moving fast as lightning.
The pan tossed glossy, delicious-looking food,
and the flames behaved under her hands like a tame pet.
A breathtaking silver-haired, violet-eyed girl in simple loungewearEmilia (with her silver hair restored at home)was carefully piping frosting onto a delicate cake,
her focus absolute,
her movements so elegant it felt like she was casting divine magic.
A younger girl who looked middle-school age, green hair, goth-loli dress, hummed a tune while using a paring knife to peel apples in one go and dice them; each perfect piece dropped right into the salad bowl.
Two other girlsSora and Futabawere squeezed into one corner of the counter, apparently arguing about a dip recipe,
hands flying as they mixed; a few specks of sauce splattered now and then.
And a petite, fine-featured, short-haired girl with a hint of mixed-race looksNodoka Toyohamawas carefully setting out bowls and chopsticks,
her movements gentle, a content, serene smile on her face.
Five of them!
Five girls, all in wildly different stylesand all drop-dead gorgeous!
They weaved through the kitchen, collaborating or each doing their own thing?
Either way, the place was buzzing.
Pots and pans clanged in chorus; laughter bubbled nonstop
a scene that was incredibly domestic and wildly surreal at the same time.
Kei stood frozen at the entryway.
Her mouth hung open wide enough to fit a whole egg.
Her eyes were filled with shock, confusion, and that absurd "Who am I, where am I, am I dreaming?" feeling.
Sakurajima Mai seemed completely used to it.
She naturally slipped off her shoes and put on slippers,
walked to the dining area, grabbed a washed tomato, and took a bite.
Grinning at the busy crew, she said, "It's quite the spread todayTohru-chan's stir-fry, Emilia's dessert. Thanks for the hard work, everyone!"
"Mai, you're back!"
Tohru waved her spatula, bursting with energy.
"Almost done! Rei Ao said we have a guest today!"
As she spoke, her curious gaze swung to Kei, still rooted in the doorway like her soul had left her body.
"That's her, right?"
Emilia also looked up,
gave Kei a gentle, angelic smile, and nodded.
Illya studied her with bright curiosity. "A new face? Someone Rei Ao brought home?"
Sora and Futaba paused their "war,"
pushed up glasses and wiped their brows, and looked over, intrigued.
Nodoka Toyohama set the tableware down,
gave Kei a shy smile, eyes clear and friendly.
With so many eyes suddenly on her,
Kei felt heat rush straight to the top of her head; her cheeks flushed scarlet.
She had no idea what to do with her hands and feet.
All she could manage was a stiff, mechanical bow.
"H-Hello! Sorry to intrude"
Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito.
Just then, Rei Ao finished changing shoes and walked over to her.
He took in the room full of pretty girls and the freshman statue beside him,
and seemed to realize the scene might be a bit much for little Kei.
He cleared his throat.
His big hand, by habit, ruffled her silver hair again, making the little cowlick on top stick up even more.
Then he said, loud and clear:
"Alright, let's eat."
Something in his voice was oddly soothing, and the kitchen noise eased a little.
Rei Ao led the still half-crashed Kei to the dining table and sat her in an empty seat.
The table was already packed with dishes that looked, smelled, and tasted amazing, sending up irresistible aromas.
Kei's stomach let out a tiny, traitorous growl,
and she immediately wanted to crawl under the table.
Everyone else took their seats one after another.
Sakurajima Mai naturally sat on Rei Ao's left, with Tohru on his right.
Emilia sat beside Tohru.
Illya took the seat opposite Rei Ao; Sora and Futaba sat together, and Nodoka Toyohama sat next to Kei.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
Currently You can Read 220+ Chapters Ahead of Others!
Chapter 886: Girlfriend... Her, her, her and her too...
Rei Ao's gaze swept over everyone at the table,
finally landing on Kei Shirogane beside him, still a bit stiff, eyes darting away.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat and made the formal introductions:
"This is Kei Shirogane, my kouhaia first-year at the academy. I invited her over as a guest today."
Then he pointed to each girl in turn:
"This is Tohru our all-purpose maid and head chef."
Tohru puffed out her chest and let out a proud little "hmph."
"Emilia you could say she's the house's pastry chef and mascot?"
Emilia's cheeks colored as she shot Rei Ao a playful glare.
"Illyaand Soraare basically my cousins."
Sora swung her little feet with smug satisfaction; Illya remained composed.
"Futaba, a close friend's little sistershe drops by to help sometimes."
