After I had settled down, I made a call to Kanako to meet up at a cafe in the city. She complained over the phone that a coffee place was always my first choice, but when I pestered her to pick someplace instead, she acquiesced.
It was typical of Kanako to shove the planning to me, but I didn't mind. I held back telling her about the baby thing until we were in person.
"Whaaaaat?! No way! That Souji had the balls to say 'yes, I want to put a child in your gut' like a real man?" Kanako bellowed loud enough for the whole cafe to hear of my marital milestone.
"Sh! Sh! You're way too loud… Oh, my god…" I hid my face as the waiter handed us our piping hot cappuccinos.
Once the aroma reached my nose, I'd all but forgiven Kanako's outburst. Brewed with kona beans, the fruity scent accompanied by the sweet fragrance of cinnamon powder carried me onto a cloud. The pretty heart shape at the surface swayed when I picked up my cup. It was still a little too hot, so I let it be for now.
Kanako, however, didn't care. She took a long sip of her coffee, not minding the burning she was subjecting her tongue and throat to. She brushed the wavy blonde-dyed hair from her eyes and sank into her seat. Black roots were crowning at the top of her head, and soon she would need a touch up.
"Aw, man. My cute Yui's gonna pop a kid. Like hell you'll have time for me when that happens," she said, sinking into the seat of our booth.
Kanako Uehara was also a fulltime housewife. My dear kouhai from university was the wife of a full time stock trader, Jun Uehara. He had struck big investing early in an electric automobile manufacturer, sinking his entire inheritance and savings. Now they both lived a life of luxury off dividends and net returns. Sometimes they struck big, other days they lost money.
It was a risky venture, but the few times I spoke to Jun, he sounded confident in what he was doing. Not everyone can make that gamble. Others, like my husband, had to work hard for that money.
"You look and sound depressed, but I know you're going to be the first to beg to see my baby," I teased her.
"Well, hell yeah!" Kanako exclaimed. "To hell with having a baby of my own, too much work. I'll live vicariously as a mother through you. Let me spoil and play with the kid while you raise 'em. No charge."
"As long as we make it clear who the real mother is… by the way, Jun doesn't want a kid, either?" I asked.
She froze the moment I brought up her husband.
"Jun, huh? Ahhh… I haven't kept you up to date, but I only see him on the weekends now. Our passive income is through the roof so he's been going out all the time with his friends. God knows what he's doing."
"Have you tried talking to him?" I suggested.
"Won't matter. Not like he's gonna up and start giving me more attention, ya know?" Kanako shrugged and laid her head on the table.
It was the same reason I thought about having a child. I only saw Souji two hours out of the weekday. His routine coming home was shower, eat, and then sleep. On the weekends, he hung out with coworkers, and brought them home drunk late at night, so we never had time together.
"Being a housewife ain't as great as mom made it out to be… good thing I have fun things to keep myself occupied with." Kanako clinked our glasses together as though making a toast, then realized her mug was empty.
Both of our mothers were housewives to our fathers. I had always thought my mom held a strained smile whenever dad was around. It was possible she didn't enjoy being a housewife either. Still, my family was in a better situation than Souji's side. He sent monthly checks to both sides of our family, but I heard his brother had been mooching off their parents.
I wonder if my life was fated to be the same way, spending my prime years at home with no career or excitement to chase.
Was Kanako and I allowed to complain? We didn't need to lift a finger past house work, were given comfortable lives by husbands who make more than enough, and had steady disposable income to spend at our leisure.
Yet… it still felt unfair.
A notification ping alerted Kanako to her phone. She raised an eyebrow looking over whatever it is on the screen, but it appeared to amuse her. I tried to look over, but she flipped her phone over on the table.
Kanako suddenly shot a hand into the air and shouted, "Excuse me! Can the cute waiter come back to refill my coffee, please?"
