“Wh-What are you doing here?” I stammered as she drew me into a hug.

“You’re still short,” she smirked at me as she released me after a moment and held me at arm’s length. “I see you also let your hair grow out. It looks halfway decent. And what do you mean what am I doing here? I’m here to support my fiancée is what!”

“Rei?” I asked, slightly confused. “You’re still dating Auntie Ray?”

“Much as the devil, speak my name and I shall appear!” A woman’s voice said from behind me. I turned to find a woman about my height with streaks of lime green hair and an exquisite blue green off the shoulder dress standing there, a plate piled high with cocktail sausages in her hand. “Hiya, sweetheart! It’s good to see you. Weenie?”

“The Princess here seems aghast we’re still dating shrimp stuff,” Komari sighed. Rei’s pretty face pulled tight in a scowl.

“I really wish you wouldn’t call me ‘shrimp stuff’, you know,” Rei sighed.

“I wouldn’t if you grew,” Koemi shrugged. “In the end you have only genetics to blame.”

“Let’s just ignore this person,” Rei popped one of the sausages into her mouth using a toothpick and grinned. “I love these things.”

“You realize they’re just salt on a plate, right?” Komari pointed out.

“And you realize I’m ignoring you until you stop calling me shrimp stuff, right?” Rei popped another sausage into her mouth and chewed at Komari. “And I like salt. Have you gotten your food yet, sweetheart?” Rei turned to me, proffering the plate again.

“Oh, no, I haven’t,” I glanced down at the items I’d already placed on my plate and shrugged. “At least not all of it.”

“Well, fill your plate and then come sit at the table over there in the corner,” Rei gestured with her elbow at a large circular table closest to the stage. “It’s where all the cool kids sit.”

“I’ll see you there, Princess,” Komari grinned at me and followed Rei as she made her way through the crowd.

It’s not surprising I hadn’t known Komari and Rei were dating, I reasoned. Rei kept her personal life as close to the vest as I did, and I rarely ended up seeing her except at the occasional practice I would visit back in high school. Still, to think her and Komari were still dating made me feel good for some reason. I had known a few lesbian couples since high school and they almost all ended up separating. Some were simply pulled in different directions through the normal course of a relationship. Others were more dramatic, like when one or the other decided they weren’t gay after all, and still others were ripped apart by their families.

Akari and Sachi, Mari and Yukiko, Koemi and Nanami and now Rei and Komari gave me hope that not everything was as bleak as many couples found them to be. Or maybe, I mused while I piled egg rolls onto my plate, being wealthy gave a certain amount of insulation from arbitrary judgement. Though I would have thought the inclusion of fame would work against whatever boons money granted.

I remembered many times during rehearsal when the PR team would be deep in talks with the others about what to do about certain reporters. Sachi never particularly cared. She made no bones about who she loved and dared anyone to say anything about it. But she was far more protective of the other members’ privacy.

As I finished filling my plate and strolled through the crowd toward the big table Rei had indicated, I had to smile. Regardless of the lengths they went to and the struggles they faced; they were all still together. Unlike my long and unbroken string of failures ranging from the intensely melodramatic and nearly unbelievable to the all too mundane, at least some couples managed to hold on against the currents trying to drag them to drown out at sea.

“There’s she is!” A man rose from a table I was passing and with a speed belying his height quickly closed the distance between us and wrapped me in a tight hug, nearly causing me to drop my plate in the process. My surprise was immediately replaced with a broad grin.

“Ojiisan!” I gasped as he squeezed me. “How are you?”

“Eichi! Put her down this instant! You’re embarrassing us!” A woman appeared almost instantly at his elbow and began tugging his strong arms irritably.

“Hi, obaasan!” I managed, waving my free hand awkwardly.

“I can hug my granddaughter if I want, Ayaka!” The man replied easily in his deep, gruff voice.

“Our granddaughter,” Ayaka corrected him, folding her arms over her chest irritably. “And, yes, you can hug her. You cannot crush her. Learn your strength old man! She’s going to spill her food.”

“Ugh!” The bear of a man finally let me down and stepped back, scowling at Ayaka playfully. “Fine!”

“Finally, my turn!” Ayaka folded me in a hug of her own.

“You deceptive woman!” Eichi growled. “You just wanted her for yourself!”

“Don’t tell me how to live my life,” Ayaka snapped back.

“How have you been, sweetheart?” Eichi asked, grabbing both of us in a hug before stepping back.

“Not bad!” I stepped back as they released me and checked to make sure my food was still on the plate. “Working, you know?”

“There’s always a place in my office, you know,” Eichi’s eyes shone hopefully.

“I have a job, Ojiisan,” I pointed out, ready for the retort.

“But is it a job which you find rewarding?” Eichi responded predictably. He’d say that very same thing whether I was forced to erase pubic hair or was the Prime Minister.

“Ok, dad, let her go,” the woman which came up behind him and tapped him on his shoulder was tall and thin but with a presence that plainly said she was in charge.

“Sachi! You loved spending time in the office when you were younger, right?” Eichi turned to her and gestured toward me. “Don’t you think my little Kasumi would find it rewarding?”

“I hated spending time in your office, dad,” Sachi replied, gently dragging me away from Eichi toward her and the table behind her. The smaller woman next to her grinned and hugged me close as Sachi passed me over to her.

