Black Manga

"I would be so honored if you allowed me to have that position," Akemi said with all of her heart. "While I can never replace your real mother, I promise to love and cherish you as my own child."

"Okay" the ten year old boy said with a smile. Akemi hugged him again, which Kevin liked very much.

Standing to the side of all of this activity was Sara, looking on a few steps behind her mother and wondering what Kevin's reaction would be to seeing her.

"And how about you, Sara-chan" Steven said as he knelt down to Sara's level. "Will you allow me to be your Dad?"

Sara looked at him silently for a few seconds before answering, "Only if Kevin gets to be my brother."

Steven took a quick look at Akemi with a smile and then turned his face back to Sara's. "I think we can arrange that," he said before giving her a hug.

Sara hugged back tightly. She could understand why her Mom liked this man so much. He smelled good, and she always had a warm feeling of excitement whenever he hugged her, or just gave her a fatherly pat. But, of course, it was Kevin who made her body feel indescribably good whenever she was just near him. After Steven let her go, she ran over to Kevin and embraced him. "Am I still your best girl?" she whispered to him.

"You'll always be my best girl," he whispered back.

Steven walked over to where Akemi had thrown down the bags, but when he turned back to the kids he saw that they were alone. "Where's Akemi?" he asked Kevin, who then pointed to a beautiful Asian woman standing just outside the terminal exit with her eyes closed as she made love with her lips to a freshly lit Virginia Slims 120.

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Though Akemi had lived and traveled in the United States for four years as a university student, transitioning into the South was not easy for her. Living the life of a Southern Belle on Steven's palatial estate was not really her cup of tea. Time seemed to move more slowly in DeKalb County. It wasn't what she was used to in a thriving urban center such as Osaka; and it certainly was not Vegas. But in time, she came to have a love for the region and its people. She was surprised that Steven was not exaggerating about the number of Koreans living in the area. There were plenty of authentic Asian restaurants to give her the tastes of home; and despite the historic animosity between Koreans and Japanese back in Asia, she formed some deep friendships within the community (especially at the country club). Her reputation as a famous mangaka (indeed, many of her works had been turned into well-known anime) gave her some celebrity status among young people. She freely donated her time at the local children's hospital reading stories to kids in the cancer ward.

For Sara, it was a bit more difficult. Though she spoke English fluently, she was not always familiar with American customs. She missed home in Osaka, but she was grateful to have made a close friend in grade school her first day. Stacy Choi, the preacher's daughter, was a riot, and the two soon became inseparable. But it was Kevin and her new Dad that she was especially grateful to for making her feel so welcome. Steven legally adopted her, allowing her to quickly gain citizenship in her new country. She felt a special connection to both he and Kevin; a comfortable feeling that she had never felt with anyone else (well, except maybe Stacy). Even when Akemi had to occasionally return to Japan for manga tours, Sara felt completely at ease staying alone in the mansion with them.

In fact, a few months after moving onto the estate, when the house was as still as the grave in the early morning hours, Sara thought she saw something -- or someone -- standing in the corner of her room. She screamed at the top of her lungs. Within less than a minute, Steven had rushed down the hall from his own bedroom.

"Hey," he said softly, "what's wrong, Sara-chan? Why are you screaming?"

"A ghost," she said pointing to the corner. "I saw a ghost!"

"Oh, honey, there are no ghosts here in this house. I promise you. There is only love and kindness in this home now that you and your Mom live here."

Sara found his words soothing. She always had. What was it about this man that made her feel both completely relaxed, and yet at the same time, nervous with butterflies in her stomach? When he stroked her face in a loving pat to comfort her, she felt a warmth in her body that was both comforting and oddly thrilling.

"When will Mommy be back?" she asked.

"Soon, rice-cake. Very soon she'll be done with her book tour. A few days at most."

Sara looked up at his blue eyes. They were not as beautiful as Kevin's eyes, but still very attractive. "Steven?" she said, still using the name she had always called him back in Osaka. "Can I call you Daddy?"

Steven was so touched that he thought he might burst out crying. "I would like that very much," he said misty eyed. "Now...time to go back to sleep."

