Sarah collapsed onto the sofa the moment they stepped through the apartment door, her body sinking into the cushions like a sack of potatoes. She let out a long, dramatic groan, throwing an arm over her eyes.

"Ahhh... my back..." she whined, her voice muffled by the pillow she’d buried her face in. "It feels like I’ve been hit by a truck... multiple times..."

Lisa, still flushed and walking a little stiffly, set down the bag of leftover takeout they’d picked up on the way home. She rubbed her own lower back with a wince, but managed a small, tired smile.

"We’re all tired, Sarah... But at least we made it."

Sein walked past them without a word, her face unreadable, though her steps were slower than usual. She disappeared into the bathroom, and a moment later, the sound of the shower started.

Andrey stood by the door, adjusting his glasses. His body ached in places he didn’t know he had, but his regeneration was already working, dulling the worst of it. He looked at Sarah sprawled on the sofa, then at Lisa settling into the armchair with a soft sigh.

"We should do that more often," Sarah muttered into the pillow, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Really destroy my back."

Lisa giggled weakly. "But we leveled up, right? Affection Points went up a lot too..."

Sarah lifted her head just enough to glare at her. "Lisa, if you start talking about efficiency like Andrey, I will throw a pillow at you."

"Sorry, sorry..." Lisa raised her hands in surrender, still smiling.

Sarah’s hand froze on her stomach. Her eyes widened, the exhaustion on her face replaced by panic. "I just remembered... with all that sperm inside me... am I going to get pregnant?"

Lisa’s head snapped toward her, her own hand flying to her lower belly. Her cheeks, already flushed, turned an even deeper shade of red. "Oh no! I completely forgot about that! Andrey, you’ve been... inside me so many times too..."

Andrey, still standing by the door, adjusted his glasses calmly. His voice was steady, almost too steady for the situation.

"Relax. The system already anticipated that. You won’t get pregnant."

Sarah’s mouth opened, then closed. She blinked. "What?"

Andrey walked toward the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water. "I can turn it on and off. The fertility function, I mean. It’s part of the contract’s parameters."

Lisa stared at him, her small hands still pressed against her stomach. "You... you can control that? And you didn’t think to tell us?!"

Andrey took a slow sip of water. "It didn’t come up."

"It didn’t come up?!" Sarah sat up fully, wincing as her sore back protested. Her voice rose with incredulity. "We’ve been having sex with you for weeks! Multiple times! And you’re just now mentioning that you can magically decide whether we get knocked up?!"

Andrey set down the glass. "The system handles the reproductive aspect. It’s designed to prevent unwanted pregnancies unless the host specifically enables the function. I haven’t enabled it."

Sarah’s face cycled through several expressions, shock, relief, then something that looked dangerously close to fury. "You absolute idiot! You could have mentioned this ages ago! I’ve been stressing every single time! Do you have any idea how much anxiety you could have saved us?!"

Andrey adjusted his glasses again, a faint flush creeping up his neck. "I apologize. I assumed the system would have informed you directly. It communicates with all of us."

Lisa shook her head, her voice softer but still trembling. "It never said anything about... that."

Sarah slumped back against the couch, one hand still resting on her stomach, the other rubbing her temple. "So let me get this straight. We’ve been doing all that... all those times... and I’ve been worrying for nothing?"

"That’s correct."

"And you can turn it on whenever you want?"

"Theoretically, yes."

Sarah stared at him for a long moment. Then she grabbed a throw pillow and hurled it at his head.

Andrey caught it easily, his reflexes sharp despite his exhaustion. He set the pillow on the kitchen counter.

"You’re impossible," Sarah muttered, slumping back into the cushions.

Lisa, still blushing, twisted her fingers in her lap. "So... if you wanted children... you could just...?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Andrey’s ears turned pink. "I haven’t thought about it. We’re not at that stage."

Sarah snorted. "You think? We’re still figuring out how to not die in gates. Babies are not on the agenda."

Sarah slumped deeper into the couch cushions, her arm draped over her eyes. "So... no babies. Good. That’s one less thing to worry about."

Lisa let out a small breath, her shoulders relaxing. "I was really scared for a moment there."

Andrey set down his empty glass and walked toward the living room, settling into his usual armchair. The springs creaked under his weight. "The system handles most biological complications. It’s designed to keep the Magical Girls functional without unnecessary risks."

"Functional," Sarah repeated, pulling her arm away to glare at him. "Is that what you call it?"

Andrey adjusted his glasses. "Efficient terminology."

Lisa giggled softly despite her lingering embarrassment. The tension in the room was slowly fading, replaced by the familiar comfort of their shared space.

From the hallway, the bathroom door creaked open.

Sein emerged, her orange hair damp and darkened from the shower, curling slightly at the ends. She wore a loose gray t-shirt and black shorts, her feet bare against the wooden floor. A towel was draped over her shoulders, catching the last drips of water.

She paused when she noticed all three of them staring at her.

"What?" Sein’s voice was flat, but there was a faint flush on her cheeks. "You act like you’ve never seen someone fresh out of the shower."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You were in there for a long time."

"So? I was washing off the sweat. And other things." Sein walked past them toward the kitchen, not bothering to elaborate. She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and leaned against the counter, drinking deeply.