Two coyote brothers were walking on a red light district. One of them was dressed in a green sports shirt and orange sports pants with green highlights. The other one was dressed with a red button shirt, blue pants, and brown boots.
The younger one was the tallest with tan fur on his body, maroon fur on his face, with fur on his underbody, brown hair, and golden eyes. He was bulky, yet he had a muscular body that was evident on the chest and arms and also on the legs. He had a small belly that could be hidden or shown depending on the type of shirt he wore.
The older brother was slightly shorter than his brother, but he was thicker in muscle and fat. He had a larger gut due to years of overeating, but his arms were full of muscle, showing his past as a fighter and athlete. His hair was longer and wilder
“We’re walking on a red-light district!” Carel shouted at Drega. “That’s not going to paint a good image for my gym.”
“Not everything on this district has to do with drugs, alcohol, and sex, you fucker,” Drega rolled his eyes at his younger brother.
“Which category does your business idea fit in with my gym?” Drega crossed his arms as he glared at his older brother. “You dragged me out of my office for a walk, saying you had a business partner. The next thing I know, we’re already here.”
“She’s in front of this building,” Drega stopped at a building. “Check it out.”
Carel stared at the building. It had characters of Asian origin. Were they Chinese, Japanese, or Korean? He couldn’t tell. He saw the image of a bed and some sort of claw emblem on top of it. He figured out what Drega had in mind for his gym.
“You want me to hire prostitutes to give my clients happy ending massages?!” Carel yelled at him. “Are you out of your mind?!”
“No!” Drega yelled at him…after a pause. “They are not prostitutes. They just practice a style of massage that is very…unusual.”
“What kind of unusual massage are we talking about?” Carel glared at Drega. His older brother had a very unusual libido…a fact he knew because of the stories he heard from him and from checking his browsing history on his laptop.
I wish I could take those images out of my head.
“They practice ashiatsu,” Drega answered. “It’s that kind of massage where masseuses use their feet to massage you.”
“I already know what’s ashiatsu,” Carel replied angrily. “You’re not the only one who checked different types of sport massages to try on our customers.”
It definitely had nothing to do with my personal interests.
Drega smiled at Carel and patted him on the shoulder. “Glad to see we’re on the same page, fucker,” he moved forward to the building. “Let’s roll. There’s someone I want you to meet. She’s been dying to see you.”
“Wait!” Carel called out as he followed his older brother.
“This is the Yāoráo Michi, Carel,” Drega smiled as they stopped at the building’s entrance, showing his younger brother the building’s name written in Chinese and Japanese characters. “It means ‘Enchanting Road’ in Chinese and Japanese.”
“Michi means ‘road’ in Japanese,” Carel muttered, having already known the meaning of that word from watching anime and taking a beginner Japanese course in college. “But how did you know the meaning of Yāoráo? Do you know Chinese?”
Drega gave him a big grin, looking like he was about to burst into laughter. “The owner gave me a pamphlet with the translation, you stupid fuck!”
The older coyote laughed as he gave his younger brother the pamphlet. Inside of it, there was a translation showing the name of the building with characters. Then, it was written as Yāoráo Michi, and finally as Enchanting Road.
Drega kept laughing at Carel for his naivety, causing the younger coyote to open the door and end this ordeal.
They both entered the building. To his surprise, it was cozier than he expected. There were tatami mats on the floor. Jade and gold ornaments were adorning the floor. Incense was being burned to create a pleasant scent.
“This looks nice for just being the reception room,” Carel stared at the room as he reunited with his brother.
“You should see the massage rooms, Carel.”
Carel yelped as he heard a feminine voice from behind him. He turned around and was greeted by a crane.
She was tall and had green emerald eyes. She also wore matching jade robes that complimented her gaze. She had large wings folded to her sides, with purple feathers that were the same color as her long purple legs that ended in black talons.
“My name is Yu Ame Tai,” the crane presented herself, lifting a leg to daintily show a talon to Carel just like a lady would show her hand to a gentleman. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Carel gently took the talons and shook them, feeling nervous when they gave his hand a squeeze and he heard the crane laugh.
Oh, dear. The books were right about avian talons. It feels as if I am grabbing a hand.
“Your brother told me a lot about you,” Yu Ame giggled at him.
