Chapter-9~The Truth~

[Makihara Taiga]

After Chika-san left, I went back to checking my Arabic vocabulary book. I have to take advantage of my free time to study as much as I can.

Oh, I almost forgot. I took out a zinc supplement from my pocket and popped it into my mouth. When I'm too busy to cook oysters and similar meals, I try to increase my zinc intake with this.

Chika-san told me to wait, but for what reason? Hm? My phone started ringing. When I saw the notification, it was a LINE message.

It was Chika-san, the message said; "I'm sorry, but could you come to the office?"

I wonder if there is still work to do for the school festival. I put my vocabulary book in my pocket and headed to the office.

Once there, I opened the door, and upon seeing what was waiting for me inside, I was taken aback…

The door to the attic was open, and the Ladder was lowered. At that moment, a new message arrived; "Climb up the stairs".

I swallowed saliva after reading that message. Chika-san… You are about to reveal your big secret to me. My dream of a five-sister harem may or may not come true.

I'm more nervous about this than I would be in a national final. I wiped the sweat from my hands on my pants and climbed the ladder.

I peeked my head under the ceiling and found a large, magnificent room that looked out of place. A table, a huge monitor, a fridge, a bookcase, a cot and an air conditioner were in the room. And in the corner of the room, I saw…

Kaeko, Mitsuri, Maihime and Ai were there. They look at me awkwardly, like a child who has been scolded. I am supposed to be the first person to see all five of them together. I have to learn from Maihime and act surprised.

—Hey…?

I think I reacted well. Then Chika-san speaks slowly.

—Taiga-kun. We are going to tell you two very important secrets.

After the sisters introduced themselves one by one, Chika-san said; the five personalities are a lie. The truth is, the five of us play the role of one.

I stiffened my facial expression.

—So…

—Unbelievable…

—I'm sorry we lied to you.

The five sisters bow their heads together. Then Chika-san continues speaking.

—I have one more thing to say. We…

She says nothing. She brings her hands to her ample chest with flushed cheeks.

—It looks like we have all fallen in love with you.

Home Run!!! Ecstasy invades my brain. The prerequisite for a harem has been fulfilled! But I mustn't let my joy show on my face just yet.

Instead, I make a face that gives off an "I'm not sure I understand what's going on" feeling.

Chika-san fluttered her blue eyes anxiously.

—You've been in contact with each of us, and we want to know. Who's the sister you want to date?

—Me?

Kaeko-san points to herself

—Or me?

Mitsuri-san's tone is full of confidence, but her expression is anxious.

Maihime-san is silent, but she keeps looking at me.

—I would be happy.

Ai-san says while scratching her cheeks while Chika looks at me seriously.

Five choices lay in front of me… But I don't plan to pick any one of them. I want them all.

I pretended to be silent for about three minutes, then… I got down on my knees, my hands on my face, as if I had all the weight in the world on my shoulders.

—Yes, I can't choose.

I hit the ground with all my might.

—I was led to believe you had five personalities, but I love every one of you! That's why I can't choose!

It was a sincere wish. That's why my tears flowed incessantly and my voice trembled.

—I love you all… I want to be with the five of you!

Silence took over the attic. Chika-san and Ai-san seemed impatient.

—W-Wait a minute, Taiga-kun. Do you know what you're saying?

—Yes, I do. There's not much morality in my words…

Kaeko-san folds her arms and paces around the room.

—But…

She scratches her head and continues.

—The reason Taiga thought like that was because we were playing five roles, five different personalities and other extremely complicated things, right? So, I can't complain too much…

Right words. Kaeko-san had stood next to me and… She straightened her shoulders forcefully.

—For that reason! I'm fine with Taiga-kun having to take care of us.

That's the way to think! Well, I already have one on my side. my mouth was starting to go slack, but I bit down on the flesh of my cheek as hard as I could and held back the pain. The taste of blood spread throughout my mouth.

The next person on my side was Maihime-san. After all, her sense of values is unique.

—I don't mind either, I want to be with my sisters all the time and this might help me when I play a woman who is part of a harem.

