Let's Decide Whose House We'll Stay At
What is heaven, really?
Lying there with my eyes wide open, I began a serious contemplation of the question.
A paradise where the sinless go after death? A resting place for souls waiting to be reborn? Or is it literally a kingdom above the clouds?
If anyone asked me that, I would shake my head without a moment's hesitation.
And I would say this:
Heaven is right here — the place where I'm lying right now.
Turn my head to the left, and there's Adele, her brow faintly furrowed as if she were having an unpleasant dream. Turn it to the right, and there's Tania, sleeping so deeply and so peacefully that her soft little breaths come out in the cutest way.
And both of them were wearing light clothes, no less.
This was heaven. This was paradise…
Even if I was frozen in place, unable to scratch an itch for fear of waking either of them.
I was still happy.
Adele kept shifting, apparently uncomfortable in her position, and somehow she kept leaning closer and closer toward me. Even though I hadn't moved at all, the distance between us had shrunk considerably, and her body brushed against mine in little touches. Every time bare skin grazed bare skin, a ticklish flutter stirred somewhere deep in my chest.
Ah…! Not there…!
Tania, on the other hand, had been practically clinging to me from the moment she fell asleep. Thanks to that, I could see her eyelids trembling ever so slightly, and her steady breath melted against my skin. On top of that, the heavy lily perfume she always wore had long since faded, replaced by the hidden scent of her bare skin…!
I was so focused on breathing in that eye-opening fragrance that—
"…Eli?"
—I locked eyes with a newly awakened Tania.
To hide the fact that I'd been trying very hard to bury my face in the crook of her neck, I threw out the first joke that came to mind.
"Morning, babe. You awake?"
"…Wh."
"Wh?"
"Wh-wh-wh-what are you even saying?!"
It was clearly effective — Tania's face went bright red as she bolted upright and scrambled out of the blankets.
Tania really loved this kind of joke. Teasing her always got me the most satisfying reactions.
Which is probably why I couldn't help throwing out another one.
"Last night was so hot."
"Ah— what have you been going on about this whole time…?!"
Anyone listening would think I was lying!
My body was burning up last night!
I was grinning to myself over that thought when Adele, who had woken up at some point, sleepily pressed a hand to my forehead. The cool, soft sensation covering my brow sent a pleasant feeling spreading through my whole body.
"…Your fever's gone down a lot."
Her voice was rough and cracked from just waking up, but with looks like hers, it only came off as sexy. And since both Tania and Adele were beautiful girls, even their sleep-tousled hair looked like a deliberate style.
Still — checking on me the second she wakes up. I'm so moved…
After checking my forehead, Adele moved her hand to my cheek to feel my temperature again… and then burrowed straight into my arms.
"Koo…"
She made an uncharacteristically cute little sound and fell right back asleep.
The quiet room filled with the soft breathing of Adele, who had dozed off using my chest as a pillow.
Adele is weak in the mornings…
New information acquired. If I ever got kidnapped again, I would expose the secret that Adele was a heavy sleeper. There's a saying that beauties are late risers, so she would definitely appreciate it.
Kidnapped? I think I did dream about being kidnapped…
Though past the middle, it hadn't been a kidnapping dream at all. I'd been groaning through the abduction when suddenly the surroundings transformed into a garden overflowing with flowers.
"You… you little…"
I asked Tania, who for some reason was glaring at Adele with pure hatred in her eyes.
"Want to come over too, Tania?"
With my free arm, I patted the empty spot beside me.
"R-really?"
If Tania had been a cat, her ears would have been perking up for sure.
She clearly wanted in, so I pulled the blanket back a little to make it easy for her and called out softly.
"Come on in!"
"Th-then…"
After a moment of fidgeting and hesitation, Tania carefully, slowly wriggled into my arms. Just like Adele, she rested her head lightly against my chest.
"Ah…"
"I-is it uncomfortable?"
"No. It feels too good…"
"……?"
Tania tilted her head with a puzzled look.
I smiled and gave her a firm squeeze with one arm, and her face flushed scarlet as she hunched her shoulders like she'd been startled. Her reaction was so fun that I slid the arm wrapped around her a little lower and gently…!
"Oh."
Firm…!
