*Knock knock.*

  “Katja, is that you? Come in.” Shinji’s office was located on the second floor of what they called the House of Imaginary Boundaries main building. He spent most of his time out, working closer to the Paranormal Defense Forces offices. That way he would distract any potential troublemakers and keep them away from his organization. He was technically the girls’ handler, but he gave them unprecedented freedom for their industry. This made him very beloved even though his presence wasn’t the strongest.

  “Thanks for getting here so quickly. Take a seat. I hope I didn’t bother you by calling you all of a sudden.” He was working on some documents when Katja entered the room. After lining them up neatly, he opened one of the shelves and put them away for the conversation.

  “It’s no problem. I wasn’t doing anything important. How may I help?” Katja sat down with perfect posture. She was acting like a soldier trying to look good in front of a superior.

  “That’s too formal, Katja. You don’t need to be so tense.” He told Katja, even though he’s the one who always speaks politely. What a ridiculous man to take on the role of a handler. Katja smiled. “I called you here to ask some questions about the current situation. There are some rumors going around of how supernatural threats are getting worse. Some say there have been more monsters appearing recently, others say portals are opening more frequently… Maybe there was some kind of jump recently. I want to know your perspective as someone who’s actually down on the field. What do you think, Katja?”

  Shinji intertwined his fingers and rested his hands on his desk. Katja saw worry on the man’s naturally calm face. “I agree. There does seem to have been a jump recently. It feels like there are reports of small monsters roaming around every single day now. We definitely started getting more small jobs around two months ago.”

  Katja crossed her arms to think, then continued. “The portals too. We had one just before Iroha joined us. We should have been fine for a few months, but the portal in the harbor appeared barely a month later. If this continues, I think it will be safe to say that portals are opening more frequently.”

  “Just like I thought…” Shinji let out a troubled sigh. “One of the PSF squads recently ran into some problems on a mission, and now they’re all panicking. They’re scared of making another mistake, so they’re scrambling to put together a better team to try again. Who knows how long that will take them…” Shinji shook his head. Katja picked up on what he was getting at.

  “Meaning there’s a high likelihood that they’ll try to dump the unfinished job on us, right? You want us to be ready just in case.”

  “Yes, that’s exactly it. Thank you, Katja. Please make sure you’re ready if we get called.” Shinji was proud of how efficient his team was, especially when most of the work he did didn’t directly contribute to that. “Speaking of which, where has Carol been? I haven’t run into her recently… Or Iroha for that matter.”

  “Th- that’s… a complicated situation…” Katja was stumped. If the House played by the books, both of them would be in serious trouble right now. Might even get accused of desertion. “They disappeared together to training, and we can’t reach them consistently. Are they in trouble?”

  “Trouble?” The question shocked Shinji. “No no no! The House of Imaginary Boundaries exists to escape the PSF’s stiffness. You know I don’t poke my nose into the members’ behaviors. I trust your judgment.” Katja’s worry was silly in the first place.

  “Of course. Thank you for your understanding.”

  “So Carol’s training on her own now…” Shinji let out a delightful sigh. “It’s nice to see our newcomer motivating her. Hopefully she gets some nice results this time. It’d be nice for her to gain some confidence and stop beating herself up over not reaching your levels just yet.”

  “I hope so too. Maybe she can find a new source of strength. She always pushes herself so hard… It’d be nice if she could just smile for once.” Katja smiled in agreement to Shinji. Their sudden training trip was a weird situation for everyone at the House, but Kajta was hopeful. I wonder how their training is going…?

  It’s real! It’s actually real! Waking up next to Carol and Ririna is such an unbelievable situation that I seriously thought I was still dreaming. I’m not! This is not a dream! Still, it’s not healthy to get this excited so soon after waking up.

  Is this enough for me to die happy? Wait… Not yet! Carol to my right, Ririna to my left, both using my arms as pillows. I’d be happier if they weren’t completely numb, but it’s a fair trade. They’re both so cute… Ririna’s adorable sleeping face… I could stare at her forever… And her lips…

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Huh… I wonder if I could kiss them…? They look so soft… So tempting… Yesterday wasn’t enough. I want more. Can I? Would she like it? My cheeks grew red as I argued with myself. It’s fine! Why the hell am I hesitating now? I didn’t get this far by being a coward! I gently wiggled my arm from under Carol’s head and turned to Ririna. Here it goes!

  *Chhuuuu~!!*

  “?!” My kiss woke her up, and her eyes widened in surprise. The next second she softly closed them again and leaned into the kiss. “Good morning to you too, Iroha.” She whispered with a smug grin on her face as our lips parted. “You’re a naughty girl kissing me first thing in the morning.”

  “Sorry. You looked so so soooo cute that I couldn’t help myself.” Ririna’s smile became even more delighted.

  “Hmm… You called me cute, so I’ll let it slide this time.” She giggled before letting out a troubled sigh. I held my breath in suspense. “This isn’t good though, Iroha. Getting woken up by my prince charming is too good. It’s like I’m living in a fairy tale. I might get addicted to this.”

  Sounds like a good problem to have! Why is she getting me all worried for nothing? “I’m glad you liked it, but I think you meant princess.”

  “Wooowww… She even has the gall to call herself a princess. How vain… Just who did I end up falling in love with?” Great, she’s teasing me now. Will a second kiss shut her up?

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Just as I was coming up with contrived plots against Ririna’s teasing, a sulky Carol called out to me while grabbing my shoulder.

  “Sorry, Carol. Did we wake you up?”