The younger waiter who was servicing us looked old enough to be a college student. It wasn't uncommon, seeing as this side of Shinjuku was home to several college campuses. He hurried over as soon as he finished with another table, twirling a platter on his finger and carrying a pot of coffee in his other hand, clearly trying to impress a pair of older women. There was an air of optimism appropriate for his age that reminded me of myself when I was younger.
"Would you like another latte or just regular black?" he asked.
Kanako waved her hand, gesturing for him to lower his head. As he did, her other hand tugged on the collar of her already low-cut shirt, revealing to him an eyeful of her breasts. She pulled her shirt up after a good few seconds, leaving both me and the waiter stunned.
"Nothing. I'm fine," she answered, as though nothing was out of the ordinary. "Yui?"
I had to physically shake away the shock of what Kanako did to answer.
"No— uh, we're ready to pay. Thank you," I said in a panic, trying to keep my cool, but my trembling fingers lost hold of my wallet purse. It tumbled to the ground with a light pat.
Leaning under the table to fetch it, Kanako's lack of etiquette while wearing a skirt gave me an eyeful of her laced panties. That was when I noticed, attached to her upper thigh is an ovular device with a pink wire leading into her underwear.
When I popped back up, the waiter was gone and Kanako was zipping up her purse.
I had so many questions, but first…
"Why did you flash him? We could've gotten kicked out," I whispered, fuming.
Her eyes darted around, scanning the cafe like a burglar about to show me the prize of their heist. She flipped her phone over to reveal a black screen, two purple horns hover above a golden halo.
"Is this one of your elaborate jokes?" I asked.
"It's an app. A friend from my swimming circle introduced me to it. Every now and then it will randomly generate you a couple of raunchy choices, and if you complete it, you earn points. See?"
She pointed to a number at the top of the screen which showed [3,200/5,000,000]. There were icons on the bottom of the screen— a shopping cart, a red circle for recording, and a gear which I assumed was for settings.
I wasn't sure what I was seeing, but it seemed like Kanako was playing a dangerous game with this app. "You're telling me, you commit public indecency for the sake of shits and giggles? And that thing you have on your thigh…"
"The bullet vibrator? I got it for free spending points in the game. It even lets me earn points passively when it's turned on. I'll show you—"
"No!" I grabbed ahold of her hand to stop wherever she was about to reach. "You don't have to show me. W-Why would you play something like this?"
Kanako set her phone down and placed a hand atop mine. The wicked grin on her face reminded me of her promiscuity during college. The same look she gave when she brought a new boy toy to our apartment every weekend.
"Because it's exciting! I've been sooo bored. Jun isn't helping, so I tried it on a whim, and I'm addicted. You should try it!" she declared.
I pulled my hands away from her.
"N-No… there's no way I could— Hey!"
She snatched my phone like an alligator latching onto prey. I tried to get it back, but she deftly dodged every attempt I made to retrieve my phone. When I got out of my seat to box her in, she tossed it back into my hands, seemingly content with whatever she had done.
"The deed is done," she said, clapping her hands.
"What did you… "
In the fifteen seconds Kanako had my phone, she managed to install the app called 'NTL'.
"Oh, I can't believe you. What if this has malware?" I asked, rubbing my temple.
Kanako's handiwork stared back at me. The app, which had the halo and purple horns as an icon on my front screen, seemed to pulse with a red color, highlighting itself and then fading away.
She pressed her hands together in a plea more so than an apology. "It doesn't. I promise you. Try it, just once. If you don't like it, uninstall it."
"I'll think about it," I said, sighing.
Kanako's phone pinged again. She checked her phone and made a victory fist.
"Don't tell me you're going to do something lewd again?" I asked.
"Nope!" She showed me her phone.
The number in her app that had previously shown [3,200/5,000,000] was now [13,200/5,000,000]. It made no sense to me, but her score had risen significantly.
"I got a referral bonus for getting you to join!" she cheered, grinning from ear to ear.
"You're a real piece of work!" I shouted, chasing her out of the cafe.