Volleyball

By Emi Tsuruta

I first met James in the big mall in downtown Oceanview in California. He is a fitness trainer, big biceps, short black hair, a kindly smile. I think he is of Chinese background, but he was born here, so he's more American than Asian. I like his cheerful optimism. He studied phys. ed. in college I think, so he knows a lot about health and our bodies and how to stay fit. I think he might have a thing for me, but he was a perfect gentleman, always supportive, not judgy, quite willing to put up with all my little quirks. It was kind of nice having a strong man around. It made me feel safe.

He gave me his business card the first day we met, and asked me to text him to let him know I'd got home alright. It said 'James Lee, your friendly neighborhood trainer.' It was so true. He did kind of save me from a sticky situation. He did seem a bit like a hero to me at least.

Back at home, that next week, I took out the card, but to tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if I should reach out to him or not. I mean he seems pretty relaxed, friendly and stuff, but I was more worried about what he must think of me, running around naked in the mall like that. (Long story. We'd been bikini shopping with the boys, Takuya and Hiro, and somehow things got out of hand). Both James and the blonde receptionist Cara had been pretty cool with me being naked, but he must think I am so weird, don't you think? Anyway, I really should text him just to thank him for all his help that day.

I put it off for a bit, and then finally, sent him a message.

'Hi James. It's Rummy. I just wanted to thank you for all your help the other day at the mall. I was so freaked out, but you were great. Much appreciated.' Rummy was the name I'd given him because I wasn't sure if I should tell him my real name.

Later that day, I got a reply.

'Oh hi Rummy. Cara and the others were all asking about you. Glad to hear you got home alright. Always happy to help.'

I didn't respond right away, but not too long after, I got another message from him.

'Have you ever been to the Japanese beach volleyball league? It's on Saturday afternoons on the main beach downtown.'

Hmm. It sounds like he is asking me out. I wasn't sure what to say. I had played volleyball before on the beach in Japan growing up. After I moved to Oceanview, I still went to the beach. Sometimes American guys would invite us to play. I knew where the nets were, but I didn't realize they had a whole league.

'Um, no, I don't think I have,' I replied, non-committal.

'You should come down, and play. I go sometimes. It's great fun.'

I hadn't been planning to see James again, but I do love the beach. I like sports, and meeting new people. I was also curious if I knew any of the Japanese people there. The Japanese community in Oceanview is pretty small.

'Can I bring a friend?' I asked.

'Sure, the more the merrier.'

I ended up inviting Asuna. She's the cousin of my boyfriend Ryosuke, a year or two younger than me, but one of my best friends. She is a terribly cute girl, long silky black hair often done up in twin pony tails, big beautiful black eyes, a bit shy maybe, but open to trying new things. She didn't have a boyfriend. I wasn't sure how she would feel about James, but he's such a great guy. He might make the perfect boyfriend for somebody. Asuna said,

"Beach volleyball, huh? Yeah, sure. Why not? Could be fun!"

"Great!"

The two of us took a bus down to the beach. James was waiting at the bus stop for us. He had this gentle smile, same as ever. He'd dressed up all spiffy: official-looking volleyball shorts and a lime green tank top. I was dressed pretty conservative, jeans and a long sleeved sweatshirt. I was kind of hoping he'd take to Asuna. She looked cute as ever in her white tee and red shorts and big black sneakers.

James took us down to the volleyball nets. There were all kinds of different players there, many Japanese, but no one I recognized. James dove right in and started playing, but Asuna and I stayed back for a while, watching, and trying to learn. James came over, and gave us some tips. You have to keep the ball in the air, but not let it drop to the sand on your side of the net. There is a bit of a trick to how you hold your hands, but it didn't seem that hard.

That was like the end of August, so their season was wrapping up. I thought that might be the end of it, but next James invited Asuna and me to come to indoor volleyball in a community center. I was a bit skittish at first, not wanting to get too involved, but Asuna seemed game, so I went along just to be sociable.

The first community center we went to was a big building, shiny with lots of windows and open space. For volleyball, there were no Japanese, mostly men, Anglo or Chinese, and only a few women. People were nice to us though, and let us join their teams. Asuna is not a star athlete, but she liked the atmosphere, James and all these other guys. They were all pretty fit.

