"Yeah, it was my dad last time." Homura chimed in as he finished the call. "He got all sentimental and said, 'It's the first time I've seen you run that fast!'"
Girls: "..."
Eriri groaned.
"Now that's totally something Uncle would say..."
"Right? I was totally stunned too." Homura rolled his eyes.
"But you really ran super fast, Homura-kun! Like whoosh!" Honoka added, even making a swooshing gesture as she spoke.
Homura: "..."
"Uh... anyway, let's get back to work! I'm gonna go sign the manga first!"
And just like that, Homura vanished.
Honoka blinked, then turned to the others.
"See? Told you—he disappeared in a flash!"
Girls: "..."
"Come on, Honoka-chan! Let's go practice!" Kotori grabbed Honoka and dragged her off.
"Guess we should get back to work too. Kinda feels like we didn't get much done today." Eriri said.
With that, everyone split up.
===
Dusk.
Homura had just left the temporary classroom and headed to the backyard. After stretching lazily, he looked up at the sunset in the sky and sat down on the steps.
As always, Haru wandered over and plopped down next to him.
Without saying a word, Homura reached out and patted Haru's head.
Haru didn't say anything either and just enjoyed the headpat silently.
No matter how one looked at it, the whole scene felt peaceful.
"Homura-kun? What're you doing sitting here?"
Megumi walked up behind him and asked curiously.
"Mm... it's almost time to make dinner." Homura replied with a faint smile. "I figured I'd sit here for a bit and enjoy the sunset before that."
Megumi didn't respond right away but walked around to his other side and sat down quietly.
"Y'know, everything that's happened lately, it's all stuff I never imagined could actually happen..." Homura let out a soft sigh.
It sounded like he was talking to someone—or maybe just to himself.
Honestly, just the fact that he had transmigrated was already something hard to wrap his head around, and on top of that—
"And you... and all those amazing girls actually wanna be with me... It's like all my luck and happiness just crashed down on me all at once..." Homura looked up, eyes unfocused, murmuring softly. "I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"Probably... not..." Megumi said softly, reaching out and holding his hand. "Unless we're all dreaming the same dream with you... but y'know, that doesn't sound too bad either."
"Your hair's gotten longer too, Megumi." Homura turned to her and suddenly grinned. "If this really were a dream, your hair probably wouldn't grow, right?"
"Ah... you're right..." Megumi touched her hair. "Didn't even notice until you said it. Now that I think about it, it really did grow."
Homura reached out and gently touched her hair.
"It's just past your shoulders now, long enough for braids. I always thought you had great fashion sense, Megumi, so this gives you more style options."
"Do you have a favorite hairstyle, Homura-kun?"
Hearing Megumi's question, Homura thought for a second before answering, "I guess anything that suits the person? Every style's got its own charm, so if it fits, I'll like it."
"Hmm, that's such a sneaky answer..."
"But it's the truth though." Homura chuckled. "Different styles look good on different people, and some just feel more natural, y'know? Like, I really can't imagine you with twin tails, Megumi."
"Now that you said that, I kinda wanna try it..." Megumi's voice was calm, but there was a spark of challenge in her words.
"Go for it." Homura nodded. "Well, the fact that I can't picture it just makes me even more curious."
"Mm. I'll try not to disappoint you, Homura-kun."
"Hahaha... Hmm?" Homura laughed but then paused. "Footsteps..."
"Ah! Senpai, you're totally on a secret date! Take me too!" Nayuta yelled as she dashed over.
Homura gave a wry smile as he caught the girl who threw herself at him—just as he expected.
"Nii-san!"
Not wanting to be left out, Sagiri came charging in when she saw Nayuta's move.
'Yup, they all showed up after all...' Homura sighed softly. 'Though thankfully, no one else came running.'
Meanwhile, Mashiro looked like she wanted to rush over too, but Nanami held her back with a helpless expression.
In the end, Mashiro stood there puffing out her cheeks and glaring at Nanami.
"Perfect timing, everyone. We should get dinner started!" Homura declared, then stood up with two girls hanging onto him.
Hearing his words, the two little 'attachments' reluctantly climbed off him, even though they were clearly not happy about it.
"Senpai, what were you and Megumi-nee talking about just now?" Nayuta asked curiously.
"Hair stuff."
As Homura and Nayuta chatted, Megumi looked at her own hand, made a soft grabbing motion, and then slowly clenched it into a fist.
Nodding to herself, she followed after Homura to help prepare dinner.
===
Late at night.
It was Sunday, so the nine members of Muse, along with Yukiho and Alisa, didn't stay over, which made the Minamiya residence feel a lot quieter.
On this night, the previously cautious shadow appeared once again.
Yes, it was none other than Eriri, but this time, she didn't hesitate and headed straight for Homura's room—barely making a sound, of course.
'Hmph, that woman would never expect me to show up two days in a row, right?'
Eriri thought to herself as she arrived at Homura's door, glancing around.
Seeing no signs of anyone, she let out a breath and reached for the doorknob, but suddenly, she stopped halfway, glancing around again.
'Whew... Safe...'
Only after confirming no one was around did Eriri continue, reaching out—until she touched a hand.
Eriri: "..."
Thankfully, that didn't scare her anymore.
She lowered her head and followed the hand upward with her eyes, and as expected, it was that woman—Kasumigaoka Utaha!
"Where the hell did you pop out from?" Eriri gritted her teeth.
"I've been right behind you the whole time~" Utaha smiled brightly.
"Are you trying to copy Megumi or something?" Eriri rolled her eyes hard. "Ugh, seriously, can you not get in my way every single time..."
"It's not like that." Utaha said, her smile growing way too cheerful. "Even if you didn't come, I would've shown up anyway. If you hadn't come today... I might've actually won, y'know?"
Hearing this, Eriri's right eyebrow twitched.
"Wait... so you're saying I actually showed up at the perfect time?!"
Looking at Utaha's annoyed face, Eriri couldn't help but feel a little smug.
Utaha: "..."
Thinking about how she had to keep playing this sabotage game with Eriri day after day, Utaha bit her lip, then spoke with determination.
"Wanna team up?"
"What?" Eriri blinked, not really getting it. "Didn't we already go in together yesterday?"
"I mean..." Utaha leaned in and whispered something in Eriri's ear.
The next moment, Eriri's face didn't even have time to react gradually—it went bright red in an instant!
"Wha—?!" Eriri's voice shot up but was cut off mid-scream.
Utaha's right eyebrow twitched as she clamped a hand over Eriri's mouth.
"Why the hell are you yelling? If Homura-kun wakes up, even I'm gonna be super embarrassed, okay? Good thing the soundproofing in this place is top-notch..."
Saying this, Utaha slowly took her hand off Eriri's mouth.