Chapter 10: Terra

The glowing white woman with red eyes spoke.

“What’s the matter? Stunned by my beauty?” Terra joked.

“No, I’m just wondering how you got into my house. You are quite beautiful though.” Akira replied.

“Oh dear, you flatter me. Even though I am a goddess, I may fall for a mere human. Anyhow, I got into your home by simply phasing through the door. As I said, I AM a goddess.” Terra said, manifesting a wine glass and taking a sip from it.

“Woah, is that an angel?!” Lysia shouted.

“Angel?! Is her blood blue?!” Amari shouted as she ran into the room.

“What are you on about Amari?” Sakura asked.

“Excuse me Miss Angel, does your name happen to be Lilith?” Amari asked nervously.

“No dear, my name is Terra. Pleasure to meet you. Oh, and no, my blood isn’t blue. I don’t even have any blood. The form you see in front of you is merely a facade. Essentially, I am controlling a form you humans can look at without being smitten by my heavenly presence.” Terra explained.

“Amari, did you really reference my favorite series to a goddess?” Akira asked, finally processing what Amari had said.

“Hehe, maybe a little bit.” she said, laughing to herself.

“So, you said you wanted to talk to him, mom?” Tsubaki questioned.

“Ah, yes. Well, let’s get into that then. I’ve been watching you Akira. I’ve witnessed everything you’ve done since we last met. I’ve watched you take care of these girls, I’ve watched you at work, and I’ve even seen you shower.”

“I didn’t need to know that last one.” Akira said.

“As I said, I’ve seen everything you’ve done. The same goes for these wonderful girls as well. Although, I did have to scold my dear daughter for what she put Sakura through.”

“Is anybody going to tell me what Sakura did?” Akira asked.

“Miss Terra, why have you been watching us?” Amari asked.

“Well, I’m the goddess of your world. I watched over everyone in that world, but I took a particular interest in you girls. Your situations were so unique. Anyway, this isn’t about that. I’m here for him.”

“Yeah, we went over this. What do you want from me anyway?”

“I wanted to thank you for taking such good care of these girls. They’ve all had such rough lives before meeting you. I brought them here to you because I knew you’d treat them with kindness and respect. You willingly accepted a group of strangers into your home and received nearly nothing in return, and yet you haven’t complained about that still.”

“Yes, she’s right, Master. You took a chance on us, and for that, we are all eternally grateful to you.” Sakura said bowing.

The rest of the maids followed in her example and bowed.

“Thanks for showing me how wonderful the otaku culture is. I had a lot of fun watching anime with you.” said Amari, letting off a big smile.

“Dear, you’ve given us such a nice place to live, and you’ve treated us quite well. Thank you very much, kind Master.” Willow said.

“Thank you so much for letting me keep BunBun! It really means a lot to me. He’s my best friend!” cheered Lysia.

“Master, thank you for giving me the confidence to show my true feelings to Rose.” said Yuri, who was holding Rose’s hand still.

“Look, for as much as I call you an idiot, you’re really not a bad person or anything. Thanks for letting me cook whenever I want, and for teaching me about your favorite food. It was a lot of fun to make. Now don’t make me repeat myself, idiot.” Rose teased in a friendly manner with a smile.

“Listen, I haven’t known you for more than what, a few days, but I’ve been watching after you with my old woman. Even then, I was living rent free in Sakura’s head for a while, so I feel like I’ve known you for a lot longer than I probably should. You might just be a loser otaku, but you’re OUR loser otaku. Don’t you forget that.” Tsubaki said.

“Jeez, what’s with the sad farewell messages? You guys aren’t leaving, are you?” Akira asked, starting to be worried.

“Well, what if they were leaving?” Terra asked.

