Compromises.

One way or another society, this world, works around compromises. Just like ill animals are targeted by the predators instead of the ones that put up better fights so is the food chain respected and honored. The herbivores never hunt down their aggressor and carnivores never hunt down more prey than the absolutely necessary.

This is to say that a balance must exist between two opposites so the world can work out. That is not to say there is equality, not even remotely. An even number between shark and fish would soon starve the seas of food sources and the ecosystems would collapse from the inside out. What balance means is the perfect amount of everything so all parts have the conditions to subsist. Humans, as the species that has deranged the farthest from the established order are also the species that must rely on compromises the most.

From the invention of the languages to the most primitive social hierarchies, to the distribution of work, to the first exchange systems, to the laws that have become the foundations of every civilization, money, business, social relationships, writing, religion. In the end all these things are nothing but compromises humanity has gotten used to accept because without them the species would collapse.

Society then, being an amalgamation of compromises must also have its own in a smaller scale. Social relationships work by executing the compromises each society has imposed into its members from birth, and while deviations are met with different reactions on different levels, the fact that individuals are tied to them remains true.

Polygamy, for example. It's probably been centuries since it was remotely accepted, plus taking how globalization works into account chances are the people is going to frown at such a relationship. Simply adultery, it's not illegal (save probable exceptions) yet it's considered, it is, a despicable act only done by scummy or desperate enough people. If adultery is looked at in such a bad light then there's not much hope for polygamy.

Absurd.

Abhorrent.

Wrong.

Unfair.

If a couple suffers from ego clashing, then a romantic relationship between more people is doomed to fail. No matter how one sees it, it's that sort of thing that can only exist in fantasy. Marriages fail left and right… How then, are people supposed to think a similar relationship with more people is supposed to go?

Who would be foolish enough to pursue something like that?

Who would desire to form a family under these circumstances?

As Hikigaya Hachiman would come to know, the Yukinoshita sisters are such fools.

"Are you awake yet?" A melodious voice whispered with fondness glossed all over it. It was a woman's voice and was answered by a simple tired grunt "Breakfast is ready. Hurry up or Nee-san's going to leave before you can see her off."

Hachiman opened his eyes and slowly sat up. Rubbing his eyes he turned to Yukino, who was already dressed up to go out.

"Good morning, Hachiman."

"Morning."

"So… How are you feeling?" Yukino asked sheepishly.

"Horny." Her lover replied without hesitation.

"Eh? R-Really?" Yukino got some distance from him and blushed, though she was more astonished than embarrassed.

"No." Hachiman yawned lazily "I've got enough for a couple of days." And then yawned again.

"Understandable." Yukino nodded "So… Breakfast?"

"On my way." The raven haired woman nodded and left, the man was left alone to stand up and stretched to shake off his remaining sleep. Quickly he went by with his morning routine and washed his face, he noted the lipstick all over his neck, cheeks and chest but knew better than to try to wash it off. Haruno's products are very difficult to take off, it needs a chemical with a name Hachiman still ignores, it'd be better to simply ask Haruno where it is before she goes out.

"Ah, good morning Hachiman. Rested well?" Both sisters were already at the table going about their business with their phones. With one Yukinoshita at each side Hachiman sat down in between them.

"Yes, more or less. Thanks for the food."

"So, how are you feeling?" Haruno asked while placing her phone away and began eating.

"Still horny." Hachiman replied listlessly.

"Wait, for real?"

"No." Hachiman sighed "I'm fine, though I'm still tired."

Haruno giggled "Well, to be fair sex is a rather good exercise. Even Yukino-chan's stamina has increased."

"I'm working out, Nee-san." The younger sister replied "It has nothing to do with our nightly habits."

Hachiman stopped eating and stared at Yukino blankly. With her elder sister and lover staring at her, Yukino couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

"It's the truth!" She insisted.

"If you say so." Haruno shrugged "But let's not forget Hachiman needed to work out as well since you came along."

"It has nothing to do with it!"

"It does." Hachiman commented between munches "Though you are making it seem like it's all her fault." Hachiman told Haruno neutrally. The elder Yukinoshita chuckled.

