Learning_About_Myself.05 THE MEGUMI STORIES 06/05 BY MEGUMI KATO AND FRIENDS VOLUME 06: LEARNING ABOUT MYSELF BY SAYAKA ONODERA AND BOB WILLIAMS FINAL REVISED EDITION Part 05 CHAPTER V Sunday in the Park with Reina The next morning I woke early, feeling fresh and full of energy. What a contrast to yesterday, I thought, when I had slept late and woken feeling languorous and wanting only to stroke myself and recall my experiences of the previous night. How interesting that a really thorough sexual workout can have such different effects on a girl the next morning! Reina was still dozing beside me, so I slipped out of the _futon_, took a quick shower and went to prepare breakfast. As I expected, the smell of coffee soon woke Reina, and she joined me in the kitchen, still stretching and yawning. "Oh, that was such fun last night!" I said. "Thank you so much for taking me there! When can I go again?" "You enjoyed that, did you?" she asked with a smile. "Dancing naked ... being taken by everyone who wanted you?" "But of _course_! It's the most wonderful thing in the world! It's a bit like ... I don't know ... when we girls are having fun in the gymnasium, and the boys join us. Except that it's so much more sophisticated, and grown-up. Don't you agree?" "Yes, you are certainly becoming sophisticated and grown-up, as you call it. I'm very pleased with you." "What shall we do today?" I asked. "Well, it's Sunday." "Yes! All day free to do what I like! What _we_ like, I mean." "Oh, no. School tomorrow, and that means homework tonight." She saw my face fall and hastened to comfort me. "Tonight, I said. So I can let you enjoy yourself for part of the day, at least. And I have a plan." "Oh, do tell!" "Later. You clear away the breakfast, then come to me in the bedroom. Then we can start on my plan." Of course I was ready in only a few minutes. I helped Reina store the _futon_ in the cupboard, then stood before her, excited and expectant. "We're going out. But first a little preparation. To get us both in the right mood! Take off your _yukata_." It took me just a moment to be naked. She was already hunting in one of her mysterious carrier-bags decorated with the "Restraint" logo. She handed me a pair of fish-net stockings like the ones I had worn for my dance the night before, except that these were pale green. I put them on, and she did the same with an identical pair. Then she was holding a long whip with many lean black lashes. "Oh, how _beautiful_!" I said. "May I see?" She let me take the lashes and run them through my fingers while she kept hold of the handle. They were different from the narrow leather strips with which Bob had pleasured me the night before last: there were many more of them and they were made of thin cord, some of them knotted all along their length. It made me shiver all over just to imagine them caressing me. "It's _lovely_! Are you ... are you going to whip me?" "Oh, yes. And you will whip me in return. It's the nicest possible way for a girl to start the day. One of the nicest ways, anyway ... Lean against the wall." I placed my hands against the plastered wall on the side away from my mother's dressing-table, leant forward with my bottom out and waited for my joy to begin. It did not take long. Reina held the handle in her right hand, pulled out the lashes to their full extent with her left, and then swished them down onto my naked bottom. Oh, how lovely it felt! The long thin cords kissed me sweetly but the best was the little hard knots in some of them which left tiny stars of thrilling sensation all over my bottom - and then my thighs, my back as she moved the whip up and down my body in stroke after stroke. After letting the lovely instrument caress me about twenty times Reina stopped whipping, took me in her arms and kissed and fondled me gently. "Was that nice?" "It was beautiful. You know it was! But why did you stop?" "Because it's my turn now. Please whip me." "Oh!" I said, horrified at my selfishness. "Of course I will - but may I?" "Yes! I asked you. I'm longing for it." She handed me the whip and stood against the wall as I had done. I took up my position behind her, my bare feet apart and braced firmly, and began. I was clumsy at first, but soon I had the trick of it and lashed Reina's beautiful bottom harder and harder. Her squeals and pleas for more were wonderfully arousing: I could understand now why people adored using the whip as much as receiving it. A girl in orgasm is a lovely sight, especially a beautiful girl like Reina. And the thought that one is creating that orgasm, making a gift of it to someone one loves ...! At last I stopped, and when we had both got our breath back it was my turn again. Then it was hers ... We must have made joyful love to each other for at least an hour when at last Reina cried "Enough! Enough!" and threw the whip aside. "What a pity we put the _futon_ away," I said when - for a moment - we had stopped kissing each other. "But never mind, we can make love on the _tatami_." "No, no," said Reina, "we must get ready and go out now." "But I'm not nearly finished - I'm so aroused!" I begged. "I know you are. So am I. That's the whole point." "What?" "The idea of starting