[TSSIM] Chapter 395: Looking Forward

Watching this funny scene, Homura hugged Haru, burying his face in her fluffy fur.

Confused, Haru raised her paw and gently tapped Homura's face.

"Meow? (What's wrong?)"

"Little one, it's nothing—pfttt..."

Homura couldn't hold it any longer and burst into muffled laughter on Haru's fur, nearly making her fur stand on end.

After calming down, Homura lifted Haru onto his lap and stroked her fur with a serene face.

'What a strange human.' Haru rolled her eyes.

In the end, she just enjoyed the comforting feeling of being stroked.

"Is it addicting?" Homura asked the girls and almost laughed again.

"Yeah..." Eriri's eyes twitched.

What else could she say when they were all affected?

"So everyone should be careful, especially Utaha and Kotori. If this 'Mya-nee' slips out your mouth during the meeting... watch out for the little sister challenging you to a duel!" Homura said with a grin.

Utaha and Kotori sighed in unison.

Whose fault did he think it was?

"But it's not too bad..." Utaha waved her hand dismissively. "Although that nickname is always lingering in my mind, it hasn't slipped out of my mouth yet."

"Hoshino-senpai... Hoshino-senpai... Hoshino-senpai... Umu! No problem!" Kotori nodded vigorously.

Seeing this, the others were a bit speechless.

It was not without reason.

Sometimes, the more you emphasized something, the more likely you were to slip up!

"Yes, Hoshino Mya-nee." Homura chuckled.

"That's right! Hoshino Mya-nee!"

"..."

Upon hearing Homura's words, Kotori instinctively responded while nodding vigorously, but quickly froze.

"Ahh! Homura-kun, you dummy!" Kotori exploded, delivering a series of light punches.

Homura leaned back on the couch, enduring all her cute punches. Since Haru was still on his lap, he didn't intend to move.

Meanwhile, as Homura and Kotori were busy with each other, Elf burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! What the heck is Hoshino Mya-nee?!"

===

Amidst laughter and chatter, the leisurely time slipped by.

However, since today's conversation extended a bit more than usual, their break ended up being longer.

After the break, everyone was ready to pick up the pace. After all, only on weekends did they have such ample time.

Once Homura assigned tasks to the thirteen voice actors, he joined the ranks of the artists.

Despite Eriri, Izumi, and Sagiri making significant progress, and Mashiro showing improvement too, the four of them could barely keep up with Homura's speed combined.

Nevertheless, they didn't begrudge it or feel like competing. They were used to it by now, and besides, wouldn't competing negatively affect the quality of their drawings?

"Every time I see Homura working at such a devilish speed, I can't help but feel a bit shocked." Elf quipped.

"Senpai has always been the most amazing!" Nayuta chimed in from behind the curtain.

"Speaking of which..." Homura paused. "Nayu, are you writing a novel?"

"Nope."

"Then why are you hiding behind the curtain again? And why aren't you wearing anything?"

"I'll come out then!"

"NO!" Eriri immediately intervened.

"Senpai, they won't let me come out~" Nayuta complained with a pout.

"If you come out like that, not just Homura-kun, but even we won't feel like working!" Utaha said with an annoyed voice.

"Nayu is only serious when she's not wearing clothes. It's not just for writing novels." Mashiro chimed in while drawing.

"..."

'So that's why she went back behind the curtain again...' Homura was speechless for a moment before nodding in understanding. "What about Izumi... Is she also behind that curtain?"

"Yes, Minamiya-senpai, I'm here!" Izumi's voice came through.

After nodding, Homura glanced around again.

Elf was basically glued to Sagiri's side, Utaha was next to Eriri, and Muramasa was beside Mashiro.

One scriptwriter and one illustrator pairing up—this combo wasn't bad at all. At first, it was a mix, but now, it seemed like they had found the best combinations through trial and error.

After all, the scriptwriters understood the entire plot the best. Which scenes to draw and how to present them better, relied somewhat on them. If the illustrators were all professional mangaka, perhaps they wouldn't need this kind of guidance.

In fact, Elf played the most significant role in this aspect.

No matter how you put it, she was an author whose work got animated, so she understood more than the others. Most of the time, Homura just oversaw the overall situation.

Needless to say, calling Elf his deputy was absolutely fitting.

===

As Homura made significant progress with the game's artwork for today, he headed back to the temporary classroom.

"How's everyone's practice going?" Homura asked the voice actor group.

Eli nodded with a smile.

"We feel pretty good about our own practice, but it remains to be seen how we'll do in front of everyone else tomorrow."

"Honoka, Kotori, Eli, Nozomi, Nico should have no problem."

Homura nodded and observed everyone.

"Nanami has experience from before, so she's fine too."

"As for Megumi, she's chill... I've never seen her nervous anyway."

He then looked at Rin, Hanayo, Maki, and Umi.

"Now it's just the four of you left. Feeling nervous?"

"...To say I'm not nervous would be a lie..." Umi said with a wry smile. "But let's just treat it like any other performance..."

"I think Rin will be fine, nyaa~" Rin chimed in.

"Yup, Rin's good to go now." Homura nodded.

Rin used to worry about not being feminine enough, but as a sports athlete, why would she be afraid of performing in front of others?

"I... I'll be okay too!" Hanayo encouraged herself. "My love for idols and everyone's support will help me overcome everything..."

After gazing at Hanayo, Homura turned his gaze to Maki.

"Why are you looking at me?" Maki played with her hair. "I'm even more okay."

Indeed, Maki had done well in piano competitions as a child, plus with her experience as an idol, she should be fine.

"What about you, Yukiho, Alisa?" Homura turned to the last two.

Yukiho and Alisa glanced at each other before Yukiho spoke up.

"With everyone here, and with my Onee-chan and Minamiya-senpai, it shouldn't be nerve-wracking."

"I'm the same as Yukiho. If I want to be a school idol, I have to overcome this nervousness! So it's okay!" Alisa pumped her two fists confidently.

With that said, everyone should be fine, supporting each other all the way.

"Okay, we're good to go then!" Homura nodded with a smile. "Well, I'm like the anchor here, right? With me around, there's no need to be nervous."

"Even though you sound a bit shameless by saying that..." Eli chuckled softly. "But you're right."

"Right? We're all together in the same recording studio anyway, so no need to be nervous." Homura grinned.

After discussing a few more things, today's activities officially came to an end.

'I'm actually kinda looking forward to it... Tomorrow's almost here, isn't it?'

With that thought in mind, Homura smiled and looked at the sky through the window.