When I got back to my room, my girlfriends and Kuromi are already inside, even Ichika. And here I thought that girls always take eternity to get bathed.

   All of them are sitting at a counter and staring at a phone. Kuromi’s the only one who’s standing. They’re so engrossed in it that Saya is the only one who notices me coming in.

   ‘Morning, Akira-kun! I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in!’ she comes over and tells me.

   I just shrug. ‘Not at all. You’re already one of my girlfriends, after all.’

   ‘Ahahaha, I guess that’s true.’

   Unlike her usual cute and energetic laugh, this one sounded bashful. Her face is a bit red too.

   ‘You know, Yui and I knew each other ever since we were in kindergarten. We often talked about what we’re doing for the future, and the wonderful boyfriends and husbands that we’ll be having. Never in my wildest dreams that we would actually ended up going out with the same guy. You better make all of us happy, you hear?’ she asks the last part while lightly punching my chest.

   I nod. ‘Of course. You can count on that.’

   My determined look somehow made her embarrassed.

   ‘Oh. Ah. Um, t-that’s right! You better! Or, I’ll never forgive you!’

   ‘By the way, what are they looking at?’ I ask curiously while pointing my thumb towards the counter.

   ‘The picture I took from the date we had yesterday.’

   I scratch my head in confusion.

   ‘Pictures? I don’t recall you taking any.’

   ‘Well, that’s probably because you were too busy dying from those rides. I did, in fact, took a lot.’

   ‘And these are some delightful expressions you’re making too, Akira-kun.’ Sakuya chuckles without looking away from Saya’s phone.

   ‘I’m glad that you find them amusing.’ I say drily.

   ‘The food looks nice.’ Mashiro comments.

   ‘Eh. They were alright, I suppose. They could do better, and the price was a bit too expensive. But overall, it was fine.’

   ‘I can’t wait for our trip at D*sneysea.’ Sakuya says excitedly.

   I take it that Saya has already told the others of the future trip that we’ll be having.

   ‘Yeah, neither can I.’ I say sarcastically while rolling my eyes.

   ‘Oh come on, Akira-kun! It’ll be fun!’ Saya tells me.

   ‘I know that. The only problem is, I don’t find the rides enjoyable. In fact, I feel like my soul would leave me every time I get on one of those things.’

   ‘Akira-kun, you understand that we’re doing this for your own good, right?’ Sakuya has the nerve to ask. ‘You need to overcome your fear.’

   I roll my eyes again.

   ‘Sure you are.’

   Yui looks at me sympathetically.

   ‘Um, maybe we could cut down the trips to those scary rides.’

   I’m not really an emotional guy, but even I felt like crying when the petite shrine maiden took my side.

   ‘Oh, Yui. You’re a goddess as usual. If I weren’t all sweaty, I would have gave you a big hug.’

   ‘I don’t mind at all. Please give me everything you got.’ she says while spreading her arms wide.

   ‘No no, I can’t dirty your clothes. I insist on taking a bath first.’

   ‘Well, if you say so.’

   She looks kind of disappointed, but I can’t help it. There’s no way I can hug her without taking a bath first.

   Kuromi looks up from the phone as well.

   ‘Master, I’ve already placed clean clothing inside the bathroom.’ she informs me.

   ‘Um, I’m grateful. But, that includes the underwear, doesn’t it?’

   She tilts her head.

   ‘Yes. Is there a problem?’

   ‘Not really. It’s just awkward that a girl’s touching my underwear.’

   ‘There is no need for embarrassment, my master. A maid should be taking care of her master, even the clothing.’

   And so, I go inside the bathroom to take a bath and change my clothes. The moment I open the bathroom door, I find Kuromi standing right outside. She reaches out both her hands.

   ‘Master, allow me to take care of your dirty clothing.’

   I hand them over obediently. ‘Oh. Thanks.’

   ‘There is no need for words of gratitude, master. This is part of a maid’s duty, after all.’

