It's a few days after Christmas and I'm at the doctor with my mom and Akari. We're in the examination room and I'm sitting up on the examination bed. My mom and Akari are sitting in chairs across from me. I'm seeing an orthopedist who specializes in various issues with joints. He's been doing imagine on my joints once a year since I was a baby. We just had them taken for this visit, and we're just waiting for the results.
Normally this appointment is in the summer. We moved it up because of my elbow pain. Even once the cold snap moved on, it became clear that pain in my elbow is the new normal and that's not good. I can't play piano with this kind of pain. It's always been inevitable I would need surgery to clean up my joints, and maybe total joint replacement one day. I just didn't think it would be before I was out of high school.
Akari looks more nervous than I do. Medical settings really freak her out for understandable reasons. But she came anyway because she loves me. I smile at her, and she smiles back.
"Save it for when we get you back to the dorms, you two."
I scoff and scowl at my mom, "Really? We were smiling at each other. You make it sound like we were undressing each other with our eyes."
My mom smirks, "You know I'm just teasing. Are you feeling a little irritable?"
I nod. "Yeah. This sucks."
Akari gets up and hugs me and gives me a little kiss. Surprisingly my mom doesn't do anything but smile at us. I guess she's being nice because of my irritability.
"It does suck. But we can do whatever we need to. You don't need to b-be hurting like this."
I know this of course, but having it reinforced by my very attractive girlfriend helps.
I kiss her softly and then say, "You're right. Thank you."
She smiles and sits back down. Then there's a knock on the door and Dr. Kuroda steps in. He's a tall good-looking man in his 50s. I've had a little crush on him for quite a while. His hair used to be dark, but now he has a salt and pepper thing going on.
He says hello to my mom and introduces himself to Akari, who introduces herself as my girlfriend. He seems surprised by that for a moment and then he moves on. Always interesting to see the different reactions from people.
He turns to look at me and says, "Okay kiddo, I've looked at all the X-rays."
I raise an eyebrow at him. He laughs, "I guess maybe you're too old for kiddo, huh? Sorry. It's hard when I've known you since you were a baby. Anyway…your joints look fine, apart from that left elbow. You have some bad arthritis, like you thought. It has gotten much worse in the last year."
I nod grimly and my mom says, "That means surgery?"
"We don't have to start there. We could try controlling the pain first. Inevitably though, we will need to go in and clean it up. It would just be arthroscopic. In other words, a very small incision. So, recovery wouldn't be too bad. It would be an outpatient procedure and then you'd have to wear a sling for a while and do some physical therapy. Honestly not too different from when you dislocate it."
"We may as well just do surgery, then. It hurts badly enough that I can't play piano or do a lot of other things." My mom voices her agreement.
He says, "Okay. We'll schedule that then. Sorry about this kid- "He winks at me. "I mean, Kayoko."
I smile at him, "Thanks. I'm glad you can make it better."
He smiles back, "They will come in and schedule it. Nice seeing you Mrs. Nakai, and nice to meet you Akari."
He steps out and Akari says, "You think he's cute, don't you? I think I could see it in your eyes."
I smile awkwardly as my mom chuckles, "Yeah. I've had a crush on him since I was 12 or something. But don't worry, I'm not trying to get with him or anything."
Akari giggles, "You're allowed to think p-people are attractive. It isn't cheating."
"I think he's pretty darn cute too."
Akari and I both rapidly turn our heads to look at my mom. We both smile at her.
She crosses her arms defensively, "Why are you both looking at me like that?"
"Well…I've never heard you talk like that about a man other than dad. So, I guess I'm kind of happy you're even thinking like that." Akari nods in agreement.
My mom uncrosses her arms and smiles slightly, "Yeah…come to think of it, that might be the first time I've thought something like that in…quite some time." Her smile grows. "Still, he doesn't hold a candle to your father. Anyway…enough about that, we should probably figure out when we want to do this surgery before they come in here to schedule it. When do you want to do it? You probably don't want to wait until Spring Vacation, I'm guessing?"
"No. I want to do it soon. If it's as minor as he says I shouldn't miss much school. Maybe just the day of the surgery. Then I'll be back playing piano well before Spring."
My mom says, "That's fine with me. What do you think Akari?"
