[TSSIM] Chapter 482: Chasing Nico

Having a great time with each other, one human and one cat swung their limbs at superfast speed.

However, when Homura reached his peak speed, he finally stopped.

Because a cat's reflexes and speed were originally already faster than a human's, adding the boosts from the System put Haru clearly on another level.

Even now, Homura couldn't possibly be faster than Haru unless he pushed his physical limits.

"What's up? Me and the little one stopped already."

Homura spoke with raised eyebrows as he saw the girls still recording them with dazed expressions.

"Ah! We were just stunned watching it!" Elf quickly stopped recording, exclaiming in surprise. "With your speed… if anyone else saw this video, they'd think it's on fast-forward!"

"Nah, I don't want you to show it to the public." Homura shook his head.

"Hmm… alright, I'm not that clueless. I won't post everything." Elf nodded. "Still, it's fine if I send it to Rin and the others, right? Haru's performance just now, she'll definitely love it."

"Of course, it's fine. Just remember to send it with the app I made."

"Don't worry, ever since you made it, I've been using it to chat with everyone."

Homura had to admit that when it came to important things, Elf was really reliable.

===

Hoshizora Residence, Rin's Room.

Under the blanket, Rin lay on her bed with one hand on her lips, looking as if she was lost in thought.

Meanwhile, the reflection of the phone screen lit up her face, and her gaze seemed a little distant.

"Probably, not long from now, Rin can completely give my all to Homura-kun..."

Muttering to herself, a clear blush appeared on Rin's face, as if she had imagined something indecent.

RING!

"Kyaaa!"

Hearing her phone suddenly ringing, Rin was startled. 

"Homura-kun?" 

Rin looked puzzled and then opened a photo that Homura had sent her.

"Cute!"

In a flash, Rin tossed the blanket off and sat up abruptly!

"Rin has seen Haru-chan yawning a million times, but Rin never had time to take a picture... Homura-kun's so amazing!"

Rin spoke excitedly, her eyes glued to her phone.

"Eheehee..."

Looking at Haru on the phone, Rin smiled dreamily.

RING!

"Nyaa?! It's happening again! Hmm? Elf-chan?"

Moments later—

"So cute, nyaa~!"

Rin's exclamations echoed through the room, making her mother downstairs smile while shaking her head.

===

The next day, after school.

Homura waved goodbye to the girls and separated from them to set off toward his goal of finding a tree stump or roots.

He had to hurry—if he didn't, everyone would be off work by the time he got back.

===

Meanwhile, at Otonokizaka Academy.

"Wait a minute... Nico-chan actually skipped practice?!"

Honoka called out in surprise, standing in the stairwell.

"I wouldn't say she skipped..." Kotori murmured softly. "I mean, we didn't really plan this together and just kind of gathered here on our own, right? It's not wrong for Nico-chan not to show up..."

"Even if you say that... this is Nico we're talking about—the one who's always the most passionate about being an idol!" Umi retorted, her face scrunched up in confusion. "If Nozomi hadn't told us about it, I wouldn't have thought it was weird, but now, it's definitely suspicious!"

Eli shook her head and spoke up.

"I was thinking of waiting until the practice was over to spy on Nico, but it looks like we'll have to do it earlier than planned."

"Um! Let's catch Nico-chan before she gets too far!" Hanayo chimed in enthusiastically, then blinked awkwardly. "I mean, spying on her wasn't really the goal..."

"Let's see what Nico's been up to!" Maki grinned mischievously.

"Alright, let's go!" Nozomi exclaimed, and with that, she snuck out first.

Seeing this, the other seven quickly followed one by one.

===

"Shopping street?" Honoka asked with a confused expression. "Is she going to buy dinner ingredients?"

"Maybe... she's working part-time?" Umi said, offering her guess after thinking for a moment.

"Working part-time seems unlikely..." Kotori shook her head. "We're usually at Homura-kun's place around this time, so how could Nico-chan be working part-time?"

"Kotori is right… and don't forget we're doing professional voice acting work now." Maki chimed in. "Homura-kun pays us for it, even if it's sent to our homes. I think if we really needed the money, our parents would just hand it over nonetheless, so there's really no need for a part-time job."

"You're right! Even though it's with our parents, we really are earning money!" Honoka nodded. "And it seems like a pretty decent amount—hey, wait... Could it be… I've become an independent girl?"

Upon hearing this, the others stared at her in silence, and Eli, not too pleased, spoke up.

"Unless you can manage your own income like Nozomi, then you can't exactly call yourself independent."

Honoka: "…"

"Nico-chan went inside, nyaa!" Rin, who had been staring intently at Nico, suddenly called out.

"It seems like she's just buying ingredients for dinner..." Nozomi murmured, rubbing her chin. "Is that really it? If so, there's no reason to skip practice for that, right?"

"Right? With the concert coming up, Nico-chan should be super motivated to practice right now..." Kotori nodded, looking suspicious.

"Maybe... she's meeting someone really important?" Hanayo guessed.

"Or maybe she wants to make dinner for someone?" Maki added, continuing Hanayo's line of thought.

Everyone: "..."

"Seriously, it has to be Homura-kun, right?!" Umi commented.

"But... if she wanted to see or make dinner for Homura-kun, there'd be no need for all of this, right?" Eli shook her head. "And I don't think Nico would be interested in anyone besides Homura-kun."

"Maybe someone in her family is having a birthday?" Kotori guessed.

"Hmm, that's possible... but then why hide it? It's not something embarrassing—she could just tell us, right?" Nozomi nodded, then shook her head, feeling like something didn't add up.

"Ugh, this is so annoying! You know what, thinking about it won't help. Whatever she's hiding, we just need to follow her!" Maki said, scratching her head in frustration.

"Awful! She's looking this way!" Rin called out again.

As soon as the girls heard this, they turned around just in time to catch Nico's eyes staring at them through the store's glass door.

Everyone: "…"

Nico: "…"

Nico's mouth twitched, and in the next moment, she took two steps back before turning and running.

""She's running away!"" (×8)

"I will go to the back!" Rin exclaimed and immediately took off.

Meanwhile, the others chased after Nico into the store, but to avoid causing trouble for the customers, they held back a little.

As a result, however, they couldn't catch up to Nico.

Fortunately, there was one among them who didn't need to hold back, and that was Rin!

Rin, sprinting to the store's back door, crouched down, waiting for Nico to come out.

As soon as Nico appeared, she pounced!

"Gotcha!"

"Why are you chasing me?!" Nico yelled in panic.

"Why?" Rin tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then answered with raised eyebrows. "Because you ran, nyaa?"

Hearing this, Nico's mouth twitched again.

'You're chasing me just because I run?! Are you a cat?!'

Gritting her teeth, Nico couldn't help but complain inwardly.

'Hmph, too bad. You're too naive if you think you can catch me so easily!'

Whoosh!

With her quick reflexes, Nico quickly slipped right out of Rin's arms.

"Nyaa?!"

Rin stumbled but quickly regained her balance.

Unfortunately, by the time she was ready, Nico was already a long way off.

At the same time, Honoka and the others finally caught up.