Now that Amalla’s servants had arrived to help out with the everyday chores and maintenance issues at Hinata House, things were starting to become less worrisome around the dorms. While there was still the issue regarding some kind of cure or antidote for Kaolla’s experimental growth hormone, at the very least the Hinata women no longer needed to worry about Keitaro obsessing over daily chores and tasks, especially with his recent bullet wound to the gut.
From the perspective of the Su sisters, having the servants to manage chores and tasks also freed up time to put the harem plan into full swing now. All it would take would be to get the most obstinate women in the group to sign onto it, and both Kaolla and Amalla were in agreement that Naru would be the hardest nut to crack out of all of them. The good news was that once Naru changed her tune, the others would most likely follow suit once it was made official that Naru was willing to share her lover with others. There was some speculation as to whether or not Haruka, Mei, and Sarah would tag along or not, given their own specific situations, but Amalla was confident enough that she could help bring out whatever feelings of attraction they felt for Keitaro in the coming days.
Amalla was also ecstatic to find out that Motoko was officially on board with the harem plan, after Kaolla whispered the revelation into her older sister’s ear as they walked down the hallway towards the common room (just far enough behind Keitaro that he couldn't make out what they were saying to one another). Of course, Amalla had a hunch that the younger Aoyama sister was already smitten with Keitaro, given that the older Su sister was pretty much a natural when it came to ‘reading’ people. It was a talent which she had developed since her early childhood years.
So as the situation currently stood, the Hinata women were divided into three main groups, given the private breakdown of each prospective harem candidate:
Pro-harem: Amalla, Kaolla, Motoko, Tsuruko, Kanako
Harem Leaning: Shinobu, Mutsumi, Kitsune, Nyamo
Anti-harem or Reluctant: Naru, Sarah, Mei, Haruka
“Of course, I’m not taking no for an answer in the end,” said Amalla to her sister. “I certainly don’t mind a challenge. Some nuts may be harder to crack than others, but in the end, the outcome WILL be the same.” Amalla was dead-set on this course of events.
“You’ve become more eager about this than I thought you would be initially,” smirked Kaolla as the pair of them walked behind Keitaro. “I figured, given that you already have a harem back home, that you wouldn’t really have a need for any more lovers.”
“Don’t get me wrong, little sister,” replied Amalla, “Lamba is my king and husband, and I will always love him until my dying day. The same goes for the other ladies in the royal harem back home. To me, they are all my darlings and I treasure them all dearly. I’m simply a girl with a big heart who has so much love to give. The way I see it, why not share that love and tenderness with people whom I’ve come to care for, including here at Hinata?”
“Some might perceive you as something of an ‘ethical slut’ as the saying goes…that you’re too loose and free-spirited when it comes to matters of love and romance,” explained Kaolla to her older sister’s description of her own love life.
“Those people are free to have whatever opinion they like about me,” Amalla calmly replied back to her sister. “If I obsessed over what other people thought about me and what I want in life, I’d probably end up becoming some kind of neurotic wreck of a person. I know that some people will judge me as some kind of ‘whore with standards’ or whatever term they like to use. They’re entitled to their opinion of me, but that’s where the line is drawn as far as I’m concerned. I’m not required to change my behavior simply because they don’t approve of it. My tastes don’t harm anyone…well aside from the occasional soreness in bed the morning after.” Both Su sisters chuckled at Amalla’s insinuation.
“As far as I’m concerned,” finished Amalla, “as long as it’s an honest and caring relationship between consenting individuals, then I don’t see anything wrong with a big group love session, whether you specifically refer to it as a harem, an orgy, an ‘open relationship,’ a ‘gang bang,’ or whatever other term people use these days. Of course, there are concerns about the ages of those involved in said relationship and all, for legal as well as moral reasons.”
