Work Text:
Shoko had never been much of a party girl.
So it was a mystery as to how she found herself two drinks deep at the new gay club downtown that was notorious for accepting fake IDs, watching her best friend Suguru flirt his way around the bar. She should’ve known better than to listen to him.
“Let’s go out,” he’d said.
“You’ll enjoy it,” he’d said.
Shoko was currently doing the exact opposite, watching a random twink grind on Suguru as she nursed her whiskey. They started making out, wet and messy as if Shoko weren’t sitting literally right there. She should’ve known this was all a ploy to get his rocks off. Gay bars didn’t tend to have a lot of lesbians anyway, so it wasn’t even like she could find any girls to hook up with.
It was just then that a gaggle of drunk girls made their way into the bar. They were all pretty but looked painfully straight. One of them had a 22nd birthday sash around her slinky purple dress. They were talking loudly, shrieking in excitement as the birthday girl began to dance.
God, she hated when straight girls crashed queer bars. This was literally why she was scared to hit on girls at a goddamn gay club, because there was a chance she would be straight and would find her creepy.
The girls began screaming the lyrics to a pop song that just came on, and if Shoko could barely stomach the bass of the club before, she could barely hear her own thoughts at this point. So much for a fun night.
“Going out for a smoke,” she said as she tapped Suguru’s shoulder, even though he was way too busy tonguing the other guy’s mouth to respond.
The cold February air hit Shoko’s face as she stepped outside. She tried to find some consolation for her predicament as she fished out a dart. At least she wasn’t wasting away at home on a Friday night like their high school peers. At least they were cool, sneaking out to experience Tokyo nightlife.
Ugh. Who was she kidding? Shoko would much rather be on her couch right now binging soap operas. She was just about to light her cigarette up when it was plucked right out of her fingers.
Great. Shoko had already been having a shitty night, and now, she was actually gonna fucking murder someone.
“You know those are bad for you, right?” The someone in question swayed a little, red dress strap falling down her shoulder. Her black hair had also fallen out of her ribbon tie, spilling across her back. Shoko vaguely recognized her from the birthday troupe.
“Who are you? My mother?” Shoko snatched it back. “I’m already having a shit night. Don’t make it worse.”
Shoko flicked her lighter, watching the tobacco crumble against the flame. She took a drag, but the annoying presence at her side wasn’t allowing her to enjoy her smoke in peace.
“Whoa, you look so cool when you blow it out. My boyfriend smokes too, but he just looks stupid.”
So she was straight. Shoko inhaled again for good measure, “...thanks?”
“You look like one of those movie stars!”
The girl must’ve been drunk out of her mind. Shoko decided to change the subject before she could start mooning over the way she smokes again. “What brings you here, anyways?”
“It’s my friend Mei Mei’s 22nd birthday,” she lowered her voice. “She’s going through a bad breakup, so we’re taking her out clubbing to find her a new guy.”
Shoko was mildly amused, “You guys do know that this is a gay bar, right?”
“Oh, really? So that’s why no guys were coming up to us…” The girl pouted. “Not like I’m homophobic or anything. I love gays. I’m an ally!”
Shoko laughed, “Good to know. So, shouldn’t you be dancing with them instead of watching me smoke?”
“But it’s so mesmerizing! And yea, I would be, but I’m actually not the biggest fan of clubbing.”
“Me neither.”
“Really? You seem so cool though! I’m lame. I just like watching TV and staying in.”
“What shows?”
“This is really embarrassing, but I like soap operas.”
“Embarrassing? What do you mean ‘embarrassing’? You have taste!”
The girl laughed, and Shoko didn’t completely hate the sound of it.
“Anyways, I never got your name.” She stuck her hand out.
“So formal,” the girl said but shook her hand anyway. “Utahime Iori.”
“Oh, our first names are really similar. I’m Shoko Ieri.”
“That’s a really pretty name.” Utahime said, and Shoko found herself at a loss for words. She’d never had a girl compliment her so much in such a short amount of time unless they were flirting. They stared at each other, faces just a little too close for comfort.
Shoko’s phone started buzzing. Suguru was calling.
“Um, I should probably head in now.” She put out her cigarette with the heel of her boot.
Utahime peeked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow at the contact name. “Suguru…? Is he your boyfriend?”
Shoko declined the call and texted him that she was heading back in.“Far from it. We’re actually both gay.”
“You’re gay?!”
“Yes, hence why I’m at a gay bar.” Shoko resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she opened the backdoor. “You wanna go back in?”
Utahime nodded, “Yea, it’s pretty cold out here.”
The club was even more packed than before. Shoko barely dodged a guy slumped over in the hallway. She instinctively held her hand out for Utahime to hold on to so that she didn’t get lost in the crowd. She felt Utahime take it. Her hand was ice cold.
“It’s really cool that you’re gay.” Utahime stammered out. “I’ve never had a lesbian friend before.”
