Early the next morning.
Akifumi looked at the two young women sleeping soundly in each other's arms, exhaustion evident on their faces. He could only smile helplessly.
Even he hadn't expected them to prepare such a bold gift. Their daring actions had completely caught him off guard.
"Well... I suppose I should order some breakfast for a change."
Just as he was about to grab his phone, his smile stiffened.
At that moment, he suddenly remembered a certain "human pet" he had left unattended.
As much as he hated to wake the exhausted girl, letting them sleep any longer could lead to serious consequences!
"Mahiru, wake up."
"Mmm..."
The girl turned over in bed, mumbling incoherently, "I can't do it anymore... go find Eriri."
"..."
Akifumi's face darkened. After a brief pause, he tried another tactic: "Mashiro is awake."
The girl, who had just been fast asleep, instantly bolted upright in bed.
She blinked sleepily, scanning the room with a confused expression.
After a moment, she murmured, "Where...am I?"
———————————————————————
Ten minutes later.
Mahiru pressed her palms together in apology. "I'm really sorry, Mashiro."
"Mahiru, you're so mean." Mashiro pouted, her adorable gaze filled with reproach.
"I was supposed to wake you up, but Mugiho suddenly called me away for something urgent, and I forgot. I truly am sorry!"
The truth, of course, was that she had been out all night. But there was no way she was going to admit that now.
Mashiro, seemingly unfazed, silently held up two fingers.
"You want two extra slices of Baumkuchen this week?"
Mahiru frowned. "You've already eaten three. If you eat more, you'll gain weight."
"Mahiru, you're so mean."
"One slice."
"Fine."
Mashiro sighed dramatically, looking as though she had suffered a great loss. But the moment the deal was struck, any trace of resentment vanished from her face.
As Mahiru walked toward the kitchen, Mashiro turned to Akifumi and playfully wiggled her little fingers, as if to say, Mashiro wins again!
Mugiho chuckled, nodding in amusement at her antics.
———————————————————————
After breakfast.
Both Eriri and Mahiru looked utterly exhausted.
Seeing this, Akifumi commented, "You two should at least try to get to bed earlier, even on weekends."
"Mashiro, on the other hand, is a model of self-discipline!"
Hearing her name, Mashiro's big, expressive eyes flickered with guilt. But she quickly lifted her chin, putting on a proud, award-winning expression.
The two other girls, however, shot daggers at Mugiho with their eyes, as if silently blaming him for everything.
"At least it's the weekend. You two should go back to sleep for a bit."
Hearing that, Mahiru and Eriri both yawned in unison.
"Yeah, we'll go sleep some more."
"Wake me up at noon."
"Got it."
Akifumi smiled and nodded, gathering his work materials and leaving the room for the two girls.
As he stepped out, he glanced around the apartment, a sudden realization hitting him.
"This place is starting to feel a bit small."
Truthfully, the apartment wasn't tiny—78 square meters, a decent size in Japan, especially since there were no shared areas eating up the space.
It had two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen—more than enough for a family of three.
But with one bedroom unused and three extra girls frequently dropping by, things were definitely starting to feel cramped.
"Maybe it's time to look for a bigger place?"
He entertained the thought for a moment before dismissing it.
"I'll wait until after exams to think about it."
Just as he was about to start working, his phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? Otosuna-san? What's up?"
"That script called CLANNAD in the story creation contest... is that yours?"
Akifumi blinked in surprise.
He hadn't told anyone about his submission. Yet, within just a day, his editor had already found out!?
"With talent like this, you should be a detective."
Suppressing a chuckle, Akifumi playfully teased, "I thought you were calling to congratulate me on something."
Otosuna Mihari paused for a second before realizing what he meant. She sighed.
"Akifumi-sensei, the sales figures for the overseas market are only compiled once a month because of the massive volume. It's just too much to track daily."
"I see. I thought you had forgotten about it."
He grinned before adding, "And yes, that script is mine."
"But how did you even find out?"
With so many submissions, and his being a late entry, it should have been almost impossible to single it out.
"I didn't find it myself." Mihari let out a wry chuckle. "Your fans did."
Fans?
Akifumi scratched his head, suddenly remembering that he had over a million followers.
With so many people keeping tabs on him, it wasn't surprising that someone had stumbled across CLANNAD.
"That makes sense."
"So, Otosuna-san, why did you call me about this?"
His editor sighed. "So you really haven't noticed yet."
"Why don't you check your SNS account first? Then call me back."
Check SNS?
'What the hell did those little gremlins do this time?'
Curious, Mugiho nodded. "Alright. I'll take a look and call you back."
After hanging up, he opened his SNS account.
Although his last post had been from a month ago, the comment section was still growing at a staggering pace, with dozens of new comments appearing every second.
"Even if they figured it out, it shouldn't be this big of a deal..."
Puzzled, he clicked on the comment section.
And as he scrolled, his expression slowly shifted...
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