the day with a good whipping. It leaves you thrilled all over and absolutely desperate for sex." "Yes! So why not ..." "Because ... just imagine how lovely it will feel, walking down the street with your appetite for sex on the boil like this. _Anything_ could happen! And when it does ..." "Yes, but I don't think I can wait that long." "You'll _have_ to! Just as I will. I know you want it immediately, the moment your appetite is aroused, but it's much more sophisticated to force yourself to wait. Sexual frustration is a lovely way to stoke up your lust and make satisfying it even more delightful." This appeal to my sophistication had the effect she intended. "You know," she went on, "like when you're stripping on stage, longing to be completely nude, but making yourself wait. Wanting desperately to give yourself to your audience, but putting it off till you can't stand it any longer." "Oh, oh ... oh _yes_!" "Now, we must put some clothes on. I thought it would be fun to wear the same thing. Pretend to be sisters." The idea of being Reina's sister appealed to me so much that, for the moment, it took my mind off my raging sexual desire. She produced a pair of white sleeveless blouses and I reluctantly put mine on. It had a stand-up collar and a pretty yoke neck which gave a nice view of my breasts. "Oh, I forgot," said Reina. "You liked the nipple-clamps Bob put on you the other evening, didn't you?" "Yes! They were lovely! Can I wear them again?" "Well, not exactly those. I've brought you something more discreet. But they'll feel just as nice. They'll add a little extra spice to your appetite. Let me show you how they work ... I'll need a pencil or something like that." I rushed to my schoolwork desk and soon found Reina what she needed. The new clamps were just little sleeves of glittering metal. Reina slid one loosely over the pencil, then showed me how it could be tightened with a tiny screw on the underside which brought the two sides of the metal sleeve closer and closer together. She twisted it until the wood of the pencil began to crack and splinter, while I looked on fascinated, trying to imagine the little instruments' loving bite on my sensitive breasts. "Do you think you could bear that?" she asked. "They're very discreet, you see: so long as you keep your breasts covered you can wear them in public and no one will know. But you have to be careful not to screw them too tight or you'll start moaning with pleasure and give yourself away." I said nothing but quickly unbuttoned my blouse. My nipples were already yearningly erect, longing for the pleasure prepared for them. Reina gently slid the little decorations onto them. The cold metal tickled at first, but then Reina adjusted the screws till they were firmly fixed. "Tighter?" I nodded. She watched my face as she gradually twisted the little mechanisms, forcing them to grip the nipples more and more until she was satisfied. "That must be enough, I think," she said. "Must it? Oh, please just a little more!" I said happily, as the agony surged sweetly through me. "A little tighter, please! Oh, they're lovely! I want to wear them always!" Reina smiled, kissed me lightly on the lips, and tightened the clamps just a half-turn further. Their loving touch somehow blended with the hot memory of the whip on my bottom, and gave me a strange but pleasant feeling of constriction in my throat. Then she attached the ends of a slim chain to each clamp. The loop of chain swung prettily just above my navel. I couldn't resist running to a mirror and admiring the effect before I rebuttoned my blouse, and then helped Reina fit and adjust her own clamps. "Think how nice it will be to have this little secret that no one can see," she said, "until, that is, the time comes to take your blouse off and show them to your lovers. Now, put on the skirt." "No panties?" I asked coyly, knowing the answer. "Just a thong." She handed me a tiny lacy triangle in pure white. It was just big enough to cover my pussy, and was held in place by almost invisible strings round my waist and crotch, joined by a pretty metal clip at my back. Over that went a little pale green microskirt, just long enough to hide my bottom - when I stood up straight. It left the tops of my green fishnet stockings showing, with just a glimpse of bare thigh above. The skirt was a snug fit and the cloth stimulated my skin, still pink and sensitive from the whip. We examined each other. Reina looked lovely and incredibly desirable. I only hoped I looked as good in my identical costume. "Right!" said Reina, when we had finished brushing each other's hair so that it hung nicely down our backs. "It's a lovely sunny day - let's go!" In the entrance lobby we stepped into our matching silver high-heeled sandals. Reina locked up carefully - she was carrying a purse, I was not - and we were off on the new day's adventure. "Where are we going?" I asked as I skipped happily along beside Reina on the way to the subway station. "We're going for a walk in the park," she replied firmly. "Yoyogi Park, in fact. Lots of things happen there. Especially on a Sunday. And there is one area, under the trees, where lovers like to go. Or people looking for