Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 My Farewell Party

   By Emi Tsuruta

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

   OK.  I guess I can admit it.  I was still kind of torn up about breaking
up with Ryosuke, and I was kind of frantically reaching out trying to find
someone to fill the void.  Maybe guys could tell I was on the rebound, so
that's why it wasn't going well.  You have to kind of be in a good place
before you are ready for a new relationship.

   I had two more problems.  One, I wasn't really over Ryosuke, and we
still kept seeing each other.  There is a thin line...  Two, I'd been with
him so long I wasn't really sure how to start something with a new guy. 
Anyway, these were the kinds of things going through my mind.

   It was getting up near the time I was supposed to leave Oceanview in the
States to go back to Japan.  I was doing ikebana in the Japanese community
center, and after class, I wandered around checking out the other clubs. 
On the west side of the building, they have these big activity rooms with
glass walls, so you can see in.  There'd be a bunch of young boys dressed
up in judo outfits, wrestling, trying to pin each other to the mats.  I
stood, and watched, secretly cheering for the underdogs hoping they could
somehow break free, and get out from underneath.  It was pretty interesting
actually.

   Down at the far end, I could see their instructor, a Japanese guy around
my age named Yuta.  He was kind of handsome in his way, clean cut with
short hair, and a noble bearing.  His students obviously liked him.  He
didn't talk that much, but when he did say something, they'd all perk up,
and listen.

   One day, just on the spur of the moment, I went in, and asked Yuta if he
could teach me.  There weren't any girls in the class, but I was thinking
maybe we could do it one-on-one.  When he asked why, I told him that I
wanted to learn how to defend myself, you know, just in case anything
happened.  He looked a bit puzzled, but he finally agreed to take me on.

   Before our first session, I felt really nervous.  I'd never done any
martial arts before.  In our high school, there was a judo club, but I
don't even know if there were any girls.  It seemed more of a guy's thing.

   Another thing I worried about was what to wear.  I'd ordered a judo
outfit, but it didn't arrive in time for our first lesson, so I just
brought a white tank tee, a black sports bra, and black Capri pants.  There
were no shower rooms, so I changed in the girls' washroom, freshening up a
bit.  This obviously wasn't a date, but I wanted to make a good impression.

   It felt a bit weird working out with Yuta one-on-one, just the two of us
in the room with the glass wall.  Our sessions were in the morning, so
there weren't many people around, but if anyone had been there, they'd be
able to look in, and watch.

   Maybe it was just me, but I felt like there was something very intimate
about our sessions.  He'd show me each move, and then walk me through it in
slow motion, holding my hands or my waist.  It felt a bit sexy the way he
touched me.  I actually wasn't used to all the physical contact, but Yuta
was a complete gentleman, focused on teaching.  I was all keyed up,
sweating and breathing heavily, trying to prove myself.  I was trying to
focus too, but I sometimes got distracted, lost in his eyes, or studying
his features from up close.  I liked his seriousness, his commitment.

   Soon, the judo outfit I ordered arrived, so at least I looked more the
part.  One thing I couldn't figure out was what to wear underneath.  I
guess girls in the Olympics wear white t-shirts under their judo tops, but
that seemed a bit much.  I wore a sports bra a couple of times, but that
felt too restricting, so eventually, I just went braless.  I had to keep my
belt done up tight, or else my cleavage would show, but Yuta never
commented no matter how I dressed.  I wondered actually how he could stay
so calm touching me all the time.  I was very aware of him as a man, but he
was more aloof.  It wasn't like he didn't care though.  He was always kind.
He was just trying to be professional I guess.

   After class, I would look for opportunities to practice.  At home, I
wanted to wrestle with Brandon, the teenage son in the host family I was
staying with.  He seemed willing enough, but unfortunately, Brandon's
mother Loretta thought we were fighting for real, so she made us stop. 
Brandon would end up out of breath, and glare at me with this wild look in
his eyes.  Brandon is kind of fun to tease though.