She looks surprised to be consulted. "Um…whatever Kayoko w-wants to do. It's her elbow. I…want to come on that day…if that's okay."
"You're sure you want to deal with the hospital and everything?"
She waves her hand at me. "It's fine. I want to b-be there with you."
I smile, "Sounds good to me. I happen to like it when you're with me."
My mom laughs, "Goodness you two really are the cutest. But yes of course Akari, you're welcome to come. Make sure it's okay with your parents to miss a day of school."
She nods, "I will. They will definitely be fine with it though now that they love Kayoko so much."
"That makes it sound like they didn't always like me."
Akari giggles, "They have always liked you. They just like you m-more now."
I nod, "Thank you for the clarification."
After that exchange there's a knock on the door and they come in and schedule the surgery for next Friday. I should only miss school that day. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the weekend should be plenty for me to recover.
—-
It's the day before classes start for the last trimester of my second year. Me, Akari, Koji, and Hana are waiting at the school gates. Ai and Carsten are going to be here any minute and we are very excited to see them both. Especially Carsten who has been gone for 5 months. We have a little welcome back party for him waiting in Ai's room.
Akari says, "I think that's them." And, sure enough there's a cab approaching the gates. When it pulls over, Koji gets Ai's wheelchair out of the trunk. Carsten emerges from the car and while I want to rush and hug him, I don't because I know he has work to do. He goes around to the other side and picks up his girlfriend and puts her in her wheelchair. They're both smiling broadly. They've been together the last few days in Tokyo, and I bet they are feeling a bit like their relationship just started.
Kaito and Carsten get the luggage out of the trunk and the cab drives off. Now that there's an opening, I give my very first Yamaku friend a tight hug. "I missed you. I'm glad you're back." He says, "I missed you too." And then he quietly says, "Ai told me what you and Akari did for her. I can't thank you enough."
I break the hug and smile at him, and Akari is next in line for a hug. After that he and Kaito shake hands. I scoff at them, "Men can hug each other, you know!" Akari and Ai giggle. They look at each other, shrug, and exchange a very brief hug. Hana is last, and she looks very uncertain about what to do. After all, this is the first time she has met Carsten in person. However, Carsten dispels the awkwardness by just walking up to her and giving her a hug, which Hana returns.
Ai impatiently says, "Okay, enough reunions. Let's get up to my room!"
…
Once we get there, Carsten is surprised by what he finds and has a huge smile on his face.
We made him a "Welcome Back " sign, which is cute and all, but I think it is probably the food spread that is the cause of his smile. My mom made him all the stuff we had at the triple date picnic.
He walks over to the desk where all the food is and says, "I love Mrs. Nakai."
Ai scoffs, "The first time you're in your girlfriend's room in months and that's the first thing you say? That you love another woman? One I happen to know you have the hots for?"
This makes us all laugh. I'm a little surprised that I do. I guess I've gotten more comfortable with the fact that my friends are attracted to my parents. What a weird thing to be comfortable with.
We all plate ourselves some of the amazing food and we sit around and chat while we eat.
"Is the Japanese food as good as you remembered?"
He laughs, "Better, even."
Akari asks, "W-was there anything about going to school there that you liked? There had to b-be something…"
He laughs, "Not a lot…honestly. I felt out of place. People look more like me and speak my native language…but people definitely thought I was weird." He frowns. "Then I get back here and I don't look like anybody and I have an accent."
I frown. "So…you feel like an outsider in Japan and Germany?"
He sighs, "Pretty much. It's like I'm neither German nor Japanese. Some strange thing in between." He smiles " But…I don't feel like an outsider around you guys, at least."
Ai says, "Okay, you have to say one good thing about Germany or no more Japanese food." She takes his plate out of his hand.
Carsten thinks for a moment. "Public transportation is better, maybe? Everything runs on time and it's a helluva lot less crowded."
Ai laughs, "I guess that counts. You can keep your food." She gives him back his plate.
Carsten turns towards Kaito and Hana and says, "How's examination hell going?"
They both frown, and Kaito says "Hellish. But we are doing pretty well at preparing."
Hana nods, "I feel reasonably confident. We are each taking three entrance exams. Hopefully things line up how we want." There's a smile on her face, but something else underneath. Dread, maybe? I really hope things work out for them. I know they are going to both be heartbroken if it doesn't.