  “I don’t care about that. That’s not what I meant.” What’s she unhappy about then? Well, knowing her, it must be because…

  “Did you mean the kiss?” Ririna asked Carol boastfully. Why is she tossing more wood into the fire? This isn’t going to end well… “It shouldn’t bother you, though. Weren’t you the one who said you couldn’t accept a relationship with Iroha if she’s also with me?”

  Ouch… She angered Carol, and now she’s clenching my shoulder. “Shut up!” She snapped back at Ririna then pushed my shoulder down, rolling me to my back. She raised herself while holding down my shoulder and went straight for a kiss. Hehehe~

  “Yeah… You’re right…” Carol broke off the kiss and continued with an irritable voice. “I can’t accept it… After all, I want Iroha all to myself! I can’t accept her dating somebody else at the same time. But I’m not backing down. I won’t let you do as you please and get ahead of me. I’ll put up with it until I decide how to clean up this mess…” She laid back down while clinging possessively. Carol sure is a cutie… I knew that from the beginning, of course!

  This is our relationship now… No wonder I thought I was still dreaming. This is too perfect to be true! I know this is the arrangement we settled on yesterday. But even though I remember how we got here, it still doesn’t feel real. After Ririna’s confession, the rest of the day was so emotion-rich that the rational part of my brain hasn’t caught up yet.

  At first, Ririna almost ran off in tears, thinking I was rejecting her. I kinda screwed up by telling her sorry. I could have phrased that better. Carol somehow managed to find us after Ririna brought us to that isolated spot with the nice view. Her appearance stopped Ririna in her tracks as she was running away.

  “Wait… you said ‘other girls’…” She stopped to think while staring at Carol. “Like her? Do you like Carol too?”

  “Hahh!?!?” Ririna shocked Carol by pointing at her while asking that question. Carol being there really caught me by surprise. She had overheard everything. There was no point in pretending, so I answered Ririna truthfully. I didn’t like Carol, I loved her.

  “Are you serious?! You gotta be joking!” Carol turned into a tomato in an instant. I thought she was just embarrassed, but she approached me while fuming. “If you love me, then why do you also love someone else? Do you think I’m not enough?!” She was extremely mad, and honestly, who could blame her?

  If it hadn’t been for Ririna being there, the situation would have been completely unsalvageable. Just as Carol was getting heated, Ririna realized something else. “Wh- why ‘sorry’ then? I’m not one of the girls you love? But you said…” Ririna had a mix of worry and hope on her face.

  “No! I love you! I just thought you’d be disappointed in me. That’s why…”

  “I’m not! I don’t care about others! I wanna be with you!” Ririna ran back to hug me.

  “But isn’t it weird? That I love multiple girls?”

  “In that case, I’m weird too by confessing to a girl. There are nobles who have lots of wives. Even some ladies have multiple lovers. Sure, I’ve never heard of a woman with lots of female lovers, but it’s fine. There’s a first time for everything. I don’t care about anything else as long as I can be with you!” Ririna hugged me tightly while making her point. It was a huge relief, but Carol was totally confused.

  “Y- you’re fine with it? How the hell can you accept that? Don’t you want her all to yourself?”

  Ririna answered Carol without turning her way. “I don’t care about any of that. I’ll be happy if I can stay with Iroha. My dreams will come true if we’re together!”

  Carol gritted her teeth in frustration. This is why I always tried to take things slow. I didn’t want to hurt anyone… “Sorry, Carol. I didn’t want to spring this on you like this… You must be disappointed now that you’ve seen the kind of girl I am…”

  Something inside Carol snapped. “Who said you could speak for me?! That’s not enough to change how I feel! Don’t talk like you understand anything. I still love… you…” Her voice was barely audible at the end as she blushed more intensely.

  “Wha…?”

  “I love you, you idiot!” She pushed Ririna to the side and went in for a kiss of her own. I couldn’t believe what had happened… It was such a ridiculous situation. These girls are seriously cute, though. I’m so lucky I get to date both of them. Carol couldn’t accept that as a final resolution.

  We went back to the hotel and talked for hours, trying to settle on something, but we still couldn’t figure out anything. We got tired at some point and fell asleep like this. It’s a temporary solution right now, but I’ve never been happier. I can’t believe both of them accepted my fucked-up desires. Kinda… Carol’s not fully on board… She’s hoping to make me fall for her even harder and give up on Ririna.

  I have to return the favor from now on. I have to make them happy. No more mistakes from now. I must be perfect now not just for mine but also their sakes. I owe them for their wonderful gift!

  “I love you, Iroha. I’ll cook for you every day…” Still riding on the high from yesterday, Ririna cuddled up to me, still half asleep.

  “I didn’t know you cooked.” Hearing her random declaration helped me loosen up.

  “I’ll make you potions.” She smiled.

  “Am I meant to survive on just potions? Make some food too, okay?”

  “Ahahaha… I might be able to handle that… I’ll give it some thought.” While Ririna was babbling, Carol tugged my dress.

  “Don’t bother, Iroha. I’ll cook all your meals for you, so just forget about her.” Carol looked up, blushing lightly.

  “You know how to cook? Hecate’s the only one I’ve ever seen in the kitchen.”

  “Don’t underestimate me. I’ve helped her a few times. I can pick up in no time.” Wow… I can foresee a tragedy already… “What’s with that face? You don’t want me to cook for you? Say something already!” She picked up on my worries and snapped back.

  “It’s nothing! I’d love to eat your cooking. I’m sure it will be great!” Carol, Ririna, I’ll make you happy without fail.