With Obon coming up, many people were in high spirits. Certain parts of the city like parks and plazas were cordoned off for construction workers to build yaguras, temporary towers in which celebrants danced around during the festival.
One of the wooden scaffoldings at the park I was waiting at was nearly complete. It brought back memories of when Souji and I danced together, we had done so every year up until he was promoted to his current position. I wondered if we were going to celebrate this year.
We had made plans to visit Souji's parents in Tatsuno city at Hyogo Prefecture for his days off. My parents already had the pleasure of seeing us for Obon in July. Back then, I didn't get a chance to talk to them about having a grandchild, because Souji and I only just talked about it recently. But his family was my family, too. I was sure they would love to hear about us having children.
Kanako was late, as usual. The same construction workers made three roundtrips to their trucks, and she still wasn't here. It was already half past noon, and I'd been waiting since eleven.
She was lucky I didn't mind waiting here. The parks in Shinjuku, despite being tucked in the middle of a metropolitan area, were beautiful. An abundance of trees surrounded the park to hide the concrete jungle of the city, all except for the tallest buildings. A river untainted by litter and pollution flowed through with birds diving in for a quick meal.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Kanako came running up to me in a white crop top and jean shorts. It was like she just left a party or club. Even her hair was a mess. She dropped down next to me on the bench and passed me one of two caramel frappes in her hands. "This is tribute."
"So, you wanna explain to me why you're dressed up like an American college gal?" I asked.
Kanako turned the other cheek and started whistling. Poorly. She took a long sip of her frappe and then said, "App gave me the option of going out in my birthday suit, a bikini, or this. If I wasn't meeting up with ya, I might actually have worn a bathing suit and gone swimming!"
Going by what she said, the app asked for more than just committing sexual acts. It even went as far as having her decide on different outfits.
"I actually wanted to ask about the NTL app—"
"Did you play? Did you enjoy it? What'd it ask you to do?" Kanako launched a barrage of questions. She leaned in so close I could smell the pomegranate perfume on her, and noticed the lack of a bra strap on her shoulders.
Was she not wearing a bra under that thin crop top?
"Calm down! I did play it, but I'm not going to tell you what I did. That's embarrassing," I said, sipping on my drink.
"Tch. That's no fun. But you're actually playing it, good on ya for that," Kanako complimented. "What did you want to ask?"
"Was the app supposed to know where I live? I ordered something, and it was delivered to me in an instant so I thought..." My words trailed off, unable to find the right thing to say to describe the fear I felt.
Kanako didn't seem to share my concern. She checked her phone as she drank the frappe, undeterred by the incredibly cold beverage.
"I was scared at first, too. Jun and I live in a gated penthouse, so when my first purchase showed up at my door, I freaked out. Couldn't tell Jun though, being what the app was. Eventually I got used to it, nothing was happening to me. I figured free stuff was free stuff," she answered.
Maybe I was just overthinking it. Delivery systems had come far enough that we had drones flying through the sky to deliver packages. What's to say that wasn't the case for me?
Talking to Kanako didn't remove all my worries, but being with her did make me feel less tense about it.
The two sat there watching children play in the park. One day, hopefully soon, I would come here with my children and have Kanako babysit them.
Thinking about it had me curious who my kids would take after. It would be cute if they looked more like Souji. On the other hand, my genes did preserve my youthful beauty.
"Look at those litter runts. Soon, you'll be popping them out like popcorn, changing their diapers, feeding them in the middle of the night— oh, god. I'm getting a headache thinking about it," she said, grimacing as a young boy tugged at his mother's skirt to get her attention from another woman.
"Guess I'll have to find another godmother," I tease.
Kanako's head snapped to my direction, and she grabbed me by my shoulders. "For real, Yui? You were gonna ask me to be your kid's godmother? I take that back. Consider it done. I'll love 'em more than you!"
My phone vibrated. I checked it to find three choices on the screen.
"What is it? The app?" Kanako asked, leaning in to see.
I pushed her away before she could get a proper look. "It's probably Souji!"
That was a lie.
The three choices were:
[Make out with Kanako.] +1,000pts
[Have sex with Kanako.] +10,000pts
[Invite a construction worker to have a threesome with yourself and Kanako.] +15,000pts
I blinked idly at the preposterous requests on the screen. The last two were a no-go, but even the least wild one had me doing something lewd with Kanako.
Make out with her? Out of everyone I knew, she was the most adventurous in college, and likely had herself a woman.
As my best friend, she would understand why if I asked her. Hell, she would likely agree to it. Of all the things it asked me to do until now, this had to be the most agreeable choice. On top of that, Kanako was a very attractive woman with assets to weaken a loyal man.
I couldn't do it.
Could I?
I turned to my best friend, who not only plays the same game as I do, but has been with me through thick and thin for the last decade. "Kanako, I… "
"Hm? What's up?" Her supple lips clamped on the straw sucking up the remnants of her frappe.
The blood pumping into my head was making me dizzy. Kanako stared at me expectantly, completely unaware of what I thought about doing.
"I…" I took a deep, quivering breath before finally saying, "I'm… actually going to Hyogo for Obon to visit Souji's parents. You want me to bring back a souvenir?"
"Yoooo! You're the best! Bring back some of Ninomae mama's mochi. I fucking loooove them," Kanako shouts, throwing her arms around me and squishing our chests together.