Hana turns to me and Akari, "Your turn for a couple update."
I laugh, "Oh, we're in that stage of the meeting, are we? Well…I am having surgery on my elbow on Friday so Akari and I won't be here that day. It's a minor thing though, we'll be back in class on Monday."
Hana frowns, "Is it…because of what I did?"
"Not really. It is cumulative damage from over the years. That dislocation was one of many."
She frowns deeper, "But…if it hadn't…" She grimaces, clearly not wanting to say the words. "…you wouldn't need surgery now…"
"Hana, it was bound to happen whether you did it or I dislocated it in my sleep." I hold up my arm and point at my elbow. "This stupid elbow is the most prone to dislocations in my whole body. Please don't blame yourself. I don't."
Akari says, "Y-you could blame me just as much…when I first met Kayoko it was because we ran into each other, and she fell down and dislocated the same elbow. Without that dislocation, she may not need the surgery yet either."
I smile broadly at Akari. Not only does she finally get it, but she's also helping me assuage Hana's guilt. She really is over it now.
Hana looks a little relieved. I guess we can't free her of all her guilt. She has to do the rest.
"Anyway, enough about my surgery. This is supposed to be a happy 'welcome back' night."
Ai says, "Actually…I think it is about time to wrap things up anyway."
Akari says, "R-really? It hasn't been that long."
Ai smirks, "I know. But we'd really like some alone time, you know? We have seen each other the last few days but haven't had much privacy, so…"
I giggle and we all start getting ready to give them their space. "Message received. It's nice to have you back Carsten. See you in class tomorrow."
We all say our goodbyes and leave the happily reunited couple behind. As we get on the elevator and I check out my girlfriend, I have a very hard time imagining just how pent up they must be. We get pretty crazy after a few days. I can only imagine what it would be like after months without each other.
When we get back to my room, Akari almost immediately pulls me down for a deep, sensual kiss that I happily return, and we undress one another in what has to be record time.
I break the kiss and say, "Were you also thinking about how hard it would be to go months without making love?"
She laughs, "Yeah. And then I d-didn't really want to go another minute. Same for you?"
I nod and lay down in bed and beckon for her to join me. There we continue kissing each other while caressing one another's bodies. We do this for a while and then I break our kiss. I put my hand on her cheek, and I say, "Hey…I figured out a way that I think I can do the thing we've talked about."
She raises an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure? I don't want you to get hurt…especially with surgery in a few days."
"I won't get hurt. I will just be lying down, no joints involved whatsoever."
She looks confused. "How does…that work exactly?"
I giggle. "Here. I'll show you." I lie down on my back. "Okay. Now…just put yourself right over me, right where my mouth is."
So far, she's given me amazing oral sex several times, but we hadn't really figured out a good way for me to do it. If I did it the way she usually does, which is crouching on the side of the bed, or contorting her body a bit to gain access to my genitals while she lies on her stomach on the bed, it would be pretty dangerous for me. I did some googling about different ways to do oral sex and found this, and it's perfect for me because my mouth is the only thing that moves. I am really excited to get to do this for her.
She hesitates for a moment. "You…want me to sit on you? Won't that be...uncomfortable?"
"I don't think so. I know you'll be gentle."
She still looks uncertain, so I pout and say, "Come on, let's just try. I really want to do this for you. If we don't like it, we can do something else."
She nods and positions her most sensitive place right over my face. Then she gently lowers herself on to me. She's making sure her body weight is distributed to her legs, so I don't feel too much pressure. I find myself immediately intoxicated by the smell and feel of her on my face. I soon find that I also love how she tastes. Thank goodness I found a way for me to do this for her. I didn't know I would enjoy it this much.
For a few minutes, I use my tongue to explore the outside for a while as she moans softly. Then I slide my tongue inside of her, like she has done for me, and her soft moans become louder. I can feel her body shifting in response to my actions. It is different hearing her moaning come from above me like this.
As I use my tongue to explore her insides, I feel her breathing become shallower and her body becomes more tense. Then, she moves herself slightly so that the area I now have the easiest access to is her clitoris. I get the message and start using my tongue to circle it, resulting in her body starting to vibrate along with her voice.
