Ink Monsters

Amber swept her long black tresses across her golden shoulders, twisted her body and admired her exposed back in the bathroom mirror. It was her first ever tattoo and she adored it. She had peeled away the protective plastic bandage that very afternoon and her gaze was now drawn to the fresh ink with vibrant contrasting colours and crisp edges. Along her spine, two duelling serpent dragons - one black and the other red - intertwined with a yin and yang symbol captured between their bellies.

Ever since Amber had moved out of home she wanted a tattoo and she had studied the varied designs adorning the flesh of her college class-mates. As she learned about the significance of each individual piece on her friends and colleagues, she discovered the intimate meanings that so many of the artworks held for their owners.

Amber felt that she had no such significant events or people in her life to warrant a permanent record. All through her life she wore her heart on her sleeve - she flitted from one interest to another and bounced between lovers from boy to girl and back. But as her college studies progressed, she learned about Asian cultures, and discovered that the principles aligned with her own thoughts on life. After months of research, she landed on the red and black emblem for her first piece.

She had encountered numerous dragon images during her investigations, but Amber found the final version in a catalogue at a tattoo parlor in a suburb adjacent to her apartment. She had trawled the Internet searching for designs and patterns, but it was only when the image was presented in front of her, on stark white paper that she could really appreciate how the final form would appear.

The parlor's resident artist had helped Amber perfect the piece, scaling up the image, and adding the yin-yang motif at her request. The tattoo artist reinforced her understanding of the symbolism - the black dragon represented stability while the red signified success. While Amber wanted to live life to the full, she realised that maintaining balance was a healthy philosophy, and thus the yin and yang was a natural addition.

Amber wrapped a bath towel around her waist and switched angles to view her tattoo from the opposite perspective. She loved the sensation of fresh air on her skin, and she looked forward to becoming the centre of attention at parties with a risqué backless dress revealing her new artwork.

Being late, it was time to turn in for the night, and parties were for another time and place. Amber returned the towel to its hanger, strode naked out of the bathroom and delivered a "goodnight" to her Japanese-American flatmate Mei.

"I love your new tattoo!" cried out Mei, for the first time seeing the piece unobscured. Mei closed her manga book, placed it beside her on the sofa and edged forward on the seat. "The colours are amazing, and it looks so alive!"

"Thanks Mei," replied Amber. "I love it too. I'm so glad you like it." Amber's heart swelled with her friend's affirmation but she continued onward to her room, letting her ass swagger a little more, knowing that her flatmate was watching. Amber peeled back the bedcovers and delighted in the delicious sensation of the crisp sheets swallowing her naked body. She snuggled in her blanket, rolled to her side, shot a quick glance out of the open window, and promptly fell asleep dreaming of designs for her future tattoos.

The next morning Amber woke with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. Her first action of the morning was to pose naked in front of her bedroom mirror and check on the two dragons adorning her back. The tattoo was just as good as she had remembered it, and she smiled in satisfaction. She donned casual attire and stepped into the living room to encounter Mei scoffing a bowl of cereal and watching anime on the TV. Amber settled in beside her on the sofa.

"What's this?" Amber asked.

"Spirited Away," replied Mei. "You're telling me that you've never seen this?"

"No, I've never gotten into cartoons," Amber replied innocently.

"Cartoons!" snorted Mei. "These are not cartoons! This is anime. Cartoons are for kids. This is serious."

Amber continued to watch as people interacted with all manner of mysterious creatures and a complicated plot unfolded. The imagery, the music and the pure unfamiliarity of the medium drew her in and she felt her emotions swirling.

"This is so interesting," admitted Amber, transfixed by the film.

"I know, right!" agreed Mei excitedly. "I see you've been getting into Asian culture," said Mei, gesturing behind Amber at her tattoo. "But you've only been exploring the ancient. These anime are the chronicles and characters of Asia now. It's new, but it also blends in the legends of old. If you want to know about Asian culture you should watch films like this." Mei held up one of her manga books, "And you should read this too."

Amber was intrigued. She'd lived with Mei for a few months now, and she'd identified that Mei always had her nose in a book or her eyes on a screen, but she'd not really taken notice of the content. Perhaps she had been too introspective, focused on the research for her dragon tattoo.

