[TSSIM] Chapter 434: Warm and Romantic

"Fufufu..."

Seeing Homura's reaction, Sayumi gave a light chuckle.

Meanwhile, seeing her mother teasing Homura, Yukiho quickly spoke up.

"Mom, don't you have to run the shop?"

"What's up? Are you trying to get rid of me?" Sayumi asked, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me, you want to be alone with your senpai?"

Homura: "..."

Yukiho: "???"

"What are you even talking about?!"

Confused for a moment, Yukiho hurriedly yelled, nearly losing her voice.

"Well, you did try to get me out." Sayumi said with a smug look.

"..." Yukiho instantly fell silent.

Seeing her daughter like this, Sayumi suddenly smiled.

"Anyway, since I'm going to Otonokizaka soon, it doesn't hurt to close up a bit early, so I just decided to."

"Why didn't you just say so earlier?!"

Yukiho's frustrated voice echoed through the sky.

'Can't escape your mom's tricks, huh...'

Homura thought sympathetically as he looked at Yukiho, who appeared thoroughly defeated in front of her mother.

Yukiho puffed up her cheeks, not wanting to deal with her mother anymore. After a moment, she turned to Homura.

"Anyway, I didn't expect my sister actually to catch a cold today…"

"Hmm?" Sayumi looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Yukiho helplessly looked at her mother, then searched Honoka's room and found the manga draft Honoka had put away.

"Here, take a look."

Sayumi took it with a puzzled expression.

"Is this the manga of Love Live? Why is it in Honoka's room? And it's all stuff I haven't seen before..."

She had bought every manga issue of 'Love Live!' featuring her daughter as the main character, but she hadn't seen this particular chapter.

"In short, this is something Minamiya-senpai drew about three weeks ago, and it wasn't intended for publication… Mom, you should take a look at it first." Yukiho explained briefly, shaking her head.

She didn't explain further, thinking it was better to wait until it was all seen.

With a lot of confusion, Sayumi started flipping through the manga draft, reading it carefully.

Seeing this, Homura sighed, realizing another person was about to be shocked.

===

"Yukiho… you're saying this was drawn by your senpai three weeks ago?"

Sayumi was a bit incredulous as she asked Yukiho.

Yukiho silently nodded.

"But... the situation today…" Sayumi said hesitantly.

"It's not just today. Even the previous ones are pretty much the same."

Yukiho shook her head and glanced at Homura.

"I really don't know how Minamiya-senpai did it..."

Seeing her still incredulous mom, she continued.

"And Mom, you wouldn't believe it, but Minamiya-senpai guided the changes in Nee-chan. Even the safe exercise methods were taught by Minamiya-senpai."

"Just think, if Minamiya-senpai didn't exist, would Nee-chan still just have a cold like today?"

Upon hearing this, Homura raised an eyebrow, feeling like Yukiho was kind of bragging about him. It seemed like she was turning into one of his adorable fans.

'Speaking of which, isn't Nayu actually my biggest fan?' Homura thought amusedly.

Meanwhile, Sayumi listened to Yukiho and considered Honoka's personality. As a mother who knew her daughter best, she realized Honoka had been acting this way lately, just like in the manga.

Realizing this, Sayumi had a very good grasp of how well Homura understood her daughter. After all, he even predicted her daughter's actions half a month later.

In the next moment, Sayumi's gaze toward Homura became a bit strange.

Homura: "…"

"I'm back!"

In the sudden silence, Honoka finally returned, as Homura had calculated.

After all, she just needed to wash off the sweat and soak in the bathtub for a bit. Furthermore, with her mind still on the school festival, it was only natural that she came back quickly.

"Mm? Mom, what is that?" Honoka asked, pointing at the manga draft her mother was holding.

Staying silent, Sayumi merely showed the manga draft.

Honoka: "…"

"I gave it to Mom." Yukiho chimed in. "Nee-chan, how are you feeling now?"

"Mm!" Honoka clenched her fist. "I'm feeling great! Just a bit hungry…"

After saying this, she rubbed her stomach and made a small smacking sound.

Seeing this, Homura shook his head with a smile.

"Well then, let's go back to school."

"Um! That's what I was thinking too!" Honoka grinned.

Sayumi looked helpless, thinking her eldest daughter really liked eating.

"Honoka, you go ahead first." Sayumi said with a helpless smile. "We'll catch up later."

Honoka glanced at the time and saw that there was a little over an hour before Muse's performance started.

"Got it! I'm off now!"

Grabbing her jacket, Honoka ran out.

Watching Honoka already on her way, Homura said goodbye to Sayumi and Yukiho before heading out to follow her.

===

"By the way, Honoka, were you purposely holding back from talking to me in front of your mother just now?"

As they walked down the street, Homura asked Honoka.

"You noticed…" Honoka said, a bit embarrassed. "I just feel a little awkward talking to you in front of my mom…"

Homura ruffled her hair with a smile.

"I don't think it's necessary, though. She's your mom, so if something was off, she'd definitely notice. Plus, the reason she didn't realize you had a cold today is because you were avoiding her, right?"

Honoka nodded lightly, then fell into deep thought.

'Did Mom really notice something? Huh? What exactly am I afraid Mom would find out?'

'Is it about my relationship with Homura-kun? But I haven't officially agreed to anything yet...'

'Is it about my feelings for Homura-kun?'

'Ahh... My face feels a bit warm… Hmm? Is it cooling down again?'

Coming back to her senses, Honoka noticed raindrops starting to fall from the sky!

Whoosh!

An umbrella suddenly appeared over her head.

Honoka: "…"

"Homura-kun… when did you bring this umbrella?"

Honoka looked puzzled, feeling like she had never seen this umbrella before.

"Guess?" Homura asked back with a smile before thinking, 'Well, I can't just tell her it was from the System's inventory, right?'

Honoka: "???"

"Come to think of it, isn't this what they call sharing an umbrella?" Homura remarked, trying to change the topic. "It's my first time doing it with a girl, y'know."

Although it seemed like he was changing the topic, he genuinely felt that way.

Clearly, this kind of situation was a cliche in manga and anime. Except for the somewhat quirky pair of Nozaki and Chiyo, most of them were just sweet moments.

"Um... me too..."

Honoka's voice was barely audible.

It only struck her now that sharing an umbrella with a boy was a beautiful dream for almost every girl who longed for love, and she had just unexpectedly fulfilled that wish.

"Oh?" Homura wore a mischievous grin. "Haven't you shared an umbrella with Kotori or Umi before?"

Upon hearing this, Honoka hit his shoulder lightly.

"I mean, it's the first time with a guy!"

"Heh, I know." Homura nodded while chuckling.

"Mou... even though you know that, you still say it..." Honoka murmured.

Looking at Homura beside her, Honoka, after a brief moment of daze, quietly linked her arm with his, holding the umbrella together.

Suddenly, the atmosphere between them seemed warm and romantic to anyone who looked on.