Chapter 23

It's my party and I rhyme if I want to.
- K. and P.

The sound of birds chirping greeted me when I woke up Sunday morning. I carefully untangled my body from around an exhausted Traci. The previous day's events had really worked up my girlfriend's sexual appetite, so we had spent most of the night alternating between making love and fucking like usagi (rabbits).

I glanced at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was half past seven. I did not want to disturb my love by taking a shower in the master bathroom, so I opted to use the hallway bathroom. Retrieving a pair of jeans and my 'Full Metal Panic' tee shirt from my walk-in closet, I made my way to the other bathroom unobserved.

After my shower, I headed into the living room. It took me a couple of minutes to make up my mind if I should go upstairs and talk to Lori about her first day being dominated or if I should make breakfast for everybody. Since I was unsure when the rest of the house would be up, I opted to go up to Lori's room.

I knocked softly on the door, but after I did not get a reply, I quietly let myself in. Lori was sound asleep in her bed. She was sleeping on her right side, so I had a clear view of her face. For a second, I was taken aback by how much she looked like Traci when she was sleeping. Unlike my girlfriend, I noticed that Lori was wearing a sleeping tee shirt (her sister now preferred sleeping nude). Spotting Lori's journal and the questionnaire that I had given her sitting on her desk, I stealthily made my way over to it.

When I opened the journal and saw how much Lori had written, I opted to move to the comfortable chair along the wall instead of sitting down at the desk to read it. The questionnaire held no major surprises; it appeared that Lori was willing to try most everything on there, save for a few extreme things. The journal was another matter. Lori had used two different colored pens to write in her journal: black for when she wrote as Slave and blue for when she wrote as Lori. It seemed that she took the idea of two personas quite seriously, and I was pleased that she had thought of writing the feelings of them separately on her own.

Lori had been mortified when she felt what she guessed was semen making contact with her skin, whereas Slave had been turned on even more. The illinition of the substance to her upper lip had seemed cruel to Lori because she had had to constantly smell it, while Slave found it cruel because she was unable to lick it up. Lori had been comforted in the fact that the semen had most likely belonged to me, but she grew doubtful of it when she felt multiple sets of hands on her. They had both guessed correctly on whose hands had been on them, but it appeared that the charade that we had pulled had worked, and they now were highly doubtful that it could have belonged to Marge and Rose. Slave found the idea of strangers touching her highly erotic; Lori was afraid that they might have been people from school, and she was unsure how she could face her classmates on Tuesday.

It was while I was reading the last page of the journal when I noticed Lori's breathing pattern change. I smiled to myself when Lori began to moan softly. Every so often, she would mumble something unintelligible, but I swore on a couple of occasions I could make out the word 'master'. When Lori finally woke up, she stretched and let out a long yawn. It did not appear that she noticed me in the room as she rolled onto her back and her right hand lazily slid itself underneath the blankets. She suddenly stopped its descent and quickly pulled it out, as if remembering the rule about not pleasuring herself without permission.

She jerked slightly when she heard me chuckle at her antics.

"Jesus, you scared me!" exclaimed Lori. After a couple of heartbeats, she inquired, "Chad?"

I gave her a grin and nodded. "I'm sorry, Lori. I didn't mean to startle you, but the way you stopped yourself was just too funny."

"Damn, I'm starting to regret making that rule all of the time instead of just when I'm Slave," Lori said with an embarrassed grin.

I thought for a moment and decided that the one climax I had allowed Slave was too little for all that went on Saturday. "If you want, I'll let you cum once this morning."

Lori hesitated for a moment, then asked, "As myself or Slave?"

I smiled and said, "As Lori. I can leave the room if you prefer some privacy."

As I started to stand up, Lori said, "No, it's okay to stay. Though, if you don't mind, I'll just keep my blankets up."

I gave the blushing girl a reassuring smile and settled back down into the chair. I tried to finish reading the journal, but Lori's moans made it quite difficult. She had stuffed part of her pillow in her mouth to keep down her noise, but being in the same room with her, it did not muffle it enough. The blanket fell up and down rapidly over her loins as she desperately frigged herself. She let out a loud moan of satisfaction as she came and, afterwards, she curled herself up in a fetal position. When she finally recovered from her orgasm, she rolled back to face me.