As I increase the intensity of my tongue movement, I am surprised when I feel her hand start rubbing the same part of my anatomy. I am incredibly aroused from our foreplay and from doing this for her, so her touching me there already has me surprisingly close. I start rapidly flicking my tongue to hit her most sensitive spot from all sides. She responds by rubbing me more quickly too. I think…we may have an orgasm together for the first time. Surprisingly, I reach that point more quickly than she does, but luckily me moaning directly on to her clitoris, and taking it into my mouth when I do, sends her over the edge too. We have both lost control of our bodies and our voices, and we enjoy the bliss of our orgasms together.
Once we've both reached completion, we are breathing heavily. Akari moves herself from my face once she has the strength to, and I'm a little sad about it. She lays down next to me and kisses me.
"W-wow…good idea."
I nod, "I really liked it too. I'm glad I was able to do that for you." I blush. "Also…having you right on me like that was…well…a special kind of intimate, I guess. It's something I want to do a lot more of."
She smiles at me, "Good. Because I will be w-wanting more of that. I can see why you like it so much."
I blush deeper, "I…could do more of it for you right now…if you want."
She raises her eyebrows and smiles, "You really aren't kidding when you say you like it."
I blush deeper still. "Is that a bad thing?"
She bites her lip, "No, it's a really g-good thing."
I roll on my side and trace her breasts with my finger. "I kind of can't get enough of you, if you haven't noticed. So…I want to do that again…now, if you want me to…"
She smiles and then kisses me, "I really do. But we probably need to get some sleep. Classes start tomorrow and you have surgery coming up."
I check the time. "Wow…what?! I didn't know it was so late. Sorry. That felt like 10 minutes…not an hour and a half."
Akari giggles and kisses me, "Time flies when you're having fun, I guess."
—-
I'm in the hospital in Sendai for my surgery. They already called me back and got my IV set up and I changed into a hospital gown. Now I'm just waiting for them to come and knock me out for surgery.
My mom and Akari are both with me sitting in chairs next to my bed. We don't have our own room right now, but there is a curtain drawn around us for a little privacy.
I'm very grateful Akari is here. She has had so many surgeries of her own, some which went horribly. She has serious anxiety about being here. But she loves me enough to be here anyway. She always says her anxiety is better when she is doing something for someone else. She notices I'm smiling at her, and she smiles back. Then she stands up and takes my hand.
"How are you?"
I squeeze her hand, "I'm good. Just kind of antsy. Ready for this to be over with."
My mom says, "Shouldn't be too much longer from your perspective."
I laugh, "You mean because I'll be unconscious?"
She nods, "It isn't too long of a surgery either. We'll probably be home before noon, crazy as that sounds." It's 8 a.m. now.
Akari is shocked by my mother's timeline, "Really?"
I laugh and squeeze her hand, "I have a feeling this surgery is a lot more minor than…all of yours."
She smiles, "Yeah, I guess so."
Just as we're smiling at each other, the anesthesiologist arrives to take me to surgery. I say quick goodbyes to my mom and girlfriend while they administer the anesthesia. I'm unconscious before I'm ever in the operating room.
—-
I feel funny. So funny I don't want to open my eyes. I just want to sleep.
But wait, where am I? And why do I feel funny? I open one eye for a second and see a white ceiling. Now I'm starting to recognize some voices around me.
The first speaker says, "You are the best girlfriend ever."
The second one laughs and sounds embarrassed, "I d-don't know about that."
"You have been here with her all morning. You brought a bag full of things she might want. You got her some flowers at the gift shop. And you did it all when you have really bad experiences with hospitals…"
"W-well…I love her. It doesn't feel like work or anything. It just feels natural. She takes care of me too."
There's a frustrated sigh. "I know, Akari. I'm just trying to compliment you and tell you you're amazing to my daughter. Just accept it. Please."
"Okay…thank you, Emi."
"See, was that so hard?"
Oh, it's my mom and my girlfriend. I had elbow surgery.
I open my eyes again and say, "Hello." My voice sounds…strange.
They both enter my field of vision quickly. They are both smiling.
My mom asks, "How do you feel?"
"Really weird."
Akari frowns, "B-b-but no bad pain?"
