Mika walked to the couch and looked at the girls. "We need a roster for chores, cooking, and everything."
"I can cook," Yuna blurted out. Makoto, Ayane, and Mafuyu all looked at her.
"I can!" she insisted, her face red. "I've been learning from Mafuyu-nee. I know how to make rice, boiled eggs, ramen, and… and stir-fry. It might be a little burnt, but it's edible."
"I can clean," Ayane offered. "I'm surprisingly good at scrubbing things when I'm angry, or guilty."
Mika nodded. "I will handle the schedule and shopping. Doing it online is more efficient."
Makoto looked at Mafuyu. "And you," he said gently. "You are on bed rest until further notice."
"But…" Mafuyu reluctantly said.
"No buts, Mafuyu-nee. You're the Queen now, just sit and order us around!" Mika said, her voice cold but carrying.
Mafuyu looked at them, tears welled up in her eyes again. "You guys…"
===
The next morning was a chaotic disaster as expected. Yuna took charge of breakfast after kicking everyone out of the kitchen. "I need focus!" she yelled, wielding a spatula like a sword.
Thirty minutes later, she emerged with a tray. "It's… egg-fried rice," she announced. It was brown instead of yellow. There were chunks of carrot that were definitely too big, and the egg was a little rubbery. But it smelled like soy sauce and effort.
Yuna brought a bowl to Mafuyu on the couch. "Eat," she commanded. "And tell me it's delicious."
Mafuyu took a bite and chewed slowly. "It's… crunchy," she said while smiling. "And it tastes wonderful, Yuna-chan." Yuna beamed, trying to hide it behind a scowl. "Hmph. Of course it is."
Ayane tackled the bathroom. She put on a pair of rubber gloves and a bandana. "Die, scum!" she shouted at the toilet bowl. An hour later, the apartment smelled of lemon cleaner and slightly burnt rice.
It wasn't perfect like Mafuyu's effortless magic. But it was clean enough for five people to live in.
Makoto spent the day with Mafuyu. He sat by the couch, holding her hand, watching bad daytime TV with her. They didn't talk much. They didn't need to.
"I missed you, honey," Mafuyu whispered during a commercial break.
"I'm right here. I'm always here." Makoto said.
"No," Mafuyu shook her head. "You were far away. In your head, worrying about us." She squeezed his hand. "We don't need you to be perfect, Makoto-kun. We just need you to be here."
Makoto kissed her hand. "I'm back, I promise."
===
After a dinner of takeout pizza (Yuna's cooking career was put on pause for safety reasons), they gathered in the living room. Mika presented the new color-coded schedule: "On Monday, Ayane cooks, Yuna cleans, and Makoto does the dishes when he gets home. On Tuesday, Mafuyu cooks (Light duty). Mika cleans. Yuna does laundry... and so on."
"This is strict, Mika," Ayane noted.
"Structure prevents collapse," Mika stated.
Later, as they were getting ready for bed, Makoto found Yuna in the kitchen. She was still in her apron and pajamas, staring at the stove with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Hey, the rice this morning was good," Makoto said.
Yuna rolled her eyes. "I know it was just edible trash, pig bro. But… thanks." She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms, making herself look small somehow.
"Mafuyu-nee is really sick, isn't she?" Yuna asked, her voice trembling.
"She's exhausted," Makoto corrected. "Her body just stopped."
Yuna looked down at her feet. "I… I yelled at her yesterday because she forgot to buy my gummies." She looked up, tears spilling over. "I yelled at her, Makoto. And she just apologized and made me dinner."
Makoto stepped forward and pulled Yuna into a hug. She didn't fight him, just buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "I'm a terrible Main Wife," she cried. "I'm supposed to protect the harem. And I broke the mom."
"You didn't break her," Makoto soothed, rubbing her back. "We all just leaned on her too hard. We forgot she needs support, too."
Yuna looked up to him. "I was scared when she fell earlier." Makoto nodded, "Me too."
"I thought… what if she didn't wake up? Who would make the tamagoyaki? Who would listen to me complain and teach me cook?" Yuna admitted quietly while looking up at him, her gray eyes vulnerable. "I realized I rely on her. A lot. We all do."
"She's the heart of our family," Makoto said.
"Yeah." Yuna sighed. "And I've been a brat."
