The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 181, Intermission 14: Mia, Emma and Anzu. (Patreon)

Mia watches David let out a long yawn. It’s probably not because he’s sleepy, but because like four people around them also yawned. As always, the airport is packed with people.

It’s close to midnight, and her, David and Emma are waiting for Anzu to arrive. It shouldn’t be long now, but the three of them are still sitting on a bench until her flight number comes up on the screen.

“Oh, right. So now you can speak Japanese?” Emma asks their boyfriend, remembering that little detail all of a sudden. Probably because there are Asian people walking around, but who can truly say?

“Kind of, yeah.” He groans and rubs the back of his neck. “I bought the trait to learn languages faster thinking it would be more powerful and I really needed it. It’s not like it was useless, but still. I can’t help but feel it was a hasty purchase in hindsight.”

Buying ‘traits’. Those magical enhancements that sound right out fiction. She knows full well they’re real though. It only took David telling her that she didn’t need much sleep now for it to be true. Her productivity increased so much that she can actually allow herself a lot of free time.

Maybe she should take up painting again?

Anyway, back on topic. 

“How are you doing for the you-know-what trait?” Mia asks, deciding not to push the matter too hard. Sometimes it’s hard to remember, but David IS only 18 years old. She’s sure he’s thinking about marriage, but there’s no need to rush. She only hopes to get married before 40.

“Not great.” He admits. His shoulders slump, as if embarrassed. “Seeing my family bumped the friendship points, but love and lust points are kind of low.”

“I guess we had sort of forgotten about that.” Mia sighs. “You need points to buy that one trait, and to get points, you need to…”

“Yeah…” He smiles wryly at her.

To put it bluntly, if they hope to make the dream of a polygamous marriage a reality, David needs to make more women fall in love with him. They did tell her he had an upper limit of about ten people. That… still sound like a lot to her. Especially considering how wild the orgy yesterday already was with five women.

…

God, she participated in an orgy. Technically not the first, since Emma pushed her into one last week with the other girls for some sex-based bonding, but it was the first one with a man. With her man.

She has to calm down. Her face is getting a bit hot. But how could it not when the memories of the most intense and wonderful sexual experience of her life are still so clear in her head?

She thought her first time with David would be the peak for a long time, and while that memory is still very special to her, it’s unfair to compare it to an orgy with one guy and five women.

…

She hopes they do that again, hopefully soon. She doubts she’ll have to be the one to suggest it, but she will if she has to. She’s come around from feeling apprehensive at being watched to feeling it’s encouraging. She can get David to lust after her, and even other girls get aroused when watching her have sex. Yes, it’s weird, but it’s a huge and much needed ego boost for an old lady whose ex-husband never cared for her.

“I still think that point system sounds like a bad cellphone game.” Emma comments, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Oh, yes.”

“For sure.”

She and David agree immediately.

It’s only minutes later that Anzu’s flight number shows up on the screen. It’s time.

Mia hasn’t spoken all that much to Anzu. After all, the girl started working at Hayes only a little over a half a year ago. But from their few interactions, she seemed like a very cheerful girl. It’s hard to believe she harbored such insecurities. Then again, she supposes she, herself, also projects a kind of persona to hides her fears.

Once more, her eyes turn to David and her red lips curl into a smile.

Yeah, it’s fine if her boyfriend gets more girlfriends. He’ll make them happy as well, and she’ll always try to help, of course. And she’ll start right now.

The three of them wait for Anzu to show up, and it doesn’t take long for her to walk into the lobby, dragging with her a suitcase with wheels.

The light in her eyes is obvious. The moment she spots David, she starts running towards him, but her step falters when she notices her and Emma, stopping right in front of them.

“Uh… H-Hello. T-Thank you for coming to get me.” She says, bowing gratefully.

“Hey now, don’t hold back!” Emma says, grinning and walking up to Anzu. She stands beside her and gives her a soft spank on the butt. “Go kiss your boyfriend!”

“Eek!” Anzu yelps, and Mia just smiles as she shakes her head. Emma is simply too forward sometimes.

The Asian girl glances between the two teachers, who just nod encouragingly. She lets herself sigh in relief and walks up to David. They hug, and Mia watches them share a loving kiss. She smiles again. That’s the same kiss that got her addicted.

“It’s been only two days, but I still missed you a lot.” Anzu tells him, their foreheads touching as they hug.

“Me too. I’m glad you’re here now.” David tells her, brushing her bangs aside and settling her hair behind her ear.

Heh. They’re cute.

“Sorry, love. Do you mind if we borrow Anzu for a little while?”

“Eh?” Both David and Anzu exclaim at the same time.

“We would like to have a quick talk. That is, of course, is you don’t mind, Anzu.” Mia says, addressing the younger woman.

“I… Yes. Yes, please.” She nods, resolute.

“Sure, sure. Don’t mind me. I’ll just explore the airport.” David say, mockingly dejected and letting go of Anzu.

“Are you hungry?” Mia asks the nurse. “Let’s go get you something.”

The three women leave for a coffee shop inside the airport, leaving their boyfriend alone. It’s fine. He’s a big boy. What’s important is that they have a conversation with Anzu.

David said she had come around on her initial reaction to them dating him, but they shouldn’t leave any loose ends. They work together, after all. Better clear everything up, first.

