Kyūri led his new pupils and their mates to the hut where Aiya Kumoyama lived. "Are you excited to receive your ceremonial topknots?" asked the kappa.
Ellie, Beck, and Kristi all nodded. "I can't wait to become a real sumo wrestler!" exclaimed Ellie. "I know I originally came here to get fat again (and I obviously still want that), but I'm genuinely excited by the idea of making this my career."
Kristi noticed Joelle trembling. Shi put a (regrettably skinny) arm around hir frightened girlfriend. "Hey, don't worry. I know you hate spiders, but Kyūri says that Aiya is really nice."
"I hope he's telling the truth," said Joelle. "The illustration in Morgana's book looked pretty damn freaky, and the text did warn that not all of them are civilized."
"We just have to take Kyūri's word," said Kristi. "He knows Aiya. We don't."
Inside the hut was what seemed to be a beautiful Japanese woman drinking tea while knitting. A closer glance revealed that this was no ordinary woman: eight spider legs grew from her back, and an arachnid abdomen jutted out from behind her. She held her teacup in her human hands, held her teapot and various platters of seasonal fruits in four of her spider legs, and used the remaining four to knit her spider silk into a garment. A jorogumo! The "woman" also appeared to have a slight bulge around the crotch of hir kimono.
The jorogumo looked up from hir knitting and grinned. "Oh, new students! Hajimemashite, everyone! I am Aiya-san."
"Hajimemashite, Aiya-san!" Everyone said back.
"So, who's getting a chonmage?" asked Aiya.
"A what?" Ellie whispered to Harper.
"A sumo topknot," Harper whispered back.
"These three," Kyūri said in answer to Aiya's question, gesturing to Ellie, Beck, and Kristi. "The other three are their girlfriends. They're just here to observe."
"Right," Aiya said, putting down hir knitting and tea things to inspect the new students. "Hmmm..." shi mused as shi examined Beck. "I think you'll have to wait few months for your chonmage. Your hair's just too short right now. Sorry."
Beck glanced back at Kyūri. "Will I still be able to wrestle in the meantime?"
"Yes, of course," said Kyūri. "Just be sure to get your topknot as soon as your hair is long enough."
"Well, who wants to go first?" Aiya asked with a big smile on hir lovely face.
"I do!" Ellie proclaimed. Shi scampered over to Aiya. and sat cross-legged in front of the cheerful spider yokai.
Aiya's spider limbs picked up numerous combs, each fashioned from a different kind of wood. The jorogumo chatted amiably with Ellie as shi worked. "I hope it isn't rude to ask what kind of yokai you are. You're in your human form right now, so I can't really tell."
"I'm actually a werehyena from America," said Ellie. "Yeah, I'm pretty far from home. I can't wait to learn real sumo!"
"I hope you don't mind getting fat," Aiya said as shi deftly ran hir combs through Ellie's hair. "Kyūri-sensei's chankonabe really packs the pounds onto his rikishi."
"I'm looking forward to it!" Ellie laughed. "I used to be really chubby before I was turned into a werehyena, and I freaking loved my body back then. I first discovered this heya while looking into ways to get my tubby tummy back, actually."
"Then you're in for a great time," Aiya smiled. "Not even magical metabolisms can stand up to Kyūri-sensei's chankonabe recipe."
Once Ellie's topknot was done, it was Kristi's turn. "So," Aiya said as shi began to style in the topknot, "What was your life like before you came here?"
"I was a fetish camgirl who marketed herself to fat enthusiasts," Kristi responded, gazing sadly at hir slim waistline. "I know I don't look like a BBW, but I lost a lot of lovely fat when I became a werevixen. Don't worry, I'm not one of those wily creatures now. I switched over to being a kitsune when I came over to Japan. I think I'll leave the camgirl life behind and go into sumo full time. What about you? what's your life story, Aiya?"
"I was born into a clan of jorogumo in the mountains," Aiya sighed sadly. "It was a horrid life full of deceit and cannibalistic murder. My mother, aunts, sisters, and cousins would disguise themselves as human women, lure gullible men into our lair, bind them in our webs, and feast on their blood." Aiya shuddered at the thought. "I was exiled for rescuing a man who was trapped in our webs. I despise eating humans or yokai, you see."
"That's good to know," Joelle chimed in as shi watched Aiya work in Kristi.
"I just wandered on my own for a few years," Aiya continued. "Then Kyūri-sensei found me and offered me a job. I've been styling topknots for rikishi ever since!" Shi smiled and the memory of Kyūri's kindness to hir.
"Are there any male jorogumo?" asked Brianna. "People speak of them like they're all female."
"We have no true males," Aiya answered. "Only females and shiyūdōtai. As you can see, I'm the latter," Aiya giggled as shi gave hir bulge a quick pat before getting back to work on Kristi's topknot. "Annnnnd... we're done!" shi proclaimed as shi slid the last comb out of Kristi's new topknot.
"You look awesome, babe!" Joelle said, hugging Kristi as shi stood up. "You know, Aiya isn't too bad for a spider lady."
"Very good," Kyūri nodded as he examined the topknots. "Now it's time for your first practice. That's where you new recruits will earn your first taste of chankonabe... or not."