lovers." The subway train was not crowded and we were able to sit together. Reina crossed her legs casually, not caring if men sitting opposite could look up her tiny skirt. I tried to copy her, but found it impossible to be so relaxed so sat with my knees primly together. The pressure of the seat was making my bottom tingle unbearably and Reina kept whispering to me to sit still and stop wriggling. But my sensitive bottom, still shivering from the kiss of the whip, and the wonderful stimulation of the tight metal clamps lovingly gripping my nipples built up my sexual appetite, as Reina had promised, to a height which for all my attempts at self-control clearly showed in my face and body language. Of course the men in the carriage were fascinated by the pair of us. Reina surely wouldn't be so cruel as to keep me waiting much longer before I found a lover to relieve the tension consuming me. And then another ... and another ... But perhaps she _would_ make me wait: I was beginning to find, as she had promised, that the unbearable suspense and frustration was a sexual pleasure in itself. We left the subway at Meiji-Jingumae, the station for the huge Shinto shrine where the spirit of the great Emperor Meiji dwells, walked a little way along the broad shopping street Omotesando, then cut north through a side street till we joined Takeshita-dori. As usual on a sunny Sunday the street of fashionable shops and cafes was thronged with young people, some girls displaying themselves in fantastic costumes based on their favourite cartoon characters. In fact there were so many desirable young girls there that I began to wonder if I had dressed sexily enough to attract attention! But I need not have worried: the sight of the two of us in our identical microskirts and silver high-heels was piquant enough to match the competition. Soon I unintentionally let out a little squeal as a wandering male hand stroked my sensitive bottom - then, in case my admirer thought I disliked his attentions, turned to smile up at him shyly and gratefully. "Join me for coffee?" he said hopefully. "Maybe later," replied Reina politely for us both. The man moved on and began chatting with a couple of girls dressed in wide-skirted French maid uniforms. They looked twelve or thirteen but with their pink wigs and elaborate make-up it was difficult to tell. Probably, I thought, with all the superiority of nearly sixteen, they had just discovered their sensuality and were only at the stage of flaunting it and discovering how it teased and tempted, and did not yet know what that behaviour would soon lead to. Before long a man - perhaps the very one they were now flirting with - would respond to their uncertain invitations and they would discover the true power of their sexuality. Then they would enter the paradise of sensual delight which is every girl's birthright. At last we made our way through one of the entrances into Yoyogi Park. It was crowded with people of all ages, exercising, walking dogs, listening to the amateur music groups whose loudspeaker systems were competing with each other, or just sitting on the grass enjoying the scenery and fresh air. Reina seemed in no hurry, and we wandered arm-in-arm through the crowds, continuing to attract attention as we went. At last we entered a quieter area shaded by trees. Young couples were seated on the grass or reclining together on _goza_ straw mats they had brought with them. Some were kissing and fondling each other discreetly; but as we moved further in under the trees the love-making became more open and unrestrained. How I envied them! Where were the lovers Reina had promised me? We didn't have long to wait. A group of three young men approached us as we strolled, arms round each other's waist, among the happy couples. They asked, very politely, if they could join us and this time Reina didn't send them away. We walked, chatting, across the grass till we found an unoccupied patch. Nobody said, "Shall we sit down here?" It just happened. Reina and I knelt, somehow making it clear that we were anxious not to get grass-stains on our skirts. One of the three young men was carrying a bag from which two rolled mats were protruding: he quickly laid them out for us. Then they removed their trainers and placed them in a neat row, toes pointing outwards, beside one edge of the mats as if they were preparing to step onto _tatami_.[12] I glanced at Reina: she seemed content to leave her high-heeled shoes on, so that must be all right and I did the same. "It's warm today, isn't it?" murmured Reina, half-sitting, half-lying on one of the mats with two of the men sitting cross-legged beside her. The third man and I were sitting together on the other. I had my arms crossed, running my hands up and down my bare arms in an instinctive "I want to be touched" gesture. Then I saw Reina casually, almost as if she didn't expect anyone to pay attention, begin to undo the buttons of her white blouse. By the time she had undone the third, I had started to do the same. Soon my young man was gazing at my naked breasts, decorated with the nipple-clamps and their pretty chain. "That's nice!" he said. "And it looks so good on you ..." "Thank you ..." I said shyly. "Do you like wearing it?" "Of course! It feels so good ..." By now I had undone my blouse completely and was pulling it out of the waistband of my skirt. Simply and without any attempt at coquetry I let it fall back over my shoulders and off; then I was reclining in his arms. His fingers were already exploring the nipple-clamps and I showed him how the little screws on the underside of each metal sheath could tighten them still further ... "Like that?" "Yes," I breathed. "Oh, tighter ... it feels so good. When _you_ do it to me ..." I added dreamily. His hands were frankly exploring my breasts now as I leant back and closed my eyes. Then one hand began to move down my tummy. It was stroking my thighs and was soon feeling its way gently up my skirt. My bottom and thighs, still delightfully sensitive from the kiss of Reina's whip, were tingling with excitement. One finger was gently caressing my crotch through the little lacy triangle of my thong. I was breathing quickly now and thinking, rather than saying, "Yes, yes! Oh, yes!" hoping that he was receiving my message. "Just a moment," I murmured, and pulled away from him. I slid a hand up the back of my skirt and snapped the little metal fastener which held the strings of my thong together. It released its hold on me and I was able to pull it easily out of my skirt. As I did so, I glanced to one side: Reina, I saw, had used a different tactic. She had taken off her skirt but, still wearing her thong, was in a 69 position on top of one of the men, his fingers pushing the thong out of the way of his tongue while her hands played with the belt and zipper of his jeans. Perhaps I should have done that? My young man didn't seem to mind. His hand was inside my skirt again, his fingers caressing my damp, naked pussy. "No hair?" he said, looking at me in surprise. "No," I murmured. "It hasn't come yet ..." That wasn't quite true, of course, but I had already begun to understand how important it was - how _good_ it was - to say things to men that would increase their lust for me, and therefore of course the pleasure they would soon give me. "How old are you?" he asked. "Fourteen," I said shyly, adding in a whisper, "that is ... well, almost ..." That wasn't quite true either - but I was learning fast! "Oh, my darling!" he said, his fingers expertly penetrating my cunt and dabbling in the love-juice bubbling from it. "You like this?" "Oh, yes! I love _everything_ men do to me ... Please do it more." That at least was true. After a few minutes of intense pleasure, I hinted to him that I did not want my skirt to get creased or marked. I lay on my back and loosened the waistband and zipper: then I raised my bottom and thighs so that he could slide my skirt down my legs and off. I was nude now in the warm sunshine - apart of course from my shoes and my green fishnet stockings. Now it was my turn to experience the joy of having my pussy expertly tongued as my young man lay between my open legs, one hand supporting my bottom and the other reaching up to caress my breasts and play with the tinkling chain suspended from my pretty nipple-clamps. At last he pulled his mouth away from my soaking, gasping cunt. "Please come on top!" he said, his voice thick with my juice and his own saliva. Quickly I scrambled into a kneeling position and squatted over his face, looking away from him which seemed to be the direction he favoured. His hands grabbed my hips and pulled me firmly into place over his mouth; and then pressed my thighs together so that I held his head tightly imprisoned between them. He sucked and tongued me vigorously, while I could not resist the temptation to wave my arms over my head in a gesture of triumph. Again I glanced across at Reina. Her man's jeans and underpants were round his ankles now, and his enormous erection was sliding deep into her mouth and out again. What a handsome couple they made, I thought! I looked around. We had accumulated an audience: some couples had been distracted from their own preoccupation with each other and were sitting in a loose circle round us, watching appreciatively. There was of course a third man in our little group. He was sitting near Reina and her lover, shy and rather out of it all I thought. I gestured to him to join us. He seemed hesitant at first, but I soon had him standing in front of me as I loosened his belt and let his jeans fall to the ground. His erection was not as impressive as that of Reina's lover, but I stroked it reverently and drew it gently into my mouth. It thickened and soon began to pump my mouth enthusiastically. Good, good, I thought happily: cock-sucking is one of the things I know I do really well. Most Japanese girls learn to do it at twelve or thirteen, and it is probably the commonest form of everyday sexual activity: after all, boys love it, it gives you a great thrill and a lovely sense of power when they spurt uncontrollably into your mouth, and it's safe. This boy hasn't been sucked by many girls, I thought - what a shame! He's trying too hard and going at it too fast. I must teach him. With my hands on his hips I made him slow down, and tried to delay his orgasm with my lips and tongue. From somewhere