The Brighter Side of Losing
It was a balmy early autumn night, and Tanizaki Yukari was (strangely) not
drunk, or even in the process of becoming drunk. This fact had unsettled her
coworker and one-woman social circle, Kurosawa Minamo, and the fact that it
unsettled her weirded her out even more, as she would have expected it to
come as a relief. But when Yukari explained that she wanted to fool around
with a plaything she had recently acquired, Minamo allowed herself to relax.
This was familiar territory.
"All right!" Yukari chirped.
"All right."
"The game is Dead or Alive 3."
"Great."
"The rules: one-on-one, single count matches, no timer."
"Fine by me."
"The ante is--"
"Hey, wait a second!"
"The Hell is your problem?" Yukari growled.
"What 'ante'?!" Minamo shot back. "You said this was going to be a friendly
game!"
"What kind of chickenshit wimp are you?! It's more fun if we bet!"
"More fun for you. As I recall, our last wager is what let you buy that
hideous hunk of plastic in the first place."
Yukari made a face that put Minamo in mind of little Chiyo after a gym class
in which Tomo had deliberately "messed up" several volleyball serves in a
row, sending them slamming into the back of the younger girl's head.
"You...you say what you want about me..." she stammered. Minamo was alarmed
by how prepared she was to believe that Yukari was being sincere. "But leave
the X-Box out of this! It gives so much service and asks so little in
return!"
"Oh, fine..." Minamo relented with a sigh. "We can bet. But not with money."
"No money?! That sucks! You suck!"
"Take it or leave it."
"Bah." Yukari muttered to herself for a moment or two. "Okay, in that case
we bet to see who picks up the tab at restaurants."
Minamo rolled her eyes. "Oh, right, that's really different from betting
money. Sorry, try again."
"Hey, what was that? Hmm, I think I heard the sound of a hair being split.
Quit ruining my fun!"
"See, this is why I want to play friendly games..."
Yukari shook her head, putting on her best condescending smile. "Now now, my
dear little Nyamo, you know I can't have fun without some sort of risk, some
wager."
"All too well," Minamo replied, wearily.
"Therefore, I invoke the Perverted Third Option!" Yukari declared. "What do
you think of that?!"
"I think you're making up terms and expecting me to understand anyway. What
on Earth is the Perverted Third Option?"
"It's simple enough that even a gym teacher can grasp it!" Yukari promised.
"Since you obviously value your money over your dignity, the ante we'll be
playing for is...clothing."
Minamo gave Yukari a deadpan, you-must-be-joking look. She got a lot of
mileage out of that look when Yukari was around. "Clothing."
"You know it, babe. Loser of each round gives up a piece of clothing."
"...Couldn't think of anything more original, huh?"
"Shut up and tell me if you're game or not."
After a moment's pause to consider, Minamo nodded. "All right, let's do it."
"Ah-ha!" With a finger leveled in stern accusation and a completely
contradictory grin splitting her face, Yukari said, "You were picturing me
naked, weren't you!"
"Who's the pervert here?!" Minamo snapped. The semi-denial did nothing to
stop her cheeks from burning.
Yukari's grin became a crooked smirk. "Both of us, Nyamo, and you know it."
"...Just start the damned game."
"Yeah, yeah. Say, who do you think is the prettiest Dead or Alive girl?"
Minamo arched an eyebrow. "No comment. People who find animated characters
attractive should have their heads examined."
"Okay, pretend you're not a pervert pretending to be a prude, then answer
the question."
Minamo took a stab in the dark. "The ninja girl." Because, after all, wasn't
there always a ninja girl?
"There are two ninja girls. And you can't say Ayane, she's mine!" Yukari
warned.
"Well, it's the first time I've ever played this! Lay off."
"Fine, fine, let's get some actual matches done."
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret this."
"I'll make sure you don't."
A few matches later, Minamo--divested of shirt, shoes, socks, and earrings
(a copout, admittedly)--was blushing worse than ever and wondering how
Yukari planned to carry through with her promise, while occasionally kicking
herself for not asking Yukari to explain how the controls worked before they
had started. She scowled intensely at the screen, as though she was trying
to peer through the screen and into the game's inner workings. "How do you
do that?" she asked, as Yukari's lavender-haired ninja grabbed the
outstretched food of Minamo's screaming bouncer and slammed him to the
ground.
"With style and panache. Also, deadly precision helps."
"On the controller."
"...I pressed a combination of buttons with style, panache, and deadly
precision. Also, timing."