“The age of consent in Japan is thirteen years old,” Kaolla responded [*look it up for those of you who don’t believe me]. “So as far as forming a harem here at Hinata goes, there are no legal obstacles regarding that part of the equation. Even so, Keitaro would almost assuredly be against the idea of pursuing a romantic relationship with the younger girls, in particular Nyamo, Sarah, and especially Mei, given the difference in age between them and Keitaro. In his mind, hooking up with someone who is eight years younger than him would be taboo.”
“Well, when you put it that way,” responded Amalla, “that might be an even bigger obstacle than getting Naru to change her mind to the harem plan. Any ideas on how we rectify Keitaro’s reluctance in hooking up with the younger girls?”
“Way ahead of you, big sis,” Kaolla replied with a smirk. “I’ll give you more details later on, but the short-hand answer to that little dilemma is in those pills we took earlier.”
“You mean that countermeasure that’s supposed to slow down our rate of growth?” inquired Amalla.
“The one and the same,” clarified Kaolla. “While those pills ARE intended to do that, there are some other things which they should also do to us in the coming days, at least if I got the chemical formula right. Within a few days, Keitaro will be looking at girls like Sarah, Nyamo, and Mei a whole lot differently, given what the pills should accomplish by then.”
“You crafty little devil, you,” grinned Amalla. “You really are an evil genius sometimes, you know?”
“Hey, sometimes I still dream about taking over the world every now and then,” Kaolla clapped back with her own snarky response. “Though not necessarily in the way some may think. If I were to dominate the planet, I would simply run the world behind the scenes rather than declare myself ruler of the planet like some mad demagogue. In my opinion, it’s better to be a de facto ruler than a de jure ruler, because people understand which one of those two holds ACTUAL power. But enough about my occasional daydreams, dear sister. We should really get back to solidifying this harem. Oh, there’s one other thing I’d like to get started on, and for that we’re going to need assistance from some of the servants.”
“And what, pray tell, would this ‘other thing’ be, dear sister?” inquired Amalla.
“I’ll explain in further detail later. Short answer: It involves the old annex building nearby,” answered Kaolla.
“Well now, you’ve certainly piqued my interest, dear sister. Very well then, I’ll hold off on any further questioning, for now anyway. I have my own projects to tend to.” And with that the Su sisters (along with Keitaro) had made their way back to the common room. Once it was official that Keitaro was in good health and good spirit - despite spending quite some time in the bathroom - the Hinata ladies went their separate ways and split up to tend to their specific tasks.
Deciding to hone their sword skills, both Motoko and Tsuruko headed to the backyard for a friendly sparring match. Given the altercation in the marketplace the other day, the Aoyama sisters felt that they needed to always be at the ready whenever the situation demanded their attention and swift action.
Each woman stood poised and alert, holding her sword in both hands as they prepared their opening stances. Motoko chose chudan-no-kamae, whereas Tsuruko chose hasso-no-kamae.
[*Feel free to look up these sword stances for those who are curious as to what they look like. It saves time on describing them.]
After a moment’s pause, Motoko initiated the first move, diving straight for her sister with her sword raised over her head. Tsuruko responded in kind by holding her own sword over her head running parallel with her shoulders, blocking Motoko’s sword a second later. The two locked swords for a moment before leaping back and grounding their stances once more.
“Your footwork has improved since the last time we’ve dueled, dear Motoko,” said Tsuruko with a grin. “You’ve learned to widen your stance more often.”
“You flatter me with your observation, dear sister,” replied Motoko with her own grin.
A second later, Tsuruko charged forward, swinging her katana in a perfectly horizontal swiping motion. Instead of blocking, Motoko leapt up as far as she could, her mighty legs bringing her up several feet into the air, with Tsuruko’s blade whooshing by, missing Motoko’s legs by inches. As Motoko began her descent, she swung her blade in a downward motion. In response, Tsuruko barrel-rolled to her left, Motoko’s blade missing her in turn.
The whole song and dance went like this for the span of a good twenty minutes or so. Sometimes the swords clashed with one another. Other times, one sister or the other would side-step, leap back, barrel-roll, change footing, or use any other conceivable method of dodging and evasion during the sparring match.
