‹I, too…› ‹We were in love.›
“Say whaaat?!”
“You and I have romantic relations.”
“Say whaaaaat?!”
“Kusuri’s dating Rentaro too!”
“Say whaaaaaaat?!”
“Don’t count me out as your lover, Rentaro-chan!”
“Say whaaaaaaaaat?!”
“I’m also, uh, your girlfriend, Rentaro-senpai.”
“Say whaaaaaaaaaaat?!”
“I, too, have the pleasure of being courted by you, Rentaro-sama.”
“Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”
Each consecutive reveal caused Rentaro’s eyes to widen ever further. At this point, he looked almost inhuman. He stayed like that, eyes boggled, for a few seconds. Then, his eyes reverted to their original size.
“So, am I meant to figure out who’s the real one?” he asked tentatively.
Nano shot this down immediately. “This is not a game of Werewolf.”
“Haha, just kidding.” Rentaro shrugged, his expression relaxing. “I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even I figured out it was a joke partway through all of that.”
“I thought it was some kind of joke at first too, but it’s one hundred percent real!” Karane said.
“But that doesn’t make sense unless I’ve been eight-timing.”
“That is the explanation!” Hakari insisted.
Rentaro didn’t look convinced. “I’ve been eight-timing? That sounds like a funny premise for a manga.”
‹You are not wrong about that.›
“Mei,” Hahari called out.
Mei surmised everything solely from that utterance. “Yes, my lady.” In the blink of an eye, she set up a projector in the classroom and hit play. “This is days-old footage from within the Rentaro-sama Robot.”
As the footage from inside the cockpit played, Kurumi glared at Hahari. “You totally filmed that on the sly, didn’t you?”
Rentaro freaked out. “Okay, first off, why are we all inside what looks like the cockpit of a giant robot?!”
“Because we were in the cockpit of a giant robot, aye!” Kusuri’s explanation only deepened Rentaro’s confusion.
Meanwhile, the projector showed the kiss scene. Rentaro stared in fascination as his on-screen counterpart exchanged deep kisses with the girls many times over.
“Are you serious?” he said finally. He looked over his shoulder, trembling.
His girlfriends nodded at him in unison. The light of truth lay in all eight pairs of eyes.
“I see… So after getting rejected a hundred times, I ended up seeing eight girls at once… I thought that could only happen because of divine intervention or something. Life sure is full of surprises, huh?”
As he shook his head from side to side, Rentaro seemed to come to terms with the situation. Tranquility came over his face.
“Now please watch my next performance. The title? Cheating Male Commits Harakiri, Featuring a Dagger That Would Kill You with the Most Pain Possible (It Was in His School Bag for Some Reason).” Rentaro brought the dagger down with frightening speed.
“Holy heck! Don’t stab yourself!”
The girls all lunged to stop Rentaro’s arm in its tracks.
“Let go of me! A scumbag cheater who hurts his precious girlfriend doesn’t deserve to live! I shouldn’t spend another second on this earth!”
“Melt-Ya-Face-Off Medicine will stop Rentaro!” Kusuri shouted.
“As if we’re gonna let you use that on him!” Kurumi shouted back.
“Our first priority is restraining Aijo Rentaro,” Nano said.
“Right!” Hahari declared.
“Yes, my lady.” Responding to Hahari’s implicit command, Mei looped a rope around Rentaro.
Stripped of his mobility, Rentaro wept bitter tears.
“Urgh! Just let me die! Let me diiiiie!”
“Rentaro-kun, you are mistaken about one thing,” Hakari said.
“What? Are you saying I wasn’t eight-timing?”
‹That part.› ‹’Tis the truth.›
“Aaaaaaaaargh! Time to slice my belly open!”
“Listen to me, Rentaro!” Karane yelled.
Rentaro stopped crying at the sound of her angry voice. He quivered like jelly.
“In the beginning, I thought it was all so dumb,” she went on. “Having more than one girlfriend? I thought your brain had gone to mush.”
“So I did give you grief—!”
“But!” Karane interrupted him, a steely will visible in her eyes. “Now, I think…that I’m glad it happened!” She turned away and pouted.
“No matter how many girlfriends you get, we’ll never stop showering you with love!” Hakari insisted.
“Aijo Rentaro loves all his girlfriends equally,” said Nano.
“Your love is completely and utterly genuine! I can say this with confidence because I suspected otherwise at the start!” said Hahari.
“If I may, I am touched that you care for me with equal fondness compared to the others,” Mei remarked.
“Besides, we wouldn’t all be…getting along like this if we weren’t your girlfriends. I might not even have been able to chat with my classmates,” Hakari said.
When she turned around and looked at the others, they were all nodding vigorously.
‹You are all precious to me.›
“Kusuri love, love, loves spending time with you all, aye!”
“Eating with you guys is better for my tastebuds than eating alone.”
Tears streamed from Rentaro’s eyes. “Thanks, everyone! Hic! I hear your feelings loud and clear!” He appeared to have shelved the harakiri idea. “I’ll make sure to remember everything I knew about you all! And if I find out that I was the world’s worst boyfriend, I’ll commit harakiri properly next time!”
Never mind. Apparently, it was still on the table.
“Tee hee, I can guarantee that’s not the case,” Hakari said.
“Rentaro is the bestest boyfriend in the world, aye!” Kusuri declared.
“If you really were a flaming piece of trash, I would’ve stuck a dagger in you way earlier!” Karane said.
“I can guarantee your sincerity, Aijo Rentaro,” said Nano.
“If you sucked, I would’ve gone feral on you,” Kurumi said. “Now hurry up and remember everything already.”
‹I await your return.›
“Rentaro-chan, we’ll do anything and everything to assist you!” Hahari said.
“Please give me your orders,” said Mei.
“Okay, then,” Rentaro said after listening to his girlfriends’ reassuring words. “I have a request for you all…”
Rentaro’s face was serious as he made his suggestion.