Chapter 2: Tanuki
1994 Words
Chapter 2: Tanuki“Come everyone.” Miss Nakamura pokes her head into the dressing room where the other girls are preparing for the day ahead. “A quick meeting,” she says. “An important matter has come to light.”
I stand stooped behind her, trying to avoid catching anyone’s eye. This disruption to the morning routine is my fault.
“Gather ‘round, please,” says Miss Nakamura, ushering us all into the main area of the café.
“It seems an unwelcome visitor has come calling.” Miss Nakamura surveys the gathered faces. “A demon has come for one of our own.”
I shudder, my eyes wide and fixed on Miss Nakamura. Demon? She hadn’t used this word when we spoke earlier. I certainly hadn’t been the one to suggest it. A Demon? Was Miss Nakamura okay? Why did she choose that word?
What I saw was a wild dog or perhaps a stray from a large breed. Certainly not a demon. Such things did not exist outside of superstition and legend. But none of the hostesses gathered in the café seem the least taken aback.
“What sort?” asks Emi.
Why was no one shocked by this talk? By all rights, Miss Nakamura’s words should not be taken as truth. Should they?
“Tanuki,” says Miss Nakamura.
“Tanuki,” repeats Kuma, shaking her head.
A few of the others nod. Everyone focuses on Miss Nakamura. No one cast any doubts. Demons! Tanuki! I peek out from behind Miss Nakamura and look around the room. They’re all in need of medical attention. And probably myself as well.
“Kaiya.” Miss Nakamura turns and rests her hand on my shoulder. “Kaiya. Your phone if I may?”
“I…I…yes, Miss Nakamura.” I pull out my phone, unlocking it with my fingerprint, and pass it to her. It’s still open to the camera app. I’d been afraid to look at it since last night.
Miss Nakamura swipes to the first picture, showing it to the group as the others lean in. I manage to steel myself just enough to take a peek. A dog, that’s all it is. A wild dog from the forest that had somehow found its way into the city.
I breathe a small sigh. Just a dog.
As Miss Nakamura swipes to the next picture, and then the next, the hostesses and I see what appears to be a jerky, stop-motion animation of the dog raising up on its hind legs and standing like a man.
And though it’s only a still shot, not a video, I can still hear its words echoing in my head. Kaiya, it had said. Kaiya.
* * * *
“Kaiya. Kaiya.”
I open my eyes to the lights from the ceiling above, a ring of young women in colorful kimonos with cat ears atop their heads, and Ayumi’s worried face directly above me. “Kaiya,” she says. “How do you feel?”
“I…Ohh.” I try to lift my head, but it hurts when I do.
Emi hands a cloth to Ayumi, who places it over my forehead. The feeling of cool and wet causes a shiver to run through me.
“You bumped your head when you fell,” says Ayumi.
“Fell?”
“Fainted,” says Emi, frowning. “Mai caught you, but it was too late.”
“Mai?”
I turn to look at Mai. Instead of meeting my gaze, she is studying the floor. “Sorry,” she says. “I was too slow.”
“I…I’m…” Wasn’t Mai on the other side of the room? How could she have caught me? I must have hit my head harder than I thought.
But I don’t utter any of this. Rather, I say perhaps the dumbest thing possible. “Tanuki? You mean like those cute little things in Super Mario Brothers?”
* * * *
“Tanuki,” says Kuma. “The trickster.”
Just a big dog, I think to myself.
Kuma holds up the image on her phone for everyone to see, while I sit on a pillow beside Miss Nakamura on one side and Ayumi on the other. Miss Nakamura has me pulled in tight and is trailing her fingers over my forearm as if I were a child in need of soothing after a particularly bad dream. And perhaps I am.
Ayumi is holding my hand and occasionally dabbing my forehead with the moist cloth. And I am enjoying her attentions much more that I should be. I should get bonked on the head more often.
“Where there is one, there will be more,” says Tatsuo.
“Agreed,” says Kyoka.
“So, it’s happening again,” says Ne.
Everyone’s eyes are on Miss Nakamura. “Yes,” she says. “It would seem so.”
What? What’s happening? But I stay silent. I had brought enough trouble already.
“What do we do?” asks Emi.
“We have a café to open,” says Miss Nakamura, helping me to transfer my weight to Ayumi before she stands to clap her hands together once. “We will not let this tanuki distract us from that.”
All the girls around the room rise to their feet. Only Ayumi stays kneeling beside me.
“Kaiya will be taking the day to recover,” says Miss Nakamura. “I’ll need someone to cover preparations in the kitchen.”
Emi raises her hand.
“Thank you, Emi. Kyoka, will you please rearrange today’s schedule to account for two fewer hostesses.”
“Yes, Miss Nakamura.” Kyoka bows and scurries off.