“What did he tell you?” Carel glared at his brother, who turned his head around to play innocent.
Don’t put that act at your age, you fucker!
“He told me that you might enjoy my services,” Yu Ame brought a talon to her beak, playfully tapping it before tapping Carel’s snout with it.
The coyote’s snout scrunched at her touch.
“Why would I want a massage?” Carel all but shrieked.
“Your brother told me you were tense because you didn’t have any ideas to promote your gym,” Yu Ame placed a wing on his shoulder. “He asked me to give you a massage to help you relax for the next weeks.”
“Consider this a trial, bro,” Drega interfered. “If you like it, you can hire her and you get a professional masseuse on your team. If you don’t like it, at least you’re relaxed for a while. It’s a win-win.”
Well, I always wanted to try this massage once in my life. I should give it a try. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“Fine,” Carel sighed. “But this will be my choice. You don’t get to decide, Drega.”
“Don’t worry,” Drega snorted. “I’m at the red light district. I got better things to do here than help you make a business decision. Call me when you’re done, fucker.”
Having said what needed to be said, Drega left his brother alone with the crane. The two of them stared at each other. Carel broke the silence.
“Should we start?”
“We should start,” Yu Ame smiled as she led him to a room.
The massage room was better decorated. It looked more like a martial arts room though. The walls and floors were covered in mats. There were some contraptions involving beds, bars, and ropes.
I think I’m starting to see the red light in this massage parlor.
“I want you to only take off your shirt,” Yu Ame instructed calmly.
“That’s it?” Carel asked with a raised eyebrow, not even bothering to mask his suspicion.
“That’s it,” Yu Ame replied with genuine confidence. The conviction in her voice and the sincerity in her face got him to comply with her command.
Standing with a bare chest in front of the crane, Carel wondered what was next. He was about to lay down to start the massage when Yu Ame gave him her next command.
“Turn around and face the wall,” she told him.
“Why do you want me to face the wall, Yu Ame?” Carel asked her, even as he complied her request.
“So that I can do this,” Yu Ame smiled, lifted her leg, and pressed.
Carel gasped as he felt her talons on his neck. Her front toes stretched and needed the scruff of his neck while the back toe pinched the muscles below them.
“Most mammals love it when I use this hold on them,” Yu Ame grinned as her talons kept opening and closing their hold on him. “It’s one of the most basic techniques in my ashiatsu repertoire.”
“What techniques are you talking about?” Carel dared to ask. He felt like she had way too much control of him with a simple massage.
“Drega said that you were a martial arts enthusiast,” Yu Ame giggled. “That’s one of the reasons he wanted us to meet. You see, I’m more than an ashiatsu masseuse. My ashiatsu is Hitsume Ashiatsu, an assassination style that combines martial arts with ashiatsu massage.”
“Wait what?” Carel asked as he tried in vain to turn his head, but was in capable with those talons still clasped in his neck.
Only Drega would be insane enough to send him to get a massage with an assassin.
“Don’t worry,” Yu Ame released her hold on his neck, preferring to let her talons travel down his spine. “I’m not going to kill you. Our family stopped killing for a living a long time ago. We only practice the techniques out of traditions. I never killed anyone in my life.”
“Why would I believe you?” Carel asked her, finally able to turn around to look at her now that she was grabbing his neck.
“What kind of assassin gives her backstory to the one she’s going to kill?” she gave a deadpan glare at him. Carel blushed at how stupid his question was in hindsight. “Please continue,” he gestured with his head, hoping her explanation would kill his embarrassment.
“My family were slaves to a noble in China,” Yu Ame began her story as her talons traveled down his spine.
“One day, a ninja from Japan was captured. He taught them the secrets of ninjutsu, but they couldn’t escape because he was injured and the palace was too guarded. Using knowledge in pressure points and some massage techniques they learned from their time of servitude, my ancestors created this fighting style. Their first victim was the noble who enslaved them and the soldiers who protected him.”
“That’s dark,” Carel winced.
“Freedom always comes at a heavy price,” Yu Ame sighed as her talons reached his lumbar section. “Here is the part I wanted to reach.”
“What part are you…?” Carel’s question was replaced by a yelp as he felt Yu Ame tighten her talons on a vice grip, her lower talon poking a part of his spine, if only for a second. The grip was released, the pain disappeared, but the anger he felt was not.