“Well now, Motoko,” said Tsuruko who (surprisingly enough) was beginning to pant, “you’ve improved more than I initially believed you would have. I’m as proud as I am envious of your progress.”
“I’ve had a good teacher to guide and instruct me,” said Motoko, also panting with equal gusto. The compliment wasn’t lost on Tsuruko, who cracked a grin at her younger sister’s declaration.
“Well, while it pains me to say so, I’m getting a little winded by this point. I really DO need the extra practice apparently. What say we take a quick snack break before resuming our training?” asked Tsuruko.
“Sure,” replied Motoko. “I could certainly use a tall glass of water at the very least. Maybe an apple or a few grapes to eat too, especially now that groceries aren’t a concern for the foreseeable future.”
With that, the Aoyama sisters made their way back inside Hinata House for a quick break in their training regimen. One thing they didn’t realize was that they were being watched the entire time they were training in the backyard.
On the upper deck, Amalla was watching the sisters train with their brand new swords gifted to them by Kaolla. The entire time, Amalla quietly watched the practice match between the pair, enjoying every second of the duel. Everything was so damn tantalizingly delectible to watch: The way their bosoms swayed as they moved about, the muscular definition in their thighs, calves, biceps, and abdomens as they swung and clashed their swords, the beads of sweat forming and shining along all that bare skin. The sight of it left Amalla as impressed as she was turned on. It was that combination of raw power mixed with beguiling feminine charm which had Amalla instinctively pressing her fingers against her crotch (over her spandex short shorts fortunately, lest Amalla start pleasuring herself outright there and then). Keeping her libido in check, Amalla soon enough made her way back inside Hinata House as well, looking for somebody else to check up on as she fluttered her way through the dormitories.
Before making her way inside the building, something out of the corner of Amalla’s eye caught her attention. Up on the balcony level where she stood, Amalla came upon a small wooden tub of sorts, big enough to fit one person (maybe two if they were crammed into it). It came attached with a portable heating unit which Amalla assumed was intended to heat the water within the tub. No doubt this was a personal hot tub meant to seat one person at a time.
In previous correspondences with Kaolla, Amalla recalled that this hot tub was reserved for Keitaro. Since Hinata House was a dormitory reserved for female residents, the reality of having a male dorm manager put Keitaro in a bit of a bind. While he had his own personal bathroom with a shower unit, Keitaro was more or less banned from using the hot springs himself, unless it was one hundred percent guaranteed that nobody else would be in the hot springs for a good hour or more.
Of course, over the months since Keitaro arrived at Hinata House and formed the close bonds he had with the tenants, most of the women didn’t begrudge Keitaro wanting to use the hot springs if he so desired. Even Naru started warming up to the idea of Keitaro joining them in the baths, at least once after the two became an official couple. Where once back in the day Naru would have knocked Keitaro’s lights out for entering the baths when any of the ladies were occupying them, she had softened her approach and become more open to him using them by this point.
However, what should also be remembered was that Keitaro was very old-fashioned in his view of mixed bathing, in that he believed he shouldn’t entertain the notion of doing so. Such was simply a part of his nature and what he believed was proper behavior as a gentleman, just like his sense of fidelity and staying loyal to Naru. While these character traits were something that Amalla certainly respected and admired in Keitaro, they were proving to be thorns in the side of the harem plan being successfully implemented.
In short, so long as this private hot tub remained where it was, there was virtually no chance of Keitaro using the dorm’s main hot springs, at least not if the hot springs were occupied by a female. And in Amalla’s mind, that simply wasn’t going to do.
“Hmmm…can’t have you up here any longer,” muttered Amalla to the personal hot tub, “though I’d rather not break you down and have you turned into firewood. I think I know what to do.”
A moment later, Amalla pulled up her wrist and pressed a few buttons on a rather high-tech bracelet she was wearing. After a brief ringing sound emanated off of the bracelet (like that of a telephone), a voice sounded off in response.
“Yes, Your Majesty?” asked a mature male voice.
