I eased myself down on the bed gingerly with a sigh and shook my head. Little pinch my ass, I scowled. And speaking of ass, I wasn’t sure if the full Brazilian should have included that spot as well. I mean, it shouldn’t have been that hairy. Right? Well, regardless of how hairy it was or should be it most certainly wasn’t now. In fact, nothing was. The hair had all been ripped away, along with probably a centimeter of skin. My labia, perineum and everything surrounding was swollen and sore. Never again, I vowed. Never again would I lie about something so foolish, and never again would I submit myself to what amounted to, in my mind, torture I had to pay 5000 yen to go through.

“You are smooth as a baby’s butt, now!” Nacchan had declared proudly, ripping a few stubborn hairs who had bravely defied the scorched earth treatment wrought by the wax out with tweezers. “How does it feel?”

How does it feel? It feels like you tore huge chunks of flesh out along with the hair and that if people wanted to lose weight, having such a thing done was probably one way to clear off a kilo or two. It feels like I should be questioned about my loyalty to the church by my local inquisitor. That’s how it feels, I thought venomously.

“Breezy,” I muttered, jaw still clenched to hold back the tears.

“I bet! You weren’t too hairy, so it was quick!” Nacchan declared, rubbing some oils into my skin once she was sure the years of puberty had been eradicated completely. “Take a look!” I raised my head to peer in the mirror she’d held up to my vagina. My labia were swollen nearly twice their normal size and red.

“I see,” I muttered.

“Congratulations, princess! You’re a manhwa protagonist, now!” Komari chuckled sadistically.

“I’m so terribly happy,” I lied.

“So, the irritation and redness should fade before you know it. You’ll be a bit sore tonight but a young girl like you should be good as new in no time,” Nacchan murmured.

“I’ve got a party I’m going to tomorrow night; will I be able to go into a bath?” I wondered, suddenly worried I’d done all of this only to screw myself out of having fun.

“Oh, yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Nacchan nodded, finishing rubbing the oils into my skin. “The first one’s always the hardest, but next time will be easier.”

“I don’t know about a next time,” I said, silently vowing there would never be a next time. I would have to be drugged and unconscious before ever allowing myself to be dragged into another torture session with the devil wax bubbling in its cauldron like a witch’s brew.

“It’s ok,” Nacchan grinned, patting my arm sympathetically. “You were brave and didn’t cry! You don’t need to have a wax done if you don’t want. I also do hair coloring, styling, braiding, pedicures, manicures, perms and acupuncture!”

“And shameless self-promotion,” Komari chided her. Nacchan grinned wildly and handed me her card. “Get dressed, princess, I’ll drive you home. I doubt you’ll be in any shape to bus it.” I nodded gratefully.

I eased my legs apart and lay back on the bed with a sigh. Regardless of anything else, my initial reaction was spot on. It felt quite breezy. And not, actually, in a way I found particularly enjoyable. Perhaps it was psychological, I thought. Nacchan had said herself I didn’t have that much hair to begin with. Maybe I simply imagined an increase in air flow. If it was more exposed to the elements, I wondered if I ran the risk of frostbite if it got too cold. How in the hell would I explain that at the hospital? I reminded myself to Google whether or not lack of pubic hair contributed to labial frostbite. Or I supposed, check and see if that was a thing that could happen in the first place. A sudden thought occurred to me, and my eyes snapped worriedly.

What if the swelling didn’t go down? What if I had to go to the party and get in the water with my labia looking like an unnaturally smooth dragon fruit? How the hell would I explain that? It’s not like it wasn’t noticeable. At the moment it would be impossible to miss. Could I even get in the water if that happened? Could I say that I cut myself and sit on the side of the bath and move my feet in the water or something. No, no, no, I shook my head. What could I possibly be doing to necessitate having something sharp near my vagina unless I was shaving and that would simply undo everything I’d gone through? Whilst in the middle of yet another in a seemingly endless stream of existential crises I’d spent the past 24 hours dealing with the phone rang, causing me to jump in surprise.

