[TSSIM] Chapter 478: Joy, Anticipation, and Anxiety

"If you're gonna solve it, you better do it quickly."

Saying this, Homura smiled, took out his phone, and started fiddling with it.

Not long later, the phones of Nozomi, Maki, Rin, and Hanayo rang simultaneously.

They each took out their phones to check, and—

[Tomorrow, I'll give everyone a day off, so do your own thing. I will look for a sturdy tree stump for Haru since her old scratching post is about to break.] – From Minamiya Homura.

Seeing the four girls glued to their phones, Homura spoke up.

"Well, I gotta get a tree stump for the little one, so I might as well give you all a break. In the meantime, you can go stalk Nico. If you follow her, you'll definitely uncover her hidden secrets."

Girls: "..."

Needless to say, they were all speechless since his suggestion was way too decisive!

Stalking?

Was he serious?

"Isn't that a bit inappropriate, nyaa~?" Rin asked, looking a bit conflicted.

"I suggest you dig into this issue as soon as possible." Homura shook his head. "Aren't you curious why my manga is drawn the way it is? Why is Nico so obsessed with the leader and the center positions?"

"Now that you mention it..." Maki thought for a moment, starting to feel suspicious. "Even though we haven't had that kind of competition in the manga, Nico always seems to want to be better than us at idol stuff."

"And every time, Nico-chan is so unwilling to lose, nyaa~" Rin complained.

"Mm... When we recorded the introduction video, Nico-chan was so energetic too..." Hanayo said softly.

"She even often steals the spotlight..." Nozomi nodded.

As they thought about Nico carefully, they all felt she might have some issues.

"Go ahead, talk it out, and sort everything out." Homura shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, this will be a good thing for all of you."

"Okay~ I'll discuss it with Honoka-chan and the others tomorrow!" Rin said, a bit excited. "I'm feeling all fired up, nyaa!"

Homura smiled slightly, letting out a soft sigh.

Nico couldn't keep deceiving herself.

Muse was Muse—maybe there was a leader, but if there was really going to be a center position, then all nine of them were the center.

Nozomi, hearing Homura's sigh, became serious.

She felt that this issue needed to be resolved quickly, or it could turn into a very big deal.

In fact, the reason Homura wanted them to solve it as soon as possible was indeed because he feared it might become a big deal.

What he feared was not an exaggeration.

If it wasn't dealt with now, when the tournament of Love Live! was over, Muse's popularity would definitely skyrocket.

At that point, if Nico's younger siblings started telling others that their big sister was the idol and the other eight were just backup dancers, considering Muse's influence at that point, such a statement could become a huge problem.

And by then, even if they tried to explain, how many people would listen?

How many would believe them?

While the other eight might have understood that Nico told her younger siblings that way because she wanted to be seen as an amazing big sister and didn't want to disappoint them, what about her reputation and their relationship afterward?

For this reason, it was better to solve this sooner rather than later.

===

"Hahh... finally home..." Nozomi sighed lightly, stretching her body. "We talked a lot, but the journey felt kind of short."

"You could've just stayed at Homura-kun's place and talked as long as you wanted." Maki remarked, fiddling with her hair.

"I also want that to happen, so Maki-chan, Hanayo-chan, you both better do your best from here on out, okay!" Nozomi said cheerfully before cupping Homura's face in her hands. "Nico-chan's already ahead, so I'm gonna catch up!"

With that, their lips slowly met.

A while later—

"Fufu... See you later, everyone~" Nozomi waved her hand before walking away.

Seeing Nozomi's disappearing figure, Homura touched his nose.

"Racing already, huh..." Homura remarked with a faint smile.

Girls: "..."

"Hanayo... didn't Nozomi just tell us to do our best?" Maki, still a little stunned from the earlier scene, suddenly remembered what she wanted to say.

"Eh? Uh... I'm not sure..." Hanayo fiddled with her fingers, avoiding eye contact.

"Ahh~! Kayo-chin lied, nyaa!" Rin pointed at Hanayo's fingers. "Whenever Kayo-chin lies, her fingers do that!"

Hanayo: "..."

Maki: "..."

Homura couldn't help but smirk to himself.

Hanayo's little habit was completely unconscious and really hard to change.

"Why lie when you clearly heard it?" Homura asked with a smile.

"Because..." Hanayo looked up at him for a second, her face turning red, and quickly looked down again.

"Hahh..." Maki sighed, not feeling surprised anymore.

From what Nozomi said earlier, the reason she hadn't stayed at Homura's place yet was clearly because the others hadn't yet crossed the finish line, which meant what she wanted was to stay together with everyone, not just her alone.

Considering this, Nozomi telling Maki and Hanayo to do their best wasn't hard to figure out.

'Wait? Now that I think about it... why am I still so calm?' Maki thought to herself, feeling a little confused. 'Am I used to Nozomi's behavior? Or... are my feelings for Homura-kun stronger than I realized?'

"Maki-chan~?" Rin waved a hand in front of Maki's face. "What are you thinking about? You're daydreaming, nyaa~"

"Ahh... Um, just thinking about stuff I haven't figured out yet." Maki replied with a smile.

"Hmm?" Rin tilted her head sideways with a confused expression.

"But..." Maki paused, glancing at Homura. "I'll probably know the answer soon... Alright, let's go."

Homura, seeing Maki's behavior, stroked his chin thoughtfully.

'Maki's look earlier had a bit of meaning to it... It's definitely related to me, right? I just don't know what she's thinking...'

With that, the group set off again.

===

As Maki had thought earlier, her feelings for Homura were indeed stronger than she had imagined.

After leaving a kiss on Homura's cheek, her emotions were more than just a little shy—there was a mix of joy and anticipation.

The joy came from the fact that her relationship with Homura had truly taken a step forward, and the anticipation was about what changes the future would bring.

After confirming her feelings, Maki, for once, surprisingly didn't act all tsundere but smiled normally and said goodbye to the three.

"Eh..."

Hanayo let out a cute sound, her expression stunned.

"EHHHHH—?!!!"

After a while, Rin finally lowered her hands from her ears, looking completely confused.

"Kayo-chin... what's up with that scream?"

"Maki-chan... she... actually..." Hanayo struggled to get her words out. "No... Now it's just me left..."

"What?" Rin asked, not hearing clearly.

Hanayo, after some hesitation, finally spoke the word.

"...Kiss."

Rin: "..."

Homura: "..."

Homura wasn't sure what Hanayo meant.

Was she feeling left behind because she was the only one who hadn't kissed him?

If so, maybe she still hadn't figured out how to handle her relationship with him and still felt uncertain, while everyone else had already moved ahead.

Did that make her feel anxious?

However, wouldn't that make her even more uncertain?

"Do you feel anxious?" Homura asked with a gentle smile, patting Hanayo on the head to reassure her. "No need to rush. Just take it slow, alright?"

With that, he took Rin and Hanayo's hands and led them forward.

Behind him, Rin and Hanayo began talking to each other.

"Kayo-chin, are you feeling anxious like Homura-kun said?"

"...Mm."

After a brief silence, Hanayo gently nodded, her eyes fixed on the hand Homura was holding, slightly lost in thought.

"In that case, like Homura-kun said, no need to rush, nyaa~!" Rin exclaimed with a smile, her tone cheerful. "And if Kayo-chin is shy about kissing, Rin can join you in kissing Homura-kun!"

Hanayo: "…"

Homura, hearing Rin's bold words, twitched his lips.