Mash-Up: Anything for Money

"Attention, everyone! The next item up for bid is, the sleep companion voucher for Hakuto!"

"With this voucher, you can have Hakuto sleep with you! Limited quantity! Highest bid wins!"

As the auctioneer's voice fell, the audience immediately erupted with bids.

"30,000!"

"50,000!!"

"100,000!"

"If you don't have money, just go home and hug your pillow to sleep. 150,000!"

"Is 150,000 a lot? Do you even know what the Nakano surname means? 200,000!" Nino, dressed in a formal outfit, holding a fan, looked determined and unrelenting.

"250,000! Sorry... I've been the president of Hoshi no Umi for so long, I still have some money left..." Nao, chewing on a chocolate stick, wearing headphones, and crossing her legs, seemed absent-minded.

"300,000!" Ginko slightly raised the bid, saying, "Although the top prize for female artists isn't much, securing Hakuto for the night is still doable..."

"400,000!"

"450,000!"

"500,000!"

Seeing the price escalating, Nino decided to go all out.

She stood up excitedly, crossed her arms, lifted her chin, and loudly shouted.

"1,000,000!!"

As the area suddenly became quiet, Nino thought no one else would raise the bid and wore a smug smile.

However, in the next second, a voice suddenly rang in her ear.

"One million? What's that about?"

Nino froze, and when she came back to her senses, she was no longer in the auction hall but in her own living room, staring at the wall.

Her formal outfit had turned into pajamas.

Nino slowly turned her head, only to find Hakuto sitting next to her, still drowsy and gazing at her.

On the other side, Yotsuba was holding her pillow, immersed in a peaceful sleep, with a silly smile on her face, murmuring Hakuto's name.

It seemed that this was the person who had been hugging their pillow to sleep.

"What kind of dream were you having, Nino? You were mumbling about tens of thousands of yen."

"N... nothing..." Nino's face turned bright red, realizing that the whole auction for Hakuto's companionship was just a dream.

"Did I wake you up, Hakuto?"

"Not really..." Hakuto pulled the covers off.

At this moment, Miku was snuggled against Hakuto, her body wrapped around his like an octopus.

It was hard to imagine Miku could fall asleep in such a position.

"Does Miku always sleep like this?"

"I don't know... maybe Miku was too cold?"

Usually, guys' beds are warmer than girls', and with winter here, it wasn't unusual for Miku to unconsciously lean toward the warmth in her sleep.

Nino nodded, then glanced at Miku clinging to Hakuto and the other three, sighing.

"Unbelievable..."

"What?"

"Though we always said when we were little that the five of us sisters would always be together, I never expected we'd all end up dating the same guy..."

"Honestly, I didn't expect it either." Hakuto replied.

At first, Hakuto didn't care much about relationships, which was why he ended up being a devoted 'puppy' for two years.

So, he never anticipated dating so many girlfriends or even entering a relationship.

"If I could, I'd want to monopolize you..."

"Maybe in some timeline, Nino, you really did monopolize me."

"Huh? Are you trying to play mind games with me?"

"No, no, no, I'm just telling the truth." Hakuto waved his hand. He wasn't lying.

After all, in some alternate universe, it was possible that Hakuto was in a pure love relationship with Nino.

"Forget it, forget it. Rather than talking about that, Hakuto, you should be thinking about how to talk to my dad."

Though he was just a stepfather, Nakano Maruo loved the five sisters deeply. 

If he knew that all five sisters were dating the same guy, there was no way he would agree to it!

"Yeah..." Hakuto raised an eyebrow, honestly not too worried about Nakano Maruo.

"As for your dad, he's always respected your opinions. Besides, someone will talk to him."

"Exactly, leave it to Shunsuke. He can solve anything!"

Hakuto genuinely felt that Shunsuke was like a universal key, someone who could resolve any issue that arose.

"As long as you can solve it..." Nino nodded. After a pause, she hesitated before asking, "How about taking a day off tomorrow?"

"A day off for what?"

"For what? Of course, to go out and play with us!" Nino poked Hakuto's back: "What? As our boyfriend, you can't fulfill such a simple request?"

"Ugh? If I go out with all five of you, I'd probably be killed on the spot by some single guys."

"Well, let's see if they can beat you first." Nino waved her hand: "Just say if you're going or not!"

"Since you've asked so insistently, Nino..."

"What do you mean I've asked insistently? I'm not forcing you to go..."

Nino slightly raised her chin and looked at Hakuto in front of her.

Hakuto smiled, pointing to Nino's chest and replied.

"Your top is slipping off~"

At this moment, Nino's loose pajamas were almost falling off, revealing her pure, white shoulder. From Hakuto's angle, it was quite a sight!

!?

Hearing Hakuto's words, Nino paused, glanced at her chest, and then hurriedly covered Hakuto's eyes.

"Huh? Shouldn't you be covering your chest, Nino?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Well, as your boyfriend, isn't it okay to look at these things? Anyway, in the future..."

"I told you to shut up!"

"Shhh~ Lower your voice. Miku and the others are still asleep."

Hakuto couldn't understand why Nino was reacting so strongly, when she had no problem with being bold earlier. Why was she so shy now?

Was this just talk?

"You're not allowed to look! At least... not now!" Nino covered Hakuto's eyes softly.

"I, Shiratori Hakuto, swear, even if you were naked in front of me, Nino, I would only be concerned about whether you're cold or not. I could never hurt you!"

"Shut up! Who told you to say that?" Nino was absolutely furious: "By saying this, are you implying you're impotent?"