Makoto held her until her sobs subsided into sniffles.
"We have to do better," Yuna said, pulling back and wiping her nose on his shirt. "Starting now. And you, pig bro, you have to stop being a ghost. We miss you! Even when you're here, you're not here. You're thinking about code or bugs or money."
"I know," Makoto admitted. "I was just scared of failing you all."
"You fail us by not being with us," Yuna said fiercely. "We can be poor, we can eat ramen. But we can't be apart, not when we're all in the same house." She poked him in the chest. "Fix your work-life balance, pig. Or I'll break your knees so you can't leave."
Makoto smiled. It was a weak smile, but it was real. "That's the Yuna I know."
Yuna walked over to him and punched him in the arm hard, making him growl. "That's for letting it get this bad," she said, then she hugged him. "And this is for fixing it."
She buried her face in his chest. "Don't work so hard either," she mumbled. "We'd rather have you poor and here than rich and… gone."
Makoto held her. He could smell the burnt rice in her hair. "Okay, I hear you, little sis."
===
Later that night, the four of them, minus Mafuyu, gathered in the clean living room. The air smelled of lemon and the faint lingering scent of sickness from the bedroom.
"Status report, please," Mika said. She had put her glasses away. Her eyes were tired.
"Mafuyu is stable," Makoto said. "She's sleeping."
"Food is stocked," Ayane reported. "Laundry is… still in progress."
"And morale is still low," Yuna muttered.
They sat in silence for a moment.
"I hate this," Ayane said suddenly. "I hate feeling like… like we're just roommates who annoy each other." She looked at Makoto. "Remember the con and the hotel afterward? We were a team, a unit."
"We were just horny, fat cow!" Yuna pointed out.
"We were connected, little sis," Ayane corrected. "We were all focused on the same thing: to get the attention of this perverted demon king." She reached out and took Makoto's hand. "We need to get that back."
Mika nodded slowly. "Agreed, the current setup isn't working. We're not functioning well together." She looked at Makoto. "We need a change in priorities."
Makoto looked at them: Yuna, fierce and fragile. Ayane, chaotic and loving. Mika, cold and devoted. He said, "Okay, new rule for me: No work talk after 7 PM. No phones or laptops at dinner. And… we bring back the family nights, watching silly animes on Netflix."
"And," Yuna added, her voice quiet. "Mafuyu is banned from the kitchen for a week minimum."
"Agreed," everyone said.
"And," Ayane added, a spark of her old mischief returning to her eyes. "We need to warm up our relationships." She looked at Makoto and squeezed his thighs.
"You've been acting like the provider. But you forgot the cock, you stopped being the Harem King, Makoto." She leaned forward, her voice dropping. "We need the King back. We need the Demon King who fucked us and made us beg, the guy who made us a family."
Makoto felt a stir in his chest, a flicker of the old fire. "You want the King?"
Yuna looked up, her eyes wide. Mika straightened her back. "Yes," they whispered.
"Then come here," Makoto said as he pulled Ayane into his lap. He reached out and grabbed Yuna's arm, pulling her down beside him. Then he looked at Mika. "Come here, too, heartless bitch."
Mika crawled over and rested her head on his knee. "I'm here for you, darling."
Makoto wrapped his arms around them. It wasn't sexual, not yet, just a pile of bodies, a tangle of heat and breath and shared history. "I'm sorry," he whispered into the huddle. "I got lost."
"We know," Yuna murmured, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Just… don't do it again."
"I won't." He answered and kissed the top of Ayane's head. He squeezed Yuna's waist and stroked Mika's hair.
"Tomorrow," he said, "I'm going to leave work at 6:00 sharp. And I'm going to come home, and we're going to make dinner together. And then…" He looked at the closed door of the bedroom where Mafuyu slept. "And then we're going to take care of her. All of us!"
"Deal," Yuna grunted.
"Deal," Ayane said.
"Deal," Mika whispered. "Drive to work once in a while if you need it, darling. So you can come home earlier."
They stayed like that for a long time in the quiet living room. The TV was off, the phones were silent. For the first time in two weeks, the house didn't feel hollow, it felt full.
And in the silence, Makoto made a vow. "I would keep the job and pay the bills. But I would never, ever let the real world take this away from me again."