I’m in Hokkaido accompanying Nanko, a high school second-year girl I call "JK-nee" (big sister).

It was the morning after we had a bit of a fuss at the hotel.

We were taking our buffet-style breakfast in the restaurant on the hotel's top floor. "Hmm-hmm~♪"

Surrounding the table: me, Nanko, my little sister Akari (a first-year), her adoptive sister Midori-koko, and light novel author Rushia.

Akari was in incredibly good spirits, spreading butter on a piece of bread.

"Hey Akari, you're looking really cheerful."

Midori-koko asked sleepily. Since childhood, she had suffered from low blood pressure and struggled to wake up in the mornings. "It's nothing~♪" "……Could it be... you and your big brother?"

"Waaaaaant to know? Whyyy don't you guess waaaaait and see?"

Last night, Akari and I had slept together, while the rest of the group retired to separate rooms.

Whether she was trying to act grown-up or not, she wore a knowing smile. Sigh. Such a kid. "Rushia, what do you think?"

"I don't really care which it is."

Rushia sipped her tea elegantly. As expected from the eldest among us, she radiated a sense of ease.

I had thought so, but since the contents hadn't decreased, she was probably just worried. Even if she's older, it's only one year's difference between her and Akari, so we're all still kids, really.

"Don't say stuff like that~. You're acting like you don't care, but you do~? Akari-chan spent a night with Oka-san~"

"Mmph... uh-hem! That is, I am not bothered at all, and I have the magnanimity to forgive it even if Oka-san slept with any woman, but... can Oka-san be happy with a girl like Akari?"

Ruthia looked at me with teary eyes. Just as I thought, she was clearly worried. Well, that was only natural. "Not really, Ruthia has her own charm, too."

"But b-but, and this isn't boasting, I don't have breasts, nor do I have a healthy body like Akari's..."

"I don't mind things like that at all. Being with you is my choice." "O-Oka-san...!"

Ruthia smiled happily. Then Akari looked displeased. Midoriko was silently angry too. Multiple women for one man. It's common in light novels, but this is reality.

I am fully aware that what I am doing is socially abnormal. But... I cannot reject them, and choosing just one person... is impossible.

Somewhere inside me, I feel a sense of comfort in this abnormal space.

"By the way, Okarin, what are you doing today?"

"I'm going to Hokudai's open campus with Nanako." "Hee~..."

Hee, huh. Akari didn't understand...

“Then where do we wait in the meantime? Want to go sightseeing or something?”

“It's kind of a hassle if the only way to get there is by train, right? Apparently there aren't even that many trains running.”

My hometown in Nagano is the same way; because rural areas rely primarily on cars for transportation, public transit options like trains are sparse. “I’m probably not worried about that part.”

“? What do you mean, Karin?” And just as she asked, a voice called out. “Ka... Kōichi-kun!”

A beautiful woman was running toward us, waving her hands vigorously.

She was Ika Shinagawa, the black-haired beauty with her hair down. “Sorry for being late.” “Nah, no worries.”

Ika had told me last night that she wanted to come here.

After I told Nanaiko and the others I had business to attend to, Ika had enthusiastically volunteered to watch over the kids. “Ika. You... what about work?”

“Miss. It’s all set. I took some paid leave.”

“Going out of your way to take time off for this... well, I hate being left out too.”

Rusya said that, and Ika nodded in agreement.