---
I opened my mouth to speak. I had nothing.
Five pairs of eyes burned into me—each one expecting something. Anything.
I thought maybe, maybe, I could diffuse the tension.
So I smiled awkwardly and said,
"Okay, how about this… I kiss all of you? Equally. No favorites."
Yeah. Brilliant move, Ren.
The silence that followed was not peaceful. It was the kind that screamed in your ears.
They didn't want equality.
They wanted a name. A single name.
The seconds dragged, turning into hours in my head. My breath felt heavy, throat dry. I could feel my brain pulling excuses out of thin air but finding none. No one was coming to save me.
We lived in the middle of nowhere. No neighbors. No curious pedestrians. No helpful gods.
Just when I was about to say something—anything—that would surely make things ten times worse…
Knock knock.
I think I actually jumped.
"I'll get it!" I said way too fast, already on my feet, moving like I was escaping a crime scene.
I opened the door like it held all my salvation.
It was Ayame.
Class rep Ayame. The girl with perfect grades, glasses, and a voice like calm jazz.
"Hi," she said, smiling. "You left this in the library."
She handed me my book—Advanced Spell Theories, Vol. II. Right. I had forgotten that.
"Oh. Uh. Thanks. I was just… in the middle of something." I scratched the back of my neck, feeling the heat rise up to my ears.
"I can tell," she said, glancing inside briefly. "Your harem looks tense."
I laughed nervously.
"Want me to walk you back?" I blurted. "I mean, just to stretch my legs."
She raised a brow but smiled. "Sure."
We walked down the stone path, not saying much. The cool air helped my heart slow down.
She stopped before the path ended and turned to me. "You know… you're kind of interesting when you panic."
I coughed. "I wasn't panicking."
She smirked. "Right. Anyway… here."
She held out her phone. "Number?"
I hesitated for half a second before typing it in.
"Thanks," she said. "I'll text you tonight. We can talk spells… or not."
She gave a little wave and turned. I stood there longer than necessary.
---
The night air had barely cooled my nerves when I stepped back into the house. I expected chaos—arguing, teasing, or at least one of them throwing a pillow at me for disappearing without warning. But what I got instead?
Silence.
Akane was curled up on the couch, scrolling through her phone like I didn't exist. Sora was in the kitchen, aggressively washing an already-clean cup. Elira sat cross-legged by the window, her face half-hidden behind her book. And Mei? She just glanced at me and returned to braiding her hair, slow and distant.
No one spoke.
Not even a fake smile. Not even sarcasm. Not even Sora's usual dry, cutting comment. It was as if my presence was air—necessary, but unnoticed.
I cleared my throat. "So… Ayame just returned the book she borrowed. Nothing big. I—"
"We figured," Akane said without looking at me.
Sora's laugh was cold. "You sure ran to that door like your life depended on it."
Elira didn't say anything, but the subtle way she turned another page told me she heard every word.
Mei finally looked up, eyes half-lidded. "Don't worry, Ren. You don't owe us an explanation. We get it."
"No, you don't," I said, stepping forward. "I didn't mean to upset anyone. I just thought if I said one name, the others—"
"We didn't need one name," Akane interrupted, her voice sharper now. "We just didn't want to be treated like... one group."
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I had tried to generalize the kiss, hoping to be fair. But in trying to be fair, I ended up being unfair to each of them in different ways.
The silence returned, heavier this time. And I stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by four amazing girls—each burning silently in their own corner of the house, pretending not to care while clearly feeling everything.
And for the first time since all this madness began… I genuinely didn't know how to fix it.
---