“Malik,” replied Amalla, “are you in the middle of something right now?”
“For you, my lady, I am always at the ready,” answered Malik.
“Well then,” continued Amalla with a smile, “could you please meet me up top on the upper balcony in the backyard? It’s the one overlooking the hot springs. You might want to bring an extra staff member or two along with you…and some power tools as well. I have a little assignment for you to complete by sundown today.”
“Yes, at once, Your Majesty,” replied Malik with the utmost conviction.
And with that, the line on Amalla’s comms bracelet went dead and silence resumed once more. Happy that a minor nuisance to the harem plan had been dealt with, Amalla made her way back inside, scraping her head across the door frame as she entered.
“Hmm,” grumbled Amalla, “that’s going to take some getting used to. Sometimes it ain’t easy being big.”
Meanwhile…
“Rgh…sonuva…” muttered Kitsune as she bumped the top of her head against the doorframe of her bedroom. She had decided to return to her room to tidy up things a bit, as well as check up on something she had meant to do earlier in the week. In her haste, she had failed to gauge just how large she had become, and thus had scraped the top of her head against her door frame as a result. That was simply another reminder of just how damn BIG she and all the other Hinata women had become at this point, now all of them being over seven feet in height or greater.
‘I really hope Kaolla’s got somethin’ ta stop all of this craziness,’ thought Kitsune as she lumbered through her bedroom, her footfalls making rather distinctive thuds along the floorboards, even though Kitsune was walking normally like she always would.
‘From what little I could make out, those pills she had us take should slow down the growin’ at least a lil’ bit so we don’t end up bein’ a bunch of fifty-foot-tall women an’ all that. We’d have nowhere to sleep at that size, short of a big ole airplane hangar or a really, really, REALLY big barn. And even then, I doubt we’d be able to stand up straight in somethin’ like that if we ended up gettin’ that big an’ all. Hopefully, Kaolla should have a more permanent solution to this whole damn growin’ problem we’re all havin’ in the next day or two.’ These were Kitsune’s thoughts as she navigated her bedroom, searching for something she had lost track of a few days earlier.
You see, there were two vices which Kitsune was known for among Hinata House: drinking and gambling. The amount of beer cans and sake bottles littering her bedroom were clear indicators of the first, and the amount of betting slips and lottery tickets (many of them crumpled up) served as equal indicators of the second. It was these very vices which Kitsune had decided to address upon entering her bedroom. After the little heart-to-heart she had with Naru earlier, Kitsune wanted to make an attempt to try and curb her bad habits, or at the very least clean up after herself and toss out whatever empty cans, bottles, and old betting slips and tickets which were scattered here and there thorough her living quarters.
Besides, she was sure that Mutsumi would certainly appreciate the effort at cleanliness Kitsune was making. Though she didn’t bring it up to Kitsune (being her temporary roommate and all), the fox-eyed girl was certain that the somewhat air-headed Okinawan girl was simply too kind-hearted to bring up the overall state of Kitsune’s living quarters. Such a thing was simply part of Mutsumi’s nature.
As Kitsune started gathering bottles and beer cans and tossing them into a trash bag she brought upstairs for this very task, she couldn’t help but pause after accumulating a sizable amount of empty alcohol containers. While this was done in part to really gauge just how much booze she could put away (Kitsune could drink most men she knew in town under the table), the main reason was to really take in the increase in her size once more.
This little realization was made all too apparent as Kitsune handled a rather large sake bottle in her hand. As she held a standard 750ml bottle (also known as a “fifth” in more common parlance among regular drinkers), she couldn’t help but notice just how much smaller the object felt in her hand. Here she was holding it one-handed as if it were no more than a beer bottle to her, and a rather small one at that. Such a reminder helped hammer home the realization that she - along with ALL of the other Hinata women - was an outright amazon by this point. After all, how many women sprout up to being more than seven feet tall or higher in the span of a few days? And with bodies and breasts that have become so goddamn big and enticingly eye-catching at that?