Futaba gave a calm wave.
"Nodoka Toyohamaalso part of the household."
Nodoka nodded to Kei with a gentle smile.
"Sakurajima Mai,"
he added, looking to his left.
"You all know herthese days she's one of the regulars here."
Sakurajima Mai lifted her water glass with poise and gave Kei a flawless, big-sisterly smile.
"Hello, Shirogane-chan. Welcome."
Her eyes flicked between Kei and Rei Ao, carrying a hint of knowing amusement and something hard to read.
Introductions done,
a delicate quiet settled over the table.
Kei stared at the lineup in front of hermaid, "cousins," the gentle kouhai, an idol star
Her brain had completely overloaded; the CPU was fried.
How was this "dropping by as a guest"?
She'd clearly wandered into some sort of "beautiful-girls shelter."
"Don't just sit there spacing out, Kei. Try Tohru's cookingshe's amazing."
Rei Ao's voice pulled her back from the brink of a system crash.
He lifted a golden piece of fried shrimp and placed it in her bowl.
Kei picked up her chopsticks mechanically.
She looked at the tempting shrimp,
then at the too-beautiful, mystery-laden "family" around her,
then at Rei Ao beside her, watching her with that lazy half-smile.
She silently picked up the shrimp and took a bite.
Crisp outside, tender insideastonishingly good.
It tasted great.
But
this meal was destined to taste like nothing to her.
Way too much information.
She'd need timeso much timeto process this "Rei Ao-senpai's home" that flipped her entire worldview.
Sakurajima Mai took in Kei's lookworldview shattered yet forcing herself to act composed.
She leaned to Rei Ao's ear and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, whispered with a teasing lilt:
"Looks like our pure little bunny kouhai is going to need a long, long while to get used to the size of your 'harem.'"
Dinner's bustle gradually faded.
The bright clink of dishes gave way to the rush of running water.
Tohru hummed some unknown dragonfolk ditty while working at the sink.
Emilia and Nodoka Toyohama spoke softly about how to store the leftover cake frosting.
Sakurajima Mai lounged at the other end of the sofa, flipping through a fashion magazine;
from time to time her eyes, carrying the faintest smile, drifted to the silver-haired girl in the middle of the living room who still seemed a bit out of place.
Kei sat primly on the soft fabric sofa,
hands neatly placed on her pressed-together knees,
hugging her slightly childish schoolbag to her chest
as if it were the last tether to a "normal world."
She fought to keep her surface calm,
but deep in those amethyst eyes was a churn of confusion and loss.
She'd learned a lot about Rei Ao-senpai's household:
cohabiting superstar girlfriend Sakurajima Mai; the mysterious maid-slash-girlfriend Tohru; the silver-haired office-worker girlfriend Emilia; the cousin girlfriends Illya and Sora; the young idol girlfriend Nodoka Toyohama
These girlsso different in identity yet all breathtakingwhirled through her head like a carousel.
Every natural, easy intimacy they shared with Rei Ao
was like a tiny needle pricking the very tip of her budding, adolescent heart.
At lastslow to catch on yet painfully clearshe realized:
she'd fallen for Rei Ao-senpai.
Not admiration from a kouhai to a senpai,
but a young girl's first crushsweet and aching.
And before that tender feeling could even see the sun,
the crushing "harem reality" in front of her doused it with ice-cold water.
Her heart thudded dully in her chest,
tight with a squeezed, sore ache.
So this is what Senpai is like?
Beneath the gentle exterioralmost an emperor's kind of amorousness?
She felt like a dwarf who'd blundered into a giants' banquetsmall and ridiculous.
Yet that pure, moonlit first-love feeling was impossible to discard.
"Here."
A warm bone-china cup appeared before her, steam carrying the rich scent of black tea.
Kei jolted back to herself,
and when she looked up she fell straight into Rei Ao's deep eyes.
At some point he'd taken the single chair beside her,
sitting casually, wearing his usual lazy smile.
"Yukino brewed this herself. It's quite good."
His voice was low and pleasant, as if that data-dump of a dinner had never happened.
"Th-thank you, Senpai."
Kei hurried to take the cup with both hands.
The heat through the porcelain touched her palms, but couldn't warm the chill inside.
She sipped in tiny tastes,
letting the fragrance spread across her tongue.
After a long hesitation,
the surge of stubbornness and the need to know finally broke through the dam of shyness.
