[TSSIM] Chapter 463: Like a Girl in Love

After dinner.

At this moment, while everyone was chatting with each other on the sofa, Mafuyu sat alone on the backdoor steps, watching Haru play in the yard.

Homura walked over and sat down next to Mafuyu.

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

After a brief silence, Homura spoke up.

"Have you made up your mind?"

"..."

Another silence fell, but Homura didn't rush for an answer, quietly waiting for Mafuyu to speak.

"I... I've been torn..."

Mafuyu sighed lightly and finally spoke.

"When you first told me to move in with you, Homura-kun... I felt happy, nervous, excited, anxious... so many different emotions popped up all at once, and that's why I couldn't give you an answer..."

Homura quietly listened.

"Even now, after thinking it over for so long... even though those emotions have calmed down, I'm still torn..."

"All the girls living with you now can help you out and contribute, but I'm someone who can't offer anything... I'd just be someone you have to take care of, a burden... is it really okay for me to move in?"

Hearing Mafuyu's reasoning, Homura couldn't help sighing.

'I see... because she couldn't help with anything, she hesitated about it, huh...'

Homura smiled slightly and gave Mafuyu a headpat.

"Mm... I get it... If that's how you feel, then take your time. No need to rush and force yourself to decide."

"I just don't want to have someone like a stalker showing up again, following you. If we can make sure you're safe, then what's the difference between us living together and just seeing each other often?"

"Mm…" Mafuyu replied softly, then leaned lightly on Homura's shoulder, feeling touched by how much he cared for her.

"By the way..." Homura chuckled suddenly. "Aren't you gonna try cleaning your own room? You probably didn't want to move here because you were worried about causing me trouble with this habit of yours, right? So why not take care of yourself?"

"I want to... but I just can't control it..." Mafuyu replied, blushing.

"Well, take it slow. I'm not rushing you." Homura chuckled again.

At this moment, the two of them looked so harmonious together, making everyone around them jealous. Especially Fumino and Kotori, who were not far off, watching them with envious expressions.

"I've never seen this side of Kirisu-sensei before…" Uruka remarked with an envious tone. "She really looks like a girl in love, huh?"

"Like a girl in love?" Elf raised an eyebrow. "I mean, isn't she already a girl in love? Besides, aren't you all the same?"

"I don't think... I'm like that, right?" Muramasa asked, looking confused.

"Huh? Why are you asking me?" Elf rolled her eyes and shrugged. "If you say yes, it's yes. If you say no, it's no. Anyway, Homura already laid it out for us—if you agree, it's love. If not, it’s not. Simple as that."

Muramasa couldn't argue back, while Izumi, who had raised her hand to say something, lowered it quietly.

'Yeah, it's up to me! No need to explain anything...' Izumi nodded to herself.

Currently, only these two, plus Miyako, were still unsure of themselves, as the others had either made their stance clear or just silently went along with it.

"Hmm? Where's Mashiro?"

Nanami turned her head after hearing Elf speak, only to notice that Mashiro was no longer by her side.

She glanced around, and with a blank look on her face, she found that Mashiro quietly sneaking over toward Homura.

Seeing this, she almost rolled her eyes.

With Homura's sharp hearing, did Mashiro really think she could sneak up on him?

Nanami and the others watched Mashiro's actions with mild interest, wondering what she was about to do.

In the next moment—

Mashiro reached Homura's other side and leaned against his shoulder, just like Mafuyu on his other side!

Girls: "…"

"Mashiro really surprised me…" Elf said with a bit of a sigh.

"I bet everyone's surprised…" Megumi spoke softly. "Still, I wonder if Mashiro-chan is learning from Kirisu-sensei's actions, or if she's just confused about her own feelings?"

"She's probably learning from Kirisu-sensei." Utaha replied, smiling slightly as she watched Homura pat Mashiro's head with a helpless smile. "Otherwise, Homura-kun wouldn't have that expression."

"Yeah, Homura's expression is more like helplessness. If Mashiro really was confused, his face would probably be more like affection or something, right?" Eriri agreed with Utaha's point.

"It looks like there's still quite a long way for Mashiro to act like a normal girl…" Nanami sighed softly, feeling more and more sympathy for the girl who had given up her childhood for art.

"Homura-kun is getting up. He's probably going to send us home now." Eli reminded everyone.

"Eh? Isn't it kind of early?" Honoka asked in confusion.

"Well, Homura-kun still has to take Fumino-chan and the others home, remember?" Nozomi shook her head slightly. "That's why he's not going to send us home as late as usual."

"Exactly." Maki nodded. "Our work in Another Dimension is also already done, so we don't really have to stay out too late like before."

"I kind of wanted to stay here longer…" Honoka muttered with pity.

"Well, Nee-chan, you can just stay here then." Yukiho quipped.

"Yeah! You're right... Uhh, but don't we have school tomorrow?" Honoka's excitement faded a little as she became unsure.

"Of course we have school." Homura walked over with an amused look on his face. "Yesterday, you were the one who said you had five days off, right? How come you almost forgot about school today? Also, if you're staying here, how are you planning to explain it to your family?"

Honoka furrowed her brow and thought for a while but couldn't come up with a good reason, so she decided to use her trump card.

"Let Yukiho explain to Mom!"

"What?! You can't be serious, Nee-chan!" Yukiho exclaimed in surprise, then pouted. "Fine! I'll just say that Minamiya-senpai kidnapped you!"

Homura: "???"

Honoka: "!!!"

"Umm... I think I won't stay over after all..." Honoka said with an awkward smile.

"Pffft..." Nozomi giggled, covering her mouth. "As expected of Honoka-chan..."

"What? I bet everyone wants to hang out a little longer anyway..." Honoka complained, then mumbled, "It would've been great if I could stay over..."

Everyone: "…"

What a ridiculously honest thing to say!

"Yeah, it'd be even better if we could stay in Homura-kun's room and sleep with him~" Nozomi added with a teasing smile.

Pssst—

Homura merely raised his eyebrows, while some of the girls' faces turned red as if steam rose from them.

"Nozomi! You're saying that kind of thing again!" Eli snapped.

"Maa~ maa~ I was just joking, Eli-chi~" Nozomi said jokingly.

'Yeah, but that doesn't sound like you're joking.'

Everyone inwardly retorted at once.

Ring-Ring—!

Just then, Rizu's phone rang suddenly.

As soon as Rizu saw the caller's name, her mouth twitched.

"Ri-chan? Is it Uncle Ogata?" Fumino asked cautiously.

"Ugh... Yeah, it's my dad..." Rizu sighed before answering the call.

"UWAAAHHH—!!! RIZUTAMAAA—!!! WHERE ARE YOUUU?!!!"

Even though Rizu didn't have it on speaker, the huge sobbing voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone.

Except for Homura, Fumino, Uruka, and Miyako, everyone else stared in shock.