I smile at my girlfriend. Damn she's pretty. I could get lost in those brown eyes. In fact, I do sometimes.
"Nope. None. I'm sure that won't last, but yeah."
I look down, my arm has a sling, and my elbow has a bandage on it.
My mom says, "That's good. Everything went as planned, now that you're awake we'll probably be on our way pretty soon."
"Glad to hear it. Can we make the bed sit up a little? I feel weird looking up at you two like this."
My mom quickly finds the control and I am in more of a seated position now. I see some flowers on the small table next to my bed and I smile at Akari. "Are those…hydrangeas?"
Akari smiles and holds my hand, "Yeah. When they had them, I thought they were p-perfect."
"They are. Thank you, that's really sweet."
My mom looks puzzled. "Since when are hydrangeas are your favorite flower?"
I laugh, "I guess since right now, maybe. That manga I told you about has lots of flowers in it.
After all it's called Bloom into You. Hydrangeas show up a lot when the two girls are falling in love."
My mom smiles, "So they are even more thoughtful than I thought. Akari really is the best."
I laugh and stare lovingly at her. "She really is."
She blushes at the praise but also seems a little proud of it.
"Um…I brought you some other things…if you need anything. Some manga, snacks, even a tiny chess board I found online."
She really is the best. Even willing to play chess with me right now.
I smile at her and squeeze her hand and don't make much of an effort to hide that I'm checking her out. "I've got everything I need right here." She blushes and shows me her beautiful smile.
My mom giggles. "You know…your father got a little…forward after surgeries too."
Ugh. Kind of forgot she was here. Damn anesthesia.
Akari giggles and I cringe. "Thanks for telling me that."
Not long after that, they discharge me. I'll have this sling for about a month and then some extra physical therapy to get it back to normal.
We're in the car now, headed back to town. Akari and I are in the back together. I'm having a hard time keeping my head up. I guess I had a busy morning.
"You can lay down if you n-need to."
"How?"
"Just lay on your back, you can r-rest your head in my lap."
My mom laughs, "That sounds adorable. And comfy."
I laugh, "Agreed."
I lay down and rest my head in Akari's lap. She looks down at me with her beautiful smile while she strokes my hair.
…
I wake up to a gentle rubbing of my cheek and Akari gently saying my name.
I open my eyes to see her smiling at me. I smile back.
"Hi there. We're at your mom's, sorry."
I sigh, "I wish I was Ai right n-now."
Akari looks confused for a moment, like I must still really be out of it from the anesthesia, but then I see that she understands.
She giggles, "Wish I could c-carry you, huh? Sorry."
I nod and slowly sit up. My mom opens the door on my side for me and I climb out. She smiles at me and puts a hand on my back. "How are you feeling?"
"Still pretty good. Tired I guess, but so far, my elbow doesn't really hurt."
As the three of us walk into the house my mom says, "Well, maybe you're so used to having it hurt you won't even notice."
I sit down on the couch and Akari sits down on my right side and takes my hand, "That would be nice. I'm just assuming the pain will come later."
My mom scoffs, "Such a pessimist."
"Better to expect the pain and not have it come than to assume I won't have it."
She sighs, "I guess." She smiles at Akari. "Well, since you have your sweet girlfriend here, I was going to go into work this afternoon. Is that okay?
I nod, "That's okay. As long as you have my dinner ready promptly at 6:30."
My mom and Akari giggle, "Okay. I'll make sure not to disappoint you."
We exchange 'I love you's and my mom leaves.
Akari says, "Anything you want to do? We can do whatever you want."
I smirk at her, "You'll do anything I want, huh?"
She blushes a little and opens her eyes wide, "Well…yeah, b-but I didn't mean…you just had surgery…" Then she starts to look like maybe it's not such a bad idea. "...right?"
I giggle, "Right, I don't think I'm up for that. I was just trying to make it sound suggestive to make you blush. I kind of want to teach you chess. If you'll let me."
She nods, "Yeah, that will be nice."
I raise my eyebrows at her, "Really?"
"Well…yeah. I know chess is important to you because of your d-dad. I should…probably at least know how to play. You read my favorite manga…so I want to."
I kiss her. "Thank you."
We get up and go over where the chess board is set up. Once Akari sits down and looks at all the pieces, she looks a little overwhelmed.
