Start of chapter 1.

Note that this part has minimal WAM. There's a LOT more in upcoming parts. You can tell by the way this chapter ends! I hope you all like this teaser. Subsequent parts will be posted a few days apart.

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Veronica was swimming in apprehension. She hadn't felt butterflies in her stomach quite like this in years.

When she planned this solo trip to Japan, she imagined walking through the streets of Tokyo, partaking in local street food, and dusting off her street photography skills.

The trip *had* been all that, and now more.

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A London resident of 14 years, Veronica had recently turned 30. In a moment of self-contemplation, she decided to scratch that solo travel itch she'd carried for years. Having browsed a lot of r/solotravel on Reddit, she decided on Japan. Her casual anime fandom played some role in that decision as well.

Now, she found herself backpacking, hostel-hopping through the land of the rising sun. Generally a social person, she never hesitated to mingle with her fellow travelers at the hostels she stayed at. Having arrived in Yokohama two days ago, she'd gone out for drinks with a few folks the previous evening. It was a fun bunch she'd run into, all of them backpackers themselves, enjoying springtime Japan.

Two of them, a mildly hippie couple from Germany - Anja and Kristof - had stayed up chit-chatting with Veronica for a few hours. Veronica was slightly concerned about getting propositioned for a threesome, but that never came... fortunately. However, they *had* brought up something else. They told Veronica of a certain local business here in the city of Yokohama, offering some very unique experiences. They went on to describe some of these experiences, having engaged in some themselves during their trip here.

Veronica's interest was piqued. From their description, the experiences seemed more geared towards couples, but they'd told her how the folks there had informed them that most of their customers tend to come in solo. Sensing Veronica's intrigue, before everyone retired to their rooms at around 1am, Anja had shared a referral card that they'd handed to her after the... session. The card was mostly nondescript but carried a string of numbers and letters. Anja had informed Veronica that it offered a 35% discount on their usual pricing if she decided to give it a chance.

Veronica laughed it off at first. "You never know what you may learn about yourself if you never give these things a chance," Anja had said.

Veronica held onto the card and stayed awake for the better part of another hour pondering the idea. Thinking about what they'd described tickled a part of her brain she didn't know existed.

The next morning, having slept in until after 9am, Veronica made up her mind. 10 years ago, she'd have considered even the thought of going to an entertainment parlor like this, very taboo. Through her late 20s, she'd loosened up a lot. She had another two days in the city with not much planned. Yokohama was a time to unwind.

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As she arrived at the venue, a mere 15-minute walk from the hostel, she felt thankful it didn't look remotely like a seedy brothel. On the walk here, she had almost turned around three times. If this place had outwardly looked like a brothel, her conscience would not have allowed her to even approach the door.

Instead, it was a massage parlor up front. There was no indication this was the kind of business that the kind couple had described to her. She wondered if they were pranking her. But she had the discount card. It wouldn't be a particularly funny prank for the effort to forge a business card.

Her heart racing, she thought she did a pretty good job of maintaining her composure as she entered and approached the front desk.

"Hi, I uh..." she started as her eyes darted around the ornately decorated lobby.

A friendly looking woman at the counter wore a red floral silk dress and her hair down past her shoulders. A thin braid went around one side of her head. The lobby was finished with engineered hardwood and tasteful accent lighting. A gorgeous bonsai tree sat on a coffee table in a nearby waiting area.

"Yes?" The lady at the counter smiled.

"I'm here from a uh, referral," Veronica said as she fished for the card in her handbag.

The lady waited.

Kristof had assured her that, if she decided to go, the experience was all inclusive. She didn't even need to carry a change of clothes. So she had just thrown on a tank top and shorts, and only carried her small handbag along with her. Having heard the rest of the couple's story, she really hoped that was true.

"Are you here for a massage or one of our spa treatments?" The woman asked.

"I was told to ask for the... sweet course special."

Veronica placed the card on the counter. The woman looked down at it, raising her eyebrows with a knowing look. After a second or two, she smiled politely.

"Certainly."

"You see, I've never done anything like this before," Veronica blurted nervously. "Can I know how much it costs, and how it really works?"

"With your referral code," the receptionist said, "it should come out to eighty thousand Yen. The experience is one of a kind, and includes everything, along with up to 4 hours of play time. We will have you change into our attire. You can leave your belongings in a locker. We provide shower facilities, of course."

The more Veronica thought about this, the more she enjoyed the idea of it.

After about ten seconds (or maybe an eternity) of contemplation, she placed her credit card on the desk.

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The dressing room wasn't bigger than a regular convenience store, but it efficiently held several racks of outfits. Apparently, this session came with a stylist included. It never failed to surprise her how far her British currency tended to stretch when touring Asia.

The stylist was a petite woman. At 5'8", Veronica likely had over half a foot on her. She wore a chic crop top and short skirt, in contrast to the front desk attendant.

"Hi, I'm Akiko. Nice to meet you. I will prep you today!" She was very chipper. Veronica shook her hand.

