The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 169: Christmas Eve in Odaiba. (Patreon)

It took you about 45 minutes to get here. Finding the plaza where you’ll be meeting was harder than the subway ride.

Just off the coast of Tokyo Bay is the small island of Odaiba, the place Fujiwara-san asked you to meet her. The view is pretty incredible, with the ocean right next to you and what you’ve learned is called the Rainbow Bridge, a very long… well, bridge that connects the Tokyo Bay and this island.

You rest your arms on the metal rail fence with the view of the ocean and the bridge in front of you and green trees behind you. Oh, and the statue of liberty, of course. The greatest symbol of Japanese culture.

Well, Martha explained back home that the statue is here as a symbol of peace between the French and Japanese, but you’re not getting into that.

It’s about 6:00 pm now. The sky is just starting to get red, and being the 24th of December, the area is packed with people. Couples, mostly. Seriously, it’s hard to decide between watching the people and the ocean. Some shops are decorated with Christmas lights, Christmas trees and red and green decorations. And of course, there's the Christmas music coming from some speakers.

You use the time to check Fujiwara-san’s score once again.

-Fujiwara, Anzu-
Affection Score: 89 (+25)
Love Score: ??? (Previous: 5)
Lust Score: ??? (Previous: 10)

A high affection score, but still hidden love and lust scores. Well, you guess that’s enough for now.

Just as you start worrying if you’re in the right place or not, you feel a light tap on your shoulder.

You see Fujiwara-san, dressed in a beige-colored trench coat with a furry turndown collar and skirt-like bottom half and very tight blue jeans. She’s smiling nervously at you.

“Oh good. I got the right place.” You nod to yourself.

“You’ve been waiting long?” She asks.

“I came here early because I was worried I’d get lost.” You grin sheepishly.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” She chuckles.

…

And then an awkward silence forms between you.

Right. Last time you didn’t part in the best of terms.

You sigh and turn serious for a moment. “I told you this yesterday over the phone, but the deal for our marriage is off. My brother will be buying your father’s company and I convinced my own father that my plans for the future are sound. He shouldn’t pull something like this again, but I’m not putting my money on it.”

Although… his Affection Score did reach 100 last night. Leaving you with…

Available points: 450 Friendship points / 50 Love points / 200 Lust points

Does this officially make you the favorite son? Has the middle child finally won? Unlikely, but it’s not like it matters.

“I’ll be honest. I… didn’t believe you’d be able to convince them.” Fujiwara-san grimaces.

You groan and shake your head. “Why didn’t anybody? The girls were already making plans to move here if things failed.”

That seems to lift her spirits a little, because she chuckles heartily. “Were they really?”

“Hard to tell from text messages if they were just joking, but I think they were serious.”

There’s another short silence as Fujiwara-san collects her thoughts.

“My parents finally asked for my opinion on the matter.” She tells you.

“Did they? That’s good.”

She nods. “I told them I didn’t want to get married out of obligation. I want to believe that’s part of what influenced their decision.”

“Even if it wasn’t, that means you’re free from another deal like this, aren’t you?”

“I should be.” She smiles wryly. “Though I worry they’ll get anxious if I don’t get a boyfriend soon. They might try to match me with someone else again.”

…

The topic renews the awkward silence. And you don’t like it. You’ve been clear with how you feel about her. And although things have been complex in different areas, you still think you like her.

“Fujiwara-san, I don’t think my feelings have changed that much. It’s true that I got angry when you said that about Emma and Mia back at the Karaoke, but I’m not willing to let a moment of anger erase the good moments.”

You sigh. There’s something more, however. Something you need to tell her. With an affection score of 89, she should take it relatively well, but you still won’t reveal everything.

“But before anything else, there’s something important you should know.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You’re free to believe this or not, as I really don’t have a concrete way to prove it, but it’s something you have the right to know.” You tell her. “I can’t reveal all the details, but basically, I was gifted with some sort of… magical power that makes people like me faster. I can’t turn it off, so it affects everyone around me. Even you.”

You say, with enough solemnity to indicate you’re serious, but at the same time trying not to frame it as something bad. Having seen how your girlfriend reacted gives you some confidence, and the fact that you’re not in a relationship with Fujiwara-san prevents you from feeling any sort of guilt. You haven’t forced anything on her.

“Magic?” She skeptically raises an eyebrow. “You mean like… you’ve been controlling my emotions?” She asks, though obviously not really believing it.

“Not any more than any other person.” You shrug. “I can’t directly control how you feel. All I can do is be myself and hope you like me. Difference is, people just grow fond of me faster. In months, I’ve built relationships that would’ve taken years.”

“…” Her skeptic look slowly shifts into contemplation as she thinks. “Is that how you got five girlfriends?”

You silently nod.

“Why tell me this?”

“Because I told the girls about this long after we were together. It didn’t feel right to keep it from them. Like I said, enough has happened between us that you have the right to know.”

“But what I feel… isn’t fake, right? My feelings are still my own.”

“Without a doubt.” You nod.

“Then… I have a favor to ask, Walker-san.”

Man, it’s STILL weird to hear that. “Yes?”

“Can we… start over? Can we pretend like this horrible deal never happened and just… start dating because we want to?”

You smile. “I’d like that.”

“R-Really?” She stammers and her eyes widen in shock.

You chuckle. “Why so surprised? I already told you I liked you.”

“I just… thought it’d be harder, somehow.”

“It’s been hard enough for both of us already.” You sigh contently.

“Yes.” She grins. “And just to you know, I don’t believe what you said about magic powers. But for now… excuse me while I follow your advice and do something I want.”

Before you can process her words, she closes the distance between you and presses her lips against yours. It lingers only long enough for you to realize what just happened before it ends, leaving you wanting. 