   On weekends, I'd drop by at the pub, Hernando's.  My ex Ryosuke would be
there with Sven, Gus and those guys.  I told them all about the judo, and
Sven offered to help me practice.  He's this big tall blonde guy with
massive shoulders.  He's so big I couldn't move him at first.  I'd dig my
feet in, and push, but he wouldn't budge.  He'd eventually lift me up, and
twirl me around just to show he could do it.

   In my next lesson, I told Yuta about Sven, so we began working more on
throws and grips you could use on big guys.  Yuta showed me techniques for
getting people off balance, and then we tried them out.  At first, I
couldn't get Yuta to move either, but eventually, I got one foot between
his legs, and pushed him back.  I was quite proud of myself, until I
realized my top had fallen open.  He saw my breasts!  I quickly
straightened my top, and retied the belt, but Yuta didn't seem too worried.
He just told me to try again, and we kept on practicing as if nothing had
happened.

   The next time I saw Sven, I tried some of these new moves on him.  I
couldn't really trip him the way I had Yuta, but I got better at keeping my
footing, and wriggling out of reach.  Even Sven had to admit I was making
progress.

   I was scheduled to leave for Japan soon, so it was getting down to my
last lesson.  Yuta showed me how to deal with someone who comes at you from
behind.  There's this move where you grab the guy's wrists, spin around,
and push him back.  We worked at it for a while, and slowly I started to
get the hang of it.

   "Perfect!" Yuta smiled.  "You've got it.  How do you feel?" He was
standing so close, staring deep into my eyes.  He has great eyes actually.
Out of the blue, I leaned forward, and kissed him!  It was just a spur of
the moment thing.  I don't even know why I did it.  Unfortunately though,
he didn't seem pleased, just surprised.  Realizing my mistake, I quickly
pulled back.

   "Oh sorry.  I didn't mean to...  I mean I just thought...," I rambled
on, all nervous now.

   "Um...  no, that's OK, but uh...  that's not really why we're here," he
stammered.  It'd been a while since I'd kissed anyone.  I just kind of did
it on impulse.  Sometimes you just take a chance, and see what happens, you
know?  Anyway, I felt really awkward now, so I quickly gathered up my
stuff, left him his pay, and ran off to get changed.  It was kind of a
shame to leave things that way.  I didn't even know if I'd see him again.

   When I got home, Brandon was in the living room watching TV.  I went
upstairs, changed into shorts and a t-shirt, and then came back to watch TV
with him.  I guess he could tell I was upset because he didn't make any
smart comments for once.  He started telling me about some Japanese show
he'd seen, and slowly, I managed to calm back down.

   For my last night in Oceanview, I'd organized a small farewell party for
just a few of my closest friends.  One person I was hoping to see was Todd.
I think I might have mentioned him before.  He is tall and slender with
dark-hair.  He used to live in Satomi's dorm.  Much more than Yuta, I felt
like I had a connection with Todd.  He listened so carefully whenever I
spoke.  Our relationship hadn't really gone anywhere because he'd moved out
of the dorm, but even so, I thought that maybe if I saw him, I could at
least get his email address, so we could stay in touch.  Lori, this Korean
girl who lives in the dorm, said that she'd bumped into Todd, and she
offered to invite him to my farewell party.  I doubted he'd show, but
anyway, I was glad there was a chance.

   So there I was, the day of the party, upstairs in my room, brooding a
bit about my run-in with Yuta.  At this party anyway, I wanted to go out
with a bang, make a real impression.  I browsed through my closet, and
picked out a t-shirt dress I'd got not long before.  It's plush white
cotton with this artsy sketch of a musketeer in gold on the front.  It fit
well, and was definitely sexy, but the hem was quite short.  I picked out a
thong too, but I didn't want people staring at my bare legs on the bus, so
I ended up pulling on a pair of track pants for the ride there.

   At the bar, as I came in, I spotted Ryosuke, Satomi, Asuna and everyone
at our table.  I looked kind of dowdy in my track pants, so I rushed off to
the washroom to take them off.  Without them though, it felt awful breezy
down there.  I began to wonder if my dress was too short.  I checked my
reflection in the mirror.  You could kind of see my ass cheeks peeking out
from under the hem.  I did want people to notice me, but maybe I should
have brought a longer dress.