“Oh? We’re friends now?” She looked back at Utahime with a smirk, and the other girl’s eyes widened.
“Wait! Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume…”
“Nah, I’m just playing.” Shoko gave her hand a squeeze. “We can be friends.”
Utahime looked like she was going to say something, but it was interrupted by the sound of Shoko’s phone buzzing again.
>Suguru: heading home with mahito tonight. shared my location. don’t wait up
Shoko sighed, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. Suguru had a bad habit of running off with the first guy who would give him the time of the day when he was wasted.
>Shoko: Hope ur having shit sex rn :p
“Well, he’s off getting laid.” Shoko said, putting her phone away.
“Oh.” Utahime looked…disappointed? “Are you heading back too then?”
Shoko shrugged, “I might chill here a bit longer. I mean, the company’s alright.”
“Ugh, you asshole. I’m great company, thanks for asking.”
“Maybe I’ll think so too if I get a few more drinks in me.” Shoko said, riling Utahime up even more. “C’mon, let’s go to the bar. It’s on me.”
Two Pilsners and a bloody mary later, Shoko was properly buzzed. Despite her words, she’d been enjoying the company the entire time. Utahime was exactly her type: smart and driven, but had an immature side that got all of Shoko’s jokes. She was currently getting her accounting degree at a university in Kyoto, and she was just visiting Tokyo with her friends for the weekend.
It was a shame she had a boyfriend. Speaking of—
“So, who is he anyways?”
“Who is who?” Utahime said, as Shoko realized she had spoken her thoughts out loud.
“Er, your boyfriend. You said you had one, right?”
“Oh, yea,” Utahime looked down. “His name is Gojo Satoru. We’ve been together for almost a year now, I think. He’s…nice.”
Shoko laughed, “You sound enthusiastic.”
“I mean, that’s basically it. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to say.”
“Don’t people in relationships usually love talking about their significant other? We’ve been talking for like, forty minutes, and you never brought him up.”
Utahime fiddled with the rim of her glass. “I just didn’t think it was an interesting topic.”
“How’d you guys meet?”
“School. We were set up by my friend Mei Mei, actually. My parents were pestering me about getting a boyfriend, and he was nice enough.”
Shoko had a feeling she’d opened up a whole can of worms she wasn’t supposed to.
“Sometimes, I just wonder, like, is this what love is supposed to feel like? You know in the soap operas, where those couples are so in love that they can’t stay apart. I’ve never felt that. I can go weeks without seeing him and feel fine.” Utahime sighed. “Sorry, I’m tipsy again. Tell me if you need me to shut up.”
“No, no, that’s fine.” Shoko was looking everywhere besides Utahime’s face. She was scared of what she would find there. “Do you think that you even like him?”
“Yea, he’s like, one of the only guys in my life that doesn’t completely repulse me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think, like, most guys are kinda repulsive? I don’t know how to explain it, but Satoru’s one of the only guys I can stomach having sex with, as annoying as he is. Also, dicks are so gross. They’re so spongy and weird…men are so lucky. Girls are so beautiful.”
“Hey, I don’t want to overstep any boundaries here, but are you sure you’re straight?”
Utahime’s eyes widened, and she sucked in a deep breath, before bursting out into laughter, “You’re funny, Shoko. Every girl feels this way, right?”
Shoko wasn’t laughing. “I’m just gonna say, I got a lot of the same feelings when I was figuring out my sexuality. And I can tell you for sure that even as a lesbian, not all straight girls feel that way. Most of my straight girl friends gush about their boyfriends all the time.”
“...Oh. Well, I don’t think I’m lesbian. I dress like this,” Utahime gestured to her club dress. “And I love girly things like fashion and soap operas—wait. You like soap operas too, and you’re gay.”
“Not every lesbian has to fit into a certain stereotype, you know. I dress really femme too, but I for sure don’t like men romantically or sexually.”
“Have you ever tried, though? With a guy?”
“Yea,” Shoko said, cringing slightly at the memory. She and Suguru had tried dating briefly, which only solidified the fact that they were both gay. “Was pretty much awkward and similar to what you described. Now, have you ever tried with a woman?”
“No, never. That’s gross. Not like lesbians are gross,” Utahime quickly backtracked. “I just can’t imagine myself as a lesbian. It just wouldn’t work.”
“Why not?”
“I mean, maybe it would work? But I have a boyfriend, and all my friends are straight, and my parents—oh god, my parents would never be able to know.”
“I can see that you’re actively avoiding making a conclusion, one way or the other. But I’m just saying, a little exploration might do you some good.”
“I can’t throw my whole life away just for a momentary lapse of judgment.”
“So that’s what I am.” Shoko sipped her drink. “A momentary lapse of judgment.”
“No! I meant a fling with a girl in general. I’m not talking straight.”
“Yea you aren’t.” Shoko leaned closer. “So, do you think I’m hot?”
“Oh my god. I can’t do this right now.”
