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“Whoa! This is amazing!” Touta’s eye sparkled as he raced into the room, flailing his arms. “It’s so big! It’s like one of those luxury penthouses rich folks have in movies! Totally awesome!”
“I-I’m glad you’re having fun,” Kuroumaru said, laughing as he watched Touta running about the room, marvelling at every fancy gadget and grand decoration. Karin and Kirie, on the other hand, shared a collective sigh.
“This feels less like a honeymoon, and more like a school trip,” Kirie said, though despite her words, she couldn’t help but smile when Touta was visibly taken aback by the room service menu.
“Something tells me he’s been storing all of this energy up since the wedding,” Karin said, and Kuroumaru and Kirie nodded in agreement. “I suppose I can commend him for behaving through the ceremony, at least.”
“Hey guys!” Touta ran back to his three newly-betrotheds. “The bed’s huge! We gotta get one just like it, there’s space for all of us and more!”
“Are you planning on growing your harem?” Kirie deadpanned, and Touta recoiled.
“N-No, I wasn’t saying that-”
“I think you have more than enough with the three of us, Touta,” Karin said, blushing as she said his name without honorifics. “Kirie and Kuroumaru are one thing, but I don’t want your eyes wandering now that we’re married…”
Kirie stifled her laugh, while Kuroumaru tried to keep the peace. “Now, now, I’m sure that’s not what Touta was saying… It wasn’t, right?”
“Of course not!” Touta protested. “I’m totally happy to keep it as just the four of us! I’m just saying there’s lots of room to move around in there!” Touta’s face turned a shade red as he asked, “So uh, on that note, should we-”
“Cool it, Incompetent,” Kirie said, holding out her hand. “There’s an order to these things, y’know? First, we gotta take a bath!”
“Oh, right. Okay, should we all take one now?”
“We’ll go first,” Karin said. “You wait out here, and no peeking!”
Touta blinked, looking confused. “Eh? But I mean, we’re gonna have sex anyway, why can’t we-”
“Honestly!” Kirie huffed. “It’s about setting the right mood! You can’t see us naked until we’re all in bed together! Trust me, the wait will be worth it!”
“Sorry, Touta, but I have to agree with Kirie here,” Kuroumaru said, clutching his arm nervously. “I still need to mentally prepare myself, too.”
“Oh.” Touta still appeared confused, but simply shrugged. “Alright, I guess. It’s kinda lonely though, being left out while you three have fun.”
Kirie almost felt sorry for excluding him, but she kept her resolve firm. “There’s a TV, with full access to every channel. I’m sure you can pass the time.”
“Hmmm, even so-” Touta gasped as he saw the TV. “Holy smokes! Lookit the size of that thing! It’s so awesome!” And just like that, he was off, leaving his brides and husband to make for the bathroom.
“Well, I can’t say I was expecting him to be romantic,” Karin said as she undressed.
“I’m actually glad, in a way,” Kuroumaru said. “This is the Touta we all know. If he stated turning on the charm and acting all serious, it would be too much, and I wouldn’t know how to handle it!”
“I suppose it’s better than him being all stiff and uncomfortable,” Kirie said. She noticed that the other two were staring at her, and she quickly blushed. “Not ‘stiff’ like that! You know what I mean!”
“S-Speaking of that, though,” Kuroumaru said, hiding his towel-covered groin behind his hands, “Are you two you’re okay with me being here?”
“What’s the big deal? We’ve seen it before,” Kirie said, though her flushed face betrayed her confidence.
“It’s a little late to be shy around each other, now,” Karin said, though like Kirie, she wasn’t selling her own pitch with the way her eyes darted away.
“It’s a shame, though,” Kirie said as the three entered the bathroom proper, running the water to fill the tub. “Your female form was so pretty! I was surprised you decided to be a boy.”
“W-Well, it’s not like I’m locked in this form,” Kuroumaru said. “Since my body doesn’t age, it‘ll never reach the point where my sex is decided for good. I have gained control over it, though. For the most part.”
“Then you should totally be a girl!” Kirie eye glinted. “I’m sure Touta would be happy with that!”
“Maybe,” Kuroumaru said, “And it’s not like that’s off the table, but…”
“But?” Karin asked, tilting her head.