The rate of breast growth was really something to behold after all. In the span of around forty-eight hours (by this point), the younger girls - Shinobu, Kaolla, Sarah, and Mei - had not just grown in size but had also grown substantially in breast size to boot. Kitsune would have guessed that now all of them had breasts that were equal to (if not already greater than) Mutsumi’s breast size BEFORE this little growth hormone incident. Now pretty much every woman at Hinata House had breasts that would be the envy of the vast majority of women on the planet, given that not one of them had them augmented with implants.
‘Well, I guess our boobs were sort of changed artificially an’ all because of Kaolla’s little growth hormone, in a way of lookin’ at things,’ pondered Kitsune on the state of breast size increase among the lovely ladies of Hinata. Still, the simple truth of the matter was that while Kaolla’s growth hormone may have altered every female’s breast size by enlarging them (in sheer mass and in relative cup-size), this size increase occurred within their own bodies, not with the assistance of any breast implants…it was ALL natural.
Kitsune shook her head rapidly as she quickly fought to go down the rabbit hole and dwell on breast size any longer. For as she looked down, she found herself instinctively pressing her fingers against her nether-regions (outside her short-shorts). Apparently, dwelling on the beautification and enlargement of all the Hinata women - regarding both their breasts and their bodies in their entirety - was starting to get Kitsune rather turned on all of a sudden. She raised the very hand which she was using to semi-pleasure herself and raised it to her cheek, blushing rather furiously with embarrassment at what she had subconsciously started doing.
“Am I really gettin’ turned on by what’s goin’ on?” asked Kitsune at this sudden out-of-character action she found herself engaged in. “I mean…I did a lil’ experimentin’ with girls in my younger days and all, but…I thought I grew outta that sorta thing.” Even the word “grew” brought a mild tingle along Kitsune’s spine and warmed up her nether-regions further. Apparently, just the thought of getting bigger and bigger was getting the fox-eyed girl rather hot under the collar.
“Oh, stop it now,” muttered Kitsune to her own body. While the feeling was certainly pleasurable, she felt that now was not the time to be overcome by raw, animalistic self-gratification. She had a room to clean up after all. Best to focus on the task at hand and tidy things up a bit.
After a good twenty minutes or so of rummaging through her room, Kitsune had accumulated a rather sizable amount of beer cans and liquor bottles. The trash bag she was using was filling up to near capacity by that point. As for smaller bits of trash - in particular all of the betting slips and lottery tickets she had come across (all of them non-winners, of course), Kitsune had set those aside and placed them in a small wastebasket in her room. Given the amount of money she had blown on gambling over the years, it was no real surprise that she had also accumulated a decent-sized pile of those as well. Small wonder she had asked Keitaro for money here and there, or asked for an extension on her upcoming rent payment.
On that note, Kitsune had come to a halt in her cleaning. While she was making good progress in tidying up her room, she was suddenly overtaken by a wave of sadness, and more importantly…guilt.
“Why guilt?” one might ask? In Kitsune’s case, she was reminded of the shame she had felt for taking advantage of Keitaro’s kindness…for all the times she had swindled him out of money, or simply not paid him the rent he was owed as dorm manager, or using her body to seduce and borderline blackmail him into not collecting said rent from her. Week after week, month after month, Kitsune had resorted to her feminine charm and powers of seduction to either get money out of Keitaro (rarely paying him back, if at all) or to get him to cover the cost of her rent. In Kitsune’s mind, she considered it her absolute worst character trait, even more so than the gambling and drinking (which admittedly were the two main causes as to why she felt compelled to take advantage of Keitaro when it came to money matters).
‘He’s been too good to me,’ pondered Kitsune. ‘He pretty much gives in whenever I’d ask for an extension or a delay. He’s even given me money when I already owed HIM money by that point. And yet even then, for all the times I’ve taken advantage of him, knowin’ that he wouldn’t kick me out or even LECTURE me, he STILL has it in his heart to be good to me. He’s…I…why…why is he so damn sweet on me?’ After this period of dwelling, Kitsune ended up falling onto her knees and doing something she wasn’t planning on doing that day: she cried.
