Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Get Ready for Fireworks

   By Emi Tsuruta

   Note: this is one in a series of posts about my life.  If you'd like to
know more about my friends and me, drop by my home page at:
/~emitsuruta/

   It was summer in Oceanview, and the day of the big fireworks show
finally rolled around.  I was pretty excited actually.  When I lived in
Japan, we always used to go to see the fireworks show on Zaimokuza beach
near my house or Katase Shirahama near my aunt's place.  It's a big thing,
and tons of people come down from Tokyo just to watch.  Fireworks make it
feel like summer.

   Kazu and the boys in the Japanese Student Union got everything ready, so
all we had to do was show up.  I'd ordered some colorful yukatas for me,
Satomi and Asuna to wear.  Asuna lives closest to the beach, so we met at
her place.

   Asuna answered the door, but she was all in a kerfuffle.  Over in the
dining room, I noticed another girl and guy sitting at the table.

   "Sandra...  and Craig," Asuna told me their names.  I'd encountered
Craig once before, the time he walked in on me when I was just getting out
of their shower.  I could tell from the way he was eye-banging me that he
remembered me too - the 'naked girl.' Mind you, Craig was quite handsome -
tall, athletic, with freckles, a bit of a bad boy perhaps.

   "Hi, my name's Emi," I blushed at the memory.  I set down one of my
bags, so I could shake hands, but Asuna would have none of it.  She dragged
me off down the hall to her own room.  Satomi was there, all wide-eyed,
anxious to see the yukatas I'd brought.  I got them out, and showed them.
Asuna's was bright red, and Satomi was yellow and orange.

   "Wow!  Beautiful," they oohed and aahed.  Mine was indigo, but seeing
their reaction made me wish I'd got something more colorful.  I'm going to
have to make myself up really nice.  Luckily, I'd brought my make-up kit
and some accessories along with me to complete the look.

   We all stripped down to our undies, so we could change into our yukatas,
but I ended up taking those off too, getting naked.

   "What are you doing?" Satomi whined, ever the spoilsport.

   "You're not planning on wearing underwear under your yukata, are you?" I
asked.  "It'll show through."

   Asuna looked down at her undies, mulling it over.

   "I'm going to wear underwear," Satomi insisted.

   "They never wore underwear in the old days," I told her.

   "Shhh," Asuna warned, motioning for me to keep my voice down.  Craig and
Sandra had gone silent, so it's possible they were listening.

   "Underwear is a western invention," I whispered.  "It didn't arrive in
Japan until the Taisho era." The Taisho era was the 1920's.  Both Ryosuke
and Miori had told me that, so I was pretty sure it is true.

   I pulled out a pair of tabi (white split-toe socks) and zori (fancy
sandals that women wear with kimonos).

   "Wow!" Asuna exclaimed.  "Just like the Maiko wear!"

   Still standing there naked, I pulled on the tabi and zori, stood up, and
modeled them for Asuna and Satomi.

   "You look silly," Satomi chided.  "Hurry up, and put on your yukata for
heaven's sake."

   I stuck my lips out in a pout, not really wanting to get dressed.  It
was kind of fun being naked away from home for a change.

   "There's just one more thing I want to do first," I told them.  I pulled
out a comb and some elastic bands from my bag.  "I want to do my hair in a
matomekami style." Matomekami is the way women do their hair up in a little
bun when they wear kimonos.  It shows off your neck.  The neck is supposed
to be one of the most sensual parts of a woman's body.

   Asuna squatted down next to me peering at my hair ornaments.

   "Wooow!  Where'd you get these?"

   "From Miori.  Pretty nice, huh?" I looked around her room, but I
couldn't see any mirrors.  "Do you have a mirror here somewhere?"

   "There's one in the bathroom," Asuna replied.  She seemed impatient for
me to get dressed too, but to tease them, I tiptoed over, and opened the
door a crack.