She gathered her courage,
her voice quivering just a little,
and cautiously asked the question that had circled in her mind forever:
"Um Senpaiyour relationship with Yukinoshita-senpai is?"
She asked carefully,
but her eyes locked on his, clinging to the faintest last hope.
Rei Ao lifted his own cup of tea; at her words, one eyebrow ticked up,
a bit surprised she'd ask so directly.
He didn't dodge it.
If anything, his smile deepened, a calm, matter-of-fact openness.
"Yukino?"
He took a sip and said evenly, "Pretty much what you think."
He paused,
his gaze sliding past the busy Emilia and Tohru in the kitchen,
then to Sakurajima Mai on the sofa with her magazine, and added,
"And Utaha, Eriri them too."
Chapter 887: A Sudden Angel Appeared
"Crack!"
Shirogane Kei could almost hear something shatter inside her head.
All of them?!
Mai Sakurajima? Utaha Kasumigaoka? Eriri Sawamura? Yukino Yukinoshita?
Each name was as dazzling on campus as the moon and starseach with enough admirers to circle the track three times.
And all of them were Rei Ao-senpai's girlfriends?!
"???"
Kei's pupils blew wide.
Her fingers clenched around the teacup until her knuckles went white.
Her mouth opened, but her throat felt stuffed with a wad of sizzling cottonno sound would come out.
The sheer shock was like an invisible sledgehammer slamming into her crown, sending black spots across her vision.
Her ears rang, her brain crashed, and only those four names and the words "all of them" kept ricocheting around inside her skull.
Mai Sakurajima lifted her eyes from a magazine.
Seeing Kei standing there like she'd been struck by lightning, her worldview in ruins, Mai's red lips quirked ever so slightlythen she lowered her gaze again as if nothing had happened.
Tohru paused mid-polish, poked her head out, and peered over curiously, the ahoge on her head wobbling in confusion.
Time seemed to freeze with Kei stuck in stone.
Like a wind-up doll with the spring yanked out, she stood there stiffly cradling a now half-cold cup of tea, staring blankly at some point in the air.
Inside, she was weathering a magnitude-ten earthquake plus a volcanic eruption, with the epicenter being the man calmly sipping tea on the sofa.
A long moment passed
before she managed to scrape together a few fragments of consciousness from the wreckage.
A wave of bone-deep fatigue and a tangle of feelings crashed over her.
Affection?
Still there, but it felt buried under a thick layer of ash.
Disappointment?
A littlefor the fantasy that had just shattered.
More than anything, it was the dazed helplessness of having her understanding of the world turned upside down and a faint sense of rejection?
So the senpai really is a shameless playboy?
The dizziness of information overload made her want to retch.
Nope.
She needed to get out of this suffocating place right now.
If she stayed another second, she'd split apart on the spot.
"S-senpai!"
Kei shot to her feet.
The sudden, stiff movement almost sent the teacup flying from her hands.
She fought to keep her voice steady.
"I I should get going! Thank you so much for having me!"
She bowed deeply, only wanting to flee this surrealist nightmare as fast as possible.
But just as she straightened and moved toward the entry
"Ah!"
A blinding burst of white light detonated before her eyes without warning, like a flashbang going off at arm's length!
"Ah!"
Kei squealed and squeezed her eyes shut; tears sprang up at once from the glare.
Then something light and soft, faintly warm, draped over the top of her head.
The feel of it was very particular.
The light faded.
Kei blinked through watery lashes, still rattled.
She instinctively raised a hand and took the fallen thing off her head.
It felt soft to the touch, carrying the faintest trace of a girl's body warmth.
She looked down.
Pure white.
Triangular.
A delicate lace trim around the edges.
Size very petite.
Thisthis was unmistakably a girl's underwear!!!
"Boom!!!"
Kei's brain CPU officially blew out.
The bits of worldview she'd just barely glued back together were blasted to dust again.
Clutching the little white panties, she froze in place like she'd been hit with a petrification spell,
her face going from bloodless to crimson in the span of a heartbeat.
What what on earth was happening now?!
A pair of worn girls' panties dropping from the sky?!
Before her system could reboot, another searing flash of white burst to life with a sharp "ah!"
This time, it was less than a meter in front of her.
When the light cleared, a figure stood there out of thin aira blonde girl who looked younger than Kei.
Her hair spilled like molten sunlight, dazzling and loose around her shoulders.
Perched askew on her head was a tiny halo-like metal ring, which was flickering unsteadily at the moment.