“Why’d you do that?” Carel yelled at her.
“That was a pressure point to numb your manhood,” Yu Ame replied as she lowered her leg and placed her talons back to the floor.
“Why do you touch a pressure point?” Carel asked, demanding an answer. “More specifically, why did you target that pressure point?”
“This is a red light district,” Yu Ame rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea how many degenerates go get an ashiatsu massage just to do perverted stuff to our feet? This pressure point pretty much allows us to reduce their libido while allowing them to still enjoy the massage on equal terms.”
It makes sense. I mean, one of the reasons I didn’t get one of these massages early was because I didn’t want the masseuses to see me in an indecent state while they were massaging me with their feet. Even if I didn’t go as far as those creeps, just showing them that I was turned on, even by accident is…. I don’t even want to think about it…
“Sorry about criticizing you,” Carel turned his head away from Yu Ame. “You must have gone through a lot working on this place. It’s not my place to criticize how you work this place.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” Yu Ame smiled. “I knew you had a foot fetish because your brother Drega told me about it.
He also told me that you were a bit of a prude so you weren’t gonna do anything to me. I only did this out of protocol.”
Those two assholes.
“That being said, I don’t regret what I did,” Yu Ame coughed into her wing. “I can’t have you having a boner when my student is going to have her graduation massage with you.”
“Your student?” Carel asked.
“Come here, Nina!” Yu Ame yelled. “Your first client is here!”
A jaguar entered into the room. She was a redhead with green eyes. She had golden fur and black spots all over her body. She was wearing purple robes that showed a blue body suit underneath it. She had muscular legs with bare foot paws.
“Nina over here wants to become a sports masseuse,” Yu Ame draped her wings over her student. “If you like her massage, I think she’d be perfect working for the gym.”
“So this is my graduation and a job interview?” Nina raised an eyebrow with interest. “This is getting interesting. Get in the floor, sir.”
“My name is Carel,” the coyote replied as he nonetheless obeyed the jaguar’s orders.
“And mine is Nina as my teacher already told you,” the jaguar surrounded him, trying to analyze his musculature.
“I’ll leave you kids alone,” Yu Ame left the room. “Take care.”
I wonder how different her paws will be compared to her teacher’s talons.
He eyed Nina’s paws. Like her teacher before her, she was barefoot and her paws looked pampered, as if they had just gotten out of a pedicure. He didn’t know if it was because felines liked to groom themselves or if her occupation required her to have her paws clean since they were her massaging tools.
I better leave that question for myself.
“I’ll start with some prodding,” Nina lifted a paw with spread toes and rested it on the center on his back. He gasped when she made contact with it. The paw was soft, especially with the pads.
“What’s the matter?” Nina’s paw moved up as her toes keep spreading and clenching, kneading his flesh and fur. “Did my sensei/sifu pressed a pressure point to increase your back sensitivity before I started massaging you?”
“No,” Carel moaned as Nina stopped the massage to let him answer. “She only pressed one pressure point to prevent sexual pleasure from what I understood. This moaning is enjoyment from the massage you’re giving me.”
“Oh, how sweet,” Nina cooed as she tilted her paw, resting her heel and grinding it on Carel’s back to get rid of a knot, eliciting a yelp from him. “Since I’m getting that job, how about we get to know each other better.”
Can’t really say no to her when I pretty much admitted I liked her massage with that moaning. Besides, I’ve been tense for a while. These kind of massages would suit me.
“My name is Carel,” the coyote answered. “I’m 24 years old and I have a Master’s degree in Biology, but I never got a job in my life. Fortunately, I’m a sports and martial arts fan. A friend of mine moved out of town and he sold me his gym so now I’m managing it. I’m looking for sports masseuses to make my gym more profitable. What’s your story?”
Nina smiled, stopping her massage as she brought two bars that she placed in between Carel’s sides. Grabbing onto the bars to stand above Carel, Nina placed her heels on his back, rubbing from the bottom to the top and then using her paw pads to rub from the top to the bottom.
“My name is Nina,” the jaguar replied. “I’m 27 years old and I have a Master’s degree in Biology, but I plan on getting a doctorate. I got an ashiatsu massage from Yu Ame a while ago and that inspired me to become a sports masseuse. After getting my license in college, I had Yu Ame teach me the secrets of Hitsume Ashiatsu. It took a while, but I learned, and now she got me this job interview, which is my final test.”
