After finishing their meal and exiting the private room, the sunlight was no longer as scorching as it had been at noon.
You walked in front and pushed open the restaurant’s wooden door. A cool breeze rushed in, carrying the scent of mountain vegetation. He pulled out his phone to check the time—it was already 3 PM. This meal had taken much longer than he’d expected. The explosive enthusiasm from everyone earlier had indeed wasted some time.
The four girls followed behind him in a line. The sunlight fell on them, stretching their shadows long and overlapping on the stone path.
The girls naturally gathered around him, chatting leisurely. Chihaya and Mai stuck close to his sides left and right, while Hitomi and Futaba were positioned a bit further out.
The stone path at the entrance had been baked by the sun all day and was still radiating heat. The distant mountains had turned a deep blue-green in the afternoon light, and clouds slowly rolled over the peaks, like cotton candy melting in the sky.
He couldn’t quite describe that feeling. It wasn’t a bad feeling, he thought.
This feeling was different from that morning at Lake Ashi. That floating sensation had been closer to the vanity of being surrounded by beautiful women—like winning the lottery jackpot. Happy, yes, but it felt unreal. But this feeling just now was different. Chihaya and Mai went without saying—there was more than just “mission” in the way they looked at him now. Even Hitomi and Futaba seemed to have something extra in their eyes.
He was a little greedy for this feeling. Being surrounded. Being needed.
It was only at this moment that he finally felt some real sense of the “open a harem” Main Quest he’d started with. Before this, he had always been pushed along by events—his father suddenly telling him, his mother taking him to meet the Mochizuki sisters, Futaba appearing out of nowhere, the hot spring night incident, Amaterasu’s Divine Descent, and Hitomi joining. Every step was pushed by others.
He hadn’t even had time to think clearly about what he wanted.
But now it was different.
He looked at the four girls beside him, and a thought gradually became clear in his mind. He wanted them to stay by his side and become his wives. This was no longer his father’s task, but his own will.
As a transmigrator, if he couldn’t hold onto the girls around him, he would truly be laughed at by countless predecessors who had transmigrated.
Since the goal was set, the first step was Futaba Tsukuyomi.
The Mochizuki sisters and Hitomi had come to him by divine decree—their positions were already fixed, and feelings could be cultivated slowly, so they were aside for now. But Futaba was different. This ever-smiling funster—he still hadn’t figured out what she was thinking.
Only one thing was certain: she definitely wouldn’t treat him like she said she did, as her boyfriend or future husband. She always maintained that composed demeanor, aloof and distant, like a cat that could jump away at any moment. Her smile was perfect, with no flaws to pick at, but the depth in her eyes never let anyone see.
However, that didn’t mean there was no opportunity.
You couldn’t help but recall that moment when Futaba’s expression completely broke. Before that, he had never seen Futaba like that. She always wore a perfect smile, at most a very brief freeze, then immediately returned to normal. But when that bead was taken out, her disguise completely shattered—and it wasn’t just a “very brief moment.”
“It seems there is a chance after all.”
He muttered to himself, his voice very low.
As for the disastrous consequences his mother described earlier, like Kaguya-hime’s descent, he had no awareness of caution. Just now, his father had shown up, hadn’t he? If there really was a problem, he would have said something. Since Tsukuyomi himself wasn’t worried, why should he be? If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up.
The one walking on his right, Mai, suddenly asked in a sweet voice.
“What are you saying, You? Something about a chance?”
Her cute eyes sparkled, and she tilted her head to look at him. There was a hint of alertness deep in her eyes. ‘You, have you taken a liking to someone?’
You quickly stopped his train of thought and smiled.
“Nothing, it’s nothing, Mai-chan.”
He was lying. ‘You, lying is not good, you know.’
Mai’s face relaxed into a relieved smile.
“That’s good. But, You, it’s very rude to be distracted while walking with girls, you know.”
You apologized repeatedly and started focusing on the walk.
Little did he know that his previous words had already been heard by Chihaya on the left and by Hitomi and Futaba further outside.
Chihaya pursed her lips and said nothing. ‘Was he talking about Futaba? Or Hitomi? If it’s Futaba, that’s bad—her thoughts aren’t clear yet. Just in case… No, I need to be on guard.’ Her fingers unconsciously pinched the hem of her clothes.
