Feeling the soft sunlight leaking through the gap in the curtains, Yukino snapped her eyes wide open. Since childhood, she could wake at whatever time she wished without needing an alarm clock. She sat up and stretched, then kissed the lips of Sosuke, who lay sleeping beside her with a dazed look on his face.
Out of bed, she left the bedroom, took care of business in the toilet, washed her face at the sink, and set about preparing breakfast. Because Sosuke likes Japanese food, she made miso soup, grilled dried fish3, and prepared pickles and natto. Once breakfast was ready, she went to wake Sosuke, and while he washed his face and used the toilet, she skimmed the newspaper at a terrifying speed.
Then, when Sosuke sat down at the dining table, they ate breakfast together. When they finished, she cleaned up the dishes and got ready for work. Putting on makeup, brushing her hair, changing into a suit… it did not take much time before everything was done. Once ready, she left before Sosuke and got into the black company car waiting at the entrance of the apartment building. During the ride she reviewed the day’s schedule in her head, and upon arriving at the company she entered her office and work began right away.
Checking emails, approving documents submitted the day before, several phone calls, meetings, consultations, receiving visitors, drafting documents… Yukino’s days were very busy, and sometimes she was too busy to find time for lunch. Even so, on days without urgent work or appointments to meet people, she made a point of going home at the regular time as much as possible. She rode the company car that took her to the Iidabashi apartment, stopped at a supermarket along the way to buy groceries for dinner, changed into roomwear once home, and began preparing dinner without a moment’s rest.
Usually Sosuke got home first, so he helped her too. Sosuke’s parents were hairdressers who were always busy, so he had been used to doing housework with his brother since childhood. When dinner was ready, the two of them ate together while Sosuke talked about what had happened that day. Yukino hardly ever talked about work at home. After eating, the two of them cleaned up together, and sometimes she bathed with Sosuke.
While washing each other’s bodies, they would get “worked up” with 100% certainty, and they would make love in the bathroom, but a body once ignited would not be satisfied with just one round. After getting out of the bath and drying off, they went straight to the bedroom naked and tangled together until they were both satisfied. Since she began living with Sosuke, Iwashimizu Yukino had generally led this kind of life.
Late at night. Lying in bed, Yukino stared intently through the darkness at Sosuke, who slept beside her with a foolish look on his face. Today too, the two of them had made love many times. Sosuke showered her with praise, calling her “cute” and “the best,” It had not been long since they met, but Yukino loved Sosuke from the bottom of her heart.
At first, she had thought of him as a pitiful man forced by family circumstances to marry a woman sixteen years older and twice divorced. But Sosuke accepted his fate, steeled himself, and courted her on the very day they met. That night, when “he” first entered her, lightning ran through her whole body. Her mind went blank, and she clung to Sosuke without thinking of anything. She learned “a woman’s pleasure” for the first time.
Since childhood she had given off a heavy atmosphere, and because of that she had never made a single friend. After joining the company, she knew that because of her rock-like oppressive presence, the employees secretly called her “ganseki onna”2. In married life she had felt no pleasure in sex at all, and her husbands called her a “maguro onna”1 and left home before long.
Sosuke taught such a woman the joy of s*x and the happiness of loving someone. At first it was a marriage arranged to produce an heir, but the Yukino of now wanted a child as the fruit of her love with Sosuke. She truly felt she could no longer live without him.
Without hiding anything, she wanted to bare everything to Sosuke and have him love all of her, heart and body. With Sosuke, she could show him any form. Even an embarrassing form, with him she could show everything…
…No, wait. Could she really show him any form? Was she truly baring everything…?
That’s right… having that form seen would be embarrassing…
What Yukino pictured was her form while relieving herself. Having that seen would be the height of shame, and it was not something to show another person. Still, did she not want Sosuke to see everything? To show him everything and have him love her even more than now?
Even so, showing him that form would surely trouble Sosuke. Filth comes out when one relieves oneself. Especially for number two, it smells, and he would definitely be put off.
But if it was number one… If it was number one, there would be less smell, and she could show him in the bathroom. That’s right, she would let him see her pee and have him like her more and more.
But it would be fine if clear pee came out cutely in a trickle, but if yellow pee came out in a gush with a loud sound in a large amount, Sosuke would definitely recoil. As I thought, it’s impossible…
Just then, the sleeping Sosuke spoke in his sleep.
”…Yukino… come here, yeah…?”
Yukino was so happy she could cry.
Sosuke, even in your dreams you’re thinking of me…
Without thinking, she hugged Sosuke. And she vowed in her heart.
I can’t quite decide yet, but someday I’ll definitely show you me peeing. And when I do, please like me even more, okay?
Iwashimizu Yukino is a beautiful, intelligent, and extremely capable woman. But occasionally, over something so trivial that ordinary people cannot understand it, she worries all alone. While being hugged by such a Yukino, Sosuke was dreaming that at the counter of a standing soba shop, he was asking Yukino to move over a little more.
Trivia:
1. Yukino’s ability to wake at will without an alarm hints at the rigid self-discipline that built her formidable corporate reputation.
2. The nicknames ganseki onna and maguro onna reveal how others have defined her by her intimidating presence and perceived coldness in bed, making Sosuke’s praise all the more transformative.
3. Sosuke’s dream of asking Yukino to squeeze in closer at a standing soba counter mirrors his waking acceptance of her, showing his subconscious desire for closeness even in sleep.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A derogatory Japanese slang term for a woman who is unresponsive and passive during sex, likening her to a stiff, lifeless tuna. It carries a strong insulting nuance about perceived coldness in intimacy.
2 ↩ A coined nickname meaning “rock woman,” referring to someone whose heavy, unapproachable presence resembles a boulder. Here it reflects how Yukino’s intimidating aura isolated her from colleagues.
3 ↩ Dried fish, a common traditional Japanese breakfast side dish prepared by grilling. Its inclusion signals the homey, authentic Japanese meal Yukino prepares for Sosuke.