Stealing Spree

"There you go... Having too much makeup is unnecessary. You look more like the character with just this light touch."

With the tip of her makeup brush retreating from my face, Yae smiled in satisfaction as she took a step back. Behind her, Akane and Ririka stared at me with their mouths open in amazement. I could even see their eyes turning heart-shaped from how much they loved my appearance in this costume.

Well, it's not the typical cosplay of an anime character where it's just gaudy clothes that wouldn't survive public standards. It's like an Edo Period samurai geared up for war.

But instead of a topknot, they had me wear a long, black hair wig tied into a ponytail. They also attached extensions to it, styling it similar to the character I was supposed to cosplay.

"Really?" I scratched my cheek and put on a flattered smile which gathered my girls' amusement.

"Yeah! All that's left is to pose like that character, husband!" Akane chimed in excitedly as she pulled up the character illustration from her phone, showing the slightly cool pose.

Well, it looked a little cringy in my eyes. But because it would make them happy if I did it, I found no hesitation in executing that pose; standing according to the illustration, putting my hand on the hilt of the katana prop and lastly, covering a part of my face with my right eye peeking from the gap of my fingers.

As soon as I finished, I heard a clicking sound. Ririka who picked this particular character for me was already exhilarated at seeing me portray the character so well that she couldn't help herself taking pictures of me.

"I can't wait to bring you to an event, Ruki! You'll be swarmed by everyone wanting to take pictures of you or take one with you!" She excitedly exclaimed as she started moving around, taking multiple angle shots. "I'm certain that if I post these photos on the internet, you'll gather a following in no time at all.

"Sweetie, maybe you're really cut out to become a model. Why not try it? Even if you eventually become famous for it, it doesn't matter. We're confident that no matter how many girls get crazy over you, you'll never abandon us again." Yae added in praise along with encouraging me to take up the modeling path that I was still not sure of treading on.

And Akane also stepped forward. With her eyes full of admiration that's already mixed with her inexhaustible affection for me, she also added

"I agree. But ultimately, your choice matters, husband. You've always been thinking about our future, working towards it with all of us in your mind. Even if you deny it, I'm positive that you still have yet to consider what it is that you really want to do. For yourself. You see, I heard this from Aya and she told me that this was originally from you. There's a difference between 'what do you want to do', 'what you should do' and 'what you can do'."

Akane paused for a moment because the other two stood beside her, showing their support and that they agreed with what she was trying to say.

"You've been focusing on the last two but the first one... if I'm not wrong, you only consider being with us in the future as something you want to do. But in my opinion, aside from your still lingering desire, you've been nothing but selfless ever since your change."

Upon hearing all that, I started processing everything they just said, weighing them and determining whether it would be beneficial to us. Right. In the end, my decision was still grounded in my desire to continue being with them in the future.

I mean, I could be called a dreamless idiot without putting any importance on what career I would take. As long as they're still around me, that's enough.

But then again, I shouldn't brush this off again. And so, as I finished processing all those, I faced the three girls with sincerity.

"Alright. I heard you. I'll think of something I really want to do that's outside of my desire. As for modeling... well, I'm sure you have already heard from Yua. I'll give it a try soon."

Right. There's the invitation from Yua's agency brought by her mother. Moreover, there's also the upcoming result of the bet with Juri. Not that I was already certain of my photo winning on it but well, it's a 50/50 chance in hindsight. It would either win or lose.

In a way, it's already set in stone that I would be stepping foot in that world.

And if Yue heard about this, that girl would also be enlivened. Enough that she might try to come and forcefully open a schedule to visit me. Furthermore, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine Yue asking her manager, Kaoru-san, to find an opportunity to bring me close to her work by hiring me as a model. As for what kind of work it would be, there are a lot of possibilities.

"Really? Then hurry and pose for us, husband! Riri, we need great shots!"

"On it!"

Anyway, while my mind wandered on that, Akane seemingly got a burst of passion as she pointed at me. Ririka immediately complied with the same passion as she seemingly pulled a better camera out of nowhere.

Uh. No. It's in the bag they used to carry this costume. She's really ready for this... Maybe she just got too excited earlier to not think of taking it out.

Infected or moved by their passion, I found myself nodding and posing again.

But the girls weren't done yet.

On the other side, Yae suddenly had a flash of brilliance as she raised her hand enthusiastically.

"Hear, hear! I will create social media accounts for sweetie. Not a personal one but for his model and cosplay photos! Let's post everything there!"

And upon hearing that, Akane and Ririka instantly approved of it.

"Oh! Good idea. Think of a fitting handle for him, Yaeko."

"Uh. Girls?" Seeing them deciding all that in less than a few seconds, I raised my hand to also give my input. But seeing their lively expressions as if they were doing something they really enjoyed, I shook my head and threw the thought of stopping them to the bin.

I could still talk to them later so... for now, I'll be their model.

Around an hour later, the four of us sat down on the soft, snuggled-up together as we checked every shot that Ririka managed to take. On the coffee table, next to the teapot, a phone was placed there showing some of my girls who jumped in the video call that Yae started.

Instead of sharing the photos with their group later, they initiated that video call to showcase them as well as how I look up without acting out as that character.

Obviously, almost all of them hopped in it, making it almost impossible to see them clearly due to how small the squares became.

As I received praise from all of them, I couldn't help but be flustered no matter how thick my face was.

And that brought more smiles to their faces followed by the girls teaming up to tease me.

Yep. I only managed to get away from all those when some of them started dozing off. It's already late into the night, after all.

After wishing them goodnight, we soon ended the call and started preparing for our bedroom.

Akane and Ririka went upstairs to fix the bedsheet that got crumpled earlier while Yae went to the bathroom to preheat the tub of water.

As for me, they left me behind in the living room to finish the tea. And since I would surely be busy with them in the bathroom and our bedroom, I used the chance to pull up my phone, sending goodnights to my girls again and checking if I received any messages from Eguchi-sensei and Kanno-sensei. There's also Saionji and Hanabi. The former didn't give her contact but I got hers while the latter already sent me a message earlier, even before Eguchi-sensei brought me to her house.

And last but not the least, I decided to call Miwa-nee. It's already been close to two weeks since she returned. As much as I miss her, I'm also a little worried that her soon-to-be ex-husband and in-laws were making things difficult for her.

Even if my mom assured me that she got Miwa-nee covered, I would only be convinced if I heard it from Miwa-nee herself.