“Ugh,” Koemi muttered, eyelashes fluttering as she slowly regained consciousness. She opened her eyes and took in the strange surroundings around her. She had woken up in quite a few strange places in her time. None quite as odd as this, though. She assumed it was a bedroom, but it was the size of a closet. Clothes lay on a small dresser near a window opening onto what seemed to be a brick wall across the way. Koemi caught the damp rag as it fell off her head while she sat up gingerly. She glanced down at the rag and noticed her sweatshirt was missing, replaced by a large pale blue overshirt. Where the hell was she, and what the hell was going on?

Had she been kidnapped? She’d read horror stories about celebrities being kidnapped and held for ransom. Was she being held for ransom? Would anyone pay? Sachi would probably insist the kidnappers teach her some discipline before paying a ransom. She was fairly sure Mirai would pay her ransom…but what if it were a lot of money? Would she be forced to pay it back?

What if she’d been violated? She had different clothes on so whoever kidnapped her had taken her clothes off. Was she still a virgin? The therapy bills for this would be ridiculous. When did Stockholm Syndrome kick in? Was there a timeframe when a victim would become a cold-blooded killer doing the bidding of their captors? Did she have to use a gun to be a cold-blooded, mind-controlled killer? Koemi wasn’t much on violence so hopefully she could just sort of cheerlead from the side as they took trains and stuff hostage. Would the courts give her a more lenient sentence if that happened? Would her family still throw her aside if she didn’t actually kill anyone? So many questions, none of which Koemi knew the answer to.

“Ah, you’re awake!” The woman said as she walked into the room through where the bedroom door would theoretically have been located had it not been leaning against the wall at a rakish angle a short distance away at the moment. Koemi recognized her…sort of. She was an extremely attractive woman with long black hair framing a soft, beautiful face with expressive eyes and a positively gorgeous pair of lips. If she were the kidnapper maybe things wouldn’t be so bad, Koemi thought. “Are you feeling better?” The woman nudged the bowl she was carrying onto the table beside the table and dipped a spoon into the bowl, holding it up for Koemi. A delicious and inviting smell drifted from the bowl, causing Koemi’s mouth to water.

“Ah, yes. I feel better, thanks. Do I know you?” Beating around the bush had never been one of Koemi’s strong suits. “My sister won’t pay a ransom, you know.”

“Ransom?” The woman cocked her eyebrow quizzically at Koemi. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Koemi. You should eat some soup; it’ll help you feel better quicker.” Koemi stared down at the soup hungrily, yet warily. Was it poisoned? Was it like a hentai? She’d seen one once and the big-boobed main character started orgasming through her nipples after taking a drug and she did not want that to happen. Her hunger finally got the better of her and she took a sip. It was heavenly. She quickly wolfed down all the soup proffered, deciding she didn’t care if she did cum from her nipples, the soup was amazing. In fact, the whole nipple thing might not be all bad, she thought.

“This is incredible!” Koemi exclaimed. “Where did you buy it?”

“I made it,” Nanami replied. “It’s nothing special, just Miso.”

“You made this?” Koemi was aghast. People who could cook things were like sorcerers to her. She could microwave something usually, but to cook something was magical. Koemi quickly devoured the rest of the soup and lay back, satisfied. “That was awesome!” She sighed. Nanami smiled gently at her and stood up, taking the empty bowl in her hands. “So, where am I?”

“Ah, yeah, sorry about that,” Nanami grinned sheepishly. “I didn’t know where you lived, and you were kind of out of it so I brought you back to my place to take care of you.”

“Your…so this is your house?” Koemi glanced around, trying desperately to find anything charming about the postage stamp-sized bedroom. She failed miserably.

“I know, it’s shitty. It’s all I can afford working at the restaurant,” Nanami scowled. The last thing she needed was to be reminded her apartment was a shithole.

“Restaurant…” Koemi mumbled to herself. Finally, realization dawned on her, and she smiled broadly. “You’re the waitress!” Nanami winked conspiratorially at her and nodded.

“Yes, indeed.”

“And you took care of me?” Koemi was moved by the woman’s generosity, and more than a little smitten by her good looks, body, and ability to summon magically cooked things from the kitchen.

