[TSSIM] Chapter 398: I Love Otaku Life

As the posing session came to an end, Homura had everyone finish off with a ten-minute plank.

Honoka felt her muscles starting to ache, but she followed his lead and got into position.

Homura quietly picked up Haru and placed her on Honoka's back.

"Giving you a little extra weight."

"..."

"Homura-kun, what did you put... eh? It's moving... it's Haru-chan, right?"

Honoka was about to ask when she suddenly felt a movement on her back, realizing that Homura had placed Haru on her back.

"Although the little one's weight is very light, it should feel quite a bit heavier to you right now." Homura grinned mischievously.

Meanwhile, Haru seemed quite intrigued and started stepping around on Honoka's back.

"Hehe, this is a privilege you can't easily experience, y'know!" Homura continued, still with a grin.

Everyone couldn't help but be speechless. What in the world was the privilege of having a cat step on your back?

"Looks so nice, nyaa~" Rin looked at them with envy written all over her face.

Seeing Rin, Hanayo was speechless. Whenever it involved Haru, Rin immediately switched to another state.

"Rin-chan could definitely hold on a bit longer." Nozomi chimed in. "Once Honoka-chan is done, you can have Haru-chan on you!"

"Got it, nyaa~!" Rin instantly got back her enthusiasm.

Hearing the conversation between Rin and Nozomi, Homura's expression was a bit strange.

Did they need to queue up for this?

Eli seemed to be on the same wavelength as him, her expression equally peculiar.

"But seriously, Homura's stamina is insane, even Rin is sweating buckets!" Nico exclaimed in amazement. "No wonder Megumi said two or three people together couldn't... handle him..."

Even though her voice dropped significantly at the end, with Homura's hearing, it was useless.

"Ah, by the way, there's vegetable juice I made in the fridge, I'll replenish everyone's energy later."

Everyone: "!!!"

"Admit it, drinking it after an exercise is just perfect. Don't you agree, Nico?" Homura smiled brightly.

Nico: "..."

As Homura singled out Nico, the others naturally realized it was all her fault, but they didn't say anything.

With this touching vibe of sharing joys and sorrows, how could Homura still force-feed them that awful vegetable juice? Was he that cruel?

"Why the long face?" Homura chuckled. "I didn't say it was awful."

Upon hearing his words, Nico relaxed, and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is it tasty?! Where?!"

Honoka's eyes lit up and wanted to stand up, but Homura quickly grabbed her leg, preventing her from moving.

"I said it's in the fridge... but you gotta wait until after the plank session, okay?" Homura sighed in resignation.

Despite the previous struggle, Honoka managed to hold on. But now, after hearing about something tasty, the remaining minutes felt agonizingly long for her.

Amid the agony, these few minutes finally passed.

"Homura-kun! Hurry up and take Haru-chan away. I want to go drink that vegetable juice!"

Honoka exclaimed impatiently, but she hadn't forgotten that Haru was still on her.

Homura smiled faintly and took Haru into his arms.

Feeling the weight lifted from her back, Honoka bolted out without a trace of exhaustion!

Meanwhile, watching Rin still holding on, Homura couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

"Rin, why are you still holding on? Why not just simply hold the little one?"

"Rin wants Haru-chan to walk on Rin's back~ It feels different from holding!"

"..." Homura shook his head with a wry smile on his face. 'Well, what else could I say to that reasoning?'

And so, Haru began to stroll on Rin's back, while Rin squinted her eyes, wearing an expression reminiscent of a cat.

"Heh..." Homura reached out and gave her a headpat.

"Nyaa~" Rin's expression of comfort mirrored that of a cat, truly adorable.

"Rin-chan~" Hanayo trotted over. "Don't hold on anymore, I brought the vegetable juice for you! It's really good!"

In the next moment, as Haru jumped off Rin on her own, Rin stood up with a hint of regret.

"Thanks, Kayo-chin~"

Seeing Rin drinking the vegetable juice, Homura patted Haru and asked Hanayo.

"What about everyone else? Why are you the only one back?"

"They're still drinking, said they need to replenish lost fluids..." Hanayo replied, a bit sheepishly.

Upon hearing that, Homura facepalmed.

"You girls aren't trying to get full, right? Sure, it's low-calorie, but it's not zero! Drinking too much will just make the exercise we did earlier pointless."

With that, he got up and headed straight to the kitchen.

In no time, Hanayo and Rin heard his voice.

"Seriously?! Are you girls seriously about to finish this huge bucket in one go?! What about the whole 'trying to lose weight' plan we talked about?!"

"Well, if we don't drink enough, how are we supposed to have the energy to lose weight?"

"You're seriously trying to justify this?!"

Soon came Honoka's squealing, sounded like her cheeks were getting squished by Homura.

"Must be nice..." Kotori's voice sounded full of envy.

'Wait, doesn't this scene seem a bit familiar?' Rin and Hanayo raised their eyebrows.

"And you, why aren't you stopping her?"

Soon came Kotori's squealing too.

'Eh? Just a moment ago she was envying, and now it's her turn?' Rin and Hanayo made a wry smile.

"Ara, looks like Kotori-chan's getting her little wish fulfilled~" Nozomi's voice carried a hint of amusement.

Hanayo and Rin exchanged a glance, conveying the same message—what a lively atmosphere!

===

Afterward, to alleviate everyone's fatigue, Homura gave them nearly full-body massages.

Unfortunately, the process wasn't described in detail, since it was a bit risky.

After the massage, their faces were flushed, their bodies were limp, and Yukiho and Alisa even started to feel dizzy. Despite this, Homura intentionally kept everyone away from the danger zones.

Eriri and the others didn't join in on the fun since they hadn't been exercising.

"Phew... My body feels so relaxed like I never exercise!" Honoka moved various parts of her body, marveling. "Can humans really master this technique?"

"What do you mean? Aren't I human?" Homura's face darkened.

"Homura-kun is totally like a superhero!" Honoka jokingly answered.

"You should've said that first!" Homura retorted. "It's supposed to be a compliment, but it sounds like an insult now!"

"Heehee..." Honoka chuckled, scratching the back of her head.

"If Homura opened a massage parlor, he'd make a killing for sure!" Nico affirmed, nodding her head repeatedly.

Upon hearing that, Homura rolled his eyes.

"I could make a killing opening a restaurant too, y'know."

"..." Nico fell silent and silently agreed that what he said made sense.

"But well, I still love otaku life the most." Homura smiled at everyone. "Thanks to this, I got to meet all of you."

As soon as they heard his words, the girls couldn't help but smile too.