Eventually, once everything was tidied up and Homura was about to leave—
"You're going now?"
Mafuyu peeked at Homura with just her eyes showing.
"Yeah, I'm heading out."
Mafuyu stayed quiet for a moment, then spoke again.
"...Come here."
"Hm?"
"Just come here..."
Seeing Mafuyu's insistence, Homura walked over to the edge of the bed.
"Come closer, a bit more..." Mafuyu said again. She was still looking straight at him.
Homura: "..."
'Could it be... but her expression hasn't changed at all... Am I just overthinking it?'
With this thought, Homura leaned in a bit more, and—
*Chu~*
Suddenly, his lips felt warmth and softness.
Being suddenly kissed on the mouth by Mafuyu, Homura's first thought was that he hadn't been overthinking at all!
Soon enough, he just sank into it.
After a long while, Mafuyu finally pushed Homura away and pulled herself back under the blanket.
"For the rest... No... I'm not ready for that yet..." Mafuyu's voice came out muffled from underneath the blanket.
Homura took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.
"You really trust me that much, huh...? What if I couldn't hold myself back?" Homura asked with a wry smile.
"...You won't. You would've shown that at the entrance if you couldn't."
Still speaking through the blanket, Mafuyu herself was wondering—if she faced him right now, would he be able to hold back like before?
Judging by how Homura reacted to all those times he saw her in different situations, it did seem like she had a strong attraction to him.
Unfortunately, she honestly wasn't mentally prepared yet—she had even spent so long just deciding on that kiss alone!
"Alright then..." Homura wiped his face. "So, can I take this to mean you've accepted me, Kirisu-sensei?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, a voice soon came from under the blanket.
"Just call me Mafuyu..."
Needless to say, this was basically a yes.
"Okay, Mafuyu." Homura said with a smile.
Mafuyu, still hidden under the blanket, smiled as well—charmingly so—but sadly, no one could see it.
"By the way, what was that reaction earlier?" Homura suddenly asked. "I mean, you didn't have to rush to explain things like that, right?"
"I didn't want to... Why should I get blamed for something I didn't even do?" Mafuyu replied in an instant.
Homura: "..."
Was he overthinking things?
"Oh, right... Mafuyu, how about moving in with me?"
Homura's question nearly made Mafuyu burst out of the blanket, but fortunately, she managed to hold it in—though the blanket seemed to bulge suddenly, and he also felt a hint of her movement.
"I just said I'm not ready yet..." Mafuyu answered softly.
"Uhh..." Homura scratched his face. "I mean, I won't lie and say it's not on my mind at all... but there's other stuff too. Like, it's safer if you stay at my place. Plus, you've been living off takeout every day, right?"
"Umm... mostly noodles, but the udon from Ogata-san's place is okay."
'But the problem is, you have no idea if there are people in that udon! Rizu's dad was always joking about turning people into noodles, after all.' Homura retorted inwardly with a hint of sarcasm. 'Well, hopefully just joking.'
"But... I'll think about it..." Mafuyu added.
"Okay, gotcha. You're welcome any time."
Homura wanted to pat her head after saying this, but one look at that blanket told him it wouldn't be as good as patting the head directly, so he let it go.
"Anyway, I'll head out now. Got stuff to do back home."
"Mm..."
"Make sure you take good care of yourself for me, alright?" Homura said with a smile, then left.
After hearing the door close, Mafuyu's head slowly peeked out from under the blanket.
"Somehow, I didn't feel like myself at all just now..."
"Take care of myself... for you, huh..."
Mafuyu muttered these words, and little by little, her face turned bright red.
"Kyaaaaa~!"
Wrapping herself tightly in the blanket, Mafuyu started rolling all over the bed.
If Homura were to witness her current super cute act, he undoubtedly wouldn't be able to resist giving her a headpat.
===
"I'm back!"
Homura exclaimed and immediately caught Haru, who ran and leaped into his arms.
"It's okay now. Sorry, I made you worry, little one."
It wasn't just the girls who were worried—Haru was too!
Even though she had heard Homura's explanation over the phone, she still threw herself at him the moment he got back.
"Meow~ (It's fine… but I think I shed a bunch more fur again. Can you check for me?)" Haru turned her head while speaking.
To Homura, it felt like she was trying to change the subject.
"Alright, let me see..."
Homura carefully ran his hand over Haru and noticed it was definitely thinner than yesterday.
"Yeah, you lost a lot, but I think it's almost done."
'Come to think of it, did she even prepare a reason in advance just to change the subject?' Homura pondered, gazing at Haru. 'You're really getting smarter, huh...'
"Welcome back!"
Elf came running up to Homura, looking a little nervous.
"How's Kirisu-sensei doing?"
Hearing Elf's question, Homura immediately smiled.
"She's fine. Didn't I already explain everything?"
"Ah... that's good, that's good." Elf patted her chest in relief.
"You get now that you can't joke about just anything, right?" Homura said with raised eyebrows.
"I sent that to you, not her..." Elf muttered softly. "How was I supposed to know you'd show it to her?"
At the same time, the other girls came out one by one, watching the scene with amused looks.
*Pa!*
Homura suddenly flicked Elf's forehead, causing her to clutch her head before glaring at him.
"What the hell was that for?!"
"You're still asking? Seriously, that message of yours nearly drove me mad." Homura snapped.
"Heehee..." Elf stopped glaring at him and awkwardly scratched the back of her head.
Honestly, hearing that she got Homura that worked up made it all worth it!
"Can't believe such a mess all started from one little cockroach..." Eriri sighed.
"Yeah, I still owe three sets of signed manga volumes..." Homura shook his head. "Good thing I had some stock at home. I just asked Ayano to bring a bunch over to hand out as a bonus."
"In that case, you go handle the signing, Homura-kun. We'll get back to our practice by ourselves." Eli nodded to him.
"Gotcha." Homura nodded. "The sooner I finish, the less it feels like I'm in debt. You all go ahead."
*King called me to patrol the mountain~*
Hearing his phone ringing, Homura glanced at his phone screen, then looked at everyone.
"Yup, it's Fumino." Homura shrugged. "Bet she's calling to ask what the hell happened again."
"Hello, Fumino?"
"Nah, it's all good!"
"I'll explain it to you real quick—"
At the same time, Rin blinked, then turned to Hanayo.
"Homura-kun said 'again'... What do you make of that, Kayo-chin~?"
"Eh?" Hanayo blinked, feeling that line sounded oddly familiar, then straightened up. "He probably got a bunch of calls from other people too. I mean, not everyone who knows Homura-kun knows he has a sister, so his clarification must've made them realize there was more to it than it seemed."
"Ooh~! Kayo-chin, you're amazing, nyaa~!" Rin clapped for her.
"Was it Uncle Minamiya last time?" Eriri asked Sagiri. "Shizuka-nee didn't call you, Sagiri?"
"It feels weird hearing everyone call Mom with '-nee'..." Sagiri frowned.
"Not much we can do. She asked us to call her that." Eriri shrugged.
"Yeah, it was my dad last time." Homura chimed in as he finished the call. "He got all sentimental, and of all things, what he said was, 'It's the first time I've seen you run that fast!'"
Girls: "..."
"Now that's totally something Uncle would say..." Eriri groaned.