actually, rut isn't the right word for it. He was deep in a trench, and he was refusing to come out. He was sullen, depressed, and not doing anything to take care of himself. The only thing that he liked or cared about was science and teaching. He became kind of a hermit. We tried so many things to try to help him, and none of it really worked. In fact, I think he was starting to resent us. I think he thought we pitied him. But if we really pitied him, I think we would have left him alone right? But anyway…point is, he is so much better from where he was. I could see that the moment he walked up with you. You have him exercising, going out in the world, and just…not moping all the time. I haven't seen him this happy, or even close to it since… well…since before Saki passed away."
She gets choked up and takes a minute to use her towel to dab away a tear.
"So it's…good to see him this way again. I wasn't sure we ever would. So thank you. Truly."
I can see that she really cares about him, and that makes me happy.
"I'm really glad he is doing better. I saw him when he first got to Yamaku. He definitely wasn't doing great physically or mentally. But, to be honest he has really helped me too. We have had some similar experiences, and we really understand one another. So it's easy for us to support one another."
She gives me a mischievous smile.
"You guys are really just friends, huh? That's what he keeps telling me, but I thought maybe he was hiding something from me. Especially after seeing you two together today. But…it was the truth?"
"Yes, it's the truth." I say with more than a hint of annoyance. "I mean, we are really close. And I will say that sometimes I think 'best friend' doesn't quite do justice to how important he has become to me. But yeah, there's nothing romantic going on."
The smirk on her face hasn't faded. In fact, it may have intensified.
"Really? You guys have never…y'know…done anything physical?"
What is wrong with this woman?
"What!? No. I mean, we give each other hugs when one of us is having a hard time, but that's all. It isn't even like we hug every time we see eachother or anything. We actually very rarely come into physical contact with each other." Why do I feel the need to give her this much detail?
She's still smirking. I kind of want to punch her in her stupid smirking face. Why am I so nervous?
"If you say so. I just...I don't know. I see the two of you talking, and joking around, and all smiles with one another. Especially today with you both looking really good in your swimsuits. It kind of felt like there was something else there."
Shit, she definitely saw me looking at Hisao earlier. Otherwise why else would she mention the swimsuit thing? She's not wrong that seeing him out here with nothing on but a swimsuit was surprisingly…satisfying for me. But that was just pride that he's in such good shape now, and I helped him get there. Right? RIGHT? Why am I blushing?
Chisato picks up on my silence, and has probably noticed that my cheeks have flushed. Maybe she'll just think it's the sun.
"Look, I just have one more piece to say and then I'll leave you alone about this, okay?" She doesn't wait for me to give her permission.
"You two spend all of your free time together. You love each other's company, you support each other through the hard times, you have lots of fun together in the good times. You're both making one another into better, happier people. You even just told me that 'best friend' isn't a strong enough word to describe your bond..."
Shit, I did say that didn't I.
"Maybe it is just Platonic. Maybe you're just supposed to be friends." She turns to me, and pushes down her sunglasses to make sure I see her eyes locked on me. "But I think it would be a real shame for both of you if you didn't at least think about seeing if something else is there."
I sit there in silence, flabbergasted by her suggestion and lost in thought. I want to push back, I want to tell her she's crazy, that there's nothing like that between me and Hisao. But…I can't seem to formulate those words. Why can't I? What if she's right? I do care deeply about him. As much as I care about my family. Is that…normal for the kind of love you feel for a friend? Or is this…romantic love? I have so little experience with either kind of love, so how can I be sure?
I'm suddenly snapped out of my thoughts by Mitsuru and Hisao, who have returned from their adventure.
"Hey ladies. What have you two been talking about?" Mitsuru says with a wink.
The two of them…they set this whole damn thing up so that Chisato could get me alone and grill me about all this. Damn that's crafty. I still haven't managed to say a word since Chisato finished her little speech. I bet it really was a speech too. I bet she planned it out and everything. Probably practiced it. I can't help but be a little mad at them. But…at the same time, they are really close to Hisao, they've known him longer than I have, and they want what's best for him, just like me. So maybe…
"You okay, Emi? You've been pretty quiet for a while, that's not like you." He laughs. "You don't have heat stroke or something do you?" Hisao reaches for my forehead as if he's checking my temperature, but I dodge it, not wanting to see the undoubtedly smug look on Chisato's face right now.
"No, I'm fine Hisao. I'm going to go to the bathroom. Can you get my legs? I'll be right back"
If she says she's going to come with me, I'm going to flip.
Luckily she doesn't. Good. I just need some time alone. Even just a few minutes.
She dropped this bomb on me and…just the fact that I can't instantly refute what she had to say is surprising me. Doesn't that ALONE mean something?
I look at myself in the mirror of the bathroom. I look a little scared. Come on Ibarazaki, pull your shit together! This day has suddenly become…confusing. But you can think about all this later. For now, let's just have fun at the beach. Yep. We got this. You have lots of experience bottling up your emotions, so let's do it today. Gonna just be a normal day from here on out.
When I get back to our spot on the beach, Chisato grabs Mitsuru's hand and they start to walk off "Hey, we're going to go for a walk. You guys might want to put on some more sunscreen, by the way. It's time."
What a crafty bitch. Did she really plan this all out? It feels like she planned it out.
"She's right, this stuff only lasts like an hour, and we've been here for an hour and a half."
I stifle a sigh, since if I sigh about this he'll realize something is up.
"Here, let me take off my legs first."
After I remove them, he bends down to get them off the chair, and he looks up at me as I recline on the beach chair. Did…his eyes just linger on me for a second? I don't think I've ever seen him look at me that way. Or am I just overthinking things again. Goddammit Chisato.
"Okay Hisao, come here and I'll put sunscreen on your back." He sits in front of me and I start applying sunscreen to his back and neck.
As I touch his back, I think about what I'm feeling. He really is in good shape now. I do definitely feel pride about it. I am really happy for him that he looks this way. But is it more than pride? Am I attracted to him? I've never really had occasion to touch him like this before. It does feel…kind of nice. It makes me feel sort of closer to him. But do I feel…romance? Ugh, Chisato has me overthinking everything now.
"Alright, you're all sunscreened up now."
"Thanks Emi, now I'll do you." I scoot up on the chair and we exchange places.
I don't know what I feel. But the fact that I'm this unsure is unsettling. It has turned my whole little world on his head.
He sits down behind me with the sunscreen and starts rubbing it on my neck, shoulders, and back. His hands are big. They do feel pretty good, I guess? It feels good. Intimate. This makes me feel closer to him. But is it in a romantic way? I just don't know. Eventually he gently lifts the string tying my top on, and I feel it pull back slightly on my breasts as he puts sunscreen underneath it. I feel a little bit of an electric shock when he does it. That…might have been something. But I'm probably just overthinking things, right?
But then something happens that leaves little doubt. He finishes applying the sunscreen and I'm disappointed when he stops touching me. I…want him to touch me more.
Oh. Oh no. I think Chisato was right.