Nikke: Nullable Type

I was originally planning to go see who the visitors to the Outpost were, but Sophia texted me that they left after asking around a bit. She also said that they didn't seem hostile, so I just put it at the bottom of my mind for now.

Instead, I went to go hang around with Indi instead like a proper father would.

...No, I definitely wasn't just doing it to overcompensate for absolutely being terrible last night. Even if I was, you could never prove it.

So, to spoil Indi a bit, I took her to the maid cafe to get some snacks.

A bell chimed as we walked in, and then a maid with bright green hair waved. "Oh, Master! Welcome!"

I stared at her and then cautiously said, "...Soda?"

Soda laughed. "That's right!"

Indi waved and said, "Good morning, Miss Soda!"

Soda's eyes widened and she quickly looked at the clock. "Is it morning again already?! Oh no, have I just been cleaning through the night again?!"

"...No." I slowly said. "It's a little past noon. Indi just said it out of habit."

"Oh thank goodness!" Soda let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried... Oh!" She smiled and said, "Since you're here, Master, are you a customer today?"

"That's right. Just wanted to get something sweet for me and my daughter here."

Soda's eyes widened and she immediately looked at Indi. "You have a daughter, Master!?"

Indi puffed up her chest, clearly proud. "Of course! Daddy has lots of kids!"

"Wow!" Soda laughed. "That's amazing, Master! I heard the rumors, but to think they're real..."

I paused as I sat down at a table with Indi. "...What rumors?"

"Oh! The ones that say you have a harem of Nikkes and have children with all of them!"

"...That's only Mari."

"MARY?!" Soda gasped. "You?! And that scary nurse?!"

"Huh? I mean Marian. Sorry." I rubbed my neck and said, "...I forgot there was a Nikke named Mary. It's been a while since I've seen her."

Soda blinked. "Oh! That makes more sense." She nodded. Then she looked at Indi, confused. "...But who's this little one's mother then?"

"Ah, that's-"

Before I could reply, Indi crossed her arms and put on a condescending look before saying, "My mother is the fearsome Rapture Queen!"

I froze.

Soda gasped again. "AMAZING!"

At that time, Ade walked out from the back, concern on her face. "...I believe I just heard something incredible, Master. Is that true?"

"...I mean. Technically yes? But not really?"

Indi nodded. "Mmhm! Daddy stole me and my sisters from Mommy! She's terrible, so we're going to kill her! And we choose Daddy because he's the best!"

Ade kept a professional expression on.

But I could sense that the blonde maid was resisting the urge to give me a fierce side-eye.

"...It's complicated."

"...It appears so, Master." Ade nodded. "...Then, what will your orders be today?"

"Oh!" Indi raised her hand and said, "Can I have an omelet rice? I saw pictures! It looks pretty!"

Ade smiled. "Of course you can, little one."

"Yay!"

Soda looked at me and said, "What about you, Master?"

"I'll have some crepes."

Ade nodded and said, "We will have those out shortly then."

After that, Soda and Ade went into the back to prepare the food.

Indi happily sat beside me, idly swinging her legs as she hummed.

I smiled at her and said, "You seem happy."

"I'm always happy when I'm with Daddy! You're the best!"

"...You're not just saying that because you want something, right?"

"U-Um... N-No...?"

I laughed. "You can always ask, Indi."

"...Okay. Can I get a game console? Miss Neon showed me one last time and it looked fun! And if I have one, then you don't have to worry about me! I'll just stay in my room and be a good girl playing games!"

I poked her cheek and said, "I'm not letting my daughter become a gamer couch potato."

"But why?!"

"I'll get you a portable game console though. That way you can have fun when we're out together."

"Really!?" Indi hugged me. "You're the best, Daddy!"

I patted her back and said, "I know, I know."

Indi giggled and said, "Love you!"

"Love you too, Sweetie."

"Yeah! I'm a Sweetie because I'm sweet! Right?"

"Right." I smiled and patted her head.

We chatted for a bit more about various things, like Indi's favorite types of candy.

But after a bit, someone else walked into the maid cafe.

Marian, escorted by Endless and Eternity.

Indi's eyes lit up and she waved at Marian. "Second Mommy! Hi!"

Marian chuckled and waved. "Hello, Indi. Have you been a good girl?"

"Of course!"

I glanced at her and said, "...I'm guessing the others are up now too?"

Marian giggled and sat across from me. "Of course not, you rascal. With how much you loved them last night, they won't be up for a long time."

Endless nodded and pulled over a chair to sit on the right of Marian. "Indeed. Commander was... quite vigorous." She pointed massaged her stomach.

Indi noticed and said, "Do you have a stomach ache too, Endy?"

Marian paused and slowly looked at me. "...'Too?'"

"It's from her candy. The chocolates."

"Ah." Marian nodded. "Of course. You like mature women. You wouldn't put your hands on a child, even if you were like a beast last night..."

Eternity pulled over a chair and sat down on Marian's left. Then she looked at me with her golden eyes and said, "...You are amazing, Commander. Even among the countless explicit material I have analyzed, to leave so many Nikkes out of commission is unprecedented."

I gave Eternity a blank stare. Then I slowly said, "I'm not going to dignify that with a response."

Mostly because it would open up the can of worms that Eternity apparently watched terabytes of porn and the possibility that she might be interested in additional research like her sister.

