Midnight, at the Minamiya Residence.
At this moment, a shadowy figure was sneaking around, trying not to make a single sound, but they seemed a little conflicted, pacing back and forth for a while before finally stopping outside Homura's room.
Looking left and right, the figure swallowed nervously and placed a hand on the door handle, but just as they were about to turn it, another hand suddenly grabbed theirs!
"Ugh—!"
Startled, the figure almost cried out, but someone quickly covered their mouth!
Unable to resist the urge to struggle, a familiar voice rang in the figure's ears.
"It's me..."
Even though the voice was soft, it was clear enough to recognize.
"Kasumigaoka Utaha... why aren't you asleep yet?"
"Oh, come on, Eriri, you're not asleep, so how could I possibly sleep?"
With just those two lines, the situation became pretty clear.
Eriri had snuck out of her room, trying not to wake anyone, and after some hesitation in the hallway, she ended up right outside Homura's room.
Utaha, however, hadn't been asleep like Eriri thought, and as soon as Eriri left her room, Utaha followed her quietly!
"What do you want?" Eriri lowered her voice, gritting her teeth as she asked Utaha.
"I didn't want anything..." Utaha answered nonchalantly.
"Homura, that greedy guy, even confessed that he likes us. Since no one's leaving him, what are you doing here bothering me?"
"Well, the first one is always special." Utaha shrugged.
Eriri: "..."
"No... the first one is Rin..." Eriri said quietly.
"It was just a confession—doesn't mean anything. I mean, the real first one is the one who sleeps with him first!" Utaha pouted.
"So, you're really going to stop me?" Eriri was getting frustrated, feeling like she was being watched too closely.
"If we go in together, I won't stop you. How about that?" Utaha said with a meaningful smile.
Hearing this, Eriri couldn't shake the feeling that Utaha was up to something.
Nevertheless, after thinking for a while about what Utaha had said, Eriri furrowed her brow and finally agreed.
"Fine, let's go in then!"
At this answer, Utaha wasn't surprised, so she nodded calmly.
"Let's go."
'You think I'm scared, huh?! Do you really think I won't go in?' Eriri grumbled inwardly.
With a little force on the door handle, the door cracked open, and both of them held their breath, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Through the moonlight, they carefully peered inside the room, and—
""!!!""
They both jumped in surprise, almost screamed, because right where Homura was sleeping, a pair of gleaming eyes were staring at them!
As their hearts pounded in their chests, Eriri started to worry.
Was Haru going to wake Homura up?
Having this same thought, neither of them spoke.
Who knew what kind of sleep Homura was in?
What if even the slightest noise woke him up?
They understood well that his hearing was sharp.
After a short while, they realized that Haru wasn't making a sound or even moving.
Relieved, they carefully approached Homura's bed, staring at him as he slept soundly, both unsure of what to do next.
Haru, on the other hand, was curiously watching them.
Even though she didn't understand what they were doing, something about their actions felt different, and that made it very interesting.
'Could it be... just like last time when Homura did that thing with that girl, like licking fur?'
Haru's thoughts kept racing.
Utaha tugged on Eriri's sleeve, making Eriri turn around and see Utaha gesturing with her hands.
Soon, Eriri understood what Utaha meant.
Utaha's gesture was simple—Go for it!
Yes, that was it!
Utaha wasn't doing anything herself, trusting that Eriri wouldn't do anything while being watched. If Utaha weren't around, maybe Eriri would gather some courage!
Eriri swallowed nervously, but as she stared at Homura's face, so close yet so far, she couldn't bring herself to move closer. Even though she tried to make up her mind, her brain kept sending signals for her to retreat.
However, just backing away like that was too frustrating!
It was a battle between will and instinct!
Eriri shook her head, ceasing to dwell on unnecessary thoughts.
Suddenly, in Haru's puzzled gaze, Eriri gently reached out and rubbed Homura's head.
'Why are you patting his head? Weren't you planning to lick his fur? Don't tell me you don't know how?' Haru thought, puzzled. 'Oh well, it can't be helped! Let this Haru-sama teach you then!'
Eriri was about to toughen up and show Utaha whether she dared to do it when she suddenly noticed Haru shifting his body and, under the two of their incredulous gazes, she licked the side of Homura's face.
Homura moved slightly, and in the blink of an eye, the two girls disappeared without a trace!
A moment later, Homura sat up and sighed helplessly.
"I don't even know whether to say they're brave or timid. If I say they're brave, well, coming to ambush me at night is pretty bold, but if I say they're timid... I didn't even make a sound, afraid of scaring them away, but instead, it was the little one who scared them off..."
"But..."
Homura paused, thinking for a moment, before continuing.
"It's more likely that Eriri couldn't hold back and ran off, and Utaha was probably dragged away by her, right? Seriously, these two would be letting each other down if they didn't mess with each other."
As Homura thought about it, he couldn't help but smile since this little play was actually pretty fun, though he couldn't tell anyone about it.
Besides, where there was one, there was sure to be a second, right?
"Little one, let's go back to sleep." Homura gave Haru a headpat and settled back down to sleep.
Haru blinked, still pondering.
'Why did they run? And Homura even said it was me who scared them off? Did I do something scary? No, I didn't! I was clearly just teaching her how to lick his fur...'
'Hmm, I really don't get it... Guess I'll just go back to sleep...'
Haru shifted positions and curled up against Homura's neck, continuing to sleep.
===
"Wait up! Why are you running away? If you can't do it, I can!"
Just as Eriri was about to drag Utaha back to their room, Utaha finally broke free from her grip and exclaimed frustratedly.
"Hmph, if you're getting in my way, I'm gonna get in yours, no question about it!" Eriri scoffed.
Utaha: "..."
"I didn't think much about it when I saw Homura move, okay?! I just instinctively ran—Wait, isn't this backwards?" Eriri huffed angrily. "It should've been him sneaking up on me, right?!"
"What? You wanna do 'that kinda thing' in front of us three?" Utaha said with a shocked expression. "Didn't know you were an exhibitionist."
"Who in their right mind would do that?!" Eriri snapped, then sighed tiredly. "Mou... I want my own room..."
Hearing this, Utaha immediately threw her arm over Eriri's shoulder.
"No way, we're too close for that. I can't let you go."
Eriri rolled her eyes dramatically, grabbed Utaha's hand, and pulled her back to their room.