Stealing Spree

The moment my mom let go of me, Akane and the others opened the front door and like the first six girls got awestruck upon seeing my mother waiting for them.

Even Elizabeth, who's always charging at me whenever there’s a chance, remained standing as she stared at my mother in a daze. Those flaunting earlier about how eager they were to meet my parents were also not any better.

“Ara~ Welcome home, Akane-chan. And it’s nice to finally meet all of you.” With the same greeting and the same words she uttered earlier, my mother stood before my newly-arrived girls, slightly pushing me aside to get a good look at them.

Even Akane who’s supposed to be someone who knew her for years already could only reply in a simple greeting. It’s as if the few days of practice that she did to call my mom as ‘mother’ had been put to a test.

She successfully uttered it but soon after that, the red color occupied her face in a flash. A few seconds later, her eyes rested on me and written on her face was a huge ‘HELP’ sign.

Well, it’s kinda understandable that even Akane would be out of sorts in front of her. The last time she saw my mother was months ago and at that time, I’m still keeping her at arms’ length.

When my desire manifested, we began drifting apart and the days she would stay at our house became less and less. And due to that, she also became somewhat distant from my parents.

Ah. No, it’s only me who chose to distance myself from her. But even so, the resulting consequence of what I did also led her to interact with them less and less.

And now... meeting her again with a new status under her – my live-in girlfriend – Akane got stumped on how she should act before my mother.

Upon seeing that, I pulled her towards me and hugged her from behind as I had her stand before my mother.

“Show her what you practiced these past few days. I know my mom will like to hear it from you. And don’t worry, I’ll keep holding you like this.” I whispered to her ears before winking to the others that were slightly baffled at what they’re witnessing.

In front of us, mom covered her lips with her fingers as she watched Akane gather her courage before her.

“Uhm... Mother, it has been a while. Thank you for letting me stay next to Ruki.” Akane clutched my hand on her navel as she respectfully bowed to her.

And after saying that, despite the quickened heartbeats that I could feel from her, Akane straightened her back to meet her gaze.

“Ara? Why are you thanking me, Akane? Wasn’t it Ruki who begged your parents to ask for your hand and get you to live with him?” My mother calmly answered as she plucked Akane from my embrace.

“But without your permission, we will not get that wonderful room.”

“Oh! Have you been using the bed properly? You’re not being deprived of sleep, are you?”

... I know what she’s pertaining to. But let’s not blurt out a retort and just watch over my girls interacting with my mom. That’s the purpose of their visit anyway. And with Akane leading the charge, the others wouldn’t find it difficult to talk to her when it’s time.

“No... Not really, mother. It’s always comfortable being next to him. And I... I’m not the only one who can attest that.” Akane answered before turning her head towards the girls watching.

Yae, Aoi, Ria, Yua, Elizabeth, Yukari, Miho, Miyako and Eimi clambered up their feet to step forward and pitch in their agreement to Akane’s statement.

And unlike what happened with Nami and the others earlier, these girls introduced themselves one by one.

When they’re down with a simple introduction wherein my mom noted all of their names and complimented them based on her first impression of them, she then invited the girls to go inside first, joining those waiting at the dining table.

All of them obediently followed her words as they excused themselves to her. Although Yae and the others wanted to call and pull me inside with them, they refrained from doing that. They’re thinking that my mother and I still have unfinished business.

Anyway, I also told them to go in and I will be with them in a moment.

The introduction they did was surely not enough for my mother.

Even now that we’re left alone again, her eyes remained to that spot where they disappeared into the living room.

And as I expected, her voice reached my ears again. “Look how they go... My Ruki is definitely a charmer. Those girls are all head-over-heels for you even if they’re in this kind of situation. The bond they’re cultivating is more than friends and that of sisters...”

“A charmer, huh? Aren’t I just a criminal who then took responsibility for the mess that I did?”

“Perhaps so. However, are those new girls coerced by you? No, right? You made them fall in love with you and on top of that accept this chaotic situation you made for yourselves.”

You told me to take responsibility!

Uh... Like what I always did, that’s just a simple push on the back from her part. In the end, it’s still me who decided to take them back in.

Anyway, even my mother was calling our situation chaotic.

She probably hadn’t expected that it would grow this big.

“I only followed my desire. I fell in love with them and they reciprocated what it. My honesty pulled them all together and even now, they’re just making a compromise, restraining themselves just for the sake of being with me.”

“Hmm... At least you know your current situation and I commend you for that. But how long do you think you can keep this up?”

As expected, she’s clearly aware of how fragile this situation we created for ourselves is.

One wrong move and everything will crumble.

“For as long as I can... Mom, I will not give up, I will strive to make a future for us... That’s the reason I brought them here, I want you to meet them, the women to whom I will devote my life.”

“That’s grand, Ruki. If it’s someone else who heard you with that kind of declaration, they will definitely laugh at you. Lucky you, your mother dotes on you a lot.” She sighed and pulled me in her embrace again.

And this time, I could truly feel a sense of security. It’s as if I’m leaning against someone who could protect me from any harm.

They’re not telling me what their line of work is... However, I’m not dumb to not pick up clues. Just that, unless they told me about it themselves, everything will just be my own speculation.

“I can see that you dote on me too much, mom... You didn’t even stop me from living by the dictation of my desire... Is there a reason why?”

With that kind of question from me, my mom only remained silent for a good while. And after releasing me from her embrace, she began walking towards the living room. I could vaguely hear the voices of my girls either talking, laughing or giggling.

“That’s a discussion for next time, Ruki. I know you’re full of questions. Your father and I will answer those, not tonight, however... On that note, do you want to show that kind of expression to the women you’ll devote your life to?” My mom turned around to face me and pointed at my face.

... What kind of expression am I wearing?