Click! Click! Click!
The rapid shutter sounds gradually pulled Luo Shu's muddled consciousness back to clarity.
He slowly opened his eyes to see a black-haired girl wearing a white hairband, her face obscured by a phone as she rapidly pressed the shutter button, producing continuous clicking noises.
Luo Shu stared blankly for a moment before belatedly asking:
"Utaha?"
"My, my. Judging by your appearance, you must have had quite an enjoyable night, didn't you?"
Utaha Kasumigaoka calmly pressed the shutter a few more times before lowering her phone, revealing her amused, knowing gaze."You didn't even notice me entering the room. Did you overexert yourself last night?"
Hearing Utaha Kasumigaoka's sarcastic tone, Luo Shu blinked his tired eyes and raised his hand to pat his cheeks.
Yet as his hand lifted, he felt a weight pressing down on it.
Realisation dawned as he turned his head to the right, immediately spotting Kisara, fast asleep, clinging to his arm beside him.
The pink-haired demon girl wore a slightly translucent silk nightdress, her alluring curves topped with an innocent, peaceful sleeping face.
Just then, a drowsy voice came from behind.
"...Morning already?"
For a moment, Luo Shu's thoughts seemed to freeze.
When he regained his bearings, he'd already turned left to see Lacus propping herself up on her elbow, yawning as she slowly sat up.
"Ara? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Noticing Luo Shu's fixed gaze, Lacus smiled and said:
"Our pleasant night has already passed."
"Tch!"
Luo Shu sharply inhaled at her words.
The barely concealed click of Utaha's tongue nearby made his scalp prickle.
"A pleasant night~~" Utaha Kasumigaoka drawled.
She glanced at Lacus, rubbing her eyes beside Luo Shu, then at Kisara contentedly hugging his arm, and clicked her tongue:
"How indulgent, my lord."
"Not just your considerate little demon girlfriend, but even your superior officer coaxed into bed."
"Is this the might of a divine being?"
"Truly something us mere mortals can only admire!"
Hearing the overflowing jealousy in her voice, Luo Shu - who'd now recalled last night's events - could only weakly protest:
"Utaha, if I said nothing happened with Lacus last night, would you believe me?"
"Of course."
Utaha Kasumigaoka answered without hesitation, then walked to the study desk, pulled out a chair, crossed her legs and said:
"You're willing to lie to comfort me. What else can I do but believe?"
"But next time, make your lies more precise. Not doing anything to the Chairwoman doesn't mean nothing happened with Kisara, right... Shu-kun~"
Luo Shu smiled wryly: "You might as well say you don't believe me."
Seeing Utaha's slightly displeased expression, Luo Shu sighed but remained unperturbed.
After all, Utaha had known about Kisara for a while.
Wait, just Kisara? Luo Shu suddenly realised something. He turned, scanning the room before looking back at the stretching Lacus:
"Where's Mukuro?"
"Eh?" Lacus blinked in surprise, then glanced around. Not spotting Mukuro Hoshimiya, she frowned: "That's odd. She was here last night. Where'd she go?"
Puzzled, Lacus reached out through the Divine Pantheon to contact Mukuro Hoshimiya.
Meanwhile, Utaha Kasumigaoka looked stunned:
"What? You mean someone's missing? Are you saying you slept with three women last night?"
"Ah, although confessing might cause trouble, I have to say, this is the truth—last night, four people actually slept in the same bed."
Luo Shu scratched his head as he attempted to pull his hand free from Kisara's embrace. After a futile tug, he realised the demon girl beside him was feigning sleep.
Of course, just because he hadn't done anything to Lacus last night didn't mean he hadn't done anything to Kisara. It was only natural that the girl was too shy to wake up now.
Speaking of which, where had Mukuro gone? Yesterday, she and Lacus had helped pin Kisara down for him.
Just as Luo Shu was puzzling over this, a circular black hole suddenly appeared to his left.
Half-emerging from it, Mukuro Hoshimiya yawned widely before wrapping her arms around Luo Shu's neck. Resting her chin on his shoulder with eyes still closed, she mumbled drowsily:
"Big Brother~ Next time, you don't need Big Sister to notify me when looking for me."
"Don't run off like that again, alright?" Lacus chimed in from the side, completely unfazed by Mukuro's disappearance, merely offering a gentle reminder.
Luo Shu, however, pressed further: "Where exactly did you go just now?"
Feeling Mukuro's weight against his shoulder, Luo Shu sighed inwardly. The suspicious look in Utaha Kasumigaoka's eyes only deepened his exasperation.
At this point, Utaha had probably confirmed her suspicions about his involvement in "group activities."
"Huu~ Muku couldn't sleep comfortably here, so I went back." Mukuro showed no intention of opening her eyes, content to use Luo Shu's shoulder as a pillow.
Luo Shu caught the implication immediately: "When you say 'went back,' you don't mean you went back to sleep in space, do you?"
"Mmm~" Mukuro hummed in affirmation before falling silent.
"Mukuro? Mukuro?"
Patting her cheek fruitlessly, Luo Shu turned to Lacus and Utaha with a helpless shrug.
"This girl... is she the Spirit from space mentioned in the internal reports?" Utaha hesitated, glancing at Lacus, who sat in a seiza position nearby.
How had they retrieved her so quickly? And why was she calling Luo Shu "big brother" and Lacus "big sister"?
"She's terribly afraid of loneliness," Lacus explained sweetly.
Utaha instantly understood, her facial muscles twitching: "So she insisted on sleeping with you and Luo Shu, then Kisara forced her way in too? Resulting in... this situation?"
"My, my~ Miss Utaha is so clever~ To deduce all that~" Lacus clapped enthusiastically, her face full of admiration.
"I detect no genuine praise in your words," Utaha sighed before eyeing Lacus's panda-printed sleepwear. "That's Luo Shu's pyjamas, isn't it?"
"Wearing your male subordinate's sleepwear in his room, sharing his bed with two other women..."
"To behave with such shamelessness..."
Utaha's expression turned profoundly odd as she addressed Lacus:
"Madam Chairwoman."
"Are you absolutely certain Luo Shu hasn't hypnotised you with that demon ring?"
At that moment, several question marks seemed to materialise above Luo Shu's head.