[TSSIM] Chapter 453: Powerful Haru

As Homura and the others chatted with each other, Ayano's attention was still on the manga of WorldEnd.

"By the way, why is Ayano crying so badly?"

Homura asked Eriri curiously as he leaned closer to her.

"How would I know?" Eriri rolled her eyes. "She's so into her manga that I didn't even bother to ask."

"Did I hit the nail on the head?" Homura mused, stroking his chin. "Ayano said she's not an editor today, just a normal manga fan, so she let loose?"

Eriri paused for a moment and then slowly nodded.

"Well, it's not impossible…"

"First time seeing Ayano like this." Mashiro remarked, curious about Ayano's current condition.

If Ayano hadn't been so engrossed in the manga, she probably would have approached and chatted with them by now.

With nothing to do, the girls whispered among themselves, occasionally glancing at Ayano, waiting for her to finish.

Homura patted Haru on the head, and with a mischievous glint in his eye, he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture.

Click!

Girls: "…"

"You took her picture?" Eriri asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'll let Ayano see it later." Homura shrugged casually. "If she wants to keep it, great; if not, she can just delete it."

Upon hearing this, the others fell silent, opting to wait for Ayano to finish.

===

"Phew…"

Ayano let out a shaky breath and, after blowing her nose again, looked up at Homura.

"You guys came back really quickly."

"Honestly, there wasn't much left to do today." Homura replied with a smile, handing over his phone. "What's up with you letting loose like that?"

Ayano glanced at the picture of herself crying on the phone, feeling both speechless and embarrassed. 

In the next second, she deleted it on the spot without thinking.

"I told you I'm just a manga fan now, didn't I? What's wrong with letting loose?"

Ayano replied while shooting Homura a glare before rubbing her eyes in discomfort.

Homura: "…"

He was speechless for a moment before turning to Nico with a grin, his eyes clearly saying—See? I wasn't wrong!

'Hmph! You just guessed it by chance. What's there to be proud of?' Nico thought to herself, feeling annoyed.

"By the way, how do you feel about it?" Homura asked again.

"Homura... are you getting more into tragedy now?" Ayano asked instead of answering.

"Is that your only impression?" Homura's eye twitched. "Come on, Teasing Master Takagi-san is still serializing, right? How did you decide that I was leaning toward tragedy?"

Ayano smiled, though it was a bit forced, considering she had just been crying.

"A great work… once it's serialized, people will probably both love and hate you..."

She finally managed to express her thoughts.

"It's clearly an apocalyptic fantasy world, but there aren't many battle scenes. Most of the plot is just some heartwarming and wholesome daily life."

She shook her head slightly.

"However, that's actually a gentle trap... Once you fall in, the damage will be huge."

"And those fairies... it seems like every battle they have always led to tragedy, which gives off a vibe of rejecting war and yearning for peace."

Once Ayano started talking, she couldn't stop, pouring out her feelings incessantly.

"Looks like the serialization is a sure thing, huh..." Homura nodded.

Upon hearing this, Ayano shot him another glare.

"If a great story like this can't be serialized, then other mangaka might as well give up!"

"Okay, I'll scan all this and send it to you tonight." Homura grinned.

"Umu..." Ayano touched the manga drafts on the coffee table and glanced at one of the pages again. "But… you really went too far… such a brutal final battle is sure to shatter the hearts of anyone who likes Chtholly…"

"No choice... the war between races isn't a joke."

Homura lightly shook his head.

"You know, this is what makes a fictional world feel real, something that makes people believe, deep down, that this world and these characters truly exist…"

He paused for a moment, recalling how his own heart had shattered when he watched the anime for the first time.

"Maybe... their hearts shatter because they can't bear the weight of reality..."

Hearing Homura's words, the girls exchanged odd looks, wondering why he suddenly got so poetic.

Ayano nodded, choosing to say nothing more.

Just the fact that she was moved so deeply by a manga was enough.

===

After lunch, Ayano said her goodbyes and left.

Homura, stretching out in the backyard, suddenly heard Haru calling him.

"What's up?"

He quickly headed back to the living room and immediately spotted a tattered scratching post.

Homura: "…"

After being speechless for a while, Homura sighed before speaking up.

"I'll set up a new one for you later, okay?"

He was starting to wonder if, by the time Haru reached Level 80, her claws would go through scratching posts like it was nothing.

"Maybe I should get an old tree stump instead?" Homura muttered to himself. "It should last a bit longer, right?"

Rin, passing by, raised an eyebrow.

'What the heck?! Old tree stump?!'

She hesitated, unsure how to finish her thought.

"Isn't an old tree stump kind of...?" Rin said hesitantly.

"You know, this is the last one..." Homura said, setting up a new scratching post and tossing the broken one aside. "I feel a little bad always bothering Nana about this since she didn't want to charge me, but Haru really goes through them fast..."

Usually, scratching posts could last for months, but for Haru, the first one lasted just a month!

Afterward, the time shrank more and more, and now it was down to one a week.

"Rin, you saw it too, right? Haru basically goes through a scratching post in just a week. If it were plush toys, I wouldn't mind if Nana sent some over, but scratching posts…"

Rin looked down at the innocent-looking Haru for a moment and then smiled.

Truthfully, she didn't want to think about it since, as long as Haru stayed adorable, it was all good!

Seeing Rin's expression, Homura chuckled, picked up Haru, and sighed.

"You've gotten powerful now, little one... You could probably take down a few big guys, right?"

'Was Homura-kun joking?' Rin blinked in confusion.

"Meow~" Haru shook her head.

"Well... you'd still be able to outlast them, no?" Homura said after a moment's thought.

Seeing how serious he was, the girls grew curious.

"Homura, you're not joking, right?" Elf asked.

"Nope. You've seen how wrecked that scratching post is, so you can guess some of it." Homura replied, shaking his head.

"Even if you said that, it's hard to imagine..." Nico chimed in, feeling a bit amazed. "She's so small, yet you said she's stronger than a few big guys?"

"Don't judge combat ability by size."

Homura shook his head and then explained.

"Size and agility are inversely related; you rarely find a nimble fat cat."

"Forget about Haru, even ordinary house cats, as long as they're not too overweight, can run faster than most humans, so even if they don't want to fight, they can easily escape."

"As for the strong ones, they can leave someone covered in scratches without breaking a sweat."

"In the end, whether they were house cats or stray cats, they were born hunters and killers."

A few were taken aback by Homura's words since not everyone understood the detailed knowledge about cats.

"If regular house cats can have such impressive capability, just imagine how tough Haru is with all her training."

Homura rubbed Haru's head, looking proud.