“Tonight?” Naoyuki sounded surprised, and a bit sceptical.

“It’s Saturday; surely you don’t have a nomikai.”

“No, but…” He actually sounded like he might turn her down. Akiko forced herself to loosen her grip on her phone.

“Come on. We can have dinner, go to a club, and then go back to your place. I’ll make it fun for you.”

“A club? How long is it since you went to a club?”

“Too long!” Akiko tried to sound carefree, but wasn’t sure she was managing it. There is no snake in the shrine. I only sleepwalked once. It’s not a problem. “I’ll even pay.”

“What?” Now Naoyuki really sounded surprised. “No, I’ll pay, of course. Oh, all right. Let’s meet in Shibuya at eight.”

“Seven.” Eight o’clock was too far away; Akiko needed distracting before that.

“Eager, aren’t you. OK, seven. See you then. And you don’t need to wear underwear.” He hung up before she could get a response in, and she had heard the laugh in his voice. He never gave up, a bit like Tamao. Shaking her head to banish the thought, Akiko got up and went over to her rack of clothes, looking for something to wear. Something stylish, but sexy. Definitely sexy. She deliberately remembered times in bed with Naoyuki, and the good parts were very good. She was smiling to herself as she went through her underwear, looking at the lacy things, many of which Naoyuki had bought for her. Considering he never wants me to wear any, he buys me enough, she thought, laughing to herself. A thought came to her and, blushing furiously, she turned to look at her other clothes.

Once she had laid her selection out on the futon, she went into the bathroom to fix her makeup. Standing in front of the mirror, she found herself searching the image for a snake. There was nothing there, but still she found that she couldn’t get her mind off the idea. She forced herself to focus on her face, applying the make-up carefully. The magazines were propped up around the sink, and she kept looking at them to check that she was doing it right. Every time she looked back up at the mirror, she expected to see the snake in the background, but there was nothing but the washing machine and her dirty laundry. She completed her preparations uninterrupted.

She put her clothes on carefully, checking their fit. The leather miniskirt was tight enough not to fly around, which was important, and the feel of it against her skin made her blush. The black camisole top and small jacket went well with it, and when she stretched her hands above her head the top rode up, exposing her navel. She smiled at the mirror. Naoyuki would definitely approve. A glance out of the window confirmed that the weather was getting worse, and Akiko frowned. It was still warm, but it looked like rain, and she’d hoped to avoid carrying an umbrella. Still, there was nothing to be done. She picked up her folding umbrella, and slipped her boots on in the hallway. She looked at her watch. Half past five.

She was going to be early.

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She was early, and Akiko felt as though she’d been waiting for hours before Naoyuki showed up. The looks she’d got while standing around made her acutely conscious of what she was wearing, but at least they tended to confirm that the clothes made the impression she had been aiming at.

When Naoyuki appeared, exactly on time, as always, he made a show of looking her over.

“Wow. I should accept your invitations more often.” Akiko smiled back, relieved.

“You like?” She did a little pirouette for him, and when she was back facing him, she saw that he was nodding vigourously. She couldn’t help laughing, and Naoyuki smiled back, broadly.

“So, which restaurant?”

“That eel place.”

“The one in Bunkamura? OK.” They walked as far as they could through the underground passageway, but when they mounted the steps to the street they could see that the storm had started. The rain was heavy, with quite a wind, and Akiko frowned as she looked at it. Naoyuki didn’t seem much happier as he got his umbrella out.

“A taxi to Bunkamura would be really excessive,” he commented as he got ready to step out, and Akiko had to agree. “Can you run in those heels?” Akiko sighed.

“Not very fast. I’ll try.”

They raised their umbrellas against the rain, and stepped out into the street. The sheer number of people meant that running quickly wasn’t an option, so Akiko had no trouble keeping up with Naoyuki, but the umbrella wasn’t completely effective, and she could feel enough rain on her legs to be very glad when they reached the shopping centre.

By chance, they had the elevator to the restaurant floor to themselves. Akiko shifted even closer to Naoyuki, and felt herself blushing as she reached up to whisper in his ear.

