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Yamato Aki had never really thought about it before, not really.
Having a lot of aunts was just something that was a part of his life growing up. It was just as natural as breathing, or the fact that his parents were in charge of a gaming company whose office just happened to be next door to their home. Said aunts also happened to work for that very company, and occasionally barged into their home, which more often than not miffed his mom and dad.
But then, as he grew up he started going to school, making friends, talking about each others' families. He started to realize that maybe, his family wasn't exactly as normal as he thought after all.
"There's Mom, and Dad, and Sakura," Yamato pointed to his class, holding a crude drawing of his family in his hand. "Then there's Auntie Uta, Auntie Eri..."
His class simply looked at him funny as he listed off his many aunts.
It didn't help was that those very same aunts would sometimes come get him from school in place of his parents. His teachers and his classmates would look at them strangely as a seemingly new lady would come get him every other day.
One day, one of the teachers stopped him and his Auntie Zumi from going home.
"Um, are you sure you're his aunt?" Ms. Asano said shakily. "I'm sorry, it's just... There seems to be a different person coming to get Yamato-kun every-"
"She's my aunt," Yamato cut in flatly. He cocked his head to the side and looked at his teacher curiously. "Is it so strange that I have a lot of aunts?"
Ms. Asano started frantically waving her hands in front of her. "O-oh, no! My apologies! If there really isn't any trouble, then it's fine!"
That afternoon, Yamato walked into his parents' office. He knew they would still be working, something about them needing to spend a bit more time on an upcoming release. That probably meant his aunts would be there too.
He would find himself right. As he walked in, he observed everyone busy on one of the many computers in the office. Except for Mom who was standing behind Dad, everyone was at their respective desks seemingly busy. Manning her desk was his two-year old sister Sakura, who was standing at on her chair to see over Mom's desk.
Said little sister squealed as she saw him, breaking the quietude office, and subsequently alerting the grown-ups to his presence.
"Geez, Yamato-kun," Auntie Eri said with a sigh. "You really are too quiet. You need to speak up when you come in."
"Just like how Megumi-chan used to be to be way back in high school," Auntie Uta said with a smile.
Yamato just blinked blankly at everyone, "I'm... sorry?"
Mom just sighed and walked up to him, crouching down and bringing him to an embrace. "Don't listen to them, Yamato-kun. You're fine just the way you are." She broke the hug to look him in the eyes and smiled. "I'm sorry we weren't there to greet you when you got home."
"Yeah," Dad nodded. "Don't worry though. It'll only be a little longer. Why don't we go somewhere nice when it's all over? Maybe somewhere like Akihabara?"
"That sounds nice..." Yamato said with a small smile.
"Well then," She patted his shoulder bringing his attention back to her. "Was there something you wanted? You don't normally come to the office without reason."
"Um." He hesitated. But since he was already here, it was now or never, he supposed "I was wondering... Why do I have so many aunts?"
Mom blinked at him, before sharing a look he couldn't read with Dad, then looking back at him. "Why do you ask?"
"Well..." he looked down and shuffled his feet. "My friends and teachers keep telling me how weird it is. Like, all of them say that their aunts are their mom's and dad's sisters, but they're not any of your sisters, are they?"
Yamato gestured towards everyone else who was working, all of whom seemed to be watching the scene with mild amusement.
"No, they're not," Auntie Mitchi said. "I'm pretty much your only actual aunt here, me being Tomo's cousin and all."
He nodded. "That makes sense. That still doesn't explain the others, though. How did they meet Mom and Dad?"
Auntie Eri was next. "Well, I was childhood friends with your dad."
Auntie Uta muttered something under her breath which caused Auntie Eri to glare at her and scream, "Oh, piss off with that 'cheap knockoff' crap!"
That caused his black haired aunt to smile pleasantly. She then turned her attention back to him. "I was Tomoya's senpai. We met at one of my book signings. He was a big fan and we hit off from there."
Yamato absorbed the information he had gained so far, seeing a pattern forming. He looked to Auntie Zumi, saying, "And you're my aunt through Dad too?"
She nodded cheerfully. "I met Tomoya through my big brother. He introduced me to everything Otaku!"
So Cousin, Childhood Friend, Senpai, and Little Sister. That sounded suspiciously like...
"Was dad a harem protagonist?"
The room went deathly silent, to the point that you could hear a pin drop. His aunts were all still grinning from ear to ear. Mom hid her eyes behind her hair, just like she did when she was mad. Dad was clearly looking nervous, his glasses fogging up and beads of sweat running down his forehead and neck.
