Disclaimer: Characters belong to Sunrise.

Rated M for adult situations and mild language. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

"C'mon Natsuki!" a trio of females shouted from the outside of the bathroom door.

"I can't believe you guys are making me wear this!" The door flew open and out came Natsuki Kuga in a sexy halter style black dress with a plunging neckline that showed off ample cleavage. The dress also revealed her whole back. Her daring attire coupled with tousled sapphire locks and smoldering makeup turned her into an irresistible seductress.

"Damnnnn cuz! You look smokin' hot!" Natsuki's cousin, Nina Wang, complimented.

"How is it possible that someone attractive like you is marrying a total dud like Takeda!" Nao Yuuki, one of Natsuki's maids of honor, lamented.

"Ditto! And you're only twenty-four! What's this rush to get hitched so soon?!" Mai Tohika, her other maid of honor, sounded off.

"You two are horrible." The bride-to-be shook her head at her best friends. "You guys never gave him a chance. He's a nice guy, and I feel comfortable with him."

"Oh my god! Nina, slap your cousin!" Nao jokily instructed. "Natsuki, it sounds like you're settling instead of marrying for love!"

Mai and Nina nodded in unison.

Natsuki was about to defend her fiancé's honor when another bridesmaid entered the room.

"Ah, finally you're ready! Aoi just called me from the road. She said she's almost here," Chie Harada relayed the message.

"Lookin' good Kuga! I can already picture the ladies at Tryst drooling when they see you!"

"You're all taking me to a gay club for my bachelorette party?!" Natsuki looked at her friends in disbelief.

"Hell yeah! Did you forget that every one of us here is totally hot for women? And I remember you were enamored with a certain student council president back in high school," Nao wickedly reminded her.

"That was years ago! I don't—I'm not the same person!" she retorted, but her friends knew better.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Sure, that totally explains why you still drink tea when you told me years ago you hated its bitterness!"

"It, uh, could be really soothing!"

"She said the same thing after you almost choked on your sandwich, and she gave you her tea!" Chie pointed out, laughing with the other women.

"Man, she was so gorgeous! I still remember her red eyes! And you had a huge crush on her but were too wimpy to do anything about it!" Nina wondered how her confident cousin now could have been so lame back then.

"We tried looking for her at Fuka University, but her name wasn't listed in the directory," Mai said with disappointment.

"You guys! This is supposed to a fun night for us! Stop bringing up the past!" Natsuki tried her best to sound cheerful to hide the fact that she was very much reeling from Nina's truthful words.

She was a wimp. She regretted not mustering up the courage to talk to the tawny-haired beauty when she had the chance. It didn't help her that the president was always surrounded by a pack of rabid fan girls. Natsuki never saw or heard of her again after she graduated. She thought about her every time she drank tea, which was becoming more frequent as the wedding drew closer.

Honking noises from outside Natsuki's house alerted them that their chariot had arrived.

"Natsuki's right! We're going to engage in some drunken debauchery tonight!" Nao declared.

They marched out of the house and were amazed at the pink Hummer limo on the curb.

Aoi Senoh, Chie's girlfriend and fellow bridesmaid, poked her head out of the sunroof.

"Like the ride?!"

"How the heck did you score this limo, Aoi?" Mai asked in awe.

"A friend of mine owed me a favor!"

"What the hell are we standing around for, let's go!" Nao waved to the man holding the door open for them.

Once the bridal party was settled, the limo whisked them off to Tryst, a women-only hotspot for their Sapphic pleasure.

The limo's interior was designed in pink as well from the leather seats to the swirls on the neon floor. Hip-hop music blasted from the speakers and lights flickered from the roof like in a club setting.

Chie poured everyone a glass of champagne from the mini bar. She raised her champagne flute.

"Despite Natsuki's unfortunate betrothal, here's a toast to the crazy night we have planned for her!"

"Here, here!" they cheered and clinked their glasses together.

The limo stopped in front of the club's entrance, and Tryst security opened the door for them. The girls pooled their money to book the entire VIP lounge for Natsuki's surprise that would be revealed later.

They were immediately ushered through the packed dance floor to the second level VIP area. The alcohol flowed freely as complimentary bottles of wine and tequila were included in the lounge's exorbitant price tag.

"Whoo!" Nao downed her drink. "You ready to seduce some hot chicks!" she asked her unattached friends, Mai and Nina.

"Hell yes!" they shouted and drained their tequila shot.

"Aren't you afraid of running into your crazy exes down there?" the betrothed woman warned Nao and Nina.