When she felt his kiss on her forehead, her body lit up like a Christmas tree. These were all emotions that were impossible for a ten year old to understand. All she knew was that she liked feeling this way when Steven -- Daddy -- was around. But there was one person with whom she felt even more comfortable with, and he was now standing at the door.

"What's all the screaming about," Kevin said with a yawn.

"I saw a ghost," Sara said breathlessly.

Steven looked at his son imploringly, as if to say, "Can you handle this?"

"I'll sit with her, Dad," Kevin said patiently.

After Steven left, Kevin sat on the bed next to Sara and took her hand. She had been such a good companion to him back in Osaka. Now he would have the opportunity to repay that kindness.

"Daddy said there are no ghosts in this house, but I don't believe him."

"What did he look like?" Kevin asked.

"Well, it was pretty dark. But he looked like a black man in old clothes."

"Oh," Kevin said with a smile, "that's just Remus."

"Remus?" Sara asked quizzically.

"I don't know if that's really his name. That's just what I call him. You know, Uncle Remus?"

Sara gave no response.

"From Song of the South?"

Sara was clueless.

"Anyway, he's harmless. I think he's an old slave from long ago."

"A slave?" Sara asked, her eyes widening.

"Sure. Didn't you know this plantation used to have slaves 150 years ago? My Mom used to tell me that there are bound to be some ghosts here. Remus is the only one of I've ever seen, but I'm sure there are more that we can't see."

Sara was shaking. "How can you live in a haunted house?"

Kevin suddenly realized that he was not particularly helping the situation by telling her ghost stories, especially if the stories were true; and so he crawled into bed and let her wrap her arms around his torso. "This isn't a haunted house," he said reassuringly as he wrapped his own arms around her shoulders and rested his head on top of hers. "It's a house with a long history, and Remus is a part of that history. This land has been in my mother's family for generations, and now it belongs to me."

Sara looked up at him. "You own this house?"

"Yup," he said. "Well, I mean, I will when I turn 18. And you and I are going to live here forever, sis."

Sara very much liked hearing that. Forever. She imagined the two of them sitting in the living room as adults...both smoking. That thought gave her a funny feeling between her legs. She just hoped that Remus would not be sticking around to join them.

CHAPTER 3 -- Something More than Manhood

Eight Years Later

Friday, February 25

Kevin Lee stared up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head as he lay in his bed. He felt no shame at what he had done today. In fact, he was giddy at the notion that he had crossed a threshold in his life. It was as if today -- finally -- he had at 18 years of age become what he had always wanted to become. The taste of that experience still lingered in his mouth, despite using mouthwash and brushing his teeth. He replayed in his mind the reflection of himself in the mirror -- a tall and athletically fit white teenager with blond hair and blue eyes - from earlier that afternoon. He moved his right hand down to his underwear and discovered the tip was already leaking. He knew it wouldn't take much effort to climax. He wrapped his hand around Ralph and slowly began stroking it up and down. Then he stopped.

"No," he thought to himself. "Not yet."

He looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly midnight. He got up from the bed and walked over to the desk in his room, pulling out a yellow pad from the drawer as he sat down and turned on the lamp. As a future English and Creative Writing major, he often took the opportunity to jot down random thoughts whenever something significant or memorable happened on any given day. Priding himself on the "old school" ways of creative writing, he preferred putting pen to paper rather than fingers to a keyboard.

Dear Diary,

I had my first cigarette today.

Let that sink in. "My first cigarette."

As I've written before, I've been grappling with this life-long desire to experience something I know is harmful to my health. I've tried to put it out of my mind, but it's become all consuming. When I'm asleep, I dream about smoking. When I'm awake, I fantasize about it. I walk around school as if in a daze, imagining every girl I see holding a long cigarette, especially if she is Asian. Sometimes it's impossible to hide the boner in my pants. When I masturbate, my orgasms are incredibly powerful as I imagine myself or a girl at school (any girl at school!) smoking.

Last night I dreamed that Stacy was smoking one of Mom's long Virginia Slims. She looked at me with this incredibly sexy stare and said, "Do you want me?" Then I looked down at my hand and saw that I was holding one of Dad's B&Hs.