"They…all move differently?"
So cute.
"Yep. Well, all the ones that look the same move the same way."
She points at the row of Pawns. "So...these at the top all move the same?"
"They do. Those are Pawns. They can all only move one square forward. Unless it's the first time that pawn has moved, in which case it can move two squares forward.".
Chess does sound complicated when you say it out loud. I don't think I'll tell her the part where a pawn can get promoted into a different piece if it makes it all the way across the board. Not yet anyway.
I explain how the other pieces move and that the objective is to trap the King. She seems like she gets it.
"D-do you want to play?"
I smile at her, "If you want to, sure."
She chuckles, "I might have a chance now because of the anesthesia in your s-system."
I laugh, "Maybe. But…it's your first game, so that advantage is probably negated."
We start to play a game and she's doing surprisingly well for her first time. I'm not going to crush her in just a handful of moves, that's for sure. She's been staring at the board for a while since my last move.
"How does the horse move again?"
I laugh, "The Knight you mean?"
"I mean…if they w-wanted it to be a Knight…why is the piece a horse?"
I laugh, "I guess that's a good point. Anyway…your Horse can move kind of in an "L" shape. Like this." I show her all the different ways her knight can currently move.
She scrunches up her face in confusion. "The other pieces all m-move so…normally. Forwards, backwards, diagonally. And then they look like what they are called. Then there's the Knight. The Knight is weird."
"Yeah…I guess it kind of is, huh? It can even jump over other pieces and none of the others can. I wonder why?"
Akari thinks for a moment, "I guess b-because knights were more mobile on the battlefield, or something. I bet my dad knows. This is a m-medieval European game, right?"
I scratch my head. "I'm…embarrassed to say that I don't know. Seems like a reasonable guess, though. See? I'm glad I taught you. I have never even thought about these things."
She smiles at me and uses her Knight-Horse to capture my Bishop. She fell into my trap and the game is over a few moves later.
"That w-was pretty fun."
"See? I've been trying to get you to play for a long time. If I had known sleeping with you would have convinced you to try it, I would have done it sooner."
Akari laughs, "How much sooner?"
"Hmm…that day we ran into each other I should have just ripped your clothes off and pulled you on top of me. Then we would play chess after."
Akari giggles, "R-right there in the grass huh? With your elbow dislocated and people watching?"
"Sure. Who wouldn't want to see that?"
She laughs, then stands up and walks around the table before bending over and giving me a long, deep kiss while her hand holds the back of my head. I didn't think I was up for this…but now maybe I am. I was joking about ripping her clothes off a minute ago. Now I really want to. My mom won't be home for a while. My elbow's fine. Let's do this.
I take my good arm and start to slide it up Akari's shirt. But she gently nudges my hand away and breaks the kiss.
I frown up at her. "You don't want to?"
She smiles, "Of course I do. But the day of your surgery is probably pushing it. We also d-don't really know when your mom is coming back."
"Come on. She won't be back for a while. I really want you."
I grab her hand and press it against my right breast, the only one accessible with my sling on.
I see a familiar lustiness flash in her eyes as she starts to caress me. She can't resist me, just like I can't really resist her.
She comes back down for a kiss while getting more aggressive with my breast. I really want to feel her skin on mine. I adjust myself a little so I can guide her hand under my clothes. But when I turn slightly, I lightly hit my left elbow on the edge of the table, causing me to grunt in pain and break the kiss.
This snaps her out of her lust. She releases my breast and stands back up.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah….fine. It hurt a little, but I'm okay. Come back down here." I grab her top with my good hand and try to pull her down, but she resists.
"We really shouldn't. I'm s-sorry I lost my resolve for a minute there…but you hurting your elbow brought it back. "
I pout, "Are you getting back at me for when I turned you down at your parents'?"
She giggles and kisses my forehead, "No. You were right then, and I'm right now."
Now that we aren't kissing my senses are starting to return to me.
"You're right. Sorry for being so pushy. Can I blame the anesthesia?"
Akari giggles, "You can try." I stick my tongue out at her in response.
After I cool down, we move to the living room and snuggle up on the couch. We find a silly movie on TV.