A chill spread across Carel’s body despite the warm paws on his back. “Nina,” he dared to talk. “If you can do Hitsume Ashiatsu, does that mean that you can do all of those stuff that Yu Ame Tai can do? Does that mean that you’re a…”?
“Oh, hell no!” Nina’s toes clenched around his shoulders, prickling them with unsheathed claws. “Yu Ame and her family have been clean of the assassin business for generations. They only practice the techniques out of tradition because they’re the thing that got them out of slavery from a corrupt warlord.”
“What about the students?” Carel asked, curiosity getting the better of him. “I’m sure you’re not her only student and I think that her mother and ancestors must have trained other students before you. Wouldn’t that make a cult or something? I mean…OW!”
Nina’s claws once again clamped on his shoulders. “We prefer to be called a sisterhood or sorority,” she corrected firmly as her toes unclenched, releasing their clawed vice on him. “And no, none of us are insane or murderers. Yu Ame Tai only trains those with pure heart.”
I doubt anyone with pure heart would have prickled my shoulders like that twice.
“Are there any other members in your sorority?” Carel asked, trying to make up for insulting her sisters by finding out more about her. He didn’t get an answer other than Nina silently nudging his arms into an eagle spread position with her paws.
“One of them is a lemur who knows capoeira,” Nina finally answered as she spread her legs in a split position so that her paws could massage Carel’s arms. “She was always a dancer, and that’s why she chose capoeira as her support martial art.”
“What’s a support martial art?” Carel asked, his interest piqued when martial arts were brought into the conversation.
“Hitsume Ashiatsu is an assassination art that combines ashiatsu massage, ninjutsu, and crane style kung fu,” Nina explained as she slowly glided her paws over Carel’s arms by pulling her legs together until those paws were resting on his neck. “However, some students don’t have the necessary anatomy to pull it off so they use a support martial art that complements their anatomy instead.”
“How does capoeira complement your lemur friend?” Carel grunted as Nina’s paws pressed into his neck. “Lemurs are arboreal animals,” Nina grinded her paws into Carel’s neck, satisfied to hear some cracks from some vertebrae. “Their feet resemble hands and are perfect for grappling. With capoeira, each kick gives you a perfect chance for stroking your client’s body.”
“That’s a good way to incorporate martial arts into massage,” Carel sighed as Nina stepped away from his well-trampled neck. “What style do you use?”
“I use taekwondo,” Nina took a break to look at her client. “Felines have great flexibility and agility. Taekwondo is mostly high kicks and jump kicks, perfectly complementary for my ashiatsu massage. What style of martial arts do you practice?”
“I use a mixture of boxing, pro-wrestling, karate, and Brazilian jujitsu,” Carel turned his head to look at the jaguar. “I am also learning a bit of kickboxing from a friend of the guy who sold me the gym.”
Nina gave Carel a look. Carel stared back. A silence spread between the two of them. It was broken when Nina’s toes clenched around one of Carel’s ears and twisted.
“Ouch!” Carel yelped at the pain that was spreading on the side of his head. “What are you doing, Nina?”
“Quit your bullshitting!” Nina glared at him. “There’s no way you know five martial arts with your build.”
“I only took one year of karate and Brazilian jujitsu, my style of boxing and pro-wrestling is self-taught, and my kickboxing lessons are three times a week,” Carel answered immediately, grabbing Nina by the ankle and breaking her hold on his ear. “I never said I was this super badass just because I practiced these styles, Nina.”
“You shouldn’t even advertise them if you don’t master them either,” Nina’s other foot came to his face. This time around, it was to rub the ear rather than twist it. To Carel’s surprise, it was a pleasant experience.
“Well, you shouldn’t attack your client like that either,” Carel lectured. “I’m gonna be your boss as well so you might as well get a bit of work ethic.”
“You’re lucky I’m not the mare who trains here,” Nina stopped the ear rubbing. “She’s a kickboxer, hates liars, and her hooves give a mean stomping. I can’t count the number of times how many of my sisters have left the dojo with a sore back because of one missed step.”
