A little special, because I need to properly visualize the passage of time. I don't know why.

Staying awake late wasn't the same when there wasn't a good novel to read or game to play, it made Hachiman acutely aware of the roughness of the day; it gave him time to loosen up and feel his body getting ready to go to bed. It wasn't all physical tiredness either; that felt good in its own way.

No, stress and annoyance made for the bulk of the drain in his energy. So his tiredness was uncomfortable, lame, and it wouldn't be fixed as soon as he hit the bed. Which might've been a positive thing, because it allowed him to convince himself to stay awake for a little longer.

Hmmm? He didn't really recognize the living room or the couch he sat at, but it didn't bother him all that much. He might be going insane due to all the things that happened in the day… Which he barely remembered anymore due to his tiredness. Barely whispers of annoyances and embarrassment that he had to go through, which was bad enough. But it was worse that he could say, without a hint of doubt, that such was his life.

Was it too late to take a different route? He'd take having a lamer job, if it meant to work for less time, so he could be less tired. After all, what he did now was…

It was…

Huh.

The door clicking open interrupted his thoughts, making him a lot more alert than moments ago. He tried to stand up, but he had some mysterious weights on his thighs that impeded it. Made Hachiman instinctively stop in his movements to avoid hurting them, so he could only stretch his back while "she" entered the house.

"Hey~" Her expression brightened when they locked eyes, but 'she' made her voice small. Hiding her wide smile behind her hands while trying to make her steps as quiet as possible. It gave Hachiman time to rub the sleep off his eyes, and place his hands on his legs to pretend that he was just bored.

A pair of small heads greeted his movement, making him look down at two strange children using his thighs as pillow.

"You're late." He didn't mean to avoid her gaze while he spoke, but he couldn't figure out where these kids had come from. It didn't feel off, but it was a little strange all the same. Like, he could've sworn he was still a virgin. And the only person he had done babysitting for was Kawasaki, so how come…?

"Sorry, the […] took a bit more than expected." She looked apologetic enough, but Hachiman still narrowed his eyes. He hadn't quite caught her words right, but he understood that whatever she had been working in was important. "You didn't have to."

"They were looking forward to having you early." Hachiman shrugged. These words came to him so naturally that he didn't question them, but he had no clue as to where this information was coming from.

"Sorry…"

Not that it mattered. When "she" took the little boy to lift him up, Hachiman knew what he had to do too. So, with a lot of care, he took the little girl and stood up to follow their mother through the door closest to the couch she found them in. Where the two adults carefully put the kids down on their respective beds, with their mother spending some time being proud and clingy to their sleeping form.

Hachiman gave her some privacy, going back to the living room to turn off the TV and check if anything had been left lying around.

He still didn't know this small house, but he navigated it with practiced ease. Giving simple glances at the room and behind the furniture, finding nothing but a stray pen or a small hair clip to be picked up and put away. These kids, although strangers to him, were pretty tidy. And it showed. Not that he knew for certain, but that seemed to be what his brain thought was the norm.

"You must be pretty tired too." When she got out of the kids' room, her voice was a little clearer. But still mindful of the sleeping children. Hachiman didn't look at her, because he was indeed, but still tried to put up some unbothered airs.

"Not really." He lied while pretending to be busy getting the couch pillows back in place, unable to hear her closing in and hugging him from behind.

She was so small… And yet, she was so warm that it felt like Hachiman was gaining back a bit more energy. Like she had shared her ki with him to keep going for a little bit more.

It took Hachiman a moment to push through the embarrassment and reach back to her, caressing the side of her back as much as the position allowed him. Giving her the confirmation to let go so that he could turn around and embrace her back, letting her bury her face in his sternum.

"You didn't have to wait for me."

"I wanted to." Hachiman didn't feel the need to use the children as an excuse anymore. It probably meant a lot more if he just went ahead and said it, cut the chase now that he wasn't in the mood to put up a fight.

"I missed you." She purred while tightening her grip on him, like she was physically trying to make him belong to her more. "I might've taken so long because I couldn't stop thinking about you."

A needless endeavor, really. But one that made Hachiman even more embarrassed.

He'd have liked to hide his face on her shoulder too. But she was far too small for that; or to see his face. But not hiding it still made Hachiman even more self-conscious of the heat that spread from his cheeks to his ears and neck.

"W-What about the kids…?" So, unable to defend himself, Hachiman had to make use of one of his 108 skills: Deflection! It'd make things awkward, but it was better to make it awkward in that way than in this one.

"Of course I missed them!" She stopped pressing her face against his body, a little annoyed at him, and pouted so cutely that it felt like his attempt to save himself had backfired miserably. "But I'll tell them that I missed them! Don't you want to know how much I think about you? What's the point of telling you about […] when it's just you and me here?"

