By Emi Tsuruta
One of the sports I played when I was in Oceanview was tennis. I think my then boyfriend Ryosuke was the one who suggested it. Ryosuke looks fairly sporty with his deep tan and muscular legs, but I don't think of him as a jock, not like some guys anyway. He did buy rackets, balls and tennis wear, and seemed fairly serious about getting better. My favorite sport is probably swimming, but I'd played tennis now and then growing up, and was happy to try again. At first, just Ryosuke and I played, but when we told some of our other friends we were playing, they wanted to come too, and join in.
My friend Yuko is a Japanese teaching assistant at Oceanview U. She's tall and kind of wild looking--dark eye liner, big bushy black hair. She used to work as a cosplay model in Japan. She came swimming, and I joined her aerobics class for a bit. She came to play tennis with us a few times, but didn't stick with it.
I think I probably first met Fujiko at the Japanese Student Union. You maybe don't notice it at first, but she is actually quite muscular for a woman. She claims guys write her off as a tomboy, but she does have kind of a cute face with rabbit teeth. When she came to play, we found out that she was working as a tennis coach for children, and was a really good player. She was hunting for a western boyfriend, so I introduced her to my Chinese American swimmer friend Winston, and she ended up moving into Winston's frat. She became one of the main stays of our little tennis circle.
After we lost Yuko, Ryosuke brought this guy named Tsuyoshi to join us. I didn't know quite what to make of him at first. He's a handsome guy, tallish, fit, neatly trimmed black hair, lively eyes. He could get himself a girlfriend I'm sure, but he never talked about girls. He didn't talk much at all actually. I tried to draw him out, ask him questions, but he was remarkably self-effacing, always trying to stay in the background, even though he was probably the best tennis player of all of us. After a while, I got used to it, and just kind of accepted him as shy or whatever. He did seem like a nice guy from what I knew of him.
That first summer, we started playing in this big grassy park near my home stay house. I'd usually get changed into my tennis outfit--a white tank top and mini-skirt--at home, and then walk to the park from there. Fujiko tends to dress in more boyish outfits: long sweatpants and high-necked t-shirts. Ryosuke got a kick out of the way I dressed, but Tsuyoshi was more circumspect, not really commenting. My skirt was kind of short, and kept flipping up whenever I ran to return a shot. I started out wearing shorties underneath, but once the weather got hotter, I switched to just wearing panties. I felt kind of self-conscious, but sometimes Ryosuke would get so wrapped up in trying to sneak a peek at my undies that he would forget about the ball, and miss his shot. It was kind of funny really.
Once school started in September, I had to wear my street clothes, and bring my tennis outfit with me in my bag. Fujiko and the boys would just pull off their sweatshirts, and start playing right away, but I'd usually go around the corner to the washrooms, and get changed there. The door on the girls' washroom was jammed open, so at first, I got changed in a stall.
One problem though was that there were no showers in the washroom. Most of the time I'd come straight home after we finished playing to wash up. One time though, Ryosuke and I had arranged to meet friends right after tennis, so I had to get cleaned up right there at the park. I ended up stripping out of my tennis outfit, and giving myself a sponge bath at the sink. This American girl came in, and found me in my undies. That was kind of embarrassing, but she didn't really say anything, so I guess it wasn't that bad.
However, this other time when we got there, there were a bunch of guys just next to the tennis courts having water pistol fights. I guess I noticed them, but for some reason, it didn't click immediately that they'd be buzzing around. I went into the girls side, and started to unbutton my blouse by the mirrors, but for some reason, this guy came right in to the girls washroom, obviously planning to refill his water pistol. I pulled my blouse back around to cover up my bra, but he'd seen me, and gave me the funniest look. I guess it could have been a lot worse. I'd been planning to strip right there. I ended up going into a stall, and getting changed there.
In the autumn, as the weather got cooler though, fewer and fewer people came to the park, so I didn't have to worry so much about people coming in and finding me. Slowly, I started getting a bit more daring, checking carefully to see if anyone was around, and changing by the mirrors in view of the open door, if the coast looked clear.
On this one day in particular, I was in a really funny mood. I stripped buck naked, but pulled my tennis shoes back on, and came out to the door to take a peek outside. The wind was blowing in the trees, and there didn't seem to be anyone around. I don't know what got into me that day, but I kept inching forward peering back and forth. Before I knew it, I'd stepped right out the door standing here naked in the bright sunlight. Part of me wanted to call Ryosuke to show him how brave I could be. I crept down to the corner, and peeked around, but there were a whole bunch of tennis players on the courts, so I got scared, and dashed back to the washroom before they saw me.
I was so excited though. It took me the longest time to calm back down. Even after I got dressed, and started playing, I still felt so worked up. Unfortunately, Ryosuke never quite twigged to how I was feeling, so we just ended up going out to supper with Tsuyoshi.