“Ha, yeah,” Nanami giggled, shaking her head slightly, causing her hair to sway gently on her shoulders. “No need to thank me too much, you were asleep for most of it, so you weren’t a problem.”

“How long was I asleep?” Koemi ran her hands over her face, trying to force her brain to crawl out of the lethargy she was still suffering from.

“About 5 hours or so,” Nanami shrugged.

“Oh, no! It’s Valentine’s Day, too! I’m sorry if I ruined your date with your boyfriend!” Nanami waved Koemi’s concerns away airily.

“We broke up two weeks ago and he’s a fucking asshole anyway, so it’s no problem.” Yes! Koemi silently cheered.

“Hmm,” Koemi did her best to look as innocent as possible. “Well, would it be ok if I paid back your kindness?”

“How do you mean?” Nanami’s brow furrowed slightly and Koemi nearly squealed at how adorable it was.

“I was thinking the only polite thing to do would be to take you out to a decent Valentine’s Day dinner and maybe a drink. I mean, if that’s ok, that is.”

“Uh, you know it’s like 4 pm on Valentine’s Day, right? There’s no way you’d get a reservation for anything this late. Besides, you’re sick. I don’t think drinking is good for you.”

“Well, let me worry about dinner reservations and maybe we could just go back to my apartment after dinner for a drink of…juice…or something?” Koemi did her best to sound suave and quickly realized she was failing miserably, possibly even coming across as a bit creepy.

“I see,” Hanami muttered. “Well, you seem like an interesting person and I am kind of hungry so…sure, dinner is fine and possibly juice. Just possibly, though!”

“Really?” Koemi enthused, clapping her hands together excitedly. “That’s awesome! I’ll go home and get ready! Wear something nice! Oh! I need your phone number so I can call you later. Oh! And address so I can come get you later!”

“Heh, ok,” Nanami chuckled at the ball of energy Koemi had suddenly become. Who cared if she was a girl? A free dinner is a free dinner, right?

“You are sexy,” Koemi muttered to herself, staring at her immaculate reflection in the mirror in the back of the limousine she’d hired. “You are a sexy sexy bitch.”

“What was that, ma’am?” The driver asked from the front. Koemi sighed in irritation as she realized she’d forgotten to close the divider between her and the mindlessly enthusiastic driver.

“I said Tokyo is a sassy ditch,” Koemi reassured him.

“Ah…” the driver replied, the smile on his face only briefly faltering.

“I’m going to put the divider up, now, ‘k?” Koemi smiled sweetly, pressing the button, and raising the tinted window. “Sassy ditch?” Koemi shook her head, her long pink hair brushing against her back.” That’s the best I can come up with? Hell, I don’t owe anyone an explanation anyway! I am a sexy bitch!” The limo pulled up in front of Nanami’s apartment building and Koemi’s excited grin grew even wider as she saw the woman standing outside, a heavy coat draped around her shoulders to keep her warm in the shimmering dress she wore. Nanami glanced at the long black limo for a moment, cocking her eyebrow in distaste, before continuing to look for Koemi. Yes! Koemi thought to herself. Shock and awe! Shock and awe indeed!

Koemi waited impatiently as the limo stopped and the driver took a decade and a half to come around and open her door. Did he forget where the door was? Koemi asked herself, tapping her foot impatiently. Finally, the door swung open and Koemi stepped outside as dramatically as she could, dressed in a long, flowing sky-blue dress that hugged her curves in a way she felt did them justice.

I’d pay for Sachi-sized tits at this point, she thought. Her sister’s boobs weren’t excessively large but, compared to hers, they were positively beastly. Goddamn dancing took away my tits, she thought. Nanami looked like she could donate three quarters of her tits to science and still be bigger than Koemi. Jealousy and a white-hot desire to see those very breasts unfettered surged within her as she waved at Nanami.

“Uh…Koemi?” Nanami stared at her, a mix of surprise and suspicion in her fox-shaped eyes.

“Aww,” Koemi pouted, “you guessed.”

“A limo? Where’d you get that?”