“Why is a horse giving an ashiatsu massage?” Carel asked. “Don’t you need toes to reach some places?”
“Well, she’s very insistent that the necessary pressure can solve the problem so she uses trampling and stomping techniques,” Nina’s paw rested on Carel’s head, playfully rubbing his head. “That being said, she’s the best fighter out of all us since she trained in kickboxing long before she was into massaging.”
Note to self: Don’t piss off any mare in this place.
“There’s also an eagle who’s one of the oldest students,” Nina trailed off as one of her paw slowly slid to Carel’s cheek. His face blushed when the paw made contact with his cheek.
“What can you tell me about her?” Carel asked, trying to get the sensation of her soft pads on his face.
“Since she’s an avian, it’s easier for her to use the original Hitsume Ashiatsu, so she doesn’t need a support martial art,” Nina explained with a hint of envy. “And the lucky bitch has a naga boyfriend.”
An eagle and a snake, that’s kind of a forbidden love.
“A naga, you say?” Carel exclaimed, trying to sound surprised as he attempted to moved his head away from Nina’s paw. His choice of words only got the jaguar to push his head into the ground as she kept talking over him.
“Yes, a naga,” Nina rolled her eyes. “She brags about him knowing Brazilian jujitsu so maybe you can get something out of her. But you’ll have to put up with them talking about their love life. Do you know that she loves to talk about how much she loves choking him with her talons? Who the hell wants to hear about that?”
Nina looked down at her paws and noticed that one of them was covered Carel’s snout. She yelped in surprised and stepped away, giving the coyote some much needed air.
“I’m so sorry!” Nina cried out. “I didn’t know I was doing that! I should have known better! You’re my client!”
“No!” Carel held a hand to stop her. “A client is supposed to tell when the service is unacceptable. I should have told you, but I didn’t do so. That was on me. Besides, a boss has to take responsibilities for the mistakes of his employees.”
Nina’s eyes widened. “Are you saying…?”
“I want you on my gym,” Carel offered a hand to her. “And I’d like to come back to meet your sisters. Some of them can work as masseuses, but I think some of them can be more like that if what you said about the lemur, the mare, and the eagle is true.”
“I’d be honored to work with you, boss,” Nina smiled as she shook his hands.
Carel and Drega were outside of the building. Yu Ame and Nina were facing them in opposite directions.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Yu Ame Tai,” Carel bowed to the crane. “I enjoyed the massage you and your student gave me.”
“Come back if you ever need one,” Yu Ame smiled. “Nina is one of my many students in this dojo. Once you’re ready, I can show you what a true massage feels like.”
“You really want to know how that feels like, little brother,” Drega winked, causing Nina and Carel to groan in disgust when he saw the flirty look Yu Ame threw at him.
“Here is the paperwork for my transaction,” Nina gave Carel a stack of papers. “The sooner you get it finished the sooner you’ll be having me working for you.”
“I’ll finish it quickly,” he promised before turning away from her. “Let’s go, Drega.”
“Okay,” Drega nodded at the ladies as he followed after his younger brother. Much to his surprise, Carel had a pen and was already doing the paperwork.
“I’m getting it out of the way,” Carel shrugged his shoulders as he read some lines. There were the standard legal procedures and other vague terms like “compensations” and “redemption” through certain sacred rituals.
“You got a crush on that jaguar chick?” Drega smiled.
“I don’t get a crush on Nina,” Carel growled. He felt something beneath his fingers. It was a note with neat handwriting.
I want to apologize for the accidental paw choking. As your masseuse, it was my responsibility to give you the best massage and I failed at that. However, you said that the client also holds responsibility. And I do remember a certain heat under my paw while I was talking. You like my paws, don’t you, boss? I can’t prove it, but I will show it with my massages. I know that deep down you and I will definitely love our working relationship.
Best regards, Nina
A blush spread on Carel’s face as he neatly folded Nina’s note and hid it in his pants. The note and its contents were ignored when a thought came into his mind.
She likes me. She knows my fetish and yet she likes me.
A smile formed on Carel’s lips as he continued his paperwork. This woman was definitely working on his gym!
A story telling the first meeting between Carel and Nina as well as the first ashiatsu massage he got from her. It also tells the first appearances of Yu Ame Tai and Drega, Carel's older brother.