Burying her face in her hands, Kitsune began sobbing at the guilt she felt over all the manipulation and underhanded tactics she had used on Keitaro up to that point. While the sense of shame had lingered for weeks up until now, by that point, it had reached a fever pitch and the floodgates couldn’t keep it in anymore. The guilt was simply too much to bear anymore. So it was that Mitsune Konno poured out genuine guilt and shame in her bedroom, with the tears streaming down her face like miniature waterfalls. At one point, it had even gotten so bad that Kitsune was initiating a mix of sobbing and hiccuping, such was the emotional turmoil she was experiencing during that period of self-reflection.
After she had poured out all of the tears she could muster and the hiccupping finally came to its end (providing a relief for Kitsune’s diaphragm surely), the fox-eyed young woman wiped her eyes and collected herself before deciding to make an act of ironclad resolution.
“I’m gonna make it up to him,” muttered Kitsune to herself. “I’ll find some way to make things right with him, for all of the shit I’ve pulled on him over all them months…all the sneaky, underhanded, low-down crap I used time an’ again to weasel my way outta things. Heaven knows he didn’t deserve it then nor does he now. I’ll ease up on the drinkin’ and the gamblin’...I swear. I’ll find some way to come up with the money I owe him for all them times in the past. I’ll find a part-time job if I hafta. Just gotta come up with somethin’ to make things right.”
It was at this point as Kitsune was gathering her thoughts and resuming her cleaning (partly to get her mind off of the guilt she was feeling) that something in her room caught her eye.
On Kitsune’s nightstand lay a lottery ticket. While she assumed this ticket to be just like one of the others which she had purchased, what stuck out about this ticket was that it was uncrumpled. Usually, whenever Kitsune checked on the status of one of the lottery tickets or betting slips she had purchased, she tended to either crumple them up or tear them up upon confirming that they were not winners. However, given that this ticket wasn’t balled up or torn to pieces, Kitsune pondered as to whether or not it was a winning ticket.
After examining the ticket in her hands, Kitsune proceeded to go online a moment later. Chances were good that the ticket wasn’t a winner, or if it was, it was most likely worth no more than what Kitsune paid for it, maybe twice the buying price if she were lucky. After examining the date she purchased it, Kitsune decided to look up the national lottery registry to see if she won anything off of the ticket. If even a few of the numbers she got matched the numbers read out at the time of the drawing, she’d make a little money at least…nothing special, but every little bit helps, right?
Upon inspection of said ticket, after scrolling through to check the date of the drawing for that game and matching up her numbers, Kitsune was planning to ball up the ticket in her fist. Surely, her luck couldn’t be that good after all, if past attempts at a win were any indicator. Just as she was about ready to do so, upon reading the winning numbers for the date of the drawing which she read, Kitsune’s breath automatically caught in her throat and her eyes (normally closed in their slit-like style) widened suddenly.
Every single number off of Kitsune’s lottery ticket matched the winning numbers of the jackpot drawing for the game she was looking up.
Kitsune nearly fell backwards and passed out from the shock of this revelation. Never in her entire life had she been so lucky as to hit the jackpot from a lottery drawing. Just for good measure, she slapped herself across the cheek as hard as she could to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. After nursing the skin across her cheek, Kitsune let the reality of the situation sink in: She had just won the jackpot in a nationwide lottery drawing. It felt so damn surreal.
After looking up the grand prize for winning the jackpot, Kitsune nearly fell back once more. She was expecting the amount to be maybe a few million yen, ten million or twenty million yen at the most. Upon finding the grand prize reward for the lottery drawing in which she was entered into, Kitsune was shocked once more by what she saw on her computer screen.
Lo and behold, the grand prize for the lottery drawing she had entered (which had yet to be claimed), was a whopping 116,000,000 yen.
[*As of this writing, 116 million yen is a little over $1,000,000 in US dollars. Felt that I needed to give the number some perspective for it to have weight.]