I was unsure if the blush on her face was more of a sexual nature or from embarrassment. "Thanks, Chad. I can't believe how horny I was when I woke up. I don't know if it was because of yesterday, the dreams that I had, or a combination of both."

I suggested, "Maybe you should also keep a dream journal, as well."

Lori glanced at her desk and then back at me, spotting the journal that I held for the first time. A twinge of panic seemed to reach her eyes, but it was quickly suppressed. Lori said, "I hope I did that correctly."

"Yes, you did a wonderful job with your journal. Actually, writing your thoughts and feelings as both Lori and Slave was a good idea. I wish I had thought of that."

Lori seemed pleased with my praise, so she smiled at me. "It's still kinda hard for me to get used to the idea of being two different people, so I thought that if I wrote about it like that, it might make it easier."

I nodded and said, "Well, you brought up some points in your journal that I wanted to talk to you about. As I said yesterday, we will usually go over what we did in a scene immediately upon your return to being Lori. However, I thought that we would try seeing what it would be like for you not to know what actually happened until later. So how was it not knowing what happened while you were blindfolded?"

Lori gave the question some serious thought before answering. "As I wrote in the journal, when I was Slave, I was turned on at not being in control, not knowing who was touching me and such. But when I returned to being Lori, there was this overwhelming fear that it might have been your otaku friends who had been touching me. It's not like I don't trust them or anything, but I don't know them well enough to be sure that they would keep their mouths shut about me. I think it was the fact that you had told me that you would always keep my welfare as your number one priority that helped me through it."

I nodded my agreement and decided that then was as good time as any to explain what had transpired when Lori was blindfolded. "First and foremost, I need to apologize for ejaculating on you; I had not wanted to go that far during our first scene. In my defense, thanks to your sister, I was not operating with full facilities. At the least, I should have stopped the 'illinition' of my semen to your upper lip."

Lori chuckled and said, "Well, at least it was your sperm. It is reassuring that, the first time that I taste cum, it is from my master." She then grinned and added, "I see you picked up on my use of 'illinition'. I learned that word when studying for the SATs and never thought I would get a chance to use it."

I gave Lori an apologetic smile and went on, "As for whose hands that were upon you, you don't have to look outside of this house to find their owners."

Lori let out a sigh of relief and said, "I thought so, but then when Mom and Rose came home, I wasn't sure."

I gave her a wink and said, "We thought we would try playing a trick on you. Glad to see that it worked."

Lori chuckled and tossed a pillow at me. "You're such a stinker. Remind me to stay on your good side."

I returned her grin and asked, "Is there anything else that you need to know?"

Lori thought for a moment and then asked, "Was that true what you said about Mom, calling her 'Master's Lover' or were you just role-playing?"

"Hmm. As somebody who I'm going to have sexual intercourse with, you have the right to know about my sexual history, but in this case, I think it would be best to ask your mom that question."

Lori let out a small snort and replied, "Well, that sounds like a yes to me."

"Let's say that it's true, that your mom and I are having sex. Would that upset you?"

Lori shrugged and said, "Not really. I guess I would mostly be hurt that she couldn't trust me to tell me about it."

"Well, I'm not confirming nor denying it, but if it did happen, perhaps she had a reason why she did not tell you."

Lori cracked a smile and said, "You know, you sound like one of those politicians you're always bitching about."

I let out a mock groan and asked, "Anything else you want to talk about?" When Lori shook her head I asked, "What are your plans for today?"

"Nothing that I can't change."

Frowning slightly, I stated, "I did not ask you if you could change your plans. I was asking if you had any."

"Well, Vicky invited me and a couple of the cheerleaders to do some shopping at the mall this afternoon. I had given her a tentative yes, but she won't mind if I bail."

