TFDC: Day One -- Intimacy

Noriko’s Apartment
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
December 2011

For once, Noriko had the night to herself.

Her manager had invited her to an optional party – one where she could associate with other models and other contacts, famous stylists and hairdressers and whatnot. The manager had explained that it could be a chance for her to meet others outside the company and break into the international world even more, but the girl denied the request and instead opted to stay in her home instead.

Everyone else who she knew was going. Kishi Yamanaka, one of her close co-workers, opted to look for a new partner in the pool of attendees. Asami Iwasa and Hisaki Yuasa, the Golden Couple of Seiko Industries, would be attending, naturally. Noriko had listed off the names in her head. Inari and Yuki, twins, were attending purely out of boredom. Natsume was one of the few who had called in sick for the day, stuck home with the flu.

Noriko shifted on the couch. A thought popped into her head.

Was Naomi going? “Don’t be stupid, Inoue. Of course she is,” she sighed.

Of course Naomi would be going.

Naomi Hirano, their most-requested for and constantly-featured model. Naomi with her bleach blonde hair and sparkly eyes. Naomi who, just like Noriko, moved out of South Korea to Japan in order to make a name for herself.

She and Naomi were good friends – maybe even good enough to be deemed as close. But Noriko didn’t know exactly how close they were. Perhaps close enough for Naomi to invite Noriko to that same event which was happening, but perhaps not close enough as to actually drag the short-haired girl there.

“Whatever.” She took a sip from the plastic cup, feeling the soda rush down her throat and give her a bigger jolt of energy. “Cheer up, Inoue. You’ve wanted this break for weeks. Claim it,” the model reassured, but it didn’t exactly work. At all.

She heaved a heavy sigh.

Perhaps she should have gone – followed her manager and rode off with Naomi in the blonde’s car, maybe have bits of fun on the way.

Was it too late to actually go? Her silver dress was still in the back of her closet; she could pair the thing with her favorite pair of heels and prettify herself in less than twenty minutes – how far was the building?

And in her clusterfuck of thoughts, she didn’t notice a sharp knock on her door the first time.

The second time the knock came, it nearly made her scream in shock. Noriko stared at her door for a good five seconds before jumping off the white couch and stumbling towards the front, hands shaking as she unlocked the damn thing and opened it widely for the other person to see her in a baby pink tank and her favorite pair of magenta pajama pants (with the white dots on the side).

Of all the people she was expecting – Ms. Manager, Kishi, an activist offering pamphlets – it definitely wasn’t Naomi, who was smiling widely and holding a bag of take out in her hands, dressed casually in a purple coat and black leggings.

Noriko took a bit of time to adjust to the sight before her. “…Hirano?”

“Surprise!” the girl chirped, waltzing in. “I’m here!”

“Hirano, you didn’t say–”

“I texted you, silly. Didn’t you get it?” Noriko slapped herself internally. Her phone was charging in her bedroom. “Judging by the look on your face, Inoue, you didn’t,” the blonde teased.

“Yeah, yeah.” Despite her tone, Noriko was actually smiling as she closed the door and turned to look at the ball of sunshine inside her living room. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the party, N?”

“There are dozens of parties within the week and a thousand more next year,” the model chirped. “What’s a missed one?” And with a grin, she added, “What’s a party if you aren’t there, Nori?”

Noriko scoffed and made her way back to her couch. “A party’s just the same without me, Hirano. Except, maybe one less drunk person to deal with.” She fell back on the couch amidst her chuckle and lifted the plastic cup. “Soda?”

“Gladly.” Naomi squeezed in and immediately grabbed for the remote, Noriko frowning deeply while the former gave her familiar, impish grin. “Not sorry. For now, let me switch to channel twenty and watch my favorite drama. It’s gonna start soon.”

Noriko groaned. “No. I’m not letting you watch Horizons. The last time you watched it, it had the season finale showing and you ended up exhausting my supply of rocky road and banana ice cream.” Naomi gave a puppy-like pout, “So give me back the remote and let me go back to the news.”

“No-ri-ko,” the blonde whined. “You’re being so cruel to me. I’m two years older and this is how you treat your superior? Your mentor?”

“S-Shut up. I’m treating you right,” the taller of the two snapped. “And put the food down! You might spill it all over my carpet.” Still pouting, the other did as Noriko instructed and soon enough, rolls of sushi and two bottles of water on the surface of the glass table. “Stop moping, Naomi. You can catch it on torrent if you’re desperate enough.”

“But it’s the mid-season episode–”

“No.” she repeated, firmer this time. “I – we’re going to watch the news, see if they’re interviewing Kishi on the carpet or checking out the Golden Couple’s outfits.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Naomi’s lips. “And make fun of the rest?”

“And make fun of the rest,” Noriko confirmed, taking the black rectangle and pressing back to the news.

* * * * *

Noriko didn’t quite know how it happened, but Naomi had ended up falling asleep against the girl’s shoulder thirty minutes in.

Granted, it was 9:30PM and they usually slept at this time, wanting to avoid sleep deprivation or the appearance of circles under their eyes. Noriko knew that Naomi slept early most days, so she was barely surprised at the fact that the other had fallen asleep.

What had surprised her was the fact that she fell asleep on Noriko’s shoulder – of all places.

She was tempted to choose between staying there and lying the girl down on the couch, then continuing to make fun of ridiculous fashion choices without her partner-in-crime. But somehow, the sarcastic comments fell flat when the lack of laughter was present.

So Noriko watched quietly, having turned the volume down, and waited for Naomi to wake.

Minutes passed.

Noriko decided that Naomi looked prettier while asleep. Instead of a bouncy, radiant sun, she was as pretty as the sunrise as it reenergized and waited for the right moment to shine. In that moment, Naomi was the sunrise – soft, quaint, quiet. A side of her that Noriko enjoyed and disliked at the same time.

For one, going too close to the sun could leave a nasty burn and leave you writing for the rest of your life.

But you couldn’t silence the brightest star and expect it to have the same effect.

* * * * *

Intimacy.

The word was mildly unfamiliar to Noriko in terms of actual experience. She knew what it meant – a close familiarity with someone – anyone.

Noriko had friends, of course. She had friends in South Korea, friends in Japan, friends from all over the globe. But none of them had managed to pick up on that word – intimacy – and leave her craving for the feeling, for the connection.

But in that moment, with skin against skin and a heavy weight on her shoulder – literally – Noriko wanted intimacy. She felt her senses light up with the desire for it.

And it wasn’t even something sensual, no. Noriko felt fueled.

And she wanted to get to know the resting Naomi even more; to venture and explore the sun as no one has ever done. Her thoughts screamed, to hell with getting burned.

Noriko wanted Naomi at her rawest, to peel back the layers and see what made her tick, what scarred her and what would always haunt her. And in return, she wanted to fix that tick, to numb those scars and banish away the girl’s personal demons.

It was close to ten thirty and Naomi was beginning to stir lightly. Noriko hadn’t made a move.

She knew it was impossible anyway; so instead, she merely kept there, accepting the small amount of intimacy that the universe had granted her for that night.