"If that psychotic Arika shows her annoying face around me, security will throw her ass out! You can get them to if you have this!" Nina smugly pulled on her neon green VIP wristband.

"Yeah, I'm doing the same thing if that mental Shiho pops up next to me!" Nao passionately declared.

"I am so glad Akane and I had an amiable breakup," Mai said.

"I heard she got back together with her ex-boyfriend." Chie always knew the latest gossip.

Mai nodded. "He's a good guy."

"So is Takeda!" Natsuki segued.

"Don't you dare mention his name again tonight!" Aoi reprimanded.

"Yes! Tonight's all about you Natsuki, and how much fun you're going to have without him!" Nao hauled the woman to her feet. "So now we're going to go dance our asses off!"

The females left the comfort of the private lounge for the bacchanalia that was waiting for them downstairs. Scantily clad women grinded with each other to Ke$ha's "Take It Off", a hypnotic dance song telling revelers to divest their clothes.

The friends joined the madness and moved to the thumping beat. Their group caught the attention of many intoxicated women.

A blonde with pale green eyes stepped behind Nina and wrapped her arm around her, startling the girl.

"I love the way you move," she purred into Nina's ear.

"Is that right?" Nina faced the intruder and liked what she saw. "What's your name, hottie?" she breathed huskily and lightly ran her hands down the girl's sides.

The girl shivered from the ticklish action. "Erstin. And you?"

"Nina."

Natsuki and Nao discreetly watched the exchange and then smiled knowingly at each other. The group dance had dwindled to just the two of them. Aoi and Chie were grinding with each other while Mai was at a table trying to seduce a girl with braids and golden eyes.

"Damn it! Am I the only one who hasn't found anyone?" Nao grumbled.

Natsuki laughed and threw her arm around Nao's shoulder. "C'mon, I'll buy you a drink to turn that frown upside down!"

"Yo guys!" Mai called out to her friends at the bar. "Meet Mikoto!"

The women introduced themselves, and then Nina came along with Erstin's hand clasped in hers.

Nao fiddled with her drink. "I can't believe I haven't met anyone interesting yet!"

"I thought you looked pretty hot out there," the woman next to Nao said.

Nao whipped her head to the voice. She took in wisps of auburn hair, green eyes, and an air of maturity surrounding the woman.

"Midori Sugiura, owner of this fine establishment and you are?"

"Nao Yuuki, and I love your club!"

A light bulb went off in Midori's head. "Oh! Are you the one who booked the VIP lounge for a bachelorette party?"

"Yes!" Nao pointed to Natsuki who wasn't far from the bar. "That's the unfortunate bride!"

Midori laughed. "Well then, let me get you guys a round of whatever you're drinking right now!"

"Really!" She raised her drink. "It's a Jäger Bomb!"

"How many of you are there?" the owner asked.

Nao saw Aoi and Chie were busy feeling each other up on the dance floor, so it was just Natsuki, Mai, Nina, and their new friends that were hovering nearby.

"Seven including you." She winked at Midori.

Midori grinned at her forwardness. "Hey Miyu, I want seven Jäger Bombs."

"You got it boss."

Nao called the burgeoning group over to watch Miyu, the bartender, prepare the Jäger-train and introduced the owner to them.

Seven pint glasses were half-filled with Red Bull and lined up next to one another. An empty glass stood at the very end. Seven shot glasses of Jägermeister were carefully placed on top of the pint glasses.

A crowd gathered to witness the exciting demonstration. It was always more exciting to see when you're under the influence.

"Ready?" Miyu yelled over the loud music.

"Hell yes!" they shouted.

She knocked over the shot glass at the very end of the train, and it fell into the Red Bull glass, creating a domino effect as six other Jäger Bombs were produced one after another.

"Whoooo!" Each female grabbed a drink and chugged it down.

The music stopped, and police sirens resounded throughout the club. The clubbers looked around confused.

"It looks like your surprise is here," Midori remarked. Nao paid extra for the club to immediately let a woman in and use the facilities for guest artists if she said the code words, "student council president".

A spotlight shone on one of the go-go dancing platforms. A woman dressed in a sexy police costume spoke seductively into the microphone, "I hear someone here is a bad girl."

"Oh! Oh! ME!" the raucous crowd chanted.

Nao frantically pointed to her wrist band, and security escorted the very attractive stripper toward her direction. The music returned to its full force.

Natsuki gasped. "That accent—"

"Surprise Natsuki!" the bridesmaids yelled together. Aoi and Chie rejoined their friends when the sirens sounded.

"She's your present! I pulled some strings to get you a stripper with a Kyoto accent. They told me she was easy too." Nao winked to a shocked Natsuki.