   I just noticed this, but my room looks very clean. The floor’s all sparkly and stuff, and there’s not a speck of dust on the furnitures.

   ‘Did you clean my room, Kuromi?’

   ‘Indeed I have, master. You room looked dirty, so I took the liberty of cleaning it.’

   ‘It’s much cleaner when I cleaned it myself. Did someone taught you on how to do it?’

   ‘Yes. I have started my first day of work at the Academy yesterday. All the staffs there took their time on teaching me the correct way of cleaning a room.’

   ‘Really? How was your first day of work?’

   ‘It was quite tough, but nonetheless enjoyable. I get to talk to all kinds of people, and learn a lot of new things.’

   ‘Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.’

   ‘Yes. It is all thanks to you, master.’

   ‘But, I barely did anything.’

   ‘You have already done plenty, master. You gave me permission to walk around with a material body. Furthermore, you allowed me to work for someone else other than you. No amount of gratitude is enough to thank you for this.’

   ‘You’re just exaggerating. Besides, you’re helping me out too. Compared to that, my permission means next to nothing. I’m the one who should thank you.’

   ‘And I have already said that such gratitude is not required. It is a maid’s duty to take care of her master. It is normal. Please leave all your housework to me so that you could concentrate on your training and school life.’

   Not for the first time, I feel guilty to let Kuromi handle most of the housework that I should be doing myself. So the least I could do is show her my gratitude, despite her constant insistence that it’s not necessary.

   ‘Still, it’s rude not to thank someone for all she did for you. So, thanks.’

   I reach out my hand to pat her head. This time, she just smiled.

   ‘You are most welcome, master.’

   ‘Oh, so you’re not weak against head pats either? I guess Madoka is the only one.’

   ‘Akira, if you weren’t my boyfriend, I would definitely have stabbed you.’

   ‘Hooray for that.’

   I give Yui the hug she deserves, then goes to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Once again, Kuromi is assisting me with simple tasks like preparing the plates and cutleries.

   ‘Honestly, I’m kind of surprised that you didn’t insist on being in kitchen duty as well.’ I tell Kuromi.

   ‘Well, my skill in cooking is rather poor, after all. I do not want to upset the stomach of everyone here.’

   ‘How considerate. If only someone would learn from you…’ I say while casting a meaningful glance at Sakuya.

   She puffs up her cheeks.

   ‘How rude! I kept on cooking because I want to improve!’

   ‘Well, it’s been months since I started to teach you, and you barely improved. You could have just leave the cooking for me, you know.’

   ‘I told you! I! Want! To! Improve!’

   ‘I don’t get it. Why are you being so stubborn about this?’

   ‘T-There’s a reason for this, but I’m not going to tell you until the time’s right!’

   Usually, I’m all for letting her keep trying and failing until she succeeds, but her cooking is so destructive my stomach might start to think that I loath it for keep on stuffing it with the food Sakuya cooked. Then again, there’s no way I could give up on her when she puts it that way. Yeah, it’s complicated.

   ‘Okay, but only twice a week, okay? I don’t want to risk going to the hospital.’

   ‘Yay~! I love you, Akira-kun!’

   ‘Yes, yes. I love you too.’

   It didn’t take us long to finish cooking the breakfast, and all of us dig in. After some time of convincing, I finally manage to get Kuromi to sit down and eat together with us, where previously she waited until all of us has finished eating until she starts eating.

   ‘So, do you still think you have enough seats here, Akira?’ Ichika asks me while eating.

   I look around at the counter. Now, I have so many girlfriends all of a sudden there’s only one empty seat left. I could suggest someone to go eat at the sofa, but that would be a breach of eating etiquette.

   ‘Worse comes to worst, Mashiro can sit on Akira’s lap.’ Mashiro says.

   Yui looks disappointed at that. Clearly, she wanted to suggest the same thing, but instead of Mashiro, she’s the one who’ll sit on my lap.

   Saya, who was sitting next to Yui and is a long-time friend of hers, pats her on the shoulder while looking at her with a ‘Just leave it to me!’ expression.

