The tranquil life of a man in a house full of women.

Being Thursday, Leo had to work after school. That made Reiko complain because she wanted to study for real today, and that led to Leo promising to go back home as quickly as he could after work.

“Leo-kun, you seem in a hurry today,” one of the fishermen said to him as Leo carried buckets, brushes and coolers from the boats to the storehouse in bulk. “Got a girl waiting for you?” the old man teased.

“Exams are coming up,” Leo answered easily. “I need to go back to study.”

“Shouldn’t come as a surprise that you’re a diligent young man,” Sasaki-san said with her usual gentle smile as she approached him and took the buckets from him. “You can leave early today. If you don’t do well in school they might not let you work here anymore, and you’re too big a help to let you go,” she giggled.

“It’s fine,” Leo argued. “I can do both. So let me finish here before I leave.”

“No, go back home. I’m still expecting you here early on Saturday. So listen to your elders’ advice and take the chances you get,” Sasaki-san said with a cute frown as she lightly poked him on the forehead.

Leo smiled sheepishly. “Very well. Thank you.” He got his gloves and apron off, changed from the boots he’d been given to his normal shoes, and after saying goodbye to everyone, rode back home on the bike they had lent him. Leo wasn’t blind to the kindness the people at the fishery had been showing him. It was uneventful and menial labor, but it was honest work. It suited him just fine. The extra money wasn’t bad, either. Soon he’d be able to buy himself a proper desk and chair for his room instead of that low table and pillow he had to use. He probably could’ve gotten it if he’d asked Mrs. Wisler, but no thanks. Giving him a place to live and a chance to finish his education was already more than enough. Truly, it had been a risk to accept the old lady’s invitation, as it sounded too good to be true. But even with all the caveats, she’d gotten him out of a really rough spot and his life as unarguably better for it. He needed to make sure it stayed that way by cleansing them all of the curse, and he’d also be repaying Mrs. Wisler with it, he was sure.

He arrived home and made his way inside. There were voices coming from the dining room, but the moment he announced his presence, the voices went completely quiet.

That didn’t bode well.

Leo went directly there, and sliding the door open found an odd and worrying scene. Lucia and Seina were standing in front of each other yet looking away from the other, scowls on their faces. Reiko and Kaede were sitting by the table and stiff as boards, looking down as they shook like frightened rabbits. Valerie was with them, looking around the room with a face that told she had no idea what was going on. Angela and Mrs. Wisler were nowhere to be seen. The silence was heavy, and the tension could’ve been cut with a knife. Leo frowned.

“What’s going on here?” he asked in a serious tone.

No one answered. It took a moment before Valerie gave him some info, saying, “I have no idea what they said, but Lucia was asking Kaede something and it seemed to make her uncomfortable. Seina stepped in and then the two started to argue. I think I heard your name, too.”

Leo gave Kaede another look. The girl’s face was red and her eyes glittered with the threat of tears. He gritted his teeth, and though his first thought was to demand explanations form the two older girls, he needed to keep his priorities in check. Kaede was more fragile than any other girl here, so he’d see to her first. It wouldn’t do to have Lucia and Seina here, so he turned to them.

“Leave the room, please,” he told them, forcing politeness to his tone.

“What?” Lucia asked. “You can’t just-”

“OUT!” He shouted, making every woman in the room flinch. Lucia and Seina looked genuinely frightened, and after a second to get their bearings, quietly left the room and went in opposite directions. Leo took a deep breath and sat down with the girls at the table. With a now far more amicable, yet still serious tone, he asked them, “What happened?”

Kaede pursed her lips, and the tears were slowly coming out. Reiko held her gently by the shoulders, rubbing them for comfort before she turned to him and answered for her. “It happened just a few minutes before you came. The blonde woman came in and… asked Kaede-san if she was going to take her turn with you today,” she explained. “Kaede-san got nervous and didn’t know how to answer, so the blonde woman started telling her that if she wasn’t going to take advantage of being in the island, she should just leave. Then the other woman, the black haired one, started saying that she was just trying to get rid of other women so she could have more time with you and that turned into a very messy exchange of calling each other out that, 1) I didn’t completely understand, and 2) I really don’t feel like recounting.” Reiko shook her head tiredly.

“Where are Angela and Mrs. Wisler?”

“They went out to buy some things.”

Again, Leo swallowed his first instinct, which was to get Lucia and do things no man should ever do to a non-consenting woman across the face. But no, he wasn’t gonna do that. He took a deep breath again.

“Okay, first things first,” Leo started. “Kaede-san, like I told you before, I’m not gonna **** you to do anything you don’t want. Whatever your reason to be on this island, it’s valid and don’t let a sex-starved crazy woman tell you otherwise. Understood?”

Kaede’s body started to relax and she no longer seemed like she was going to cry. She was still startled and shaking a bit, but she managed a silent nod.

“Now then,” Leo said, standing up from his spot. “What to do about those two?”