I smiled at Lori's willingness to alter her schedule. "No, I think it would best if you did hang out with your friends today. After all, my friends are coming over this afternoon, so unless you think Slave would like to serve a bunch of anime nerds topless, shopping sounds like a plan."

Lori let out a nervous laugh and agreed. "Yeah, I don't think I'm up to that level, yet. Slave might like the idea of her classmates ogling her, but I don't think I could show my face at school if I did."

I nodded. She then surprised me slightly when she added, "Perhaps in the summer I might give them some 'fan service'."

I gave Lori a huge grin; not because she would consider such a thing, but because (unlike her sister) she was able to use the anime term correctly.

The purpose for the meeting we were holding that Sunday afternoon was to choose a new fansubbing project. We had discussed some of the details at our school lunch meetings, but decided that we would review the available raws at my house. I would have preferred to postpone the meeting for another week, but I had been neglecting my male friends enough as it was. I told the guys to swing by after 1:00; Chuck was the last to arrive at 1:15. He also brought along a guest.

"Hi, Fran. I wasn't expecting to see you here," I said to the tall blonde as she came through the foyer.

Fran was looking back at Rose who had let Chuck and her into the house. True to fashion, Rose was wearing one of her maid's outfits. It was not the most provocative outfit she had worn during the otaku meetings, but it did not leave much to the imagination either. Fran then turned to me and said, "Hey, Chad. I hope you don't mind me crashing you guys' meeting. I've been staying at Chuck's house this weekend and thought it would be more fun to tag along, especially since his mom got rid of his dolls."

Chuck let out a deep sigh and said, "How many times do I need to tell you, they were 'action figures'. I'm still pissed that she sold my G.I. Joes at the swap meet."

Fran flashed me a grin, confirming that she perfectly knew well what they were called. Traci chose that opportune time to walk into the living room from the hallway. She saw her arch-nemesis grinning at me, but did not break stride as she went over and gave Fran a welcome hug.

When they finished their embrace, I said, "Well, since we need to start our meeting, would you mind showing Fran around, Traci?"

Traci turned and gave me a questioning look; Rose attempted to help her friend, "Chad, I can do that."

"Don't be silly. Like it or not, you're pretty much a member of our group. Heck, I think you have seen more anime this past couple of months than Bill has watched all year."

"Hey," protested Bill, "you try holding two jobs while still going to school and see how anime you can watch." He gave Rose a smile and added, "However, Chad's right. You do more than just fetch us drinks; we value what you have to say."

The rest of the guys also reassured Rose that she was a member of the club. Traci finally announced, "I don't mind giving Fran a complete tour of the house." Traci then led the tall blonde down the hallway to show her the three downstairs bedrooms.

I trusted my love completely and knew that she would never betray the trust that the two of us had built, but I could not help but grow nervous whenever she and Fran got near the staircase. It was most likely my overactive imagination that made me think she stressed the word 'complete'. I was still contemplating Traci's choice of words when David brought me back to the conversation at hand.

"I still think that if we do choose a project and it gets licensed in the US before we're done, we should still finish it," David said with some exasperation.

Bill pointed out, "But that goes against the principles of fansubbing. The reasons why the US companies tolerate it is because they can judge what people want to see, and it promotes anime in general; hell, they have even hired fansubbers based on how well they do. But if we continue to fansub a project after it's licensed, they'll come after us."

"That's why you guys picked a thirteen-episode project last time, because you guys could finish before it was licensed, right? So just pick another short one again."

Chuck smiled at Rose and explained, "That's part of our dilemma: the current batch of new ones have already been snatched up by other groups. We could either go with a longer project or pick one that is already being done."

Mike spoke up, "Even if we did pick a longer project, I am sure that we can complete it before a US company grabs it. Look at Naruto. It has been on for more than two years and it's not licensed."

"Actually," I replied, "I saw on a rumor on a website that Cartoon Network was going to be broadcasting it either the fall of this year or beginning of next."

"I'll bet they'll never carry a lesbian romantic mech drama," mumbled Rose.