“I’m not wearing any underwear.”

Naoyuki’s head whipped round to look at her, his eyes wide as he tried to peer down her top.

“Really?”

Akiko’s face felt really hot now, and the heat was spreading down onto her chest. Now that she’d mentioned it, she was acutely aware that the material against her breasts was the camisole, and that the leather of her skirt touched her skin directly. She nodded in answer to Naoyuki’s question, and surreptitiously glanced at the reflective door of the elevator, confirming that nothing was actually visible.

Naoyuki quickly reached out, and pulled the front of her camisole forward. Akiko let out an involuntary squeal, and batted his hand away, but was somewhat reassured to see that Naoyuki was blushing.

“No… no panties either?” He was whispering, and the lift was almost there. Akiko shook her head, looking down, just as the door opened. She almost ran out, feeling both terribly embarrassed and embarrassingly excited.

Naoyuki followed her with the most enormous grin plastered on his face, along with the remains of the blush, and rested a hand gently on her bottom as he bent down to gently kiss her cheek.

“Are you sure you want to eat now? There are some hotels very close.”

Akiko giggled, and pushed him away.

“Eel now.” She paused. “That later.”

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Akiko had sake with the eel, so she was already a bit tipsy when they left the restaurant to head to Roppongi and a night club. She confirmed that her face was bright red when they passed a mirror, and assumed that it was largely due to the alcohol, rather than to embarrassment at Naoyuki’s unflagging efforts to look up her skirt. She’d chosen well, however, and he had so far been disappointed. Not that he seemed particularly unhappy about it, however; he’d been unusually cheerful through dinner.

They dashed through the storm, which had got worse, arriving at the underground station just as the street was lit by a flash of lightning. The trains were quite crowded, giving Naoyuki all the excuse he needed to stand close to Akiko and try to subtly slide his hand up inside her skirt. She kept swatting it away, but she could tell she was grinning like an idiot, and anyway this skirt wouldn’t let him do that.

Another dash, quite a short one, brought them to the night club, and Naoyuki paid their cover charges without taking his eyes off Akiko. As soon as they were inside, he turned to her.

“It’s warm in here. Let me take your jacket.” For a moment, Akiko thought she would refuse, but then she realised that it would be more fun with nothing over the camisole. She shrugged the jacket off and handed it to him.

“Now buy me a drink.”

“Of course, your majesty.” Naoyuki grinned as he said it, and Akiko affected a haughty stare, striding out onto the dance floor.

The club was still fairly quiet, as it was early in the night, and Akiko was grateful, because she soon realised that it was a long time since she’d been to a club, and that she hadn’t kept up with the music or the dance styles. After a couple of minutes, she retreated to a table to drink with Naoyuki, watching the dancing women until she thought she could copy them well enough to not stand out.

Then she stood up, glancing at Naoyuki, she hoped flirtatiously, and went out to dance.

The wall opposite the bar was one large mirror, and she used it to keep an eye on Naoyuki, as well as on her dance moves. She felt drunk enough to relax, but not too drunk to dance properly, and Naoyuki certainly seemed to have his eyes fixed on her. She spun round to look at him directly, and felt her nipples pressing against the thin material of the camisole. She spun back to the mirror to check whether they were visible.

Tamao was lying along the bar, his head at the inner end raised to stare at her. His eyes shone golden, and the purple, green and red gems of his skin caught the night club’s lights and scattered their many colours all across the room. The shards of light reflected off the mirror and ran across her camisole, almost as if they were deliberately drawing attention to her erect nipples.

She put her head down, and hurried back to the table.

“We’re going to another club. Drink up now.” Naoyuki looked shocked, but he drained his glass and got up to follow her.

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It wasn’t, Akiko decided, that she was that drunk. It was the rain making the road slippery, and the wind blowing her over. That was why she couldn’t walk in a straight line. There was another crash of thunder, and she giggled again, trying to run forward. Naoyuki hurried to keep up, holding on to her arm.

