Early afternoon.

A calm and meltingly sweet atmosphere drifted through the living room of Hibiki’s tower apartment.

“Here, open up.”

“…ngh.”

A sandwich was offered to my mouth as I sat sunk deep into the sofa.

Leaning against me, practically clinging to my entire body, was Karen, wearing nothing but my shirt directly over her bare skin.

Her slender shoulders and the smooth white thighs extending from beneath the hem of the shirt entered my vision whether I wanted them to or not.

“Is it good, Jō?”

“…Yeah. The taste is.”

“Honestly, you’re never straightforward. Such a shy one.”

Karen giggled softly and licked the mayonnaise off her finger.

After last night, or rather after the memory-making that lasted until just recently, her attitude had completely changed.

She had shed the shell of a top actress and was now simply a woman in love, pouring her whole being into doting on me.

Since I had resolved myself and said I would take responsibility, I had no intention of rejecting her affection.

If anything, holding this adorable creature in my arms filled me with a deep sense of fulfillment as a man.

Click.

At that moment, the bedroom door opened.

“…Mmm… smells nice… coffee…”

With her hair sticking out wildly and wearing rumpled pajamas, Hibiki staggered into the living room like a zombie.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she drifted toward the source of the smell, namely the sofa where we were.

“Morning, Jō. Breakfast…”

Hibiki’s eyes slowly opened.

What entered her field of vision was Karen in nothing but a shirt, arms wrapped around my neck, about to feed me coffee mouth-to-mouth.

Freeze.

Hibiki stopped dead.

The smartphone in her hand slipped free and thudded onto the carpet.

Several seconds of silence.

Then.

“Aaaaaaaah!!”

A scream so loud it seemed to rattle even the glass walls of the tower apartment echoed through the room.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing, you homewrecking cat!!”

Hibiki dashed over at full speed.

She clung to me and tried to physically pry Karen off.

“Let go! Let go of him!”

“Oh my, what a cruel way to put it. Calling me a thief.”

Karen smiled with ease and hugged me even tighter.

“We’re in love. Could you please stop interfering?”

“Don’t mess with me! I’m the one who found that man first!!”

Hibiki shouted with tears welling in her eyes.

“I scouted him on the street! I recognized his talent! I fed him! I raised him! So why do you get to take the best part for yourself!!”

Her argument sounded like a child desperately protesting after a rich neighbor took away a puppy she had picked up.

Pulled from both sides by the two women, I nearly choked on the sandwich.

“Hey, knock it off, both of you! Calm down!”

“How could I calm down! Jō is mine! He’s my greatest masterpiece!”

“Too bad. First come, first served.”

With a triumphant look, Karen planted a quick kiss on my cheek.

“We’ve already exchanged a vow. Right, darling?”

“Ghk… w-well, yeah, that’s how it is.”

When I nodded, Hibiki collapsed to her knees with a face full of despair.

“It’s over… my meal-life is over… Jō’s fried chicken, his pork miso soup, all of it belongs to Karen now…”

“Is that really what you’re upset about?”

As I shot back, Karen laughed merrily.

“You don’t have to despair that much, Hibiki.”

“…Huh?”

“There’s no reason for you to give up on Jō, you know.”

Karen tilted her head curiously.

“After all, he’s a rare species.”

Placing a hand on my chest, she spoke as if explaining something obvious.

“Trying to monopolize such a wonderful man all by myself would be selfish. Normally, people share, don’t we?”

“…Well, that’s true, but…”

“There’s no legal issue either and no one would complain. Right, Hibiki?”

Karen looked down at her and grinned.

“So what will you do, Hibiki? Give up? Or would you like to join in, even if you’re only second?”

…What?

I doubted my ears.

Second? Join in?

What was she even saying?

“H-hey, wait, Karen.”

I hurriedly cut in.

“What are you talking about? I decided to be with you. I’m not going to cheat. I may be clumsy, but I’m a devoted man.”

In the yakuza films of my past life, the concept of honor never included two-timing.

But my words were ignored.

Hibiki, with a serious expression, rested a hand on her chin and began muttering calculations to herself.

“…Second… it’s humiliating to be under Karen, but…”

Her eyes glinted suspiciously.

“But letting Jō go and settling for some other weak man would be worse… and if we live together, the food will be good and I can consult him about scripts anytime…”

“Exactly. And Jō happens to be an unbelievable stamina monster.”

Karen whispered, her cheeks flushing slightly.

“Honestly, I might not be able to handle him on my own… if you help, Hibiki, we can set up a rotation.”

“I see… that’s rational.”

Hibiki clapped her hands together.

Then, with a bright expression, she stood up and firmly grabbed my hand.

“It’s decided! Let me join too!”

“What the hell!? Don’t screw with me!”

I shouted.

“I’m not an object! What do you mean rotation! I’m a pure-love kind of guy!”

“What are you saying, Jō. All boys want to be loved by lots of women, don’t they?”

“That’s right. If you were a useless man it’d be different, but you could handle three or four without a problem.”

The two beauties, forming a strange alliance, closed in on me from both sides.

Karen’s sweet scent and Hibiki’s intelligent eyes, messy hair notwithstanding.

There was no escape.

“Let’s get along from now on, big sister?”

“Hmph. I’ll be the one holding the reins on the script, primary wife.”

Sparks flew as they exchanged barbs, yet they formed an odd partnership.

I looked up at the ceiling.

After declaring I would take responsibility, the scope of that responsibility had somehow doubled.

One man loving one woman with all his heart, my good old-fashioned common sense, apparently had no place in a world where men were scarce.

My peaceful life was not leaving me behind, but instead plunging headlong into even deeper chaos.