In the love hotel's trippy little pocket of time—
Rinto had, in the most literal sense, fallen completely under the Yoshizawa sisters' spell.
The hours of loving your lovers are sweet like poison.
A person's soul feels kneaded flat and rolled round, mixed and blended, until at last it melts into a lump of collective subconscious where there's no more you-or-me.
They were his own private Mona Lisas—both of them were.
"Rinto-nii~ save me..."
"...Ah."
Only when Yoshizawa Kasumi's thin, thready plea for mercy reached his ears did Rinto come back to himself.
Her younger sister, Yoshizawa Sumire, was already laid out like a corpse.
Her eyes were half-open, but the focus had scattered, her consciousness gone adrift.
Kasumi herself couldn't keep up the act anymore—more breath leaving than entering.
Which made Rinto feel a little bad:
"Sorry, I didn't notice... Whoa, it's already this late. I've got to buy groceries and get home to cook."
"Kasumi, Sumire—let me take you to shower, okay?"
They couldn't step outside like this. Rinto had to take responsibility and take proper care of them.
By the time Rinto had cleaned the sisters up and was helping them out of the hotel, their awareness had only just barely returned.
But they were exhausted, so spent they could hardly walk. Almost all their weight was slung over Rinto; they could only move with him holding them up.
Kasumi muttered, unwilling to concede:
"So hateful... I wanted to make Rinto-nii admit defeat. But in the end it was just me one-sidedly calling for help, and Rinto-nii acting like nothing happened..."
Sumire: "Senpai's stamina is amazing, like he's in the Metaverse... Our great Phantom Thief is so strong—so manly~"
Unlike her still-a-bit-proud sister, Sumire had been dazzled completely. You could almost see pink hearts overflowing in her eyes.
Though her body had hit its limit, she still did her best to hug Rinto softly, nestling into his neck to breathe:
"Senpai's scent, I love it... Let's definitely come again next week, okay? I'll work hard to train my stamina—I'll do better than today!"
Kasumi: "Ah, Sumi, you stole my line~ Next time I'll definitely win... no, at least fight to a draw... and make Rinto-nii praise me."
Rinto: "You were both wonderful. Sorry for wearing you out like this. I'll be gentler next time."
He kissed each of them on the forehead.
And yet he himself couldn't tell—is this normal?
He did, of course, have ordinary common sense about how these things usually go.
But not only was he not tired—he felt more energized than he had that morning. It was unsettling, even to him.
He hadn't eaten anything weird... so why?
The only clue he could think of was the Persona.
Could a Persona's power really spill over into reality?
Because his mask was Eros, origin of all desire in myth—was it turning him into a bottomless pit too?
Rinto had no intention of becoming some shameless sea king, wrecking girls' lives left and right.
With the thoughtful Yoshizawa sisters—and that disgraceful big-sis Momoka who needed his care—he already felt obscenely fortunate.
He kissed the sisters' foreheads again:
"I'll get you home first. Best to rest up for a few days. After this, we'll need to think about how often we meet—we can't interfere with your gymnastics training."
"And it's not something we can let your father find out, or changing his heart really will be the only option... so, once a week? Let's settle on that?"
Uu... both sisters clearly had complaints—that number was too low.
But they really didn't have a better plan.
At this rate, even going to school tomorrow was a coin flip; their bodies felt like they were coming apart at the seams.
For sisters who'd trained gymnastics since childhood—whose physical baseline was far above average—this was shocking. Their senpai was a straight-up bull of Zeus!
This would mess with daily life. They'd just have to endure.
The sisters nodded, aggrieved:
"Let's start there. Once we get used to it, we'll figure out how to train more... This counts as fitness too. I'm sure we'll adapt soon enough!"
Sumire added: "I think Mom will help cover for us—she's always on our side."
"So next time, we can have Mom send Dad out first, and then senpai can come to our place for the date, okay? That way we save on the hotel and we can even invite Momoka-nee—then everyone can share the death sentence together!"
Are we scheduling weekly raid content now... Rinto struggled to comment.
Anyway, he got the sisters safely home.
When Yoshizawa Mom opened the door and saw her daughters looking like they'd just finished an Ironman triathlon, she was surprised at first.
But seasoned woman that she was, she caught on fast.
And instead of getting angry, she hugged her girls and then tossed Rinto a playful wink:
"Just as I thought—little Rinto is capable. A handsome boy makes his move when it's time to make a move. Next time come eat at our house—Auntie will make you something delicious~"
Ahaha... Sweat beaded on Rinto's brow. He could only bow to this mother who looked young enough to be her daughters' sister.
It was mortifying; he hadn't expected facing a girlfriend's mother to be this awkward.
This must be the burden one has to bear—men with girlfriends need to get used to it...
He almost felt obnoxiously blessed. How many people ever get this chance?
"I'm back."
Rinto slid open the same jammed door and returned to his cozy, run-down little home.
And the moment he stepped in: "Hot—too hot~!"
In the kitchen, tending a clay pot, stood Momoka.
They stared at each other for a good few seconds. In the end, she turned away first, blushing:
"W-welcome home. I went out and bought duck-blood vermicelli and some offal—I wanted to stew that soup you made before, to, um, build you back up... It's almost ready. Go wash your hands and get ready to eat!"
"...You planning to marry me, wifey?"
Rinto couldn't help the itchy, feverish feeling in his chest. Forget washing his hands—he stepped in and hugged the apron-wearing Momoka.
Under the apron she wore her usual denim shorts and tights; up top, a loose knit sweater.
That tomboy look plus an apron... The damage to a man is considerable. Rinto was satisfied down to his bones.
As always, this big sis was small fry—one little whimper and she accepted it without a fight.
Her whole body went soft and tingly; nestled in his arms, she mumbled:
"Who'd marry a younger guy—my relatives would laugh me to death... No, I'm not getting married anyway. Not in this life."
Her damp eyes tilted up, reflecting Rinto's face:
"Because I'm your mistress... Mistresses don't get married. As long as I can be with you, that's enough... Will you let me be your mistress for life?"
"...Idiot."
Rinto couldn't stand that self-abasing, self-punishing tone of hers. He turned off the stove and simply held her tight.