[TSSIM] Chapter 496: A Sketchy-Looking Secret Club

In fact, Fumino had already figured it out, but she was too embarrassed to say it.

In the fairy tale, since the thorns were meant to block the princes from rescuing the princess, the Thorns' Club must naturally exist to keep boys from getting close to her!

A club with the purpose of preventing boys from getting close to her?

When had it even come into existence?

And since it was a club, that meant it must be quite established.

However, what about its members?

It was a bit hard to figure out, so maybe she should just ask Homura.

"Ugh, this is a headache..." Fumino muttered with a helpless expression. "I mean, why would a club like that even exist?" 

"What's wrong, Fuminocchi? Is there a problem with this Thorns' Club? Isn't it just a fan club?" Uruka asked, noticing Fumino's mood.

"If it were just a fan club, that'd be fine, but I'm not sure, so I was thinking of asking Homura-kun..." Fumino sighed lightly.

"Mm, then hurry and ask, Fumino. We want to know what's really going on too." Rizu nodded in agreement.

Fumino nodded back and started typing in the group chat.

[Furuhashi Fumino: Homura-kun, is this Thorns' Club supposed to be like the thorns from Sleeping Beauty?]

[Minamiya Homura: As I said earlier, it's fine if you think of it that way.]

[Furuhashi Fumino: No, I mean, I kinda figured it's to keep boys away from me, but how do you even know about it? Did the club already come after you?]

Upon reading Fumino's words, Homura's lips twitched.

If the Thorns' Club was that powerful to dare come after him, that would be impressive!

[Kousaka Kirino: Keeping boys away? For real?]

[Tainaka Ritsu: Are they some kind of fanatics or something? Maybe Fumino's admirers formed it to stop any boys from getting close, except for those in the club itself?]

Ritsu's guess made Fumino flinch.

If a club like that really existed, she would definitely have to report it to the school!

[Minamiya Homura: Ritsu, isn't your guess a bit much? I mean, it's fine to call the one you're talking about a fan club, and it's also fine to call it a support club, but a club like that can't be called the Thorns' Club.]

[Tainaka Ritsu: Why?]

[Minamiya Homura: Did you forget the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty? What was the point of the thorns around her castle? Yeah, they kept all the princes away, but didn't one get through in the end?]

Everyone who read Homura's words was speechless.

[Minamiya Sagiri: So... Nii-san is the one who got in?]

Fumino's face instantly turned bright red!

[Minamiya Homura: Well, the Thorns' Club doesn't even know I exist.]

What Homura stated was a bit bold.  

He was basically admitting that he was the prince who got up and went to find the sleeping beauty, but did it the legit way—meaning the thorns were useless!

[Minamiya Homura: You know, through the fairy tale, you can totally guess a lot about the Thorns' Club. If it didn't match the fairy tale, they wouldn't have picked 'thorns' as their club name.]

[Ogata Rizu: What do you mean?]

[Minamiya Homura: It's to keep boys away, I mean, any boys. Just think about it, in the fairy tale, if the thorns dropped a piece and it turned into a prince to approach the princess, wouldn't that be kinda weird?]

Upon reading this, the girls around Homura all looked at him with strange expressions, but somehow, the way he described it wasn't a problem—or rather, it was actually pretty funny.

[Minamiya Homura: In conclusion, the club members are confirmed to be girls.]

[Katou Megumi: Though it sounds a bit strange, it actually makes a lot of sense.]

[Minamiya Homura: And the thorns in the fairy tale, you all know they're around the castle, which means the club members are usually around Fumino.]

As soon as Fumino read this, she subconsciously glanced at Rizu and Uruka beside her.

"Don't look at me, Fuminocchi!" Uruka waved her hands frantically. "I swear I don't know anything about the Thorns' Club!"

"Don't look at me! I don't know!" Rizu held up a pillow to block Fumino's gaze.

Fumino had only glanced over out of instinct, but their reactions made her feel like they were somewhat guilty. However, she was probably just imagining things since there was no way they could be members of the Thorns' Club.  

Because if they were, something would have happened when she started getting closer to Homura.

[Minamiya Homura: To sum it up, the Thorns' Club is a secret club that was formed spontaneously by a group of girls around Fumino, to figure out if the boys who approach her are a good match. It's a pretty sketchy-looking secret club.]

[Furuhashi Fumino: Sketchy...]

[Yamada Elf: LOL, the summary's not bad!]

Elf was laughing so hard she was rolling.

[Minami Kotori: A sketchy-looking secret club, huh?]

Aside from Elf, the other girls also thought it was pretty funny.

Homura revealing the existence of the Thorns' Club really opened their eyes and made them realize that this world was full of unexpected surprises.

[Gokou Ruri: By the way, since it's a secret club, how did Minamiya-senpai even find out about it?]

[Minamiya Homura: Did you play Fate, Kuroneko?]

[Gokou Ruri: Of course! I've played it tons of times!]

[Minamiya Homura: Oh, thanks, but do you remember this line? Stronger Mystery will overwhelm the weaker Mystery.]

Kuroneko, upon reading this, was speechless.

[Kasumigaoka Utaha: Perfect explanation! (Rolling-eyes emoji)]

In fact, Homura wasn't lying, since the most 'Mystery (mysterious)' thing in this world was probably him and the System, so a secret club like the Thorns' Club was nothing.  

In other words, Utaha was indeed right about his 'perfect explanation'.  

Naturally, the girls thought Homura was just making a joke.  

Meanwhile, Fumino, after reading Homura's explanation, could finally breathe a little easier.  

Even though this secret club didn't really seem necessary for her, she had to admit, they hadn't bothered her at all since everything was done in secret.  

Maybe they even stopped a lot of bothersome boys from getting close to her?  

Regardless, after processing all the information Homura had shared, not only did Fumino actually not feel any negative emotions toward the Thorns' Club, but she even felt a faint sense of goodwill toward them.

"But... who could they be? There's no way every girl in the class is part of the Thorns' Club, right?" Fumino muttered with suspicion.

"Maybe the entire class is involved!" Uruka said while grinning.

Fumino: "..."

"Forget it. I'll just pretend I don't know anything!" Fumino nodded, making up her mind. "Even if I find out who they are later, I won't expose them."

"Mm, that's better than having everyone come up to you to confess, Fuminocchi." Uruka nodded with a smile. "I've always wondered, you're so cute, how come not many guys confess to you? Looks like the Thorns' Club is blocking them."

"Cute? Don't say that..." Fumino blushed, waving her hands frantically. "You and Ri-chan are way cuter!"

"No way!" Uruka cupped her face, feeling a little hot.

For a moment, the atmosphere became a little too sweet and cute.