She was referring to Kannadzuki no Miko, a series that she enjoyed, for the most part. Towards the middle of it, she had grown quite irate at the actions of one of the main characters, but the final episode moved her to tears. I think it was that series that showed Rose how intricate and compelling a good anime could be, and she had been hooked ever since.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea, we could always do something that won't get licensed," stated David.

"Like hentai?" joked Rose.

Mike took Rose's question seriously, "Nah, even those get licensed. Maybe something that is really Japanese and the US companies don't think it will translate well, or a subject matter that they won't want to touch."

"Hmm, but if we go too extreme, then nobody will want to download it. Look at Sukisyo: two groups are doing it, but nobody is downloading it because it was based on a shounen-ai game."

Rose gave me a puzzled look at what David had said, so I filled her in, "Boys'-love game."

"So desu ne," replied Rose, showing her understanding of my explanation. While there had been many anime based on H-Games, there had been very few that dealt with just male-on-male interaction. Actually, as I thought about it, Sukisyo might be the first to be fansubbed.

"What about doing an older series?" suggested Rose. "I mean, if it has been out for a couple of years, then chances of it getting picked up are slim."

Bill said, "The problem with that is acquiring the raws. That's mainly why we have been sticking to stuff that has been released on Tokyo Toshokan."

Rose shrugged and said, "Chad and I can buy them on DVD when we go to Japan."

Mike gave Rose a smile and asked, "Rose, how much do you think anime DVDs cost?"

"Just the same as regular DVDs, between $15 and $20."

Mike shook his head, "More like between $20 and $40. And that is here in the US. Guess how much they cost in Japan."

Rose frowned and replied, "From the way you said that, I am guessing more?"

"More like between $40-$70 per DVD."

"Shit! And they pay that much for them?"

Mike nodded and let the other shoe drop, "Yup. Then there are OVAs, Original Video Animes; they can cost over $120 for a DVD that contains a single episode."

Rose looked at Mike incredulously and said, "Now I know you're shitting me. There is no way that is true!"

Rose then saw the rest of us nodding in agreement and asked, "How in the world can they get away with it?"

I said, "Because there are people willing to buy them. OVAs get their name because they are not broadcasted; they go straight to video. Since the company that made them doesn't get any money from broadcasting, they pass the costs off to the consumers. However, I think you brought up a good point about us buying the DVDs when we go there."

"Not if they cost that much!" protested Rose.

I smiled and explained, "Well, if it is a series that has been out for a while, I am sure it will be less expensive. Also, we might be able to pick it up secondhand or even on laser disc at an anime shop."

Rose nodded, but could not let the revelation of how much anime DVDs cost drop. "If anime costs so much, why in the hell do you buy them even when you have them fansubbed?"

"Because he's baka," laughed Bill.

I gave a grin and nodded. The real reason -- that the government frowned upon copyright infringement and 'forced' me to buy the DVDs -- was not one that I could explain to my friends. Instead, I said, "Because that is what a person who has fansubs is supposed to do: buy the DVDs once they become licensed."

Everybody cracked up laughing when Rose said, "Bill's right -- you are baka."

We spent close to an hour going over what titles to keep our eyes open for when Rose and I were in Japan. It broke down into the same old argument: Bill and David prefer Sci-Fi, Chuck and John want romantic-comedies, Mike wants mystery/horror, and while I try to stay neutral, I mostly side with Chuck and John. Rose weighed in with her opinion that it did not matter, as long as it involved at least one character in a maid's outfit. We accessed the internet via the media PC in the living room as well as my laptop to get a better understanding of some of the older anime titles.

"Hey, where did Fran and Traci go?" asked Chuck.

For the briefest of moments, the image of Fran bound and gagged in the Dungeon with Traci towering over her flickered across my mind. I pushed that thought aside since it would have been virtually impossible for the two girls to have gone down there without drawing attention to themselves.

Rose speculated, "Maybe the game room?"

Everybody grew silent and listened carefully. After about fifteen seconds, we heard the sound of a rack of pool balls being broke. "Wanta join them?" I asked.

We had pretty much settled on the list of titles to acquire. As we started up the stairs, Bill asked, "Should we give you and Rose some money to buy them?"