As expected, the stoicism of the update comes out. I don't think it's because she's still in love with me. But that may change later.

Support kept coming, and this time it was Mitsuri-san.

—Hmm. This situation doesn't surprise me, in and of itself. We were already doing something complicated by falling in love with the same guy.

I was bitten on the ear. Ahhhh.

—I think it would be fun to change the scenery and compete for Taiga-kun's attention☆

Kaeko-san counterattacked by biting my other ear.

—So, the only ones left are Chika-san and Ai-san.

—This is no good, this situation is really crazy!

Chika-san shakes her head violently. Surprisingly, however, Ai-san refutes her.

—No… There were already too many things wrong with us. It's not right for us to keep playing one person.

Ai-san closes her eyes.

—That's why, we have to believe in our own feelings, and be sincere. I learned that from you, Taiga-kun.

—A-Ai…

—I want to know more about you, Taiga-kun. I want to be with you…

Then Ai-san clings to my chest. And Maihime-san also clings to my back.

I'm surrounded by four beautiful sisters. My whole body is fluffy and warm. I feel like I'm about to ascend to heaven.

All that's left is…

—Chika-san.

—…Taiga-kun.

—As I look back, it all started when I fell in love with you, that day when you rescued me from death…. Please be my lover!

Even though I'm a great liar. My feelings are true.

—I will definitely make you happy!

Chika-san starts walking slowly towards me. Her blue eyes expand and she holds out her hand to me.

Hooray! At last, my harem is complete. The game of a lifetime has been won!

—… Wait

Suddenly there was a chillingly dark voice. Who said that? I looked around. And the five sisters shake their heads, implying that it wasn't any of them.

—I-I'm here.

It came from a corner of the attic. There was a rather large cardboard box. The lid opens and… A girl comes out from inside.

—!?

I was as surprised as I was when I found out that Konoe R. Chika was really five sisters playing one person.

And to my surprise yet again, the girl who appeared has exactly the same face as the other five. She comes out of the cardboard box and walks towards us with a zombie-like stride.

She wears a sweatshirt with a sagging top and bottom, is unusually pale and hunched over. Her hair is long enough to touch the ground. Kaeko-san is very surprised.

—Sugoroku. Why are you here?

Sugoroku… She has the number six in her name… A sixth sister?

Were they not quintuplets, but sixtuplets?

Speaking of which… The other day, when Ai-san and I went to the shopping street, she bought six croquettes for dinner. At the time I thought Kaeko-san would eat two…

I should have thought more! Each croquette was for each of us.

—Let me introduce you, Taiga. This is Sugoroku, the sixth sister.

Kaeko-san speaks proudly.

—She doesn't like to attend school and she's not comfortable going out in public, but she's a prize winner in an 'ESports' tournament, which is pretty impressive. Besides being a good student, she also manages the school's website.

Now I understand why I hadn't found any negative or malicious comments about Konoe-san. She was not going to let anyone speak ill of her sisters. This is a rather unexpected development.

However, as I'm close to finalizing my harem of five, I can't go back now.

I put a smile on my face.

—Nice to meet you, Sugoroku-san.

—…Ummm

Sugoroku-san hid behind Chika-san like a small animal. Maybe it's because she's shy and doesn't like a stranger to be in the same place as her. She was trembling and staring at me. She had dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept well.

—No No No, I can't let you stay with my older sisters.

Kaeko-san and Ai-san replied to her words.

—It's not what you think! Taiga-kun is a man of integrity!

—Yes, he is.

Sugoroku-san shakes her head.

—Makihara Taiga knew that his five-fold personality was a lie even before he told the truth. Would someone of integrity hide the truth?

My heart skipped a beat. As the sisters panicked, Sugoroku-san picked up the remote control and activated the monitor. The image that appeared was…

A large black cloth appeared, the hands of the person who was holding it was Kaeko-san… That scene happened from Kaeko-san's point of view when she was in character.

It was the day when she asked me to dress up in the clothes she had made for me, and the incident of the ceiling and the cockroach happened. Chika-san had come out of the attic and was in the same room with Kaeko-san at that time.