So before she pulls back, you hold Fujiwara-san by the waist and pull her into another kiss. She yelps, but soon wraps her arms around your own waist and kisses you back. The kiss is gentle, the hug is comforting and it all just feels… right.

You part, and both of you gasp for some air while smiling at one another.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.” She tells you.

“Just so you know, you can do that whenever you want now.” You answer.

She licks her lips, but looks from your eyes to your chest, getting bashful all of a sudden.

“I just remembered… what I told you the other day.” She mutters in a very low voice. “About wanting to watch my boyfriend with… other women.” She swallows. “Are you… okay with that?”

You smile. “I am. Are you okay with those other women being my current girlfriends, or do they have to be strangers?”

“I… don’t think it matters.” She tells you, her face getting hot and the color of her face matching the Christmas decorations. “But I think I’d rather they be girls you already know.”

“Then we’ll have no issues whatsoever.” You chuckle, brushing her hair away from her eyes so you can look at her directly. “Sorry if it’s embarrassing, but I still have to ask. Do you just want to watch, or do you want to participate?”

“I want to participate!” She answers almost too eagerly, then realizes what she said and hides her face in your chest again. “I mean… Only watching may be fun, but I still… want to… do it… with you…”

God, she’s so freaking cute! You can’t resist!

You pull away only enough for her face to be visible again, raise her chin with your fingers and kiss her once more. She might have admitted she wanted to do this for a while, but she’s not the only one. Maybe slipping your tongue inside her mouth is a bit of an aggressive move, but since she reciprocates, there’s no harm done.

Sadly, as much as you wish you could enjoy this for a long time, you have to remember you’re in public. You break the kiss and now you’re both gasping for air again, with Fujiwara-san giving you a pleasantly surprised grin.

“I don’t remember kissing ever feeling that good.” She says. “Then again, it has been a long time.”

You laugh and shake your head. “Hey, is there a reason why you picked this place to meet?”

“I thought that if things worked out we could spend some time here. And if they didn’t… you’d at least get to see the giant robot.”

“THERE’S A GIANT ROBOT!?”

_________________________________________________________________________________

You know Fujiwara-san is looking at you and laughing, but you don’t care. You still keep your goofy smile as you watch the light show of the life-sized Unicorn Gundam and sing along the theme song of the original show playing in the background.

In the middle of a plaza, the 20 meters tall white robot lights up in different colors as a video of the show plays in a screen behind it. There are quite a few people gathered to watch this, from kids to adults. You hear (and join) the excited ‘ooooh!’ of the crowd when you see the head of the robot transforming, its single horn splitting in two.

When the show ends, you feel… exhausted, strangely enough. You got way too excited about this.

“I take it you enjoyed it?” Fujiwara-san asks with a teasing grin.

“God yes.” You can’t even pretend you didn’t as a joke. Slowly, you start realizing that in your excitement… “Shit! I forgot to record it!” Just now the idea strikes you that Megan’s dad would’ve loved to see this!

“Don’t worry. I did. Do you want me to send it to you?” She offers.

“Yes, please!”

She sends the video to your phone and you immediately send it back to Megan. God bless technology.

You: Show this to your dad, please.

-File: Gundam.mp4-

Megan: To my dad?

You: He’ll understand.

Megan: Okay…

You: Thanks! Love you!

“Sorry. It’s just that Megan’s dad loves this as much as I do.” You say sheepishly.

“You’re in good terms with your… uh… in-laws, then? Just for lack of a better word.”

“…Most of them. As you may know, Mrs. Elena Hayes doesn’t like me very much.”

“Right.” She grimaces.

You walk around a bit more and find yourselves a seat on a bench looking over the ocean and the bridge… that’s also lit up in different, shifting colors.

“So THAT’S why they call it the Rainbow Bridge.” You realize, causing Fujiwara-san to laugh again.

“Hey, if it’s not too weird… can I ask how things work between you and the others? I’ve always been curious, but now…”

“Sure, it’s no problem.” You nod.

You’ve done this before, so it’s easy. You tell her how you get together, the rules you’ve set up, the need to be open and trusting. You tell her how it’s getting difficult for all of you to get together, but you still try.

“I don’t want to look like I’m too hung up on this one thing, but… it’s been a long time for me, okay? How do you guys…” She swallows. “How do you do it?”

“Well… when a man and a woman love each other very, very much…”

“Urgh! Don’t tease me!” She groans and pushes you by the shoulder as you laugh. She sees you and starts laughing with you.

“Well, in all seriousness, we don’t do it all together as much as we’d like. Just like I said before, getting together has been difficult. We were hoping to have this break to ourselves, but…”

“Right.” She smiles wryly.

“Still, we… Man, this is still embarrassing.” You feel a faint heat going to your cheeks. “We can usually have threesomes with little issue. Sometimes there’s four of us. Emily and Megan are both bi, so they’re always eager. The others have been getting more comfortable… oh, but you know that already.” You realize.

“I wish I hadn’t found out that way, but yes.” She chuckles.

“You said you wanted to participate. I have to ask, do you think you’d be comfortable with another girl?”

“…” Fujiwara-san thinks and purses her lips before nodding. “I think I would. And… while we’re on the subject.” She clears her throat. “I know what I said before, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to… be with just you as well.” She says, looking at you as her face starts getting redder.

“I want to watch you be with the other girls, I want to share you with them. But I also want to spend time alone with you every once in a while. Is that… okay?”

“Of course it is.” You smile wryly. “It’s hard to make the time, but I try to do that for everyone.”

“So… do you think we can spend this Christmas Eve together?”

…

…

Oh.

Right.

“I mean, we didn’t exactly plan anything for today, right?” She says bashfully. “I couldn’t even find a cake since they’re sold out everywhere. So, maybe we could do… something else.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

 How do you answer?