"Oh, how I--HEY!" Minamo blurted as her suffering warrior was hurled through
a window, which led to him hitting a neon sign several times on his way to
the asphalt, his energy depleted before he even reached the bottom. "The
Hell?"
"He who controls the earth can conquer Heaven!"
"Whatever you say, Magatsu. Next match."
"O-ho-ho, nice try." Minamo gulped, glancing in the direction of her
tormentor. Yukari had a grin so wide plastered on her face that Minamo was
not the least bit surprised when she actually started rubbing her hands
together. "You think I'm going to go easy on you now, when I have you at my
mercy? Bra or pants, Nyamo--you're lucky I don't get to choose what goes
off."
"Pants it is. I should've worn an undershirt..." Minamo sighed.
"Awww, no bra? Tell you what, I'll ditch my shirt if you lose the bra."
"..."
"You're really picturing me naked this time, I bet."
Minamo's jaw began to clench. This was taking more effort than she had
expected. But, on the other hand, why had she agreed to this in the first
place? What other reason could there be than to get Yukari out of her
clothes? Even if it had been Yukari's idea in the first place--"Shut up,
brain!" she screeched, whacking the controller against her forehead.
"Geez, Nyamo, don't go nuts." Yukari shrugged. "If you don't wanna take the
offer, just say so." A pause. "I'm still gonna make you take something off,
but if you really want to choose..."
One moment, Minamo's face was a mask of struggle, the very picture of a
fight against temptation--and in the next moment, it crumbled into a full-on
pout. "You fight dirty," she complained in what could only be described as a
whine.
"Feh, there's no such thing as cheating in a fighting game."
"That," Minamo grouched, slipping the straps of her bra off her shoulders,
"is not what I meant."
Yukari made a face that couldn't decide whether it was overjoyed or stunned.
"You're gonna do it?!"
"It's done." The bra hit the floor, and Minamo pointed a stern finger at
Yukari. "And you had damned well better carry through with your end of the
deal."
At this point, Yukari's expression took a sharp turn towards overjoyed. Her
shirt was shed in a giggling, button-tearing frenzy, and she had Minamo on
her back before the tossed-aside garment reached the floor. "Let it never be
said I don't follow through on bargains, hmmm?" She nestled her head against
Minamo's shoulder, lips brushing lightly against the side of Minamo's
throat.
Minamo made a slight, half-hearted twitching movement that was meant to be
struggle. "I feel like I'm in high school again for saying this--your mother
is two rooms over, Yukari!"
"Always excuses, excuses..." Yukari tsked. The light touch of her lips
progressed to definite, lingering kisses against Minamo's neck. "'Your mom
is nearby! I'm not that into girls! We're at a shopping mall!' Blah, blah,
blah...there's not need to worry. Mom may get up quicker than I do, but she
sleeps just as much like a stone." Yukari worked one arm around Minamo's
shoulders, while her other hand traced aimless patterns on the smooth skin
of Minamo's stomach.
"Mmmm..." Minamo's eyes drifted shut. Yukari's caress worked on her like a
massage, draining tension from her body and mind. "It has...been a while..."
"And whose fault is that?" Yukari whispered, taking a few nips at Minamo's
earlobe.
"At the risk of being unpopular, I blame you."
Yukari laughed quietly. "No, I'm pretty sure it's all on your hands."
"Let's decide later." Minamo's arms encircled Yukari's waist, drawing the
other woman closer.
"'Shut up and kiss me' and all that?"
"Mmmhmm. And as always, you're having trouble with the 'shut up' part."
"But not the 'kiss me' part," Yukari countered, proving herself right in an
ample fashion. She pulled away for a moment to rid herself of her own bra,
returning with a yet deeper kiss and roaming hands that moved across
Minamo's skin with tender familiarity. Minamo responded in kind, tracing the
curves Yukari was so justifiably proud of with her fingertips, as the kisses
continued.
"Well then," Minamo panted during a pause for breath, "to the bed?"
"To the bed," Yukari agreed.
"Say," Minamo said as she slid out of her pants, "what do we do if your mom
tries to come in and wake you up tomorrow morning?"
"Always thinking about stupid practicalities, aren't you? We'll just do what
we did in high school," Yukari replied unconcernedly, her skirt joining the
growing pile of discarded clothing.
"I never slept over while we were in high school."
"Meh." Yukari all but tackled Minamo to the bed. "We'll think of something."
"Yeah...we always do, don't we?"
"Damned right...we always do."
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