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[TSSIM] Chapter 377: Homura and Megumi
🕑 Added 2024-04-28 22:19:54 +0000 UTC"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.
"Idiot! 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.
"What the hell are you calling me?! Do you even know what you're saying?!" Eriri was kind of losing it. "And sure, this house has decent soundproofing, but even if you don't yell, people inside can still hear it a bit! Not to mention... you know how sharp Homura's hearing is..."
Utaha: "..."
Which meant... Homura was probably already awake.
"Let's not talk about that right now! Are you seriously planning to keep getting in my way like this?"
"It's only because you kept bothering me first that I'm bothering you back..." Eriri muttered, and then her face turned bright red again like it was about to bleed. "But... the two of us... together..."
"Anyway, you're not gonna let me go first, and I'm not gonna let you either, so let's just go together!" Utaha said bluntly.
Hearing this, Eriri was practically having a mental breakdown.
"How about... we check if Homura's even awake first?"
Utaha thought for a second, then nodded.
Even for her, Kasumigaoka Utaha, who could be super bold on her own, doing this kind of thing with someone else still made her nervous, because this wasn't something you could just talk big about and pull off.
Honestly, she really didn't want to keep competing with Eriri over this.
Homura was clearly getting closer to the other girls lately, so if something happened soon, it wouldn't be surprising at all.
Rin had already beat her to confessing, after all.
And so, the two of them carefully opened the door, and as expected, a pair of bright eyes was already staring right at them.
Seeing the eyes, it suddenly hit them—wasn't Haru always watching them whenever they tried to do anything?
Utaha and Eriri glanced at each other, both of their lips twitching.
Haru was just too smart, so one couldn't even treat her like a normal animal anymore, making her impossible to ignore.
And yesterday, when Haru suddenly licked Homura's face, was she trying to tell them that Homura was hers?
Both of their imaginations went wild instantly, little mental trains going 'choo choo' in their heads!
A moment later, they both swallowed nervously and slowly walked over to Homura's bedside, but what they saw soon made the corners of their eyes twitch.
Haru was clinging right up against Homura's neck, with even half her tail draped over it!
It felt like whatever they tried to do, they couldn't get around this little cat.
'Guess our wild guess was right!'
Both Utaha and Eriri were now fully convinced of their own theory.
If anyone else knew what they were thinking, they would probably laugh themselves silly.
Haru, on the other hand, just looked at the two of them with a weird expression.
'Why are they coming over at this hour anyway?'
'Can't they just groom during the day?'
'Wait... are they here to ask me for tips on other techniques? Hehe, alright then! Time for the great Haru-sama to teach you the ultimate grooming technique!'
Haru happily wagged her tail and, under Utaha's and Eriri's wide-eyed stares, she finally managed to swish it right onto Homura's nose.
Utaha: "!!!"
Eriri: "!!!"
Homura: "..."
Achoo!
Homura couldn't hold back his sneeze anymore before opening his eyes and locking gazes with Utaha and Eriri.
"Relax... this is just a dream..." Eriri slowly waved her hand in front of his face as if she were a magician. "You're dreaming right now... and with a snap of my fingers... you'll forget everything..."
"You think I'm an idiot?" Homura asked flatly.
Whoosh!
Eriri grabbed Utaha and escaped!
"It really was just a dream!"
Eriri's voice echoed from far away.
===
"Ran off again?" Utaha asked helplessly.
"You're the one who brought up the whole 'two of us together' thing. Now my heart's still all over the place..." Eriri muttered helplessly. "At least give me some time..."
"Fine... but tomorrow, even if you get in my way, I'm still going for it!" Utaha said, then went back to their room.
"Just one day... well, one day it is..." Eriri mumbled, blushing again, and headed back to their room as well.
===
Homura shook his head with a chuckle.
"Dream, really? Where'd you even pick up that hypnosis crap, some TV show?"
"And you didn't even bother to close the door before telling me it's a dream?"
He sighed as he glanced at the open door.
"Megumi, could you help me close the door?"
As soon as Homura's words dropped, the door swung shut on its own, and as it moved, it revealed Megumi, who had been hidden in the shadows behind it.
"Homura-kun, how'd you know I was here?" Megumi asked curiously.
"How?" Homura looked at her as she slowly walked over to him. "Honestly, Utaha and Eriri really thought my ears were just for decoration. What I'm more curious about is... Megumi, you kinda locked yourself in here."
Megumi didn't answer his question and instead asked again.
"So, you were pretending to be asleep this whole time, Homura-kun?"
"Yeah, I was honestly curious if they were planning to sneak in and ambush me. Didn't wanna scare them off, so I kept still. Who knew it'd be this little one both times..." Homura smiled warmly and gave Haru a gentle pat on the head.
"Don't you feel frustrated, Homura-kun?"
"Everyone's already gone out of their way to accommodate me. How could I be so greedy?" Homura shook his head. "Besides, the feelings we've built together aren't fake, so there's no need to rush things."
In the end, the two of them fell silent for a moment before Homura spoke again.
"Megumi, you planning to stay here?"
Megumi sat down beside him and then responded.
"You know, before I even realized it... Homura-kun, you became someone really special to me."
"You just suddenly came up and talked to me. Even though you'd forgotten I was your classmate, you stubbornly insisted you'd never forget again... Honestly, back then, I thought you were just being stubborn. I mean, even my mom ignored me, so why would anyone else remember me?"
"But then the next day at school, when you actually came up and greeted me... I was really surprised. I never thought something like that would happen."
"And after that, you suddenly invited me to that meeting. From then on, it felt like I was just getting dragged along by you, but since then, Homura-kun, you really haven't forgotten me or ignored me even once..."
"Over time, more and more people started remembering me too. It's all thanks to you."
Hearing Megumi's heartfelt words, Homura shook his head again.
"If you hadn't wanted to change yourself, nothing I did would've mattered."
At this, Megumi kept going.
"You know, the more time we spent together, the more I realized... with how amazing Homura-kun is, it's pretty much impossible for any girl who gets close to you not to start liking you... and yeah, I'm no different."
She smiled slightly.
"But, Homura-kun... you still haven't said anything about how you feel... is it because you can't tell what everyone's thinking? No... you're super smart, and you understand everyone so well, so there's no way you don't see it."
"If that's not it, then why? After thinking about it a lot, I guess it's probably the same as what most guys wish for..."
