I hummed a pleasant tune to myself as I walked. A love song, you probably wouldn't know it. You might think that it's not my sort of music, but I'm actually a sucker for orchestral music. Some modern music has lyrics that conform to my tastes a bit more closely, but I can never really get into that loud rock music that's getting popular.

So after Mion and Shion went home last night, I decided I would get a bit of sleep and go to get the pictures developed the next day. I went to bed happy. A bit drunk on my success, I guess you could say. And now, here I am.

The sun is shining brightly today, but there's a pleasant breeze keeping up. The cicadas are loud, as usual, but even they can't damper my mood. Their relentless whirring noise generally threatens to grind away the little composure that I can keep for any length of time, but today, yes, today, I am remarkably complacent. My plans are progressing well, and I have pictures of my love in her underwear. Life is, as they say, good.

My parents called from out of town this morning, before I left for Okinawa. The conversation went something like this.

"Morning, Keichi. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, all right."

"What did you do for dinner last night?"

"Rena and Mion came over with food."

Here there's a pause. I can almost see the nervous glitter in the eyes of the one on the other line. "That was very nice of them."

"Yes. It was."

"They're good friends."

"Yes. They certainly are."

Another pause. "Keichi, why don't you make some male friends?"

"There aren't any other guys my age in town."

"None?"

"None." I think.

"To be honest, Keichi, I'm not sure how I feel about you teens being in the house all by yourselves." The translation of this reads "You shouldn't be around girls, after what you did."

"We didn't drink, if that's what you mean." The translation of this reads "That's too bad. No matter how sick you think I am, you still can't tell me what it means to be healthy."



"You know that's not what I meant. I…I just don't want you to lose such good friends." Translation: "If they can put up with you for more than a few seconds, hang on to them like grim death. You're a repulsive horror who would be locked up and forgotten if it were legal. I'd kill you myself if I could get away with it. Someone will eventually, someone always comes along who can put people like you out of the gene pool for good. The last thing we need right now is for you to mess everything up for us and land us all in the public eye by raping or killing or doing God knows what to some innocent girl. Again."

"I know, mom. Listen, I'm going into town today, so I'll talk to you later." Translation: "Fuck you."

And that was the end of that. You might think that sort of thing would get me down. On the contrary, it steels my resolve. The point I want to prove is that just because someone can be broken doesn't mean the process can't be enjoyable. Besides, Mion was broken in half already some time ago, by someone else. Technically, I just want to stitch the two back together, using myself as the thread that binds them. I'm much more of a healer than they understand. I think maybe they know that, deep down, but can't make themselves accept it.

Isn't it always like that? The freedom and truth that a mindset like mine brings is so agonizingly close, and the only reason they don't reach out and take it is that they fear it. They tell themselves that it can only lead to ruin and give it the frightening name "insanity," all to make themselves feel better about their inability to see and their insistence on remaining blind.

But enough about all that. The day is young, and so, I've been told, am I. The road to Okinawa isn't terribly long, but there's plenty of time for speculation on the way. Having been lost in thought already, I think I'm around halfway there.

What's this? Why, it looks like there's someone else on the road ahead of me. Not Mion, not one of my friends, more of an acquaintance, but one I like.

"Miyo! Wait up!" I shouted. She turned, startled, and for a moment I saw on her face a look I like. Anger. That's what it was. I like seeing someone who's not afraid of being angry. When she sees it's me, though, she smiles in that half-tired, half-condescending way of hers.

"Why, hello, Keichi. Walking into town alone today?"

"Today, yeah. Just have some pictures to get developed." I indicate the camera I have on a strap around my neck, not that I really needed to, but I wanted her to see that the camera I used was the one that Tomitake had given me. Tomitake is generally regarded as Takano's boyfriend, but I can tell that's not the case. Not even he knows it, I think.

He's pretty much her tool.

"Where are your friends, Keichi? They'd usually be with you on your day off, right?"



I smiled and shot back, "I could ask you the same thing. Where's Tomitake?"