The silence was broken when Sakura suddenly whined, probably wanting attention. Despite his distressed state, Dad went over to pick her up.
"Yamato-kun..." The frostiness in Mom's voice sent a chill down Yamato's spine. "Where did you learn that word?"
"From the games Auntie-" Auntie Uta caught his eye and waved her hands frantically at him. "I-I mean, from the games I snuck out of the office...?"
Mom sighed. "Well, I guess it's okay. As long as it isn't anything inappropriate."
She sent a glare at his aunts for good measure.
"Going back to the question," Auntie Uta said, a grin creeping onto her face. "Yes, he was!"
Dad shot up suddenly. "I was not-"
But he was cut off by everyone else chiming in.
"Yup," Auntie Eri said with a nod.
"Mhm." That was Auntie Michi.
"He was even the cliche dense kind too." Last but not least, Auntie Zumi
Dad visibly recoiled at each addition.
"Hmm," Mom finally said, closing her eyes. "I had to work really hard to become the main heroine your dad wanted me to be. It was hard to win his attention when he was surrounded by other Heroines who were far more amazing than me."
"No!"
In the blink of an eye, Dad was right in front of Mom, holding both her hands in his. He hadn't let Sakura go yet, so the whole thing looked a little ridiculous, but neither of them looked like they cared.
"I would never have accepted another Main Heroine!" Dad declared loudly, his gaze intense as he looked into Mom's eyes. "You, and only you could have done it! My eyes were on you alone!"
"Tomoya-kun..."
Yamato audibly groaned in disgust, but was ignored. He knew that look on Mom's face. He grimaced as she slowly brought her face closer to Dad's. Fortunately for him, and everyone else in the room, Auntie Eri smacked them both on the head with a paper fan before they could do anything.
"You two literally live right next door!" She yelled, snatching Sakura out of Dad's arms. His parents looked more like cowed children than the well-adjusted adults they were supposed to be. "If you wanna do that, don't do it here!"
Dad was still stunned, staring dumbfounded at his aunt. Mom recovered quickly, however, and tugged at Dad's hands, leading him out of the office.
When they were gone, Yamato sighed in relief.
"Thanks, Auntie Eri."
"Don't mention it. I didn't want to see that either." She put Sakura down, allowing her to toddle over to him. He picked her up with little hesitation.
"Doesn't it hearing that make it seem like a waste?" Auntie Uta said. In spite of her words, she was smiling. "It's like we wasted our time going after him back then. His only ever had eyes for her, no matter what we did."
"A little," Auntie Eri admitted. "But we had fun, didn't we?"
Auntie Uta just hummed, quietly, wistfully.
"Then I don't think it was a waste."
Perhaps it was their past feelings for Dad they were talking about. Yamato didn't know. A lot of the games he had played pretty much ended after the Protagonist and the Heroine confess their feelings to each other. This was unfamiliar territory as far as he was concerned, so he kept his head down through it all and held Sakura close to himself.
"So, Yamato-kun..." Auntie Michi said, skipping over to him. "Are you looking forward to a new baby sibling?"
Yamato blinked. That was just about the last thing he was expecting.
"Huh? Why? Is the stork coming to give Mom and Dad another baby?"
"'Stork?'" Auntie Uta snorted. "No, what your parents are doing will definitely be more than enough to make another baby."
That only served to confuse him even more.
"Kissing can make babies?"
Auntie Uta opened her mouth to explain, but Auntie Zumi covered her mouth with her hand before she could.
"Do you want Megumi-chan to kill you?" She said with a glare. "Because she definitely will if you tell him that."
Auntie Uta pried her hand off and huffed. "And what's so wrong with knowing about these things?"
"He's just a kid," Auntie Eri said with a sigh. "Don't traumatize him."
Auntie Uta shrugged. "I already knew about it when I was his age, and I turned out great."
"That's debatable."
"Oh? Why such a prude, Eriri? Weren't you the one who started drawing porn before you were even a teenager?"
Their conversation quickly devolved into senseless gibberish, as far as Yamato was concerned. It was almost like they had forgotten about him and Sakura, as they were now all shouting at each other. That was fine. He got what he wanted.
For now, he'll just play with his little sister and let the grown-ups be weird.
Sure enough, nine months later, Yamato became a big brother to yet another little sister.