Story: UY Destiny Temps

Looking at herself in a mirror, Ryoko felt more powerful than she'd ever felt in her life. That was quite the statement - she wielded a lot of power as it was already. Although, that power was financial. Societal. Now, wearing this remarkably sexy harem costume, she felt physically strong too. A gesture from her hand, and she was able to levitate a small object at a distance. A thrust from her hips, and she could manipulate something larger. Engage in proper bellydancing, and she could control multiple objects with her will alone.

The costume itself was remarkably revealing. It was green, to suit the colour of money. Indeed, it almost looked like someone had grabbed a bunch of high denomination notes, pinned them together and crafted a costume from them. It flattered her breasts, leaving a healthy amount of cleavage, made no effort at all to cover her waist. A single line of 'notes' hung around her hips, and from that a stream of 'notes' three wide hung down from it front and back, meaning quite a lot of leg was being put on display no matter how she moved.

It was unquestionably sexy, erotic, but at the same time oddly empowering. Because she knew full well that she could take this off any time she wanted. The choice was hers to wear it. Embrace all the powers it came with. In exchange for which, she had to do what she already wanted to do - Have sex with Ataru Moroboshi regularly.

According to the research being done on these costumes, that was the most efficient way to 'recharge' them. Although it would also be sufficient to dance for him. For his amusement, for his pleasure. Kiss him, let him grope you, his arousal towards you specifically will charge your costume. Remarkable. Truly remarkable. Of course, it had been told to her as a warning, but she didn't hear it that way at all.

Apparently, the costume also wants to be recharged, and will encourage the wearer to do so when it runs low on power. How amusing. It did sound like this discovery would be a major breakthrough for their science division. Oh, but not just theirs, because another cute rich girl had entered the room wearing her own harem outfit.

"Hello Asuka, you look delicious enough to eat," Ryoko said, striding across the room while drinking in Asuka's harem outfit. Oh, how delightful. Hers was black from head to toe. Her bra looped around her neck rather than hanging off her shoulders, and while she was wearing trousers they were mostly translucent, showing off the skimpy g-string she was wearing underneath without any trouble. Asuka lifted the veil off her mouth and smiled at Ryoko, albeit nervously.

"Thank you, big sister Ryoko," Asuka said. She whirled around in place, causing a gust of wind that was disproportionate to how fast she was moving. "It feels quite wonderful having our research teams cooperate like this, for a change."

Indeed, that had surprised many of them. A collaboration between these two houses, at this level? Well, it was something they would have to get used to going forward. After all, once they had solidified their control over their family's respective resources, there would no longer be a Mendo or Mizunokōji house. There would be a Moroboshi house, which would have direct control over a quarter of Japan's economy.

But that was for later. Much later. Although their families had separately concluded that their eldest sons were, frankly, incompetent and that their daughters would be better suited to running the family, that decision could change if they learned what they were planning too soon. They had to be careful. Cautious. They couldn't reveal the truth to their researchers, nor give any indication about their true plans. Not until the power was fully solidified under them.

In the meantime, it was about time for them to deal with their two guests. Ryoko tapped a button on a console, and an image of the next room over came up. Shinobu Miyake and Ryuunosuke Fujinami. Clad in their, let us call it civilian guise. Honestly now, Ryoko much preferred them in their harem gear. It looked so much more... them.

"Come along, Asuka," Ryoko said. "We simply must help those poor dears learn their rightful place in Lord Moroboshi's harem. Within the hour, they shall be fully fledged members of it - and shall join us as harem sisters of their own volition."

"Um, is it really their own volition if we're going to brainwash them into it?" Asuka asked.

"Oh, my beloved naive girl," Ryoko tutted. "If you take that line of logic, then nobody ever truly does anything of their own volition. After all, where do you put the line for 'brainwashing'? Is talking to someone brainwashing? Laying out your points in a logical and consistent manner?"

"I suppose..." Asuka tilted her head cutely, trying to wrap her head around the idea. "I am thinking about this too much, aren't I? Let's just go in there and break them already."

Perfectly stated, Ryoko thought. The two of them snapped their fingers and returned to their own 'civilian attire'. Soon enough, those two would break as surely as the two rich girls had. Their status didn't matter. Their lack of wealth was inconsequential. They were both extremely cute girls, and that was all that mattered when it came to the matter of joining Lord Moroboshi's harem.

