[TSSIM] Chapter 404: Confession?

"Most of them are photos of Haru... It's quite unexpected..."

Seeing the photos on Homura's phone, Kaguya remarked, genuinely surprised as she glanced at Homura.

"What's so surprising about that?" Homura shrugged his shoulders.

"Um..." Kaguya hesitated. "Well, everyone knows you're crazy about Haru..."

"And it seems like none of these were intentionally taken by Homura-kun~" Chika nodded as she looked through them. "Oh! This one is so cute!"

"This one... seems kind of familiar?" Kaguya pondered for a moment. "It looks like the logo of Another Dimension...?"

"Oh, this one... Yeah, that's the logo of Another Dimension. I just swapped the penguin plush with a planet." Homura explained, glancing at the photo.

"So, they're all candid shots..." Kaguya continued sliding the photos. "Eh? What's with this one?"

"Isn't this from the concert?" Chika asked. "Why take a picture of the crowd?"

Homura remained silent, using two fingers to zoom in on the photo. Soon, Megumi's stunning smile appeared before them.

"Wow!" Kaguya exclaimed.

"Oh! I remember now!" Chika suddenly realized. "This must be the smile of Megumi-chan everyone was talking about when they mentioned Homura-kun's amazing hearing!"

Kaguya silently nodded, recalling the first time she became aware of his extraordinary hearing.

"Homura-kun really is skilled at capturing amazing random moments—huh? Kaguya-chan?"

Chika was surprised as she noticed Kaguya's sudden silence and wide eyes as she looked at the photo.

In the photo, Kaguya was on the rooftop, her side facing the camera, her skirt swaying gently in the breeze, while her hair danced along with it, creating a beautiful blend with the scenery.

"Is this from the last time?!" Kaguya couldn't help but exclaim. "I didn't even notice... So you took my photo too?"

"Chika said it too, I'm skilled at capturing amazing random moments." Homura chuckled. "Whenever I spot a beautiful moment, I just have to capture it."

Feeling a bit sweet inside, Kaguya asked again.

"But how do you manage to time it so perfectly?"

"Um... it's something I've honed through practicing with Haru..." Homura nodded solemnly.

Chika: "..."

Kaguya: "..."

They couldn't help but agree with him.

Sometimes a casual movement from a cat can be incredibly cute. Only Haru could give Homura so many opportunities for photographing.

And so, Kaguya and Chika continued to browse through the album until they finished, then returned the phone to Homura.

"Ohh! It's all cold now!" Chika exclaimed, pouting as she took a bite of her food. "Oh well, cold tastes good too."

'Yare, yare, what a sweet and adorable girl...' Homura silently shook his head, a faint smile on his face.

===

"It's already dusk..." Chika murmured softly as she looked out the window.

"Yeah..." Homura sighed lightly in agreement.

Kaguya didn't say anything, but she leaned a bit closer to Homura, although they were already quite close.

Meanwhile, Homura used his other hand to pat Kaguya's head gently.

"Have you gotten the hang of using the smartphone?" Homura asked casually.

"Yeah..." Kaguya nodded slightly. "I didn't get it at first, but the more I used it, the easier it became."

"Alright, let me borrow your phone." Homura smiled.

In the next moment, he downloaded a messaging app and added Kaguya and Chika to a chat group where everyone else was already chatting. Following this, he used Kaguya's messaging app to add everyone as friends.

By the way, Homura had made this messaging app himself not long ago. He hadn't released it publicly, so no one could steal the chat records inside. It was exclusively for him and the girls to use.

"Kaguya, on here, if you want to chat with someone, just tap their icon. If you want to chat to everyone, tap this."

Homura explained briefly to Kaguya, making sure she understood before continuing.

"There's also a video function and a few other small features. Remember the video function; if there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me through it."

After explaining, he looked up.

"Chika, this app is mine so you can use it without worry, chat with everyone about anything, and feel free to call whenever you want. Your feelings matter the most."

Chika was silent for a moment before smiling at Homura.

"Okay, got it!"

"Um..." Kaguya suddenly seemed hesitant. "Could you tell them a bit later?"

"..." Homura was silent for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Whether I tell them or not, they'll find out as soon as I get home anyway."

"Eh?! Why?!" Kaguya exclaimed in surprise.

"Eriri, hmm, how to put it..." Homura shrugged again before imitating Eriri. "Ahh! There's a girl's scent on you! Did you make a move on them?!"

"???" Chika was confused.

"Does Sawamura-san really have that kind of ability?!" Kaguya's eyebrows kept twitching.

"Anyway, she can always sniff it out, and I don't have a habit of lying to girls I like." Homura shook his head.

"Yeah, although Megumi-chan mentioned that to us, Homura-kun indeed hasn't lied to us." Chika nodded.

Upon hearing that, Homura raised his eyebrows.

"How do you know I haven't lied to you?"

"Then let me ask a few questions!" Chika grinned mischievously.

"Hmm... okay, go ahead." Homura crossed his arms on his chest.

"Why do you like me, Homura-kun?"

"No specific reason, really. At first, your smile had a huge impact on me, but as we spent time together, I naturally came to like everything about you. Innocent and lively, gentle and cute, occasionally clumsy, yet surprisingly cunning. I love all of that."

"Ehehehe..." Chika covered her reddening cheeks, looking very happy.

Seeing this, Kaguya facepalmed.

'Isn't this totally like fishing for a confession?! So sly! Is this what Homura-kun meant by being cunning? Actually, it was like that before too, right?! Suddenly shifting to this kind of development, it's all because of Chika's unexpectedly cunning plan!'

'But a confession... I want to hear it too...'

"So... how did you come to like Kaguya-chan, Homura-kun?" Chika asked again.

'Way to go, Chika! You truly are my best friend!' Kaguya pretended not to care, trying hard to maintain a calm expression.

"Kaguya, huh..."

Homura reminisced and couldn't resist patting Kaguya's head.

"I actually met Kaguya through you, Chika... I remember the first time I saw Kaguya, I had one thought—a troubled family."

"If it weren't for Kaguya's troubled family, at this age, such a cold feeling shouldn't appear on her."

Upon hearing his words, Kaguya fell silent, lowering her head slightly.

"I won't pry into details, I hate digging up old wounds like that, but I guess... maybe it was loneliness? So at that time, when you brought Kaguya to meet me, Tsumugi, Saori, and Eriri, I just thought, can't we really make this girl cheerful?"

"Even though I didn't know if that was possible... I was looking forward to it..."