[TSSIM] Chapter 506: Vegetable Juice's Time

After dinner.

At this moment, the nine members of Muse stared at the nine cups of vegetable juice in front of them, looking as appetizing as ever, yet they hesitated, unwilling to take the first sip.

Seeing them like this, Homura shrugged from the side.

"Just drink it. Sooner or later, you'll have to anyway."

At this, Honoka and the others' faces darkened, but even so, none of them moved.

"Want me to show you how it's done? Lead the way?" Homura asked while rolling his eyes.

"Like this stuff even affects you." Nico scoffed.

"Can't say that." Homura shook his head. "Like I said, this is the enhanced version, y'know? At the very least, it should make me frown a little."

Girls: "..."

Was he serious? Just a frown?

Homura glanced over at the writers and artists.

"You girls want some too?"

Immediately, all the writers and artists shook their heads like rattles.

"Something that valuable... we wouldn't wanna waste it!" Eriri said while forcing a smile.

"It's okay! It's because it's good stuff that we should all share it!" Honoka said with a bright smile, insisting they didn't need to be polite.

'Yeah, right. Like hell I'd believe that!' Eriri thought with twitched lips. "Uh, well... I gotta go draw!"

In the next second, she vanished in a flash.

"I gotta work on my script too!" Elf disappeared just as fast.

Wherever Honoka's gaze landed, people vanished one by one—what a terrifying eye technique!

Ultimately, only Mashiro remained, eyeing the vegetable juice with mild curiosity.

Seeing this, Honoka and the others became hesitant—dragging Mashiro into this somehow felt a little wrong.

"Honestly, I kinda wanna see if my vegetable juice can make Mashiro's expressions a little more... lively." Homura muttered.

Girls: "..."

Even though they were speechless, they were quite curious too. Besides, judging by how Mashiro handled Akiko's jam, the vegetable juice might not even do much to her.

"Homura, I want to try." Mashiro said flatly.

"Wait a sec." Homura shrugged.

"Homura-kun, pour me a glass too. I mean, it's good for us, right?" Megumi chimed in.

"Gotcha! Anyone else?" Homura asked with a smile.

"I... I'll have one too..." Nanami said hesitantly, but in the end, she chose to stick with the rest of the voice actors.

Yukiho and Alisa exchanged looks before making up their minds.

""We too!""

"Facing the challenge head-on, huh? Not bad." Homura nodded in satisfaction.

Before long, he returned with a tray holding six cups of vegetable juice.

"Looks like everyone's struggling to drink, so how about we just toast?" Homura said while picking up a cup.

Hearing this, Honoka and the others flinched.

Honestly, they didn't really want to toast, but they knew that if they didn't finish it in one go, they would only suffer more since Homura was clearly not gonna let them leave a drop or waste it.

Forcing their hands to move, Muse's members reluctantly picked up their cups, their faces full of misery.

""Cheers...""

People usually toasted with smiles, but this? A toast with bitter expressions was definitely a rare sight.

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

As soon as Mashiro gulped down the vegetable juice, she clutched her throat, her face turning pale.

"P-Poison... It's poison..."

Seeing this, Homura was speechless.

'What the hell? Why are you acting so dramatic?!' Homura thought helplessly, then spoke up. "Well, it does taste kinda awful..."

He admitted honestly, frowning slightly, but that was it.

Meanwhile, the others?

Some collapsed, some slumped over—total annihilation in seconds.

Only Megumi, though she felt like the whole world was spinning, somehow managed to stay conscious.

"Homura-kun... this stuff is seriously awful..." Megumi said with a weak voice.

Homura walked over and gently patted her head.

"Since you're still conscious, you should take this moment to really feel it. Maybe it'll bring a new perspective to your mindset."

Hearing this, Megumi forced a small smile, leaned against Homura's chest, and closed her eyes, making him speechless once again.

'Doesn't this scene look way too tragic? Should I be acting more in pain to match the mood?'

Homura's thoughts were as ridiculous as ever.

===

Eight minutes later.

"AHH—!"

Screaming, Honoka jolted awake.

She looked around in confusion, her mind gradually clearing up.

Honoka: "…"

Glancing at the time, her lips twitched nonstop.

"Homura-kun's vegetable juice was terrifying..."

"You woke up so fast, Honoka-chan." Megumi said with a bit of admiration.

"Aren't you even faster, Megumi-chan?" Honoka smiled bitterly.

"Megumi didn't lose consciousness in the first place." Homura shook his head.

"Eh? Amazing!" Honoka exclaimed with a shocked expression.

"By the way, Nozomi, how long are you gonna keep pretending?" Homura rolled his eyes.

"Ara? How'd you know, Homura-kun?" Nozomi blinked, looking curious.

Honoka: "..."

"Your breathing changed two minutes ago." Homura shrugged. "You deliberately slowed it down to make it longer and more controlled. If you weren't faking, then what else could it be?"

"Heh~ I really can't fool you~" Nozomi said with a sly smile.

"Well, this thing has a lot to do with willpower. You waking up early doesn't surprise me one bit." Homura smiled slightly. "Next up should be Nico, Eli, Nanami, and Umi—they should be waking up right about now."

Right as he finished speaking, Nico started to stir, followed by Eli before Nanami and Umi reacted at almost the same time.

"Well, that's seriously amazing... You can even tell something like this?" Nozomi marveled.

"It got a lot to do with your personalities and experiences." Homura smiled lightly. "You're the mastermind behind Muse. You've thought of everything for the group, and to make friends, you've sacrificed a lot too. You waking up first isn't surprising at all."

Hearing this, Nozomi paused for a moment before puffing up her cheeks.

"Mastermind? I'm not some kind of villain!"

"Alright, alright, you're not. I'm the real mastermind, okay?" Homura shrugged casually.

Nozomi rolled her eyes at him before turning to look at the others.

"If that's the case... then Honoka-chan waking up right after me makes sense too."

As Nozomi spoke, the rest started to move.

"Ugh... my brain feels like it's buzzing..." Nico groaned, holding her head.

"You'll be fine in two minutes." Homura chuckled. "Since everyone's up now, take five minutes to rest before going back to your schedule."

"It did feel rough right after waking up, but my mind feels a lot clearer now." Honoka checked how she felt. "Even my throat feels better... Well, although that vegetable juice was seriously nasty, I gotta admit, it really works!"

"Duh, obviously. When have I ever tricked you?" Homura raised an eyebrow.

===

Five minutes later.

"Nyaa~! I feel great!" Rin bounced twice, testing out her body before grinning happily.

"In that case, how about another cup tonight?" Homura suggested.

Girls: "..."

""Are you a demon?!""