"Nah, I'll just factor it into you guys' tab," I replied. I doubted less than a minute passed from when my friends heard about the trip to Japan before they started pestering me with stuff to buy. I had actually planned on making purchases for them and had insisted that they write down their 'wish lists'; I would collect the money from them upon my return.

The 'game room' was basically an open area at the top of the staircase. The pool and card tables had been left behind when I moved in. Traci and Fran had just started up a game of eight ball. They stopped their game when they saw us come up and suggested that we should break into teams and play.

"Actually, I need to get going. I have to work at Starbucks in a half-hour," confessed Bill. He then turned to Mike and asked, "Can David catch a ride with you?"

Mike shrugged and said, "Sure, it's not out of my way. You cool with hanging out for a while here, David?"

"Yeah, as long as it's not too long. I still gotta do my bio homework."

Mike pointed out, "You can do it tomorrow. Remember, no school."

"Oh shit, I forgot about that," confessed David. "Yeah, I can do homework tomorrow."

"Okay, that leaves seven of us," observed John.

"You can count me out," said Rose, "I want to get some more housework done before I start on dinner."

As soon as Rose had gone downstairs and was well out of earshot, Fran inquisitively asked Traci, "Not only does she clean, but she cooks for you guys?"

I answered Fran's question, "Yeah, it's something that she took upon herself after she moved in. We do try to take turns with cooking supper, but Rose can get quite feisty if we try to take to much away from her."

"So how do we determine teams?" asked David.

"Jan Ken Po?" I suggested.

Chuck shook his head, "Nah, Rock, Paper, Scissors won't work. If we want to do teams of three, then we should have the girls each pick two guys. If we want to do teams of two, then we'll get three pairs of cards from the card deck and draw."

"Trust me, Chuck, it will be a lot easier to Jan Ken Po it," I told my black friend. He gave me a dubious look, but on the count of three, we all threw out hands.

I announced, "Okay, Mike and I both threw rocks, so we'll be one team. You guys do it again."

Fran, Chuck, and David threw scissors, this time, with Traci throwing paper. On the second round, Traci threw rock, Chuck threw paper, and Fran and David threw scissors. "Okay, Fran and David make a team, with Traci and Chuck making the third team."

Traci asked, "Which teams go first?"

I noticed everybody looking at me, so I replied, "Hey, I just came up with the way to make teams, not what order they played. Tell you what, you guys go first, and Mike and I will play the winners."

Everybody nodded in agreement, so the other two teams started up their game of eight ball, and Mike and I played pinball. After the third time Mike had tilted the machine, he mused, "You guys should really get this fixed."

He was referring to the right flipper. Occasionally, it would get stuck in the up position and required a whack to the side to dislodge it. Only problem was that, if you hit it too hard, it would tilt the game.

I told Mike, "The Caspars like it this way,"

Mike nodded in understanding. He, along with the rest of the otakus, had helped with the move over and remembered how much concern Traci and Lori had shown when we had to carry the heavy pinball machine up the stairs. The pinball game had been one of John Caspar's prized possessions, and the sticking flipper was an element to the game he had mastered. All three Caspar women were better at dislodging the flipper without tilting than Rose and I.

It turned out that we had worked out a good system of four people playing pool with the remaining two playing pinball. There had been a pool table at the Compound, and while I was nowhere in the league of the gambling agents, I was the most proficient player among my friends. Mike, on the other hand, was probably the worst, so we offset each other pretty well. After seven games, Chuck suggested we all go swimming.

"Oh, I didn't know to bring a suit," protested Fran.

"You can always go skinny-dipping," suggested Chuck.

I added, "Yeah, none of the neighbors will see you, right Traci?"

Traci rolled her eyes, the previous day's events still fresh in her memory, and told Fran, "I have an old two-piece top that is too small for me, but it should fit you. As for bottoms, one of my mom's should work."

Fran asked, "You sure, Traci? Maybe you should call your mom and ask her first."

"Nah, it's cool. Mom and I share everything, right Chad?"