“Miss Nakamura,” I say. “I can…I can still—”
“Nonsense,” Miss Nakamura waves her hand. Turning to Ayumi, she says, “Please take Kaiya upstairs to my apartment and make sure she rests.”
“Of course, Mother.”
I breathe a small sigh as Ayumi rises to her feet, helping me up alongside her. The feeling of her arm wrapped around me is strong and reassuring. And Ayumi is warm and smells of rose petals. I should definitely get bonked on the head more often.
* * * *
So many questions fill my head as I stand there beside Ayumi. What’s a tanuki? Why is it interested in me? Are there actually demons in Neo Tokyo? Is that really what I heard? No, it’s just a wild dog. Isn’t it?
But instead of asking Ayumi these things, I simply watch, slack-jawed with my eyes focused on her behind, as she kneels to straighten out the bed roll and fluff the pillow. She’s done in an instant and reaching for my hand. “Is there anything I can get you?” she asks. “Tea? Soup?”
“I should be downstairs. I’m fine. I can—”
“Miss Nakamura says you are to rest.”
“Your mother.”
“Yes, my mother. But this is her café. And in her café, she is Miss Nakamura and we do as she asks.”
I allow myself a wan smile and a brief peek at Ayumi kneeling beside me, still done up in her kimono and cat ears. “And your mother does not mind that you…” I let my words trail off, thinking better of the boldness of my question.
“That her daughter is a hostess in her café? That she undresses for clients who like to objectify her as a playful kitten?”
“I…I’m sorry. I should not have…It was rude of me to—”
“It’s a fair question,” she says. “And I will answer truthfully.”
I cast my eyes to my hands resting on my knees. I should never have broached the subject. Stupid bump on the head. I should know my place.
“It’s not prostitution,” says Ayumi. “There’s only petting. No penetration.”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t suggesting…”
“Kaiya,” says Ayumi, cupping my cheek in her hand. “Never apologize for your curiosity. Certainly not to me.”
“Thank you, Ayumi.” I pause to enjoy the touch of her fingers lingering on my skin.
“Now,” she says. “Let’s get you out of this kimono and into bed. Is a T-shirt okay with you? I’m sure I can find one.”
“Thank you, but I can—”
“No worry.” Ayumi is already up and moving. “You can wear your juban if you like, but…”
She returns shortly with an oversize, white cotton sleep shirt. “It might be a little big on you, but that’s all the better for sleeping, don’t you think?”
“Really, it’s okay.”
Ayumi ignores my protests and without a word, bends to kneel in front of me. I let my eyes drop, focusing on the cat ears still perched atop her head as she reaches around behind me. Deftly, my obi is untucked and untied, and I’m left standing with my kimono hanging loose.
Ayumi rises to her feet. My hair is let down next, but I keep my eyes where they are, afraid to meet her gaze. Raising her hand to graze my cheek, Ayumi brushes the hair out of my face. “Let’s see what you’re hiding under there, shall we?”
I freeze, rigid.
“Is this okay?” she asks. “I can leave the room if you’d rather.”
“No,” I manage. “Miss Nakamura says I am to rest. She said you were to make sure of it.”
Ayumi smiles. “She did.”
My brief assertiveness is spent and I say nothing further, only watch Ayumi’s hands move as she slips the kimono from my shoulders and relieves me of my undergarment.
And when I move to hug myself against the chill, Ayumi intercepts my hands, holding them in hers. Though I can’t meet her gaze, I do feel her eyes on me.
“You’re very beautiful,” she says, and then in one swift motion pulls the T-shirt over my head and smooths the fabric over my hips.
I chuckle briefly and bite my lip.
“What?” she says.
“What?” I repeat. “I’ve already seen you naked. You’re the beautiful one, Ayumi, not me.”
“You like girls, Kaiya.” Ayumi’s words strike me as more of a statement than a question.
“Yes.”
“I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I’m not paying attention.”
“I…” I feel my face flush. I can’t meet Ayumi’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” The amusement in her voice is making this worse.
“I…”
“Miss Nakamura says you’re supposed to be resting, Kaiya. And I am to make sure of it. If that means I should lie beside you and keep you warm, I will. Just tell me if that is your wish.”
“Y—yes,” I manage.
“Good. Now lie down.” Ayumi is on her feet again, untucking and untying and slipping out of her own kimono this time. After all is said and done, she pulls the cat ear headband from her hair. Her juban is next, sliding off her shoulders in one smooth motion. Only the jade amulet around her neck remains.
“Sorry,” she says, crawling in behind me, not wearing a stitch of anything. “I could only find the one T-shirt.”
“You’re very bold,” I say.
“Occupational hazard.” Ayumi reaches around to tap me on the tip of my nose. “No s*x, though. Miss Nakamura says you are to rest.”
“Yes, Ayumi.”
- Writer