above me I could hear him groaning with pleasure and thanking me. But while this was going on in my mouth my cunt was being expertly sucked and nibbled by a man who clearly loved oral sex. He was gripping my waist and moving me so vigorously over his mouth and face that I surrendered all control over what was being done to me. Suddenly disaster struck: I had been too excited on leaving home to remember to visit the lavatory and my bladder was now full to bursting! I remembered that Bob had enjoyed it when I pissed in his mouth, but hadn't Reina warned me that not all men liked it and told me always to ask permission first? How could I do that, though, at the very last moment and with my mouth full of another man's cock? It was too late. My bladder gave way and with mingled relief and shame I felt my water pouring endlessly into my lover's mouth. He gripped me harder still and pulled me even tighter onto his mouth; as his throat gulped the liquid down I could feel the rhythm pulsing through me. The thrill made me lose all control of my other lover's cock and his cum burst into my mouth just as the flow of pee slackened. I felt him sway and support himself with his hands on my head: I grabbed him round the hips to stop him falling. For a while the three of us were locked together, sucking the last drops of passion from our drained bodies. Then we pulled apart and collapsed into an untidy heap. I was vaguely aware of subdued applause from our audience, scattered around us on the grass. "Oh, that was wonderful! Thank you!" said the boy whose cock I had sucked. "That was fantastic! I love you!" said the man into whose mouth I had pissed. I said nothing. I just lay there exhausted, my arm across his chest. I wanted to ask if he had really enjoyed drinking my pee. I wanted to apologise for having failed to warn him. I wanted to congratulate the boy on what I was now sure was his first attempt and tell him to keep practising. But I couldn't. "I think it's fantastic," my face-sitting lover said again, "the way you pissed. So much - and it tasted so good. Promise to do it to me again." I couldn't help giggling. "Well, it will take a little while," I said. And then, in case he thought I was being impertinent, I went on, "You really enjoy it when girls do that?" "Of course! And they love doing it so much - when I've persuaded them I really want them to! Young girls like you are best. They taste fresh and lovely. It's nicest when you come straight into my mouth like you did, the piss all flavoured with your cunt-juice. But it's fun too when a girl stands over me and sprays her piss all over me. I've done it with several girls at once - that's very exciting. A bit messy though." I sat up and looked at him seriously. How very interesting it was to learn about the strange things men liked! Then, as I surveyed his handsome body, I was appalled at my own selfishness. "But your beautiful cock!" I said. "You've been so good to me, and I've done nothing for you!" I ignored his protests, pulled down his jeans and underpants and began to stroke his cock. Soon I was straddling him, impaling myself on his splendid erection, rising and falling at his direction as the pretty chain joining my nipple-clamps sparkled in the sunlight and tickled his chest. The other young man seemed content to sit and watch, even though I urged him to stand over us and give me his cock to suck a second time. It didn't take long. I felt my lover's erection swell as the lovely cum forced its way through from his balls and fountained up inside me. At last we came apart and lay again in each other's arms. In my excitement I had completely forgotten about Reina, but looking across at her I saw that she too was in the final stages of being fucked: on her back, her lover pushing her thighs up so that her legs dangled over his shoulders as he at last burst passionately into her cunt. It was over. For a while the five of us sat quietly gazing at each other, marvelling at the joy we had given each other - complete strangers who did not even know each others' names. How wonderful that was! Lust once again showed itself to be the most powerful and most beautiful force in the world. Would I have been able to surrender to it so easily if my sexuality had not been excited beforehand by Reina's skilful whip? Then the men stood up, rearranged their clothes, stepped into their trainers and prepared to leave. The two older men nodded and muttered something in a half-hearted way. Then they wandered off, not really knowing where to go until their attention was caught by a couple of pretty girls who had been watching our activities with wide-eyed fascination. The young boy was still standing there, looking down uncertainly at Reina and me as we cleaned the cum from our cunts with wipes from Reina's purse and put on our skirts. I suddenly remembered that he was the owner of the _goza_ mats and was waiting for us to move so he could retrieve them. I knelt on the grass, rolled them and handed them to him with a formal bow and words of thanks. I was still naked above the waist - as was Reina - and the chain of my nipple-clamps glittered in the sunlight as it swung. "Will you ... will you come here