"Huh~? Impotent? Me?"

Hakuto didn't understand why people kept calling him impotent—Ginko said it, Nao said it, and now even Nino was saying it.

"Yeah, clearly as long as you just move a finger, none of us five sisters would resist."

"I told you... I can't hurt you, Nino..."

"Shut up, shut up!"

"Talk about me being impotent, and if I make you weak in the knees, you wouldn't be happy about it..."

"I told you to shut up!"

Because the others were still asleep, Nino was speaking in a low voice, her face flushed, her hand still over Hakuto's eyes.

This created a rather bizarre posture, like a grandma sneaking into bed with grandpa, making him laugh!

Hakuto really wanted to laugh now.

"So, Nino, how long are you planning on keeping your hand over my eyes?" Hakuto raised his hand, asking.

Upon hearing this, Nino lowered her hand and said, "Forget it, forget it, do whatever you want..."

"So even after covering my eyes for so long, aren't you going to fix your clothes?"

"Why... Why should I care... I just wanted to see if you're impotent."

"Well, if you say so, Nino, anyway, in the future, someone else will speak up for me."

When I enter the palace, only great scholars will defend me!

"I'm going to sleep first..."

Saying that, Hakuto prepared to lie down, since he was really a bit tired.

But Nino grabbed him and pulled him up.

"Wait, Shiratori, don't sleep yet."

"Is there something else?"

Nino, blushing, looked at the tired Hakuto. After hesitating for a moment, she asked,

"You..."

Before Nino could ask, Hakuto immediately interrupted, saying, "I love you, it's not impotence. I'll make it work, I choose you... alright, sleep now."

Before Nino could react, Hakuto lay down again. This time, Nino didn't pull him up.

Because Hakuto's answer had already given Nino her response.

That's right, Nino still wanted to ask about Otosaka Yuu, but since Hakuto had already reassured her that everything was fine, Nino didn't need to ask more.

After all, no matter how many times she asked, Hakuto would always give the same answer.

"Fine, fine, I really can't stay awake..." Nino complained.

Nino was still saying the same thing, Hakuto was just playing along, but later, he would be honest!

Nino lay next to Hakuto, lost in thought for a long time...

...

The next day, Hakuto followed through with his agreement with Nino from the previous day, taking a day off and using his face to request leave for the five sisters as well.

"Let's go out and play!"

"It's so cold today, I think it will snow soon..."

"Snow? Does that mean we can have a snowball fight?"

"Shiratori... where are we going?"

"Anywhere, you guys decide. I'm just the accompanying person." Hakuto shrugged, "But I have to meet someone."

"Who?"

"Nakano Maruo..."

When the name Nakano Maruo was mentioned, the once excited group instantly became cold, even Yotsuba was the same.

"Shiratori... are you going to Dad's place?"

"After all, I've been hanging out with his five daughters, so I have to explain things to him in person."

"(゜ロ゜), Shiratori-sensei won't fight with Dad, right?"

"No, Dad would be the one getting beaten by Shiratori-sensei..."

For Yotsuba, who had seen Hakuto's combat power, if Nakano Maruo really fought with Hakuto, Nakano Maruo would definitely be beaten to death.

"What are you saying!" Hakuto instinctively grabbed Yotsuba's rabbit ear headband.

"Even a fool has limits! How could I fight with Mr. Maruo!"

"Ah, ah, Shiratori-sensei, please let go of me, it's so uncomfortable! I'm just speaking the truth... Dad might really fight with you..."

"If it really happens, Yotsuba, which side will you be on?"

"Eh? (゜ロ゜)?"

Yotsuba was stunned. Which side would she be on? She didn't want to be on any side!

"Then Shiratori-sensei, you might as well beat me up too..."

"You're really so dumb..."

Hakuto let go of Yotsuba, shook his head, and then said, "It's fine, nothing will happen... probably?"

After all, in the original work, Nakano Maruo accepted that bookworm, so there was no reason not to accept Hakuto...

And Hakuto was five times stronger than that bookworm, so taking care of the five sisters should be fine, right?

It should be fine...

"Actually, Shiratori-sensei, you could consider..." Itsuki grabbed Hakuto's hand and said, "What if, in the future, your daughters are quintuplets, and all five of their boyfriends are the same guy...?"

"If you think the probability of quintuplets is too ridiculous, I can rephrase."

"In the future, if all of our daughters date the same guy, how would you react, Shiratori-sensei?"

Hakuto's expression froze. If he really looked at it from a father's perspective, he would go crazy.

He would secretly kill that guy. He would really kill him!

I'll beat you up! I'll beat you to death!

However, here, Hakuto found a loophole, so he countered, 

"The guy you mentioned, is he also a supercomputer user, with influence and power in the Japan and ranked among the best in the world, and he's a handsome young man?"

"If that's the case, I could reluctantly agree to him dating my daughter."

"Shiratori-sensei's answer is flawless..."

What Hakuto just said could never apply to the same person!

After all, in the future, there wouldn't be superpowers, so that alone would make it impossible to meet the requirements.

"Actually, I can lower my standards. As long as the guy can survive a bullet from Barrett, I could agree."

"(゜ロ゜) Huh? Shiratori-sensei, isn't that murder?"

Hakuto shrugged without replying.

At this point, Nino spoke up.

"Actually, Shiratori just wants to brag..."

Ichika added, "Or maybe what Shiratori-kun means is that since he's so excellent, what's wrong with having a few more girlfriends?"

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