{"id":73,"date":"2013-07-02T01:33:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T01:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/2013\/07\/02\/out-now-jihaku-a-renai-rensai-short\/"},"modified":"2013-07-02T01:33:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T01:33:00","slug":"out-now-jihaku-a-renai-rensai-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/2013\/07\/02\/out-now-jihaku-a-renai-rensai-short\/","title":{"rendered":"OUT NOW!: “Jihaku.” a Ren’Ai Rensai Short"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

A large crowd of spectators await Reina and Aiko at the local cafe, where the \u201cCouples\u2019 Quiz Show” is going on that night. A Newlywed Game-style affair, Reina has only agreed to do it because she knows her wife really wants the prize: a romantic getaway for two. What she didn\u2019t know, however, was that the opposing team would be the one couple she never wanted to go up against. Will Reina be able to follow her own advice by giving the “jihaku<\/em>,” or intimate confession, of her life? Or will her wife have to settle for a different kind of \u201cromantic getaway?” Either way, Reina probably can\u2019t win.<\/p>\n

“JIHAKU.” takes place on June 22nd, 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n

AMAZON <\/a>
<\/em><\/p>\n

Read an excerpt below!
<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

            The swivel chair screeched as Haruka scooted farther away from Reina. She doubted it was because of the smoke. \u201cI wasn\u2019t talking about that!<\/i>\u201d Haruka sounded so flustered that she was bound to fly away on the next draft. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how I\u2019m supposed to forget that.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina smirked as she watched her cigarette smoke snake into the air. \u201cIt\u2019s a rare woman who forgets being with me\u2026and wasn\u2019t drunk at the time.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s a bit conceited.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t I have a right to be conceited?\u201d Reina knew her prowess. There was a reason women rarely forgot spending a night with her. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI guess.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina hopped up and deposited some ashes into the ashtray. More laughter drifted through the wall \u2013 hysterical laughter, by the sounds of it. God only knows what Aiko is telling all of them. <\/i>She decided she should change the subject before Haruka clammed up and made the evening more uncomfortable. \u201cSo you want to go to an onsen, <\/i>eh?\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Haruka glanced over her shoulder. \u201cWhy not? Don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cEh, I can take \u2018em or leave \u2018em.\u201d Aiko was the one who liked hot springs. If Reina wanted to get naked and sit in a pool of scalding hot water, she would take a bath at home. More comfortable than \u201cnatural\u201d rocks and pebbles jamming into her ass while aunties stared at her, waiting for her to stand up to see if she were male or not. \u201cMy wife is the one who wanted to do this. We can\u2019t afford vacations after our honeymoon.\u201d She hoped they wouldn\u2019t have any financial emergencies in the coming year. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cWe can\u2019t either. We\u2019ve never gone on a vacation together.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cKawai sou,<\/i>\u201d Reina lamented.<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI know. Three years together and no romantic getaway. It\u2019s depressing.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina turned her head so she could hide her rolling eyes. \u201cAt least your girlfriend has her own place, so you can have some privacy.\u201d Such an arrangement was a premium in Tokyo. Kaori probably had a tiny one-room abode with thin walls, but it was better than living with her parents when it came to sleepovers. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI guess. But it\u2019s not the same. There\u2019s no excitement or romance to it.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Gag me. <\/i>Excitement Reina could understand, but romance was another ordeal. \u201cWhat you should do is take her out on a whim. There\u2019s a gay restaurant down the street from here that caters to that romance stuff.\u201d Aiko may have dragged her there once or twice. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cThose sorts of places are expensive\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cWell you can\u2019t really do anything for free in this city.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI know.\u201d Haruka spun around in the chair, hand reaching out to catch herself on the desk. \u201cIt\u2019s tiring because she only has this one-person futon in her place and she\u2019s always worried about the neighbors hearing.\u201d The moment she looked at Reina again, she returned to being a strawberry. \u201cI mean\u2026I shouldn\u2019t be sharing such things.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina extinguished her cigarette. \u201cTake her to a love hotel then.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>The swivel chair screeched as Haruka spun to gape at her. \u201cWhat\u2019s romantic about that?<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cWell, it would solve the being noisy and small bed problem. There are romantically themed ones, but those are expensive. Take her to a cheap one and go crazy.\u201d Reina couldn\u2019t believe she was handing out such advice to the girlfriend of her coworker \u2013 let alone the girlfriend she once took to a love hotel and bedded herself. \u201cSometimes mixing up where you fuck prolongs your relationship.\u201d Reina would know. She wanted to do it everywhere.<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Haruka opened her mouth to speak, but bit back whatever words gathered in her throat. She seemed to chew on them while she also chewed on Reina\u2019s suggestion. \u201cThat\u2019s your coworker you\u2019re talking about, you know.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cDon\u2019t remind me.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>The chair eked back and forth with Haruka\u2019s dandling knee. \u201cShe still doesn\u2019t know that we\u2026you know.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI believe the technical term is \u2018fucked.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cWhatever.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
          <\/span>Reina waited for more laughter to die before continuing. \u201cThat\u2019s your problem then.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cIt would be your problem too if I told her.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>True. If Kaori found out that Haruka slept with a certain coworker while they were broken up, the office would turn into one giant pit of tension. While not the same caliber of awkward as if Reina herself slept with Kaori, it would still create a rift between them. Seeing as how they worked in close proximity for nearly nine hours a day\u2026 fuck that.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI hope we can win this sort of game,\u201d Haruka continued, her countenance falling. \u201cWe\u2019re at a severe disadvantage compared to you and Aiko-san.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cHow\u2019s that?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cWell, we\u2019ve only been together three years, and you\u2019ve been with your wife for how long? Twenty years?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cMaa, <\/i>it doesn\u2019t make that much difference.\u201d In truth, Reina worried about making an ass of herself in front of those women. Odds were they were asking questions like, \u201cWhat is Aiko-san\u2019s <\/i>favorite meal to cook?\u201d which Reina would never be able to answer in a million years. Food? <\/i>But it seemed like the exact sort of question Haruka would know about her girlfriend. \u201cThe key to these sorts of games is to go with your gut. You know more about your lover than you give yourself credit for. You have to prepare yourself to go out there and give a big jihaku.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Haruka frowned. \u201cJihaku?<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cYes. You have to give the most truthful confession you can. To a bunch of strangers. Asking you all sorts of personal questions.\u201d Reina wondered if she unnerved her competition. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cSee, you know so much more than I do\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Ain\u2019t that the truth. <\/i><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A large crowd of spectators await Reina and Aiko at the local cafe, where the \u201cCouples\u2019 Quiz Show” is going on that night. A Newlywed Game-style affair, Reina has only agreed to do it because she knows her wife really wants the prize: a romantic getaway for two. What she didn\u2019t know, however, was that… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43,76,4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpt","category-jihaku","category-new-release","category-renai-rensai"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paRtqI-1b","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}