Misaki and Akane excitedly soaked in the atmosphere of the crowd filling the grounds of Kyūri-sensei's sumo heya as Humiya Omoibushi the tanuki upperclasswoman led them through the throngs of female and shiyūdōtai yokai to the front with the heya's other rikishi. Today was Lottery Day! Six lucky yokai teens would be randomly selected to see America! Misaki and Akane both desperately wished they'd already had enough schooling in sumo to be eligible for the heya's slot, but they understood why Kyūri had forbidden it. It was unlikely that an American high school like Stokerville High offered any courses on sumo, so the two kitsune would have to remain in Japan until they developed some skill... and bigger bellies.
Misaki and Akane contented themselves with soaking in the colorful atmosphere. They found themselves standing between Humiya and Haia Yoshimoto, the more senior kitsune student in Kyūri's academy. Akane gaped enviously as the fat of Haia's enormous belly and breasts rippled in the breeze. Shi was gorgeous! Misaki, meanwhile, was staring straight ahead. In front of the doors to the main building of the heya's shiyūdōtai (hermaphrodite) wing was a huge chankonabe pot. Kyūri-sensei would be drawing names from that very pot to choose the exchange students! Flanking the pot were the senior tanuki students Natsuki Haratsutsumi and Yoshino Kōgan. The two tanuki sat crosslegged and drummed on their enormous potbellies, boobs, and balls, beating out traditional Japanese folk melodies.
"Aren't they beautiful?" said Maruko Futobara, one of the two freshwoman tanuki students, as shi squeezed into the front row. "I used to be that fat, before I lost so much weight after my breakup with Asuga." Maruko sighed as shi jiggled the pitiful remains of her once-massive belly.
Akane placed a comforting hand on Maruko's furry shoulder. "Don't worry, Maruko-san. You'll gain it all back. And I'll get a big belly in the first place!" Akane gestured to hir flat tummy and tiny tits. "Don't weep for the present; hope for tomorrow." Maruko nodded at the sage words.
Misaki stared at the crowd around hir. Shi'd never seen such a vast tapestry of yokai-kind before. Surrounding the heya was everything from kitsune to tanuki to tengu to inugami to bakeneko to oni to kappas. One tanuki was even carrying a pet Chōchin-obake (lantern-spook) in a birdcage. The riot of sights and sounds was overwhelming and yet intoxicating. "Look at them all, Akane!" the ex-human gasped.
"Bet you anything my sister Tamiko's here," Akane said. "She's always wanted to see America, and her school has a slot. Mark my words, she'll submit her name."
"It's an absolute CRIME my village doesn't have its own lottery slot!" Kijo Onidzuyo the oni growled as she pushed yokai out of hir path to the front row. "I guess we'll just have to make do with the free slot."
Tsubame Sorayama the tengu followed on the oni rikishi's heels, hir slightly pudgy belly wobbling a bit. "Hey, Mount Kurama, my tengu clan's home, wasn't chosen for a slot either, but you don't see me complaining."
"Maybe that's fine for a tengu," Kijo retorted, "but an oni tribe's honor is everything to—" Kijo suddenly spotted hir friend Misaki. "Oh, hello, Misaki-san! Enjoying Lottery Day?"
"Sure am!" Misaki smiled. "I'm enjoying being a kitsune, too. It's actually a bit weird to think that not very long ago, I was a human girl. This just feels so natural."
"And I'm loving being a shiyūdōtai!" Kijo grinned, yanking aside hir loincloth for a second to give Misaki a glimpse of hir uncut cock. "I didn't think I would at first, but masturbating with this thing is awesome! I can't wait to show it to my girlfriend Hōkō! Look, there she is!" Kijo waved to an amazonian red-skinned oni maiden in the crowd, who responded by blowing hir a kiss.
Shizuka Zayasu the fierce-tempered bakeneko then lithely slipped into the front row. "Sure hope I don't get chosen," shi grumbled. "It'd be wretched to have to study in a town full of humans with strange foreign customs. It's bad enough that I have to go to school with one human! Where is that little monkey, anyway?"
"You mean me?" Misaki asked reflexively.
"You?!" Shizuka repeated incredulously. "You're a kitsune now?!"
"Absolutely," Misaki smiled. "Kyūri-sensei had an old witch come down from the mountains to transform me so I could study here. I'm human no longer! So, do you... like me better now?"
