Chapter 3: Preparations
Two days later...
Ichika still didn't know what to think. He couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. All of his supposed children had indeed arrived as Kamino predicted. So should he be happy? Should he be scared? To think that in the future, he was going to marry and have kids with all five of his female friends. When he had taken everyone to his friend Dan's restaurant over the break, he was expecting just a fun night with a bunch of friends. But later that evening Dan confronted him.
"Hey Ichika, you are one really lucky guy!" Dan said laughing. "What do you mean by that?" Ichika asked curiously. "Are you serious? So you still haven't noticed that everyone single one of your female friends out there has a total crush on you! Man they were fighting for the two seats next to you for so long, I thought somebody was going to be killed!" Ichika was speechless. He had suspected something like that was going on, but he thought he was kidding himself. There was no way in heck that all five of those very beautiful girls liked him. It just wasn't possible! However Dan assured him, that those girls were acting completely different then regular fifteen year olds. Dan promised that if Ichika looked closely enough, it would be pretty obvious.
As the break went on Ichika did begin to notice how they all found reasons to be with him. He decided to ask his sister Chifuyu about it.
"It's about damn time you noticed you blockhead!" Chifuyu said angrily. "Those girls have been lusting after you since the day you started at the academy." Ichika was relieved that Chifuyu had confirmed what his friend Dan had told him, but he still couldn't believe that it was true. "If you want my opinion, think long and hard about which one means the most to you, then confront them. If you still can't decide, then just screw society and marry all of them!" Chifuyu said with a devilish grin. Ichika wasn't sure if his sister was messing with him or she was being totally serious, but she was right about one thing. Ichika had some serious thinking to do on his hands...
That was when Ichika's break had become a real drama-fest. Ichika had decided he would confront all of them and see what would happen. When he went to each of them, they all confessed to being absolutely in love with him. He still couldn't wrap his head around what he should do, then suddenly his children from the future show up! He was curious as to how things were going to play out. But his biggest worry was what his friends thought. Ichika wished he knew if they were okay with this news or if they were handling it better or worse than he was. Not to mention there is an apparent terrorist who is currently searching for them so that he could wipe them off the face of the planet. Then Ichika had an idea, he would speak to all of his friends individually and see what they thought. Then they would have a big group meeting and get it all out in the open. Hopefully that would solve any underlying questions about this completely fucked up situation. Ichika decided he would go see Houki first.
Later that day...
Ichika walked up and knocked on Houki's door. She opened the door a second later and she looked like she hadn't slept soundly in a while. Ichika walked into the room and turned around. Houki quickly jumped and hugged him for all she was worth. "Oh Ichika, what are we going to do?" Houki asked, resting her head on Ichika's shoulder. Ichika wrapped his arms around her and hugged back. "I'm not quite sure Houki, but no matter what we have to figure it out together. Not just for our sake, but for Kamino's sake as well." Ichika said, "Don't worry Houki; I won't let anyone hurt you. I will protect everyone. Including our son..." Ichika placed a hand on her stomach. Houki blushed furiously. "I'm not pregnant yet!" Houki said jokingly. Ichika whispered into her ear "Well we will just have to fix that sometime soon won't we?" Houki's eyes went wide and she blushed even more. She still couldn't believe that in the future, she was going to have a child with the man of her dreams!
She remembered that Kamino said that he was born in the year 2031, which just happened to be next year! That meant that sooner or later Ichika and she were going to... she gulped. She shouldn't think about things like that. Houki hugged him tighter; tears started welling up in her eyes. She felt so safe and so terrified at the same time. Ichika remembered back to the day that Houki had confessed her love for him. For the longest time Ichika didn't think he was good enough for anyone, not to mention Houki. But of course when she confessed to him, he didn't think a situation as weird as the one they were all in would come of it. "Houki...things are only going to get stranger and more difficult from here on out. But no matter what, we have to trust each other to do the right thing. So can I count on you to follow me, even if it brings us to the ends of the earth?" Ichika said, his inner poet talking for him. Houki looked up into his eyes, and she felt tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. "Of course Ichika, as long as we are together we can do anything." Ichika and Houki's lips met in a passionate kiss. Ichika wanted this moment to last forever, but he had to go. He broke the kiss and headed for the door. "Ichika, where are you going?" Houki asked trying to hold back more tears. "Houki, you know I love you, but I also love them. You need to trust me on this; we will always be together no matter what." Houki nodded. "I understand Ichika; go do what you have to do." Ichika walked over and gave her one last kiss, before he left the room and headed for Charlotte's. Houki stared at the open door, praying that everything will be alright.
Ichika continued his duty, visiting everyone of them and essentially getting the same reaction. They all loved him, and he loved them back. He knew that if they all worked together, they could overcome anything that stood in their way of happiness. Ichika found Kamino and asked him to get his siblings and meet him on the roof. Ichika then went and gathered everybody else, including his sister and Mrs. Yamada. Ichika even contacted Tabane Shinonono and told her to meet him there, because if anyone knew how to handle this kind of situation, it would be her. Ichika climbed the stairs to the roof. When he got there, everyone was assembled. He could see each of his children standing next to their respective mothers. His sister was standing next to Mrs. Yamada.
Ichika looked at them all gathered there, and a feeling that he didn't recognize welled up in his chest, it was pride. However he also felt scared. To see all of his children, his lovers, his family, his friends gathered there with him, waiting to take on an insane terrorist who had the power of time travel. It brought chills to his spine. Although Ichika knew in his heart, that he would take on any foe that threatened his family. He would be the person his family and friends needed him to be. He would show his children, just who he really was...a man to be reckoned with, and a man to look up to.
