Translator: Reflet

Editor: ryunakama

Taiyou and the three sisters lined up their shoulders, gazing into the evening sun . They were out in the open cafe terrace overlooking the ocean, enjoying the sea breeze . They were sitting on a white sofa, gazing at the evening sun while munching on sweets . It was a truly peaceful time .

“The sun is super round, isn’t it?”

Taiyou muttered in deep interest as he gazed at the orange sun . Perhaps because it was emitting a calm light, it appeared smaller than usual, and round as well .

“I feel the same way . ”

“It’s normally too bright to look at, but…”

“When we get the chance to look closer like this, it’s super round, yeah . ”

“Yep . Oh, and it actually looks smaller than the moon . ”

He said, directing his eyes to the moon, which was comparatively much larger .

“I actually quite like the moon when it comes out in the afternoon . ”

“””Why is that?”””

“Well, the afternoon is supposed to be the sun’s time to s.h.i.+ne, right? Oh, and I mean the actual sun, not my name . ” (**Taiyou means sun in j.a.panese, so that’s always the word they use**)

He said jokingly as he pointed at the sun .

“Sure, there are other stars out there as well, but you can’t see them, right? The only thing you can see clearly in the afternoon is the moon . It’s not like it stands out all that much, but when it’s there you can definitely see it . Doesn’t stick out, but it’s there all right . The afternoon moon…”

“True . ”

“It is there every so often when you look up, isn’t it?”

“The afternoon moon…”

“And I think you girls resemble it . ”

“””Huh?”””

The three sisters exclaimed in surprise at once . They looked at Taiyou, questioning what he meant . He continued speaking as he split a cake with a fork and fed the pieces to them .

“Amongst everyone in our family, you probably stand out the least out of everyone . There were some incidents that occurred and there were even those events at the school . But you girls don’t really get wrapped up in stuff like that . That’s usually because I help you take refuge or protect the family . ”

“That’s true . It happened with Youran-chan as well . ”

“And with Aoyamsan as well . ”

“We weren’t able to be of help . ”

The three sisters were in low spirits . He had antic.i.p.ated this happening, so he gave them all a light kiss .

“Didn’t I say that I was the one who did that? There’s absolutely no reason for any of you to feel down about this . ”

“But…”

“So I think that you resemble that midday moon . It doesn’t stand out, but once you look at it it’s definitely there . Honestly, just from looking at you, you all should really stand out the most . With all your mismatched sizes, if you stand next to all of my brides and no one speaks a word, you would definitely stand out the most . But you usually don’t, which is why you remind me of that moon . ”

“Are you sure?”

“Plus if you guys hadn’t been here, there’s no way that our family would be the same right now . ”

He said as he gazed at the three of them .

“If I’m the sun, then you’re the midday moon . ”

“””Taiyou-san…”””

The three sisters leaped into Taiyou’s chest with moist eyes . He caught the sisters who shared one soul in an embrace .

“Seems like there’s a lot of moons in our family . ”

In his arms, Kotone giggled as she said that .

“You think so?”

“Of course . Kohaku-san loves the moon and is always trying to imitate it with her hairstyle . ”

“And Youran-chan is literally ‘New Moon’ . ”

“So if all three of us are the midday moon, then there are a lot of moons to go around . ”

“Ahaha, gotcha, you do have a point . ”

Taiyou laughed pleasantly . Now that they had mentioned it, he really did have a lot of moons amongst his brides .

“Well after all, you are the sun . ”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘after all’, but in the first place, if I’m the sun, then wouldn’t it make more sense for you guys to be planets?”

“That’s a bit difficult . ”

“We can only go up to seven, but…”

“There are a total of eight planets in the solar system . ”

“True . We’d be down by one . ”

Taiyou said, and everyone laughed together . Enjoying an incoherent conversation in the evening sun, he felt a warmth develop in his chest .

At length, the sun began to descend, and nighttime approached .

The three sisters left their seats for the bathroom, leaving Taiyou gazing up at the moon above his head .

“May I take your plate, sir?”

A male employee came his way, and Taiyou nodded, furthering his gaze at the moon .

“Were those ladies with you your family?”

“Hm?”

Being asked a question so suddenly, Taiyou inclined his head, looking at the employee . As he cleaned up the plates, he smiled and approached him . He didn’t seem to have any ill intent, so Taiyou answered him straightforwardly .

“No, we’re lovers . ”

“Is that so? And may I ask which one of them?”

“All of them . ”

Even though he was a stranger, Taiyou answered without hesitation . It wasn’t something that he felt should be hidden . If anything, by this point he would rather boast about them . On the other hand, he still knew that this was something peculiar in today’s day and age, which was why he expected the man to make a strange face in response, but…

“Is that so? That’s amazing . ”

Betraying his expectations, the employee did not make any sort of strange face, instead speaking in an awed tone . Taiyou was surprised by that . Moving his gaze from the moon, he looked at the employee .

“Is it, now?”

“Yes . I’m jealous . ”

“Jealous . ”

Taiyou parroted his words . Sure, if someone was looking from the sidelines, they would be envious of someone who has a harem, he thought to himself . As if reading Taiyou’s thoughts, the employee spoke while wryly smiling .

“This was quite a while ago, but I once was confessed to by my wife’s younger sister . ”

“So in other words, your sister-in-law confessed to you?”

“Technically . At the time, we weren’t yet married, so she wasn’t my sister-in-law yet, but she confessed to me . Of course, I turned her down, but she was upset after that for quite some time . ”

After having cleared up all of the plates, the employee continued as he wryly smiled .

“It’s only recently that we’ve been able to interact with each other as family . ”

“Have you heard the reason why she liked you and confessed to you?”

“Yes . ”

The employee made a further strained expression .

“Apparently, she started liking me because I was a man who treated my wife with care . And I heard this recently as well . So I rejected her because I already had my wife as a lover, but that seemed to only make my sister-in-law further pained . ”

“I was not mistaken in what I saw in him and began to like him more and more—-”

“—-But my feelings will never be reciprocated . ”

“Wow, that’s pretty tough . ”

“Yes . Which is why from time to time, I wonder: Was there perhaps a way to make both of them happy at the same time?”

“Is that right . ”

“My apologies for telling you such a strange story . ”

“No worries . ”

“Then please continue to make yourself at home . ”

The employee said, bowing and returning to the shop’s interior . As he was staring at him go, the three sisters returned .

“We’re back, Taiyou-san . ”

“Welcome back . ”

The three sisters sat on the sofa .

The sisters were all gathered, the moon was floating in the sky, and the employee was continuing back to the shop .

“What’s wrong, Taiyou-san?”

“Are you perhaps tired?”

“Want to rest for a bit?”

“No, I’m fine . ”

Shaking his head, he grinned . (Guess it’s about time), thought Taiyou . Firmly gripping the things he had been keeping hidden in his pocket, he took a deep breath .

Nothing would change too greatly from what he was about to do . It probably only had symbolic significance . Still, he was nervous . Probably the most nervous he had been since first meeting the girls .

“There’s something that I’d like to give you all . I figured it’d be best to start with you . ”

He held out his hands to the three sisters as they puzzled over what he said . Three small boxes containing rings were handed to them .