—I could see it all through my phone on the camera Kaeko-san was carrying.

Kaeko-san shook her head at her sister's assertions.

—But Sugoroku, what's the problem with that video? Taiga dropped his glasses, so he didn't know that Chika and I were at the same time.

Sugoroku-san pulled back the video and when my face was reflected in it, he enlarged the area around my eyes.

My heart almost stopped. I knew I had made a mistake. Preparing for any eventuality is one of my strengths… How did something I had prepared to protect myself from backfire?

—The glasses that nearsighted people wear can make their eyes appear smaller to the eyes of others, and the contours of their face can be misaligned. But in this image, there is none of that.

—!

—In other words, Makihara Taiga is wearing fake glasses. At the time of that video, Chika and Kaeko were visible at the same time to him. So, he knew that he was not a quintuple personality.

Slowly, Sugoroku-san reaches for my glasses. I take a reflexive step back… The movement proves Sugoroku-san right. Silence took over the attic. The trust I had worked so hard to build was lost in an instant.

Ai-san asks me a question with a sullen tone.

—Taiga-kun, why did you lie about having vision problems?

—I did it with the intention of believing in the lie of the five personalities. This way, if any of you happened to be at the same place at the same time. I could pretend my glasses were falling off and you wouldn't notice what was going on.

Shit…

—Hehehehehehe. You're being too hasty. You've lost your temper, Taiga Makihara.

Sugoroku-san was laughing like a witch.

—"If either of you happened to be in the same place at the same time" Why were you prepared for such a thing on the preparation day of the school festival?

—!

I feel as if I am falling into an abyss. A feeling of despair, even worse than when I broke my right arm in the car accident. Chika-san, who is always calm, was unusually nervous.

—What do you mean Sugoroku?

—What I'm trying to say is that Makihara Taiga had known for a long time that Konoe R. Chika was actually performed by 5 people, though I don't know how.

He pointed at me as if I were a detective looking for a criminal.

—But today, he stated that he couldn't choose anyone because she believed you had five personalities, and used this as an excuse to create a harem.

My whole body is trembling. Kaeko-san grabs me by both shoulders and shakes me.

—Hey Taiga… Say something.

The shaking made the astronomy club brochure fall out of my pocket. Kaeko-san tried to pick it up and…. The brochure, along with other objects, were found.

—Hm? What is this? A vocabulary book and… a bag of supplements?

—Ah, that's the word book Taiga-kun was studying. I'm sure you've been studying hard to stay in Noblesse….

Kaeko-san shows Chika-san my vocabulary book.

—But what language is this? Will this be on the academy exam?

Sugoroku-san also looks at the vocabulary book.

—This is Arabic. Also, this supplement you use is… Zinc.

At that, Sugoroku-san let out a laugh.

—Heh, you are very enthusiastic about Arabic. Something that is not even part of the classes at the Academy. Nor is it something that can be of any use to you for university entrance exams, or exams for medicine. And not to mention that polygamy is something that is completely normal and allowed in many Arab countries.

Sugoroku-san tilted her head in mockery, and continued.

—Besides, Zinc is an ingredient that makes you very active in nocturnal relationships. Perfect for Makihara Taiga's harem desire.

—Huuh….

With the exception of Sugoroku-san, the five sisters exclaimed in unison, as if they couldn't have been more shocked.

The sixth sister, Sugoroku-san… For just one mistake I made, she exposed the whole truth and my intentions to the light. After an incredibly heavy and long silence, someone broke the silence.

—Taiga-kun, I'm so sorry.

Ai-san expresses her disappointment and walks down the stairs. He was followed by Chika, Kaeko, Kouri and Sugoroku.

—It's unbelievable that I couldn't see through your performance. It's a humiliation as an actress.

After saying those words, she left. I was the only one left in the attic.

—Haaah…

The biggest goal of my life. To have a harem with all five sisters. I almost had it in my hands, but… I was defeated after an ambush by Sugoroku-san, who suddenly appeared, and turned my whole game upside down.

—Uhhhh… ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I literally cried until my tears dried up.

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~To be continued~