"Sorry, sorry."

Both women stopped talking and stole glances to their man from time to time. Hachiman was beyond being dense, on the contrary, he knew perfectly what was going on but chose to keep eating since his body demanded fuel to keep working.

When he finished his rice he released a heavy sigh.

"So… You want to talk about this now?" He knew better than to kick around the subject, even if it was uncomfortable for all of them he still chose to be as direct as possible.

Yukino placed down her chopsticks before pondering for a moment.

"I… Don't have any problem." She replied.

"I thought you were busy?" Hachiman inquired, as he was aware of the sisters' schedule. If it had been anyone else, it might have sounded as if they were trying to push the issue aside, but he decided to confront it. Yukino realized he was showing concern and smiled at his awkward attempt.

"Nothing I can't deal with." She assured him.

"I see."

"I need to be on the phone." Haruno interjected "But I can stay for a while."

Both Yukino and Hachiman nodded.

"Don't you have to go to the University?" Yukino asked him.

"It's Sunday. Why would I go there?" Hachiman inquired, half mocking.

"Is that so? Being a teacher sure is easy." Yukino humored him.

"It's almost like staying a student." Hachiman agreed "Though now I know why Hiratsuka-sensei liked her job so much. All this power, on the palm of my hand. I control their future and there's little they can do to oppose my will."

"Maybe this is a bad idea, you guys are still kids." Haruno said with a smirk on her face.

"Nonsense, if anything-"

"We are all kids at heart, Haruno. It's part of growing up." Hachiman interrupted the younger Yukinoshita. He schooled his features and his voice became serious again "But this is not the time for jokes, I'll make this as quick as I can so you don't waste your time."

"Time spent with you is not time wasted, Hachiman." Haruno threw her line as if trying to seduce him. Yukino nodded.

"I'll put effort on my part as well." The younger Yukinoshita braced herself and grasped her skirt in anticipation "I'll be frank: Hachiman, I want to have your kids. Please, make me a mother."

"Oh, my…"

"Haruno, please." Hachiman turned his attention to Yukino "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I want three kids. But for now one should do." She said in such a serious matter Hachiman couldn't help but remember her ice cold demeanor back when they were on high school.

"I see." Hachiman then turned to look at the elder sister again "What do you have to say?"

"I support Yukino if that's what she wants." The woman replied without doubt.

"No, that's not it." Hachiman stared straight to her eyes. Haruno's smile dropped altogether "Do you feel the same? Do you want to have kids too?"

Yukino was visibly surprised. Her sister has talked to Hachiman about her, but not about her own feelings. It felt wrong, having the elder put a hand for her sake felt totally wrong. She was disgusted at her own hesitation.

"Well, if you ask me so suddenly… I do." Haruno replied simply.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Hachiman inquired.

"You still figured it out." The elder Yukinoshita pointed out.

"Woman, please." Hachiman sighed again. How many times has he done so just that morning?

"…Sorry about that."

"I'll be frank." Hachiman ate some more before continuing "As Haruno already knows, I'm still against the idea." Both women tensed at his words "The reason is simple, raising kids like… This, will be complicated to say the least. I don't want to think about what sort of pressure will be on the children's shoulders when their friends find out they have a father and two mothers, let alone the parents and school."

"So you never planned to hide our relationship." Haruno pointed out.

"If I'm asked to prove my feelings towards the both of you then I'll do so without hesitation." Hachiman replied "My feelings are real, as long as you are with me I'll be happy."

"Hachiman…"

"No, Yukino. These are my feelings. If you want to have kids, you have the right to have kids." The meaning behind those words made her jerk her face back up "You too, Haruno. I just want you to think about how we should raise them so our relationship doesn't get in the way for their growth."

Being the cause for his children's unhappiness is something Hachiman adamantly refuses to become. He would know that people are quick to judge and shun those deemed different, he would know how it feels to have the world against oneself, to be alone and powerless to fight back, to be marked for something he has no control over. If something as minimal as his eyes and his social awkwardness were enough to make his teachers shun him down, then what can be expected if his relationship with the Yukinoshita sisters were to be made public?