One thing I noticed is that people seemed to touch each other more than in the other sports I'd played. If I scored a point, this one Chinese American guy William would put up his hand for a high five. Even when someone missed a shot, the other players would give the person a pat on the back to cheer them up. James didn't touch me, but some of the other guys did, patting me on my back or sometimes even on my bottom. Asuna didn't know quite what to make of all this touching, but I wasn't too offended. I figured it was just part of the game.

Another problem I had at first was what to wear. On the beach, you play in whatever you have on: a swimsuit, beach cover-up or shorts and a t-shirt. The first time I went to the community center though, I changed into my tennis outfit, a white polo shirt and mini-skirt, but I overheard one of the guys joking about it, so I figured that wasn't right.

One of the Chinese wives wore black shorts, so next, I brought my navy blue 'bloomers.' In Japan, all the girls wore bloomers in gym class, these high cut racing briefs like volleyball players wear. This older Vietnamese guy Canh would sit on the bench behind me cheering me on, but it became pretty obvious that he was ogling my backside. Just to tide me over, I ended up buying a few other pairs of shorts: long red ones and sleek black ones with a fire design. After that, the guys stopped staring so much, so I figured I must have finally gotten it right.

The guys slowly started warming to Asuna, and they invited her to play with them even if I wasn't playing. She's not as into sports as I am, but she got pretty good at defending, returning the ball or setting up her team mates to spike. I was still learning all this stuff too. James was a good coach to both of us.

At this particular center, in order to reserve a spot for volleyball, you had to go a bit early, and pick up a ticket. Sometimes though I got there so early that none of the other players were around. James was really keen on playing with us, and he'd rush straight there after work, but his classes finished like 6 or later, so he wasn't usually the first to arrive. I didn't know the other guys so well, but everyone was respectful enough. We usually waited for James to show before we really started playing.

This one Thursday, I got there about an hour before, and not knowing what else to do, I went into the women's change room to change into my gym outfit. I pried off my shoes, then stripped off my jeans and panties, and sat my bare behind down on the wooden bench. The smooth wood felt a bit funny on my bare skin. I ran my middle finger along the crack of my pussy, surprised to find that I was a little wet. I had been a bit jumpy all day, but I hadn't really noticed until then. I pulled off my hoodie, blouse and bra stripping naked, and had a quick shower to freshen up.

Coming back, I fished my white sports bra out of my bag, pulled it on, squeezing my breasts in so they wouldn't overflow. I pulled on my Mizuno polo shirt next. It hugs my breasts fairly snugly, but the guys all seem to like it, so I hadn't gotten around to buying a bigger one yet. All this playing with my breasts though was starting to get me excited. I rubbed the bare cheek of my behind, conscious of the fact that I was still bottomless. I pulled on my socks next. I'd just bought a whole new outfit especially for volleyball, Mizuno, made in Japan, so I felt ready for once. My bottom still uncovered, I slid on my indoor court shoes, half intending to go look at myself in the mirror.

Just then, a young east European woman came in, motioning that she wanted to get to the locker in front of where I was sitting. I pulled a small towel from my bag, and holding it in front of my pussy, I stood up, and stepped over the bench to the other side, so she could get through. She must have thought I was so strange, sitting here with my shoes on but no bottoms. I asked her if she'd had a good work out, and she started chatting away telling me how much she liked coming here. I smiled, and listened till my smartphone rang. I had to dig through my coat pockets to get it, but when I looked back at her, she smiled weakly, having seen my bare bottom when I turned away.

Since she'd seen that I was naked, I figured there was no need to pretend anymore. I lay my towel down on the bench, and scooted out around the end of the lockers and back towards where the showers were. I must say I felt naughty traipsing around the locker room with no bottoms on, but luckily, there was no one back there.

It was Ryosuke on the phone. He originally told me he might come join us, but he was still stuck at work at the sushi place, so he couldn't make it that night. Probably for the best. I hadn't really told James about Ryosuke, and things might get messy if the two met. I was still trying to get James to ask Asuna out, but she wasn't even here yet. Complicated.