Together, the girls watched the film unfold, laughing in concert during times of relief and hugging knees to their chests during the periods of tension. When it finally came to an end, Amber exhaled and tangibly felt the muscles in her body relax.

"That was an amazing story," Amber reflected, the characters rolling through her mind. "But I didn't understand the three heads. What was that all about?"

"I've watched it a thousand times," admitted Mei, "so I can definitely answer that one. Those are the Kashira and they are bodyguards to Yubaba - you know, the Grandma, so they do whatever she orders."

Immediately, Amber knew that the Kashira would be the subject of her next tattoo.

She had fallen in love the eccentric characters, and anime more generally. How could she have not seen this culture, right under of her nose all this time? She pledged to absorb more of it and learn about the genre.

Over the next week Amber visited the same nearby tattoo studio for a succession of new artworks. The work was performed by Roxy, an experienced artist, but a new worker at this particular studio.

Amber sat in a proud posture and watched intently as Roxy outlined and then filled the stack of three grotesque green heads on Amber's skin. The graphic was inscribed on her right upper arm, starting just above the fold of her elbow and inked right up to the shoulder.

As the session unfolded, Amber and Roxy chatted and bantered. When Amber was not focused on her tattoo materialising from Roxy's needle, her eyes wandered across Roxy's patterned body and she admired the human mural that Roxy had become. Amber commented that she had hardly any blank space remaining, but Roxy disputed the claim and lifted her tank to show an expanse of unmarked skin across her breasts. Amber felt an immediate tingle of arousal through her entire being as her eyes absorbed the sexy body, and she resolved to continue her connection with Roxy.

At the conclusion of the first session, Amber admired the completed form of her Kashira tattoo. An observer to her side would encounter the three heads looking outward - the bottom head looking slightly forward, the top head looking slightly back and the middle head gazing directly at the observer. It was exactly what she'd imagined.

"Looks good," complimented Roxy as she wrapped the upper arm in protective plastic. "You know how to look after it?"

"Yes, yes, of course," replied Amber excitedly. "I really love it. Thanks Roxy. And I really loved spending the time with you." The two girls hugged closely and as Amber pressed her breasts against Roxy's, she sensed the other girl pull her in closer.

Over the next two weeks, Amber returned on four occasions for Roxy to inscribe more small tattoos. They were images from her new anime obsession, and while they represented only minor characters, Amber felt such a strong connection that she wanted them to be with her forever. Plus she needed to concoct an excuse to spend time with Roxy, to talk with her, to gaze over her body, and to admire her skilful hands at work.

Amber was hardly attending any of her college classes. Over a month, she became addicted to an unending train of Japanese anime. When she was not on the sofa, she was researching characters or in her bedroom, hunched over her desk designing her next tattoo.

Eventually, she came to a natural break in the sequence of videos and picked up one of Mei's manga books. The front cover was emblazoned with a powerful Japanese Samurai warrior, wielding a sword and slaying soldiers. By the time that Mei had returned home Amber had read through a quarter of the volume.

The story focused on a quest by the warrior Tokimune as he wrought vengeance for his father's death and recruited an army to capture his enemy's territory. From what she had read so far, the themes of the story were strength, courage and revenge.

"Do you like it?" Mei's arrival surprised Amber as she was so deeply engrossed in the book.

"This is amazing," replied Amber. "It's different to anime. Obviously. The story is much deeper and I don't really understand the characters."

"That is the Samurai warrior Tokimune. You can tell because of the scar on his left cheek. His story is always about how he conquers lands and women too. He is like a demi-god because he has these super strong qualities, and he's also charming and persuasive. So all round, he's like a dream guy."

Amber nodded. "The manga gets really full on. Look how explicit the pictures are! Check out this battle - there's intestines and brains and everything."

"I know right!" replied Mei, excited that her friend was enjoying manga. "Have you seen the sex scenes yet?" Amber responded blankly.

"Try this on for size!" Mei requested the book and thumbed to the midpoint. She returned the opened volume to Amber, with a confronting sex scene spanning both pages.