“Then… then I’d…” Akira burst into tears as he dashed towards the girls and gathered them into one large group hug. “Then I’d miss them! I haven’t known these girls for long, but they’re all so special to me! You couldn’t give me a complete collection of every piece of merchandise for my favorite series, or a mansion with a fancy car, or even one-hundred-billion yen, I wouldn’t trade these girls for anything. You can’t put a price on friendship, and you can’t put a price on how much these girls mean to me. My life was terrible before meeting you girls. I was a sad, lonely, depressed otaku NEET who only sat around playing video games and watching anime. I never did anything useful with my life, until I met all of you. Thanks to you, my life finally has a purpose. I have a reason to wake up every morning, to get a job to feed you girls, to finally quit being a shut-in otaku and to change my lifestyle.”

Akira started crying uncontrollably, and the girls comforted him.

“It’s ok, take your time.” Sakura said, patting him on the head.

“I don’t want to think about where my life would be without you girls. Even now, I’m still just a pathetic loser, but I have all of you to make me feel even just a bit better about myself. I don’t want you to leave me. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if you did…”

The girls started crying along with Akira.

“We would never leave you. You really think we’d just abandon you, after you didn’t abandon us back then? We could never do such a thing.” Sakura cried.

“Then, why did you all sound like you were gonna leave me?”

“We just wanted to let you know how much you truly meant to us. Of course we aren’t going to leave. We’ll all be right here by your side forever.” Sakura said, trying to be strong through the tears.

“Not to interrupt the mood, but Akira, why didn’t you abandon these girls that day? You knew you couldn’t take care of them very well in this cramped apartment, and yet you still pushed through it. Why?” Terra asked.

“I couldn’t do it. I would have been a cruel heartless monster if I did that. The world out there is a terrible place. Why do you think I became a shut-in otaku loser in the first place? There are so many terrible people, so many terrible things happening out there in the world, I just wanted to escape from it all. Anime and video games were my escape from reality. They were an idealized world where I could run away from my problems. If I’d left the girls alone out there in the cruel world, I don’t even want to think about what sort of things people would have done to them. There are plenty of people out there who would have taken advantage of them, or forced them into doing unspeakable things. If I left them to that world, well I’d have been no better than those monsters.”

“Well, surely you had thought about doing things to these mysterious and beautiful girls yourself, had you not?” Terra asked.

“Of course I did! I thought about how great it would be to just have a harem of cute girls and live a nice life of love, but I told myself off for it. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I’m some sort of saint who only thinks pure thoughts all of the time. I’m a human. I’m a guy. I absolutely thought about doing terrible things when I first met these girls, but deep down in my heart, I knew that even if I wasn’t a good person, even if I was a degenerate loser, I could never bring myself to that low of a level. I’ve read manga where the girl was taken advantage of, and it broke me. I vowed to myself after that day to never let something like that happen if I could stop it. I could have been the villain of the story for these girls, but instead I was the hero. I don’t deserve any praise for doing the right thing, because it’s what any decent person would have done.”

Akira was crying so much he couldn’t see through the tear stained lenses of his glasses anymore. All of the girls came together and comforted Akira, as well as each other.

“Mister Akira?” Lysia asked.

“Yes Lys?”

“You don’t have to be sad anymore. Even if you don’t like yourself, even if you don’t think you’re that great of a person, we do. We all thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you’ve done. When you go to work, we all laugh and say how grateful we are that we met you. We all love you.” Lysia said, hugging Akira.

The pure hearted love radiated from the girl, soothing everybody in the room.

After drying their tears and wiping their noses, all of the girls stood up together. Lysia helped Akira stand up again, before returning to the group of girls.

“We love you, Akira.” the girls said while bowing in unison.

“I love all of you too. Truly.” Akira said.

“Hey now, can we stop with all of the emotions before I start crying too? Tsubaki said while wiping a tear from her eye, trying to act tough.

“Such a beautiful sight. Such raw, pure emotion. I knew I’d brought these girls to the right home.” Terra said, a tear rolling down her heavenly cheek.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with me like that. Can I interest you in dinner as a way of apologizing?” Akira asked.

“No need to apologize, although I will take you up on that offer. I’d like this special ‘favorite meal’ the redhead mentioned.” Terra replied.

“Could I bother you to make it for us then, Rose?” asked Akira.

