Story: UY First Impressions

 

Something about this girl didn't quite sit right with Kurama, but she couldn't quite place it. She was an ordinary human. Wealthy, by their piddly standards. Struck her as the sort that's spoiled rotten. Used to getting their way and thumbing their nose at societal conventions. Sort of like her brother, but there was this different air about her that made her a lot less annoying yet a lot more threatening.

Nonetheless, she sat down to enjoy some tea. This was still better company than that boy, by light years. She was desperately in need of some time to destress here, and so she let her guard down just for a little bit.

"As you have just heard, my name is Ryoko Mendo," the girl said. "I am the younger sister of that fool Shutaro. I apologise for his antics."

"No, no, it's not that bad at all!" Ran said. You barely had to interact with him! Kuruma bit her tongue, held back from saying that. "He seemed... nice enough. I suppose."

"Indeed, nice," Ryoko continued. "Regrettably, he is in search of... a harem. A group of women that love, cherish, and share him and only him. A typical fantasy for a man. How immature, how gauche, how... Foolish. He's so wealthy he could throw money at the problem, yet he insists on trying to woo woman with the malignant tumour he calls 'personality'."

"Huh... You'd have to be someone special to have a bunch of chicks after you like that," Ryuunosuke said. A girl who was so manly and pretty that she could likely have such a harem with a snap of her fingers. "I just can't see it."

"Indeed, it usually takes power, money, and influence to make such things happen," Ryoko said. "Historically, the notion of such a polyamorous relationship far too often results in an unhealthy mix of emotions towards one another. Jealousy, envy, paranoia, a genuine fear that you will be kicked out... It takes remarkable mutual trust to maintain, and trust is so easily lost and so hard to gain."

They all sipped at their tea for a minute. Not bad. Kurama could tell, this was fairly high quality, for Earth. She could likely have something more suited to her tastes easily made, but since she was half human it served her palette well enough.

"Well, it's been nice speaking with you, Miss Ryoko," Kurama said, feeling much better already. "Unfortunately, we have other matters to attend to. I hope you understand."

"Please wait," Ryoko said. "You see, I have something of a competitive streak with my brother. I enjoy putting him in his place every so often. Reminding him that he is unworthy of the Mendo family name."

"Tee hee, I fail to see how that's any of our busi~iness," Ran sang along.

"It's a simple, harmless little joke, and it could certainly help all of you out as well," Ryoko smiled, and it had the same effect on Kurama as though she'd seen a samurai unsheath his sword. What was this tension she was suddenly feeling? "For you, Miss Ryu. It would be an excellent opportunity to learn how to behave more like a woman."

"Huh? Sounds alright by me, then..."

"For you, Miss Ran. It would offer you an opportunity to have your revenge upon Lum from a most unusual angle."

"Oh! Hahaha! Why, that doesn't sound like something I'd <i>absolutely crave</i>, but please do tell me more anyway."

"And for you, Miss Kurama, it would help educate you on the methods that are most effective in seducing a human male."

Begrudgingly, that did sound a little interesting. This Ryoko certainly did have a silver tongue, didn't she? Very well. She'd stay seated for now and listen to what she had to say. 

"It's not a complicated matter at all," Ryoko said. She snapped her fingers, and a group of servants - all female - strolled into the room carrying some rather flimsy looking attire. "My brother wants to build a harem of pretty girls. So I'll put him in his place by building <i>my own</i> harem, and rubbing his nose in it. Naturally, you wouldn't actually be my harem, merely pretending. It would be perfect. Total humiliation. Don't you think?"

Weirdly, that did sound... reasonable? Yet Kurama couldn't help but feel it shouldn't. Was this because Ryoko was so skillfully persuasive? There were some fairly obvious holes in her logic, but for some reason when Kurama tried to focus on them, her mind went a little... funny. Like she was getting distracted by the pretty dresses.

"Please, drink your tea Miss Kurama," Ryoko said, tipping the cup up to her mouth. "You don't have to agree right away, of course... But I suspect, in short notice, you will come around to my idea."

Huh...? The tea? Wait a minute. The tea? Kurama turned to watch the others, and noticed that both Ran and Ryu were also supping from their cup, and their eyes looked oddly glazed over. Staring at the outfits held out to them with rapt attention. While Ryoko's cup, even though it looked like she'd been drinking from it, was actually still completely full!

A devious smile crept across the rich girl's face, and bars shot down across the door and window. "Join my harem," Ryoko commanded. "Just for a little while. I promise, it'll be good, clean fun."

"Yes..." Ran muttered, unfastening her dress. "Join your harem."

"What's the harm?" Ryu asked, whipping her shirt over her head. "Join the harem..."

Oh hell! This is exactly what she didn't need right now! Kurama tried standing up, but found her legs feeling heavy. Ryoko Mendo! You troublemaker!

"Now, now, there's no need to panic," Ryoko said, looming over her with a dark smile on her face. "It'll all be over soon."

<hr>

"I have never been so happy to lose a contest in my entire life," Lum said while very obviously staring at Shinobu bent over, using her feather duster to wipe out dust from the corner of the room. There could be no question of it, she was doing this on purpose. Putting on as much of a show as humanly possible. "It's kinda weird that your father isn't here enjoying it as well, Darling."

"Yeah, well, my Dad's kinda weird like that," Ataru shrugged. "Maybe he didn't wanna drool over one of his future daughter in laws, but whatever. More fun for us, right?"

Yep, the reason why didn't matter. All that did matter was that Shinobu was standing in front of them wearing that skimpy outfit, deliberately showing it off for them. It was still a bit unusual to him that his mother wasn't raising any issues, but, alas, Ataru also knew that this time would be fleeting.

"We need to figure out a way to make this permanent," he announced.

"Good luck with that, my parents are already not too happy about this whole 'alien contest' thing," Shinobu said. "It's just a good thing they haven't seen what I'm wearing, can you even imagine?"

Yeah, that was true enough. Still, the fact that this would only be for a short time was a crime against humanity and decency. It had to be made a more permanent fixture of their household. But how...?

"Lum, do you have any wacky gadgets that would let you convince her parents?" Ataru asked. Ever hopeful, not thinking of potential consequences or ramifications. Alas, alack, he was quite the perpetual bad influence, because now he had Lum's mind turning on the matter, and from the expression on her face it seemed likely she'd thought of something.