Her smile grew wider. "Oh, he's around somewhere, I'm sure. Well, deprived as I am of male company, would you like to walk with me into town, Keichi?"

I walked up beside her and nodded. "I'd be happy to." I offered her my hand, and she took it.

I suppose I should give you a bit of background about my relationship with Takano. I knew as soon as I saw her: this was a kindred spirit. She knew what I meant. She had the eyes that I have, the eyes of someone who occasionally likes to indulge themselves in the way they were meant to. She had the face of a predator.

Sure, she's at least ten years older than me. But she's not like the other adults. She's like me. Or rather, I'm like her. The way she has Tomitake and Irie dancing like puppets is so…inspiring. I'm sure she faced what I have to go through, the doubting and the diagnosing, but she managed to make it through unscathed and intact, and here she is, enjoying herself. She's a role model if I've ever seen one.

Oh, and I suppose I should tell you. It was Takano that gave me the idea. About Mion, I mean. Well, indirectly. It went a little like this.

The first time I went home from school early, I wasn't really feeling sick. I just wanted to leave. I was bored. But I figured to make everything seem authentic, I'd check in at the clinic and make coughing noises a bit. I didn't expect to see Takano when I stepped in.

"Oh, Keichi. Good afternoon. Not feeling well?" Her somewhat lazy stare traveled over my body, and I shivered to feel that piercing gaze turned on me. I could tell there would be no point in lying to her. She could sense a kinship in me, I knew. Every time we'd met prior, a wink or chuckle tipped me off: she was just like me. I told her the truth.

"Not really. I just wanted to get out school a bit early." I grinned. "Can I stay here for a bit?"

She smiled back and rested her chin on the back of her hands. "Dr. Irie stepped out for a few hours to pick up some supplies, so I suppose so. Just don't make this a habit, okay, Keichi?"

"Okay, Ms. Takano."

"Oh, please, Keichi, just call me 'Miyo' if we're alone."

I nodded and sat down on one of the chairs in the clinic's waiting room. Takano started filling out some paperwork and asking me about how school was going (I had moved in maybe a month prior to this). "Oh, alright," I replied. "It's definitely different from Tokyo."

"I'm sure." She put aside her papers and toyed coyly with her pen as she looked at me. "So, which girl do you think is the best-looking?"



"Probably Mion," I answered. The question didn't surprise me, and my quick response didn't catch her off-guard, either. We were talking not as child and adult, but almost as a master and apprentice. "I'm partial to big breasts."

She nodded. She understood how it was. "Well, she certainly has that going for her. Still, a bit loud and abrasive, don't you think?"

"Not at all," I said, and met her eyes. "I've found that underneath, most people behave very differently than the way they present themselves."

She smiled. "So very true. But if that's the case, Keichi, how can you trust anyone? If they're all lying, at a fundamental level, how can you be sure they won't try to take advantage of you just like you do to them?"

"I can't," I responded simply. "I can't trust anyone. And since you know how I think, I can trust you even less."

She laughed cheerfully. "Then for the same reason, I can't trust you either, Keichi! Not the slightest bit!"

I laughed too. "Nope!" We both calmed down after a few seconds. "I think we're going to get along very well, Miyo."

She rose and walked over to me. She offered me her hand. I took it, and she helped me to my feet. "I think so too, Keichi. Here, come with me."

I was on my guard. I really was. I was expecting her to turn and lunge at me with a scalpel. I was expecting her to test me, see if I was up to par. I didn't expect her to kiss me.

She could tell I didn't expect it, and when she drew back, I could tell she was amused, but also disappointed. "I told you you couldn't trust me, Keichi. But you still followed me without even asking why."

I realized then, of course, that the kiss was the test, or at least part of it. And I had failed. But dammit, I wanted to pass. "Teach me."

She looked at for closely for a long while. We were in the clinic's hallway. The rest of the building was deserted. After the minute (might have been seconds, it was hard to tell) passed, she pressed herself against me and backed me into a wall. She lowered her mouth to mine and drew her tongue across my lips. I tried to keep pace with my own, but I had never done this before. I'm sure she could tell this, but she refused to slow down. Her hands snaked their way under my shirt and nuzzled against my chest. I tried to will my own hands to do something similar, but inexperience and the complex layout of pockets on her nurse's outfit made that difficult. She stopped manipulating me with her tongue long enough to smirk. "I thought you said you liked Mion's breasts? The way you are now, it doesn't seem like you know what to do with them."



