While Makoto was being kissed in a Shibuya office building, a very different kind of drama was unfolding back at the apartment. The atmosphere was charged with a tension that had nothing to do with deadlines or cosplay.
Over the last two weeks, the weird symptoms had transitioned from quirky health issues to an undeniable pattern.
Yuna's food poisoning was no longer a morning occurrence. Every day at 7:30 AM, the sound of her frantic dash to the bathroom provided the household's wake-up call.
Ayane's bizarre cravings had evolved into a legendary list of culinary crimes. Last night, she had been caught dipping fried chicken into chocolate pudding while crying over an insurance commercial.
And Mafuyu? Mafuyu was a walking ghost, spending most of her day in a state of heavy exhaustion, her skin glowing with a strange, dewy radiance despite her constant fatigue.
===
Yuna was in her room, hunched over her phone, her thumb trembling as she scrolled through her period-tracking app. The little red circles meant to indicate her cycle were missing.
For three weeks, they had been missing. She stared at the screen until the numbers blurred. A dawning horror washed over her face as she realized she was a month past due. She stood up, her face a mask of panic, and marched toward the living room.
Mika was sitting at her desk with her laptop open, finalizing the schedule for the second reprint of their Demon Slayer photobook. Without looking up at the intrusion, her fingers tapped rhythmically on the keys.
"Mika," Yuna said, her voice a dangerous growl that lacked its usual bite. "You track everything. You have spreadsheets for the grocery list and the utility bills. Tell me… when was our last period?"
Mika's fingers paused over the keyboard. She didn't turn around immediately. When she adjusted her glasses, the lenses reflected the glow of a calendar. "For you?" Mika said, her voice a calm monotone. "Exactly thirty-nine days ago. For me? Forty."
Yuna's face went completely pale. The bravado of the Main Wife shattered like glass. "Shit," she whispered, her voice a broken thing. "Shit, shit, shit!"
Mika finally turned her chair around. She didn't look like her usual serene self. There was a flicker of something intense in her eyes, a mixture of triumph and deep-seated anxiety. "Yes," she agreed, her voice a soft musical purr. "The word shit seems appropriate for our current situation."
She closed her laptop with a definitive click. "I believe that we need to have a house meeting immediately. While Makoto is still out working."
===
Their meeting was held in the living room, but it felt more like a war council.
Ayane was slumped on the floor, currently eating a jar of pickled plums with a spoon, looking like she hadn't slept in a week. Mafuyu sat on the edge of the couch, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, her face a pale mask of worry. Mika stood by the window, the sunlight catching her glasses.
"Okay," Ayane said, her voice a husky drawl. "Why are we huddled up like we're plotting a coup? I was in the middle of a really good nap."
Mika turned to face them. "We need to stop pretending," she said. "Yuna, you've been hovering over the toilet every morning for two weeks. Ayane, you're eating plums and mayo. Mafuyu-san, you can barely keep your eyes open, and you nearly fainted when Makoto cooked the fish."
She looked at her own hands. "And none of us have seen a cycle since... how long, one and a half months?"
Ayane's spoon froze halfway to her mouth. The playful grin she always wore vanished. "Holy shit," she breathed. "The breeding war… wasn't a joke?"
Mafuyu let out a small choked gasp, her hand instinctively going to her stomach. She looked terrified, but beneath the fear, there was a spark of something. "I thought… I thought I was just getting older, or tired from all the work," she whispered.
"We were all ovulating that day," Mika stated, her voice trembling just a fraction. "The chances of at least one of us getting pregnant were high. The chances of all four… well, let's just say Makoto's demon lord seed is very strong."
Yuna was pacing the rug like a caged tiger. "This is his fault," she snarled, though her eyes were watery. "All his fault! I'm going to kill him! I'm the Main Wife and he went and turned me into a… a… mother!" She slumped onto the floor, her head in her hands. "What are we going to do?"
"We're going to verify first," Mika said firmly and looked at Ayane. "You bought them, didn't you? As a joke?"
Ayane flushed red, reaching into her bag. "I… yeah. After that night at the hotel, I thought it would be a funny prank to leave one on his desk. I bought a bulk pack from the pharmacy." She pulled out a box of pregnancy tests with several kits inside.
And then, there was only a heavy shared silence as they each took a stick.
Ten minutes later, the four of them crowded into the main bathroom. The air was thick with the scent of floral soap and frantic anticipation. There was no bickering about who got to go first.
They lined the little plastic sticks up on the marble counter: One. Two. Three. Four.
Ayane was the only one making noise, cracking nervous, high-pitched jokes to fill the void. "Well, if mine is positive, I'm naming her Asuka. No arguments! She's going to be a pilot."
Yuna just stared at the sticks, her face pale. "I'm going to castrate him," she muttered, though it sounded more like a prayer than a threat.
Mafuyu stood by the bathtub, looking like she was about to faint. Mika was the only one who remained still, her eyes fixed on the white windows of the tests, watching for the chemical reaction that would redefine their lives.
Slowly, the first line appeared on each. Then, the second, and the rest followed.
Pink. Pink. Pink. Pink. A perfect and terrifying four-for-four.
The silence in the bathroom was absolute. It lasted for ten seconds before Ayane shattered it. She let out a choked, hysterical laugh that quickly dissolved into tears. "Holy shit," she sobbed, leaning her head against the wall. "I'm actually going to be a real mom."
Yuna didn't cry or yell, just stared at her stick, her expression unreadable. Then she looked at the others and looked down at her own stomach. A possessive and determined fire ignited in her eyes. She reached out and grabbed her test, clutching it to her chest.
"Mine! He's mine," her look said. "And this is mine, too."
Mafuyu just sank onto the edge of the tub and started sobbing. Not from fear, but from overwhelming joy. A future she had never thought she could have, a family that wasn't built on pain or control, but on this messy collective, was now almost real.
Mika was the last to react. She picked up her test, her fingers steady. She looked at the two lines, then at the other three women. A smile spread across her face. "Just as planned," she whispered, her voice a soft musical purr. "Everything was going according to my plan."
The initial shock eventually subsided, replaced by a frantic buzzing energy. The question of "What now?" was quickly followed by "How do we tell the father?"
Ayane, ever the dramatist, suggested a grand reveal. "We should tie him to a chair and do a synchronized dance. Just like when he got an intern offer!"
Yuna, the pragmatist, shook her head. "No! We should just leave the sticks on his laptop with a bill for future child support and see how long it takes for him to faint."
Mika, her voice a calm anchor amid the emotional storm, just shook her head. "No," she said, her eyes sparkling with wicked, brilliant light. "We need to give him something to remember." She walked out into the living room and began clearing the coffee table. "Mafuyu-san, we need water and tea. Ayane, Yuna, help me arrange these."
They worked together, clearing the fabric and the scraps, creating a clean slate on the low table. They lined the four positive tests up in a neat, perfect row.
At lunch, the four of them stood in the center of the living room. They looked at each other. The rivalry and jealousy were still there, but they were contained within a much larger bond.
And then, they heard it. The familiar jingle of keys outside the door. The sound of a lock turning. "Shit, he's home early today," Yuna whispered, her heart hammering.
"Hide," Mika commanded.
In a blur of motion and rustling fabric, the four of them vanished. Yuna and Mika retreated to the master bedroom, Ayane dove behind the couch, and Mafuyu slipped into the kitchen.
Then the door swung open.