[TSSIM] Chapter 494: Tsumugi's Embarrassment

Homura organized his line art drawings, took out his phone, and played 'My World, Your World'.

Standing in front of the girls, Homura switched between the drawings in time with the song, making everyone feel like his drawings were alive—the movements between the drawings were so clear that they could imagine them on their own.

When the song ended, Homura finished showing them all the drawings.

Even though it was over, the girls stayed silent for a moment, probably still replaying the scenes from the drawings in their minds.

It took the girls a while before they finally snapped out of it.

Looking at Homura, who was brushing Haru's fur, Utaha sighed before speaking up.

"You know what, all of these scenes really fit the song perfectly... both the lyrics and the atmosphere of the music. It's just so right with what Homura-kun drew."

"Maybe this is the essence of the song... After seeing it, we really felt it." Muramasa nodded in agreement.

"Still, Mugi didn't even see it and still knew the scenes..." Eriri sighed in wonder. "Is it because she has great musical talent?"

Maki, upon hearing this, flinched slightly.

"Maybe it's just that we're in sync or something."

Homura chimed in while pinching Haru's paw and thinking for a moment.

"I think Fumino might get it too, but she'd probably know it through the lyrics, so it might not be exactly the same as what I thought."

"As for Mugi... maybe it's not just because of her natural musical talent, but also because we've known each other since we were little. She's probably more familiar with me, and that's why she got it."

Homura's words helped relieve some of Maki's frustration.

It couldn't be helped.

She had instinctively analyzed the song from an objective point of view, but because of that, it was hard to truly understand it. Only by listening with one heart could one start imagining the correct scenes.

"I'm going to ask Tsumugi what she was thinking earlier!" Elf exclaimed, picking up her phone.

[Yamada Elf: Tsumugi! Are you still there?]

[Kotobuki Tsumugi: What's up?]

[Yamada Elf: Could you describe the scenes you felt? I'm double-checking with Homura to see if it's just a coincidence.]

===

Meanwhile, at the Hirasawa residence.

Tsumugi, embarrassed, covered her blushing face upon reading Elf's words.

"Ugh... What should I do? Everyone actually wants to know this..."

"Etto, Mugi... Could you please get off me now?"

Ritsu, lying on the floor, propped up her chin with one hand and knocked the floor with the other, clearly frustrated.

Hearing this, Tsumugi, who was sitting on Ritsu's thighs, blushed in both embarrassment and anger.

"It's all Ricchan's fault!"

Exclaiming this, Tsumugi didn't show any intention of getting up.

If Homura had been here, he might have guessed that Tsumugi's blush was probably not just from embarrassment alone.

"Ahahaha..." Ritsu laughed awkwardly since the current situation was definitely her fault.

Seeing this, Mio rolled her eyes.

"Ritsu's always like this so I'm used to it. Anyway, we should be thinking about how Mugi's going to answer."

"Of course, she should just say whatever she thought of!" Yui said while raising her hand. 

"Onee-chan, why?"

Hirasawa Ui, Yui's little sister, asked with a smile.

She knew her sister's thoughts very well so she just wanted everyone else to understand her sister's idea.

"Because I wanna know too!" Yui nodded seriously.

Indeed, that was really important for her.

Tsumugi: "…"

Mio: "…"

It seemed like they couldn't count on Yui for this one.

"I think it's better to just say it out loud." Ritsu chimed in, resigned to being Tsumugi's cushion.

"Oh?" Mio shot her childhood friend a glance. "Isn't it because you're the one who started this, so you're saying that?"

"No way! It has nothing to do with that!" Ritsu shook her head.

At this, Mio showed a disbelieving look.

Ritsu: "..."

"Okay, maybe I'm not completely unrelated..." Ritsu spoke while scratching her head, but before anyone could say anything else, she quickly added, "But, first, hear my thoughts, okay?"

Mio thought for a moment, staring into Ritsu's eyes, then nodded.

"In that case, let me know your thoughts, but if you're just making stuff up... Heh..."

Mio didn't continue, but from her smirk, it was clear she was thinking of some sort of punishment.

Ritsu: "..."

"Geez... can you trust me a little more?" Ritsu pouted, mumbling under her breath.

"Just hurry up and say it!" Mio exclaimed, her forehead twitching.

"Mugi, please get off me first..." Ritsu muttered.

It wasn't very convenient to explain while she was acting as a cushion, after all.

Tsumugi ultimately stood up and released Ritsu.

In the end, they were just playing around, and life needed a bit of spice to make things more fun.

However, after standing up, Tsumugi's expression seemed a little regretful.

Once Ritsu settled back on the couch, with Mio and Tsumugi watching, she finally voiced her thoughts.

"So, in the future... Mugi and Homura-senpai's relationship will definitely change, right?" Ritsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mio's face turned red upon hearing this, as she understood Ritsu was clearly implying something else.

"You've heard of Homura-senpai's 'prowess', Mio. Forget about Mugi alone—whether even five Mugis could be a match for him is still unknown."

Even though Ritsu said 'five Mugis', her gaze swept over the four girls in the room, other than herself.

Yui was still happily eating, not paying attention to what Ritsu was saying, while Ui didn't quite get it, so she just watched silently.

It was understandable.

Yui's innocent personality aside, Ui hadn't encountered Homura yet, so it was normal for her not to understand what Ritsu was hinting at.

However, for the other two—

"What on earth are you thinking?!"

Yelling in frustration, Mio's face turned redder.

Tsumugi, with her face also turned red, grabbed a pillow and repeatedly hit Ritsu with it.

"Stop! Don't hit me! I'm just telling the truth! Mugi, you can't treat me like this!"

Ritsu kept resisting the incoming pillow, and although she was begging for mercy, the smile on her face was way too obvious.

Tsumugi didn't respond and continued her attack, venting her embarrassment.

"You know, it's gonna happen eventually anyway! If you're always too shy to even talk about it, how's your relationship with Homura-senpai gonna move forward?"

Ritsu continued, her words truly hit the mark.

As soon as she finished speaking, she no longer felt the pillow hitting her.

Slowly looking up, she saw Tsumugi's face constantly changing, clearly taking what she said to heart and probably still debating about it.

In fact, Ritsu's words were a real game-changer.

If Tsumugi wanted to get closer to Homura, this kind of thing was something she would have to get over sooner or later. Even if she wanted to keep worrying about it, it wouldn't last much longer.

"You know, Elf's been asking again, she's asked a bunch of times, actually." Ritsu grinned, shaking her phone. "And she even leaked some info."

"Eh? What info?"

Yui leaned in, her face full of curiosity, and of course, Ui followed her sister.

"Elf said that Homura-senpai had already drawn a bunch of pictures, all scenes that came to his mind while he was singing. He wanna know if the scenes you feel are the same as what he's drawn!"

With a big grin, Ritsu explained to everyone.

"If you describe what you see, she's gonna share the drawings in the chat."

"I wanna see!" Yui exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

It wasn't just Yui—even Mio and Tsumugi were both intrigued, though Tsumugi still seemed a bit conflicted about it.

Suddenly, the final straw came.

"Oh, right! Elf said the main characters in the drawings are Homura-senpai and you, Mugi."

Whoosh!

Tsumugi immediately pulled out her phone and started fiddling with it.