"Fuck!" exhaled Amber, absorbing the image. Tokimune was clearly recognisable but absent was his traditional warrior amour. Chiselled muscles were prominent across his naked body and his skin was decorated with scars of battles past. A woman lay supine on a bed with Tokimune straddled across her chest. Her throat had been slit vertically and the warrior's engorged member pierced the incision in her neck and extended upwards, with the head of his cock emerging from her mouth. A jet of semen ejected from his cock and splashed into her listless eye. A bevy of naked women were tied against a wall, apparently next in line for his attention. Amber was taken aback but immensely aroused. She imagined it was she who held Tokimune's affection and he would go to extremes like this to protect her.

"That's the wife of his enemy. Sorry, maybe I'm spoiling this for you. I won't say any more."

Amber's decision was immediate. Tokimune would be next on the tattoo schedule. She would be honoured to host the image of such a powerful warrior and a man so in command of destiny. The only decisions to make were which drawing to transfer from the page to her skin and which high-value location on her body the tattoo would reside.

After exploring myriad options, Amber concluded that the cover art constituted the most authentic representation of Tokimune. She identified a large patch of flesh on her thigh and hip that remained vacant, and determined that this was the perfect spot. She copied the image and made some minor edits to fit her body better.

Unfortunately, when Amber arrived at the parlor, her crush and favorite artist Roxy had taken personal leave for a week. The house artist received Amber's inquiry and made a suggestion.

"Listen, we have a Japanese ink master who visits here sometimes. He'd be perfect for you and your anime and manga. He's here this afternoon. Trouble is, he can be a bit moody and he's a bit more expensive."

"Sounds OK," ceded Amber.

"And he's very traditional," the artist went on. "So he only uses the old Japanese inking style and it might be a bit more painful."

Amber had never had an issue in the pain department, finding that the inking process only presented her a minor discomfort. In fact, the hardest part was sitting still for so long. She agreed to meet with the master, registered as his first appointment of the afternoon and loitered around the shop until he arrived.

Mr Hashimoto was an aged man, small in stature with a wispy beard and gray hair tied into a pony tail. His skin was leathery and he wore round spectacles low on his nose. Amber didn't know whether to bow or shake hands, but the decision became irrelevant as Hashimoto stepped back at Amber's approach.

"So you want traditional tattoo?" he asked Amber.

Amber laid out the design she had prepared at home. "Yes, I'd like this. Can you do it?"

"Ahhh. Tokimune," he said knowingly. "Yes. Where?"

"Here, on my thigh," replied Amber, holding the design against the her clothed body in the desired location.

Hashimoto grunted in agreement and began to prepare his tools. With his back turned to Amber he issued a single command, "Sit." Amber reclined into the chair and lifted her dress to one side reveal a hip and thigh delineated only by the dainty waistband of her underwear.

Over the next few hours, Hashimoto laboured over the tattoo, peering through his glasses from close range as he expertly applied countless jabs with his manual inking technique. An ancient worn piece of timber lay across Amber's body and supported the artist's left arm, which in turn held steady the right wrist while his gnarled hand operated the elaborate metal needle.

Amber observed with intrigue as the tattoo emerged from nothingness in a sequence far different from Roxy's technique. Hashimoto worked from the middle of the image, spiralling outwards, completing the full detail as he went. Amber alternately lifted her underwear up, then down to provide access to the artist as he worked.

"Where are your tattoos?" asked Amber to eventually break their silence, noting Hashimoto's unmarked body.

"I no have tattoos. Only this." Hashimoto lifted his sleeve to reveal a string of dark Japanese characters on his forearm. "It code of my trade." He ended the statement with a "Humpf" which sounded to Amber like a punctuation mark that implied "Don't ask me any more," so she let the master continue his work uninterrupted.

Late in the afternoon the piece was finally completed and Hashimoto wiped it clear to reveal exactly what Amber had been hoping for. She instantly fell in love with her new tattoo and with the warrior that it represented. She snapped a mental photograph as she knew it would be a several more days until the protective bandage would be removed. She thanked the master, who replied only with a satisfied grunt.