   "Oh, don't you dare!" Satomi hissed.  I wasn't serious originally, but
now that she was making such a big deal, I was tempted to go out into the
hall naked.  I listened at the door for a moment.  It sounded like Sandra
and Craig were still in the dining room around the corner.

   "It's just across the hall," I noted, trying to get up my nerve.  "I'll
be right back." I took a deep breath, and dashed across to the bathroom. 
In the mirror, I did look kind of indecent.  Maybe I shouldn't have come
over here naked, but it was pretty thrilling, sneaking around with Craig
here.  I washed my face, and then scooted back to Asuna's room to grab my
backpack.

   "Will you get dressed?" Satomi hissed at me again.  I just smiled, and
ran back to the bathroom.  I got cleaned up as best I could, and dabbed a
bit of white foundation on my face and neck.  I really wanted to look my
best today.

   I spread my legs, and fluffed up my pubic hair.  I had no idea how the
fireworks would go, but I could hardly wait.  I started debating whether I
should tell Ryosuke I was going commando under my yukata.  He'd probably
get all excited, and try to talk me into doing something crazy.  If I could
only get Satomi and Asuna to shed their undies.  That would be so great if
the three of us went that way.

   I gathered up my hair into a bun, and tried to hold it with one of the
elastics.  I couldn't get it to stay though, so I needed some help. 
Through the door, I could hear Sandra's voice out in the hall.

   "Wow!  You girls look great!  Where are you going?" she asked.

   "To a fireworks show on the beach," Asuna replied.  "Do you want to join
us?"

   "No, we've got something planned, but thanks for asking."

   I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.  What could be so
important that they'd pass up on the chance to see fireworks?  They weren't
planning on shagging, were they?  It'd been a while since I'd been with
Ryosuke, so I kind of had sex on the brain.

   Anyway, I opened the door a crack, and whispered,

   "Asuna, could you come in here, and help me with my hair?"

   Sandra was right there.  Asuna got up, and came over, and when she
opened the door to come in, Sandra saw that I was naked.  I tried to close
the door behind Asuna, but Sandra held it open.

   "What's going on over here?" she asked, surprised to see me nude.

   "I'm just trying to get my hair done up."

   Asuna took a hold of my hair, and finally got it rolled up into a ball.
We slid the comb in, and with a little bit of coaxing got it to stay. 
Sandra seemed fascinated.

   "You know what you look like?" she said.  "One of those Geisha girls."

   Asuna and I both laughed.

   "Or more like a Maiko," Asuna corrected.  Maiko are the younger geisha
in training.  I squatted down, and pulled out an uchiwa, a Japanese fan.  I
fanned my face, and gazed over at them demurely doing my best imitation of
a Maiko.  Sandra broke out laughing.

   Suddenly, I realized Craig had come over to see what the fuss was.  I
glanced around the bathroom for something to cover up with, but my yukata
was still back in Asuna's room.  Craig just gawked at me, his eyes
sparkling, all excited to catch me naked.

   "Um...  uh...," I stammered, pointing him out to Sandra.  She turned,
and started hitting him.

   "Hey!  Hey!  No peeking!" she yelled, chasing him off into the living
room.  I felt embarrassed of course, but more than that, I was getting all
horny.  Asuna was glowering at me, but I just shrugged.  Suddenly, I got an
idea.

   "Where's my purse?" I asked.

   "What purse?"

   "The round one that goes with the yukata."

   "I don't know.  Maybe it's in my room," she suggested.  She ran off to
look, but I was pretty sure I'd left it in their living room.  I went right
past her room, and peeked around the corner.  Sandra and Craig were back at
the dining room table, laughing away.  I was glad Sandra wasn't upset at me
for letting her boyfriend see me naked.  I wonder if I can push this a
little further.  I peeked my head around the corner.

   "Did I leave my purse out here?" I asked them.  Sandra shot a quick look
at Craig, worried, but then got up to look for my bag.  Craig dashed into
the kitchen, and seconds later appeared in the other doorway right across
from where I was standing.  He gazed at me in wonder, amazed that I was
still naked.  The wall was blocking Sandra from seeing him.  I felt so
embarrassed, but I was out of my head with excitement.  I covered my pussy
with my fan, but then finally spotted my bag on the coffee table.