Shoko knew she should stop here, but she wanted to push a bit further, test her luck a bit. “I don’t mind being your experiment for the night.”
Utahime choked on her cocktail.
“Too much? Sorry.”
“Shoko, I have a boyfriend.”
“Is he here? I don’t see him.”
Utahime breathed out shakily.
“Yo! Iori!” The birthday girl—Mei Mei, Shoko’s brain supplied—sauntered over. “Where have you been, girl? Come dance!”
“Mei Mei!” Utahime looked borderline pained as she gestured at Shoko. “I was just talking with my new friend, Shoko!”
Shoko didn’t miss the use of the word ‘friend.’ “Hey, ‘sup. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you! I’m Mei Mei. Wanna dance with us?”
“Yea! We’d love to!” Utahime said as she gripped Shoko’s wrist, yanking her out of the chair and onto the floor.
Shoko stumbled behind her, feeling very out of place in her tank top and black jeans among the girls in short party dresses. She swayed lightly to the beat as they walked in. The music had slowed since the last time she was on the floor to a more sensual, rhythmic beat.
Utahime’s hand slipped down to clasp onto Shoko’s just as the beat dropped. The club lights started flashing, and the bass grew even louder. Utahime was swaying her hips to the music in front of her, and Shoko subconsciously matched her tempo. Utahime slowly stepped back so that her ass was flush with Shoko’s hips.
Shoko wasn’t sure if the pounding in her chest was because of the music or her heart at this point, and the fact that Utahime was wearing a bodycon dress that showed off her shapely figure was not helping. That girl definitely worked out.
“Friends can still dance together, right?” Utahime leaned backwards to whisper into Shoko’s ear. Whatever confidence Shoko had dissipated in that very moment, and she was reminded of the fact that Utahime wasn’t like the high school girls she usually flirted with. Utahime was older, getting a business degree, with a long-term boyfriend. This was dangerous, uncharted territory.
“Yea, mhm,” Shoko said even though she was feeling lightheaded, and it wasn’t from the alcohol. She tentatively placed her hands onto Utahime’s waist, only for Utahime to place her own hands over them. Utahime was now fully grinding on Shoko.
Shoko brushed Utahime’s hair back, lips ghosting at her neck. Utahime reached a hand back, running it over Shoko’s shoulder and making her get goosebumps. “You’re so hot,” Shoko said because her brain was short circuiting, and she couldn’t really process anything else.
“You think so?”
“I fucking hate that you have a boyfriend,” Shoko leaned in. Even though they were in a sweaty club, Utahime still smelled like flowers and citrus.
“Please don’t tempt me.” Utahime turned around, encircling her arms around Shoko’s neck. “I might just give in.”
Shoko’s hand glided down to palm at Utahime’s ass. “I’m all yours.”
Utahime’s eyes dropped to her lips, a thumb resting against Shoko’s jaw, “I really want to, but my friends are still here.”
“There’s a bathroom.”
Utahime’s lips were on hers as soon as they were out of her friends’ sight, Utahime making up some stupid excuse about having to pee. Shoko had her shoved up against a hallway wall, kissing back like her mouth was air and she needed it to breathe.
Utahime reached into Shoko’s hair and pulled, and that shouldn’t be as hot as it was. Shoko sighed into her mouth, hands roaming up and down her back. She shoved her thigh between Utahime’s thighs, and the other girl shuddered in response.
"Leave him,” Shoko said in between kisses. “I can make you happier. I will make you happier.”
Utahime’s eyes were half-lidded. “But he’s all I know.”
But she continued to let Shoko suck at her neck and murmur sweet nothings about how they should be together instead, continued to grab at Shoko’s breasts, continued to kiss and kiss and kiss like nothing else mattered. And maybe, at that moment, nothing else did.
The sound of high heels approaching the hallway stopped everything in its tracks. “Utahime? Utahime!”
“Shit, shit, shit,” Utahime pulled back, shoving her bunched up dress back down, pushing Shoko away.
“We have to go.” Mei Mei stepped into vision. “Mai threw up on the dance floor, so they’re kicking us out.”
“Oh my god, is she okay?” Utahime smoothed her hair out, trying her best to look like she and Shoko weren’t just having the most heated make out session of her life.
“She’s fine, just had too much to drink. We just really have to go.”
“Well, it was lovely meeting you, Shoko,” Utahime wrapped her arms around her, and Shoko hugged back, still in a daze. Everything was moving so damn fast.
“Will I see you again?” Shoko was surprised at how desperate her voice sounded.
“I—I don’t know,” Utahime swallowed and stepped back. “Um, I have to go, but thanks for everything.”
Shoko just smiled and nodded.
“C’mon, Utahime. We already called the Uber.”
“Right, right,” Utahime let herself be led away, and the girls disappeared into the crowd of music and bodies. Shoko was left by the bathrooms, dumbstruck and still flushed with arousal.
God, she really needed a smoke.