August. A weekday afternoon, midway through summer vacation.

Unusually, there were no heroines around me today. Aoi was at her relatives' gathering at Hoshikawa's aunt's family home. Anju was at the Hojo family's summer villa in a resort area. Lise had also temporarily returned to France due to her parents' work.

“Man, senpai, you're seriously merciless. Are you actually planning to clear out every prize in this machine?”

“Of course. Once you've analyzed the arm's range of motion and the center of gravity of the prizes, the rest is just routine. See, right there. Push the left corner of the box just barely.”

A large game arcade, its air conditioning pleasantly cool.

Together with Naoya, my junior from my past life (now smoothly dating Misaki-sensei), I was rampaging through the crane game machines. It was the exact same vibe as back in the Sales Department Section 2 days, when we'd drop by the arcade after a client dinner or drinking party and over-hunt for prizes.

“Alright, that's the third huge stuffed animal! We're overdoing it, huh.”

Naoya laughed as he pulled a cute giant rabbit and bear plush from the machine's prize chute. At our feet, three oversized plastic bags were already stuffed to bursting.

“Well, we're just using our pocket money, so it's only polite to grab prizes while we can. Alright, let's stop here. I'm starting to feel the store clerk's eyes on us.”

The bizarre combo of a seven-year-old girl and a twenty-three-year-old young man conquering crane games with precision that rivaled pros drew strange—and wary—looks from other customers and staff.

We gathered our spoils and settled at a table in the arcade's rest area.

“Naoya, treat me to a juice. I've blown through all my pocket money.”

“Yeah, yeah. Senpai, you always lose all restraint at arcades. Here, cola okay?”

I took the cola Naoya bought from the vending machine, popped it open with a satisfying hiss, and wet my throat.

“Phew! Nothing beats playing indoors with the AC in summer. Things going well with Misaki-sensei?”

“Yes, thanks to you. Thanks to your 'Total Affirmation Escort Technique,' she's happy every day. Just the other day she even made me a homemade lunch.”

“Glad to hear that. Well, Misaki-sensei's too good for you anyway. If you ever make her cry, I won't forgive you.”

“I know, I know.”

Naoya gave an embarrassed laugh and sipped his iced coffee.

“So? How's it going on your end, senpai? The three princesses. I see none of them are around today, amazingly.”

At Naoya's question, my expression clouded just a bit.

The truth was, I'd called Naoya out today for more than just killing time.

“Ah… about that. Naoya, you used to come to me for love advice a lot back in our past life. So, I'd like an objective opinion on something.”

“Senpai, asking me for love advice? That'd be a cold day in hell.”

Naoya's eyes widened as I briefly explained what happened on the night of Tanabata—how Aoi had confessed and asked me to marry her when we grew up.

“…So. I couldn't just brush her off, so I said, 'If your feelings haven't changed when we're adults, I'll accept them.' I dodged it gracefully. If I do say so myself, it was a perfect counter that didn't cause any friction. What do you think?”

I confidently sought his agreement, but…

Naoya set his paper cup down on the table and stared at me with a mixture of pity and despair, like a doctor delivering a terminal diagnosis.

“…Senpai. Are you serious?”

“Huh? Yeah, I said that.”

“…Are you an idiot? That's not dodging at all—you’ve handed her the strongest possible verbal promise!”

Naoya clutched his head and slumped onto the table.

“Don't you get it!? She's a girl in this insane world who's been constantly exposed to your unconscious escort and has completely fallen for you!? A condition like 'if your feelings haven't changed' means nothing to her but a guarantee: 'Ah, so if I keep loving her, she'll definitely choose me in the end!'”

“Wha… R-Really!?”

“Yes! Senpai, you always lectured me in sales that 'never make vague verbal promises,' so why are you so sloppy when it comes to yourself!?”

Naoya's all-too-accurate rebuke left me speechless.