"If we succeed in taking over father's company." Haruno said after a while in complete silence "There's little a simple school could do to oppose me." Yukino nodded, knowing where she was going with that. Hachiman simply stared silently "You are a scholar. You have your own power so to speak, Hachiman. Furthermore by genetics alone, I doubt the kids would be extraverts. If needed, we can make them enroll in self-defense classes." Haruno crossed her arms "I don't know you, but I wouldn't like my kid to grow spineless, so there's that."

"Good communication is important." Yukino added "If we teach them to be open with us, and we reciprocate their trust they should grow up healthy in both mind and body. True, they need to learn to deal with their peers, but we can also put our part and deal with the adults."

"Right, there's no denying it." Hachiman nodded and looked at his food "We'll need a bigger house."

"Yes, there is a lot that has to change." Haruno agreed "We've been fine as is, but at least living as when we were young will be necessary." She said while looking at her little sister.

"Not necessarily." Hachiman commented "Though you'll need to tone down your siscon tendencies. That sort of influence is…"

"I know." Haruno assured him.

"I still can't believe you're going with that." Yukino hissed in embarrassment.

"Denying it won't help anyone." Her sister replied "I told you already, you don't have to feel the same way as I do."

"You still touch and kiss her when there is the chance." Hachiman pointed out.

"That's the point of a threesome, no?" Haruno replied.

"Please… Stop." Yukino covered her face with her hands and placed her head on the table.

"Well, aside from that." Hachiman cleared his throat "Let's do this: We'll get a more suitable lifestyle to raise kids. We have to move, get jobs that won't require us to need a babysitter and…" Again he cleared his throat "We need to tone down our sexual habits. We've been doing this more often as of late, but we should probably stop."

"But… Yes." Haruno looked down "We should talk about that later."

"Wouldn't stopping solve it?" Hachiman argued.

"Nee-san is right." Yukino was bright red, but kept her gaze up "As I told Nee-san before, I… I'm not totally against the idea of doing it with you and… Her. I, I really like it. I don't know since when, but it feels different. It feels special." To Hachiman's surprise, there was no indication of fakeness in her features "Let's discuss that later."

With two against one, democracy did its work.

"…Alright." The dead-fish eyed man surrendered.

"So that's about it?" Haruno asked in genuine surprise "We're doing this?"

Yukino looked at Hachiman expectantly.

"I guess." He replied neutrally "There's not much else we can do until they are here so… We're done here."

"Indeed." Yukino agreed, though her expression was equally as blank with surprise.

"Alright, that was easy." The elder Yukinoshita commented.

"Don't celebrate too early." Hachiman commented with irony on his voice "Things are never easy."

At that, both sisters couldn't help but agree.

"So, this is all a roundabout way to tell me that you're having kids with Haruno-san and Yukino-san?" Before him, a man dressed in an expensive-looking suit asked. Hachiman nodded as he had a sip of his drink "My time is quite valuable, do you think you can just call me for these sort of things?"

"Sounds about right." Hachiman grinned.

"Hikigaya-kun, what am I going to do with you?" The man sighed in defeat.

"You could begin telling me how you sorted out things with your kids." Hachiman replied simply "If I remember correctly, it caused a lot of problems with your family."

"So you just called me to piss me off?"

"Easy, easy. Why so mad Hayama?" Hachiman chuckled.

"Don't try me." Hayato all but hissed "It won't end well."

"Yeah, your arm is probably as thick as my face." Hachiman's mood soured a little.

"And you know what I can do." Hayato smirked.

"Eat the cake before the party."

"You won't let that go, right?" Hayato's smiled disappeared altogether.

"You had to marry Iroha because she got pregnant during college." Hachiman accused him "You want me to let it go?"

"Says the bastard building up a harem." Hayato spat back.

Hachiman frowned.

"I'm not building a harem."

"See? It's not pleasant, right?" Hayato retorted.

"In any case." Hachiman took a bigger sip of his drink "I'd like some sort of advice. I'm afraid we'll overlook something."