Over the next few days, Amber continued her manga obsession at home while she waited for the big reveal. She had progressed to yet another volume in the manga series and immersed herself in another battle involving her Samurai love. But the story didn't feel right, and for some reason he had a different name in this edition.

"That's not Tokimune," explained Mei. "That's his brother Sukenari. See - the scar on his cheek is on the other side see? On the right. Tokimune has his on the left."

"What!?" exclaimed Amber in surprise. "There's another one? How does this brother fit in?"

"Well if you'd read all the backstory, you'd know that there were two brothers. Their father was killed and they sought vengeance. I think you read the manga about Tokimune delivering the death blows. Anyway, the two brothers had this love-hate thing going. They would work together to conquer enemies and then they'd take over the lands and fuck their wives and shit. But then the brothers would grow jealous of each other and they would fight and bring armies to bear against one another. Then eventually they'd sort it all out and become friends again. There's even one story about how they shared the same wife for some of the time."

"Whoah, that's some weird shit," mused Amber. "Do you have the book about the brothers together?"

"No, I've only got these few parts of the series," admitted Mei, "It's only ever got one brother or the other in each story."

Once again, the next tattoo was instantly decided. Amber concluded that the next ink must be Sukenari, featured symmetrically on the her other hip in an equally fearsome pose.

That evening Amber peeled off the bandage to fully reveal Tokimune in all his glory. The art was even better than she had remembered, and the visage was completely free from any scarring or blemishes. The traditional inking method really had something going for it, she thought.

Amber retired to bed, naked as usual, She threw back the covers and in the dim light she looked down to admire her man. Her very own alpha male. Her protector. Her Samurai. Her overlord. Amber's finger curled across his face and her skin tingled as a nail gently dragged back and forth across Tokimune's expansive chest. Her other hand trailed down her belly, her fingers ran through her bush, and her middle finger slowly traversed back and forth along her creamy slit. Soon they would be joined by his brother and Amber dreamed of the three of them together.

Amber returned to hyperfocus the next day as she studied images of the brother Sukenari to complement her human canvas. She trawled through Mei's manga books as well as images online to find the perfect pose. She decided that it must be a battle scene, in keeping with his brother, but something different than swordplay. Eventually, she landed on an image with Sukenari leaping toward the reader, holding two vicious hook-like Japanese weapons which Amber learned were called kusarigama.

The next day, Amber danced down the streets to her familiar tattoo parlor, holding aloft her new design. She loved the authenticity of Tokimune's image and asked to see the Japanese master to make an appointment.

After a few moments, Mr Hashimoto arrived at reception, emerging through a dark curtain from a backroom where he had been working.

"You want Sukenari too?"

Amber's face lit up with excitement.

"No. No be done. Never these two together. Bad things happen. I warn you -- no do this. No. You be sorry."

Amber begged to commission Mr Hashimoto for the tattoo, but before she could even offer compromises, he turned his back and melted into the curtain behind the counter.

"No. It bad news! Never!" his voice tailed off as he departed.

Amber was despondent, but Roxy arrived through the front door to hear the final words of Hashimoto's rejection.

"What's up?" Roxy asked innocently.

"I want the second part of my Samurai warrior series, but Mr Hashimoto says no."

"I can do it!" Roxy bubbled with excitement. "Not a problem!"

Amber needed very little convincing. The authenticity of the master's inking would be nice, but so too would time spent with Roxy. They found a private booth, and soon the tools were prepared.

Amber resolved to be brave, and when the time came for Roxy to locate the stencil on her hip, she brazenly dropped her shorts and underwear to reveal her bottom half naked.

"Nice," observed Roxy running her hands sensually across Amber's hips and thighs. She applied sterilisation solution and got to work, trying not to be distracted by her friend's attractive form.

Over an extended sitting, Roxy expertly applied the ink, buzzing non stop for hours. Amber was excited to see Roxy so intently focused on her body, with her head hovering so close to her privates. Amber felt flush all over, and she could see the fluffy hair on her bush standing stark upright. Roxy's arm rested gently across Amber's mound as point of stability and Amber's heart almost melted. She sensed her pussy growing moist and decided that if she was a man, she would surely be sporting a raging boner, but she kept her legs closed and her secret inside.