Chapter 4

They sat there in little stapled magazines, surprisingly real. Their titles read School Hearts in English (it was originally going to be Entwined Hearts, but Naomichi insisted that no one in Japan knew what "entwined" meant). The first issue's cover was graced with an image of Yui, the second's by one of Sakura. The covers were done in black and white, partly to attract attention and partly because they couldn't afford any more colour ink. Every couple of minutes Terry would take a moment to pick up a copy and flip through it, amazed that his vague ideas had become solid paper and ink.

It almost insulated him from the raging storm of otaku around him. Comiket was the time when all the nerds, freaks, and losers of Japan came out of their burrows to get their wank material. It was a massive convergence, throngs of flesh pulsing through makeshift streets and alleyways, doe eyes and bare breasts staring out from everywhere the eye went. Of course, being on the other side of the tables wasn't much better.

Terry and Naomichi had wound up squeezed into a corner between two yaoi artists, so most of their audience just swerved away from their corner at top speed. A few got pressed there by the sweaty throng and picked up a doujin or two, but the neatly photocopied stack of School Hearts issues was untouched.

Naomichi took another swig of his soda, while Terry polished off his fourth coffee. Neither had slept last night, too busy scrambling to get everything done and ready for the convention. "I'm gonna see what's for sale, maybe pick up some stuff," Naomichi said, raising to get out of his seat.

Terry grabbed his arm. "We can't afford to buy anything. We've been living off ramen for a week."

"Come on man. You know this stuff is going to be way more expensive if we try to get it afterwards."

"Who says we have to get it at all?"

Begrudgingly Naomichi settled down in his seat. "I don't think you're approaching this as an art form man." The truth was, Terry wanted him as a shield against all this foreign-ness, to avoid being the lone white guy in a sea of Japanese. Being by himself also kind of made the ruse of "Taro Ozaki" a joke, although he didn't particularly care about that.

One of the girls at the yaoi tables leaned over. "Hey, at least you guys have got ramen. Last night I was seriously wondering whether I could eat cat food." The girl had close-cropped night black hair and was a little chubby. Before her was spread out a colourful smorgasbord of pretty-boys with their arms around each other and the top buttons of their shirts undone.

"No offence, but I think you girls are driving away our customers," said Naomichi. "People just think this is the yaoi section."

"More like your ugly face is repelling our audience," said the girl with a grin. "Or maybe it's just this pairing – not that popular. Ah well. The things we do for love, eh?"

After a couple more minutes of no traffic, the girl from the next table leaned over and started inspecting Terry and Naomichi's work. "This isn't bad. Too much boob, obviously, but if I swung that way..."

Terry shrugged. "Well, usually the boob is what attracts people."

"I'm sure. You guys do realize that there's an entire other half of the population that mostly doesn't want to stare at tits and girls making retarded faces when they come?"

"And there are even more people who just aren't that interested in buttsex," Naomichi said.

The girl grinned. "Hey, tell you what. I'll buy some of your stuff if you buy some of ours. I think we have the same prices, so we can just do an even swap."

"That doesn't exactly help us make money," Terry said.

"No, but at least you'll feel like you sold something."

Terry laughed. He had to admit that the full stack of his comics was getting him down. "Okay, let's do it. But I'll have to find a really good hiding place for all this yaoi."

"When I have a boyfriend I keep 'em in a locked cabinet at home," said the girl, handing over a couple of her doujins. "Don't want him to think I'm too weird." The name Erika Otsuka was scribbled next to the boys embracing.

And that was how Terry (sort of) sold the first copy of School Hearts.

Ryan Bradshaw's studio apartment overlooked Tokyo and all its celestial lights. The elevator ride up had been long and painful, him and Sakura standing on opposite sides, wary of discovery, hearts pounding in their chests. Sakura had spent most of the time staring at Bradshaw's face despite herself. His expression was inscrutable. She wondered if he was feeling conflicted, trying to banish his guilt, or whether he was just planning all the wicked things he was going to do to her. She shivered and hoped it was the latter.

The whole thing felt sort of surreal, like she had stepped inside one of her fantasies. When they got to the apartment, a sprawling home with pristine white walls, that feeling doubled. "Have I died and gone to Heaven?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"That's just what I was about to say." Ryan embraced her from behind, and she could feel the heat of his breath on her ear, the itch of his five-o'-clock shadow against her cheek, and his tumescent hard-on against her ass.

"I didn't know JET teachers got paid this well," Sakura said, giggling.

"They don't. I'm what you might call, uh, independently wealthy, and I decided to spring for a nice place." Sakura's heart fluttered, and she found herself out of breath. She chided herself for being materialistic, but Mr. Bradshaw was seeming more and more like a fantasy come to life. He brought his hand up to her cheeks, feeling the heat of her flush, making her blush even more. "Sit down. Let me pour you a drink."

Sakura slowly made her way to the leather couch and dropped herself down on it. She was unsure whether she could even walk properly right now. Her head was dizzy with sexual intoxication, and her pussy still throbbing from their earlier sex.

Ryan returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses. Sakura giggled. "Oooh, offering an underage girl drinks? You're gonna get in trouble."

"I'm already in trouble," Bradshaw said, keeping a straight face as he poured the sparkling beverage. "And as far as I'm concerned, any eighteen year-old who hasn't gotten drunk in their lives is an eighteen year-old who needs to liven up."