"You will." Hayato told him "Take it as you will, but I can assure you not even Haruno-san is omniscient. You'll overlook things, it'll create problems and it's up to you to solve them. That's what adults do after all."

"I know, I'm an adult too."

"Then behave like one. Man up already." Hayato downed his drink in one go "If that's all, then I should go."

"No, wait." Hachiman interjected "…How is Iroha doing?"

"You're awful at this." Hayato laughed.

"No, I just wanted to ease the mood." Hachiman admitted.

"Okay, go on." Hayato crossed his arms.

"…"

"Time's precious, Hikigaya."

"…How far did Yukino go with her husband?" Hachiman finally asked.

"…Excuse me?" Hayato actually stopped in his tracks.

"You know him, right?" Hachiman shook his head "You're friends with him, right?"

"I'm friends with a lot of people." Hayato replied "Still, why would I know something like that?"

"I thought friends told everything to each other." Hachiman looked actually confused.

"Unless alcohol is thrown into the equation I believe "everything" is actually narrower than you think."

"I see…"

"Why does it matter?"

"Hayama, I… I think she might miss her life before…"

"Don't say stupid things, Hikigaya." Hayato almost growled "You know she was never happy living like that. The difference between then and now is too extreme. You're being stupid, I hope you didn't ask Yukino-san that. It'd break her heart."

Hachiman looked down. He couldn't reply to the man in front of him.

"Well? Did you?" Hayato actually looked mad, he crossed his arms while tapping one with a finger.

"No."

"Good for you." Hayato sighed his frustration out "I'd smash that face of yours into something more presentable if you did." Hachiman released a humorless chuckle.

"It's just, legally I can't marry both of them. Maybe Yukino wanted to get married too, I don't know, but I can't give up on Haruno nor on Yukino."

"On Yukino?" Hayato asked "What? Were you going to…?" Hayato's eyes grew larger than ever.

"Don't tell Yukino."

"You and Haruno were going to get married?" Hayato asked, dumbfounded "Why didn't you?"

"Because I slept with Yukino." Hachiman smiled as if in pain "Haruno still has the ring."

"Ah…" Hayato looked down "In the end not everything is rainbows and sunshine, huh."

"Nothing ever is." Hachiman replied "I'm fine as is, but I don't know if they are."

"Well, it's worth nothing none of them has brought it up… Have they?" Hachiman shook his head "Maybe you shouldn't think about it? If they are sacrificing part of their happiness for your… Relationship, to work then you should only focus on helping them make it work."

"Tch, when did you become so wise? You fake bastard have everything." Hachiman grinned with malice.

"Hey, I've worked enough to deserve it. We might have screwed up, but working together for our relationship to work has made us grow. I love Iroha, I don't regret it at all."

"Send her my regards." Hachiman raised his hand to call for a waiter.

"Hmmm? Is that it? I thought you needed advice." Hayato didn't seem at all concerned but chose to say it anyway.

"You're doing this for Yukino, right?" Hachiman asked and Hayato nodded "Well, I don't mind. You did your best to patch things up with her, I'm quite impressed."

"Why, thank you." Hayato said while confused "Weren't you having self-esteem issues a moment ago? How come you're okay with another man being all buddy-buddy with your woman?"

Hachiman raised an eyebrow.

"You are a precocious bastard that got a girl pregnant on a party night." Hachiman grinned "If you wanted to make a move, you'd have done it already."

"Goddamit, Hikigaya." Hayato rubbed his temples "You seriously stress me out."

"You were a great help, so sorry about that."

"I didn't tell you anything, though." Hayato gave him a pointed look "Exactly what did you need from me?"

"Not from you, but I needed someone to tell me I'm being an idiot." Both men grinned at each other, years of having to know each other showing as they came to a silent agreement.

"I'll send Iroha your regards."

"I'll tell Yukino you said hi."

Hachiman paid for the dinner and got out of the restaurant. Hayato noted he was dressed up quite nicely and looked around to see if perhaps the elder Yukinoshita was behind their meetings. Even if he didn't find her he wasn't entirely convinced. Regardless he asked for another cup of what he was drinking and enjoyed himself a bit more before going back to work.