God, I couldn't control myself. I just immediately started pumping her ass while she puffed on that beautiful 120 and I had my lips wrapped around the B&H. It all went so fast. When I came inside her ass, I woke up -- and of course then had to get out of bed and change my underwear. (Are wet dreams supposed to be this common? I mean...come on. I'm 18. From what I learned in my bio class, puberty should have ended four years ago! I never had to throw away as many shorts then as I do now.)

After last night's dream with Stacy, my mind was in a fog all day. When I first saw her in Math at 1st period, I immediately got a boner thinking about my dream. And then, oh God, we were paired up as partners in class. Her perfume just drove me wild. When I got home from school, I couldn't wait to masturbate. I knew that I would be alone for a few hours with Mom out of the house, Dad away on business, and Sara at cheer practice. But then I saw one of Dad's B&H packs on the kitchen counter. It was like I was possessed. I opened the pack and smelled the delicious menthol flavor. "Today's the day," I whispered to myself. I carefully pulled a cigarette out, retrieved a lighter from the junk drawer, and went into the bathroom, turning on the ceiling fan and opening the window.

I'll admit, I was shaking as I put that cigarette between my lips. When I lit it, I took a puff and held it in my mouth for several seconds. The glow of the tip made my heart skip a beat. It was so cool as I watched myself in the mirror. The long string of smoke curling upwards; wisps of smoke floating down through my nostrils. I didn't inhale that first puff but pursed my lips and slowly blew out a stream of smoke. GOD! Even thinking about it now and how great I looked is giving me a total hard on!

I had fantasized about this moment my entire life. I wanted to take it all in. I just watched myself holding the cigarette for a few seconds. This wicked grin appeared on my face. I pulled out my sunglasses from my shirt pocket and put them on, then I placed the cigarette between my lips again and just let it dangle. I totally looked like a Korean gangsta. I took a puff -- not too much, though. I knew that this is the one I would inhale.

When I slowly took a breath after removing the cigarette from my mouth, I had the most extraordinary sensation. It's difficult to put into words. It's like I could feel a cloud billowing inside my lungs. The menthol made it easy to inhale, and gave me the sensation of feeling lightheaded but weighted down at the same time. I exhaled another stream. It looked amazing.

There is so much that I wanted to try -- French inhales, smoke rings, snaps -- all the tricks I've watched Mom and Dad do. At the same time, I was determined not to go too far. I had a few light coughs, but nothing big as I controlled the gag reflex (thank God for online instructions about how to smoke!)

As I got more lightheaded, I started fantasizing about Stacy and me in my dream. I don't have any recollection of taking my dick out of my pants, only that it was eventually in the palm of my right hand as I gently began to stroke it. I was half-way through the B&H. I wanted to make it last, but I could feel the orgasm building. So I took a four second puff, opened my mouth wide to look at the huge wall of smoke inside floating above my tongue like a dense fog, and I snapped it back. The stimulation was...was...honestly, I don't quite know how to describe it. My whole body was electrified as the nicotine sent jolts of energy from my brain throughout my nervous system. Psychologically, I felt like I had crossed through a barrier of some sort. I was no longer some kid who fantasized about smoking. As I watched rivers of smoke cascading down through my nostrils, I realized that what happened...what I witnessed in my reflection -- was a transformation into something more than manhood. I knew at that moment that I had become a smoker. That realization sparked a jubilation that was just too much for me to hold inside. "YES!" I cried out in celebration in a cloud of smoke and felt my dick explode in jizzy delight!

Oh my God, there was so much cum in the sink. And then I felt my whole body get heavy. I really thought I was going to pass out.

I threw the cigarette in the toilet and sat down on the floor, being careful not to drip any cum on the rug. My head was spinning. I closed my eyes. "If this is what smoking feels like," I thought to myself, "how can anyone become a chain smoker?" I'm pretty sure I could have fallen asleep right there on the floor if I weren't so nervous about Sara coming home early and smelling smoke in the house. Still, it was well worth the risk.

I had my first cigarette today. I'm certain it won't be my last.

