One of the jobs I had in university in Oceanview was in the campus fitness center. It was a nice enough place, and the other staffers were all pretty friendly to me. Sometimes, though, I'd have to work late, and I'd missed the last bus home. Luckily, my friend Satomi lived on campus, and she often let me sleep in her room, so I wouldn't have to take a taxi or whatever.
Anyway, late one night, I finished up, and headed to her dorm to see if she was still up. I guess it was past midnight, but Takuya, Hiro, Ricardo and Jorge were in the common room watching TV. Takuya and Hiro were Japanese boys, 19ish, living in the dorm that summer, and Ricardo and Jorge were their Mexican friends. All four of them were studying ESL on campus, and I kind of knew Takuya and Hiro through Satomi. Takuya is tall, and wears glasses, but he's pretty funny. Hiro is shorter and cuter, but maybe not as smart. They are younger than Satomi and I, but we sometimes hang out.
I knocked on the outer door, and waved at them through the window. Takuya got up, and let me in.
"Emi! What are you doing here so late?"
"I just finished work, and I was going to ask Satomi if I could sleep over."
"I'd be honored if you'd stay in my room," he quipped. I shot him a look, but I think he was just joking. That's the way he is—formal, but likes to tease.
"Thanks, but I think I'll ask Satomi first," I declined, brushing past him.
"You know where to find me if you change your mind," Takuya called after me. I laughed. He was kind of funny. I headed upstairs, and knocked on Satomi's door. I heard rustling, and eventually, she opened the door, blinking from the bright light.
"Emi? What? What's going on?"
"Sorry. Could I sleep over tonight? I have to go into work again tomorrow."
"OK," she said opening the door to let me in. She fished me out a towel from her closet, and then stumbled back to bed. I kind of felt bad for waking her, but I don't know why she goes to bed so early. If she wants a boyfriend, she should be downstairs talking with Hiro and them. The two of them seem to get along.
I went across the hall to the bathroom, stripped out of my clothes, and got in the shower. It felt good to get clean. In Japan, most people bathe at night just before bedtime, but showers are OK too.
I quickly finished up, and toweled off. I hadn't brought p.j.'s with me, so I just pulled on a t-shirt from my bag, and wrapped Satomi's towel around my waist. I brushed my teeth, a bit nervous because the washrooms here are co-ed. Outside the window, I could hear shouting and cheering coming from the lounge below. The guys must all be downstairs. When I was done, I peeked out the door. There was no one in the hall, so I scampered back across to Satomi's room. The lights were out, but she'd laid out futons on the floor, and was all bundled up in her own bed.
"Are you going to sleep?" I asked, a bit disappointed. I wanted to tell her about my day.
"Mmm," she murmured, already drifting off. I looked down at her, and sighed. Why does she always have to be like this? I set down my things, and got ready for bed. My towel was a bit wet, so I took it off, and hung it up in Satomi's closet to dry. This left me naked from the waist down, but it was just Satomi and me, so no big deal. I snuggled into the futon, and pulled up the covers.
I lay there for a while going back over the day's events. My shift started at four, taking over from my boss, Ted. It had been a quiet night. At the beginning of the summer, we were really busy, but now not as many people were coming in to exercise. It was just as well. At least, I hadn't bumped into those guys who'd wandered in on Sarah, Natasha and me when we were in the sauna.
Suddenly I heard voices out in the hall.
"Satomi? Emi? Are you gals up here?" It was Takuya and Hiro knocking on our door. I went to get up, but then I realized I wasn't decent, and pulled the towelket around my bare bottom. Satomi rolled over, and glared at me, annoyed at being awakened from her beauty sleep.
"Sorry," I apologized. "They saw me when I came in."
The two of them kept banging on the door, so Satomi finally got up, and answered it. A bit worried, I glanced around the room for my jeans. I must have stuffed them in my backpack when I took a shower. Lying face down, I pulled the towelket across my backside, and swung around to face the door.
"Oh here you guys are!" Takuya beamed. "We've been looking all over for you,"
"What do you want?" Satomi grumbled. "It's the middle of the night for heaven's sake. Don't you have classes tomorrow?"
"It's still early. Come on. Let's do something."