   ‘Isn’t it much better if Mashiro-tan sits on my lap instead, and Yui sit at Akira-kun’s? You can save two seats this way.’

   Mashiro shrugs. ‘If it’s necessary.’

   Yui looks at Saya gratefully. Ah, the beauty of friendship.

   Surprisingly, Ichika speaks up, and not for the thing I expect her to.

   ‘Wait a moment! Why is it that only Fuyukaze and Kiryuu are allowed to sit on Akira’s lap? I-I want to sit on it as well!’

   ‘I think that pretty much sums up all of us here.’ Assaf-sensei says.

   ‘Except me.’ Kuromi contradicts. ‘It would be blasphemous for a maid to use her master as a chair.’

   Assaf-sensei smiles at that, as if she thinks Kuromi will change her mind sooner or later.

   I was about to give the obvious answer to Ichika’s question until I remember that girls might be sensitive to this kind of thing.

   ‘Sure. Why not? I don’t mind.’ I say instead.

   ‘Honestly, I’ll decline too.’ Madoka suddenly says.

   ‘What? Why?’

   ‘Because you’ll definitely take advantage of the situation and pat my head.’ she replies while covering her head with both her hands.

   That thought didn’t even cross my mind, but I figured it would be funnier if I acted otherwise.

   ‘Drat, you found me out.’

   ‘I’ve started to know how President Morifuji must feel every time she got bullied by you.’

   ‘Welcome to the club, Madoka-chan.’

   ‘Anyway, anyone wants to have a go right now? It’s still open.’ I offer while patting my thighs.

   ‘Saya-chan, you can do ahead if you want.’ Yui says to Saya.

   Saya almost chokes on her miso soup.

   ‘M-M-M-M-M-Me? Why? I’m basically the most junior one here when it comes to being Akira-kun’s girlfriend, right? One of you should sit first!’

   ‘It’s okay, Saya-chan. Seniority means nothing here. All of us are Akira-kun’s girlfriend. That’s all that matters.’ Sakuya tells her.

   ‘B-But…’

   This might take forever if I don’t step-in, so I did.

   ‘Oh my, what’s this? Saya, are you getting embarrassed over sitting on a guy’s lap? Well someone’s a pure maiden.’ I mock her while pretending that I’m about to laugh.

   As expected, that ticked Saya off. She stands up from her seat, grabs the plates that still has her share of the breakfast and her cutleries and stomps her way towards me.

   ‘Pardon the intrusion!’

   With that, she puts her plates and cutleries right next to mine and sits down on my lap with more force that’s necessary. After that, she continues to eat without turning around or saying anything.

   Like I said, I don’t mind her sitting here at all. The problem is, since her upper body is much taller than Yui and Mashiro, her head’s currently blocking most of my view. I have to tilt my head in order to eat.

   ‘...Sorry, I’m blocking your view, aren’t I?’ Saya asks guiltily.

   ‘Don’t worry about it. I can eat just fine.’ I assure her.

   ‘Liar. Here, let me help you.’

   She uses her chopsticks to pick up a piece of chicken and feeds it to me without turning around. I open my mouth and bites it.

   ‘Is it good?’ she asks.

   ‘Of course. I’m the one who cooked it, remember? Plus, it tastes even better when my beloved girlfriend is the one who fed it to me.’ I reply while chewing the meat inside my mouth.

   ‘Good.’

   I can’t see her expression right now, but I don’t need to. Her ears are becoming redder by the minute, and her whole body’s quite restless. Plus, she only did it once. I guess she just wanted to try feeding me.

   After we’re done eating, Saya immediately gets up from my lap.

   ‘You know, you could have been a better chair if you didn’t move around so much.’ she comments.

   ‘Thank you for your feedback. Is there anything else you might want to comment on so that I could improve my service?’

   ‘Since you’re a human chair, you’re supposed to feed me, not the other way round. Remember that!’

   ‘Okay.’

   ‘And you should give a shoulder massage too.’