Kevin put the pen down and reread what he wrote, once again stroking his dick as he did so. He took deep breaths, imagining that he was inhaling smoke. When he reached the paragraph of his climax, he whispered Stacy's name. The dick in his hand exploded in joyful response as it ejaculated that gloriously thick cream that brings forth such delight. Within seconds, his shorts were sopping wet. He pulled out his hand and examined it under the desk lamp. The jizz slowly dripped down his fingers as it began to congeal in the cool air of the room. He reached for some tissues, wiped his hand clean, and put some extra tissues in his underwear to soak up the remaining soup. He looked down once again at the diary entry and smiled as he read the last line. Then he separated the sheets from the notepad, folded them in half, and placed them in the paper-shredder under his desk. No one, he thought to himself, could ever be allowed to read what he had just confessed to.

CHAPTER 4 -- "Forbidden Love"

Saturday, February 26

Sara woke up feeling horny. On the whole, she liked the erotic sensation of her fantasies, but it was also a curse when the cause of those fantasies lived in the same house. This was not like being attracted to a classmate whom she only saw a few hours a day, five days a week. She saw her brother every day, even at school, sometimes in the same class. Sara fell in love with her step-brother even before they became siblings through their parents' marriage. She would never forget the euphoria she felt when she first met him in Osaka eight years ago. He was the most beautiful person she had ever seen.

However, in the years following her move to Georgia with her Mom, their relationship evolved into one typical of siblings. They remained close, but she could hardly imagine him crawling into her bed to comfort her like he used to when "Remus" would pay her an unexpected visit; at least, she couldn't imagine it in a way that was strictly platonic. Her sexual appetites had definitely become more complex with age, and her dreams of Kevin definitely more intense. And not just of Kevin. Over the years she had had some disturbing dreams about her Dad -- disturbing in a way that made her feel both pleasure and shame -- which she read online were nothing more than "complex metaphors for unconscious material" -- whatever the hell that meant. She wasn't worried about it. She had a great relationship with Steven (whom she had stopped calling Daddy when she turned 16).

And, of course, over the years she met so many handsome boys in her neighborhood and school - both white and non-white -- that her emotions were like a roller coaster during puberty as she went up and down and side to side from one crush to the next. As beautiful a girl as she was, she had many callers; but she never took any of them up as a boyfriend; never got truly close to, nor intimate with anyone; and she knew the reason why: Kevin. No matter whom she and her girl-friends were drooling over at any given moment, her heart only beat for one true love.

The problem was obvious: Kevin was her brother. Yes, step-brother, but that was just splitting hairs. The taboo of incest didn't make a distinction between brother and step-brother. A sibling was a sibling. Moreover, she could not be sure that he felt the same way about her. He was always kind and gentle. They were good friends with a close bond. But did Kevin love her the same way she loved him? She didn't know, and her heart ached because she didn't know.

Sara looked at the clock and saw it was 9 am. It was Saturday morning. Her Mom was at the country club until early afternoon, and her step-Dad was away on business. She also knew that Kevin would still be in bed, sleeping in late as was his custom every weekend. She thought about masturbating, but the orgasm always exhausted her. She preferred fingering herself before falling asleep each night. No, it was time to get up. And since her homework was minimal this weekend, she decided to engage in her favorite activity: reading Manga.

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Sara still very much enjoyed reading manga, and her collection had only grown over the years. She knew that the most recent manga books delivered to their home would be in her Mother's study, a small cabin on the outskirts of their backyard patio in some woods on the estate. Heading downstairs in this antebellum mansion that made her spacious 4 bedroom apartment back in Osaka look like an Atlanta tenement, Sara walked through the kitchen and out a side door, heading down a long path to a one story structure hidden beyond the manicured lawn behind a cluster of trees.

Sara pulled a key out of her pocket and inserted it into the lock. When she opened the door, she reached for a switch and turned on a ceiling light. The floor plan was a claustrophobic's nightmare. Barely 15x15 feet, there was just enough room for a two person couch, a small coffee table, a couple of metal cabinets, and a large, slanted work desk at the far end of the room that was filled with stacks of notepads, unfinished drawings, and different colored pencils.

The single room reeked of stale cigarette smoke. Not even the wall fan which sucked the smoke from the room to the outside helped, though Sara turned it on anyway as she found soothing the low humming noise it made. When her mother worked on her sketches, she chain smoked one cigarette after another. Sara actually didn't mind the smell, which is another reason why she was willing to make the trek out to the cabin, no matter the weather. Here she could indulge in her fantasy to smoke.