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Shinobu paced back and forth in the room impatiently, eager to hear what came out of this. It was a really lucky thing that they'd run into Ryoko and Asuka like this. If anyone could figure out a way to deal with these slutty costumes, trying to tempt her into having a harem relationship with her ex-boyfriend and a bunch of other girls they happened to know, it would surely be Ryoko Mendo, who was well known for using and exploiting every psychological weakness she could find to - 

Oh dear lord above she'd made a terrible mistake. Unfortunately, she didn't have the time to properly digest that fact before the door opened, and in walked Ryoko and Asuka, a grim expression on their faces.

"What did you find?" Shinobu asked. She swallowed nervously. Okay. If it was Asuka too, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. The two rich girls looked to one another, and Asuka bit her lip before suddenly rushing in to embrace Shinobu in a great big hug.

"I'm so sorry!" Asuka said. Ah! For a moment there Shinobu thought her spine would be snapped from a hug like this from Asuka, who is not exactly known for gentleness. Nonetheless, this was a surprising amount of self control for her. "It's worse than you thought!"

"Now, now, Asuka. That's no way to break bad news," Ryoko tutted. "All you're going to do is frighten them, make them think it's worse than it actually is."

"Oy, quit dancing around it, spill the beans already!" Ryuunosuke huffed. As always, not in the mood to put up with nonsense. "Is it safe for me to wear that thing or not?"

"Physically, yes. You're perfectly safe," Ryoko said. "Psychologically, that's another matter entirely. Based on what our researchers have informed us, these costumes have a certain addictive property to them. Once you use them, you'll want to use them more, and more, and more. That's why you kept on noticing things that needed your help. They were already there, and you were psychologically primed to make use of the costume to help out."

That... made a strange amount of sense. Maybe Ryoko was being genuine here?

"So what do you suggest we do?" Shinobu asked "Should we try going cold turkey?"

"Heavens no," Ryoko immediately interrupted. "That often comes with quite nasty side effects. Withdrawal symptoms are nothing to sneeze at, and that is no less true here than it is elsewhere."

Withdrawal symptoms...? Shinobu didn't think she was experiencing any.

"Apparently it'll start with your skin itching," Asuka said. "I mean, really badly. You'll feel hot and flushed and queasy. You'll just want to sort of... move your body, until you simply cannot stop yourself..."

It was funny. As Asuka was talking, Shinobu was kind of starting to feel that herself. Her skin did feel really itchy all of a sudden, as though someone had snuck itching powder inside her clothes. Also, was it her imagination or was the temperature of the room much higher than it had been earlier? The thermometer on the wall was showing a normal temperature though, and - And both she and Ryuunosuke were sweating buckets while the rich girls were looking cool as cucumbers.

"Oh dear, you don't look so good," Ryoko said. She leaned in and pressed the back of her hand to Ryuunosuke's forehead. "This is it. The withdrawal symptoms I was talking about."

"Please! For the sake of your own health, change clothes right away!" Asuka pleaded, and Shinobu couldn't help herself anymore.

"Harem Sparkle Change!" both Shinobu and Ryuunosuke called out, unable to take it anymore, the rush of power flowing into them, both of them unable to hold back an erotic whimper from the sheer overwhelming sensation. It was wonderful, it was magical, it was absolutely glorious! Oh yeah, she could definitely, absolutely see what they meant by addictive!

"That's right, let it out of your systems," Ryoko said. "Very good. Very good, indeed... Now, with your permission, our researchers would like to perform a few simple tests to better understand the nature of your costumes. Come with us, please. Don't be shy."

Ah... Suddenly things made a bit more sense. Ryoko was trying to manipulate them into helping her find out more about these costumes. No doubt, she was trying to avoid falling into Ataru's harem, the way that she and Ryuunosuke were... Even now she could hear the costume whispering in the back of her mind, that she had to find Ataru, had to dance for Ataru, and the more those voices whispered, the better an idea it sounded.

She could only hope that Asuka kept Ryoko honest. Otherwise, there was an excellent chance that within the hour she'd start to think that joining Master Ataru's harem would be a wonderful, superb idea.