[Team Two] Viva La Vulva
Some domestic!Bakaleya after a while. This is happening around 2023-2024, I guess!
Bakaleya guys (in their 30s) | idk about the rating | ~1100 words
"People… like this kind of stuff? Really?” Yuuki whispered to Makoto who was standing next to him as they observed the art piece in front of them.
"Errr, I guess?" Makoto replied, turning his head to observe the piece from another angle. However, his furrowed brows indicated that it didn't seem to make any difference in his understanding.
Tatsuya, standing nearby, couldn't contain his bewilderment any longer. "I mean, seriously," he exclaimed, his voice breaking the quiet ambiance of the gallery. "I've come to the realization that I just don't understand art at all!"
"Only now?" Yuuki and Makoto asked at the same time in unison.
Tatsuya mock-raised his fist in jest but quickly dropped it with a sheepish grin when he caught Tetsuya's warning look. High school antics were definitely out of place at the art exhibition of Maya's wife. But also a bit out of character when they hadn't been high schoolers for over ten years.
"I think Sayuri did an excellent job," Tetsuya then said, turning to Maya with a friendly smile, eager to steer the conversation away from their banter and toward appreciation of the artwork.
"But I don't get… why are they…," Satoshi began, unable to tear his eyes away from the painting before him. Then he lowered his voice to a hushed tone, mindful of the other few people around them although they were meters out, "...female parts?"
Maya shrugged. "I don't really know. It was just something that her therapist recommended for her to try, something that could possibly empower her. And she tried this approach in her art, she felt empowered, and this is the result."
"Well, I suppose if that's what empowerment looks like, then count me in for a few lessons!" Satoshi quipped with a grin, earning a chuckle from the group and a playful smack from Maya to the back of his head that prompted a dramatic "Ouch that hurt!" shout.
"Maybe it's good that Shohei-san couldn't attend today," Tatsuya then remarked.
"Speaking of Shohei-san, where is he?" Makoto asked.
"He went on a trip with a new girlfriend," Maya stated matter-of-factly.
"With Ayame?" Tatsuya asked.
"No, they broke up already a month ago! Apparently, he has a new girlfriend now," Satoshi said, his expression morphing into a dramatic pout that seemed to imply he wouldn't mind cycling through girlfriends as quickly as Shohei-san.
”That guy…,” Yuuki muttered in English.
Maya shrugged. "I only received a quick message from him, asking me to congratulate Sayuri for her first art exhibition but asked us to congratulate him more for scoring the overnight trip with his new girl."
"So who's this new girl?" Makoto asked.
"Like anyone could keep track of Shohei-san's girlfriends!" Tatsuya said.
"It's Tomoko," Tetsuya then said flatly, and everyone turned to look at him.
"How do you manage to keep up with all this stuff? Aren't you supposed to be knee-deep in baby diapers?" Tatsuya asked him, his playful accusatory tone somewhat hypocritical considering his own similar situation. Tetsuya responded with a nonchalant shrug and a faint smile.
Just as the conversation was about to veer more toward Shohei-san's romantic escapades, no one else but Sayuri approached the group and came to stand between all of them.
"So, what are your thoughts on my exhibition?" she asked proudly.
The group exchanged nervous glances. Tatsuya shifted uncomfortably before tentatively speaking up like he still knew his place as the leader like during their days in Makada.
"Uh, it's... interesting! Really thought-provoking stuff!"
"Yes, very interesting yes!" Satoshi nodded enthusiastically, and Makoto and Yuuki joined in as well. Maya couldn't suppress a small smile, while Tetsuya only stayed silent.
"They don't understand the vulva thing," Maya explained to Sayuri directly, which caused a slightly panicked hiss among the group.
Sayuri rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Of course you don't," she retorted dryly, before directing their attention to a massive painting in front of them. She asked them to look at the painting closely. The painting had an enormous vulva with a meditating half-bee-half-Buddha perched atop the clitoris. Satoshi was about to let out a nervous giggle, but he swallowed it immediately as Tetsuya nudged his arm.
"My art celebrates the strength and resilience of the biologically female form," Sayuri explained, "It challenges societal norms and helps people to understand the female body is as okay to depict as the male body. Which all artists and media have been doing for decades, but then everyone gets mad when there's even a hint of femininity anywhere."
The whole group of six men exchanged bewildered looks, unsure how to respond to Sayuri's unorthodox artistic vision. With a collective shrug, they resigned themselves to nodding along and pretending to understand.
"Very very good stuff!" Tatsuya clamored while he kept nodding his head vigorously.
"Yeah, societal norms are like totally boo! We need more vulvas and less dudes!" Satoshi shouted.
"Oh yeah, I get it now!" Yuuki agreed.
"Nice job, Sayuri!" Makoto said.
"It is interesting," Tetsuya concluded slowly.
"Bear with us," Maya said to his wife with an apologetic look. "Some of these guys are just a little... rusty when it comes to appreciating female anatomy."
Sayuri's expression softened slightly at Maya's comment, a sign of amusement flickering in her eyes.
"Well, I'll take that as a compliment, I suppose," she replied. "Anyway, thanks for the feedback, gentlemen. I'll consider it... carefully."
That made Satoshi gulp.
Sayuri was about to turn away to chat with other guests in the gallery when she suddenly remembered something important.
"Oi Tatsuya-kun," she turned to Tatsuya. "Please say hi to Fumie from me and thank her for coming to the opening. I can't wait to see her again next week!"
As Sayuri turned around and affectionally squeezed Maya's arm before walking away, the other five guys couldn't help but sigh in relief when she was gone.
Then, all of them exchanged bewildered glances as they looked into the vulva picture again, their minds still reeling from the artistic explanation experience.
"Women and art, they're just so... weird. Especially together," Tatsuya muttered under his breath, shaking his head in bemusement as if he was again 16 with an emotional range of a teaspoon.
"Hey," Yuuki suggested. "Why don't we leave and grab a beer next door? I think we could all use a drink or two now."
Your turn elindar!