The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 165: A picture at Karaoke. (Patreon)

You spend most of Saturday afternoon walking and exploring downtown Shinjuku with an unusually timid Fujiwara-san. She spends most of the time being silent, and when you ask if there’s something wrong, she just smiles and denies it.

“I’m okay. Really. I’ve just had a lot on my mind recently.”

“Anything I can help with?”

“Maybe.” She chuckles. “But don’t worry. I’m just… being stupid.” She shakes her head.

“Oh, I can definitely help with that. I know a lot about being stupid.” You nod confidently.

Fujiwara-san laughs and gives you a playful push.

Her timid attitude goes out the window, however, when you walk past a shop she recognizes. Oddly enough, thanks to your practice and new trait, you can read the big, colorful sign on top of the entrance.

“Karaoke?” You ask.

“Let’s go in!” Fujiwara-san urges you with a huge, excited grin.

“…To karaoke?”

The idea doesn’t appeal to you that much. Thankfully, you’ve never had stage-fright, so public speaking has never been an issue. Karaoke, however, is a very different kind of beast. The last time you sang anything in public was before your voice started changing! Sure, you CAN sing a few songs in Japanese, but it’s still embarrassing.

“Please! I’ve really missed having these so close! Besides, these are not like karaoke bars. We’d have our own room!”

Oh, come on! How can you say no when she gives you such an eager, pleading look? Well, you don’t get much out of saying no to new experiences, so what the hell.

“Okay then” You nod.

“Yes!” She smiles and does a small fist pump. “Thanks!”

You go in, and like almost everything in this country, you see they’re pretty organized.

At the front desk, your idea was to let Fujiwara-san do the talking and just listen carefully to see if you got what they were saying, but your date has other plans.

“Why don’t YOU tell them what we want?” She says.

“Me!? I can barely understand some words. You want me to talk?”

“I think you can! Come on, I’ll help you.”

Urgh. You guess this is how you actually get to learn, though. Fine.

As expected, it’s a struggle. You mostly get by using hand signs, listening to the receptionist’s questions and answering yes or no, and asking Fujiwara-san how to say some words.

Still, it seems you managed to tell her you’d be reserving a room for two for an hour, which you can extend later if you want. You also get the more expensive machine since it has more songs. You have to order at least one drink each as part of the deal, and while you’d like to get a beer or something, you’re not allowed to drink here. You ask for a cream soda, which is a melon-flavored soda with ice cream on top, while Fujiwara-san DOES get a beer.

There are costumes you can rent for extra money, but after looking at each other and laughing, you realize neither of you is up for it. Something tells you that if Megan was here she’d be all for it, though.

…

Dammit. Now you have images of the girls in different outfits. Focus on the girl beside you, Walker.

The room itself is very narrow, with barely much space to move yet still enough for about 6 people to sit. It’s decorated with a golden colored wallpaper with diamond-shaped patterns. There are black leather couches along the walls, a dark glass table between them, and the karaoke machine is right next to the glass door.

You guess it’s obvious they wouldn’t give you FULL privacy, but it’s also a little disappointing.

“This is pretty cool.” You nod. “Why don’t we have these back home?”

“Because people either go to karaoke bars or just do it at home.” Fujiwara-san says. “It’s the same for arcades.”

“That makes sense.” You sigh. It sucks, but she’s right. A business like this in your town would only get customers looking for the novelty of it. “So, you’re into karaoke?”

“I would never do it in public, but here? I couldn’t always go with my friends, because, well, my parents.” She smiles wryly. “But whenever I managed to go I had a really good time. I have fond memories of these.”

She sits down an picks up the tablet with which you select the songs. She seems excited, which is good. She browses through the songs as you open the door for the waitress that brings you your drinks.

She says something and points to the phone on the wall right next to the door and the menu on the table before bowing and leaving. The trait seems to be working, because, although you can’t really understand each sentence, you got the gist of it. She said that you can use the phone there to order more things if you wish.

Yay for magical language acquisition! You bet Steaphen Krashen never thought voluntary reading would work THIS well!

“Do you mind if I go first?” Fujiwara-san asks, waving the mic in her hand.

“Please, go ahead.”

She picks a pop song you don’t know, so you can’t really follow. The lyrics are both in Japanese characters and romaji, though, so that should be helpful. As for her performance, she’s obviously no professional but her enthusiasm is contagious. You find yourself clapping and cheering as you watch her move to the rhythm of the music. 

With her song done, she sets the mic on the table and urges you to pick one.

Having seen her, you start getting in the mood as well. Enough to take a (safe) gamble and picking a song in Japanese you actually know the lyrics to. You’re kind of surprised they have it, actually.

The song starts, and just hearing it gets you even deeper into the mood. A more melancholic kind of mood, though.

“Dame da ne! Dame yo, dame na no yo…!” You sign your heart out, grabbing your shirt as if your chest hurt. Fujiwara-san laughs seeing you act so theatrically while singing. Hey, if you can get her to laugh it’s all worth it.

You go at it for several rounds, taking turns picking songs. She praises your singing, and although you’re not nearly as good as she says, you’re thankful anyway.

At one point, she stands up and excuses herself to the restroom of a moment, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

You’ve been dating Fujiwara-san for a weak already. You cringe when you realize that’s somehow more dates than any of your girlfriends save Emma, but you’re not sure if going drinking with her counts as a date.

And as if thinking of the devil, your phone buzzes, building some excitement within you. For the past week, your girls have been sending you pictures of the things they’ve been doing. They went to the zoo, went hiking, played boards games at Mia’s place and had dinner and watched movies at Emma’s. They seem to be having a great time, and it’s hard to state how happy that makes you.

You wonder what they did today.

You unlock your phone and open the group chat. When you see the first picture, you’re paralyzed. Yet your body doesn’t go cold, but instead starts growing hot.