   Anyway, I finally got up my nerve, and walked out into the bar.  A few
guys stared at me, as I passed.  I did my best to ignore them, but I did
seem to be creating quite the commotion.

   When I got to our table, Debbie came over, and gave me a hug.  Satomi,
Asuna and them were all misty-eyed.  Asuna's roommate, Sandra was there
with her boyfriend Craig as well as Tetsu from our taiko drum troupe.  I
was glad to see so many of them come out to see me off.

   "Nice outfit!" Ryosuke grinned as I sat down next to him.  It was nice
that he noticed, but I began to worry that he thought I was commando.  To
set the record straight, I leaned over, and whispered in his ear,

   "I am wearing a thong."

   This didn't work out quite the way I planned though.  Ryosuke took this
as a come on, and snuggled up next to me, putting his arm around me.  I
tried to get him to behave, pushing his hands away, but he was quite
insistent.  Just when I thought I'd finally got him to settle down, he
reached over, and slid his finger down my butt crack, making me jump. 
Despite myself, I was starting to get excited.  Embarrassed, I finally got
up, and went to the washroom.

   In the mirror, I could see my cheeks were all red now.  My dress didn't
look all that indecent though.  At the front, the hem did more or less
cover my panties.  The way my butt sticks out though pulled the dress up at
the back.  So you could see a bit of butt cheek.  A lot of girls wear
shorter skirts than this.  Maybe it's okay.

   What with all that fooling around with Ryosuke, my thong had gotten all
sticky.  I took it off, and washed it in the sink.  Maybe I should wear my
track pants after all.  I looked around only to realize that I'd left my
backpack with my pants back at the table.

   Hanging my thong up to dry, I peeked out the door.  I couldn't see my
backpack, but it must be under the table near where I'd been sitting.  I
wonder if I can just rush out, and grab it...

   I pushed my t-shirt down as far as it would go, and nervously stepped
out into the bar.  I felt terribly self-conscious, walking around
bare-assed now, but I don't think people realized at first.  I carefully
skirted around the walls trying to get my bag before anyone twigged.

   As I got closer, I suddenly noticed that Todd was here, over by the
front door!  His face lit up when he saw me.  I could hardly believe it.  I
was so amazed that he'd actually come out.  I walked over that way, pushing
the hem down try to make sure my pussy wasn't showing.

   "Hey, Emi," Todd smiled.

   "Hey," I blushed, happy to see him.  He leaned forward, and gave me a
hug.  I kind of froze though, worried that he'd realize I was commando.  I
quickly escorted him back to our table.  Some of the guys in the bar were
eyeing me now, perhaps noticing that something was different.

   Todd doesn't really know the other people in my group except Satomi, so
I introduced him.  I got Todd to pull over a chair, so we could sit.  When
I sat down, I got a little shock from the feeling of the leather on my bare
butt cheeks.  I glanced over at Ryosuke, but he was glaring at Todd, this
rival he'd never even seen before.  I didn't think Todd would come.  I gave
Ryosuke a meek smile of apology, trying to reassure him that Todd and I
weren't an item.  I hadn't told Todd about Ryosuke either.  This was a bit
awkward.

   Debbie had a hundred and one questions for Todd.  I still had to get my
bag.  I spotted it on the floor, but I was worried that if I leaned forward
to pick it up, I might expose my bare buns.  I'd already told Ryosuke I was
wearing a thong, so it would seem strange that I'd taken off my panties
just before Todd arrived.  Soon the waiter came to take Todd's order.  I
just sat there, waiting for a chance to grab my bag without them all
seeing.

   Unfortunately though, some of the guys at the other tables were peering
over this way, talking about me and my outfit.  I wonder if I should just
grab my bag and dash back to the ladies room.  I was worried though about
how Todd might react.  I didn't want to freak him out.  He doesn't know me
all that well.  Maybe I should just wait.

   It was hard to sit still though.  I winced as I slid my bare behind
forward along the leather seat, setting my elbows down on the table, trying
to hear what Debbie and Todd were saying.  Leaning forward though, pulled
my dress up.  Ryosuke glanced down at my behind, already suspecting.  He
seemed jealous or maybe even angry at me for dressing like this.

