Then she said again, "How about calling it Team Aiden? It's perfectly normal to name a team after someone's name anyway."
"No way, that sounds kind of awkward." Aiden quickly shook his head. Although Iori Yagami had also used his own surname to name his team in the future, Aiden wasn't nearly as thick-skinned as Iori.
"I see!" The two sisters fell into thought again.
Then it was Chizuru who spoke up, "We could go with something unique, how about calling it The Big Sister-in-Law, Her Little Sister, and the Brother-in-Law Team?"
This time, Maki didn't object. Instead, she started seriously considering whether that name was actually workable.
But Aiden was left speechless, a dark line forming across his face. That name sounded exactly like something those college students in real-life competitions would come up with.
So he immediately objected, "No, that's too long, and besides…"
He couldn't bring himself to say the rest. After all, if they really used that name, the girls he had outside would definitely explode.
"And besides, they wouldn't agree, right?" Chizuru pouted unhappily. "Hmph, if you ask me, why not just call it The Harem Team? I mean, aside from me and my dear sister, you've got so many mistresses and lovers outside…"
'Actually, The Harem Team does sound kind of good…'
But there was no way Aiden could agree, not out of embarrassment, but out of consideration for the Kagura sisters. If they used that name, what would people think of the Kagura family?
"Chizuru, if we called ourselves that, would the Kagura family even have any face left?" Maki shot her sister a glare.
The sisters themselves didn't really care about their own reputations, but the Kagura family name still mattered. After all, this wasn't ancient times anymore, privately being close with the same man was one thing, but if it got exposed, it would be a scandal.
Then she turned to Aiden and said, "Actually, I think Chizuru's earlier name idea was really good."
'Yeah, of course you'd think so.'
Aiden thought to himself, Big sister and brother-in-law, it does sound kind of exciting. During the last Tanabata festival, they had even "played" that way before, and it was Maki who'd taken the lead…
'But no. Absolutely not.'
"Let's just pick another one, Maki."
"I can't think of anything. I'm out of naming ideas." Maki shook her head.
"Same here." Chizuru weakly shook hers too. "You come up with one yourself, Aiden."
"Then let's just call it Team Kagura."
After a moment, Aiden lifted his glass, downed it in one go, and then made the decision.
Though truthfully, he still thought The Harem Team sounded really good.
———
So the team name was settled. Even though the Kagura sisters were a bit dissatisfied, they didn't object.
After finishing dinner and taking a bath, Aiden lay in bed, hoping to see Nyotengu again, it had been several days since their last meeting. But ever since Maki had privately talked with Nyotengu that one time, her visits had become much less frequent. She used to come almost every night, but now it was about once every two days.
He waited for a while, but when Nyotengu didn't show up, Aiden could only go to sleep early.
And so, time quickly passed to the next day.
After breakfast, Aiden left early by car, it was Shermie's first day at her new job. When they parted yesterday, he had promised to drive her to work in the morning.
To be honest, Aiden's schedule was starting to get a bit cramped. In the morning he had to be with Shermie, at noon and in the afternoon he had to accompany Mai Shiranui and the others, and in the evening he was with the Kagura sisters.
He barely had any time for himself. He even thought, 'If I get any more women, especially ones who don't live together, I'm going to be completely overwhelmed…'
When he arrived at Shermie's place and opened the door, she wasn't in the living room, so he went straight into the bedroom, and sure enough, there she was, standing in front of the full-length mirror.
Today, Shermie's outfit was a little different from usual. She was dressed a bit more formally, and slightly more conservatively, since she was starting at a proper company.
Her outfit was black, not the best match for her red hair, but pretty people look good in anything.
The only thing that hadn't changed was her bangs that covered her eyes. Unless she grew them out, they were really hard to manage.
"How do I look?" Shermie tugged at her pencil skirt, which was a little tight on her, then turned around to face Aiden.
"Very pretty." Aiden's vocabulary for compliments was limited, and his response sounded a bit perfunctory.
Naturally, that displeased Shermie.
"Of course I know I'm pretty. What else?"
"If you wore stockings, you'd look even better." Aiden didn't answer directly. Instead, he pointed at Shermie's full, shapely legs, soft and plump, but not in a fat way, just right. He really liked that, they felt great to the touch.
"Stockings…" Shermie looked down, then suddenly realized, "Ah, I almost forgot, professional outfits do go with stockings. I haven't worn them in a while, so it slipped my mind."
As she spoke, Shermie opened the wardrobe, took out a new, unopened pack of stockings from a drawer, opened it, and sat down on the bed to put them on, right in front of Aiden.
After all, the two of them were like an old married couple by now. There was no need to be shy.