At that time, Ade walked back out. When she noticed Marian, Endless, and Eternity, she paused and said, "Hello there. Would you like something as well, Mistresses?"

Marian shook her head. "It's fine. I've already eaten-"

*GROWL*

I blinked and looked over at Marian.

Marian blushed and said, "...Okay. Perhaps something light. And something that would suit a pregnant woman?"

"Of course." Ade smiled. "...And congratulations."

"Thank you!"

Ade gave me a pointed look. One clearly filled with questions and concerns.

But I ignored it.

Not prepared to answer it just yet.

So instead, I looked over at Eternity and said, "Doesn't Enikk need you back at the Ark, Eternity? Is it fine for you to be up here?"

Eternity nodded. "Mother told me to stay with you from now on. Although she will not explain it, she says that you have become the number one priority in every metric."

I slowly blinked. "What? Me?" I paused and considered everything I had done until now. Then I said, "...Okay, that tracks."

Eternity's golden eyes sparkled and she said, "Baseball, huh?"

"What?"

Eternity immediately looked disappointed and sighed. "...Never mind."

Marian chuckled and then rested her head on her hand. "Well, Husband. Have you decided what to do about all the women in your life yet? The ones you so greedily claimed last night?"

I nodded. "Of course. I'm shamelessly going to do my best to make everyone feel loved."

It was already a done deal at this point. And I was okay with being the bad guy.

But if the girls were willing to give me a chance, I was willing to make something work.

Of course, Anis, Rapi, Marian, and Endless were already non-negotiables.

...Well, Shifty was too since I really did have to take responsibility for her at this point.

But as for everyone else...

I made a mental checklist and said, "...It should be fine. I don't think anyone's interests conflict too much."

Marian, Anis, Rapi, and Endless were already settled.

And Anis was definitely the jealous type... but after the, uh, incident. I think she was more than happy to have others take the heat, in a manner of speaking.

Ark Ranger Black definitely had a thing for me, but she was also mostly focused on being a hero. Our relationship was more of when she had downtime we could be loveydovey. And she seemed to very much be the physical affection type, so that was fine.

Guilty... uh. Was kinky. She just, unironically, liked being owned. So as long as I 'used' her every now and then like she insisted, she'd feel loved.

Thankfully, Neon had become best buddies with her in making stuff, so Guilty would be distracted and happy even without me.

Rapunzel... My absolute freak of an aunt just wanted sex. All the sex. All the kink.

That was pretty much it. She was very straightforward about that, so it'd be fine.

Rose, true to her word, was pretty low maintainence. She was mostly doing her own thing, but if she wanted more, she'd let me know and we'd do something.

Sin...

Also kinky. And also someone who liked being owned.

I think when she realized I wasn't affected at all by her powers, it flipped a switch in her and she just like... folded. Hard.

I had a feeling that she'd do a lot of crazy stuff if I just asked her too, so I'd need to be careful about that...

Mihara and Yuni were definitely more into each other than me, but they liked having a third every now and then for fun, so we could keep it casual. No worries there.

Shifty... Well. She definitely had caved. Persephone had bitten the forbidden fruit in more than one way, so she was stuck with me.

Birth control apparently didn't exist. Like, at all. So that was pretty much wraps... or I guess, unwrapped...

Maxwell did it for the research, unironically, so she'd be fine too.

Syuen...

Well. Apparently, she had a lot of pent up frustration from being a lolibaba virgin.

...I was mildly concerned about the fact that her internals seemed to be completely human and not mechanical at all. Especially with the intrigued look Maxwell was giving last night.

But a later problem.

I nodded. "Yeah. Definitely fine. Nothing conflicting in me loving everyone from last night."

Endless stared at me.

I blinked. "What is it, Endy?"

"...You are quite shameless, Commander. But that's cute." Endless giggled and said, "I doubt we would find another man so shamelessly declare there isn't a problem in loving over a dozen women."

"Well, not everyone wants a full relationship. And even the ones who do want that aren't the sort to hog my attention all the time."

Marian smiled. "Good. Because between Anis and I, there is not much room to share."

"I agree." I nodded. "I don't think I have the capacity to have another woman who needs quality time to feel loved in my life."

Anis was already getting clingy and antsy by not being able to spend too much time with me from her idol training.

Which gave me a preview of how she'd be if I had more women hogging my time, and also let me know that was absolutely not possible.

And Marian absolutely demanded night time snuggles, so...

Yeah. At capacity.

Eternity tilted her head. "Commander?"

"Yeah, Eternity?"

"...Does that not imply that if it is a woman who is fine with minimum attention and is happy for even scraps of affection that you would immediately take them in?"

"...I never said I was a good man."

Marian let out a scandalized gasp. "Hubby!"

"What?" I shrugged. "If it's practically no strings attached and doesn't make you guys upset, why say no?"

Indi nodded. "Daddy's right. If he can make them feel loved, he should do it! It's not his fault they don't need much!"

"Yeah." I held up my hand for Indi. "You get me, Sweetie."

Indi high-fived me and then held her head up high, looking proud. "Of course! I'm Daddy's best daughter! I obviously get you!"

Eternity looked between me and Indi. Then she slowly said, "Nature AND nurture align. Fascinating..."