Roomies

After talking it over, the three of them decided on the following conditions:

It was now early February, a time when many Tokyo residents start looking around for an April move-in—and what with all the students and new hires, it was the busiest time of the year for a rental firm. The good places would be going fast, so it’d likely be hard to find exactly what they wanted. They would likely have to compromise…

…or so Kaiko feared, but they actually lucked out pretty quickly.

It was on the fifth floor of a ten-floor building, almost equidistant from Gift Publishing and Miyako’s school.

The rent was 200,000 yen a month, maintenance fees included. The setup, in Japanese real estate parlance, was “3LDK”—one 210-square-feet room that served as a combination living room and dine-in kitchen—and three bedrooms: one 140 square feet, and two 105 square feet. Each one had central air and heat. It had a balcony as well, and since the next building over was a two-floor private home, it received ample amounts of sunshine.

It came with a post box for packages, a twenty-four-hour trash drop-off, and a decent amount of storage space. The neighborhood around it was quiet, but a short walk brought you to a large street lined with shops, and there was a pretty big grocery store a couple blocks away. There was no deposit nor agency fee required upfront, and the first month of the lease was free.

The building was your standard reinforced-concrete design, with tiling on the outer walls. The apartment they were looking at had a clean history, and all the scuffs or damage from the previous tenant had been fixed.

…It met all their criteria, to say the least. In fact, it was a steal for the neighborhood.

Three days after their café chat, the three of them visited the rental office and checked the place out.

“Nya-ha-ha! So this is our new castle?”

“This would be great to work in…!”

“Is it really okay for us to live here…?”

As they looked around the rooms, Nayuta and Kaiko were overjoyed, while Miyako looked like she wasn’t sure she belonged.

“So,” the agent said, “should I take that to mean you’d like to continue with the paperwork?”

“Y-yes! Thank you very much!” Miyako reflexively replied.

Three days earlier, before she’d started hitting up agencies and checking out apartment websites, Miyako contacted Kirara Yamagata from GF Bunko editorial. Given how she lived right by the publisher, Miyako figured she could offer some advice.

“Oh, um, can you wait one second, Shirakawa? Just stay where you are for a little bit.”

Once she heard that Miyako, Nayuta, and Kaiko were looking for a place near the office, Yamagata hurriedly relayed the news to editor in chief Satoshi Godo. Nayuta Kani was GF Bunko’s number-one writer, and among the recent manga debuts, Kaiko Mikuniyama was a red-hot rising star. Gift Publishing wanted to do whatever it took to hold on to that pair, and now they were willingly moving close to the office. That’d make it easier to have meetings and build relationships over meals more frequently—and even better, if deadlines started to loom, they wouldn’t be able to slip through their editors’ grasp as easily. A publisher couldn’t ask for more.

“Miyako Shirakawa… I swear, she’s our editorial guardian angel…”

An evil smile reached Godo’s sinister face as he picked up the phone.

He was calling someone inside the building—the office of Process, another part of Gift Publishing’s line. As a community journal for central Tokyo, it had a vast informational database to tap, and it boasted deep connections to the real estate business. Taking full advantage of that, Godo compiled a list of the apartments fulfilling the girls’ requirements that he felt stood out. These were “special” places, not listed online and not available to the general public; generally they were used by the owners’ relatives or business contacts. And one of them was the place Miyako and her friends were looking at right now.

It was hard, really, to put any one of them above the other. Following the Process editor’s advice, the trio ultimately decided to make their final pick based on the name of the apartment complex. This is actually kind of an important factor—you want something easily understood when spoken and not prone to misspellings when written down. Names with lots of fancy, seldom-used kanji for words like “Phoenix” or foreign words like “Celestial Breeze” or “Avenir” that were unfamiliar to Japanese ears would mean you’d have trouble getting pizza delivered over the phone. If someone asked for your address, you’d pretty much have to show them on your phone screen.

Whether you’re naming a book or an apartment building, it’s important to think like a customer, instead of naming it for your own selfish reasons, Miyako mused.

And in this case, while the landlord told Godo that the building “isn’t really the kind of place for three women living as roommates,” Godo personally threatened—er, convinced him otherwise, but that was his little secret.

All the contracts were signed without a hitch, and a week after the initial tour, they had their keys and could move in at any time.

Kaiko had already collected her things from her parents’ house; today was her move-in day. Miyako and Nayuta had shorter commutes and didn’t own their own furniture yet, so they’d get everything together on a more gradual basis—but out of nowhere, the GF Bunko editorial department offered free beds for Miyako and Nayuta and a table set for the living room, calling it a move-in gift.

“That—that’s really going too far for us…!”

Miyako felt awful about accepting the offer when Godo gave it, but he insisted. “Don’t worry about it,” he said in his deep, authoritative voice. “These are necessary expenses in our business. I hope you live here for a very long time to come.”

“A very long time…? Um, I haven’t made any plans or anything, but if I get a job with a company elsewhere after I graduate, I’m gonna move out, you know.”

Godo gave her a pointed look. “Well, if you work for us, that won’t be a problem. Like I said, you’re completely welcome here.”

“…I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m still gonna need to think about that.”

Just like when he invited her before, Miyako stalled for time.

“All right. But please accept the gifts, at least. You already count as one of our greatest assets in editorial, right up there with Ms. Kani. It’s important for us to make sure you’re in a healthy, stable living environment.”