"Natsuki, we know you never got over Shizuru. Pretend she's your crush for tonight and just let go!" Mai exclaimed, waggling her eyebrows.

The sexy officer finally made her way to the bridal party. "Now, which one of you needs a good spanking?" She whacked a baton against her hand and glanced at each woman but lingered on Natsuki the longest.

"She does, Officer Naughty! She's marrying a boring dude!" Aoi shoved Natsuki toward the cop. A name patch on the very short officer shirt revealed the clichéd moniker.

"Ara, aren't you a fine looking specimen!" The skimpy black dress earned her approval.

"You say 'ara' too!" Natsuki stared at the woman with wide eyes. The officer looked intrigued.

"Stop acting like an idiot, Natsuki!" Nina smacked her cousin in the back of her head.

"Okay!" Nao clapped her hands together. "Off you two go to the VIP area!"

"I agree." The officer twisted Natsuki's arms behind her back and held onto them as if she was restraining a criminal. "Lead the way, sexy," she murmured into her ear, pressing her busty chest into Natsuki's bare back.

The engaged woman sucked in her breath at the contact.

Security parted the crowd for them, and they made it to the exclusive area. Tinted floor-to-ceiling windows allowed the VIPs to look down at the masses, but the commoners couldn't get a peek at the high rollers. The room was also soundproof.

"Ohhhhh, nice place you got here!" She released Natsuki's hands and pushed her on a couch. She locked the doors and swayed her hips as she sashayed back to Natsuki.

The lights were brighter in the lounge, so Natsuki got a better look at Officer Naughty. Her hair was tucked in a police cap, but Natsuki saw stray strands of metallic gold hang down her face. She had on aviator shades that hid her eyes. Her black satin bra was plainly visible, and Natsuki was entranced with the exposed cleavage.

When she was able to peel her eyes away from the teasing mounds, she saw that the generously cropped navy officer shirt showed off the woman's chiseled abdomen perfectly. The beauty wore a black vinyl miniskirt that stopped well above mid thigh. A mock police utility belt wrapped around her petite waist. Black thigh high boots with five inch heels and one inch platform finished the criminally racy costume.

"Just for tonight, I'm going to pretend you're her," Natsuki whispered to herself.

The stripper heard her though. "Who's her?" She straddled Natsuki's lap and dropped the baton on the couch.

"Uh, m—my high school crush." Natsuki blushed at the revelation and intimate position. She had never been with a female before.

"Ara, you do need to be spanked. You're getting married to a man, yet you're thinking about a woman," she said breathily, capturing Natsuki's full lips.

Natsuki moaned into the kiss as the woman's moist tongue dueled with hers. She moved her trembling hands toward the stripper's mounds and gave them a good squeeze. The woman produced a throaty moan and deepened the kiss even more.

Natsuki broke away from the searing kiss and panted heavily. "Wh—what's your name?"

The woman was in the same breathless state. "Vi—Viola."

Natsuki loved the cadence of her Kyoto accent. "Viola, my friends hired you because my crush had a Kyoto accent too. And you sound just like her."

"Did she know you liked her?" Viola started molding her hands over Natsuki's bare breasts. Her dress was backless, so a bra was out of the question.

"Oh godddd!" Natsuki squirmed from her fondles. With her eyes closed, she instinctually gripped the woman's shapely bottom.

"Answer me or I'll stop," she warned.

"N—no she didn't."

"Why?"

Her eyelids fluttered open. Natsuki stared directly at the aviator glasses. "I was a shy kid and scared. She was two grades above me and the student council president."

"She had these crazy fan girls too," she added with distaste and a scowl.

The caresses abruptly halted. "So you were afraid of her fan girls?"

"No! I was afr—I couldn't deal with it if she rejected me!" Natsuki admitted out loud for the first time the reason why she never approached Shizuru.

"I see." The dark shades hid her every emotion. "Did you ever talk to her?" The ministrations continued again. Viola rolled hardened nipples between her fingers.

"Mmmm!"

Natsuki shook her head. "She, uh, talked to me once though."

"Oh?" Viola began showering her neck with bruising kisses.

Natsuki liked the stinging sensation, so she tipped her head back to give her better access. "She came over to me after I almost choked on my sandwich. I was still coughing up a storm, so she gave me her tea and said it would soothe me."

"Hmmmm." Viola smirked at the red pelts she imprinted on Natsuki's neck. Her sneaky hands started to inch up smooth thighs.

"Ye—yeah. That was the only time we ever talked. I started drinking tea after that and still do now." She lazily drew patterns on Viola's taut abs.