   Eventually, Craig got up, and suggested a game of billiards.

   "Emi, do you want to come play?"

   Todd turned to look at me, so I quickly slid back into my chair, trying
to hide my bottom from him at least.  I nodded for him to go play, but he
didn't want to just leave me here.

   "C'mon, Emi!  It'll be fun!" Todd insisted.  I shook my head no, but he
reached over, and took my hand pulling me up.  I tried to slip free, but
before I could, he'd pulled me to my feet.  I quickly pushed the hem down,
but I think the guys sitting behind us saw.  They were all whispering to
each other, looking over this way.

   Todd though was completely oblivious.  He dragged me all the way over to
the pool table, while I tried to push my t-shirt back down.  Ryosuke seemed
worried too now, and got up following me over.

   Craig asked me to take the first shot, but I couldn't very well bend
over with all of them watching.  I hung back at the side standing next to
Todd trying to hide.  When he went to take his shot, I tried to slip away,
but he came right back, and started talking to me again.

   The guys at the next pool table over had noticed me, and were staring
down at my butt.  Todd noticed my worried look, and asked,

   "What's the matter, Emi?  Are you okay?"

   He is pretty kind.  I felt so embarrassed though.  What am I doing out
here dressed like this?  The guys behind us were making all these funny
faces.  Someone sunk a ball, so I clapped, but I had to be careful not to
move around too much.  The boys at the other pool table had stopped their
game, and were just standing there, staring at me.  Even Tetsu was looking
over at me.

   My face was all hot.  My kitty tingling.  My feelings were starting to
spiral.  I had to do something.  I looked shyly back at Todd, and
whispered,

   "Here, I'd better go get changed."

   He still didn't know what I was talking about.  Without really thinking,
I raised my arms showing him that I was bare-assed.  I think I might have
overdone it though.  The guys behind us were going cross-eyed, and even the
bartender was taking notice.

   Todd reluctantly looked down, but he seemed confused about what all the
commotion was about.  Things were kind of getting out of hand, so I finally
ran back to our table, and fetched my bag.  Satomi looked up wondering what
all the fuss was.  I don't think she'd seen.  Half the guys in the place
were staring at me now.  The bartender looked like he was going to say
something, so I quickly made a dash for the washroom.  Some of the guys
were even yelling as I made my way past.

   Inside the washroom, when I looked in the mirror, I finally realized
what the fuss was all about.  Even at the best of times, that t-shirt isn't
very long.  The way I'd been standing they'd probably seen my pussy, and
had definitely seen my behind.  My whole body was shaking overwhelmed at
the enormity of what I'd just done.  I did want to go out with a splash,
but I hadn't really intended to flash everyone like that.  It was a strange
feeling though, so exciting and naughty, so unlike me.  I did feel bad
about Todd though.  He seemed more scandalized than anything.

   I was too excited by then to get back dressed.  I wandered back to the
doorway, and opened it a crack trying to see what was going on.  The guys
at the nearest pool table were all talking about me now, going on about
what a sweet ass I have.

   Ryosuke came over to see how I was doing.

   "I thought you said you were wearing a thong!" he barked.  I hid behind
the door, but I think he could see my bottom in the mirror.

   "I was!  Just go back to the table.  I brought some track pants, so I'll
pull on those."

   Ryosuke had a quite noticeable erection.  I felt hot and horny, sure,
but this wasn't the right time or place.  He finally relented, and went
back to the pool table.

   I cleaned myself up, pulled my track pants on, and packed my thong into
my bag.  I felt embarrassed at having flashed everyone, so I made my rounds
getting ready to leave.  Todd did give me his email address although I
think he was a bit freaked out by my behavior.

   Ryosuke called a taxi, and rode with me.

   "I am going to miss you," he admitted.  I snuggled up next to him.  I
was going to miss him too.

   When we got to my place, we had the problem of whether he should come in
or not.  Loretta was still up, and I doubted she'd let him sleep over, so
we had to say goodbye.  He promised to come to Tokyo to see me.

   Next stop, L.A.

   Emi Tsuruta
/~emitsuruta/