"Well, it's a good thing we had this talk, then," I replied, finally getting a hand under her shirt and onto her left breast. I could tell that Takano was well-endowed, not nearly so much as Mion, but she still had an ample bosom, as they say. She started making a sound not unlike purring and ran her tongue over the skin on my shoulder to my earlobe. Her hands moved upwards until she had lifted my shirt enough for her to trace small circles around my nipples with her sharp, oft-manicured nails.

I could tell then that she could hurt me if she wanted. Those nails were pretty, but they were not delicate. They had been filed subtly, but well. With an ounce more pressure, she could break the skin. If she did so in the right area, it could prove fatal. It was an indescribably feeling. This woman held the power of life and death over me, and for just this moment, there was nothing I could do about that.

"If you want Mion to submit the way you've done for me," she breathed into my ear, "you'll need to get a bit more experience."

"And what do I owe you for lessons?" I asked, my voice muffled in a tangle of her hair.

"They're free. I don't want kids, so I'll settle for a…disciple. Now come with me."

For the second time that day, and most certainly not the last, I followed Takano into an empty room, her leading me by the hand. She shoved me towards Irie's desk while she removed her top and bra. "I'm on the pill, but you'll want to use a condom normally. Unless you plan on killing them." She spoke matter-of-factly, the way a good teacher always does. I got the impression, reinforced since that day, that she knew what it was like to wrap her hands around someone's throat and watch their life drain away. As I thought this, though, I took off my shirt like she had.

"I don't think I'll do that. Where can I get condoms?"

"They're free here. Just ask Irie if I'm not around, he won't tell your parents or anything." She walked towards me and placed my hands on her breasts. "Now, show me what you've got."

I honestly didn't know where to begin. I squeezed, occasionally flicking a finger over one of her nipples. She seemed to enjoy light, quick touches more than continuous contact. I lowered my head to her chest and made the same motions over her nipples with my tongue. She seemed to enjoy that, occasionally flinching or gasping. "Good," she said after a while, grabbing my hair from behind and pulling my head away. "She might whimper when you do that, but it's a good sign."

"You won't whimper?"

She fixed me with a sardonic smile. "Do I look like the type?" She had a point. She gently pushed me back onto the desk and unzipped my pants. "I doubt she'll be this forward, so you'll probably have to do most of the undressing yourself. Whatever you do, don't take your eyes off her."

"What if she says not to look?"

"Do you care?"



"No."

"Exactly. If she tells you not to look, make sure you don't just look, study. Examine. Judge. What she wants is approval."

"And should I give it?"

"What do you think?"

I thought. I thought if what it would be like to tell Mion exactly how beautiful I thought she was. It was…frankly, unappealing. Then I thought of telling Mion that she should be grateful for my spending effort on her. That's when I noticed how aroused I was. I took that to be a good sign. "I should save my approval for when she's already given me what I want."

Takano smiled and slid her panties down her slender, tanned legs. "Good, you're learning." She walked up to me and got into position over me.

"Wait," I said before she could put me in her. "What about-"

"Next time," she said and winked. "Or the time after that. We've got time, Keichi, you can practice as much as you want. For now, just focus on learning." Then she reached down and guided me into her soft opening. I wasn't prepared for that initial plunge, I know, but I held on. Technically, that was all I could do: Takano was in control, as she had been from the beginning. Over and over again she lifted herself and let herself fall back onto me. I honestly can't tell how much she enjoyed it, I was focusing like she had told me to. I know I probably wasn't much compared with Irie or Tomitake or any of the others she'd undoubtedly had, but I was confident that I'd be memorable at least. It certainly was for me. To this day, I can feel the ridges of her inner pussy on my flesh, hear the half-sickening, half-delightful sounds that our repeated union made, and see Takano's flushed face and her loose blond hair falling around it as she moved.