   "Oh there it is," I noted pointing it out to Sandra with my fan.  Craig
looked elated that I was showing him my pussy.  I wasn't trying to start
anything exactly, but it was kind of fun to tease him.  Sandra did look to
see where he had disappeared to, but he kept back, so she couldn't see.

   She wasn't bringing me my bag, so I finally walked straight out into the
middle of the living room - buck naked.  Their apartment is on the first
floor, so I could see the whole courtyard and parking lot through their
floor to ceiling windows.  I didn't see anyone outside, but it was terribly
dangerous coming out here naked like this.

   "Oh, Emi, don't!  Someone might see!" Sandra cried out.

   She was right of course, but I was too excited to stop.  Craig was
having a fit, astonished at my daring.  I bent over to pick up my bag,
while Craig looked on dumbfounded.  I was so excited I was quivering all
over.

   "Sorry.  Here it is," I said holding it up to show Sandra.  There did
seem to be some people outside, so I quickly dashed back to safety of the
hall.  Asuna came out of her room, gawking at me, scandalized.

   "Where'd you find that?" she gasped.

   "It was in the living room," I blushed.  She was so exasperated she
couldn't even speak.  "Anyway, let's get dressed, and get going," I said.
By then, I'd realized I'd gone a bit overboard, and was ready to get
dressed.

   Anyway, once Satomi, Asuna and I were all dressed and ready, we went out
into the living room, and said goodbye to Sandra and Craig.  Craig was
grinning from ear to ear.

   "Have a good time!" he told us cheerily.  We said goodbye, and headed
out all dressed up in our colorful yukatas.

   Out on the street, a lot of people turned to look at us as we walked by.
I guess they weren't really used to seeing girls in yukatas.  I felt kind
of happy though, still excited from flashing Craig.  I was smiling so
cheerfully that Satomi finally asked,

   "What?"

   "Oh nothing.  I'm just looking forward to the show," I told her.

   There were already some people at the beach when we arrived.  Yuuki was
there looking terribly cute in a pink yukata with Takuya and Hiro.  Kazuo,
Tetsu and Mark were busy setting up the fireworks.  Yuriko and Noriko
showed up before too long, but there was still no sign of Ryosuke.  Maybe
he was still at work.

   The sun went down, and it started getting dark.  A lot of Japanese and
Americans showed up, people I didn't know so well.  We laid out a ground
sheet on the sand, and sat down waiting for the show to start.  Yuriko sat
right in front of us, and seemed to be saving a place for Kazuo.  I guess
the two of them are going out.  Takuya was clowning around.

   "One time I tried to spook my younger brother by setting off some
fireworks.  I lit it, but nothing was happening, so I went to take a closer
look, and it went off in my face!"

   We all laughed.  It sounded like something Takuya would do.

   Finally, Kazuo came back, and the show started.  Tetsu and Mark went out
in a small boat, and set off the fireworks from over the ocean.  You would
see these white dots arcing up from the sea, and then they would explode in
a flurry of sparks, and fan out.  It looked a lot like the fireworks they
show in Japan.

   Finally, Ryosuke showed up.  He smiled when he saw me, came, and sat
down next to me.  Yuuki was looking over at him curiously.  Takuya looked a
bit jealous.  I'd told Takuya I have a boyfriend, but I guess they'd never
met before.

   With Ryosuke here, I felt safer.  We were sitting on a beach blanket
that Asuna brought.  I leaned back, and relaxed, gazing up at the sky. 
Kazuo kept glancing back at my legs.  Oh shoot!  I forgot.  I'm not wearing
any undies.  Without intending to, I'd been flashing him my pussy.

