Time moved too fast. Maki, who was still consumed and focused on sketching, didn't notice that it was already noon, and he still hadn't eaten lunch.
Maki also hadn't checked his email, and even the clone that was playing with his phone hadn't noticed anything. No notifications were popping up on the screen, and even if one did appear, the clone would probably dismiss it.
Like their owner, who had that hyper-focus thingy, his clones had that useless skill too.
Goals before holes...
The atmosphere remained as silent as ever until the real fish head stood up, dropped the pen, and raised the A4 paper.
"Naammassivoq..."
〔N/A: That means "It's done" or "It's finished."〕
Maki looked at the finished sketch of the boat, and as he examined the image, he couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile.
Even though it was just a drawing, he could already envision it turning into reality. The eagerness to build it was palpable as his red eyes sparkled with anticipation.
After admiring his own delusions for a while, he placed the sketch of the boat on the glass table.
Maki grabbed the empty mug and walked straight to the kitchen for another round of black coffee.
"The house is over now. I'll just need to recreate it."
He kept muttering to himself as he added sugar cubes into the mug filled with black coffee. After that, he stirred it with a tablespoon, and the coffee was ready—a perfectly ordinary beverage.
Maki looked up at the kitchen clock hanging in the corner.
"Oh, it's already past twelve. I wonder if they've eaten already?"
When Maki said "they," he meant those strange women who kept appearing out of nowhere and would eventually become his wives.
"Really, I didn't even do anything at all, and boom, another wife added to the bag. Sometimes I wonder if I really have some kind of magnetic fishing line that attracts fish."
Maki closed his eyes. His brain then tried its best to replay the memories of those strange encounters and meetings with those beautiful women.
"Nemuri was the one who became like my mother for the past ten years. She took care of everything, and I'm really grateful for that. Even though I hid many things from her, she never pried.
"The second one was Mei-Mei. It was really my fault back then. I hugged her out of nowhere and even gave her a peck. Seeing her for the first time actually gave me the same vibe as Nemuri, and because I got distracted for a bit, I mistakenly thought she was Nemuri.
"For real? How was that even possible? Even though I inherited my mother's hobby, how could I forget my surroundings? Yeah, now that I think about it, in that instant, I completely lost my ability to think and acted purely on instinct."
〔N/A: Thinking capability?! Like hell you got one.〕
"Nope, no need to think too deeply about it. It was clearly my fault.
"Still, meeting Mei-Mei was a blessing. Even though I thought she was just teasing me at first, who would've thought she was actually serious about marriage? She wanted a man she had just met, and we didn't even know each other that well.
"Is this what they call love at first sight? Nope, it must be love at first hug."
Then Catty came next.
After building my tree house, my first visitor was actually a black cat that sounded like a scholar.
When I first saw Catty, I felt that something was unusual about her, though I couldn't quite tell what it was. What surprised me the most was her intelligence. She was a cat, after all.
But then another twist happened.
Catty wasn't a cat.
Catty was a shape-shifting woman.
If I remember correctly, the first time I saw her real body was when I was feeling dizzy and caught sight of her naked. I could smell the same scent that came from that black cat, so naturally I thought she was Catty.
And I was right.
Except she wasn't just a cat.
She was a beautiful tan-skinned woman.
I saw her naked, so I had to give her something to cover herself with. I handed her my hoodie.
I was born in a wild place, after all, and seeing her like that made me feel something. The least I could do was give her clothes to wear.
But who would've thought Catty would start teasing me!.
Even though I was about to black out at the time, I could feel her body pressing against me. Her touch, her warmth, her scent—I could feel it all, and my body couldn't forget it.
At that moment, I wanted to devour her as well, and I couldn't control myself.
The most I managed to do was hug her tightly and bite her once, but it wasn't enough, and I lost consciousness shortly afterward.
I wonder if that last bite hurt her. I actually put quite a bit of force into it. For a moment, I thought I might tear through her flesh.
But seeing Catty again later, completely fine, gave me relief.
Maybe because of that bite, when she crawled into my hoodie, she likes to lick me and give my neck little nibbles.
Yet somehow, it never hurts at all.
AM N. NOT.(っ－＿－)っ♤♤DRAFT♤♤