Once again, my love showed that she could give as well as she could take. While my little tease might have been picked up by some of the others in the room, I sure hoped that nobody had a clue what Traci was referring to. Luckily, I was spared any scrutiny by Fran's sudden revelation.

"Hey, is that what you brought in the bag? A pair of swim trunks?" Fran asked Chuck.

"Yeah, so?"

"So you knew there might be swimming and you didn't tell me."

Chuck pointed out, "You're the one who wanted to tag along at the last moment. It's your fault for not asking."

Fran grinned and teased, "More like you wanted to see naked again."

Everybody chuckled at Chuck's embarrassment and dispersed to change into our swimming outfits. When I went downstairs, I sought out Rose to see if she wanted to join us.

"Depends. How many will be staying for supper?"

I thought for a moment and replied, "Hmm, I don't know. I'll find out and let you know."

Rose nodded and went back to folding laundry. Everybody else was assembling at the pool, and Fran was the last of us to leave the house. I think the swimsuit that she was wearing made her a little timorous. It was not so much the size of the bikini that she was wearing, but what it revealed.

"Oh, wow! She's just like Kugura from Azumanga Daioh," observed Mike.

Everybody pretty much nodded in agreement to Mike's reference. Fran's tan had started to fade slightly since the end of water polo, but she still possessed a fairly decent tan. The problem with her tan was that, since she had been wearing multiple one-piece suits, a good portion of her torso still possessed a milky-white skin tone, similar to the anime character that Mike had mentioned. The contrast was startling.

Since Fran had unknowingly saved me scrutiny earlier, I thought I would return the favor by diverting attention from her. "How many of you guys want to stay for supper? Actually, since tonight isn't a school night, you're free to crash here if you want."

It was a common occurrence for people to sleep over after our Saturday poker nights, and a few of the otakus had started to keep sleepwear in the guest room's dresser. However, all of the houseguests except Mike had to call their parents to get permission first. After Fran got off the phone with Chuck's mom, she informed me that Mrs. Johnson would be stopping by with some stuff for her.

Rose had just come down the staircase, having just put away some laundry, when I stopped her and updated her on what was going on. "You should give Pollyanna a call and see if she wants to come over; I'll call Michelle and invite her," I added.

Rose nodded in agreement, but began to protest when I suggested we should just order some takeout or pizza instead of cooking.

"Rose, hon, we're already up to nine people. We should go with pizza or Chinese, instead."

"But we just had pizza yesterday," objected Rose. Suddenly, she blurted out, "Mexican!"

Confused, I asked, "Mexican takeout?"

Rose shook her head, the idea forming in her mind as she spoke, "No, we can have Mexican. We can do a taco/burrito-type bar where everybody can make their own. I have all the ingredients, and it won't be any trouble at all to prepare."

Seeing Rose's determined look, I relented. "Okay, do we have plenty of drinks?"

A catcall interrupted Rose's reply, and I turned around to see the source. Standing in the archway of the foyer was Lori and three of the members of her cheerleading squad: Vicky Carson, Jenny Reeds, and Susan Ramirez. All four of them were carrying bags, the spoils of their shopping expedition. Susan commented, "Damn, I had almost forgotten how fine this guy looks in a bathing suit. Too bad that swimsuit isn't a Speedo."

I gave all four girls a grin and replied, "No worries. I haven't forgotten the pleasant view I used to receive at the games."

They returned my grin. During water polo season, the cheerleaders would sometimes attend our games. Since they would sit on the bottom row of the bleacher stands, our whole team was able to admire their nice athletic legs. "Looks like a party/sleepover is starting to develop; you girls are more than welcome to stay," I said, glancing back at Rose for confirmation.

Rose nodded in agreement, adding, "I'll just need a couple more ingredients, but three more people won't be a problem at all."

"Should we call Marge and ask her to pick them up for you on her way home from the hospital?" I asked Rose.

Rose wrinkled her nose as she thought about it, "No, she's not going to get here until after six. It would better if I had the stuff before then."

"I'll ask one of the guys to fetch it, then," I said.