“…Okay. In that case, thank you very much.”

So GF Bunko had a living room table set and a pair of beds (linens included) delivered for Miyako and Nayuta. They were all a grade up from what Miyako had at home, which made her feel all the stranger about it.

“Nya-ha-ha! A new bed!”

Nayuta was far less hesitant, jumping right into the shiny new bed in her room and rolling around on it like a cat.

“My future love nest with Itsuki…weh-heh-heh…”

Miyako was terrified. “Um, Nayu, are you gonna bring Itsuki in here?!”

“Oh, can I not?” Nayuta, on the other hand, looked mystified.

“Um, if you’re just hanging out, it’s fine, but…uh, bedroom stuff…”

Being separated by a single wall from Itsuki and Nayuta’s “bedroom stuff” was too much for Miyako to imagine. It didn’t make her blush—it made her chest hurt. She winced.

“That, uh…um… Hmm… I mean… It’s not not okay…but…”

“…I understand.” Nayuta smiled at her, a little apologetically. “No sexy time with Itsuki in here! I promise!”

Miyako smiled back, feeling a bit apologetic. “Um, okay. I appreciate that… Sorry, Nayu.”

“No worries!”

Nayuta made an effort to sound cheerful, not digging further into what Miyako meant by “sorry.”

Then…

“Oh, hey, Myaa and Nayu! You were in here, huh?”

Kaiko entered the room.

She had come before Miyako and Nayuta, overseeing the movers carting her stuff up and unpacking the boxes. Of course, apart from her desk, shelves, and other big furniture, her possessions fit into just six boxes—one for pens and art supplies, two for reference materials and books about her hobbies, and three for lingerie.

“Oh, Kaiko! Are you done unpacking?”

“Uh-huh. I finished up just now.” She wiped her brow, satisfied with herself.

“Great,” Miyako said with a chuckle. She thought she’d help Kaiko unpack after the table and beds arrived, but Kaiko turned her down as she carefully arranged her panties in the closet.

“No, I need to arrange my children into friend groups myself,” Kaiko explained.

That made no sense to Miyako, but she was too scared to ask for details. “Well, it’s still early, but how about we go out for dinner? And since we’re moving in today, soba noodles are the traditional commemorative meal.”

“I’m sorry,” Kaiko told Miyako, “can I have some time to take a shower first?”

“Oh yeah, you’re all sweaty. Do you have soap and towel?”

“Ah! Actually, I forgot to bring them. Better go out and buy those…”

“Oh, don’t worry. You can use mine this time.”

“Thank you! You’re so well prepared, Myaa.”

Kaiko looked at her with respect.

“Well,” Nayuta interjected, “since we’re here, how about we all take a bath together?”

“That’s a great idea!” said Kaiko.

“Together…? It’s a pretty big bath, but I don’t think it can hold three, can it?”

“It’ll be our first time using the bath, though. I’d hate to hog the first time all to myself.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.”

“No, let’s all go in at once! I’ll scrub your back, Myaa!”

“Nice! And I’ll wash her front!”

“Sounds like a plan!”

“You guys…”

Kaiko and Nayuta were giving Miyako the hard sell. Miyako just sighed back at them—and, in the end, the two of them pushed her into having a three-woman shower to kick off the evening.

“What do you think, Myaa? Feel good?”

“Myaa, if you feel itchy anywhere, just let me know, okay?”

Nayuta and Kaiko, fully lathered up in bubbles, were rubbing Miyako’s naked body on both sides.

And the sensation of their soft breasts pushed against her arms did feel good, but:

“…Um, why are you washing me like this? Can’t you just use a washcloth like normal?”

This was like something the women at one of Toki’s favorite clubs would do for a fee. Granted, Miyako didn’t know exactly what they did, but she could picture something like this.

“It’s best to gently wash your skin with someone else’s skin,” Kaiko stated.

“Right,” Nayuta said. “This way, I can wash you at the same time as myself. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”

“You think…?”

Miyako didn’t buy it, but she let the two girls do what they wanted as the impromptu bubble bath continued. It was occasionally ticklish, and she might have moaned once or twice when Nayuta or Kaiko started kneading her breasts.

What am I even doing…?

This particular situation raised some red flags, yes. But she had her thoughts about the whole roommate thing as well. She was now living in this fancy apartment after accepting Kaiko’s request and just sort of letting things happen—but unlike her roommates, Miyako was getting help with rent from her parents. She’d initially planned to pay—she personally had enough money saved to cover it until she graduated, and being closer to GF Bunko made it easier to work there—but her parents convinced her to save that money for her own future, so she accepted their charity. Even Godo and the rest of the Gift Publishing staff were spoiling her.

She didn’t move here to go independent as a manga artist like Kaiko. She wasn’t like Nayuta, who was so loaded that she didn’t care at all how much the rent was.

…Just because I’m living with them doesn’t mean we’re equals.

She was still a student, and it was pretty uncommon for girls Miyako’s age to be completely financially independent in Japan. No matter what, she just couldn’t help but feel inferior to her roommates.

Despite the trust she had earned from Godo, Toki, and everyone at Gift Publishing; despite Nayuta and Kaiko’s adoration for her as their big sister; despite Haruto Fuwa’s romantic interest in her; despite the potential the president of an artisanal silk company had seen in her (although she didn’t know about that)—Miyako still had a low opinion of herself. It would be just a little while longer before she came to realize her true value and find a path for herself.