After Homura explained the situation to Yukiho and Alisa, they both looked at their big sisters with speechless expressions.
"I mean, we're gonna be school idols too, y'know? Can't believe you actually forgot about that..." Yukiho said, looking at Honoka's awkward smile with an exasperated tone.
"Hey, this isn't my fault!" Honoka defended herself confidently. "Homura-kun never said I was supposed to teach you!"
Homura: "..."
"But we didn't come over when there weren't any classes, so we never got to hear how to train properly. Isn't it only natural for you to teach me, Nee-chan?" Yukiho wasn't buying her sister's excuse at all. "At the end of the day, you just forgot about me..."
Homura watched the two sisters with amusement in his eyes since their conversations were always entertaining.
"I'll just teach you now!"
Exclaiming this, Honoka grabbed Yukiho's hand and pulled her toward the backyard.
"Wait! Nee-chan, are you sure you're not gonna teach me the wrong way?!" Yukiho shouted as she was dragged along.
"Uh..."
Honoka suddenly stopped, making Yukiho feel a bad premonition about what was coming next.
"I shouldn't be teaching wrong! I'll just teach you the way I train, so how could I mess up?"
Yukiho: "..."
"Guess I'll handle it instead..." Homura shook his head with a helpless smile.
"Oh, that's great!" Honoka cheered. "Yukiho, you better learn properly! I'll be watching you from the side!"
"Nope, you're joining too..."
Homura reached out and pinched Honoka's cheeks, giving them a few playful squeezes.
"Mwehh? But I already learned it!"
Even as Homura playfully squished her cheeks, Honoka surprisingly didn't seem fazed at all.
Was it because she was used to this kind of thing? Or did she just not realize what was happening yet?
"It's called reviewing." Homura replied casually before turning to Alisa. "Alisa, you too."
"Mm!" Alisa nodded happily and jogged over.
"Uh... that looks so fun..."
Kotori, watching with envy, muttered, making Umi, who stood beside her, nod in agreement.
"Face squishing..."
"Youth..."
Both Kotori and Umi spoke at the same time, but their words were completely different, throwing the scene into an awkward silence.
Kotori and Umi were both stunned.
Kotori was stunned because she had blurted out what was on her mind without thinking, while Umi was shocked that she had unconsciously responded to it, but what Kotori had meant to say was completely different from what she herself had said.
At the same time, the girls around them looked at Kotori with surprised expressions.
"If you want it, just say it! Oh? Looks like you already did~" Nozomi teased with a mischievous grin, then turned to Homura without changing her expression. "Homura-kun, Kotori-chan just said that you know~"
Elf, who had been quietly observing from the back, glanced around and slowly began backing away.
"I-I was talking... about youth..." Kotori stuttered, her face flushed red, but as she spoke, her voice got quieter and quieter.
"Isn't that what I said?!" Umi exclaimed.
"Mhm, makes sense... face squishing and youth go hand in hand..." Nozomi said with a straight face, making Eli beside her completely speechless.
Homura stepped forward and stood in front of Kotori.
"Mm, got it."
Saying this, Homura reached out and patted Kotori's head, making her expression instantly turn into one of pure bliss.
"So, Kotori-chan really likes this kind of closeness, huh?" Nozomi raised an eyebrow before glancing at her hands, flexing her fingers as if testing them out. "In that case..."
Seeing this, a chill ran down the girls' spines, and Nico immediately jumped back several steps.
"Well, I kinda like it too." Nozomi grinned and said that with a bright smile before returning to her usual self.
Looking at her, the others made up their minds that they were definitely going to be extra careful around Nozomi from now on.
As for Homura—
"Oh? Nozomi-senpai wants it too?" Homura grinned and leaned in closer to Nozomi. "Alright, got it."
Before Nozomi could even react, Homura was already patting her head!
Nozomi: "..."
Seeing this, the girls all stared in surprise, while Nico secretly chuckled.
'Hmph, who would've thought you have moments like this?' Nico thought amusedly.
"Ara~ Now this is unexpected..." Nozomi didn't show any particular reaction, looking completely natural. "But... getting my head patted by Homura-kun actually feels pretty nice."
"Hmm, thanks for the compliment, Nozomi-senpai." Homura responded with a smile.
"But Homura-kun, what Kotori-chan wants isn't just a headpat, y'know? You still haven't granted her wish..." Nozomi added.
Even though the conversation itself seemed normal enough, to the others watching, it felt like a back-and-forth battle—one move, one counter, each taking turns.
"Oh? And what about you, Nozomi-senpai?" Homura asked.
"Me, huh..." Nozomi paused for a moment, then smiled. "Guess that depends on what you plan to do, Homura-kun!"
"Ahh! Senpai, that's so unfair! I wanna get headpats from you too!"
Nayuta's voice suddenly rang out as she rushed over, squeezing under Homura's other hand, giggling nonstop.
Homura didn't look the least bit surprised by this since he had already seen Elf leave earlier, and her expression when she left definitely meant that she had found something fun again.
"How the hell did things suddenly turn into this?" Eriri crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking exasperated.
"Feels like if we don't step in now, this place is gonna turn into a full-on headpatting festival." Utaha chimed in, mirroring Eriri's movements.
Homura pondered for a moment before speaking up.
"Probably because of these hands?"
"Homura's hands... have magic." Mashiro said, staring at Homura's hands.
"Magic? What's that supposed to mean?" Eriri asked while rolling her eyes.
"It just feels really nice when you're touched." Mashiro replied while furrowing her brow.
"...Yeah, that's true." Utaha agreed without thinking.
Eriri couldn't help but react after hearing this.
"Hey, wait a sec... Kasumigaoka Utaha, since when did Homura pat your head?"
"Speaking of which, Sawamura-san... isn't it about time you started calling me by my name?" Utaha asked back.
"Aren't you the same?" Eriri countered.
"We've known each other for so long now, so wouldn't it be better if we all just used first names?" Megumi chimed in. "Eriri, Utaha-senpai, same goes for you two. At this point, calling each other by name should be normal, right?"
"Megumi, I do call you that, but you're still calling me 'Utaha-senpai', aren't you?" Utaha retorted.
"Um, I used to call you 'Kasumigaoka-senpai' before, though. But since you're a third-year, it still feels a little weird not to call you 'senpai'." Megumi explained.
At this, Utaha rolled her eyes before turning to look at the girls from Muse.
"Over there, they've already banned senpai-kouhai stuff, but what about us?"
Umi was somewhat surprised by this scene.
It seemed like they were going to start dropping honorifics like her and the others, but honestly speaking, that made sense.
Given they were all pretty close now, speaking more naturally would be nice, wouldn't it?
"Why don't we start with Sawamura-san?"
Utaha smiled as she glanced at Eriri.
"So, what do you say?"
"...Eriri."