As We Stumble Along
Chapter 4/?
By Baine
Email: ladybaine at gmail dot com
Written: June 11th, 2007
Posted: September 16th, 2007
I’m sorry for the delay, everyone! I wanted to put it out two weeks ago and put five out last week so that it could follow the same timeline as Japanese schools since students have just come back from summer holidays. I had to wait to get it back from all of my editors and make it as pretty as I could, though. Hopefully the next update will be sooner. Sorry!
*—(number) Implies that there is a Japanese cultural note regarding the topic at the end of the story.
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As We Stumble Along
Chapter Four
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Blood swirled through the water, dark and ominous. Umino winced as he lightly touched a finger to the underside of his knee. He’d thought it hurt when he nicked his face, but it was nothing compared to the pain that came from slicing his leg.
The rational part of his brain realized this was due to the fact that the cut continued to be immersed in water, rather than exposed to air. He frowned down at the small pink razor in his hand. Mina had called it a “Venus” and said it was the best on the market. She’d been ecstatic over the idea of getting him the latest limited edition model and had gone so far as to buy a matching one for herself. *—1
Running his finger lightly over the blade, he decided he preferred his own manly razor. It gave him a close shave and didn’t leave him feeling all cut up and raw.
Rinsing off, he climbed out of the tub and reached for a towel. It was yellow, a compromise on his part. Minako had wanted to go with pink again, but he’d drawn the line; too much pink would be the death of him. He didn’t mind yellow. In fact, it reminded him of his new neighbor’s long, gorgeous hair. He’d never seen anything like it before and had to wonder if it was completely natural.
Clearing the steam from the mirror as he swiped his palm against the glass, Umino grabbed his shaving gel from the tub and pulled a razor and small, aqua-colored bottle from his toiletry bag. He felt ridiculous just saying the word: A toiletry bag. It was nothing but more unnecessary clutter women felt to be essential to their way of life. He had to admit, in this case, having a little bag to hide his stuff in actually worked in his favor, but still, did they really need so much junk? Picking up the small bottle, he felt its rough surface as he doled the cream into the palm of his hand. He’d scraped the cover off so that its contents were less obvious; if Naru happened to come across it and ask what it was, he’d just say it was lotion or moisturizer or something. After all, it wasn’t far from the truth.
Until he’d started using the cream, his face had been a mess of bumps every time he’d shave. He’d been cursed with his mother’s sensitive skin. He glanced down at the side of his left leg. It hurt to shave that one part and the skin was never smooth. He attributed the fact to his legs being unaccustomed to the new sensation of being hairless, but perhaps his skin was just sensitive in general. He wondered if this was a problem for girls and whether or not it would be easy to get such supplies from the local drugstore.
Glancing in the mirror as he ran his razor against the familiar curves and crevices of his face, he wondered if his skin would start to break out again now that he was shaving more frequently. Luckily, the new growth wasn’t that obvious against his tan skin unless one was looking for it. He was loath to try Minako’s overnight facial mask method unless it became a necessity.
Washing up and pulling out an unscented, alcohol-based astringent, he quickly applied it as he would have done with aftershave. Unfortunately, he couldn’t use his favorite brand. Instead, he had to use a substitute for the real thing, considering the fact that girls didn’t typically walk around smelling like Old Spice. He quickly brushed his teeth and pulled on his nightclothes. Looking over at the full-length mirror on the wall, he frowned. His legs looked absolutely naked. It was unnatural. Considering the fact that he was forced to wear a skirt 24/7, he wondered how many people would notice how unfeminine his muscular legs were compared to the slender lines typically associated with females. He could spin the athletic angle, but “Umi” wasn’t good at sports. He couldn’t be, or it would be a dead giveaway. Luckily, the school socks came to his knees, so it would hopefully take a shrewd eye to notice what he was trying to hide.
He plucked at his blue cotton night skort. It would have been too strange to wear a skirt to bed since it wasn’t part of the typical nightwear ensemble, but if he wore pants, it could make certain parts of his anatomy too obvious. He thanked the powers that be for the fact that skorts were the school’s gym uniform of choice. He wondered if it would be too obvious if he slipped out of this itchy bra once the lights were out. Girls didn’t have to wear the contraption overnight, and he didn’t want to, either.
