[TSSIM] Chapter 462: Married Life

"Speaking of claiming things first..." Eriri chimed in, touching the swimsuit she wore. "Does this mean I finally claimed something first for once?"

Everyone: "..."

Upon hearing her words, everyone fell into silence.

They had to admit that she really had this obsession with being the first and couldn't forget about it.

Moreover, when she said 'finally', it really captured how hard she worked for it. Even though she had so many chances to be the first with Homura, she somehow missed it every time.

However, this time, she was the first to get a swimsuit made by Homura. Even if this particular first wasn't all that crucial, it was still a first nonetheless.

"...I finally got a first!" Eriri muttered, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

Although getting this first wasn't easy at all for her, she had subconsciously forgotten something.

She apparently forgot that she was the first person Homura had invited to join Another Dimension. Maybe this first was the real first, the one that truly mattered, but precisely because of this, she ended up missing out on the others.

Seeing her so happy that she might cry over her first, everyone couldn't help but feel a little sad.

What had fate done to her?

Even fate itself seemed a bit sorry for her.

At this moment, however, someone had to step in and break the mood!

"Eiii~! Nozomi's power! Full power!"

Nozomi suddenly used her signature move on Eriri.

"Kyaaa! Nozomi! What the heck are you doing?!"

Eriri, forgetting her complicated feelings, started struggling to get free from Nozomi's grasp.

Seeing this, Nico, Rin, and Hanayo instantly ran away to avoid getting caught in it.

"Heehee… Eriri-chan, your chest might seem pretty unremarkable most of the time, but feeling it directly, I have to admit they're a lot more than I expected!"

"Even if you say that, I'm not happy at all!" Eriri exclaimed, her face darkened. "Dammit! Let go of me, Nozomi!"

Homura: "…"

'So, this is how you shift the focus…' Homura couldn't help but think. 'But wow, that move got a lot of power behind it...'

After finally breaking free, Eriri rushed back to Homura's room to change back into her own clothes.

Apparently, her swimsuit had almost been yanked off by Nozomi.

"Nozomi… your distraction technique is really…" Eli could only shake her head, speechless. 

"A useful method is a good method~" Nozomi shrugged with a smile. "Speaking of which, I'm starting to really look forward to what kind of swimsuits Homura-kun will make for us."

"Well, they should be perfect, I'd say." Elf replied. "After all, Homura knows us so well. He knows our heights, weights, and even our measurements to the decimal point."

Girls: "…"

"All that data will make the swimsuits Homura makes for us fit perfectly." Elf continued. "And then, taking our hair color and general appearance into account, he'll create swimsuits with his amazing skills... I kind of feel like I don't even want to buy a swimsuit myself anymore."

"Still, you should buy one yourself. Shopping is fun too, you know..." Megumi chimed in.

Of course, they probably had to buy one to keep it fair.

Knowing Fumino, Rizu, Uruka, Mafuyu, and Miyako had already bought theirs, Megumi understood that Homura would feel troubled if the others didn’t.

She saw things clearly.

For example, if Elf didn’t buy one, and assuming Fumino and the others each had one swimsuit bought from the shop and one from Homura, making two swimsuits in total, it meant Homura had to make two for Elf.

Although everyone probably wouldn’t mind, it was better to avoid it if they could.

"We've bought one before, haven't we?" Sagiri asked hesitantly.

Upon hearing this, Elf began to ponder.

She remembered that when they had gone with Nayuta to check out swimsuits for her novel's inspiration, they had each bought one.

"It's fine! We'll just buy another one!" Elf declared with a carefree wave of her hand.

At this point, she felt like she needed to buy another swimsuit since it was a rare chance to hang out with Homura.

"Um, Elf-chan's right!" Sagiri agreed, nodding her little head.

Muramasa: "…"

Just then, Eriri came out after changing, heading upstairs while holding her new swimsuit.

"Eriri, where are you going?" Elf asked.

"What else? I'm going to put the swimsuit back in my room, of course..." Eriri stopped and explained. "I know it wouldn't be a problem to leave it in Homura's room, but hanging a woman's swimsuit in his closet just feels kinda strange..."

Homura: "…"

Girls: "…"

"Eriri, how should I even put this..." Homura spoke up, pausing his cooking. "I wasn't thinking about that at all, but now that you say it, why does your reasoning suddenly feel so weird?"

"What's so weird about it?" Eriri grumbled. "Just think, if someone sees a woman's swimsuit in your closet, don't you think they'd think you're some kind of cross-dresser?"

""Pffft!""

Upon hearing Eriri's words, the girls all tried not to laugh.

Homura cross-dressing?

Really?

"Cross-dresser my ass!" Homura retorted, his expression darkening. "In the first place, who's going through my closet for no reason? Seriously, besides you guys, who even gets to see it?"

Eriri: "…"

"Yeah, I guess that's true…" Eriri scratched her head awkwardly. "Well, I'll just leave it in your closet, then..."

"Whatever, you can put it anywhere..." Homura sighed tiredly. "All I'm saying is don't start thinking weird stuff."

"Now that I think about it, doesn't share a closet... kinda feel like we're already living together after marriage?" Elf muttered with a strange look.

Eriri: "!!!"

Whoosh!

Eriri, halfway up the stairs, immediately turned around and rushed back into Homura's room.

A moment later, Eriri came out and clapped her hands with a grin.

"It's all set!"

Seeing this, the girls were stunned.

Eriri really made a bold move.

"If we're talking about married life... everyone here, one way or another, pretty much has the same situation, right?" Utaha chimed in, rolling her eyes.

Eriri, who had just been feeling proud about being first, instantly lost all her excitement.

Nonetheless, Utaha's words still made all the girls' faces blush.

After the blush faded, however, every member of Muse suddenly realized.

Unlike the other members of Another Dimension, they didn't actually live here, right?

Muse's members: "..."

Meanwhile, Elf also realized that she didn't live here either.

Thinking it through, the only ones who actually lived here regularly were Utaha, Eriri, Megumi, Nanami, Mashiro, Nayuta, and Izumi, while Elf and Muramasa lived across the street at Elf's house.

As for Sagiri, she was obviously a separate case.

"It's not 'everyone', it's just Megumi, Eriri, and Utaha..."

Nanami suddenly added in a soft voice, correcting Utaha's words.

Everyone paused for a moment, and soon, the three girls mentioned by Nanami immediately felt their faces heat up a little.

Needless to say, what Nanami meant was married life in the truest sense, involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship.

Even Homura was caught off guard, not expecting Nanami to say something like that. It sounded like there was a tiny hint of jealousy or maybe a bit of resentment in her voice.

Even so, Nanami had a solid point.

If there was nothing like 'that' going on, could it really be considered married life?

"So what about the rest?" Nayuta couldn't help but ask.

"Cohabitation?"

Mashiro suddenly chimed in, causing everyone to stare at her in silence.

Clearly, only Mashiro would say something like that.