Kouji wasn't happy with what Isako had planned for him and the girls. First because this would undoubtedly bring some drama he wished they didn't have to face. And secondly because how exactly was he going to handle his headmistress. She was admittedly nice, and very attractive, but there was one major factor holding him back.
She was twice his age.
Sure, he would say that she didn't look that old at all. It wasn't a matter of if he liked her, but more so that it didn't seem appropriate. And yes, Kouji understood the slight irony of taking issue with it when he already had an atypical romantic setup. However, it was also his circumstance that brought along more concerns for the boy.
And those concerns were stressing him out quite a bit. So much so that some of the girls took note while they were having lunch together.
"You feeling sick or something?" Asked Waa. It was the usual with him sitting with her, Yuma, and Anastasia during this time period. The four of them sat around his desk as they ate their food. "I know what you eat sucks, but I thought you'd be used to it now."
"Of course I'm fine." He tried to show that nothing was wrong. However, it was challenging to do so when he was sweating bullets. "It's just a little hot in here, that's all." Thankfully, summer was starting. So he could blame things on the heat wave. If only there was one going on at the moment.
"Are you… Sure?" Yuma asked, placing a hand on his forehead. She was checking his temperature, and he was indeed healthy. Though his body temperature certainly rose a couple of degrees from her soft touch. "You should be… Fine… But you don't… Look like it."
"Is there something coming up?" Anastasia asked. "It is funny sometimes, but you always get nervous whenever you hear something might happen." She certainly wasn't wrong in that assessment. The problem for him was that she wouldn't be laughing for much longer if she knew the truth.
In fact, if any one of them knew the truth, then he was worried about how they'd react. For all intents and purposes, he did cheat on them with Isako. Sure, that woman was the one who pushed herself on him. He had no intentions with her, but at the same time, he was also entertaining the idea of being with her.
However, adding more people to this harem was not high on his priority list. First being there were already five girls with him. How could that not be enough? Just thinking about it made him feel guilty for being selfish about the situation. Though the second issue was more worrisome for him. Himawari got massively upset when he brought Yuma in. Admittedly that was before the girls went over and agreed they'd share his love rather than try and win his affection. She was even okay with Anastasia since they all liked that girl.
But, wouldn't things be different when it came to their headmistress? Surely not all of them could be okay with that specific relationship just due to the age difference. Especially Himawari since she was a stickler for rules and this was not really legal. At least with the current harem, he wasn't getting married to all of them since that was against the law here.
Now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just how was he going to survive this situation? Or perhaps, everything they had worked so hard for was doomed from the start.
"Fine, there's something that's bugging me." He relented to the relentless line of questioning from the girls. "But, we're going to be talking about it with everyone, so if you guys can wait until study break."
"I think we can all do that." Thankfully for him, Anastasia was an understanding girl who usually took his side. This led to the other two to back off for now, but it was clear from Waa's face she was curious about his problem. "We all trust you."
So he was able to sidestep the issue for now. However, time is always moving forward, and soon, the time for them to convene as a study group began. Kouji slowly walked over to their designated room, dreading every moment ticking away as the moment of truth came closer and closer.
"Hello." Already, there was Himawari sitting there. She was the first one here, and greeted him with a bit of pride as she continued to keep up her mental competition over the other girls. "It's such a nice day out, so maybe we could… You know." Even the way she shyly asked him out was cute, but also added onto his stress.
"Ehh, we'll see about that." Given what Isako had planned for all of them, he wasn't confident they'd be able to make that outing. A shame because he'd love to hang out with Himawari and enjoy a bit of sunshine.
Soon, everyone else entered the room. To all of them other than Kouji, it was another normal day where they would spend the next hour doing homework and studying. A good thing for him that they got used to the idea, so now most of their grades had improved massively. Even if still a bit below average because they weren't as intelligent as the average student.
"Now, before you all get started on your studies." Right before anyone could put pen onto paper, Isako entered the room with her announcement. Kouji braced himself for what she was going to reveal. "Let me just lock the door so no one hears this."
"I'm a little worried why you don't want other people to hear." After what had happened at lunch, Waa was no longer looking forward to what Kouji was thinking about with this display.
"I'll try to keep it short and simple." A rare sight coming from the woman, but Kouij couldn't say when was the last time he ever saw the older woman appear bashful. "You all are aware that I know of your romantic arrangement. So I just wanted to ask if perhaps… I could be a part of it too?"