Eriri and Utaha returned to their room, treading carefully so as not to wake Megumi and Izumi, lest they have to explain themselves.
As they headed toward their respective sleeping spots, Utaha suddenly stopped.
Utaha turned around, gazing at where Megumi lay, her blanket all puffed up, yet her head remained hidden.
Approaching slowly, Utaha lifted a corner of the blanket, revealing Megumi hugging her knees, then gently letting the blanket fall back.
'Guess I'm just overthinking things...' Utaha shook her head.
Once Utaha returned to her own sleeping spot, Megumi, under the blanket, opened her eyes, but she quickly shut them again, falling back into sleep.
===
The next day, before lunch, everyone gathered together.
"So... are Yui-chan and the others practicing properly?" Hanayo asked.
"Probably..." Maki replied while playing with her own hair. "After all, there's less than two weeks until the school festival at Sakuragaoka."
"Hard to say... I mean, it's Yui, after all." Eriri shook her head, disagreeing with Maki.
"Well, we'll know if we just ask." Homura said, immediately took out his phone and called Tsumugi before putting it on speaker and placing the phone on the coffee table.
"Homura-niisan?"
"Mugi, are you having tea now?" Homura asked with a smile.
Everyone: "..."
Homura's question was a bit bold, as he was just straight up asking if she was having tea.
Needless to say, it looked like Homura didn't think Tsumugi and the others were actually practicing.
"Eh? How did Homura-niisan know? Did Yui-chan and the others tell you?" Tsumugi's voice sounded surprised.
Hearing this, the girls couldn't help but feel speechless again.
"No, no! Why would I tell Homuhomu-senpai that I'm having tea?" Yui immediately denied it.
"Uhh... it was just a casual question..." Homura broke out in a slight sweat. "By the way, how's everyone's practice for the festival going?"
As soon as this question was asked, the phone went silent, as if there was no signal at all, making everyone's eyes twitch.
"Uhh... maybe... possibly... probably okay?" Tsumugi responded with a hesitant tone.
Homura heard a thud from the phone, probably Mio, too embarrassed to show her face, banging her head on the table.
"You used three uncertain words, and the sentence structure is still a question... How am I supposed to reply to that?" Homura thought speechlessly, almost not knowing how to respond.
"Nooo—! So embarrassing!" Mio's voice sounded a little frantic.
"Ahaha..." Tsumugi chuckled awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
"But the performance itself is surely not a problem, right?" Homura continued.
"Eh?"
"What 'eh'?" Homura chuckled. "I've said it before, right? Even though you girls rarely practice, once you're on stage, you'll have this amazing chemistry, and your music will be perfectly in sync. Your music isn't pure music, but it's the bond between the four of you. And what we're here to hear... is that bond."
"..."
Another silence happened on the other end of the phone again, but this time, the reply came much faster.
"Mm! Homura-niisan, you'll surely hear it!" Tsumugi said, sounding energetic.
"Alright then, you girls go have your tea... but it'd be even better if you could practice a bit." Homura chuckled again.
*BANG!*
"Ah, Mio, just stand up if you're gonna stand up, why slap the table..." Ritsu's voice resounded, sounding a little strange.
"Don't worry, Minamiya-senpai! We're gonna practice right now!" Mio said with a determined voice.
"Wait! Don't drag me, Mio!" Ritsu grumbled.
"No~ My tea~ my cake~!" Yui whined.
"Well... that's it, Homura-niisan. We're gonna practice now! Bye!" Tsumugi cheerfully ended the call.
Looking at the phone that had already been hung up, Homura smiled.
"As expected, after hearing my words, Mio turned her embarrassment into motivation."
Hearing this, the girls all had dark expressions, and Elf directly asked,
"Did you say that on purpose?"
"I did say it on purpose, but I wasn't lying." Homura shrugged.
They thought about his words and then remembered that time they played together at the hot spring villa before realizing that it really was just like he had said.
"Mio felt the weight of our trust, so she wanted to repay all of us. Naturally, the only way to do that is to practice." Homura explained to everyone.
"Well, this is actually a form of encouragement." Utaha nodded in agreement. "Even if they don't practice all the time, the results will undoubtedly be good. Still, practicing a bit more is better than not practicing at all."
"Hmm, there's less than half a month left..." Nanami muttered thoughtfully. "I'm really looking forward to it."
Honestly, who wasn't looking forward to it?
After lunch, before officially starting their work, Homura thought for a moment and dialed another number.
It took a while, but the call was finally answered.
"Minamiya-san? Sorry to keep you waiting. I was just in the bathroom, and I only came out after I heard the washing machine stop. I didn't expect you to call me."
'Oh... so she was in the shower...'
Homura subconsciously imagined the scene, feeling a tickle in his nose, but he quickly shook his head, trying to shake off the scene.
"Kirisu-sensei, have you noticed anyone suspicious around lately?" Homura asked directly.
"Suspicious people...?"
Mafuyu, rubbing her still-damp hair with a towel, pondered for a moment before she replied.
"I don't think so. I drive whenever I go out, so there shouldn't be anyone suspicious around the apartment. Besides, after the last time, the person who got scared by you probably wouldn't dare to show up again."
She recalled the chilling encounter, yet just thinking about it made her feel secure.
"Good..." Homura sighed in relief. "Although I told you to call me if you notice anything off, I couldn't help but worry since you haven't called."
"Thanks for worrying about me..." Mafuyu said with a complicated tone.
She had actually been debating whether to call or not.
Even though there was no danger, there were times when she really wanted to make that call. Yet, before she could make up her mind, Homura had already called first.
Mafuyu couldn't help but smile slightly.
"No need to thank me for that..." Homura's voice was a bit helpless.
Mafuyu chuckled, and while talking, she decided to get dressed.
However, as she opened the wardrobe drawer, she saw something move inside.
"KYAAA—!!!"
"What happened?!"
Homura hurriedly asked, frowning as his ears rang with Mafuyu's sudden loud yell from the phone.
"Hey! Hello! Kirisu-sensei! Say something! What's going on?!"
Hearing no answer, Homura quickly ran out.
"Everyone! I'm stepping out for a bit! Be right back!"
"Okay..."
"Yes..."
"Yeah..."
A few girls, drawn out by Homura's shout, responded blankly, even though they hadn't heard him.
Seeing Homura vanish, they hadn't heard or known who he had called, nor did they understand what had made him hurry away, so they looked at each other in confusion.
"Who knows what's going on?" Elf couldn't help but say.
"I think I heard Homura-kun say sensei..." Kotori spoke up.
"Kirisu-sensei...? Hope she is okay..." Megumi muttered softly.