My eyes shot open the moment I regained consciousness. I sat up from the bed I slept on and looked around, alarmed.
I was sweating and my heart was beating like crazy.
"What-?!" Then I realized it. I was in a bedroom. MY bedroom!
I looked around for some sign of Serafall, Senpai, or Issei, but it was just me.
"Harutoooo! Get up or you'll be late!"
Naru-nee! She was calling me from downstairs!
...I'm home?
I looked at my body, tracing it with my hands. None of my injuries from the Church remained and my stamina had been replenished. I had a bit of a headache, but other than that, I was all-aces.
Despite the events that occurred and the pain I could remember vividly…could it have been a dream…? Why didn't Senpai or any of them wait for me to wake up or-
SLAM
"DO I HAVE TO—" Naruko kicked the door down, right off its hinges. Then she realized I was awake. "Oh… never mind."
"'Never mind'?! You kicked down my fucking door, bitch!" I screamed in outrage to Naru-nee's actions. How was I supposed to get any privacy if she broke the goddamned door?!
Naru-nee's eye twitched. "Call me bitch. One more time. I DARE you."
I smirked. "Bi—"
"CHA!"
My smartass response was met by a fist to the side of my face, sending me flying right into the wall behind me.
Naru-nee held up her fist, her knuckles red from having punched me so hard, and an angry expression on her face.
"Don't fuck with me, stupid, little brother!"
"Then don't act like a total bitch, you bitch!"
Naru-nee began to tremble with anger, but then she paused, as if remembering something.
"Oh yeah. Some friends of yours dropped this off." Before we could get into our usual "sibling-bonding", Naru-nee pulled out something. A note.
I grabbed the note and read it to myself:
Haruto,
You ended up fainting, so we thought it best to bring you home to recover your energy after what happened last night.
We had Argento-san check you out. Other than a few minor injuries, you only ran out of stamina, so you should be fine by morning.
—Sona
PS: Please meet us at the Occult Research Club after school.
"Kufufufufu…" Naru-nee had a pervy smile on her face. "So what happened last night?"
I found myself blushing at Naru-nee's insinuations. "W-Wha-It's not-!?"
Naru-nee stroked her chin. "But you know, I never expected you to be one who liked it rough."
My face was a steaming red color. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" I chucked a pillow at Naru-nee who easily dodged it, running out of my room, laughing to herself.
I clenched my fists, annoyed, as usual, with Naru-nee's stupid misunderstandings.
After a few seconds, I released a breath. I looked back at the note, examining it once more.
...Hm. So Sitri-senpai wants me to meet her at the ORC after school, huh?...I wonder if it had something to do with my idea yesterday…
I looked out the window. The sun was smiling brightly.
But that was a matter to be settled later. For now, I got dressed in my school uniform and left my house.
My mind ended up wandering to Asia, wondering what happened to her since the whole situation with the Fallen Angels was resolved…
"Harutoooo…"
My blood froze.
I sensed powerful killing intent ahead of me. There were four people.
First there was Issei and his two pervy buddies, Matada and Motsudo… or whatever their names were. However, they were not the source of the outrageous killing intent. They were cowering in fear of the source of the killing intent, paralyzed. No, it was the fourth member of the group who showed clear rage and anger.
I swallowed, sweating waterfalls. "O-Oh… heeeeey, Ruruko."
My official girlfriend was radiating so much anger that you could almost literally see it.
"Haruto… I… How dare you…?" She clenched her trembling fists…
My fear subsided. I looked over to our fellow students. "Issei, you guys go on ahead for a bit. We'll catch up."
Those three didn't need any real excuse. The moment I said "you guys go", they just ran. Didn't even wait for me to finish my sentence… assholes.
I turned back to Ruruko, who was looking none too happy at the moment.
"HARUTO… YOU IDIOT!" I was sent tumbling by a powerful kick to the face, flopping onto my face and skidding across the ground.
Huh. Is it weird that I kind of imagined Naru-nee for a second?
After I finally flopped back onto my belly, I used both of my arms to push myself onto all-fours, then back onto my feet.
I didn't say anything in response to Ruruko's blow. I didn't show any expression.
"Idiot! Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!" Ruruko punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and causing me to hunch over in pain. Then she punched me in the face. Then the shoulder. Then she just kept on punching and punching and punching, venting her feelings.
I didn't flinch. I didn't back away. I just kept taking her hits.
"Dumbass! Jerk! Butthead!" Over time, her insults started losing their venom. Ruruko's blows started becoming slower and more tired.
"You… You jerk…" Ruruko was just about barely tapping me with her fists now, too tired to continue. "...You… You broke the rule… You promised…" She was trembling again, but not out of anger this time. Tears started to slowly roll down Ruruko's cheeks, dripping onto the ground as she leaned against me, not even throwing her soft punches anymore. "... your rule… you promised not to hurt us… you almost left me alone…"
My expression became saddened. I wrapped my arms around Ruruko, pulling her in close, hugging her close against my chest.
"I'm sorry… I know…"
I broke one of the most important rules out of my Five Rules of Harem-Building. The only way I'm allowed to build a harem is if I adhere to all five of them:
Rule #1: I must know the girl whom I desire in my harem.
Rule #2: I must possess a romantic attachment to the girl I desire.
Rule #3: The desired girl must return my affection willingly.
Rule #4: I must place the happiness of my girls ahead of even my own, even if it means I can never touch them passionately or even talk to them.
Rule #5… the most important one. The 5th rule is that I must NEVER hurt any of my girls.
The consequences of breaking any of these rules is what I just experienced. If I broke any of these rules, I got the punishment I rightly deserved:
I get the shit beat out of me by the girls in my harem. If they can't do it in good conscience, then I give them full permission to give me what I deserve for hurting them or breaking my own rules.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Ruruko…" I apologized again, gently caressing her with my hands.
"You did something so stupid… You almost left me, you jerk…"
"I know… I did something stupid like always. But I made a promise…" I tilted Ruruko's head to face upward towards me. "I will love you always. If I ever do something stupid like hurt you, I'll be counting on you and the other girls to give me the ROYAL ass-kicking."
Ruruko smiled softly, still crying. "Yeah… I know…" She started leaning in. "I love you… so much, Haruto."
I returned her smile. "I love you too, Ruruko."
I leaned forward as well.
Our lips pressed softly against one another, sharing our warmth between each other.
And for once, neither one of us cared about the time before we left each other's embrace.
We simply savored the presence of the other and savored our time together.