“It would be my honor to cook for both my beloved Master, and for a beautiful goddess. Yuri and I will go buy the ingredients.” Rose replied.

Later that night, everyone ate dinner together.

“Oh my, this battered beef meal is quite delicious!” Terra said in shock. “What did you call this again?”

“Chicken fried steak. Although, it’s not really steak, and it definitely isn’t chicken.” Akira explained.

“This gravy is simply wonderful. I’ll have to learn how to make this myself.” Terra added.

“Do you even need to eat?” questioned Akira.

“Of course not, I’m a goddess. I simply like to enjoy the taste of a nice warm meal.”

“Well, I’m glad you like it so much. I can be your personal cooking teacher.” Rose said pridefully.

“Oh, yes please. Would it be alright if I stuck around for a while? I quite enjoy the company of these girls, especially the redheaded cook.” Terra asked.

“Sure, I don’t mind. Just don’t get too close to Rose, or else you’ll make Yuri jealous.” Akira jokes.

“Well, I’ll certainly keep it in mind. Since I’m here, I’d like to go somewhere, and I’d like you all to come with me.”

“Where do you wanna go?” Akira asked.

“I’d like to visit an onsen. Of course, we can go to a mixed bath so you don’t get lonely. Just don’t let those hands wander.” teased Terra.

“What kind of guy do you think I am?!” shouted Akira.

“A pervy loser.” muttered Rose.

“Hey! Wait, no, you have a point.” Akira said defeated. “Alright, onsen trip time!”

Everyone finished eating dinner and headed to a local onsen that allowed mixed bathing. They stood on the edge of the water, only a single towel between their skin and the open air.

“Alright, I’ll get in first. Don’t worry, I’ll look away while you girls get in.” Akira said.

Akira dropped his towel and stepped into the water. The girls all followed quickly behind. Tsubaki flew in front of Akira to taunt him.

“Hehe, boo! Naked girl in front of you!” Tsubaki teased.

“Do you really think I’m gonna be disturbed by that or something?” Akira said dryly.

Akira turned around to face the girls and laid back to relax. Steam flowed through the air, covering anything beneath the water's surface.

“Ah, this is quite lovely. I’m glad we were able to come here.” Terra said.

“Yes, I have to agree with you there. This is very enjoyable.” Willow added.

“The water is really warm! Look, BunBun floats on top of it!” Lysia said, wrapping a towel around her head.

Sakura moved her way over to Akira, passing Yuri and Rose who were relaxing together.

“Hey, I just wanted to say thank you again. For everything.” Sakura said.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

“Mind if I sit next to you?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

Sakura sat right next to Akira, not leaving much room between the two. Sakura set her left hand down, accidentally laying it on top of Akira’s hand. She jumped a bit out of nervousness.

“S-sorry, I didn’t realize-”

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.” Akira said. Instead of moving his hand away, he wrapped his fingers around Sakura’s, their hands intertwined.

Sakura blushed, but soon smiled and rested her head on Akira’s shoulder.

“I hope you know that I love you Sakura.” Akira said softly.

“I hope YOU know that I love you too.” replied Sakura.

“Finally! The two lovebirds have finally professed their love for each other!” cheered Tsubaki.

“That’s wonderful news. Congratulations to you two.” Terra said.

“Wow, two couples in one day. First it was Rose and Yuri, and now it’s Sakura and our Master. Truly a special say for everyone.” Willow chimed in.

“So Terra, you mentioned that the girls had rough lives before meeting me. What was that all about?” Akira asked.

“Oh come on, you aren’t supposed to ask about that!” Tsubaki scolded.

“No, it’s fine dear. Although, I think it would be best if the girls told their stories themselves. I wouldn’t want to get things wrong.” Terra explained.

“Considering what an emotional day today has been, we might as well get that out of the way too. Besides, the onsen is relaxing, so things shouldn’t be that bad.” Sakura said.

“Alright then, who goes first?” Akira asked.

“I suppose before we get into the story of the maids, we should probably tell you more about our own world. I shall begin.” Terra started.