Naoyuki was drunk, she decided. That was why he couldn’t keep the umbrella over her. She was soaking wet from the rain, but it was warm, so she didn’t care. When she looked down, she could see that her top was plastered to her skin, the shape of her nipples clearly visible in the fabric, but she noted with considerable satisfaction that the material had not gone transparent. A good choice. It occurred to her that people might be looking at her breasts, and she peered around suspiciously, but there didn’t seem to be anyone around. They were in a very quiet back street.

That gave her another idea.

“Hey, Naoyuki. Let’s… you know… do it.” Naoyuki caught her up with the umbrella again.

“Do what?”

“You know.” Really, he was being very dense. She reached for his trousers, and started trying to undo them. No underwear would make things a lot easier, she thought, but Naoyuki’s trousers were very fiddly, and why was he moving her hands away?

“Come on, Akiko, time to go home.” She pouted.

“I don’t want to go home. I want to have fun.” She danced away from him into the rain, and then slipped and fell over onto her bottom, her legs spread in front of her. As she laughed at her predicament, Naoyuki came to help her up.

“You really can’t sit in that position, you know.”

“Did you see?” The idea was very funny, for some reason.

“Of course. I don’t think anyone else did.” Akiko made a mock pout.

“Oh. Pity.” Naoyuki put an arm around her waist, abandoning any attempt to keep the umbrella over her and practically carrying her.

“It’s definitely time to get you home, Akiko. You’re far too drunk.”

“Am not. I’m just a bit tipsy. I can still dance. Watch.” She tried to pull away to dance again, but Naoyuki’s grip was too firm. She looked at him with pleading eyes, at his expression that seemed half way between a smile and a frown.

“Are you cross with me, Naoyuki? Have I been bad?” It was her best attempt at a little girl voice, and it seemed to work. At any rate, the smile won.

“You’ve been very bad. I’ll have to spank you when we get home.” Akiko squealed, and tried to run away,

“Oh no, don’t spank me.” As she struggled, she fell over again, this time pulling Naoyuki down with her. He got her back to her feet, and they managed a few more steps down the street. Looking around, Akiko realised that it was familiar.

“Hey! We’re just outside your flat!” Naoyuki nodded.

“Finally. Come on, Akiko, Let’s get you inside and out of trouble.”

“Trouble is fun!”

“Inside, Akiko.”

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Akiko’s head was pounding in the morning light, and the inside of her mouth felt awful. For a few moments, she thought she would throw up, but the feeling passed.

Hangover, she thought. That’s something else I’ve not experienced in a long time. As she collected her thoughts, she realised that she was completely naked, and lying on top of the futon. Blushing, she quickly pulled it over her and sat up on the bed.

“Naoyuki?”

“In the living room,” came the reply. “You’re finally awake, then.”

“Mmm.” Akiko looked around for some clothes. She saw her skirt lying on the floor, and the camisole draped over a chair. No sign of the jacket in here, and, of course, no underwear. She suddenly realised that she was going to have to go home in her clubbing outfit. I should have stashed a change of clothes here, she thought.

“Naoyuki?”

“What?”

“Have you got anything I can wear?”

“Do you need anything?” Akiko could feel herself going bright red at the thought of parading naked around Naoyuki’s flat.

“Yes!”

“Oh.” Naoyuki sounded disappointed. “Well, there’s a shirt on the chair by the bed.”

It was a white work shirt, and when Akiko put it on it came a short way down her thighs. She did it up, and looked in the mirror. It wasn’t too bad, but Naoyuki would get a show whenever she moved. Which was doubtless his intention. She could see that she was blushing again, but she resolved to ignore it. Naoyuki was her boyfriend. He’d seen her naked before. They’d bathed together. They’d had sex. It was silly to get embarrassed about appearing before him wearing nothing but his shirt. Yes, completely silly.

Even though she was unconvinced, and still embarrassed, she went through to the living room, where she had a bigger shock. Naoyuki, properly dressed, was making breakfast.

“How… What…?” He looked at her and grinned.

