Upon returning home, Homura first greeted Sagiri but she seemed to be on the phone and did not respond to him.
Homura didn't mind, thinking it was probably Sagiri's mother, and he carried Haru to his own room.
After placing the little one on the bed, Homura began to attend to unfinished business. After completing the third chapter of "Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun," he opened his system.
[Level]: 3 (290/300)
Homura: "..."
Why did it increase again? Did I gain experience from beating someone?
Confused, Homura felt a headache coming on.
'Why wasn't there any sign or instruction on how he gained experience? Had the system transcended beyond the game? Why wasn't such an important feature included?!'
He couldn't possibly stare at it all the time, Homura thought helplessly.
Seeing that he was only ten experience points away from leveling up, Homura decided to level up.
Approaching Haru, who looked at him strangely, Homura said, "Little one, let me try a new ability. Can you tell me how it feels later?"
Haru replied, "Meow? Oh, I understand!"
With Haru's agreement, Homura entered the Pet interface and activated the Train Skill.
Haru immediately stood up and looked sharply for something, waving her paw to feel something else. Five minutes later, the skill effect dissipated, and Haru stopped moving.
Homura looked at himself and Haru and saw that their status had changed.
[Character Name]: Minamiya Homura
[Level]: 4 (10/400)
[Energy]: 90/100
[Skill Points]: 2
[Pet Name]: Haru
[Level]: 12→13
[Pet Status]: Satiety (76/100), Hygiene (85/100), Health (100/100), Mood (80/100)
'Train requires 10 points of energy and rewards 20 points of experience. Hmm? Haru leveled up. Let's ask her,' curious, Homura asked. "Haru, how do you feel?"
Haru hesitated before replying, "It's like I suddenly learned something, but I don't know what I learned. And I don't feel so good."
"Well...that discomfort might be due to your mood dropping," Homura said before adding, "It's okay, I'll give you a full treatment to make you feel better."
He then proceeded to Clean, Caress, and Care for Haru. The little one lay down contentedly, a smile appearing on her cat-like face...although it felt a little strange.
Observing Haru's expression, Homura almost burst out laughing. She also felt puzzled since this didn't happen last time. Perhaps it was because her mood had increased too rapidly that she made this expression.
"Let's not worry about it anymore! Time for bed!" Homura said as he began to prepare for sleep.
He and Haru then drifted off to sleep...
===
The next day, in the afternoon, after school at Toyogasaki High School.
Homura and his group of four were walking towards his home while chatting about various topics including what happened the night before and their club work project "Your Name."
Suddenly, Eriri remembered something and asked Homura, "Minamiya, have you submitted your manga yet?"
"Not yet, but I'll scan and upload it when I get home," Homura replied, sensing that Eriri had something else to say.
"Well... can we see your new manga drawings before you upload them?" Eriri asked, a bit embarrassed.
Utaha and Megumi nodded in agreement with Eriri's request.
Looking at their reactions, Homura felt both helpless and gratified. He felt gratified that excellent works are always popular no matter which world, but helpless that they had even followed him home in pursuit of reading manga.
"Sure, I'll show you guys before uploading it," Homura readily agreed.
Eriri became happy while Utaha and Megumi smiled as well.
The atmosphere among the group was filled with joy.
=========
"Sagiri! Haru! I'm back!"
"""Excuse me!""" (x3)
After speaking, everyone waited for Haru to appear.
As expected, a thumping sound was heard and the little one ran down again, jumping into the arms of Homura, with the three girls behind him looking on enviously.
"Hmph! You and Haru-chan have a really good relationship!" Eriri's words were filled with jealousy.
Megumi stepped forward and stroked Haru's back, but the little one didn't react at all.
Utaha's eyes lit up, and she also stepped forward to touch him, but the little one turned his head and climbed onto Homura's shoulder...
Utaha: "..."
"Hahaha! You, sly woman, have it coming today!" Eriri laughed and clutched her stomach.
Utaha couldn't help but say, "Ara, then why don't you try it, Sawamura-san?"
Eriri's laughter stopped instantly, and she muttered resentfully, "Hmph! What's so great about it!? Our relationship will improve sooner or later!"
Homura laughed and said, "Okay, you guys have plenty of time, you'll get along better with Haru sooner or later! Let's go see the manga first!"
Eriri was excited, "Yes! Hurry up and go read the manga!"
After speaking, Eriri hurried towards Homura's room. Utaha and Megumi also quickly followed to read the manga together. It would be a waste of time if they take turns reading the manga. They couldn't afford to delay Homura's time to submit his manga.
Homura smiled and shook his head, picked up the dinner ingredients, and put them in the kitchen first.
Before he could even make it back to his own room, Eriri's laughter was heard again.
"Hahaha! This new character! Are there no normal people here anymore?!"
Homura walked into his room and replied, "There are still normal people, they will appear later."
"Minamiya, I think your manga will definitely win a prize!" Eriri shared her thoughts.
"Oh? Since Kashiwagi Eri-sensei said so, I can rest assured!" Homura deliberately replied.
"Ahh!!! Baka! Don't mention that name!" Eriri's daily frustration was evident.
Utaha laughed and said, "Don't be so excited! Sawamura-san, we all know about it, so being excited won't help!"
"Ka- Su- Mi- Ga- Oka- U- Ta- Ha!!!"
"Okay~ Okay~" Watching the interaction between the two, Homura couldn't help but say, "You two have a 'really good' relationship!"
"Yes!" "No way!" The two said completely opposite things at the same time.
Then, they started to quarrel again...
"Sorry, Homura-kun, for us being so noisy," Megumi said while touching Haru's head and speaking to Homura.
"Haha! It's okay, it's good to be lively, and besides..." Homura indicated that it wasn't a big deal and looked at the two who were arguing, "They're not really fighting. Despite their arguing, if anything were to happen to one of them, the other would be really worried!"
Megumi pondered for a moment and said, "Homura-kun, you really understand them."
"No, I think you can tell too. This is a relationship of rivals. No one really hates each other." Homura looked at Megumi again and said, "You understand them too, right?"
"What?" Megumi didn't understand.
"We, as a group of friends, would be really anxious and worried if something happens to one of us, right?"
Although it was a question, Homura's tone was affirmative.
Megumi didn't directly answer, muttering to herself in an almost inaudible voice.
"Perhaps, yes..."
The corner of Homura's mouth lifted slightly...