Honestly, watching a beautiful, curvy woman put on stockings was definitely a kind of enjoyment. Aiden was a normal man, so naturally, he could feel his blood start to heat up.
Shermie must have noticed, because her movements paused. Then she crossed her legs, let her right hand slide slowly up her stocking-covered thigh, lifted it slightly, and gave Aiden a seductive look.
"I've never done it while wearing stockings before… want to try?"
If it were before, Aiden might have pretended to act proper and reserved. But now, he didn't bother.
He glanced at his watch, it was still early. So… Aiden walked over.
———
By the time Aiden dropped Shermie off at the company, there were still about twenty minutes before work started. But Shermie didn't get out of the car right away, she stayed inside to touch up her makeup.
Though "touching up" wasn't really the right word. She was mostly trying to cover the blush on her face, that telltale post-passion glow that anyone experienced could immediately recognize.
A few minutes later, after finishing her makeup, Shermie got out of the car, said goodbye to Aiden, and headed straight into the building.
Watching her figure disappear from sight, Aiden didn't get back into the car right away. Instead, he walked over to a nearby trash can and lit a cigarette.
Originally, this "after" cigarette was supposed to be smoked back at Shermie's place, but since time had been a bit tight, he had to save it for now.
As he smoked, Aiden saw a taxi pull up in front of the company. A familiar figure stepped out, it was the brown-haired girl, Lei Fang.
Right now, the brown-haired girl's expression was filled with irritation as she walked toward the building… Last night she had drunk alone at home, drowning her sorrows, and ended up overdoing it.
When she woke up this morning, she realized she was running late. Add in a hangover, and she felt awful, so she had to take a cab to work.
"Damn it. If it weren't for her, I would've been in a great mood yesterday. Hmph, one day, I'll get my revenge."
Thinking of the reason she drank so much last night, Lei Fang's irritation flared again. It was the first time anyone had ever made such a nasty joke at her expense, and as a mischievous little devil type, she was very much the vengeful kind.
As she was thinking that, Lei Fang suddenly felt someone's gaze on her. Already in a bad mood, she immediately looked up to glare at the source, then froze.
"Good morning!" Aiden put out his cigarette and waved at her.
"Good morning, Mr. Aiden."
Her sour mood vanished instantly. Lei Fang's expression brightened into a sweet smile. "What brings you here today, Mr. Aiden?"
Aiden was silently amazed by how fast the brown-haired girl could change expressions. Without thinking, he replied, "I came to drop Shermie off for work."
"Shermie…" Upon hearing that name, Lei Fang's expression briefly turned sour again, but only for a split second. Then she put her sweet smile right back on.
"Miss Shermie is so lucky," she said in a tone filled with admiration.
Then she took a few steps closer, standing right in front of him, and continued, "Does Mr. Aiden drive Miss Shermie every day?"
Aiden nodded. "She doesn't have a car or a driver's license, so I plan to drive her to work every day."
'Every day…'
Lei Fang was a clever woman, otherwise she wouldn't have become both a fighter and a fashion designer at such a young age. She immediately caught the key point in his words.
"Oh? So you and Miss Shermie don't live together?" she asked directly.
"No." Aiden answered honestly, though he didn't understand why she was suddenly asking that.
But upon hearing his answer, Lei Fang's smile grew even sweeter. After a short pause, she asked, "Then doesn't that mean you have to drive quite a distance every day to pick her up?"
"It's not that far. Only about ten minutes by car," Aiden said. The apartment Shermie lived in wasn't too far from the shrine. Sometimes, when traffic was bad, walking might even be faster.
"I see." Lei Fang nodded thoughtfully. Then she asked, "May I ask where Miss Shermie lives?"
Aiden frowned slightly. "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I usually live alone, so I thought I might visit Miss Shermie to chat when I'm free," Lei Fang said, then quickly added, "I think Miss Shermie is a really nice person."
'Yeah, right. I actually hate her.' Lei Fang added that silently in her mind.
'A really nice person?' Aiden gave her a strange look. If he remembered correctly, Shermie had flirted with her yesterday.
He couldn't quite figure out what Lei Fang was planning, but when he saw her eyes filled with hopeful expectation, he ended up telling her Shermie's address anyway.
'It's not like they were going to fight or anything… right?'
"So Miss Shermie lives that close to me?" Lei Fang said in surprise after hearing it.
Of course, that was an act. In truth, she lived quite far from Shermie, but that didn't matter. By tomorrow, she'd be Shermie's new neighbor.
As soon as Aiden left, she'd call someone to help her rent a place nearby.
After being toyed with by Shermie yesterday, she was determined to get her revenge, and the best revenge was to steal Aiden away.
So she'd decided, she was moving.