Picking up his glasses and wiping the condesation from the lenses, he slipped them on and headed out of the bathroom, his toiletry bag tucked safely beneath his arm. Walking back into the bedroom, he froze as he took note of the three girls sprawled across the floor. Apparently, Rei and Usagi had come over while he’d been in the shower. Crossing to his bed, he quickly tucked his bag between the headboard and the wall, careful not to let the girls see what he was doing as he made a show of fluffing his pillow and turning down the covers.
Naru turned with a curious look. “Aren’t you going to come and talk with us?”
Pausing in the process of slipping beneath the covers, he stuttered, “Yeah, I guess. Can I talk from up here, though? I, uh—” An idea came to mind and he almost sighed in relief. “I just shaved my legs and they’re a little sensitive at the moment. I don’t want to get rug burn.”
Usagi nodded, a sympathetic look on her face. “My legs get that way, too. Once I switched razors, I started to have fewer problems.” She tilted her head. “What are you using at the moment?”
Umino’s face flushed. “Um, a Venus.” Was this what they called girl talk? He had never understood the need to discuss things that were personal. He hoped they didn’t break into a gab session about the best brand of tampon next. Granted, he’d be able to hold his own if they did because Minako had prepared him with the answers, but it didn’t mean he had to relish the experience.
“Ah, I use an American brand, too. It’s called Intuition. It’s a little pricey, but the blade is surrounded by soap, so it’s better on my legs. I’ve tried many different razors, both local brands and imports, but this one is definitely my favorite.”
“Really? Maybe I’ll try it out.” Safely under the covers, Umino turned to face the girls once more. He had a feeling his libido would go into overdrive if he looked upon the scantily-clad females sprawled across the floor for too long. That was the worst thing about being a guy; it was impossible to hide his reaction. It had led to a few embarrassing situations in the past and would be detrimental if noticed here. That was the real reason he’d been so quick to scramble into bed. The covers hid him from view.
“I can go with you whenever you go to the store and show you what to look for. It’s no problem.” Usagi gave him a heart-stopping grin and his stomach clenched.
“Y-Yeah, sure. Thanks.”
“Anytime.” She smiled again, then tilted her head to face Rei as the raven-haired girl began to talk about her new class schedule. “You have history with Kawaguchi-sensei? No way, I have him, too!” Usagi gleefully snatched at the paper.
Pulling her schedule away from her roommate’s flailing hands, Rei frowned. “I’m not doing your homework for you, Usagi.”
“No, but if we do it together, it’ll get done twice as fast.”
Rei scoffed. “No way. I’ve been down this road with you before.”
Stopping them before a fight ensued, Naru smoothly deflected the argument by stating, “I have that class, too, as does Umi. We should make a study circle or something and get together before each test.”
Usagi nodded enthusiastically. “That sounds cool.”
“You would think so,” her roommate groused.
Usagi turned to shove Rei’s shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean? You should be grateful for the suggestion. It’s not like you get perfects on every test.”
Narrowing her eyes, Rei replied, “No, but at least I still manage to make A’s, unlike some people in this room. I swear, Usagi, I don’t know how you managed to pass the entrance exam and get accepted into such a prestigious school.”
“Just because I don’t like to do homework doesn’t mean that I’m not smart. I have more important things to do than stick my nose in a book during our precious free time.”
Rei snorted. “Like what, going into town and picking up boys?”
“No, baka, like—” Usagi’s eyes narrowed and she turned to gaze up at Umino, who had managed to remain silent despite the chaos occuring below him. “That reminds me. I know that I only met you today, Umi, but I’d really like to talk to you about your boyfriend.”
“My...boyfriend?” Umino frowned and an image of Mamoru popped to mind. Damn. He had hoped they’d have forgotten about him.
“Yeah. Do you mind?”
Rei smacked her roommate on the head. “Shut up, Usagi. You need to start thinking before opening that loud mouth of yours.”
Glowering at Rei as she rubbed her head, Usagi scowled and would have retorted if Umino didn’t step in with a rather forceful, “No, stop. It’s okay. What’s up, Usagi?”
“Ah...” Usagi flushed and glanced down at her hands. “It’s just, how can I say this...”
“Usagi without anything to say? The world is ending.” Rei flopped backwards dramatically as Usagi replied by blowing her a raspberry.
“Anyway, what I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted was that...well, he makes me uncomfortable.”
Turning, Umino propped his chin with his hands, causing the covers to fall to his waist. “What do you mean?”