“I broke into the yard, kidnapped the driver and made him pick us up, of course,” Koemi snorted, waving her hand dismissively. Nanami’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and she took a step backward. “Kidding! I’m kidding! I rented it! I have a receipt and everything, I promise!”

“Aren’t you just full of surprises,” Nanami grinned.

“Oh, I am! And you’ve seen nothing, yet! Shall we away in our majestic steed, milady?” Koemi gestured dramatically at the open door. Nanami curtsied and stepped into the spacious interior with Koemi following a moment later.

“This car is the size of my apartment,” Nanami wondered, staring around her at the bar, obnoxiously spacious television, DVD player and gaming system all lit by gentle blue led lighting. “Are you like some kind of Yakuza Queen or something?”

“Nope! I just wanted to surprise you! Did I?” Koemi was positively bouncing with excitement as the limo pulled away from the curb and into traffic.

“Oh, yeah, definitely surprised,” Nanami breathed. “I mean, I’ve never ridden in a limo before. Hell, before I moved to Tokyo, I’d never even seen a limo.”

“I noticed you have a bit of an accent,” Koemi caught her gaze drifting down to where Nanami’s creamy thighs emerged from her dark burgundy dress. Desperate to not be caught, she forced her eyes back to the woman’s pretty face. “Where are you from?”

“Ugh… the accent’s noticeable, huh?” Nanami groaned.

“No! I mean, not much! I’ve got a good ear and such so I’d notice quicker than others, probably,” Koemi rushed to dismiss Nanami’s obvious discomfort.

“Well, I’m from Tottori so I guess it’s only natural,” Nanami replied with a sigh. Koemi blinked at her blankly. What was Tottori? A place? She searched through her barely remembered high school geography courses and drew a complete blank.

“O-oh!” Koemi stumbled trying to not let the silence hang in the air too long. “So, it’s…nice there?”

“You have no idea where Tottori is, do you?” Nanami chuckled.

“Uh…Thailand?” Koemi gave up bluffing. “No. I have no idea where that is.”

“It’s ok, no one else knows where it is, either. If you ask 100 high school students to point out Tottori on a map, they wouldn’t be able to. Not even the students in Tottori most likely. It’s a mole on the ass cheek of Japan. The end of the world, as my niece calls it.”

“Ah, I see,” Koemi nodded her head. “I take it, then, you aren’t planning on going back for weekends with the folks, then?”

“Hah, no,” Nanami shook her head. “My parents left years ago for Kagoshima, only my sister’s still in Tottori. She’s too mean to leave.”

“Hey! My sister’s a cold, heartless beast, too!” Koemi enthused.

“We should get our sisters together in the same room for a cage match,” Nanami giggled. “Two siblings enter, one leaves!”

“We could charge for television rights and make a mint!”

“Great idea! Hell, I’d pay for that in a second!”

“Me, too!” Koemi enthused. Sachi would probably ruin her, though, Koemi mused. Sachi had evil and martial arts on her side. Plus, Sachi hated losing and if things looked grim, she’d probably call in an airstrike or something.

“So, since you, strangely, had enough time to organize a limousine I assume you’ve managed to buy yourself a minister or two and arrange dinner somewhere.”

“Oh, ministers are easy to buy. 200 yen, a promise to vote for them and some illicit photos of them and local wildlife can buy you at least four. Even without the minister I did manage to get us a pretty decent place to eat.”

“Where is this ‘pretty decent place,’ may I ask?” Nanami asked suspiciously. “It’s not the place I work is it?”

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t do that to you. It’s too cruel. It won’t be long before we’re there, but I don’t want to wreck the surprise, yet. A girl has to have at least some small measure of mystery or people get bored.”

“Like how a girl can afford a limousine to take a waitress she met that day out to a dinner on Valentine’s Day at the literal last minute? Isn’t that mysterious enough?”

“Hmm, you have a point, but I will not be dissuaded! I will keep my secret for the next…ten minutes, at least!” Koemi declared proudly.

“You are a cruel woman to keep a girl in suspense like this,” Nanami smiled. Koemi shrugged.

“It’s one of my better charm points.” Koemi grinned at her.