Predatory animals always change their hunting grounds eventually, sometimes to have more opportunities to catch new and better prey, other times because climatic conditions push them to shift their habits.
Some predators, however, extend their borders. But regardless of the hunting ground, what makes a predator lethal is the patience it has to catch its prey.
"Mom, Dad, welcome back!" shouted Alice, a small girl with reddish hair whom Takashi looked after when her parents were away for work. The little girl came running from the living room, where she had been watching television in the company of her babysitter.
"Sweetheart, we're back," the man announced cheerfully, arriving at the same time as his wife.
"Alice-chan, Mommy's home." The mother was the most excited to be back.
"Welcome back, Yukka-san, Gudao-san," greeted Takashi Komuro, the little Alice's babysitter.
"Takashi-kun, we're back," they greeted him, they trusted with their daughter's safety.
It was the wife who greeted him with great happiness—or rather, the person Takashi paid the most attention to when they both greeted him. After all, she was one of the women who drew Takashi's interest.
Maresato Yukka was the name of the beautiful woman whose daughter was this eleven-year-old girl. A field reporter belonging to one of the most widely watched news networks in the country, while her husband was a columnist for an old national newspaper with many readers. She had wavy reddish hair and violet eyes. She always wore a jacket in yellowish tones, leaving her bust hidden beneath her clothes, a bust that rivaled Yuriko's and Kiriko's.
"Thank you again for taking care of our dear Alice, Takashi-kun." Yukka was seeing the student off when he was on the other side of the front gate of their residence.
"Here's the payment for your service."
"Thank you, Maresato-san." He took the money handed to him in an envelope by Maresato's lovely wife.
"And tell me, Takashi-kun, can you take care of my Alice next week as well?" she asked curiously.
"Well, as long as I haven't found a new job yet…" Komuro said, mulling over a possibility.
"I hope that's not soon," she said without hesitation, but then she felt her words hadn't come out right.
"Don't misunderstand! It's just that you're the only one I can entrust Alice's care to, and when you get a job, I don't know who else to trust with her safety. She's very fond of you…"
The worried-mother attitude delighted Takashi. He kept himself composed and smiled at her anxious expression.
"Don't worry, Maresato-san. If you need someone to take care of Alice, you can count on me," he declared. The confidence on Komuro's face stirred the mother's passion.
"Yukka. You know you can call me by my name, Takashi-kun," she said happily.
"Yukka-san."
Being an orphan trying to live independently, Takashi had always bounced from job to job without managing to hold one down—sometimes due to staff cutbacks because he was a student.
He had met the Maresatos after his mother met Yukka on one occasion or another. Her innocence had captivated Komuro since he was a child. He had known Alice since her first year, showing a brotherly affection toward the girl, and she had developed an attachment to him.
"Takashi-onii-chan!" That was how little Alice called Takashi every time they met.
"Thanks for the ice cream." He was carrying the red-haired girl on his shoulders after picking her up from school, having bought ice cream on the way because of the intense heat.
"No problem. Just don't tell your parents about it," Takashi said.
"Yes! It'll be our secret!" she shouted.
They were walking toward the girl's house through the residential streets when a series of familiar voices reached Takashi's ears from the next street crossing as they moved forward.
"Why are you all so interested in knowing where Takashi lives?!" That was Rei's voice.
"It's j-just curiosity, nothing more," exclaimed another girl. "Why are you heading to Komuro-san's place? Tell us."
"It's because we want to make sure the idiot doesn't fail the next exams." Was that Saya's voice?
"I just want to finish the conversation I had with Takashi-kun last time." It sounded like Miku's voice. "The one you should be questioning is senpai. Why are you coming too, Busujima-senpai?"
"There's something I want to ask Komuro-kun. It's nothing indecent, if that's what you're wondering," said the girl with the most mature demeanor among them all.
"What?" Takashi stopped before reaching the intersection, wondering what was happening up ahead.
"What's wrong, Oni-chan?"
Then, Komuro's herd appeared before him—girls he paid little attention to, but just enough to know who they all were.
"Takashi / Takashi-kun / Komuro-kun / Senpai!" they all exclaimed when they turned the corner at the exact spot the dark-haired boy was approaching, catching all of them by surprise.
Saya Takagi, Rei Miyamoto, Yuki Miku, Busujima Saeko, Kawamoto, Taniuchi, Toshimi Niki, Misuzu Ichijo. It was the group of female students who had their interest set on Takashi.
Although some had already moved their pieces to get closer to the dark-haired boy, none had advanced enough on the board.
"Girls, what are you doing here?" he asked, ignoring what he had overheard from all of them.
"What are you doing here, Komuro?!" Takagi shouted, regaining her composure after his unexpected appearance.
"Oni-chan, who are they?" Alice asked, moving her ice cream to the side.
"Oh, Alice-chan, let me introduce you. These are my friends from school." He listed each of their names to snap them out of their trance after hearing the child call him "Oni-chan."
"Girls, this is Maresato Alice. She's the daughter of an acquaintance. I'm her babysitter."
"Really? / Seriously?!" Some were astonished by the responsibility he currently had. Others were dumbfounded by the job.
"Oni-chan… which one of them is your girlfriend?" An uncomfortable question that left each of the eight he'd run into frozen in place.
All of them averted their gazes—to the ground, the nearby utility pole, the trees lining the street, or the sky. Embarrassed, blushing, wanting to flee from Komuro, yet they held their ground to avoid destroying the image they had in front of the dark-haired boy.
They longed to proclaim, "I'm his girlfriend."
"Alice-chan, those aren't questions you should ask." Even Takashi was blushing at such a question. "Sorry about that. Kids are that curious, right? Imagine when we have our own…"
That last part didn't help; it only made his harem—which he was oblivious to—even more flustered.
Steam and smoke practically rose from their heads. "I meant when each of you has your own. Haha… my mistake."
Explaining that he took care of little Alice when the girl's parents were away for work as a casual job, the huge group of girls followed Komuro to the Maresato house. There, at the entrance, Alice's mother was about to enter after a long day of work.
To be continued…
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Early Chapters: ko-fi.com/harem_kingg