   Kazuo is the leader of the JSU, and usually the most sensible one in the
group, but as soon as he realized I was pantiless, he got this wild look in
his eyes.  Ryosuke was right next to me, and Yuriko next to Kazuo, but that
didn't seem to stop him from staring.  I hadn't meant to flash him of
course, but his gaze just reminded me of how naked I was.  It was hard not
to get excited.

   I sat up, and brushed the sand off my hands, but I knew I should get
away before he said something.  I nodded to Ryosuke, and then stood up, and
went over to where Yuuki was sitting.

   "What's wrong?" she whispered as I sat down.  I shook my head, too
embarrassed to tell her.  I finally leaned over, and whispered in her ear.

   "Are you wearing panties?"

   Her face kind of went white, but she shook her head no.  I didn't
explain, but I didn't really need to.  She looked over at Kazuo, who was
still gazing over this way.  I'd really got under his skin it seemed.

   Soon, the first part of the show finished, and they took a break to set
up for the second half.  We girls all headed off to the ladies room.  They
were all talking about the show, but I was still worrying about Kazuo.  My
hello kitty was tingling away, and just wouldn't stop.  I sidled up next to
Yuriko, Kazuo's true love, and asked her next.

   "Are you wearing any panties?"

   She opened her eyes wide, and gave me the weirdest look.  Satomi
overheard, and rushed to reassure her.

   "Emi's been on about this all day."

   "Well?" I asked, curious.  Yuriko looked flustered, and fanned her face,
not saying anything.  "Can I take that as a no?" I persisted.

   "Why are you so interested?" she asked defensively.

   "Well, Asuna's not, and Yuuki's not, and I'm not, so I was just curious;
that's all.  I think Satomi must be the only one."

   Satomi pouted out her lips, offended.

   "Satomi, will you take yours off if Yuriko is commando too?"

   "Emi!" she scowled storming off.  I don't know why she always gets so
angry like this.  It's really not such a big deal.  Unfortunately, Yuriko
changed the subject unwilling to join in my game.

   "A lot of people here today, huh?"

   Soon it was time for the show to start again.  Satomi, Yuuki and Yuriko
all headed back, but I was still helping Asuna fix her hair.

   "That's a beautiful yukata you got," I said.

   "Yeah, thanks.  That was really nice of you to get it for me."

   "My pleasure." I glanced down at it, getting an idea.  "Um, do you think
I could try it on?"

   "What?"

   "Your yukata.  I just want to see how it looks."

   She looked down at it, and then slowly nodded.

   "I guess."

   The washroom was a rough cement block hut.  The park ranger had jammed
the door open, and we were standing just inside by the mirrors and sinks.
We both glanced back at the door wondering if it was safe to change right
here.  It was pretty dark outside and all we could see were the trees
surrounding the hut.  I slowly undid my belt, and pulled my yukata open.

   "I guess it's safe," I said trying to reassure her.  She still looked
pretty worried, but she undid her own belt.  I took my yukata off, folded
it, and set it down on the counter, getting all excited to be standing here
naked in the cool night air.  Asuna peered over at me shyly and then took
hers off too, and handed it to me.  Asuna is younger, but her breasts are
beginning to fill out, and she looks more like a woman than she used to. 
She kind of blinked nervously under my gaze.

   She covered her pussy and breasts with her hands obviously embarrassed
to be naked.  I was about to pull her yukata on, when we both heard a
noise, like the cracking of twigs coming from outside the door.  I froze,
and Asuna looked even more afraid.

   "What was that?" I whispered.  I cautiously sallied over to the door,
holding Asuna's yukata in front of me, and peered out into the dark woods.
I couldn't see anything at first, so I stuck my head right out the door,
and glanced down the path.  I almost jumped because there was someone
coming this way, but then I realized it was Ryosuke.

   "Oh it's just Ryosuke," I whispered back to Asuna.  She smiled meekly.
Ryosuke was her cousin.  I was so glad it was him I stepped out the door to
greet him.  I was still holding the yukata in front of my pussy, but I was
completely naked otherwise.

   "Ho ho ho," he laughed.  "Isn't this a pleasant surprise!"