I reached up and grabbed her breasts as she bounced. Again, I can't tell exactly what she felt because I wasn't paying complete attention, but I managed to remember what I had learned earlier, and pinched her nipples as hard as I could. I think I remember her screaming, although that was probably my imagination.

I don't know how long I lasted that first time, but it was assuredly short. It was a very satisfying feeling, ejaculating into Takano like I did. She didn't stop moving while I did it, I'm not even sure that she felt it. She only slowed when she felt my erection lessening, and she didn't waste time getting off of me and getting her bra back on. I was in a state nearing delirium, and stupidly began to ask, "Did you-"

But Takano interrupted with "Don't be pathetic, Keichi." She took a tissue from the desk beside me, put it on the floor, and squatted over it. I got up to look at what she was doing, and saw her parting her flesh and letting my semen drip onto the paper. She didn't look up at me, but she must have sensed my confusion and slight anger. "When you're my equal, then I'll be happy to carry your cum inside me. Until then, it comes out like all the others I've had."



"You've never found someone like you?" I asked, my anger gone, replaced by something not unlike compassion. We were more similar than I had at first guessed.

"Never. But don't worry, Keichi. You'll learn quickly, I think. With time and practice, you'll be better than me." She looked at me and smiled warmly, a tear moistening her eyes. "That's the most I could ask for in a son."

If only Takano had been my mother! But the arrangement fate had set up worked just as well. We had many practice sessions after that, and I learned a lot from Takano, more than I had ever dreamed. And like a good student, I learned much and worked diligently to prove myself. Generally, at the end, the result would be the same.

One day, though, many "classes" later, I won. I had Takano bent over a bench at the park. It was near midnight, and the only light source of the half moon above us. I could tell how well I was doing by how loud Takano was being. At first I thought it had been our complete isolation from other people or the wide open space, but it was clear after fifteen minutes or so that she was genuinely enjoying herself.

I had her right where I wanted her. Her back was to me, and she was using her hands to prop herself up on the back of the bench. Keeping up the rhythm I had going, I moved my hands from their place on Takano's lower back upwards until they closed around her throat. She tried to move away and wrench free from my hold, but I grasped tighter until she sputtered. When I loosened my grip, she gasped for breath. Every time she tried to move away or make me change position, I'd just tighten my grip on her neck. After a bit, I could do it without even stopping the thrusting. Occasionally, she would get too weak and I'd feel her going limp, so I would ease up a little, but enough to keep her firmly in my hands. That time was different for both of us. The sensation of ejaculating into her was so…profound. As if all was right with the world. And when I did she cried out and shuddered; this time she could feel the fluids mixing together inside her.

When I finally relaxed my grip, we were both breathing hard. We fought to catch our breath for a minute before straightening up. Takano was still flush with sweat all over her body, but she got dressed as quickly as ever. When she noticed me staring pointedly at her, she smiled. "I'll keep it in from now on." Then the smile changed from completely happy to predatory. "But don't think you can catch me off-guard like that again."

I returned the look. "I won't. I love you, Miyo."

"And I love you, Keichi. Now get dressed and get home. You have school tomorrow."

As I turned to leave after dressing, Takano told me what would change my life forever. "If you ever get the chance, stop in at the Angel Mart in Okinawa."

"Why?"

"Some girls there are just your type. It'll be different from the times with me. You have to remember that not everyone is your equal."



Not everyone is my equal. Words to live by. That's why I love Takano, and why I'm walking hand in hand with her now. I don't love her like I love Mion and Shion, of course. I love her like she was my real mother, the one I should have had.

Of course, one day I'm sure she'll try to kill me. Which is why I don't spend time with her as much anymore. If we don't interfere with one another, we have no reason to try and kill one another. But we can both appreciate the brief walk to Okinawa and back, and the ineffable feeling of holding hands with someone who understands you completely.

Sorry about the wait between updates. I'm in college now, so things might be a bit slow from now on. Still, I have to say this is my favorite chapter thus far.