The picture you see is a selfie taken by Emma. She’s on your mattress, completely naked and with the other girls also in the frame. They’re all laying naked, almost a mess of tangled limbs with satisfied grins on their faces.

Megan is hugging Emma from behind as they both do a peace sign. Emily is resting her head on Mia’s lap as the older woman smiles at the camera and brushes the blonde’s messy hair. Sophia was caught unaware, apparently. She’s not looking at the camera, but bringing some covers for everyone.

And are those… sex toys laying around? There are a couple of vibrators, some blindfolds, fuzzy handcuffs and… lube?

The image comes with the caption “About to go to sleep. It was a really fun night! We love you!”

Before you can even ponder on this, or even get a hard on, the sound of the door suddenly opening startles you, sending your heart to your throat and your phone falling just at Fujiwara-san’s feet.

No. No. No no no nononononono!

“Oh, sorry. Did that scare you?” She chuckles and bends down to pick up your phone.

Please be in locked screen. Please be in locked screen. Please be in locked screen. Please be in locked screen. Please be in locked screen. Please be in locked screen. Please be in locked screen.

The nurse’s widening eyes immediately tell you that’s not the case. Her eyes are glued to the screen, but she finally manages to tear them away to look at you.

Her mouth is half-open, her lips quivers, her eyes… are unreadable.

“… Ms. Campbell and Ms. Owens!?” She doesn’t yell, but her voice demands an explanation.

‘It’s not what it looks like!’ Yeah, as if you’d say that. You’ve been caught, and at the other fucking side of the world no less! God, what a huge screw up on your part.

“I…!” You want to explain, but you don’t know what to say that would make this okay.

Fujiwara-san purses her lips and closes the door. She stands there for a few seconds before she lets out a drawn-out breath.

She sits down across from you, not giving you back your phone. However, she seems more open to reason now than before.

“What’s going on here? Please explain, Mr. David Walker.”

Urgh. The fact that she changed to her usual way to address you says how serious she is.

You sigh deeply, collecting your thoughts before starting.

“…Yes, I’m seeing Ms. Campbell and Ms. Owens as well. They just sent me that picture.”

“Why?”

“…They’ve been going out as a group all week and sending me pictures. Today, they-”

“No, I’m not asking why they sent you this.” She shakes her head. “Why are you dating your teachers!? Do you have any idea what the headmistress will do to you if she finds out!?”

“…” You grimace. “Yeah.”

“Then why go through the risk!?”

Well, at least that’s an easy questions. “It’s worth it.”

“What!? Are you saying it’s worth risking ruining your life just so you can fuck your teachers?”

…

What?

Her words light a burning rage in your chest in an instant. Why did she say that? What does she know about you!? Does she think they’re just your fuck toys? That you’ll dump them as soon as you get bored?

You glare at her, full of anger, yet seeing her visibly flinch at that prevents you from saying anything you might regret later. Still, it’s not like you can just calm down in an instant after that. Irrational anger or not, you still want to yell at her for saying that, but you know in the back of your mind that would be stupid.

You stand up quickly and open the door. Your steps are heavy. “I’ll be back in a minute.” You mutter back.

You go to the restroom and wash your face with cold water. You stare at yourself in the mirror for a while, trying to soften your scowl. You tell yourself over and over that you don’t have to blame her. She probably said it in the heat of the moment. You can’t get into her head and understand what she was thinking.

Hopefully, when you return you’ll both be cool enough to talk things out logically. She did sound worried about you back there. She was asking why you would risk yourself, and to be honest, that’s a fair question.

She just… doesn’t know how much they mean to you. Right now, if you had to choose between them and Ms. Fujiwara, you’d choose them 10 out of 10 times. There’s no question.

Now you have to convince her not to tell anyone.

You go back to the karaoke room to find Ms. Fujiwara still sitting there, looking down at the back screen of your phone with a face full of regret.

“Walker-san, I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“…” You sigh. “I know. I’m sorry for leaving like that, but I didn’t want to say anything I didn’t mean, either.”

She gives you a very faint, but thankful smile.

You take your seat and take a deep breath before you start explaining, not wanting to look at the nurse, choosing instead to look at the ceiling intead.

“Back when I first moved to that town, my life was at its lowest point, and I’m not exaggerating. It was Emma, I mean, Ms. Campbell who helped me out of that hole. I couldn’t help but fall for her. Things happened and we ended up together.” You smile at the memories. They seem like so long ago, but it’s only been like 4 months.

“Some time after, she told me what was happening to Mia.” You continue, deciding to drop pretenses and just call your teachers by name. “She was having problems with her ex-husband, and Emma suggested I asked Mia out on a date to help her take her mind off things. We hit it off better than we thought, though, and after many other dates also got together.”

You lower your gaze and look directly and firmly into Ms. Fujiwara’s eyes. “I love them like you have no idea. I would give everything for them. So please, don’t say something like that again.”

“I won’t.” She grimaces. “It’s true that both have been looking a lot more cheerful lately. Ms. Owens especially so.”

You smile faintly.

“Look, I… I really didn’t mean what I said.” She repeats. “I was just so surprised. Not to mention they were…”

“I understand. I didn’t think they’d send me a picture like that without warning though.” You sigh. “I guess that since it’s almost 4:00 am for them, they forgot it’s about 5:00 pm here.”

“…” Ms. Fujiwara purses her lips. She keeps staring at your phone, before she decided to hand it back to you.

“I won’t tell anyone.” She says.

“Really? Why?”

“I…” She bites her lip. She seems to be seriously struggling to get something out of her chest.

You wish you could check the AMA to see her affection score and see what you can get away with, but looking at your phone now of all times would be highly inappropriate.

“…”

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Does Anzu tell you what’s on her mind?