“I… I appreciate what you two are saying, and I don’t mean this to come off as rude, but… I think it should be my decision, what form I take on.”
Kirie suddenly looked guilty. “Oh, no, I wasn’t trying to- S-Sorry, we might have gone a little overboard. We really weren’t trying to pressure you or anything.”
“I know. You thought that my being a girl would improve my chances with Touta, and for a time, even I thought that.”
“In hindsight, we should’ve considered the possibility Touta was into boys,” Karin mused. “As Mizore-san once put it, ‘he gives off big bi energy’.”
“Eh?! When did she say that?! Though, I get what she means,” Kurormaru laughed. “Anyway, what I mean by it being ‘my decision’, is that I think it shouldn’t be influenced by such things as how others see me, or what sex Touta is attracted to. If I base my identity off of the likes and dislikes of others, I would just be lying to myself.”
“I… never thought about it that way,” Kirie said, scratching her cheek. The three of them moved to the shower nozzles on the wall and began to wash themselves. “When I was immortal, I was trapped in a childish body. Compared to the rest of UQ Holder, I felt like I got the short end of the stick, so I would’ve been happy at the chance to change my appearance.”
“Personally, I never put much stock into my own appearance,” Karin said. “I just wanted Yukihime-sama to notice me, so I, too, never considered what your own feelings were about your body. I never considered you might not be happy as a girl.”
“It’s not that I wouldn’t be happy,” Kuroumaru said. “When I was younger, I chose a boy’s body because I thought it would make me stronger. Even back then, I wasn’t thinking about what I wanted, but what I thought I needed. But this body is the one that I met Touta in, and it was in this body that I realised my feelings for him, and helped him out so many times. It was in this body that we became so close, and he showered me with so much praise, and… he saved me.”
The three of them shut off the showers and sank into the bath together, each releasing collective sighs of relief. “So I guess, I’ve come to associate this body with everything good that’s come into my life,” he continued, “And it’s this body where I feel the most like myself. I’m not against visiting Touta as a girl now-and-then, but I would like him to continue seeing me as the boy he met by chance, all those years ago.” Kuroumaru turned his head away as he finished. “Sorry, I must sound so silly.”
“No, not at all!” Kirie answered. “Gosh, and here we were just thinking you should be a girl ‘cause you’re cute! We had no idea you’d thought so much about this.”
“Well, you’re still cute even as a boy, so it’s no problem,” Karin said.
“There’d be a problem if I wasn’t cute?!” Kuroumaru asked. “And don’t call me cute so casually! It’s embarrassing!”
“In any case,” Kirie said, chuckling, “There is a particular advantage to Kuroumaru choosing to be a boy.”
Karin titled her hear. “And that would be?”
“Seeing Touta- that incompetent, getting it on with another guy, of course!”
Silence passed over the three, being broken when Karin cleared her throat. “I had no idea you were into that, Kirie. I misjudged you.”
Kuroumaru hid behind his hand. “S-So you’ve been watching that intently when Touta and I-”
“J-Joke! It was just a joke!” Kirie protested, flailing her arms. “I mean it is a nice sight, but it’s not like I’m some pervert who leers and plays it back in my mind when I’m bored and-” Kirie was met by a splash of water from Karin, and she retaliated with her own.
Kuroumaru laughed as he watched the two engage in a brief splash fight, before a combined attack was aimed his way, drawing him into their war. When they were finished having fun, Karin stretched her arms, her face flushed.
“Well then, I suppose it’s time,” she said, rising out of the water. She took in a breath as her hands shook by her sides. “Let’s go… have our first night together, with our h-husband…”
Kirie and Kuroumaru grew equally red, and joined her in leaving the tub.
“Kuroumaru,” Karin said suddenly as they were changing into bathrobes provided by the hotel, “I was… being a bit shy before. It doesn’t matter how you look or what you are, you are… a valuable friend, and somebody important to both Touta and myself.”
Kuroumaru smiled warmly. “Thank you, Karin. And you, too, Kirie. To be honest, I wasn’t even nervous entering this relationship, because the two of you have always been such great friends.”
Kirie grumbled as she quickly turned away. “Okay, okay, enough with the mushy stuff! This is a honeymoon, we’re creating the wrong type of atmosphere!”
Kuroumaru nodded, and then three left the bathroom together.