   ‘Uh-huh.’

   ‘Plus it’s an obligation for you to whisper sweet nothings at my ear while doing all that.’

   ‘Got it.’

   ‘...Are you patronizing me?’

   ‘I would never.’ I reply with a straight face.

   ‘YUI! OUR BOYFRIEND IS BEING A HUGE MEANIE!’ Saya shouts while pointing at me.

   Yui immediately comes over and comforts her friend.

   ‘There, there Saya-chan. I’m sure Akira-kun didn’t mean it.’ Yui says while stroking Saya’s head.

   ‘You’re always so kind to me, Yui. Why don’t we both ditch this huge bully and go out with each other instead?’ Saya suddenly suggests to Yui.

   ‘Um, I’m really happy that you feel that way, but I’m sorry. I’m not into girls. Plus, I really love Akira-kun, so there’s no way I can leave him.’

   ‘Hah! Take that, Saya!’

   Saya turns around and sticks her tongue out at me. ‘You’re lucky that I love you.’

   ‘Yeah. I know. I love you too.’

   Ichika clears her throat loudly.

   ‘If the three of you are done with the soap drama, would you be so kind as to assist us with clearing away the plates and cutleries?’ she asks.

   ‘Oh, right. Sorry about that.’

   ‘Right away.’

   ‘Roger that!’

   The clearing only took a moment, and Kuromi is the one who washes them.

   ‘Say, Akira-kun. Do you have any plans after this? Or are you just planning to laze around in your room for the entire day?’ Saya asks while we’re being cosy near the television.

   ‘Ah, about that. I, um, promised to hang out with a future junior of ours.’ I say a bit nervously.

   ‘Is that future junior a boy or a girl?’

   ‘A girl.’

   ‘Is it Kaoru-chan?’ Sakuya asks.

   ‘Yeah.’

   ‘Yui, is she the one you told me about? You know, the daughter of a yakuza head who’s raised up as a girl without her knowing the entire time?’ Saya asks Yui.

   ‘Yes, Saya-chan. That’s her.’

   ‘Wow, two girlfriends in two days? You sure are busy, huh Akira-kun?’ Saya chuckles while elbowing me playfully.

   I could only laugh awkwardly at that.

   ‘Hey, it’s fine, okay? I’ve chose you while knowing you have multiple girlfriends. One or two more is not going to make any difference.’ she assures me.

   ‘Yeah, I could never thank all of you enough for loving a multi-timing guy like me.’

   Saya pats my back a few times. ‘You’re welcome.’

   After Kuromi’s done washing the dishes, she looks at the clock I hanged on the wall.

   ‘Master, it is almost time for my working shift to begin, so I have to leave you for now.’ she tells me while bowing.

   ‘Alright, be careful out there. And good luck with your job.’

   She bows again. ‘And I wish you the best of luck at your date, master.’

   And with that, she left.

   There’s still some time before my date with Kaoru, so all of us watched TV together. The problem is, we could never decide on what to watch since there’s way too many of us here. Ichika and Sakuya (surprisingly) want to watch a historical drama, Yui wants to watch a cooking show, Saya and Mashiro want to watch an anime about Mahou Shoujos, Madoka wants to watch the news. And Assaf-sensei…well, let’s just say what she wants to watch will never be shown on broad daylight.

   Eventually, we settle on watching a variety show. I was watching a good part when I realize that I need to leave soon. I get up from my seat and go to the closet to grab some clothes that I usually wear when I go outside. Naturally, with Sakuya and Assaf-sensei here, I made sure to lock the door after I went inside the bathroom so that I could get changed.

   ‘Well, I’m heading out now. You girls gonna be okay by yourselves?’

   I know I just asked a stupid question, but I needed to ask it anyway.

   ‘Yes, there’s no need to worry about us. Just focus on your date, Akira-kun.’ Sakuya tells me.

   ‘Alright. See you girls tonight, or tomorrow if the date took the whole day.’

   And with that, I left my room and head for the entrance of the dorm.