Viola shivered at the touch. "Why do you think she approached you?"

Natsuki looked at Viola like she was insane. "I was coughing nonstop! She's a kind person, so she probably didn't want me to die right there in the cafeteria. That's why she gave me her tea!"

"How big was this cafeteria?" Viola massaged Natsuki's inner thighs.

Natsuki unconsciously spread her legs wider. "It—it was big. Really loud too." She worked her hands up to Viola's chest, groping the swells there.

"Loud enough that it could muffle your cough?"

"It's possible."

"Then maybe she came to your aid because she had her eyes on you the whole time," Viola suggested.

"Nah. I was nobody. I didn't look this good back then." Natsuki grinned. She brought Viola's chin closer and pecked her on the lips.

Viola boldly pulled apart the fabric covering Natsuki's pert twins and shamelessly ogled the exposed bosom. "You're right that you look really good right now." Natsuki was glad Viola reminded her of Shizuru so much or else she wouldn't feel so blasé about the stripper's audacity.

Viola moved the fabric back to their position. "But you're wrong if you thought you were nobody back then."

"How so?" Natsuki leaned forward and trailed kisses down Viola's neck. "And can you take off your top?" The stripper acquiesced and off came the shirt.

"Your friends, the ones downstairs, have you known them long?"

Natsuki buried her face between two satin-covered mounds, lavishing them with soft kisses. "Yep. Went to high school and university with them."

Viola raked her fingers through the woman's azure tresses. "Well then, you must be really special and somebody to them because I cost a fortune," she quipped.

Natsuki chuckled and lifted her head to Viola. "I love them too. They even looked for my crush at a university we thought she would be attending after graduation."

Viola traced the contours of her left cheek. "Did they find her?"

Natsuki sighed deeply. "No, she wasn't in the directory."

"Did you love your crush?"

The question startled Natsuki, but she told her the truth. "Yes, and I still do," she said with conviction.

"What did you love about her?"

"Her voice had this hypnotic quality that captured your attention. It's similar to your voice. And believe me when I say no one fell asleep during her speeches. She had a great personality too: charming, patient, and sincere, just to name a few."

"I don't want to sound shallow, but my goodness, she was a vision too! That chestnut hair and those red eyes! God, she was hot!" she gushed.

"Then why are you getting married?"

Natsuki stiffened at the inquiry. "Because."

"Because what?"

Natsuki remained silent.

"I don't think your love is true," Viola challenged.

Natsuki shoved Viola off of her and stood up. "You don't know me! God! You don't know how hard I worked to gain a backbone!"

Viola was taken aback by her strong reaction.

Natsuki's anger dissipated moments later, but sorrow seized her. "I had this grand fantasy that we would run into each other again, and she would fall in love with the confident me. But two years ago, I hired a private investigator to search all of Japan for her. He found no record of Shizuru Fujino or her parents after her high school years."

She couldn't face Viola who reminded her of her crush when she revealed what haunted her every day, "He thinks she's … dead."

"You must think I'm an obsessed stalker who's in love with a potentially deceased woman whom I have only admired from afar."

Natsuki had never told her friends of her secret inquisition into Shizuru's whereabouts. But she had no qualms telling this complete stranger everything she had bottled up inside, this stranger who kissed and caressed her in the way she fantasized Shizuru would do.

Natsuki's woeful sniffles broke Viola's heart. She stood behind Natsuki and held the shaking woman in her arms. She placed a soothing kiss on her temple. "This Shizuru Fujino is one lucky lady to have you so passionately devoted to her after all these years."

Natsuki wiped her tears and turned around. "No, if I was devoted, I wouldn't be engaged right now."

"Answer my question. Why are you getting married?"

Natsuki sighed tiredly. "My fiancé was the first person I met after the investigator gave me the news. I ran into him at a tea shop, and his love for tea reminded me of her. Everyone in school knew Shizuru loved tea very much, so I clung onto that memory of her."

"My friends are right. I am settling. But even if I wasn't with him, I will always be settling … no one is her," she professed with eyes directed to the floor.

Natsuki's confession resonated within every fiber of Viola's being. She had to tell her the truth!

"Natsuki…"

Her head snapped up to meet Viola. "How do y—"

The police cap was thrown to the side, freeing tufts of chestnut hair.

The bride-to-be's heart rate sped up.

Hands slowly took off the aviator glasses.

Natsuki gasped when she saw crimson eyes she dreamt about every night.

"It's me, Shizuru Fujino."

There's one more chapter. Will be posted later this week.

Thanks for reading!