In the next 10 minutes, Akiko deftly helped Veronica slip into a blue and yellow kimono-inspired dress. She applied a touch of makeup on her pale face. Veronica's auburn mid-back-length hair was now up in a gorgeous French twist and decorated with fresh yellow roses to match the dress.

Now, Veronica knew she was an attractive woman; she seldom put in the effort to dress up. Standing up, she gazed at her outfit in a floor-length mirror. Walking up to it, she admired the not-heavy-but-striking makeup job Akiko had done. Turning her head slightly, she ran her fingers over her sleek, swept back hair, briefly running her fingers against the six or seven roses pinned in the back, top to bottom, along the elegant French updo.

Neither Kristof nor Anja had described this aspect of the "sweet course" experience to her. If what they'd said about the rest of this session was true, it felt a bit futile. All this effort was soon to be destroyed. She felt a pang of naughty giddiness, which surprised her. Nevertheless, she hadn't felt this pretty in ages.

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Akiko wordlessly walked Veronica through a series of hallways. Veronica glanced at endless shoji screens along the way, which presumably hid massage rooms behind them. Akiko stopped at a set of heavy looking, beautifully designed wooden doors. She turned to look at Veronica.

"This is a one-of-a-kind experience in Yokohama. I hope you enjoy yourself!"

She gave a quick bow, gestured toward the doors and backed away. The butterflies in Veronica's stomach had turned their fluttering up to 11. Nervous, she pulled the doors open.

She was floored. The doors led into a room with at least a 10-foot ceiling. There were no windows. It was dimly lit, but with a classy warm glow. It reminded Veronica of expensive 5-star Japanese restaurants back in London. The room was at least a couple dozen feet long. The doors closed softly behind her.

Near the far end of the room sat two impeccably dressed young women.

In the center of the room, between the two women and Veronica, sat a long, Japanese style table, about a foot off the floor. On this table, lay a vast assortment of dessert. Nearly every square centimeter of that table had something on it. She saw at least 15 beautifully decorated cream pies, complete with coconut shavings, chocolate curls, banana slices, syrup drizzles. She also saw 4 or 5 colorful round cakes, a white and yellow sheet cake, and some small local pastries.

Veronica smiled at the women. They politely smiled back and stood up in unison. Both looked as tall as she was, but she couldn't tell if they were wearing high heels.

Both of them wore kimonos and elegant makeup. Their eye shadows matched their respective kimonos - one pink, another a red and yellow combination. The one in the pink kimono wore her jet black hair in a tidy donut bun that sat on top of her head, with a fringe that complemented her round face. The other wore hers, also black, swept to one side, covering half her forehead, piled up in a formal, modern beehive. It was decorated with two engraved hair sticks and a bunch of white orchids near the top. It reminded Veronica of a much fancier rendition of prim and proper Asian flight attendant uniforms. She wondered if Akiko styled them as well.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hinata," the one in the pink kimono introduced herself.

"I'm Ryoko," said the other one.

Veronica's bi heart fluttered for a moment as she was rendered speechless. She gave them a quick wave and flashed a small, sheepish grin.

They both walked around each side of the table towards Veronica. Ryoko lightly touched her on her shoulder, gesturing her to sit. Veronica sat on the floor, at one end of the long table. Two medium sized cream pies sat in front of her.

The whole spread smelled absolutely divine. That, along with the other womens' friendly presence calmed Veronica down. A million thoughts ran through her head about what was about to go down in this room.

"Have you ever done anything like this before?" Hinata asked.

"No."

"Have you ever been covered in food before?"

"Not really!"

"Ever had your face smashed in a birthday cake? That kind of thing?"

Veronica finally peeled her gaze away from the dessert spread and turned towards Hinata, who had just put an arm around Veronica's shoulders.

"Uh, a couple times on my birthdays, yeah. Once at my sister's birthday party too. Don't ask."

Ryoko giggled quietly.

Hinata continued, "have you been with women before?" She began lightly massaging Veronica's shoulders.

"I have, a couple times back in college. It's been a while though." Veronica had been enjoying single life, with some dating. Mostly men over the past couple of years.

Ryoko now began caressing Veronica's thigh. Veronica relaxed and let her.

"This is a one-of-a-kind sensual experience," Ryoko said, "and we hope you're ready for it."

As she did, she dipped two fingers from her right hand into a pie, slowly reached towards her own face, and applied a small streak of cream onto her forehead and temple before tasting it. Veronica was enamored as Ryoko closed her eyes and sucked on her own fingers.

She reached back into the pie, picking up some coconut cream filling out of it. This time, she offered it to Veronica, who promptly started sucking them. In her nervousness, Veronica had skipped breakfast, and it was probably close to noon now. To her hungry appetite, the pie tasted amazing.

Before she knew it, she was making out with Ryoko.

A moment later, Ryoko pulled back. "How would you like to start?"

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End of chapter 1. Continues in: https://umd.net/stories/i/sweet-course-chapter-2-of-3