The east European girl waved goodbye, and left, as I talked with Ryosuke on my phone. Couldn't he ask his boss to let him go early? No, he told me. I was so tempted to tell him that I was walking around the locker room bottomless, but I knew he probably wouldn't be able to get out of work, so it was no use getting him all excited.

I walked back to the entrance to make sure that the girl had left. I could hear the instructor's voice from the hot yoga class in the gym. As Ryosuke talked, I found myself wandering closer and closer to the door. I was tempted to step out of the change room half-naked like that, but I was a bit worried that someone might come, so I ended up going back, and pulling on my panties and shorts before going out into the foyer.

The second community center we went to was a lot quieter. It was in a school, so on the walls, there were drawings and low hooks for hanging the students' coats. They didn't offer many sports, just swimming, but that was in a different part of the building. The volleyball had a good turnout though especially on weekends. There were more Filipinos here and Mexicans and even the odd younger Chinese woman coming with a boyfriend.

I liked the atmosphere at that center because all the people seemed so friendly, but actually, Asuna was a bit put off because the guys were always trying to chat us up. William, the Chinese high-five guy, kept offering us a ride home in his car, but Asuna didn't want to go with him, so we'd usually just walk to the bus stop with James.

There was this other guy, Rafael, who I think was part Chinese but born in Malaysia. I guess he was handsome, but not my type exactly. He was quite the character though always talking about how beautiful this or that woman was, though I'd never seen him with a girlfriend. He did make a half-hearted effort to hit on me, but he was too proud to chase anyone. He did tease me an awful lot, and Asuna too when she showed up. We got used to him though. Most of the time, he was off playing with his friends, and would leave us alone.

On weekdays, that center was so quiet. When I'd go on a Monday, there was the girl in the office who collected our money and one custodian, but there never seemed to be anyone else around. If I got there early, I'd wander the deserted halls looking at the drink machines, or else go into the gym, and set up the nets. It was kind of boring just sitting there for so long waiting for everyone.

Another thing I noticed was that some of the guys would come to the center, wearing their gym outfits under their clothes, and would get changed in the gym itself rather than the change rooms. There wasn't anything indecent about this. Even when they took off their outer clothes, they still had their gym wear on underneath, but at first I found it a bit strange for them to be changing where we could see them. Sometimes someone would make a wisecrack teasing them about 'stripping,' but most people didn't seem to mind.

I mulled this over for a while, and then one Monday, when no one was around, I got up the nerve to try changing in the gym myself. I was so nervous the first time, my heart pounding in my chest, but actually no one came, so I realized I'd been worrying for nothing. The staff girl and custodian almost never came in the gym, and James and most of the other players were working, so none of them were there yet. As time went by, I got braver, actually removing both my jeans and panties, and sitting bare-assed on the bench in the gym, while I checked my smartphone messages. It's hard to explain why, but I did find it kind of exciting, tempting fate.

Unfortunately though, one time, this guy named Colin showed up while I was sitting here bottomless. Colin was a 25-ish polite African-American. He worked as some kind of researcher. He was a bit shyer than the Chinese or Filipino-American guys, but he did have a nice car, and had offered me a ride home a few times. I didn't really know quite what to make of him, so I didn't go, but I did get the feeling that he liked me.

Anyway, here I am, in my polo shirt sitting bare ass on the bench, fiddling with my phone. Luckily, the hem of my top was covering my pubic hair, but he could no doubt see my butt cheek from the side. I pressed my legs together, and looked at him so shocked when he showed up out of the blue. Almost immediately, my hello kitty started tingling. He looked really surprised too, not knowing quite what to make of me sitting here bare ass.

"Uh hi," he said hesitantly, apparently wondering what the etiquette was. Perhaps he thought I was still in my undies, or had on a pair of really short shorts. I glanced around looking for my backpack with my shorts in them, but it was just out of reach on the floor a little ways away. If I stood up to get it, he would see my pussy for sure.

"Oh, um, hi... Colin. I was uh... I was uh..." My mind was racing, but I was drawing a complete blank as to how to explain why I was naked.

"Are we the first ones here?" he asked. He came right over to the bench where I was sitting, and took off his coat. This was of course a normal thing to do since I was the only other one here, except this time I was bottomless. If it had been another guy, one of those slick womanizers, I might have been frightened, but Colin is pretty mild-mannered. I wonder how he'd react if I stood up, and showed him my pussy.

