Kyūri watched his granddaughter lead Sun Linghua into the dormitory building. He gestured his students to gather around him. "Alright, we need to have a little talk while Nariko keeps Linghua-san busy," he said.
"About what?" asked Haia. "I thought you invited her."
"I did," Kyūri nodded, trying to keep the sudden neck motion from upsetting the water in his head's sara. "Unfortunately, she insisted on a cash prize for victory, and I regret to say that she managed to get the upper hand in the negotiations. She somehow managed to negotiate to be paid for each rikishi she beats in the staff fights! And she gets a BONUS if she beats all of you! In other words, Sun Linghua will be carrying 290,000 yen from MY coffers back to Flower and Fruit Mountain." He turned to Kristi, Joelle, and the werehyenas. "That's about 1,992 dollars in American money. That worst-case scenario would leave the heya with exactly 98,950 yen to keep the lights on. If you Americans are asking, that's only around 680 dollars."
"Ouch," Beck winced.
"Ouch indeed!" Kyūri nodded. "It's a good thing she's female and can't come into contact with my male students across the river, or I'd be in debt! The great Kyūri, in debt to a gaijin! That is why I must urge you all to beat her. I need as many of you as possible to come out on top in the staff fight. And above all else, at least one of you must win and deny her that 35,000-yen bonus. If every single one of you lose to Linghua-san, none of you will get any chankonabe for a month! Not that the heya would stay open much longer in any case."
Ellie winced at the thought of never getting her delightful round belly back. "We'll make you proud, sensei. I promise."
"Your determination does you credit," Kyūri smiled. "But it'll take more than words to avoid being cleaned out by a master staff fighter like Sun Linghua. We need to brainstorm a way to maximize our odds."
"Hey, how about we get her drunk on sake?" Yoshino supplied, jumping up and down and waving hir hand, the weight of her enormous belly, boobs, and balls causing the ground to shake. "She can't fight well if she's drunk, right?"
Kyūri fought to keep his balance and avoid spilling his head water. Once the old kappa steadied himself, he glared at Yoshino "Yoshino Kōgan! I am ashamed of you! You would dare sully the honor of sumo by cheating?! Take that back or I'll throw you out! Win or lose, I intend for us to duel Linghua-san fair and square!"
Yoshino lowered hir head in guilt. "I... I'm sorry, sensei."
"Honestly, Yoshino!" Natsuki groaned. "Did you really think Kyūri-sensei would EVER be okay with that?"
"I guess not," Yoshino said, blushing beneath hir fur.
"Any better ideas?" Kyūri asked.
"I suppose we can't just kill her," Shizuka grumbled.
"Certainly not!" Kyūri glared at the misanthropic bakeneko. "For one thing, it would be an act of evil that would shame the sport of sumo far worse than even Yoshino's suggestion. For another, need I remind you that Sun Wukong still lives and looks out for the welfare of his people? Sun Wukong! He who is known as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and the Victorious Fighting Buddha! Do you WANT him to descend on our heya and avenge his subject?!"
"I suppose not," Shizuka huffed, crossing hir arms over hir large belly.
"This kitty's crazy," Joelle whispered to the other American's, fiddling with one of hir facial piercings.
"So what can we do?" asked Akane.
"We need to be clever without cheating," Haia responded.
"Never would've guessed that," Shizuka drawled, rolling hir feline eyes.
"Hey, I just thought of something," Ellie said. "Did you ever explicitly tell Sun Linghua that she had to fight ALL of us?"
"Errm... no," Kyūri said, stroking his chin. "We both just assumed it."
"Then how about you tell her that you'll be selecting just the best of your students to form a team. She'll only be fighting the heya's staff-fighting team, not the entire heya. That cuts down on the potential payouts you'd have to make right off the bat. And you could fill the team with just the rikishi you think would have the best chance at beating Linghua at staff-fighting!"
"Ellie, you're a genius!" Beck grinned.
"This could work!" Harper chortled, giving hir mat's exposed boob an affectionate squeeze.
"Agreed!" Kyūri nodded, smiling. "I think you just earned yourself an automatic full portion of my chankonabe tomorrow, Ellie-san! Alright, who thinks shi has a place on my staff-fighting team? Anyone who beats Sun Linghua gets double chankonabe on victory night! Lose to her and you go without so much as a scrap of chankonabe for the night!"
Tsubame stepped forward. "We tengu are masters of swordplay. When I was young, I trained with a wooden sword not too different from Linghua-san's staff."
Kyūri nodded. "Very good, Tsubame-san. You're in. Anyone else?"
Misaki stepped up next. "I still haven't put on much weight yet," shi said, gesturing to hir smallish belly. "I'm still pretty light on my feet. Maybe I'm agile enough to keep up with Linghua-san."
"Perhaps so," Kyūri mused. "Welcome to the team. Who else?"
"Oni are great warriors and very sturdy," Kijo volunteered. "What's more, we have our own tradition of staff-fighting. Well, our staffs are more like double-ended spiked maces, but the idea's the same."
"Excellent," Kyūri agreed. "You're in. Does anyone else want to step up?"
Hōman raised hir hand, grinning cockily. "Let me! Let me! I've never met a fight I couldn't win! Trust me, I'll make a monkey out of Linghua-san! Heh."
"I suppose you can try," Kyūri said, not seeming terribly fond of Hōman's boasting (or hir bad pun). "That makes four. Lingua-san will want best of five. Who wants to round out the team?"
"I'd like a go at her," Shizuka smirked.
"I'm going to have to refuse," Kyūri frowned. "You clearly resent Linghua's presence and lack the temperament to express those feelings civilly. I would appreciate if I didn't need to call in a medic after the tournament. Could I have a calm volunteer?"
"Well..." Ellie shuffled hir footpaws shyly. "I was on the fencing team in middle school. I learned a lot, but I lost a lot to kids slimmer than me. But now that I'm so much skinnier than I used to be..." Shi gestured at hir belly, which had only barely softened enough to hide hir six-pack. "Well, maybe my skills would be enough to help me against Sun Linghua."
"We'll just have to try it, Ellie-san," Kyūri decided. "Alright, the team shall be Tsubame Sorayama, Misaki Satō, Kijo Onidzuyo, Hōman Harekōgan, and Ellie Rubenstein."
"You'll do great, babe!" Harper grinned, playfully tweaking Ellie's nipple.
"Yeah, we've got the balls to beat her!" Hōman giggled as hir dick and colossal nutsack spilled out of hir loincloth.
"How long do we have to train?" Ellie asked hir sensei.
"I'm sure Linghua-san will give you at least a day," Kyūri answered. "Probably longer. Ah, I think I see Nariko returning with Linghua-san. I should probably take her to meet Aiya now. Good luck!"
All the students shared a look as Kyūri trundled away toward Nariko and Sun Linghua. A lot was riding on the new staff-fighting team. The future of the heya could be at stake... and Kyūri's chankonabe-related promises and threats were nothing to sneeze at either.