Sakura grinned and took a sip of the wine. She didn't really like the taste, which struck her tongue as unreasonably bitter, but kept it to herself. She didn't want to spit it out like a little kid in front of Mr. Bradshaw.

He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. Sakura felt a little weird, but shrugged it off. She looked at her teacher's face again, trying to get pass that icy expression with those ever-so-slightly upturned corners of his lips. "What are you thinking about right now, Mr. Bradshaw."

"Call me Ryan. Well, right now I'm wondering what the fuck I did to deserve such a beautiful young girl in my arms."

It was cynical flattery, but Sakura loved it nonetheless. She dipped her index finger into her wine glass and swirled it around a little before removing it and offering the wine-soaked finger to Ryan. He took it into his mouth and licked it sensually, slowly stripping every drop of flavour from it. Sakura felt like she was about to melt.

He leaned forward and before she knew it they were kissing, tasting the bitter wine on each others' lips and as their lips rubbed against each other and their tongues slowly, tentatively met, she felt a great force building inside her, a knot of nervous momentum in her stomach, and she felt that if she kept still, that if her clothes kept binding her skin into this little girl shape, she was going to explode.

Sakura broke off just for a second, to tug the top of her school uniform over her head. She tossed it to the side, using the movement to sling her hair back like she had seen in movies. Ryan licked his lips, and she felt the heady rush of being an object of desire. Sakura wore a lacy black bra that contrasted with both her pale skin and the innocence of her schoolgirl skirt.

Ryan broke from her and started licking his way down her. Sakura let out a light, angelic murmur as the tip of his tongue travelled over her chin and down her neck, following the route traced by her blood vessels, pale blue and visible to the naked eye. When he got to her chest he reached behind her and unhooked her bra with expertise that surprised her, used to the fumblings of teenage boys. Ryan took her bra in his teeth and tossed it aside animalistically.

And then he was pressing her down to the couch with his weight again, reaching forward and capturing her breast between his teeth, biting down just hard enough to make her feel it, while his tongue lashed out at her nipple, swirling around and provoking it to full hardness. Sakura gasped and arched her back, trying to drive her breast further into Ryan's mouth. Her teacher switched over to the other breast, giving it the same exquisite treatment. Sakura was clawing at the couch, feeling like she was going crazy, and Ryan hadn't even gotten past her breasts yet.

He took his time worshipping her tits. They were there for what felt like hours, his lips tied to one breast, the tip of his tongue flitting out to leave ghostly sensations, while his hand caressed the other and rolled the rock-hard nipple between his fingers. But eventually he broke off, leaving a sheen of saliva across both orbs. He leaned down and they kissed again, passionately, appreciatively.

And then Ryan was travelling down down down, past her navel, which he took a brief moment to explore with his tongue, and to the hem of her skirt. A desperate Sakura plunged her thumbs into the side of her panties and pulled her and her skirt down at the same time. She kicked them off, leaving her nude except for her alluringly virginal white socks. Ryan spread her legs, paused momentarily, and dove in.

Sakura immediately let out a cry. Her boyfriends had rarely went down on her, and when they did it was an earnest but clumsy effort. But Ryan knew what he was doing down there. His tongue was warm and gentle, running along her lower lips until they drooled, and flicking up to caress her clit. Sakura whimpered and clamped her thighs around Ryan's head, hoping he would never leave.

Ryan played her like a musical instrument, drawing out at first low moans and then higher-pitched squeals. He snuck a hand in between the vice-like grip of her thighs and strummed her clit while his tongue delved into her hungry cunt.

Sakura's orgasm ripped through her suddenly, catching her off guard. Her hips were thrashing of their own accord, grinding her slick cunt into Ryan's face. The orgasm was fierce and invigorating, like a sudden affirmation that what they were doing was right. She came down eventually, and only realized then that she had been screaming. Ryan was looking over at her, a smile on his girlcum-slicked face.

"That was great," Sakura said, beaming. "Now let's see if I can do something for you."

Ryan didn't need any further temptation. He discarded his pants and shirts in record time. Sakura crawled across the couch on all fours to get to him, tits swaying. This was her first chance to see Mr. Bradshaw naked, something she had imagined for a long time. He was hairier than she'd thought he'd be, but she didn't mind that much. It made him look virile, somehow more masculine. And his hard cock, straining forward to meet her, lived up to her fantasies.

Sakura leaned forward and took just the head of Ryan's cock between her lips. He groaned, and that continued as her tongue flickered over the underside of his shaft. Sakura slowly slid more of his cock into her mouth, enjoying the feeling of its pulsing warmth against her tongue, and especially enjoying Ryan's vocal responses of pleasure.

She began bobbing up and down, releasing his cock just for a second to give the precum-slick tip a kiss and then sliding it back down her mouth. Her fingers lightly played with Ryan's balls, hanging heavy with his cum, all for her. He let out a deep grunt, and she thought he might cum right there. Sakura anticipated his hot cum hitting the back of her throat, but instead he pulled her off him.

"Sakura, baby," he said. "If you keep up like that I'm gonna cum."

"That was the idea," she said.

"An old man like me's got to save his hardness." She giggled. "As great as that was, I still want to fuck you some more today."

Sakura nodded and obeyed. She slung her leg over Ryan's hip and sunk herself down on his hardness. She let out a gasp. Somehow, in the hour or so since they had fucked on his desk, she had forgotten about how huge he felt inside her, how full and completely satisfied she felt as his cock slid between her pussy lips. She slowly slid herself down on his shaft, shutting her eyes so she could just focus on the sensation.