"I-I see…!" It made sense. He hated to admit it, but it made sense. When he had talked to his parents, being told how much they missed Komachi was… Weird. Even if they did tell him that they missed him too. There was always the implicit question of why they had to bring up Komachi in a conversation between them and Hachiman. Even if he understood the sentiment and was to be expected.

Her reaction, however, was one beyond understanding. "She" let an evil smile creep on her face; an expression of knowing exactly what she wanted, and how to get it. It made Hachiman take a step back, but "she" quickly clung to his neck, lifting herself up with so much ease that it actually took Hachiman aback for real. Before her lips touched his ear.

She didn't kiss it or nibble on it. Oh, no. This woman was far too smart for her own good. So, instead, she did something far eviler.

"I missed you, I want to be with you, I want to hug you, I want to kiss you, I want to cuddle, look only at me, I need kisses, spoil me rotten, I need alone time with you, I've been enduring the whole day, take my lips, let me smell your neck, let me feel your weight, let's—"

Hachiman almost jumped off the bed, shaking a little when the goosebumps that woke him up were too much to bear. He recognized his room now, but the sweat and breathlessness didn't let him appreciate the familiarity before he checked the time.

Way too early to be waking up, way too late to go back to sleep and feel rested.

He couldn't help the groan that escaped his throat when he let himself fall back on the bed, or the heat that came from his weird-ass dream and into the real world to let him know just how embarrassing his mind had become.

"Damn it…" Hachiman turned around and screamed into his pillow. Letting out his frustration in a healthy and discreet way before letting himself just stay completely still without breathing. Face still buried in the pillow.

No… Not like this. He had made peace with his decision, damn it! Why was his brain acting up now?! Because of the talk with Saitou? Because of the visit? Because he'd been reminded of the passion that Hoshino had when they went to Hiratsuka's place to clean up that idiot girl's mess…?

"Damn it…" Hachiman hugged his knees, clenching all of his muscles and holding himself like that for as long as he could before loosening up. Trying to help himself calm down by giving his muscles something to do, and thus feel alright not moving so that he could go back to sleep. "Damn it…"

He didn't.

Somewhere in a desert-filled country, an unknown nation stood amidst an oasis both in the geographical (?) sense and in the figurative one. Great constructions of marvelous designs had dozens upon dozens of women moving around busily. Bringing food, water, and other goods to the main palace. The place where the powerful sultan lived. A place of luxury, filled with said riches and beautiful women dressed like belly dancers but working like royal servants.

Ai couldn't complain about such a life. Her work was simple, if a bit boring at times. She cleaned wherever she was told, cooked whatever she could with the ingredients that she was given each time, and practiced her dancing and singing for when the high-ranking people in the castle needed entertainment that didn't involve almost being bitten by vipers… The real ones, not the people they surrounded themselves with.

But none of that mattered. Ai only needed to follow instructions, so that would be all she did. Ai didn't have to wonder about difficult things: If she saw something strange, she reported it to one of the guards or something; if the stock of one fruit or type of meat ran low, she notified it to someone in charge of seeing that it was restocked. All her thinking could be done in her free time, when she could see her children. And she'd use all her brainpower to make the time worth every second! So, in that sense, Ai didn't understand the other women of the harem.

Tall and short, slender and with tiddies that could be used as fall cushioning, mature and young… Most of them probably came from high-standing families, so they always had things to be bothered about. But Ai simply couldn't understand it: Cleaning? There were dozens of them, they just needed to do small parts of the work. Cooking? They were the people that were the least likely to have a reason to poison their overlord, of course it'd fall on their hands. Entertainment? What better entertainment could there be than beautiful women doing beautiful things?

Was the sultan's reputation that bad?

"You there." The sorcerous woman that played the role of the leader's advisor glared at Ai with enough scorn that the girl thought she'd be melted with a laser beam straight out of the woman's staff. But no such a thing happened, so Ai simply bowed politely to let the dangerous woman know that she had heeded her call. "What are you doing?"

"I have been ordered to move all the used clothes and sheets to be washed, ma'am."

"I see. Stop that and serve the sultan his lunch, you've been called." The words coming out of the sorcerer were cold, but Ai couldn't help perking up at the command.

"At once, ma'am." She didn't have to think about it. She simply traced her steps back to place everything where the things needing to be washed had been, as someone else would pick them up, and quickly traversed the strangely maze-like corridors to get the food that she was meant to bring to the main room of the palace.

The ruler was a mysterious man. Someone who'd employ a sorcerer, no matter how scary, must be an even scarier person himself. It was probably one of the reasons for the women of the harem to be wary of him. But that, too, was something Ai simply didn't understand. Scary or not, they'd been assigned roles to fulfill. So the least they could do, was do their own right. After all, even if they didn't try to charm him themselves, there would always be others that would try. And a single man couldn't pay attention to dozens upon dozens of women no matter how hard he tried.