“What do you think I do on the days you don’t stay over? Starve?” Actually, Akiko realised that she had assumed that he went to the convenience store. She really hadn’t thought he could cook. “I’ll make a promise. Every time you come round without any underwear, I’ll make breakfast.” Akiko felt herself blushing again, acutely aware of her state of undress, and she sat down, quickly pulling her chair close to the table.

The breakfast was actually quite good, and although Naoyuki kept trying to get her to undo the buttons on the shirt, Akiko held out. After they finished, Naoyuki cleared the plates away and Akiko stood up and stretched. As she finished, she realised that her boyfriend was staring at her groin, and, with a little scream, she dropped her arms. She’d forgotten how short the shirt was.

At that moment, she realised that she’d also forgotten about the snake in the shrine. No weird dreams. No worrying about mirrors, apart from one moment in that night club. And that could well have been the alcohol.

Mission accomplished, then.

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Sitting on the bus on the way home, Akiko was acutely conscious of what she was, and wasn’t, wearing. An outfit that had drawn attention in Shibuya on a Saturday night was very conspicuous on a Sunday afternoon in Kawasaki, and she berated herself once more for not preparing a more conservative outfit. She stared out of the window so that she wouldn’t have to look at the people she was sure were staring at her.

“Ladies and gentlemen, due to road works we must make a diversion from the usual route. We will not miss any stops, but we will be delayed by approximately five minutes.”

The announcement didn’t bother Akiko, as it wasn’t as if she was in a hurry to get anywhere. However, as the bus continued along the temporary route, she realised that it was headed in the direction of Tamao Shrine. She looked around nervously; was it really going to go past the shrine?

The bus started to climb the hill, and she realised that it was. She was, fortunately, sitting on the side of the bus away from the shrine, and she turned to stare resolutely out of the window once more, ignoring the reflections she could faintly see.

At the crest of the hill, with a piercing whine, the engine died and the bus came to a stop. The driver made a few attempts to start the engine, but it made very strange noises and did not catch. She heard the doors opening.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies. The bus seems to have broken down. I will try to fix it as quickly as possible, but anyone who wants to get off may do so. Once again, my apologies.”

Akiko risked a quick glance at the door. It opened directly on to the steps up to the shrine. Turning away again, she fixed her gaze on a small pottery cat decorating the wall of the house opposite. You don’t get me that easily, she thought.

A couple of people got off, and then, as the bus continued to fail to move, a few more. Finally, the driver got back on.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid I have to recommend that you get off. The following buses will follow a different diversion route; you can get them at the next stop. Just tell the driver you were on this bus, and you won’t have to pay.”

Akiko still refused to move. She would have to get off and face those steps, and then who knew what would happen? It’s all just coincidences, she told herself. Just dreams and coincidences. There’s nothing to worry about. Worry was growing inside her anyway. How many coincidences could she really believe in? And what about the things she saw when she wasn’t asleep.

“Miss, I’m sorry, but this bus isn’t going anywhere but the depot now.” The driver had come to stand over her seat. Akiko sighed and nodded, getting up and turning to face the door, and the steps. Outside, it had started to rain, and she sighed. Of course it had. It was always raining these days.

She stepped down from the bus, and almost slipped as she turned to walk down the hill, trying to hold her umbrella against the rain. She was some way from the shrine before she realised she was holding her breath.

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By the time Akiko got home, wet from the rain and mortified at what the people she passed must have thought of her, her good mood had been completely swept away. The image of the snake kept coming back to her, even though she had managed to get away from the shrine without incident. She slammed the door behind her more violently than was necessary, and struggled out of her boots, dropping her jacket in the entrance hall. In the main room she pulled the curtains closed and then took her top off, draping it over the table. She pulled a bra out of the closet and put it on, her mood settling a little immediately.

Fully dressed, she was a lot calmer, and could feel the colour draining from her cheeks as her embarrassment faded. She swore to herself that she would never do that again, as she opened the curtains. It didn’t let a lot of light in; the clouds had darkened, and rain was falling heavily. Akiko sighed and sat down on the floor. She’d been hoping to go out shopping to take her mind off the shrine, but she wasn’t about to go out in that sort of weather. She looked around for something to read as she reached up to turn the light on, and settled on a magazine.

