"Everyone, I have something very important to discuss with you."
Nagasaki Soyo addressed the other three girls gathered in the living room.
"The [TGC] starts in just half a month. After it's over, [Starry Sky] is sure to receive a massive number of orders. When that time comes, we must ensure Tetsuya still has enough energy for his work. So... although it's a bit regrettable, the punishment for Tetsuya must end here."
"...Eh? Punishment?"
Chihaya Anon froze for a moment, thinking hard for a while before finally nodding in realization.
"Ah, you're talking about the Paris thing! Right, right, we're actually punishing my brother right now..."
She had been having so much fun lately that she had completely forgotten her role as one of the punishers.
Truthfully, she had never thought her brother was at fault in the first place. Although he had unavoidably seen the bodies of the Paris models due to work, as his sister and lover, she had absolute confidence in his honesty and loyalty. The problem was—
"...What do you think, Sakiko?"
"Mmm... while what Soyo says is true, I find it a little hard to accept emotionally."
It seemed that Hoshino Ai and Togawa Sakiko, the ones who had proposed the punishment, were not yet willing to let him off the hook.
First was Hoshino Ai, who had already begun studying modeling.
"You haven't been in this industry, so you probably don't understand. To avoid undergarments affecting the look of the clothes, fashion models usually choose to wear thongs or go commando. Plus, the ones he was working with were top overseas models. I don't need to elaborate on the level of their figures and looks."
Hoshino Ai said with a serious expression, "In other words, what Tetsu saw was far bolder than you can imagine!"
"Heh..."
Chihaya Anon was noncommittal.
After all, her own figure couldn't even compare to the three "elite units" in front of her. Even if she were told there were "boss units" in the world with even higher stats, she would at most just sigh something empty like "that's amazing."
On the other hand, Nagasaki Soyo spoke up.
"But, Tetsuya also said that he paid no attention to their bodies at all while he was working, and their conversations were only about clothes and work. Even when those models proactively asked for his contact information, he just politely handed them our brand's business card..."
"Those are two different things, Soyo," Togawa Sakiko said, shaking her head at Soyo's defense. "From the moment he got home and confessed what happened in Paris, none of us have ever doubted his loyalty."
Having already connected their hearts with his, they knew his personality and thoughts very well. If he really had thoughts of cheating, he would be crushed by guilt first.
"The reason we're 'punishing' him is to make him understand that from now on, if he does anything that makes us worry, he will have to repay us a hundred, a thousand times over. In other words, we're using our bodies to warn him of the consequences of cheating!" Sakiko explained with a straight face. "This way, even if he develops such inclinations in the future, the moment he remembers what he went through during this period, his body will be the first to warn him!"
"That sounds almost like some kind of PTSD..." Nagasaki Soyo couldn't help but retort. "While I understand your thinking, you all must have felt it recently, too. Tetsuya is starting to feel resistant to that kind of thing. Don't forget, the reason we want to be with him is so we can be happy together, and being intimate is so we can feel good together. If it instead makes him feel resistant or even fearful, it would defeat the entire purpose. If one day his endurance really reaches its limit, he might actually leave us."
"Mmm..."
Soyo's words made Sakiko hesitate.
It was just as she said. Although Tetsuya had been very cooperative at the beginning, lately, due to the continuous punishment, he was gradually losing the strength to respond to them. While they could still feel his love from his expressions and reactions, his exhaustion from being unable to keep up was also obvious.
Considering the long term, perhaps they really should stop constantly draining him.
"So, what do you think, Mutsumi?"
Just then, Sakiko suddenly looked at Wakaba Mutsumi, who had been sitting quietly to the side, reading a book from the very beginning.
"From a completely objective and neutral standpoint, what do you think we should do? Should we continue to punish him, or let him off?"
Ever since they had confirmed their relationship with Tetsuya, Sakiko would often come over to his house and invite Mutsumi to chat with everyone. On one hand, she was worried Mutsumi would be lonely, and on the other, she needed her to provide a sufficiently objective and rational perspective.
The next second, hearing Sakiko's question, Mutsumi placed a bookmark in her current page and replied faintly, "You all... are overthinking this."
As she spoke, she closed the book in her hands—a book about model and fashion culture that Tetsuya had just recently bought.
"Since you all already understand and believe that Chihaya-san would never cheat, then the so-called punishment and warnings were meaningless from the start."
At this, she couldn't help but shake her head and look up at the slightly evasive Togawa Sakiko.
"You all... just want to sleep with him, don't you?"
"..." The four girls fell into a collective silence.
Although the statement was a bit blunt, it was undeniably true.
Even though they were certain he wouldn't change his heart easily, even though they knew he was a workaholic who was passionate about clothing, even though they knew he would never hide anything from them, they still chose to punish him in this way...
Clearly, they cared more about the process of the punishment than its meaning.
"Don't misunderstand. I don't think you've done anything wrong. I just want to say... since you are just craving Chihaya-san, then stop making up these unnecessary excuses. Just honestly admit you want to be intimate with him. It's not like he'll refuse you anyway."
