The car ride was noisy. The kids were singing a tuneless and off-key version of "Baby Shark." Ayane was in the passenger seat, her hand comfortably resting on Makoto's thigh. She looked at him with a slow grin on her face. "So, are you ready for your anniversary, boss?" She gave his thigh a gentle but promising squeeze. "Because your wives have been planning this for a very, very long time."
Makoto just shrugged and hummed along to the Baby Shark tune. "Let's hope Yuna and Mika didn't prepare something dangerous like our last anniversary." He giggled, a sweat drop on his neck as he remembered Mika's "enhancement drug" last year, which had made his cock stay erect for three hours without going down.
Ayane let out a throaty chuckle that sent a shiver down his back. "Oh, boss, as if dangerous is a bad thing?" She leaned in, her breath warm and sweet against his ear. "And for the record, I have my own plan for tonight." She gave his thigh another squeeze. "And I'm not talking about any drugs." She pulled back with a wicked glint in her eyes.
The kids, completely oblivious to the lewd subtext of the conversation, just kept singing. "Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo…"
===
Makoto's car pulled up to a large and comfortable suburban house. The front door opened, and Ayane's parents appeared, their faces full of love, joy, and the gloriously well-earned exhaustion of veteran grandparents.
"They're here!" Ayane's mother called out. "God help us," her father muttered, but there was a smile on his face.
The four little monsters erupted from the car like a whirlwind of chaos. "GRANDPA! GRANDMA!" they screamed in perfect unison.
Makoto and Ayane just stood there for a moment, watching the scene unfold. Then Ayane took his hand. "Come on, let's go and say hi," she said, her voice a little softer now. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "And then, we can get the hell out of here."
After making sure that the kids had settled in, Makoto drove back. "Your parents are a godsend, I swear. I still can't imagine how they can manage our little monsters with just the two of them."
"Not just two of them," Ayane said and gestured to a familiar-looking black sedan parked a few houses down. "Your parents got here an hour ago. Apparently, my dad and your dad have a support group now. They meet once a month to drink whiskey and complain about their insane, degenerate children."
She looked at him, grinning. "So, the house is empty, Mika told me they went shopping just now," Her voice dropping to a purr. "The kids are gone. And we have…" she glanced at the clock on the dashboard, "about forty-five minutes before we have to meet the others at the restaurant."
She gave his thigh a promising squeeze. "What do you want to do with all that free time, boss?"
"I know what you have in mind, naughty Ayane," he said, flicking her forehead. "But I promised Yuna that she would have the first turn tonight…"
Ayane's face, which had been a mask of predatory lust, contorted into a shade of crimson. "The first turn? Are you saving yourself for the main wife? That's… that's…" She couldn't seem to find the right word. "Disgusting," "romantic," and "incredibly hot" were all Makoto could hear her muttering.
Finally, she let out a long, theatrical sigh. "Fine," she said, her voice dripping with mock tragedy. "Be a good, loyal harem king tonight, Makoto. I guess I'll just have to wait for my turn like a concubine."
Makoto nodded and said gently, "Well, there is a shopping mall on the lower floors in the same building. Do you want to go shopping together? It's on my tab."
"A shopping trip, huh?" she said, amused. "On your tab? Okay. But I'm not getting a handbag. I'm getting the Armored Core: Fires of Rubicon," she declared. "And you're going to watch me play it all night."
"Typical Ayane. Fine, we can get that." He shrugged and kept driving.
As they arrived at the mall, he grabbed her hands and led her into an accessories store first. "Let's buy you some earrings first, as I haven't gotten a new pair for you in years."
"Earrings?" Ayane repeated with genuine surprise on her face. The teasing persona faltered for a moment, giving way to something softer. "You… you remember that I like accessories?" She let him lead her into the store, an intimate space filled with the soft clinking of jewelry and the scent of expensive perfume.
Ayane was quiet, her usual boisterous energy replaced by something almost girlish. She let Makoto guide her to a glass display case, her hand warm in his. She wasn't used to this, to being the one who was pampered and courted.
"They're beautiful, but so expensive," she whispered while looking at the delicate, sparkling gemstones. Then she turned to him with a flicker of insecurity in her eyes. "You don't have to do this, you know, Makoto. I'm not Mafuyu or Mika."
She looked back at the earrings, focusing on a pair of delicate silver hoops with a small diamond chip. "I like those. They're simple and practical. Good for a working mom." She was trying to be sensible and reasonable. But her eyes kept drifting to a different pair: Long, dangly chandelier earrings, the kind a woman wears when she wants to be noticed and feel beautiful.
"Let's get this first, then," Makoto winked, and then looked in her direction. "I remembered that. I will get that pair for you on your birthday, later," he chuckled.
Ayane's mouth opened, then closed again. A flustered blush spread on her face, from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears. "I-I wasn't looking at those! They're gaudy and impractical! And I'd probably lose one at the playground!"
She turned her head away, refusing to meet his eyes, but Makoto could see the pleased smile she was desperately trying to hide. The sales clerk, a professional who had seen this exact scene play out many times before, just smiled knowingly and began to box up the simple silver hoops.
Ayane watched the transaction, still flustered, then she lightly punched his arm to hide her embarrassment. "You're just trying to butter me up, so I won't be mad that you're giving Yuna the first turn."
She took the small, elegantly wrapped box from the clerk, her movements a little clumsy. "It's not going to work, you know," she said, but she was clutching the box like it was the most precious thing in the world. As they walked out of the store, she slipped her arm through his with a confident gesture that stood in stark contrast to her earlier shyness.
On the way to the game store, they walked through a gaudy adult store, the one where Yuna and Mika had gotten Makoto a choker years ago. His eyes lingered on the piercing stands and whispered to Ayane. "Well, well, I remember someone had tried to prove to me that she didn't mind some pain, back then…"
Ayane stopped dead in her tracks. Her head turned slowly towards the gaudy neon-lit storefront. The familiar, slightly seedy entrance seemed to pull her in.
Another wicked grin spread across her face. The flustered but happy girlfriend of a moment ago vanished, replaced by the familiar predatory chaos goddess. "Oh. You remember that, do you?"
Without even waiting for his answer, Ayane yanked Makoto by the arm, her grip surprisingly strong, and pulled him into the shop. The air inside was the same as he remembered: thick with the smell of leather, silicone, and strawberry-scented lubricant. The bored, heavily pierced clerk had been replaced by a hot, voluptuous woman.
Ayane didn't even glance at the collars. Her eyes were fixed on the piercing stand, a glittering display of stainless steel and sharp needles. She walked right up to it, hips swaying with confident rhythm.
Then she leaned over the glass case, her pose a shameless display of her assets for the clerk and for him. She pointed her perfectly manicured finger at a delicate and elegant silver barbell. "Nipple piercings. I'll take two."
She turned to him, eyes sparkling with wicked energy. "And you are going to hold my hand, Makoto."
The clerk finally looked up from her phone with a professional smile on her lips. "Back room, please," she said, bored and flat. "Ready in five minutes."