You will protect me, right? (2)

During a long bath, Shouichi had spent over an hour reflecting on his actions solemnly. He soaked his sin and impurity that stuck in his soul. As one said, the health of the body was the beginning of the health of the mind. Because the two were interconnected. The sweet lavender bath bomb was refreshing and delightful. His spirit began to lift as his mind felt at ease.

"I don't know what happened to me but it definitely sucks. I can't live like this… like a failure who keeps messing up." He lamented in a self-deprecating voice.

"I wonder if Yoko actually felt okay… From the gist of it, she appeared overly composed over the issue. I think she didn't appear surprised by the fact that her explicit video was leaked. I mean, it's good that she didn't react badly but it bugged me so much. In a sense, it's a good thing for her but I couldn't shake an odd feeling around her. I felt like something inside her mind had altered forever. Since that day, I hadn't been able to think about anything else except her. It's like drowning in my own thoughts..." His train of thought wandered.

"If Yoko-san as a victim could move on with her life, then I should move on too. I need to stop overthinking. Shouichi! Get a grip." He encouraged himself with a soft slap on his cheeks.

The freshly bathed boy casually walked toward his room on the left-hand side. He assumed that Yoko was already in her room on the right since he didn't see her anywhere else in the house.

As the boy reached out to grab his doorknob and started to turn, "Shouichi!" A sudden voice caused him to yelp. It was Yoko who poked out from a half-opening doorway. She was in her oversize t-shirt, the tail of the shirt was long enough to cover her upper thighs. It appeared she was ready to go to bed. There, he felt it again, the inexplicable tension in the air around her.

"H~hey, Mom."

"Have you eaten?" She asked, dragging her words.

"I did, thanks for asking..."

"Would you like to sleep with me?" She asked out of the blue, her brown eyes flashed in the absence of light.

"What was that?!" Shouichi was shocked but quickly hid it.

"I guess I don't mind it…" He replied.

"Eh?" Shouichi spooked when Yoko took his hand and aggressively tugged it inside her room. She appeared to be rougher than usual. Her room was pitch black with all the curtains drawn and no light source.

"Are you tired?" She asked. Her elderflower fragrance filled the room, its soothing scent was heavenly and blissful.

"Not really."

"Come on, lie down on the bed." She pointed at it, and whispered, "I'll give you a massage."

"Wait, mom. There's no need to do that." He quickly objected to the idea.

"There's no objection. Don't you want to cheer me up? Hmm?" Her voice sounded higher than her usual pitch.

"Yes, I want to cheer you up… But…" Shouichi whined while reluctantly lying down on his stomach on the bed. After a brief moment, he noticed his mother lit up a fragrance candle and placed it on top of the headboard. The flickering light cast her shadow to dance against the wall.

"Lose the shirt too." She commanded him in a low and authoritative tone which he complied. The candlelight illustrated his physical prowess, the well-refined chest and abdominal muscles. His alluring V-shape frame was in full display. He couldn't discern Yoko's facial expression at all from where she stood, the mother lingered on the edge of the bed further away from the dim light.

"Good boy, let's get started."

"Ah?" Shouichi exclaimed.

"Darling, did I spook you?" Yoko's cold hand squeezed on his shoulder in a rhythmic pulse.

"Yeah, it's kinda cold."

"Sorry sorry, your shoulders are pretty stiff, have you been working out a lot?" She inquired.

"Yeah, I tried my best to keep working out every Wednesday with the club members…" He answered nonchalantly as she continued to nudge his shoulders.

"Auh.." He grunted as she added extra pressure on it, it was relaxing but tingling at the same time. "Too much force?" She softly ensured.

"No, it's fine… It's a bit embarrassing…" Shouichi told her the truth.

"Fufufu, did I make you flustered?" She giggled and continued, her thigh blushing across his side.

"Huh? It's nothing like that." He began to pout like a child with slight annoyance from her constant tease. The boy buried his red face in the pillow.