Hearing Mutsumi's words, Sakiko showed a hesitant expression. "But if we do that... won't he think we're insatiably greedy women..."
"...Aren't you?" Mutsumi tilted her head. "You even go into the bathroom with him when he's taking a shower..."
"Ugh..."
Sakiko was rendered speechless.
Mutsumi continued, "Honestly, I don't think Chihaya-san would be repulsed by your demands... Rather, it's the 'distrust' you're showing him that would make him more upset. If you constantly show him distrust, and are so harsh as to punish him for the slightest suspicion, then even someone like him will distance himself from you due to the excessive pressure."
"...I think Mutsumi is right!" Anon nodded in agreement. "My brother has always been honest with us. If we keep suspecting him so unreasonably, he'll definitely think we're the type of petty women who like to cause trouble for no reason! We might not see it now, but when we hit a rough patch later, he might start to dislike us for it!"
Hoshino Ai shot her a sideways glance. "How does someone who's never been in a relationship know about 'rough patches'?"
"I read about it online, of course!" Anon said, full of confidence. "A lot of divorced couples break up because they couldn't get through a rough patch! I'm confident I'll never get tired of my brother, but I can't say the same for him!"
"And we really have gone a bit too far. He's yawning almost all day now, and he often just stares blankly at his workbench in the studio," said Soyo, who had wanted to end the punishment from the start, quickly chiming in. "Besides, everyone should be quite satisfied after the last half-month, right?"
"...Ahem, more or less," said Sakiko, who had been discussing this very topic with Uika just last night, letting out a couple of soft coughs. "This past half-month has indeed been very fun..."
"In that case, it's time to stop," Soyo said. "Of course, I'm not saying we should stop completely. I myself look forward to being with Tetsuya every day. I'm just hoping we can lower the frequency and duration—"
"And, stop doing it with three or four people all the time," Mutsumi's flat voice cut in again. "Putting aside whether Chihaya-san can handle it, when all of you are together, the noise is really loud. Sometimes I can even hear a little of it upstairs."
"...I'm sorry."
Hearing Mutsumi's calm complaint, Sakiko's head drooped even lower.
"If that's the case, then... let's make a schedule. For example, each person gets a fixed time to be alone with him each week... What do you think, Ai?"
"Mmm... I guess that's fine," Ai finally nodded after a moment of hesitation. "It's just that I might not be able to follow the schedule completely due to work..."
"It doesn't have to be as strict as a work shift. It just means we'll lower the frequency from now on and try not to all pounce on him at once."
Soyo, already accustomed to managing Tetsuya's schedule, took out her pocket notebook.
"If everyone agrees, then I'll be the one to create the schedule. I'll make sure everyone has plenty of time with him."
"I agree."
"Mhm, let's do that!"
And so, through their discussion, the punishment for Chihaya Tetsuya came to an end. The previously endless and irregular intimate sessions were now, under Soyo's planning, transformed into a regular and restrained weekly activity.
"We should have done this a long time ago," Soyo said after drafting the schedule. "We've been a bit too much these past two weeks. From the moment we opened our eyes until we went to sleep... A little too thirsty, don't you think?"
"Well, that's just how much we like Tetsu. Plus, the joint exhibition and Sakiko's family matters had just concluded, so we needed to vent a little emotionally," Ai said. "But what Mutsumi said was right. Since we never doubted his feelings for us from the start, we shouldn't have used such an unsettling excuse to pressure him. He's a very serious person, and it would be bad if this actually caused him psychological stress."
"Mhm, that's true," Sakiko's face also showed a hint of guilt. "It's all my fault for only thinking about myself and completely ignoring his feelings..."
At this, she looked up at Mutsumi and said with great sincerity, "Thanks to you, Mutsumi. If it were just the four of us, we definitely wouldn't have been able to consider this."
"...It's nothing," Mutsumi said, reopening her book to the bookmarked page. "I just said what needed to be said."
"Mhm. Well, we'll be counting on you in the future, too."
Looking at her childhood friend, whose way of thinking and initiative had improved so much, a smile involuntarily appeared on Sakiko's face.
"Alright, now it's time to think about dinner... Soyo, I'll help today!"
"Mhm, okay."
And so, with the girls' meeting concluded, they prepared to disperse and make dinner as usual.
But just then, the screen of Nagasaki Soyo's phone suddenly lit up.
"Ah, it's a message from Tetsuya."
Seeing the sender's name, Soyo immediately picked up her phone and read the message.
Then, when she read the message aloud, everyone present, including Wakaba Mutsumi, showed an expression of utter shock.
[Soyo, I've been invited to a business partner's home to discuss future work matters in detail. Because their home is a bit remote, I'll be staying the night here and will be back tomorrow.]
"...Everyone?"
After reading the message, Soyo waved her phone and said to the other girls, who were staring at each other in bewilderment.
"How about... we discuss this a little more?"