…
About 45 minutes later, we hear the front door open. My mom is home earlier than I expected. I guess it's a good thing we aren't naked on top of each other in the middle of the house right now. I look at Akari who is looking at me with a face that screams 'Told you so!' I stick my tongue out at her in response.
Now we notice that we hear other voices. Me and Akari exchange a confused look but then we start to realize who it is and we both smile.
My mom comes into the living room and says "Surprise!" Koji, Hana, Ai, and Carsten are with her. I have a feeling she didn't even go into work, she just went to gather up the four of them.
I smile, "Hey everyone! I didn't know I was gonna see you today."
Ai says, "Thank Hana, it was her idea."
I laugh, "Okay, thank you Hana."
She smiles, "You're welcome. I remembered my surgery and…how none of my friends came to see me. So…I thought it would be nice for us to drop by. How do you feel?"
"Elbow is just starting to get a little achy. But nothing too bad."
Akari gets up and starts rifling through things from the hospital. She finds my pain pills and thrusts one to me with some water.
"Um…do I really need to take one? They make me feel weird."
Akari nods, "I know, b-but trust me, for today at least let's try to stay ahead of the pain. If you d-don't, it can get out of control and then pills don't help."
I smile at her, "Okay…you're the expert. Thank you." I take the pill and wash it down with water.
Carsten says, "How long until you get weird?"
Koji chuckles, "She's always been weird."
I stick my tongue out at him and then realize something.
"Hey…this is the first time you and my mom met, right?"
Koji nods and my mom pats him on the back and says, "It is." Then she turns to Hana, winks at her, and says, "I approve."
Koji turns bright red and seems to have been rendered speechless. I have a hard time imagining he would be this red if he didn't think my mom was attractive. Goddammit.
"Thanks Mrs. Nakai, I'm pretty fond of him."
My mom tried to pull up a couple of chairs so we can all sit in the living room, but Carsten sees her struggling and does it himself. My mom heads off to her bedroom. I guess she wants us to be alone.
Once we're settled Hana says. "We should use this opportunity to plan our triple date. It kinda needs be soon as things get…crazy quickly for us. We have our test here in a few weeks, then entrance exams…yayyy." She twirls her finger in the air in a celebratory fashion says the last part with faux enthusiasm making us all laugh."
Carsten says, "Well…there's always the Shanghai…but I feel like we should do something more special since it might be our only chance. Maybe in the city?"
I reach out for Akari's hand and give it a squeeze. She smiles at me. I don't know how much this idea appeals to her. She's gotten less anxious for sure, but we probably need to be careful with what we choose.
Hana says, "Yeah that would be fun. What should we do?"
Koji says, "An arcade might be fun."
We all look at Koji with disinterest. "Or…not? I guess none of you play video games, huh?"
Hana kisses him on the cheek. "Nope, just you. But I love you anyway."
He scoffs, "Gee, thanks for accepting me and all my horrible flaws."
She laughs, "You're welcome."
"My ability to play games would be pretty limited anyway."
Plus, I can't imagine a dark crowded place is where Akari wants to be.
Ai adds, "Arcades suck if you're in a wheelchair too. So few of the games are accessible. Otherwise, I might like them more."
Carsten says, "Yeah, I guess maybe we will have to do some research to see what is accessible before we make any decisions."
Akari says, "I think I have an idea that would w-work for everyone."
Smart. She can choose something that she knows won't give her any problems.
"W-we could go to dinner somewhere and then karaoke. I bet we can find a restaurant and karaoke place that are accessible online, since there's lots of both."
Um…what? My pill must be affecting my perception. Karaoke was not good for her last time. She can't have said that.
Everyone seems to like the idea and now they are all looking at me waiting for my approval.
"It sounds good…but…" I look at my girlfriend. "Are you sure you want to do karaoke?"
She nods, "I know I had a p-problem there with Michi and his friends, but…I th-think I will be okay. We will have a booth with just us. You're all p-people I'm comfortable with. I w-wanna try at least. If I have an attack or s-something…well, you all understand. So, I think it is a good time to try."
I squeeze her hand and smile at her. Her mom said Yamaku was good for her at Christmas. She was right. She's come far since that day she apologized to me in band.
Hana looks around at everyone and we seem to agree, "That's a good plan. Does next Saturday work for everyone?"
We all agree. But there's still something else we have to figure out.