   "What are you doing out here?" I asked.

   "I came to look for you."

   I smiled, and gave him a kiss.  He pushed the yukata away to take a peek
at my pussy.  He went to touch, but I stopped him.

   "Asuna's here," I warned nodding back towards the washroom.  He walked
me back to the door, and then peered in.

   "Wow!  What on earth are you doing?" he said when he saw her naked.

   "Get out of here!  This is the girl's washroom!" she shouted.

   "OK, OK.  Sorry to disturb you two lovely ladies." Before I knew it
though, he grabbed the yukata from me, and made off with it probably
thinking it was mine and not Asuna's.

   "Hey!  Bring that back!" I cried after him.  Asuna was panicking.  "It's
OK.  Don't worry." I grabbed my yukata, and handed it to her.  "Here, you
can use this to chase after him."

   She looked at me, obviously a bit worried about leaving me here naked
alone, but I gestured for her to hurry up.  She pulled on my yukata, and
ran outside after him.  I just sort of stood here my heart pounding in my
chest.  I really hadn't expected Ryosuke to take the yukata like that.  I
mean, he'd done things like this before, but usually he had more sense.

   I kept rubbing my chin, but I was getting more and more excited standing
here naked in the cool air.  I wonder if Asuna has caught him yet.  I
glanced over at the door, and then slowly walked over.  I could hear the
fireworks going off, but no sign of Asuna or Ryosuke.  Drat!  I'm missing
the show too.  Hurry up, Ryosuke, and bring the yukata back!

   Outside the woods looked so dark and still.  I began to get a naughty
idea.  Maybe I could just sneak out, and take a peek - see what's going on.
I ambled forward walking awkwardly in my zori.  Maybe I should just take
them off.  I slid each foot out of them, and lifted it up to take off my
tabi socks.  The concrete floor felt cold and rough on my bare feet, but
for some reason that was just getting me even more excited.  I looked back
at the mirrors confirming that I was naked.

   It's a bit hard to explain, but I ended up leaving the safety of the
washroom, and walked right out onto the path peering left and right to see
if anyone was coming.  I still couldn't hear Ryosuke nor Asuna, but the
fireworks sounded louder now.  I checked the far side of the cabin, but
that was just woods.

   I came back, and peered out at the clearing that led to the highway or
to the beach.  I could see Kazuo and them sitting down on the beach
watching the fireworks.  Surely Ryosuke wouldn't go that way.  I peered
back up towards the parking lot, but that looked pretty quiet.  I stepped
out into the clearing, intending to just dash up, and take a quick peek to
see if Ryosuke and Asuna were there.

   I was kind of having fun running around naked in the cool night air, but
unfortunately, before I'd made it half way down, this couple appeared out
of nowhere.  I was so surprised.  There was nowhere to hide.  I just froze.
The guy was American and the girl Japanese, but luckily I didn't recognize
them from anywhere.  They both looked so shocked to see me naked.  My mind
raced trying to think how to explain, but I was drawing a blank.  They just
stood there staring at me, amazed.  I probably should have ran away, but I
was in a bit of daze myself.  Luckily, soon I heard Asuna calling from
behind.

   "Emi!  Emi!  I got it!" She ran up, peering wide-eyed at the couple. 
"Um, my cousin stole her yukata," she explained to them, handing her red
one to me.  I hesitated because Asuna was still wearing my indigo yukata,
but she wasn't about to part with that.  I pulled hers on.  The couple was
still staring at me shocked, but soon, they broke out laughing.

   "You'd better be careful," the guy warned.  They thought it was
hilarious, but I just stared down too embarrassed to speak.  Asuna pulled
me back to the washrooms, and we finally switched back to our own yukatas.
I washed my feet, and pulled my tabi and zori back on.  Asuna looked a bit
regretful, blaming herself.  Ryosuke eventually apologized to us both.  I
felt so embarrassed at the time, but now looking back on it, that whole
night was kind of fun

   Emi Tsuruta
/~emitsuruta/