“Hiya, K-chan,” Aria chirped when I answered. “Whatcha up to?”

“I just got home and am lying on my bed,” I smiled at the sound of her voice.

“Wow! Late night at work! I figured you’d have already been home, taken a bath, eaten dinner, and were doing your homework by now. You’re starting to get like me! I got home not long ago from shopping.”

“Shopping again?” I chuckled. “Your aunt really likes to shop, huh?”

“Well, between my aunt and my cousin I do a lot of shopping, true story.”

“Did you buy anything good?” I put the phone down and pressed the speaker button, then stretched my arms above my head to work out the tension in my shoulders. Having one’s hair torn out at the roots certainly caused a lot. I wondered if I should take Nacchan up on her acupuncture offer at some point, I thought. Though how one can be licensed for all of that at the same time I wasn’t sure.

“Nah, I bought some ribbons and stuff that were on sale. How about you? How was work?”

“Work was fine, after work kinda sucked,” I scowled at the memory and my aching labia. “No kinda about it, I guess. It sucked.”

“Aww,” Aria sympathized, obviously changing the position of her phone to her other shoulder judging by the faint rustling sound of her blouse. “Problems with Jun again?” I scowled slightly. Honestly, I didn’t even want to hear his name come from her mouth but that seemed like an unreasonable thing to demand.

“Ah, no, I went and got a full Brazilian wax after work,” I admitted. Silence descended on the room as Aria said nothing. “I didn’t know it would hurt so bad. Remind me to not ever do that again.”

“What do you mean?” Aria finally said, her voice sounding odd in a way I couldn’t define.

“Well, I had never heard of it before, but my boss took me to her friend who does them. I meant to keep some hair but by the time I was done I didn’t care and told her to remove it all. It’s not like I’m ever going to get one again and I didn’t want it to grow back in in a weird way. No one wants a pubic mohawk, after all.” I found myself jabbering slightly. Of course Aria had probably heard of them. I imagine half of California got them on a regular basis. It seemed like a California thing to do. There was a long moment of silence before Aria replied.

“So you went with your boss to get your pussy waxed?” Aria’s voice was low and accusatory, and I was taken more than a bit aback.

“What do you mean?” I asked, glancing at the phone in surprise. I couldn’t be sure, but I didn’t think I’d ever heard her sound like that before.

“Was your boss with you?”

“Yes,” I answered, seeing no reason to lie.  

“So your boss was in the room with you?” Aria continued, sounding a bit like a lawyer I’d seen on dramas my mom watched from time to time.

“Yes,” I repeated. “What’s wrong?” It was plain there was something seriously off.

“What could possibly be wrong?” Her voiced positively dripped with sarcasm. “You just went and spread your legs while your boss stared at your pussy. I haven’t even seen you naked and she was one step away from fingering you. What could possibly be wrong?”
                “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, my own anger rising in a wave which washed away the pain in an instant. “She was not ‘one step away from fingering’ me, for your information.”

“What about me?” Aria demanded.

“What about you?” I snapped back.

“Why didn’t you ask me to go with you? Hell, why didn’t you ask me to do it for you?”

“It was a split-second thing I needed to get done! Besides, do you even know how to do it?”

“No, but I could have looked it up. Even in this shithole of a town Google works,” Aria scolded me. “Regardless, I should have been the one there, not your fucking boss.”

“How would that have worked? You don’t have a car and I can’t ever get in touch with you after school because you’re always shopping!”

“What are you saying?” Aria snarled. “What are you accusing me of? If you’ve got something to say, fucking say it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I bristled further at her tone. “Are you not shopping?”

“You have a lot of nerve! You’re the one letting your boss ogle your fucking snatch and you have the audacity to try to turn this around on me? That’s rich!” I stared at the phone, mouth agape. What was happening right now? I wasn’t 100% sure, but I was pretty damn close to positive I’d done nothing to warrant this.