In the winter, we switched to playing indoors in a community center downtown. It was kind of a strange place. It was free to play there, but it was in kind of a bad neighborhood, and there never seemed to be much of anyone around. They had change rooms and showers downstairs, but the staff didn't really seem too keen on unlocking the doors for us. There were two different clerks depending on the week: a perky blonde woman, an athlete I guess, and a young white guy who wore a hat and baggy hip hop pants, a b-boy maybe. The girl was nice enough, but kind of off in her own world. This guy was always nice to me, but he didn't seem as fond of Ryosuke and Tsuyoshi for some reason.
Ryosuke finally managed to talk the girl into unlocking the doors, but whenever we went down, only the guys' side would be open. Fujiko usually had to rush off to work anyway, but I would come back up, and look around for the girl, but I could never seem to find her. Most of the time, I'd change in the washroom, and wait till I got home to shower.
One day though, both Fujiko and Tsuyoshi left early, so it was just Ryosuke and I. We went downstairs, and as usual, just the guys' side was open. Ryosuke invited me to come in with him. I felt a little bit nervous, but I went in. It was not that bad--clean and more or less the same as the girls' locker room, except the layout was the other way around. I had a shower in the stall next to Ryosuke. He wanted to do more, but I was too nervous, worried that someone might come. We ended up getting dressed, and going back to his home stay, and hanging out there.
Over the Christmas break, the center was closed, but in January, we started up again. Fujiko smiled when she saw me, and even the stoic Tsuyoshi seemed happy to see us again. Even though it was winter, it got fairly hot in the community center especially after we started playing. Four o'clock rolled around, Fujiko left, and Ryosuke and Tsuyoshi headed down to shower. As usual, the door to the girls' change room was locked. Tsuyoshi went straight into the guys', but Ryosuke waited a minute to see what I wanted to do.
"Can you go ask the girl to unlock the door to the girls' side?" I asked. He ran upstairs, but soon he was back. "What did she say?"
"No luck. She's disappeared again."
I pouted, not really wanting to go out into the cold all sweaty.
"You could shower with us," Ryosuke suggested.
"But Tsuyoshi's here," I noted.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Ryosuke grinned. "You've been to co-ed baths in Japan. It'd be just like that."
There are indeed co-ed baths in Japan way up in the mountains far from the hustle-bustle of the city. Ryosuke and I had been, but it was hardly the same thing! This was in town, and in America, where people view things differently. Tsuyoshi would surely find it weird, and if any American guys walked in, and found me naked in the guys' showers, they'd freak for sure.
"Come on. It's no big deal." Ryosuke took my hand, and motioned for me to follow him in. Luckily, there was no one else in the change room, but we could hear the shower from around the corner.
"Tsuyoshi, do you mind if Emi comes in, and showers with us?" Ryosuke called out. We heard something drop to the floor (soap?), and then there was an awkward silence. Eventually, Tsuyoshi spoke up.
"Oh, can't she use the girls' side?" He sounded nervous. I was glad I wasn't the only one who found this weird.
"Maybe I'd better go," I whispered, trying to pull free. Ryosuke held my hand, not letting me leave.
"Don't worry. It'll be alright," he whispered back. "The girls' side is locked. Can she come in? She really wants to shower off."
"Um..." I'm sure Tsuyoshi was wondering what on earth Ryosuke was intending. Even I didn't know where he was going with this.
"I guess," Tsuyoshi finally granted. I managed to break free from Ryosuke's grip, but he kept pointing for me to go in. I knew it was a crazy idea. Still, I did want to get cleaned up. I stood there wavering, while Ryosuke kept motioning for me to come in.
Eventually, I got up my nerve, and walked into the shower area. Tsuyoshi was in one of the stalls--naked--showering off. Each stall was wide open with no curtain or anything, just open space. Tsuyoshi turned his head to look at me, but kept his body turned away hiding his penis. He has a nice body, fit and toned, clear skin, fairly hairless and tanned even his back and legs. I walked past him down to the door that led out to the swimming pool. Ryosuke came in after me, watching to see what I would do.
"Here. Don't watch. Shower yourself," I told him. I was still worried about Tsuyoshi. Ryosuke eventually stripped down, and got into one of the showers. My face flushed hot as I slowly started stripping out of my tennis whites. I felt so embarrassed. I'd only known Tsuyoshi for four or five months. He'd never seen me naked before. This was my first time seeing him naked too.
Once I was all undressed, I dashed across to one of the showers. Ryosuke peeked around the corner at me flashing me this big grin. I was so nervous though, what with Tsuyoshi right there just a few stalls away. With the stalls all open like this, there was barely no real place to hide.
I turned on the shower, and got it to the right temperature. I squirted out some soap, and rubbed it on my body. Soon, I noticed Tsuyoshi had come out, pulled on some trunks, and was drying off in the alcove across from where I was showering. He wasn't staring at me exactly, but he was right there just behind me, and could see my bare behind. He didn't make a big deal though, just quietly went about his business, drying off and getting dressed.
