[TSSIM] Chapter 396: Ah Shit, Here We Go Again...

Time finally flew to the next day.

"Are you ready?"

Homura asked the group of voice actors before setting off.

"No problem!" Honoka slapped her chest confidently.

"OK! Let's go!"

Nodding, Homura waved to Eriri and the others before setting off.

===

"Speaking of which, it seems like nobody ambushed Homura-kun last night..." Nozomi said with a grin.

Homura: "..."

"Eriri said Homura-kun had something important going on today, so she let him off the hook." Megumi suddenly explained the reason.

"Let me off the hook, huh..." Homura's lips twitched.

"Heh... Is that so?" Nozomi rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "We're thinking the same thing, right, Rin-chan?"

"Nyaanyaanyaa?" Rin looked utterly confused.

"That's right. Since we haven't rounded up all nine yet, we let him off the hook." Nozomi nodded like a wise sage.

"..."

'Geez... why do these people talk about that kind of thing in public!' Nanami, listening on the sidelines, blushed furiously.

"Actually, for Eriri, I think the best time would be Friday..." Megumi continued. "That way, she'd have plenty of time to sleep the next day and her activities wouldn't be affected."

"But Eriri probably hasn't thought of that." Nozomi also nodded in agreement. "But let's not tell her, fufufu."

Kotori couldn't help but glance at Homura, her expression seemed to say, 'See? That's what being sneaky is all about!'

Homura blinked and gave her a thumbs up, his expression as if saying, 'You're not bad yourself!'

Kotori: "..."

"Minamiya-sensei?"

A puzzled male voice suddenly resounded.

Homura quickly turned to look.

"Ahh, it really is Minamiya-sensei! And Muse! What are you guys doing?"

'Don't recognize him, seems like a fan.' Homura shrugged and then answered while continuing his walk. "Look at this lineup, guess what we're up to?"

"It couldn't possibly be a concert, could it? Ahh, I know!" The fan clapped his hands. "Minamiya-sensei, I'm out! I'm off to show off with everyone!"

And with that, he disappeared.

Homura thought for a moment, then turned to ask the girls.

"What's he going to show off?"

"Probably figured out we're going for voice recording or something, showing off his guesses?" Nico replied with a wry smile. 

Homura was speechless.

"Bruh, I thought he'd ask for a photo or something, but oh well... having fans like this isn't bad either, at least they're sensible."

Hearing his words, the girls nodded in agreement.

They must admit that being recognized at a glance on the street truly showed a lot of attention toward you, but being able to chat normally without any demands was indeed nice with these kinds of fans.

===

After Homura and the girls, along with the voice-over department staff and the other voice actors, exchanged greetings, it didn't take long before the director officially announced the end of the preparation phase and the commencement of the first recording session.

Since it was Muse's first time participating in such formal voice acting work, there were staff members specifically assigned to guide them through each process.

Even though Homura had mentioned it several times before, the girls still listened attentively to the staff's words—truly a good attitude.

"Any lines need changing?" Homura asked.

The director shook his head.

"Nope, Minamiya-sensei, you guys are the pros. You've already made your modifications to the script, so we're just going through the motions here. I'm not going to lie, it's really a great piece of work."

"Thanks for the praise." Homura smiled.

And so, three minutes later.

"Alright, attention all crew! Scene one, trial recording, begins!"

...

"Not bad! Even though it's a trial, it's excellent! Next up is the real deal!"

...

"Sonoda-san, let's make the voice a bit steadier at this part."

...

"Alright, alright! Fantastic! Keep it up!"

...

In less than two hours, the voice recording phase was successfully completed.

The director approached Homura with a smile and shook his hand.

"Minamiya-sensei, you guys are truly amazing! You're no different from professional voice actors! Especially you, Minamiya-sensei. Your ability to switch personalities flawlessly with zero mistakes is incredible!"

"You're too kind." Homura smiled back. "But really, we're just the least willing to fail."

"...Yeah, this work is like your baby, naturally, you wouldn't want it to fail."

After exchanging pleasantries with everyone once more, Homura and his group left.

===

"How does it feel to work with other voice actors for the first time?" 

Hearing Homura's question, the girls smiled.

"It feels pretty good. Are all professional voice actors this efficient? I've definitely learned something." Eli nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, this real-world experience has really integrated a lot of the techniques Homura-kun taught us. Compared to when I was voicing for Mitsuha, I feel like I've grown a lot!" Nanami's face lit up with happiness. Now, she could proudly say that she was a qualified voice actor!

"Everyone's earnings this time are not going to be small at all..." Homura continued. "Of course, Muse, Yukiho, and Alisa's earnings are mostly being kept by their guardians."

Upon hearing his words, the others didn't have any special feelings about it.

Maki wasn't lacking in money, Eli and Nozomi remained calm, Nico and Umi showed no change in expression, Kotori was used to this situation from her part-time job, and Rin and Hanayo didn't seem to care much.

Yukiho and Alisa, on the other hand, seemed to lack a sense of reality due to their younger age. Did they earn money already? Although they still had to give it to their parents, they were indeed earning money!

Only Honoka was different.

"Hahh... I wish I had more pocket money..." Honoka sighed sadly.

"Why do you need so much money? To buy more food?" Umi frowned.

Upon hearing that, Honoka began to whistle casually while gazing at the sky.

"I guess Onee-chan is tired of eating meatballs..." Yukiho quipped from the side.

"It can't be helped! No matter how good something is, you'll get tired of it if you eat it every day, okay!" Honoka protested with a pout.

"So, Honoka... Have you measured your weight recently?" Umi's eyes couldn't help but twitch as she asked.

"Not really."

"I think you should just check it..."

"No need to go through all that trouble." Homura chimed in while shaking his head. "Let me measure it for you."

"Let me see..."

Homura scrutinized Honoka from top to bottom, comparing her current body to his memory of her when she first performed.

"It seems... slightly rounder, maybe?" Homura's mouth twitched.

Upon hearing his words, Honoka's expression turned ashen.

"How much is this 'slightly'?" Umi wanted a clear answer.

Homura thought for a moment before answering. "The outfit she wore for her first performance, she could probably still squeeze into it with some effort?"

""Isn't that already pretty bad?!""

Every member of Muse exclaimed in unison.

Homura scratched his head, believing that by next semester, Honoka wouldn't fit into that outfit at all.

"This must be Homura-kun's fault, right?" Umi glanced at his eyes.

"Huh? Me?" Homura dumbfoundedly pointed at himself.

"You cooked so well, who wouldn't want to eat more?"

"..."

Homura fell silent, feeling speechless.

'Ah shit, here we go again...'