“I have no clue what you’re so mad about,” I growled. “I got my hair ripped out; I wasn’t a fucking escort.”

“Yeah, right in front of your fucking dyke bitch boss,” Aria raged. “Don’t act like you’re miss innocent. It’s not a good look for you.”

“What?” I breathed. What the hell was she trying to say? Why was Aria being like this? My mind tried desperately to grasp onto any thread of what Aria was trying to say but failed miserably. How had things spun so wildly out of control in a matter of minutes?

“Why’d you get your pussy waxed in the first place? To impress the dyke?” Aria sneered.

“It had nothing to do with Komari and I have no idea why you keep bringing her up!” I protested angrily.

“Oh! So sorry! Komari the dyke! My apologies!”

“So what am I?” I demanded. “Am I a fucking dyke, too? What about you?”

“Don’t try to spin this,” Aria sighed, changing tactics.

“I’m not spinning anything!” I raved. “I got waxed because I told Emi I didn’t have any pubic hair and I’m going to be naked in the fucking bath tomorrow! She helped me because it was an emergency. That was it! That is all! I didn’t call you because I knew you were shopping, and it takes a day for the swelling to fucking go down and I needed it done right then. I wasn’t accusing you of anything, unlike what you were accusing me of. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Huh?” Aria finally asked after a moment’s silence.

“I’m not going to repeat everything I just said,” I rubbed the bridge of my nose in exasperation and anger.

“This was because of what you told Emi?”

“Of course it was! You were there! Remember when you asked why I lied? Well, if I didn’t want to suck it up and admit I’d lied I had to get it done.”

“Seriously?”

“What the fuck? Of course, seriously. What the hell did you think it was?”

“I…I don’t know,” Aria mumbled. “I…I’m sorry. I guess I got a little jealous.”

“A little?” I gaped at the phone. “That was more than a little. What the fuck? What do you think of me?”

“It’s not like that, K-chan,” Aria soothed. In my head I heard the ticking over of two points in my favor in the relationship game and, strangely, it both thrilled and disgusted me. “I wanted to be the first one to see you naked like that and the thought of your boss being that person or another person touching you there kind of drove me nuts, I guess. I’m so sorry.”

“I- “I paused, my mind traveling back to how I’d felt the times I’d imagined Aria having sex with other people and understood what she meant in a way I wish I didn’t. “I understand.”

“You do?” Aria’s tone was hopeful.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” as the anger subsided the ache between my thighs returned with a vengeance, as if to remind me in no uncertain terms it was still there.

“Have you ever gotten jealous?” Aria teased, switching gears faster than a Porsche at Les Mans.

“You know I have, or do I need to remind you of Daishi’s Instagram post?”

“Ugh,” Aria gagged,” don’t remind me. I’m sorry, K-chan. I don’t know what came over me. Temporary insanity, maybe?”

“I get it,” I commiserated. “I understand.”

“You are the best girlfriend ever!” Aria exclaimed. “I love you!”

“I love you, too, second best girlfriend ever,” I grinned like a loon at nothing.

“Ah! Rude! Take it back! I have to be at least as good a girlfriend!”

“Ok,” I sighed dramatically. “I guess you can be equal.”

“Yay!” Aria exclaimed. “So, excited about tomorrow?”

“I am, yeah. You?”

“Oh, definitely. It’s going to be so much fun! Plus, I get to see you bare as the day you were born. In every way!”

“Yeah,” I shrugged, thinking of my hairless vagina ruefully. “I guess you’re not wrong there. I also get to see you naked, too.”

“Are you excited?” Aria purred.

“Oh, yes,” I nodded emphatically. “You have no idea.”

“I think I’ve got a pretty good idea if it’s anything close to how I feel. Well, I need to go get some food, but I’ll see you tomorrow, K-chan!”

“Yep, see you then. I love you,” I replied.

“I love you most!” Aria enthused before the line went dead.

“Dinner, brat!” A voice called from the hall. I scowled. In the heat of the moment I had nearly forgotten Jun existed. How truly disappointing.