I wasn't that sleepy, but a bigger problem was my outfit. Probably none of them could tell I was naked, but I still felt vulnerable. I tugged my t-shirt down, but it was way too short. It just barely covered my bellybutton let alone anything south of there. Worse yet, I was starting to get excited from the situation. I could feel the soft terrycloth tickling my bare behind. I'd better not do anything silly. They probably think I'm strange enough as it is.
"Do you guys want to come down to the lounge, and watch some TV?" Takuya suggested. "There are some good movies on."
Satomi rolled her eyes, came back to her bed, but left the door open.
"OK, how about some cards then? We know you've got a deck in here somewhere."
Before I could say anything, they'd both come into Satomi's dark room, and started rummaging around in Satomi's desk for her cards. I felt so nervous. I gathered the towelket around my naked hips, but they were standing right next to where I was lying.
"Why don't you go to one of their rooms, Emi? I want to sleep," Satomi mumbled. I shook my head no. I couldn't very well do much of anything till I got some bottoms on.
"No, I... uh... I should be getting some sleep too," I told them.
"Oh, come on Emi. Please! Just a couple of quick games?"
I didn't say anything, but they both sat down at the end of my futon, and started shuffling the deck.
"What shall we play? Daifugou? Are you playing, Satomi?"
She just murmured drowsily. My mind was racing trying to think how to get them to go away. All I could think of was to maybe play a couple of quick games, and then suggest we call it a night.
"OK, just the three of us," Takuya soldiered on. "Two jokers. Joker's wild, and beats a two."
I carefully got up onto my elbows, and looked at my cards. I didn't have anything. I would lose for sure.
"Winner gets to switch places with Emi on the futon," Takuya grinned.
"No way," I gasped.
"Relax. I was just joking."
I anxiously pulled the towelket up higher around my back, dragging the soft terrycloth along my bare behind. I was wide awake now, so wired from the feeling of lying here naked.
"Who has the three of clubs?"
"I do," I announced, setting out two threes. Hiro won the round, and led more low cards. I won the next one. Takuya went out right away, and I ended up losing to Hiro.
"Here, if you won't give us your futon, you have to do something. Do a handstand or something."
"No way!" I shook my head, even more nervous.
"Then we'll just have to tickle you!" Takuya said. He was on top of me in a second. I rolled over on to my back, and held onto the towelket for dear life as he reached in, and tickled my sides. I couldn't keep from laughing, and I almost lost my grip on my towelket. I was breathing so heavily from the excitement. In the end, Hiro finally pulled Takuya off me.
"You should see yourself. You're blushing like a beet," Hiro said. I was so glad they hadn't figured out why. Anyway, Takuya finally sat down, and made me deal the next one. I got slightly better cards this time. My towelket was starting to feel hot wrapped around my waist. I looked down. Satomi's lights were still out. We were just playing by the light streaming in through the door from the hallway. My towelket was pretty much shaded in darkness. I cautiously pulled it over a bit exposing my side from my waist down. Hiro was on that side, but wasn't really looking at my legs. Actually, he looked really sleepy. He stretched out on the floor, and closed his eyes.
"You guys had better go. Hiro's half asleep," I whispered. Takuya looked a bit sleepy too, but his eyes were glowing catlike in the dark.
"One more game," he suggested. I started to deal cards to Hiro, but he was already drifting off. I could see Takuya's eyes darting around this way and that in the dark. He looked handsome, Buddha-like almost in the dim light. I picked up my cards.
"It's hot in here, isn't it?" I noted. I knew I shouldn't tease, but my hello kitty was tingling like crazy by then, getting me all excited. I guess I was in a strange mood because it was so late. The night has this special kind of atmosphere, don't you think? Like anything could happen.
I peered over at Takuya wondering what he'd do if I pulled off the towelket, exposing my derriere. It was kind of dark in the room, although there was light coming in from the hallway. Hiro seemed to be asleep, but Takuya was just sorting through his cards, not really looking at me. Unable to settle down, I reached down, and slowly tugged the covers off of my legs, exposing my bare behind to the light. My tension shot up a million-fold. Here I was lying there naked from the waist down with Takuya right there and the door wide open. I don't know what got into me, but I was so excited now, holding my breath wondering if he would realize.