again?" he asked. "Perhaps," I replied. "Will you?" "Oh _yes_! If you do ... what is your name?" he asked with an effort. "Sayaka," I said. "Sayaka Onodera. And yours?" "I am Torajiro," he said. "They call me just Jiro." Tiger Second Son. Just as well he drops the first part, I thought. Anyone less like a tiger ... But of course I did not say that. "Thank you, Jiro-san," I said. "You were very good to me. Perhaps we may meet again. I should enjoy that." The odd thing was, I would. So far in my life boys had always been the boss. I pleasured them and sucked them in accordance with their wishes. Of course I enjoyed doing that. It felt good to do it well and earn their praise. But this boy would be different, I felt. I would tell him ... teach him ... what to do. "I shall be here next Sunday," he said with an effort. "Will you? Then perhaps I will be too." Pink with embarrassment at having been able to speak so openly to a girl, he shambled off. I turned to Reina. She had not bothered to put on her blouse and was hanging it over her shoulder with a finger of her right hand through the name-tag in the collar. Of course I did the same, using my left hand so that we could walk arm-in-arm. It felt so good to be shamelessly naked in the fresh air. I remembered that on the subway last night Reina had promised to arrange some public nudity for me. And now she had! As we left she picked up the two little thongs, the last evidence of our presence. On our way back towards the main area of the park, we drew level with a waste-basket. "Don't need these any more," she said gaily as she dropped the little scraps of cloth into the bin. "Anyway, it's _much_ nicer without ..." Suddenly I had a vision of myself seated on a barstool wearing a pretty minidress with nothing - absolutely _nothing_ - underneath. That had been less than forty-eight hours ago ... How much had happened since then, and how much I had learned about myself! We came out from under the trees into the open sunlight. "Better put this on, I suppose," said Reina, slipping her arms into her blouse. "Pity, but there it is." I did the same with mine, and we helped each other with the buttons. We each left the top two undone, allowing anyone who wanted it a tempting glimpse of our breasts. "Oh, that was _so_ lovely!" I said dreamily. "Being nude in the open ... and fucking ..." "Yes, it is fun. Is your appetite satisfied now?" "No, of course not! I mean, after the lovely things you did to me - that we did to each other - I was desperate for sex when we arrived here. And the man who wanted me to sit on his face was a great lover ..." "Did you pee in his mouth?" asked Reina with a giggle. "Yes, I did," I replied, blushing. "I know you said to ask first, but I just couldn't stop it coming. He seemed to enjoy it." "Was the younger man any good?" "Not really. Very inexperienced," I said with all the authority of my fifteen years. "But he'll learn. Now he's started." "But it wasn't enough?" "I don't think it _can_ be enough. I'd like to be fucked non-stop for ever and ever and _ever_ ... In public, of course. Before an audience." Reina laughed as I skipped eagerly along beside her. "Good for you. I'll try to arrange it for you." == "What shall we do now?" I asked as we stepped into the little entrance hall and removed our silver shoes. "Right. It's Sunday evening. This is the programme. You take a shower. I'll cook something for dinner - we skipped lunch, remember?" "I had a nice mouthful of cum," I interrupted naughtily. "Then homework," Reina continued firmly. When you've done that - and _shown_ me that you've done it - maybe a little television. Bed by ten. Your own bed," she added, seeing the hopeful look in my eyes. "Oh, dear ..." "School tomorrow. The other side of your double life, remember?" She was right of course. And I was in bed - alone - by ten. But I did not go to sleep at once. I masturbated for nearly an hour, replaying the whole weekend in my mind; and when I did sleep I dreamed of running nude through a sunlit field where all the trees had been turned into naked men with enormous erections. FOOTNOTE [12] As surely everyone knows, you take your shoes or slippers off before stepping onto the sacred surface of a _tatami_ ?oor. Whether _goza_ (basically a sheet of the rice-straw matting which is the topmost layer of _tatami_) counts as _tatami_ for this purpose is one of those mysteries no _gaijin_ can hope to understand. You leave your shoes with toes pointing away from the _tatami_, so that you can step neatly into them when you leave. If you don’t do that, someone - usually a woman - will deftly turn them round for you: it is one of those entirely natural helpful gestures which make social interaction in Japan such a delight. There is one exception to this rule: you remove your shoes before jumping off a mountain or whatever to commit suicide, but you do not turn them round because you are not coming back. This position of the shoes has been accepted as evidence of intent to commit suicide in Japanese courts in cases where the cause of death (suicide or accident) is disputed. - B W [Next in Part 06: Chapter VI: Girl Talk] For complete series so far see /files/Authors/Bob_Williams