She was, in a word, gorgeous. Her doe eyes were a warm brown which sparkled in the low light and her skin was flawless. Her body was thin but muscular, a true dancer’s body through and through and her long black hair was swept up on top of her head with strands of dyed purple falling about her face fetchingly.

“Akari! Talk some sense into your wife and my granddaughter!” Eichi pleaded with her.

“You know I would if I could, Papa,” Akari giggled, a musical sound which captivated everyone who heard it.

“I know, I know,” the man sighed. “At least say you’re coming to the country house next weekend for skiing.”

“You know I’m not much of a skier, Ojiisan,” I fidgeted. I hated skiing if I was honest. I had no idea how people did it. I couldn’t get both skis going in the same direction and always ended up way off course and hopelessly tangled in scrub brush.

“How about you let me teach you?” Eichi’s eyes sparkled in excitement.

“Tha-That sounds fun,” I finally relented. “I’ll be there, sure.”

“We’ll all be there,” Akari assured him, ignoring Sachi’s look of displeasure.

“We’re going over here to get ready, dad,” Sachi hugged him for a moment before taking my arm and hurrying me toward the table. “Enjoy the shrimp!”

“There’s shrimp?” Eichi asked as I was whisked away.

“You need to be kinder to your father, Sacchan,” Akari scolded her.

“And you need to not encourage him, ‘Kari,” Sacchan grumbled back. “No one wants to go watch him burn steaks on a grill in the middle of a blizzard.”

“It’s been too long!” Akari took my other arm possessively in hers. “You need to come visit more often. Sacchan could use a workout partner who can beat her.”

“Pfft,” Sachi scoffed. “I could take little Kasumi.”

“Maybe if she’s asleep,” Akari giggled again.

“A win is a win,” Sachi shrugged. “I’m glad you made it tonight and ‘Kari’s right. You must visit more often.”

“I’ll do that,” I agreed. Honestly, I loved visiting Sachi and Akari. Akari cooked the most amazing meals, and their pool and gym were to die for.

The table proved fuller than it at first appeared as I drew up next to it. I recognized most of the people. Koemi and Nanami, Mari and Yukiko, Rei and Komari and of course Mirai and the ever-stone-faced Ayumi but there were two people I didn’t recognize and, of course, I was sat right next to one of them.

It was for this very reason I didn’t care to go to events like this, I mused bitterly as I flashed a smile on and off at everyone. Akari and Sachi took their seats and the murmur of conversation started up again. I should have been used to sitting next to people I didn’t know. After all, whenever I went out to eat, I inevitably sat next to someone I didn’t know. In fact, it was part of Japanese society to fake a certain level of comfort around people you had never encountered before.

For whatever reason, though, I couldn’t get used to it. I never knew what to say if they talked to me and never knew what sort of facial expression I had. I imagine most of the time it was an unpleasant expression given how everyone seemed to move away after a bit of time. Here, again, I was uncertain what to do. Did I introduce myself? Wait for the women next to me to introduce themselves first? I satisfied myself with what I judged to be a middle ground, focusing mostly on the plate of food in front of me but turning my head toward them in case they spoke to me.

“…and that’s why I’m saying a harem would be so much fun!” the Korean girl beside me insisted, gesturing meaningfully for some reason at the plate of food on the table before her. I felt my eyes widen and I hastily returned my gaze to my own food. Nope! I didn’t want to know what that conversation was all about.

“This is neither the time nor place to discuss that sort of foolishness,” the other woman, a Japanese who looked remarkably like Mirai in the dim light snapped back with a sigh. I sensed the Korean woman turn to me.

“I’m Minji! Minji Song! Pleased to meet you!” She bubbled enthusiastically. I turned to find her staring at me.

“Kasumi Tanaka,” I replied with what I hoped was a friendly smile, extending my hand slightly toward her.

“Aren’t you just the most adorable thing!” Minji exclaimed happily, pumping my hand up and down between both of hers.

“Um…thank you,” I replied, unsure of what I should say at this point.

“So polite!” Minji exclaimed brightly. “Can we keep her, Akira? Hey!” She spun back to face me, her eyes bright with excitement. “What do you think of harems?

“Huh?” I stared at her, not sure what she was talking about.

“You’ll have to excuse my fiancé,” the other woman, presumably named Akira, bowed slightly in a mixture of a greeting and apology. “She’s… not used to normal conversation.”

“You were going to say I was an idiot, weren’t you?” Minji huffed, cheeks puffing out indignantly.

“Not at all,” Akira retorted, plainly lying.

“So, you’re not going to say hi, Kasumi?” the blonde woman at the head of the table asked. I turned toward her and was immediately struck by her unusual purple eyes which seemed to bore right through me. Even with the table dimly lit she was striking.

“I’m sorry! Hello, Ms. Suzaki!” I hastily said, bowing myself in apology.

 “Don’t be that girl, Kasumicchi,” The blonde woman warned, holding me fast with her surreal purple eyes.

“I’m sorry?”

“Every time someone calls me Ms. Suzaki a faerie gets beaten. You don’t want that on your conscience. Call me Mirai. We’ve known each other too long for last names.”

“Sorry, Mirai,” I grinned at her. “I forgot.”

“Well, looks like Tink’s going home with CTE tonight. Exceptions can’t be made, or the world descends into chaos. You need to reflect on your words and not do it again.”

“So, I guess I’m going to be the one to bring it up,” Minji interrupted during a lull in the conversation.

“Bring what up?” Sachi cocked an eyebrow curiously from across the table.

“This is the lesbian table, isn’t it?”