Episode One Part One It was late in the afternoon when Tatsuki came through the door eager to see if any new items had arrived at the store. Unlike many customer's Tatsuki's love for pleasure toys was not something he was shy about, if anything his knowledge of the subject was one unmatched by anyone Ryo knew, even his uncle who owned the store. It had been a quiet day and Ryo was in the midst of cleaning up the debris from the latest shipment of stock. Although good friends with Ryo this meant little to Tatsuki who was here with singular purpose today. "Please tell me it's arrived Ryo," he asked before even saying hello. "Huh?" Ryo's attention had been focused on his work, he didn't enjoy his job here but since his uncle fell ill he was coerced into helping out. "Oh hey Tatsuki." "Yes yes hello," his eyes were large with excitement, "c'mon, the suspense is killing me." Ryo smiled and decided to tease him a little, "Wait, which one did you order again?" Tatsuki's expression suddenly changed to one of almost sadness with Ryo's response, he had been waiting on the new Onahole (male pleasure toy) for weeks. "Haha, you take these things so seriously," joked Ryo as he lifted a box from behind the counter and placed it in front of his friend. Tatsuki picked up the colourful carton and looked on it in awe and what genuinely seemed to be love. Ryo had never been interested in any of the things sold in the store and to him it was just a job, albeit one that months ago had cost him a relationship as his girlfriend did not want to date a man who worked in such a shop. He had been deeply saddened and had taken to finding solace with the day to day ritual of running the business. "She looks beautiful," Tatsuki said, if his eyes could change into love hearts I'm sure this would be the moment. "You already have so many of these, what is so different about this one?" "Are you kidding Ryo?!" He was bordering on manic, "THIS is the first ever love toy of Necroma from Galactic Battle Fuckers! She's my biggest crush of all!!" Although Ryo wasn't really interested he always enjoyed Tatsuki's explanations of what he would buy. He came across as a born salesman in the pleasure toy industry and once or twice had almost convinced Ryo to try out some of the goods, but the thought of it just made him yearn for his ex. "This is a revolution Ryo," his eyes still had not lifted from the box in his hands as he then went into advertising mode, "just look at these features- *new softer latex construction *easier to clean than previous variations *adjustable grip – and the game changer *a vibrate mode!" Ryo always found enjoyment hearing him excitedly talk about the new stock. He wondered if Tatsuki had ever wanted to be with a real woman but dared not ask, he was happier than Ryo felt and that seemed like something worth noting. "You should get one Ryo," he said now finally looking up from the toy, "you've been single months now, just think of it as a helper to put a smile on your face till you meet someone." "As a professional businessman I try out all my goods to make sure they work before selling them to my customers," Ryo kept a straight face as he said it hoping to stir up a reaction from his friend. "Uh," Tatsuki's mouth and eyes opened up as the words filtered through his mind. Then as Ryo cracked a sly smile they both enjoyed a hearty laugh at the absurdity of the concept. Although Ryo had not tried any of the products he would admit that he found the store intriguing when his uncle had decided to change from being a manga comic bookshop. All the adult materials were kept in aback room away from the children who frequented the store but as the clientele grew up over the years so too did the store and in a bid to continue a profitable business it didn't take long before everything in the store was tailored to meet peoples at times unconventional desires. "Can you watch the counter for a minute while I take this stuff to the back room?" "Yeah go for it," Tatsuki replied, still marvelling at his new purchase. Ryo smiled and shook his head as he gathered up several cartons in his hand and awkwardly made his way through a doorway next to the counter which led to a small storage area and workspace. Although he did his best to maintain the shop Ryo had not had taken much time to keep the room clean, nor did he have any sort of system for storage so often had to fumble around looking for things through the piles scattered around haphazardly. "I really need to spend a day getting this place organised," he spoke out loud but realised that Tatsuki's attention was not his to command at the moment. It had been months since he had taken over the store's daily needs and his mind was still on his ex most of the time. It was just as the thought left his mind that he dropped one of the cartons stacked in his arms then tripped over it sending boxes tumbling from his grip. Ryo reached a hand out to grab the shelf in front of him to stop himself falling completely, the sudden jolt to the shelves caused something to drop from above hitting him in the head. "Nnngh!" he growled loudly in pain as he stood up and rubbed his head. On the ground in front of him was an unfamiliar looking box,old stock he presumed. He picked up the small carton and looked it over but there were no markings to give a clue to it's contents so of course he decided to have a look. He walked over to the small desk by the wall and placed the box in front of him as he sat down. The carton was less than a foot square and only half an inch deep in height so Ryo assumed it was just paperwork or receipts, his uncle was a cunning businessman and kept hard copies of all his paperwork in various boxes files and drawers. But as Ryo lifted the lid on the box it was not at all what he expected and inside was a folded up white cloth. His curiosity piqued Ryo lifted the material out and unfolding it realised it was a bodypillow cover much like the ones he sold in the store. But when he turned it over to see which popular character was emblazoned on it his jaw dropped at what he saw; she was beautiful, a goddess, Ryo did not recognise her from any popular manga or anime he had watched and as he looked into her large blue eyes he felt himself taken by her beauty. Never had he felt this sort of emotion towards what he considered merely objects, he had never mocked his customers for their choices or interests but he also had never understood the reasons for their ways... until now.