"I guess…there's still the question of transportation?"
Koji answers, "Does the bus work for everyone? They have wheelchair access, right?"
Ai nods, "That works for me."
I find myself worrying about Akari again. If the bus is crowded, I don't know how well that will go. She avoids mass transportation whenever she can and prefers cabs.
I squeeze her hand and she smiles at me and nods. I think she wants to do this too. She's in an adventurous mood.
"Sounds good to me. Um…I will have to take a cab down to the bus stop and back up to Yamaku."
"That's probably better for me too. Carsten could push me I guess but the hill is pretty tough."
"I can take care of that."
We turn around to see my mom has emerged from her room. Has she been listening this whole time?
"Do you know what we're talking about?"
She laughs, "Not really. But I heard you need a ride to the bus stop. So, the city?"
I nod, "Yeah. A triple date next weekend."
My mom smiles, "Then I will definitely help."
Ai smiles and says, "Thank you Mrs. Nakai."
"No problem, dear. Speaking of rides…when did you four want to go back?"
Koji and Hana grimace and look at each other and Hana says, "Probably now, I guess. Back to the books."
Carsten and Ai agree. They all give me well wishes and hugs on their way out the door.
After they leave and we snuggle up on the couch again. Akari is so cozy. My eyes start to feel heavy.
…
Someone is gently touching my cheek and softly saying my name.
"Kayoko…"
"Hmmmn?" I open my eyes and realize my head is on Akari's shoulder. I sit up straight and look at her smiling face.
I frown, "I fell asleep again?"
Akari giggles, "Yep. It was cute. It's time for dinner now, though."
"How long did I sleep exactly?"
"Two hours or so."
"And you just…stayed here with me sleeping on you?"
She laughs, "I napped too. Your mom woke me up and said I should wake you up because you'd respond to that better."
I give her a gentle kiss. "She was right. You're real nice to wake up to."
She laughs, "You still in your 'anesthesia' mood?"
I softly kiss her neck. "Maybe."
"Okay silly. Let's go wash our hands and get ready for dinner."
I nod and we go to the bathroom together to wash up. After we do, I close the door and put my good arm around her and kiss her neck some more. She sighs happily for a few seconds before gently pulling herself away from me and giggling.
"Is this what I'm like all the t-time?"
I laugh, "Kinda. Except you usually wait to do it until we're in our dorm room. So I'm even worse right now." I sigh. "I'll stop."
"You better or I'll be s-sleeping on the couch."
I nod. "Well played. I can't let that happen. I really don't know why I'm being like this."
Akari smiles, "Well…I do look a-amazing."
I'm so glad she's confident now.
I laugh, "That's definitely true. But normally I can contain myself. I'm not sure what's going on with me."
"I think it could be medication. But…I bet you are really r-relieved the surgery went well, and this is sort of a result of that. Subconsciously, m-maybe."
I laugh, "Like I want to celebrate or something?"
Akari giggles, "Yeah, something like that. Now, let's go eat d-dinner. You promise you're going to be a good girl?"
I smirk, "If your goal is to keep me from wanting to have sex, calling me 'good girl' doesn't seem wise."
Akari crosses her arms and gives me a stern look. Suddenly, she looks a lot like her sobers me up.
I sigh, "Yes, I will behave."
We leave the bathroom where we find my mom waiting at the table with all our food served.
She looks at us with a mischievous grin. "You two sure took a while to wash your hands. With the bathroom door closed."
I laugh, "Yeah well, we wanted our hands to be really clean, right Akari?"
Akari nods. My mom doesn't really look like she buys it, but she doesn't push any harder. I wonder if she really thinks we did it. Makes me think we just should have then, so maybe…after dinner….
No! I can't believe I'm this obsessed with sex today. I think Akari's right that it has to do with the surgery. When I really reflect on my feelings, I have a strong sense of relief. But why am I relieved? I never consciously felt afraid of the surgery, but…deep down maybe I was worried that they might get in there and things would be bad, and they couldn't do anything. Instead, I got just about the best news I could hope for. It makes sense that I want to celebrate with the woman I love. She doesn't seem to think it is a bad idea either…she just doesn't want to do it the day of the surgery or at my mom's house. Luckily one of us is being rational about it.