The rain continued to pound on the window as she read, the noise fading into the background. After a while, the light seemed to fade a little, and she glanced up. The light was still on, but outside it was almost completely dark, even though it was still afternoon. She pulled the curtains shut again, blocking out the driving rain, and sat down to read again.

After a few minutes she decided it was definitely getting darker, and looked up at the light again. It seemed to be shining through mist, its light scattered into a sort of halo around the bulb. Frowning, Akiko stood up to get a better look. The mist around the light thickened as she did so, and she realised that it covered the whole ceiling. The mist became a layer of white clouds, like an overcast sky, and thickened further to grey, then black, the underside starting to boil as if agitated by a strong wind. Akiko reached up, her hands vanishing into the clouds, and felt their cold wetness on her hands.

Her stomach lurched as panic began to build. She stretched, standing on tip-toe, until her fingers brushed the ceiling, and she was reassured to find that it was still there.

A drop of water fell on her arm, and then on her face, and looking around she realised that it had started raining. Stung into action, she gathered everything she could find, covering them with her coats and jackets as the rain strengthened.

With a flash and bang, the light fused and went out, plunging the room into darkness. The rain got heavier, and the room was lit once more by a flash of lightning, followed after a couple of seconds by a rumble of thunder. Akiko crouched on the floor in the darkness, breathing heavily. I fell asleep reading. This is a dream. This is a dream. The rain got heavier, and she could feel the tatami mats getting wet under foot as the water soaked into her clothes.

Lightning flashed again, revealing a bank of mist around the edges of the room, a thick white fog that hid the walls from sight. The thunder crashed a bare second later, but Akiko was already dashing for for the door. She was there in two steps, and could feel the mist cold against her body. The wall and door were still there beyond, sensible to her groping hands, and she searched wildly for the handle.

The metal was cold and wet under her hand, and she twisted and pushed. The door did not respond. The fog around her was illuminated by another flash of lightning, the deafening thunder occurring at the same moment, and Akiko staggered back from the bright whiteness.

In the blackness she felt herself begin to sob, panic overwhelming her at last. She drew a deep breath and screamed, desperate for someone, anyone, to come and help. Her scream was drowned out by thunder, as the lightning showed her cocooned within black clouds, none of the surfaces of the room visible. Her table still reared up out of the roiling fog, but there was no other sign of her room, and even the feeling under foot had changed, from wet tatami to something soft and shifting, almost but not quite like water.

Light began to filter in from behind her, in the direction that ought to be the window. She turned, hoping to see out, and saw a glow within the mist, which seemed to be thinning. Shapes started to resolve themselves, and she took a step back, away from it, as the mist receded to leave a corridor of cloud leading to a shining white torii.

Beyond it she could see the shrine grounds, bathed in sunlight, the green grass sparkling with dew, and beyond it the pale wood of the shrine building supporting the copper roof, which burned orange. The scent of flowers drifted to her, while the rain continued.

Lightning and thunder again, and the doors of the shrine opened to let the snake, Tamao, emerge. He slid gracefully down the steps, scales shining in the sunlight, and raised his head to look at her. Akiko knew he was inviting her to walk down the tunnel to the shrine, and she found herself shifting her weight in preparation.

Shaking her head violently, she forced herself to step backward.

“No!” she screamed. “I won’t go! You aren’t real!” She took another step back, and another, and the mists closed in on the tunnel as the light faded. Another step and she was within the fog on the opposite wall. One more and she felt her back against the wall.

And the clouds vanished, leaving her in her room. A room thoroughly wet from the rain, with black scorch marks around the useless light. Akiko, still soaking wet, looked around in the faint light that came in from the window, and then reached her hands up to the ceiling.

The ceiling was dry. Not a burst pipe then. Rain in the room.

She sank to her knees on the sodden floor, struggling to come to terms with a new reality.

On to Part 2: Double Life.

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