Unless, like, he gained the ability to clone himself. But that was unlikely, so…

"I've come with refreshments!" Ai announced once she got to the sultan's room, hearing other people doing their own thing but otherwise not knowing whether she was allowed to just step inside or not.

"Come in." His voice was rough, cold like the sorcerer woman's. But Ai still did as instructed with boldness and zero fear.

The man had a sharp gaze, and was surrounded with other women that Ai knew better than most. But that had their own attention elsewhere. Ai had no time to ponder on what everyone was doing, as she presented the food in front of the powerful man and bowed politely while he overlooked it all.

"Would you enjoy my company too, sir?" Ai asked in a lower tone. Still deferent, and trying not to offend with the way she'd worded it. He was always angry, for some reason. So, even though Ai felt no fear, it was still better to be careful.

"…You will sit on my lap while I eat." His tone was lower now, softer too. It made Ai smile under the veil covering her mouth and nose. So she nimbly waltzed to his side and took the position she had been given. Surrounding his neck with her arms and cuddling against his shoulder while he took his lunch.

She had heard some of the girls complain about things like these, or about being told to talk or dance for him. Ai still couldn't understand this. Their lives were so simple, their duties so straight-forward. They were a harem only in the loosest of terms, as Ai was pretty sure that the women that had been touched could be counted with two hands at most. In a group of dozens and dozens of women.

But Ai held no ill-will toward them in her heart. How could she? The less people that were willing to compete, the more of the man was there for her.

Ai's life was perfect, after all. She did her duties, had her free time, developed her skills and impressed important people, and, sometimes, she'd be spoiled all night long and have her more worldly needs met.

And speaking of that… Was the man with the dangerous eyes and dark hair not massaging her butt? She wasn't particularly in the mood, but she definitely could be. Especially if he was so forward about it… Ai could grow an appetite really quick, after all.

"Is this to your liking?" Ai mewled against his neck, fixing her position a little to sit against his body more tightly. Pushing herself so that more of her thighs would sit on his lap so that he could have more room to touch her.

Instead of replying, he leaned toward his cup and drank heartily. Washing his mouth before visibly licking his gums beneath his lips.

He turned back to the other members of the harem tidying the room up.

"Leave us." The command sent shivers down Ai's spine. Guess she'd have a good time today as well. And confirmation came when he turned to stare at her with an intensity that made Ai's face become a little red. "We will be busy today."

Her smile grew even more when she was picked up with ease, held by the man and driven toward the huge bed at the center of the farthest wall of the room. Where she was simply thrown when he lost all pretense of delicacy and civility.

He pounced on her, but Ai was losing her composure too. The weight on top of her fulfilled a need that she had forgotten for some time.

It was fortunate that her clothes were so easily removed, or she'd have had to tear them apart if he took too long.

Ai furrowed her brows and opened her eyes, only to let the overwhelming light force her to shut them closed as soon as they hit her eyeballs. The groan that escaped her wasn't pretty, and the way she lazily stretched made her muscles protest while her brain tried to catch up and recognize the shape of the furniture that she had fallen asleep on.

Her couch, she'd fallen asleep on her couch.

Ai let out a big yawn while stretching, cleaning the drool off the corner of her mouth and chin while she looked around. Wondering where the blanket she had on her had come from.

Why wasn't she in her room? Ah, she probably fell asleep while watching that overseas children movie about the guy and the magic lamp. That'd make sense. Her kids probably went to bed on their own, the little geniuses. But that meant that Ai had failed to put them to bed! How could she ever make it up to them?!

"No choice, gonna have to cook something delicious…" She muttered to herself before scratching her chin lazily. Pushing herself off the couch and dragging her feet to the bathroom to splash her face with some very much needed cold water.

She still felt warm inside and, although the memory of her dream was quickly fading, Ai still couldn't help thinking about the intensity of what she experienced.

Well, it should be fine. Right? Dreams weren't real. And as long as Ai didn't share them with anyone, they basically did not exist. It wasn't like it was appliable to real life either. So Ai should probably be on the clear, she should probably not feel guilty at all for her brain playing tricks on her. Ai the belly dancer and Ai the idol led such different lives that they were basically completely different people. The girl in the dream had a simple life, and the idol had a complicated one. Different rules applied, so Ai should probably be fine.

She stared at herself in the mirror, looking at the drool stain on her sleeping shirt for a moment before lifting it up to expose her belly and ribs.

…

She'd look amazing in a belly dancer outfit, yep. That was for real, at least.

…

Ai decided to take a cold shower before cooking after that thought crossed her mind. She hated every second of it, like a dog being sprayed on the face for bad behavior.