“Just...I know he’s your boyfriend and all, but he kept trying to flirt with me and would check me out whenever he thought I wasn’t looking. I saw him looking at other girls in the cafeteria, too. His actions became a little more obvious once you left.” Usagi shrugged. “I wouldn’t be comfortable with him doing that if he was my boyfriend; I doubt anyone would be. I just wanted to let you know.”
Umino rapped his fingers against the mattress. If he didn’t break clean now, he’d have yet another lie to hide. The more you tucked away, the easier it was to make a mistake and be found out later.
“Usagi, listen. The truth is—” Breathing deeply, he mustered up his strength. “The truth is, Mamoru and I are just friends. He’s a boy, and he’s my friend, but there’s a space between the words. We’ve known each other all our lives. It would be too weird if we started dating now.”
Naru snapped her fingers. “That’s why you were acting so strange in the caf.”
“Guilty as charged.”
Usagi frowned, a wounded expression on her face. “Why didn’t you just tell us? We wouldn’t have cared.”
Umino shrugged. “I dunno, I guess I didn’t want you to think badly of me.”
“If you don’t want him, I’d be more than happy to take him off your hands.” Rei pursed her lips and touched her index finger to her lips before pressing it against her wrist. “He’s hot.”
“Wow, Rei, you don’t have ice in your veins after all.” Usagi scrunched up her face and made fish-lips, smacking them together to make a loud, smacking noise. “My name is Rei and I’ve decided that I like guys after all. In fact—”
Peals of laughter were heard as the two girls began to roll across the floor. Dragging his eyes from the stimulating sight as shirts rose too high and hands fell where they didn’t belong, Umino turned to look at his roommate.
Mistaking his sign of distress for one of embarrassment over the situation, Naru stood and placed her hands on her hips. “Okay, playtime’s over. It’s time to go to bed.”
Usagi glanced up, her head at an awkward angle due to the fact that Rei had a large fistful of golden hair in the palm of her hand. “Naru, you’re kicking us out?”
“Yeah. I’m not getting the RA in here handing out demerits because the two of you have turned my room into a wrestling arena. If you want to kick and scream, take it across the hall.” Naru opened the door and gestured. “Out. Now.”
Lowering her head in shame, Rei dragged Usagi from the room. The sounds of grappling faded as a door slammed across the hall.
Closing the door with a pained expression, Naru sighed. “Sorry about that. Unfortunately, they’re usually like this. Now, I only get worried if they don’t start bickering with one another.”
Rubbing his hand against his now-smooth jaw, Umino mused, “My first impression of Rei was that she was this regal princess.”
Naru laughed. “I know, right? That’s the face she shows the public. Behind closed doors with people she trusts, however...” Naru shrugged. “Perhaps it’s such an extreme change because she’s always forced to be perfect.”
“How come?”
“Her dad’s a political figure.”
“Ah.” A light came to his eyes as her words connected to his brain. “Wait, is her dad Senator Hino of the Liberal Democratic Party?” *—2
“Yeah,” Naru replied, inquisitively raising an eyebrow. “You follow politics?”
“Um, yes?” Umino frowned. Had he made another gender error? Despite being smart, did all girls hate politics?
Laughing, Naru climbed into her own bed. Her legs winked at him, long and tone, before disappearing beneath her frilly covers. “Don’t look so ashamed. You shouldn’t be. I was just surprised because I can never talk about politics with the others. Usagi doesn’t know a thing about the topic, while Rei wants to stay as far away from her father’s work as she can get.”
“Understandable.”
“Mind if I turn off the light?”
“Go ahead.”
Once the room was cloaked in darkness, Naru murmured, “So, Umi.”
“Yeah?”
“What do you think about the fact that they want to change the Ninth Article of the Constitution so that the country will once again be able to mobilize for war?” *—3
Grinning, Umino leaned his head against his pillow, burrowing closer to his covers. So this was what it was like to be at the top school in the country, he’d actually be able to have an intelligent conversation. Rolling onto his side as he answered Naru’s question, he decided that he could definitely get used to this.
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Cultural Note #1: Japan sells imported razors such as Venus and Intuition alongside their own brands.
Cultural Note #2: Information that Rei’s dad is senator of the actual Liberal Democratic Party came from Genvid’s website.
Cultural Note #3: The debate over whether or not to change the Ninth Article of the constitution is currently a hot topic in Japan.
Like it? Hate it? I’m the one to talk to! Hit the little review button or e-mail ladybaine at gmail dot com today!
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