[TSSIM] Chapter 476: Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!

Suddenly being kissed by Honoka, Homura touched his cheek and softly smiled without saying anything.

Meanwhile, the girls remained silent with speechless expressions.

After a while—

"I really didn't expect it, Honoka-chan... actually took the leap this time..." Kotori remarked, feeling a bit surprised.

She had originally meant to say, "Honoka-chan is really bold," but when she thought about several others who had already been bold, it wouldn't quite fit to say it that way, so she changed her words at the last second.

"Um..." Umi responded, feeling a bit shy. "Last time, she suddenly hugged Homura-kun, and now she even kissed him. So, next time..."

Funnily, the more she thought about it, the redder her face got.

Seeing their reactions, Homura smiled and shook his head.

"Don't think Honoka was in such a rush. She definitely stopped right after turning the corner."

Seeing Rin and Hanayo look at him expectantly, Homura explained.

"Just think about it—rushing into her house like that, it'd be weird if her mom didn't ask why she rushed. Plus, she was supposed to go home with Yukiho, so what's up with one going ahead and the other going behind?"

"So that's what was going on…" Rin's face lit up with realization.

With that, the group set off again, but the rest of the trip changed quite a bit, thanks to Honoka's influence.

Before they parted ways, Kotori gave Homura a soft kiss with a flushed face, but afterward, her actions were more composed than Honoka's, who ran off after the kiss. Instead, Kotori walked back home at a normal pace.

Umi, on the other hand, had significant progress since the last time.

She was now okay with asking him to pet her head, and this time, with her face burning up, she surprisingly asked him to close his eyes.

Even though he knew exactly what Umi was up to, he still closed his eyes, knowing she was the shyest among Muse's members.

Feeling the soft touch on his cheek, just before he could ask if he could open his eyes, he heard Umi's hurried footsteps as she ran off.

And so, the group continued, and next was Nico's turn.

"Nico, you coming?" Homura asked with a smile.

"Hmph, what do you think?" Nico rolled her eyes.

Nozomi, who was watching with interest, thought that it was especially funny every time Nico interacted with Homura like this.

Homura smiled and turned his right cheek toward Nico.

Nico: "…"

For some reason, Nico, who usually tried to act casual, didn't take action right away this time. She silently stared at Homura, her eyes darting around, then rubbed her chin.

Eventually, she gritted her teeth, stretched out both hands and cupped his face, forcing him to face her.

Seeing this unexpected move, Maki and the others widened their eyes, watching closely, afraid they would miss something.

Nico and Homura locked eyes, which made things a little awkward. Although she had forced him to face her, she started to feel shy and didn't dare act on it, making things even more awkward.

As Nico's face turned redder and redder yet still didn't move, Homura understood it was his turn to act.

"Mmm!"

Nico stared wide-eyed, surprised that Homura had beaten her to it by kissing her on the lips!

Because of this, however, Nico's competitive spirit suddenly kicked in!

"!!!"

Everyone, including Nozomi, was almost stunned as they saw this unexpected outcome.

It couldn't be helped.

Of all the girls, they never thought Nico would actually be the one who went this far!

""Hahh...""

A moment later, the two lips finally separated.

Nico, blushing, let out a long breath.

"I'm heading home."

Before anyone could say anything, Nico waved and left with quick steps.

"Ahh! Nico-chan just overtook us!" Nozomi exclaimed, half excited, half reluctant.

She was obviously happy because her goal had moved a little closer, but also a bit frustrated because, deep down, she wanted to get ahead of the others just a little.

Honestly, she didn't expect Nico to go all out like that.

Meanwhile, Eli secretly glanced at Nozomi, who seemed a little conflicted.

'Heh... she's really starting to act like a girl in love, huh?' Eli thought with amusement. 'Seriously, the old Nozomi would've just smiled playfully.'

With that, the group continued, and it was Eli's turn.

Remembering what the others had just done, Eli couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and conflicted about what she should do.

"Wow~! You're blushing, nyaa!"

Seeing Eli's blushed face, Rin remarked with an excited tone.

"Eli-chan used to be so cool, always keeping her composure! Now, I finally get to see a different side of Eli-chan!"

Hearing this, Eli's right eyebrow twitched.

'I want to keep my composure too, but getting extremely close to a guy is beyond my control!' Eli couldn't help but complain inwardly. 'Still, did Rin always want to see a different side of me?'

"Onee-chan, hurry up."

Hearing her little sister's words, Eli raised her eyebrows, feeling confused.

'Alisa? What does she mean by that?'

Seeing Eli's confused expression, Homura almost laughed out loud.

Although Homura didn't laugh out loud in the end, the smile he was holding back was obvious to anyone who looked.

Eli, who saw this clearly, had her face turn red before shooting her little sister a glare.

'You troublemaker, even though I know you didn't mean it, you just made me more nervous...' Eli scolded her little sister inwardly.

Sighing helplessly, she took a deep breath before going back to normal—no more blush, no more heavy breathing.

"Oh? As expected of my Eli! Your calmness is amazing!" Homura couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

Eli's ability to handle nervousness was truly remarkable, as expected of a student council president!

Meanwhile, upon hearing 'my Eli' from Homura's mouth, Eli almost lost her composure again.

Eli shot Homura a glare before giving him a light kiss.

Even though it was just a glare, Homura could strangely feel the electricity in Eli's gaze. If he hadn't been completely in control of his body, he might have already shivered.

"It's my turn! It's my turn!"

As soon as Eli stepped back, Alisa eagerly ran over to Homura.

"Wait! Alisa!"

Eli shouted in panic, wanting to stop her little sister, but unfortunately, she was too late.

Chu~

"Hehehe... Now I'm ahead of Yukiho~" Alisa giggled, then turned to Eli. "By the way, Onee-chan, what were you going to say?"

'Right... What was I going to say again?' Eli thought with a blank face before shaking her head. "Forget it... It's nothing..."

Under the gaze of her younger sister's innocent, sparkling eyes, she helplessly relented.

"Oh... Let's go home then!" Alisa nodded.

After saying their goodbyes to the others, Alisa hopped away cheerfully.

"Alisa, walk properly! Aren't you worried about falling since it's getting dark?" Eli scolded.

"It's fine~"

Seeing the two sisters vanish, Homura glanced at the silent Nozomi with a smile and patted her head.

"What's wrong?"

"Homura-kun... I feel a little conflicted..." Nozomi replied with a somewhat conflicted expression.

Rin, Maki, and Hanayo all looked over, and Homura paused for a moment before continuing to pat Nozomi's head.

"Why do you say that?"

"Homura-kun, you really don't get it, do you?"

Homura naturally understood what Nozomi meant.

"You think everyone's concerned about you?" Homura asked, looking at the darkening sky. "Because they figured out your intention, they're purposely trying to get closer to me because of you?"

Seeing Nozomi fall silent, Rin, Maki, and Hanayo quickly understood why she looked so conflicted.

At this, Homura sighed with a smile before turning to Rin, Maki, and Hanayo.

"What do you girls think? If you don't clear this up, Nozomi will really start feeling guilty, y'know."

At this question, the three girls exchanged glances.