Indeed, by the common sense of my past life, a “future promise” was just child's play. But this is a world where sexual mores are reversed, and women stake their entire lives on a man (even though I'm female). It seemed I had personally pressed the switch on an irretrievable bomb.

“B-But! I'm a girl!? Aoi's just attached to me for now; eventually she'll definitely think 'after all, I want a man'…”

As I desperately tried to argue, Naoya sighed even more heavily and dropped an unbelievable piece of information.

“…Senpai. Have you been watching the news lately?”

“Huh? News? I only watch anime and variety shows.”

“Look… this world has a gender ratio of 1:15, right? You know that the extreme shortage of men and the inability of women to marry is a serious social problem, right?”

“Well, polygyny is legally recognized, after all. What about it?”

Naoya, glancing around slightly, lowered his voice.

“There's a 'law revision' currently being debated in congress. The idea is, if there are too few men, then households of outstanding women should be legally protected. In other words, the outlook is that polygamy between women—same-sex polygyny—will soon be officially recognized by law.”

“…Huh?”

My brain refused to process Naoya's words.

Polygamy between women… would be recognized?

“In some progressive municipalities, expanded versions of partnership ordinances have already been passed, and it's said that in a few years the national law will change. So, basically.”

Naoya pointed at the three huge stuffed animals in the bags at my feet.

“All those flags you're unconsciously raising with Aoi-chan, Anju-chan, Lise-chan… by the time they grow up, it'll be completely legal in this world for you to legally marry all three of them.”

Gong.

Inside my head, a bell of despair resounded, like a temple bell on New Year's Eve.

'…Marry… all of them?'

A vision of the future flashed through my mind: three beautiful girls in wedding dresses (holding bloodstained knives and stun guns) surrounding me from all sides, a horrific scene unfolding with shrieks of “Shizuku-chan is mine alone,” “No, she is mine,” “Shizuku est à moi!”

“No way… there's no escape…”

“That's what I've been telling you, senpai—your unconscious escort is wicked. Well, I'm going to build a peaceful home with Misaki-san. I'll be rooting for your blood-soaked harem life from the sidelines.”

Naoya drained his cola with a refreshing—and somehow detached—smile.

Inside the air-conditioned arcade, dripping with cold sweat, I could only stare blankly at the three stuffed animals at my feet.

* * *

[And a few days later—]

Late summer vacation.

The three heroines, having returned from their respective trips, each received a giant stuffed animal from Shizuku—by courier (or directly handed over).

To Aoi, a pure white rabbit plush.

'…A present from Shizuku-chan. Shizuku-chan touched it a lot and won it for me… ♡ Ahah, it smells like Shizuku-chan…'

On her bed, Aoi nuzzled the rabbit plush and embraced it in ecstasy.

To Anju, a large bear plush.

'H-Hmph! A childish stuffed animal doesn't suit a Hojo young lady, but… well, if Shizuku insists that I must receive it, I suppose I shall grant it a special seat on my bed!'

In her room alone, Anju hugged the bear plush tightly, her face bright red with happiness.

To Lise, a cute dog plush.

'Shizuku... Je t'aime...♡'

Her sapphire-blue eyes sparkling, Lise pressed a kiss to the stuffed animal.

A “sharing out” of the prizes over-hunted at the arcade.

To Shizuku, it was meant merely as inventory disposal and a casual act of kindness.

But there was no way that the girls—who devoted themselves entirely to marrying Shizuku—had missed the news of the law revision that would, in a few years, make it legal for all of them to legally make Shizuku their wife.

'…The law is going to change. …In that case, I have to be the very first to become Shizuku-chan's legal wife... fufu.'

In three separate places, the three heroines clutched the stuffed animals Shizuku had given them, each harboring the exact same, terribly heavy resolve.

The great tides of the era—the law revision—completely blocked the escape route of the oblivious flirt and granted legal grounding to the princesses' “monopolization plans.” That Shizuku would truly notice this and clutch her head in despair… is a story for just a little further down the line.