The biggest issue is that there’s always a lot of people at an airport, so instead of finding a coffee shop with few people, they opt for going into the most crowded one, so that their conversation will get lost in the noise.

They find a table, order some coffee for everyone and a big sandwich for Anzu and begin.

“It must seem weird that we’re taking you aside to talk.” Emma says, offering a wry smile.

“It’s fine. Actually, I’m glad you did.” Anzu nods. “I did want to speak to the two if you in particular.”

“If you have any questions or anything to say, go ahead.” Mia encourages, fixing her glasses.

“Just… why? Why are you going out with him? It’s dangerous for all of you.” There’s no recrimination in her voice. Just a basic need to understand.

The two teachers share a glance, and Mia motions with her hand for Emma to go first.

“Well, the simple answer is that we’re in love, but that’s not what you’re looking for.” She chuckles softly. “You know I’m the one who pushed the hardest for his acceptance at Hayes. I want the school to let go of its archaic traditions and become co-ed. This is only hurting the girls further. The problem is that, when he did get accepted, I… considered my job done. That things would go smoothly from there on. I was wrong. Of course the only guy in a school full of women would get isolated. I only noticed when things were already bad enough, so I did what I could to help him. I know I shouldn’t have accepted his invitation for a date, but I couldn’t bring myself to say no.”

Emma smiles fondly, probably thinking back on that day. “He’s a great guy. He’s not perfect, but I love him. I’m willing to take the risk if it means enjoying my life with him.”

“He said the same thing.” Anzu chuckles. “When I asked, he also said the risk was worth it.”

Their eyes turn to Mia, and the older girl sighs. She’s not much for putting her feelings out in the open. David and Emma are two of the few to ever manage to make her do it. But if she wants Anzu to understand her, she has no choice.

“David, has told us some things about you.” Mia starts, and Anzu nods, indicating that she’s aware. “You have an idea, then, what it’s like to feel… alone and unfulfilled.”

Anzu grimaces, but nods.

“It was this busybody who pushed me into it.” Mia smiles fondly as she nods towards Emma. “And I’m grateful for it. The age difference between David and I bothered me at first. Actually, it did for a good while. But it turns out being with him is… fun. It might sound simple, but it’s important to me. I’m more comfortable with him than I ever was with my ex-husband. And I mean that in every aspect.”

“What will you do if you get caught?” She asks, wrinkling her brow in concern.

“I suppose… we’ll just have to deal with it.” Emma says, sighing. “He’s of legal age, so any real problems that could arise come from the school itself. At most, the headmistress would fire us. My mother can be terrible, but I don’t think she’d go as far as to soil our reputation to prevent us from finding a job elsewhere.”

“The biggest problem would be that it would set back David’s education, but he’s smart and diligent enough that it wouldn’t be too bad.” Mia adds.

“You’ve… thought about it already.” Anzu’s eyes widen. “And you’re ready for it, too.”

“Obviously we don’t want to get caught!” Emma laughs. “But hey, we were getting ready to move to Japan if necessary. We’re serious about this. That includes the other girls.”

“Y-You’re s-serious? Then…”

“Yes, marriage is on the discussion table.” Mia chuckles.

“B-But there’s five of you!”

“Six, honey. Six.” Emma says, smiling excitedly and pointing a finger to Anzu.

“And did he not tell you about the app on his phone?”

“Do you… seriously believe in that?”

“Sure, it was difficult, but after he said he made it so that we only needed 4 hours of sleep to last 24 hours, and it worked, it’s hard to doubt.”

“Wait! Hold up! What!?”

Mia and Emma start explaining to the poor, confused girl everything that has happened over coffee. They tell her everything David had to omit for simplicity’s sake. Their conversations, their drama, David’s app and even their future plans. The nurse is, understandably, a little overwhelmed but surprisingly understanding. She still has difficulty believing the magic app is real, though.

“God, this is a lot to take in after a 20-hour flight.” She says, slumping in her chair.

“And most of it happened in the span of a few weeks.” Emma crosses her arms and nods.

“What am I getting into…?” Anzu asks herself, smiling tiredly.

“It’s completely up to you what you get out of it. It goes without saying that I hope it’s something good for you.” Mia tells her.

“Right.” Anzu chuckles. “Thank you for telling me all this. It’s not like I ever thought David was lying, but it’s reassuring to confirm things with you.”

“By the way, how does YOUR relationship with David works with the school?” Emma asks.

“I actually wanted to speak to the headmistress about it as soon as I could.” Anzu nods. “Since my parents wanted me to marry him, I have to assume she was at least somewhat informed.”

“Well, you’re not a teacher, but you’re still school staff.” Mia ponders. “My guess is that, so long as you don’t act like a couple in school grounds, you’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” Anzu sighs. “And he’ll be trying to get together with Ms. Miller, too.”

“Hey, less people to hide from and more to cover for us, right?” Emma offers.

They keep talking for a while before they notice almost an hour and a half has passed. They pay for their orders and leave the coffee shop to find their boyfriend, who they left alone.

They find him sitting on a bench with his headphones on, watching videos on his phone. He gives them an unamused look and the silent treatment, but the act doesn’t last. He’s glad they managed to talk things out. On Mia’s part, she’s glad they got at least one worry off his shoulders.

What’s next?