Shizuka tapped hir forehead in thought. After a moment's uncertainty, hir usual scowl returned to hir feline face. "You're still a human by birth. You may as well have just changed clothes. I stand by what I said before: you'll have to prove yourself to me before we can be friends, Misaki-san."
Before Misaki could respond, two kitsune scooted in next to them holding hands. They were dressed in the grey uniform of students at the Takarazuka Music School. One skipped femininely, while the other walk with a much more masculine gait. "Hello!" the feminine one said. "I'm Yuna Hayashida, and this is my classmate Maiko Hiko. We're studying to be Takarasiennes. I'm on my way to becoming a musumeyaku, and Maiko wants to be an otokoyaku."
Maiko winked roguishly before kissing Akane and Misaki's hands. "Always happy to meet fellow kitsune. From your loincloths, I take it you're rikishi from this heya. Not to sound ignorant, but I didn't know kitsune could put on enough weight to be sumo wrestlers."
"Not normally," Akane smiled, "but Kyūri-sensei makes a magical chankonabe that can put weight on anybody, no matter their metabolism. I'm still waiting to be allowed to taste it; I'm new."
"I see," said Maiko. Shi stretched. "Feels damn good to be out of the Music School! They run that place like a military academy! Rules, rules, rules! And since it's run by humans, I don't get many opportunities to be my real, foxy self. It's great to be able to feel my dick in my underwear for a change!"
"Oh, are you a shiyūdōtai?" Misaki asked.
"I prefer the term futanari," said Maiko. "It's sexier. But yeah, that's me. Yuna's one hundred percent girl, though."
"Coming through!" shouted Hōman Harekōgan, one of the tanuki freshmen at the heya, as shi used her already huge belly to shove other yokai roughly aside. "Future sumo champion coming through!"
"Oh, hello, Hōman-san," Kijo said cheerlessly. "Here to lord it over all of us again?"
"Why so hostile, Kijo-chan?" Hōman laughed. "Afraid you won't be champion with me around?"
"Chan?!" Kijo repeated angrily. "CHAN?!! You're seriously going to disrespect me with a child's honorific?!"
"Calm down, both of you!" Haia the kitsune upperclasswoman groaned. "I'm trying to listen to the drumming."
"Besides," Humiya the tanuki added, "Kyūri-sensei's about to come out any second."
Hōman sighed. "Yes, senpai."
Kijo nodded. "We're sorry. Wholly inappropriate."
As Humiya predicted, Kyūri-sensei chose that moment to emerge from the gates, his little granddaughter Nariko scurrying excitedly around his feet. The old kappa carried a sack of pieces of paper, each one with a name written on it. As the sack didn't seem overfull, Misaki assumed it was for the heya. It only had a few students, after all.
Kyūri stood before the pot. He cleared his throat and began. "My fellow yokai, as you all know, today is the day I select the lucky students who shall participate in the exchange program I have helped set up between the Japanese and American magical communities. May it foster understanding between our cultures and breathe new life into our institutions of learning!" The crowd erupted into a massive cheer.
"Due to popular demand," Kyūri went on, "I have decided that the fairest selection method is a lottery. I have chosen three schools to partner with my heya for the first year of this exciting new program. The first is Toyoda High School, the second is Inamura High School, and the third is the Takarazuka Music School, which gets two slots (one for otokoyaku, and one for musumeyaku). But don't despair if you come from another school! I have added a free slot open to any yokai high schooler, no matter where they attend school!" Another cheer echoed through the riverbank.
Kyūri took a bite out of his cucumber before he continued. "I have six sacks of names, one for each slot. I shall dump a sack's contents into this chankonabe pot, close my eyes, and draw a piece of paper. The owner of the name written on it will be heading to Stokerville, USA, tomorrow morning! I then bring out the next sack and repeat the process. I then do this again and again until I have all six names. Now, without further ado, let us begin! First up is my very own sumo academy, Kyodainayokai-beya!"
Kyūri held the sack over the chankonabe pot and let five pieces of paper fall into it. The kappa closed his eyes and reached into the pot, fumbling for a slip of paper. Once he felt one under his strong fingers, he grabbed it and drew it out. Kyūri opened his eyes and read the name. "Aha! The exchange student for Kyodainayokai-beya is..."