"Really?" Yoko shuffled around from his side, the bouncing bed vibrated as she moved. Then the lady sat on top of him.

"Yoko-san?! What are you doing?" Shouichi quickly asked, bewildered by her action. He could feel his heart beating and accelerating from the warm touch. "What the freak is going on?! I could feel her crotch press on my back…" His wildest thoughts floated all over his head.

"Don't squirm around. It's better angle this way." She spoke in a long and inviting tone. To make matters worse for him, her grunting was way too enticing.

"Please stop, mom. This is going out of hands." He eventually built up enough courage to tell her. The boy turned and sat on the bed, facing Yoko. He appeared to be in a distressed state, avoiding direct eye contact with her.

"So… you feel it right?" Yoko looked at him. Her cinnamon-brown eyes were sparkling in the candle light. They pierced deep into his agonizing soul.

"I don't understand what you are getting at…" Dumbfounded Shouichi slowly glanced up at Yoko, her immaculate porcelain skin was painted in amber light. Her mature physique was inviting, which accentuated by her plum bosoms. This was clear where this was going, the boy just couldn't — wouldn't want to comprehend it.

Then the lady undressed her loose tee shirt, showing off her pale snowy skin and naked chest. The boy was completely shocked by it, he turned his eyes away with shame and got up, trying to leave.

"I figure… You couldn't even look at me." Yoko mumbled softly but Shouichi could hear every word. He paused with his back turned on the lady.

"Yoko-san. It's not true." Shouichi stared at her face. He was still confused about what caused her to do this despicable thing. "What is wrong with her? From the outside, she appears to be doing well. But in her mind, she might be broken beyond my comprehension." He attempted to rationalize.

"You think I'm dirty…" Her gaze to the side, sitting on her calves. It was clear that the aftermath of her recent incident was suffocating her until this moment.

"It's not true. I never think about that at all. I mean… In my eyes, you are still you. The same Yoko I met on my first day here." The boy argued in a serious tone, sitting down on the edge of the bed and reaching out to grab her hand.

"Yoko-san, nothing about you has changed for me!" He solemnly told her as his eyes glittered in the light.

"But I'm changed…" She reached out to grab his cheek and pull it close. In a fraction of a second, her plum lips perched forcefully on his mouth. The striking fear had rendered him motionless. His mind crumbled in desperation for answers, shattered beyond recognition. This was the last thing he would have expected from his beloved mother.

Yoko began to aggressively ravish his body by intertwining her warm tongue on his lips while letting out a soft libidinous moan. Her fingers threaded through his soft and fluffy hair on the back of his head. Her naked body pressed on him, pinning him down on the bed.

"You said, you'd protect me, right?" She spoke softly between the dance of her tongue.

"Please become my man, Shouichi." Her words disgusted him to his core sending shivers to all corners of his body. However, it did snap him back to reality.

"Shouichi! Get out! Get out!" A voice in his head spoke to him.

"NO! I CAN'T DO THIS!" Shouichi forcefully shoved her away. A sign of hyperventilation had already occurred. He could see a flash of horrified expression on Yoko's face before he ran out to his room.

Yoko heard Shouichi storming out of her room without uttering another word. She was so humiliated with herself. The tears of sorrow washed over her face. The lady sobbed quietly in her bed while burying her shameful face in her palms.

"What?! What?! What just happened?" Shouichi's mind went psychotic. He couldn't stop trembling as he sat in the knee-to-chest pose with his back against the door. His heavy breathing continued as tears flooded his system. His heart sank, and cried out in pain and agony, this was definitely hell on earth.

Fear, horror, regret, humiliation. A torrent of negative emotions flooded his mind, pulling him into a pit of despair. The boy felt consumed by a crushing sense of nihilism that dragged him down into the depths of his own personal purgatory. He had always been the one to help others — nurturing those who struggled with mental illness, guiding them back toward the light. He saved them, but now the haunting question remained: Who would save him?

"What about me..." The desperation had won over the last bit of his resolve.