[TSSIM] Chapter 389: Curse

"Isn't this the photo of Haru-chan smiling?" Rin muttered in surprise.

"That's right." Utaha chuckled. "If Homura can make Haru-chan crack a smile, how could I not be curious?"

"So, at Shi-chan's request, Homura-kun gave us a massage once." Megumi chimed in. "Right on the second day after he signed his manga contract."

"Now that you said it, quite a lot went down those days, huh..."

Upon hearing Megumi's words, Homura couldn't help but speak up and reminisce about that time.

"I met my great editor, Ayano, for the first time, bumped into a sneaky bird, found the little one's little brother the next day, met Nana along the way, and in the evening, Mashiro moved into my place..." Homura glanced at Nanami. "And on Monday, I accidentally bumped into my favorite voice actor."

Upon hearing that, Nanami's face slightly reddened, glanced shyly at Homura, then quickly averted her gaze.

"Um, for real..." Megumi nodded, agreeing. "So much went down in just those few days..."

"Wow, so much happened! I'm dying to hear more!" Honoka exclaimed with curiosity. "But... what is this sneaky bird?"

Hearing that question, Homura glanced at Kotori, smirking.

"The sneaky Kotori, aka the sneaky bird."

Upon seeing his smirk, Kotori couldn't help but glare at him in annoyance.

"Oh! It's that maid cafe where Kotori-chan works, right? Homura-kun also met Kirino-chan and Kuroneko-chan there!" Honoka quickly remembered what Kotori had told her before.

"But what exactly happened? Why call Kotori sneaky?" Umi couldn't help but ask.

"It's because the first time Homura-kun saw me, he blurted out my real name!" Kotori said irritably. "And when I asked if he knew me, he was all evasive about it!"

Homura just chuckled.

"Well, although I knew of you, I hadn't seen you in person before. So seeing you randomly at the place Ayano picked out was a bit unexpected, you gotta admit."

"But how did you know about me?" Kotori asked.

"Hmm, it's a secret... but it was just a lucky coincidence..." Homura made a grin. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so surprised, right?"

Upon hearing that, Utaha and Nozomi both raised eyebrows, wondering if it was that so-called mysterious source of information again.

"Okay... I knew there was something fishy about how Homura-kun knew about me." Kotori narrowed her eyes.

"Well, when you asked me how I wanted you to address me, you suddenly went with 'Onii-chan', right?" Homura shrugged. "And then, when I asked you to draw a bird on my omurice, you drew a chick instead. Plus, you also taught me that crazy powerful curse. Now that I think about it, we've had a few skirmishes like that, haven't we?"

"It's so entertaining hearing about Kotori-chan and Homura-kun's first encounter!" Honoka said with gusto.

"Pfttt!" Eriri couldn't hold it in, remembering that so-called crazy powerful curse as soon as Homura mentioned it.

"Curse?" Kotori looked puzzled.

"You know, this one..." Homura made a heart shape with his fingers.

Soon enough, Kotori instantly recalled that 'magic' incantation.

'Wait, did Homura-kun call it a curse?' 

She couldn't help but want to laugh.

Meanwhile, the others looked confused. What on earth were these two talking about? They couldn't understand a thing!

"Why?" Homura looked at them warily. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because nobody understands, right~ So, Homura-kun, please explain it in detail!" Nozomi said, smiling brightly.

"Let Kotori explain." Homura shrugged his shoulders, clearly evading.

"Sure thing!" Kotori nodded eagerly. "It's just a tradition at the maid cafe, adding magic to make the food taste better."

'Huh?'

Having a sudden sense of foreboding, Homura looked at Kotori suspiciously.

'Why did she agree so readily?'

'No, wait a sec! If Kotori spills the beans, with these girls' knack for stirring up trouble, there's no way I'll get away unscathed!'

"Wait—"

Homura tried to stop Kotori, but it was too late.

"Make it tasty! Moe~Moe~Kyun~!" Kotori chanted the 'magic' incantation with a smile, making a heart shape with her fingers.

Homura's hand froze in mid-air.

"Hahaha!" Eriri burst into laughter, clutching her stomach.

Utaha and Megumi covered their mouths, their bodies shaking.

After a moment of silence—

""Ahahahaha—!""

Laughter filled the room, spreading happiness all around.

Homura discreetly got up.

"What are you up to, Homura-kun?" Kotori kept her eyes on him.

"...I'm thinking of making a run for it."

Everyone looked at him with exasperation.

"Hahh... I know I can't escape anyway." Homura sat back down, cuddling Haru in his arms and absentmindedly grabbing a brush to groom her.

"Haru's shedding season is over and you're still brushing her..." Eriri rolled her eyes.

"Yeah..." Homura put down the brush and used his hands instead. "Our little one is extraordinary! Shedding is done in just a week! But what can we do with the shed fur? It's just a small ball."

"How about adding that magic to it!" Kotori suggested with a laugh.

Homura stiffened, his eye twitching.

"It's been two months, I might be a bit rusty..."

"No worries! I can help you!" Kotori flashed the same mischievous smile she had the first time she tricked him in the maid cafe.

===

In the end, under the puzzled gaze of Haru, Homura couldn't help but perform the curse once again.

Even Rin and the others laughed heartily, not to mention Elf, who was rolling on the ground with laughter.

Seeing them laughing with satisfaction, Homura rolled his eyes.

"I told you this bird is a schemer."

"Isn't it because you said I'm a schemer first, Homura-kun..." Kotori immediately protested with a pitiful tone.

"So that's why you're scheming against me?" Homura said, speechless, then quickly reached out his hand to ruffle Kotori's hair. "But being a schemer is also a cute point, nothing wrong with that."

"Ouch~ My stomach hurts from laughing so much..." Elf stood up, holding her stomach. "Good grief, that was really fun..."

"Alright, had enough fun?" Homura shook his head helplessly. "It's time to get to work."

"Ahh, half a day just flew by like that, huh..." Elf glanced at the time and felt like she should start focusing. Even though the most important task was for the artists, there was still some script to work on.

Soon after, everyone dispersed into two groups.

===

"Today, let's skip the technical stuff and just focus on rehearsing the script a few more times!" Homura said to Muse's girls. "I believe everyone will make much progress in the voice acting session tomorrow compared to when you were doing it for the game."

"Yes, we won't let Homura-kun down!" Umi nodded vigorously.

"Won't let me down, huh..." Homura pondered. "I just can't imagine any scene where you girls fail though..."

Upon hearing that, the girls felt a warmth in their hearts. Wasn't his words already the highest praise?

"Oh, by the way..." Homura turned his head. "Maki, are you interested in auditioning for something else?"

"Audition?" Maki looked puzzled. "What audition?"

"An audition for Sakura Chiyo's voice actor." Homura answered calmly, but his eyes were clearly excited.

However, the reaction from the listeners wasn't so calm.

""Ehh?!""

Hearing their yells, Homura covered his ears. Having sensitive hearing at times like this wasn't a good thing.

"My goodness, is it really necessary to be so surprised and yelling like that?" Homura sighed.

"It's all because of Homura-kun!" Honoka exclaimed.

'My fault?' Homura shrugged his shoulders. 

"But... now that I think about it, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun is being adapted into an anime, so isn't it normal to have auditions?" Eli mumbled to herself.

Shortly afterward, everyone's gaze focused on Maki.