Futaba’s smile remained unchanged, with no cracks on the surface. ‘Was he talking about me? Or Hitomi? Let me see what you’ll do, Divine Child. If you really want to win me over, aren’t you afraid of Lady Kaguya’s threat? Or are you the type to be blinded by lust?’ She gently shook the fan in her hand, the crescent moon on it fluttering with the movement.
Hitomi still wore a gentle smile. Hitomi, walking on the outermost side, kept a gentle smile, but her mind was much slower than usual. Too many things had happened today. In the morning, she stopped them at the shrine entrance, then Amaterasu Omikami descended, then Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto appeared, then she was assigned to marry the Divine Child. Then came the conversation at lunch, Divine Grace, and that phrase “we are a family”… She felt like her brain had been filled with paste—it couldn’t turn.
She had seen Chihaya and Futaba’s reactions just now. They were both guessing who the Divine Child’s words referred to. But she didn’t want to guess.
She glanced at You walking in the middle. The sunlight hit his profile, and he was listening to Mai with a slight smile on his lips. ‘I’m so glad I met you.’ She had said that at lunch. Now that she recalled it, her heartbeat still quickened.
But—she was so tired. Let’s just leave it at that for today. Whoever he was talking about, it probably wasn’t her. She lowered her head slightly and looked at her own shadow underfoot. The sunlight came from the side, stretching her shadow long and thin, like a thread about to snap.
The group continued walking forward.
They walked along the street. Hakone’s afternoon tourists were fewer than in the morning. The shops along the road were still open, steam rising from the steamer baskets of hot spring manju, the sweet and greasy aroma mixing in the air. A crow cawed in the distance, the sound particularly clear on the quiet street.
You walked in the middle, his mind still turning over his earlier thoughts.
How could he test Futaba? Asking directly was out of the question. That woman was too good at hiding. No matter what he asked, she would give a perfect answer with a smile, making it impossible to tell truth from falsehood. Creating a chance to be alone? That wasn’t realistic either. Chihaya and Mai kept a close watch. Hitomi might seem easygoing, but she didn’t seem like the type to willingly step aside.
Or—
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Don’t force an opportunity. Wait for the opportunity to come to you. With Futaba’s personality, she wouldn’t stay on the sidelines forever. A funster always wants to stir things up. When she takes the initiative to approach, seize that moment.
You mentally gave himself a thumbs up. Plan set. Even though this plan was essentially planning nothing.
“What are you thinking about so intently, You?”
The voice came from the left, soft, with a lazy tone.
You turned his head and found that Futaba had somehow moved to his left side, while Chihaya had been pushed to the outside. Her fan was put away, both hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly, looking up at him. From this angle, her eyes looked especially beautiful.
You’s heartbeat quickened by half a beat.
“Nothing. Just thinking about what to eat for dinner.”
“Liar.”
Futaba smiled, her tone light.
“But that’s fine. The Divine Child doesn’t want to say something—Futaba never asks.”
After saying this, she took another step forward, her shoulder nearly touching You’s arm.
Chihaya coughed from the side.
Futaba smiled and stepped back half a step, but didn’t fully retreat. She still walked on You’s left, now with a person’s distance between her and Chihaya.
Chihaya glanced at her but said nothing.
Hitomi walked on the outermost side, quietly watching everything. Her mind had already wandered to the shop selling Japanese sweets by the street.
Mai walked on You’s right, head down, tapping on her phone. But her ears were perked up, not missing a single word.
Chihaya gave a light cough.
“Mai, don’t look at your phone while walking. You’ll trip.”
Mai quickly put her phone away and gave her sister a coquettish smile.
The wind blew, lifting Hitomi’s hair tips and brushing them against Chihaya’s shoulder. Chihaya reached out and brushed it away. Hitomi gave Chihaya a slightly apologetic smile.
The group continued along the stone path. The hydrangeas by the roadside were in full bloom—blue, purple, pink—clustered together. Sunlight leaked through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on their shoulders and hair.
You looked at the girls beside him and suddenly felt that this summer of his would probably be very long.