"Uh, yeah, I guess, we are," I finally agreed. "Um, Colin, could you do me a favor?"

"A favor? What kind of favor?" he asked.

"Could you turn around for a few minutes? I'm kind of in the middle of..." I didn't want to come out, and say I was naked, but surely he could tell!

Colin looked me over, examining my bare bottom more closely. I bit my lip, embarrassed. I flattened my polo shirt at the front, but there was no way to cover my tush.

"What- what- what were you doing?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, suspicious.

"I was just getting changed when you came in," I finally admitted.

He kind of bugged his eyes out, even more shocked now.

"What are you wearing?" he asked, craning his neck to get a better look at my backside. I felt so excited, electrified.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" I asked hopefully.

"Um, yeah, sure," he gulped.

"Well, you see I thought no one would come in..." I was hoping that he would put two and two together, and not make me spell it out, but he was just standing there gawking, wide-eyed, so shocked. I guess he had this picture of me as a 'good girl,' and couldn't believe I would do anything so crazy.

Anyway, I finally broke down, and told him.

"I'm naked."

He looked down at my bottom, then at my blushing face, and then my bottom again.

"Nooo!" he shook his head, refusing to believe it.

"I am... really," I assured him. I was so excited I wasn't thinking straight anymore. To prove it, I lifted up the front of my polo shirt giving him a peek at the silky black hair of my pussy. I was so nervous my hands were shaking.

"Wow!" he burst out.

"I didn't think you'd get here so early. Otherwise, I would never have...," I babbled on. Figuring that the cat was out of the bag anyway, I stood up showing him my bare behind. He blinked, and shook his head. He's really such a straight arrow, not used to seeing naked girls I guess. Just from his stunned reaction, you could tell nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He couldn't believe that an innocent girl like me could do such a thing.

I was aware of the danger though. The other guys who come to volleyball are not nearly so pure. I could hear shuffling noises coming from the hallway, spooking me even more. Deciding I had to get out of there, I leaned over to pick up my bag. Colin was freaking. I bowed, excusing myself, and then zipped over to the girl's change room.

Even once I was safely out of sight, it took me a long time to calm down. I kept kicking myself for getting caught like that. Would Colin tell the others? I'd better tell him not to say anything.

I got up, and went to the door, but now I could definitely hear voices, other volleyball players arriving. I can't go out bottomless like this. I have to get dressed. I pulled on my panties and shorts, and fixed my hair, trying to look more respectable.

When I finally came out, Colin was surrounded by some of the other regulars. He was peering over this way, but I think he was in too much shock to say anything. I think he was wondering if I was coming on to him. I like him well enough, but... This was all going to be hard to explain. I ended up not talking to him. I'm not sure what he thought. After that, I stopped changing in the gym for a while.

Not long after, the Olympics started. I was kind of happy because I got to see some athletes I know on TV. I was usually out at school during the day, but every once in a while, I'd wander by a TV, and catch a replay of some event with a Japanese athlete in it.

This one day, I was up at the other community center, the modern one with all the Chinese. I don't think I've ever seen Colin come there, so I didn't have to worry about him at least.

We'd finished playing volleyball, and I'd gone into the change room to have a shower. In the main foyer though, they had the TV on, and I could hear Rafael and all the other guys outside cheering about something. Then, I heard the announcer guy say the name 'Kosuke Kitajima!' Wow! Was he on TV? Kitajima, you see, won a couple of gold medals in swimming at the Olympics. He was sort of a hero of mine, of all Japanese maybe. The Americans had a strong medal hope in swimming too, Hansen, I think his name was. That's probably what the guys were all excited about.

I'd just gotten out of the shower, so I was naked, but it sounded like the event was just about to start, and I didn't want to miss it. I quickly grabbed my towel, and wrapped it around me. I rushed to the change room door, and peered out. I couldn't see the TV, so I ended up going right out into the foyer to get a better look. Sure enough it was Kitajima(!) on TV and Hansen too in one of the big races, the 100 meter breast stroke I think it was. I was so excited to get to see the race live. I'm really more of a swimmer than a volleyball player in any case.