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Mrs. Ichijouji was a perfectly normal woman of plain features and modest disposition. As her husband was a computer programmer, he raked in enough money to support the family, so technically she did not need to work. However, she did have a part time job helping a friend with a shop, and it was something she was quite proud of. But there was one thing she was more proud of than any of her mediocre achievements.

A smile crossed her face as she thought about her elder son, Osamu. He was her brilliant, perfect little boy. Unlike his parents, he was unique, he rose above the mundane with nothing more than the power of his own mind. Yes, she was proud of him, and she had every right to be.

Her smile faded as a recent memory came to mind. Osamu had been so tense lately that he would withdraw into his room immediately after school and only come out to eat supper. Even Ken had complained that his brother wasn't paying attention to him anymore.

There was a familiar sound at the door, that of lock tumblers being shifted aside and the knob turning. She set a newly washed dish aside and wiped her hands of the soapy water they had been soaking in before walking up to greet her son.

Osamu strode into the apartment with a new friend she had never seen before. And the friend looked so normal that she wondered if it was just some kid that Osamu was tutoring. "How was school, Osamu?"

The boy genius stopped in front of her, gazing cooly from behind gold-rimmed glasses. "Lackadaisical, as usual. Where's Ken?"

"Oh, he's staying after school. I think one of the clubs he's in is meeting for a few hours overtime. Who's your companion," she asked inquisitively, even though the boy's given name was quite apparent on the yellow travel bag he carried.

"Akiyama Ryo, Mrs. Ichijouji," the boy piped up suddenly. "I'm in the computer club with Osamu."

With a sigh, Osamu pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and glanced at his friend. "He's here to help me with that monitor problem I've been having. Among other things."

Before she could ask what those other things were, Osamu stalked off to his room with the Akiyama boy in tow. How strange. Shrugging at this, she simply went back to washing dishes. Osamu was a genius, after all, and needed as much room as she could give him. Maybe they were planning to study after fixing Osamu's computer. Yes, that was most likely.

Time passed slowly as she read the latest installment of a ladies' magazine and did basic housewife-type chores. Still the boys did not emerge from Osamu's room. With her curiosity piqued, Mrs. Ichijouji wandered tentatively towards her son's room. Just to be sure she wasn't interrupting anything important, she leaned forward to press her ear against the door. She regretted it the instant her mind registered the noises.

The sounds had been muffled at first, but they grew louder until it took little effort for her to pluck out words among the moans of pleasure. That was Osamu's voice!

"Nhhnn... aahnn... oh gods Ryo, harder..."

Mrs. Ichijouji stepped back, her hand flying up to cover her mouth in shock. She knew Osamu had been tense recently, but was this why? How long had they been... why hadn't she been able to detect anything before now? What should she do, what should she say?

Silently the woman wandered back to the common room only to slip into the sofa to think. Maybe Osamu was just experimenting and he wasn't really that way. After all, kids had the right to be curious, even if that was going a little far. But what if he was... that way? And just who did that kid think he was, doing that to someone as special as Osamu?

Oh dear. She fretted for quite a while, fidgeting as questions and worries tumbled over in her mind. Much like clothes in the dryer, in fact. Her little boy was so perfect, her shining beacon against the sea of mediocrity, and now...

She jumped with a start as the bedroom door suddenly opened and the boys strode out, fully clothed and looking as if nothing had happened between them. Osamu trailed behind the Akiyama boy as they babbled about electronics.

"...really Osamu, you either have to replace the videocard or suffer 800 x 600 resolution. If you want anything higher you simply have to replace that piece of junk you call a vid card," Akiyama stated with the airs of someone who knew exactly what he was talking about.

A frown crossed Osamu's face at this as the two stopped in front of the front door. "But if I get a new monitor...?"

Akiyama shook his head quite emphatically. "You'll still have the same raster problems if you try to go into 1024 x 768 or higher. Newer vid cards are cheaper anyway. You may know your programming, but hardware is my playground."

"Right," Osamu suddenly smiled. "But I can still kick your ass in shooter games. I trust you'll want to catch the train home?"

"Of course." The other boy suddenly waved cheerfully at her. "Nice meeting you, Mrs. Ichijouji! See ya next week!"

Before she could so much as respond, Akiyama was out the door and trotting down the apartment hallways. With a smile that was more relaxed than usual, Osamu closed the door and began walking back to his room. She had to talk to him though.

"Osamu, about your friend..."

Osamu stopped mid-stride and turned to face her. "Oh, Ryo? He's quite good at what he does. Why?"

Mrs. Ichijouji paused as she considered the best way to organize her questions and present them. Better step as cautiously as possible. "Was he why you've been so tense recently, dear?"

This drew from her son a curious stare, one that made the subject of it feel almost small and insignificant. "No, but he was quite good at getting rid of those tensions. I guess one can learn everything online, he was a better masseuse than I thought he would be."

It took the woman a moment to absorb this. Masseuse? Wait, they weren't... they really weren't doing that were they? Mrs. Ichijouji smiled in relief. "Oh, that's all? What will you two be doing next week?"

Osamu cocked his head in thought as he shifted through the various expressions that shifted across his mother's face. As it was, he had a pretty good idea of what she was thinking before he corrected her. Really, she read far too many ladies' magazines. A smirk drew across his face as he recalled the terms Ryo used to describe the process of getting one hard drive to be read from and written to from the boot drive. Slaving the secondary hard drive to the master, wasn't it? Suddenly grinning, he resumed his walk to his room.

"Oh, we'll be playing Slave and Master."

Oh, he wished he could see the look on his mother's face.

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Ajora: Well, Ryo came across as someone who had a proficiency in electronics in the Wonderswan games, so I took that idea and something inspired by a fan-art and ran with it ^_^.