While Kitsune would be jumping with joy at this realization of suddenly winning so much money, she was strangely quiet and reflective at that moment. The Kitsune of the past would be daydreaming of what she would spend that money on…most likely booze, fancy clothing, or something else that was rather expensive and served as some kind of status symbol (cars, jewelry, purses, etc.). However, that was the Kitsune of old, the Kitsune before Keitaro came into her life and humbled her with his kindness and selfless behavior. Before meeting Keitaro, Kitsune would have probably blown this newfound fortune on booze and partying before pissing away every last yen in the span of a few weeks.
Now, under these newfound circumstances, the Kitsune of the present, who had been touched, won over, and fallen head-over-heels in love with Keitaro Urashima, had decided as to what she was going to do with this sudden positive turn in her fortune. Without wasting another moment, Kitsune picked up her cell phone, resting on the nightstand near her bed. After pausing for a moment and staring at just how small the phone was in her hand (again revelling at her increase in size amidst everything that was going on), Kitsune dialled the number of a contact of hers.
In this instance, the number of the person who Kitsune had dialed was her own personal bookie. While Kitsune didn’t have many people she trusted closely outside of Hinata House, this individual was somebody who she had known for many years now. The two of them went WAY back.
“Hey, Shinji?” began Kitsune. “Yeah, it’s me, sugar. [...] Yeah, I know it’s been a while. [...] Yeah, yeah, hey listen…listen…seriously, Shinji, listen to me now, will ya? [...] Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at ya. I just needed to get a word in edgewise and all. I got somethin’ big to tell ya. [...] I won. [...] That’s right, I won! [...] How much? [...] Would you believe 116 million? [...] No, I ain’t bullshittin’ ya. You think I’d call in and tell ya somethin’ like that if I was spinnin’ the yarn the whole time? How long have you known me now, Shinji? [...] I’m tellin’ ya, I’m lookin’ at the ticket in my hands right now, and all the numbers match up. [...] No, I ain’t drunk. [...] Yeah, really. [...] Look, if ya don’t believe me, I can read off the numbers right now if ya like. Far as I know, ain’t nobody went and claimed the jackpot, so it’s still up for grabs. [...] Yeah, I need ya to drop by real quick and all. [...] Today, preferably. As soon as possible and all that. [...] Yes I’m bein’ serious. [...] A few hours? [...] Could ya be a lil’ more specific? [...] Two or three? [...] Sounds good. [...] Yeah, yeah, you’ll get your cut. I’m a lot of things, but I ain’t stingy on payin’ off my bookie. You know me better than that. [...] Alright, I’ll see ya in a bit, darlin’. Just do me one lil favor when ya get here. [...] Try not to freak out when ya show up. [...] Trust me, you’ll know what I mean when ya get here. [...] Alright then, see ya then, Shinji.”
With that, Kitsune hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and planned out what her next move was going to be, given the sudden positive change regarding her financial situation. Under the circumstances, things really had taken a positive turn for her regarding her good fortune (pun intended).
“This is how I can make things right,” muttered Kitsune. “It won’t undo all the trickery and low-down crap I’ve pulled on him in the past, but I can try to turn a new leaf and make it up to him.”
The “him” in this case wasn’t too hard to discern, for those of you who have followed the story up to this point. By now, it had become rather apparent that Mitsune “Kitsune” Konno had finally fallen madly in love with one Keitaro Urashima. And now she had a means to make up for all the money which she had conned him out of for months and months. The way Kitsune read the situation, this was an opportunity to make a gesture of atonement, however minor in the grand scheme of things.
“Finally,” sighed Kitsune as she looked at the winning ticket with small tears in her eyes, “I can finally make it up to that wonderful lil man now. Just you wait, Keitaro. I’m gonna do right by you, now and til the end of my days, Sugar.”
With that, Kitsune resumed tidying up her room with renewed vigor, waiting for her bookie to drop in and help her out with the good fortune which had suddenly come her way.