I poked and pressed out of pure curiosity, and Tania looked up at me with a bright-red face full of flustered panic.
"E-Eli…!"
"Hm?"
"S-stop…"
Poke poke poke.
"Stooop…"
Poke poke poke poke poke poke.
"Stop."
"Yes'm."
In the end, I got scolded for poking her belly button.
I settled for resting my hand on her stomach and holding her quietly. When I wrapped my other arm around Adele too, I felt a firmness that rivaled Tania's. I wanted to poke and press, but… if I started messing with a sleeping girl, she might wake up, so I had no choice but to restrain myself.
Tania still seemed sleepy herself — within a few minutes, her breathing evened out into a steady rhythm.
And just like that, I became the happiest person in the world, holding two beautiful girls in my arms.
Beauties more lovely than any flower, filling my embrace…!
This is heaven…!
A cheer I couldn't dare voice aloud — not with people sleeping — echoed from deep inside me.
Sooo good…!
They confiscated my box cutter.
"Never do something like that again!"
"……"
"Got it?"
"Yeees…"
But without that, I'm screwed…
Looks like I'd have to buy a new one later.
Come to think of it, I was pretty sure a new model of box cutter had just come out? The sound of the blade sliding out was even quieter, and it was way sharper…! Plus the design was adorable — I was pretty sure a cute new box cutter had hit the shelves.
I imagined pulling out a cute box cutter decorated with a cat character in an emergency and drawing it across my wrist. Picturing that blade sinking into flesh somehow seemed so adorable that I started smiling — and Tania, who had been idly flipping the confiscated cutter back and forth, got mad all over again.
"Why are you smiling?!"
"Mm… because I'm happy?"
"…H-happy about what?"
"Secret."
I said it with a big grin, and she puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
That was when Adele, who had been sitting quietly beside us with a smile, spoke up.
"Elysia. Your hand seems to have dropped a little."
I snapped my arm back up.
I'd been carefully lowering it while watching for reactions, but Adele had caught me, so I raised it high again. Adele smiled as if satisfied.
"My arm hurts…"
"Endure it."
"…Okay."
My charm offensive isn't working…
I pouted and grumbled under my breath, and Adele spoke again.
"Elysia."
"……"
"Answer me."
"…Yeah."
I'd tried holding out by pretending to sulk and not answering, but some inexplicable pressure made me respond anyway.
"Are you really going to keep living here?"
"Yeah!"
"…Here? Permanently?"
Adele let out a long sigh and pressed her fingers to her forehead as if it were throbbing. There was a top-of-the-line air purifier she'd prepared for me, but you could still see dust floating around everywhere.
But what was I supposed to do…? I didn't have the money to move!
And this place was surprisingly livable, honestly. Aside from the occasional dust that got in my mouth and ruined my mood a little…
"You really have no intention of moving somewhere else?"
"Nope!"
"Not even a little?"
"Not even a little!"
"…Haa…"
Adele turned her head slightly to look at Tania beside her. Tania met her eyes with a narrowed gaze, and the two of them began some kind of conversation through eye contact alone.
You two got pretty close while I wasn't looking!
I was inwardly marveling at how much the distance between them had closed when Tania turned her gaze back to me and spoke.
"Then… what do you think about completely overhauling this place?"
"Over… hauling…?"
I tilted my head, not understanding what she meant, and Adele chided her from the side.
"There's a perfectly good word for it — remodeling. Why do you have to put it like that?"
"Remodeling…? Isn't that expensive?"
"It's not expensive."
Tania and Adele cut me off at the exact same time.
"There's no way it's not expensive."
"It's not expensive, so don't worry about it, Elysia."
"She's right, Eli. We'll take care of everything."
Watching Tania talk as if to say, The world's changed a lot these days, you know? My monthly allowance alone could cover a remodel and then some!, Adele smiled gently and added,
"You really don't need to worry, Elysia. I know someone who does remodeling as a hobby."
"…A hobby? Is remodeling something you can even do as a hobby…?"
"Of course. What era do you think this is?"
At this point, I was starting to feel like my common sense was the one that was wrong.
"So you don't need to worry about the cost. That person would probably want to pay you, if anything. So—"
Tania and Adele both grabbed my shoulders at once and said,
"Now let's decide whose house you'll stay at in the meantime."