The little one was released to play on her own, and Homura came to the activity room.
He greeted the absorbed Utaha, who was writing, and Megumi. He then began his own work at the long table.
Twenty minutes later...
*Bang!*
Hearing the sound behind him, Homura didn't even think twice and flipped over to the other side of the table.
"Mi- Na- Mi- Ya-!!!" Eriri's angry voice erupted, her fury bursting forth as her hair flew about, making her look like a golden-maned lion.
"Yo! You're back, Eriri!" Homura wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and greeted her.
"Yo my ass, you scoundrel!!!" The frustrated Eriri began to chase after Homura, doing a "marathon race" with Homura around the table.
This sudden turn of events interrupted Utaha and Megumi, leaving them staring in confusion at the familiar scene before them.
Utaha spoke up, asking, "What's going on here again?"
"Isn't it because of him! He never mentioned that his sister is a perverted old man!" Eriri took a moment to explain to Utaha. She still wanted to catch Homura.
"A perverted old man?" Utaha said in shock, "You mean... Homura-kun's sister is... a man?"
"The hell! No way!" Homura retorted, his face filled with black lines. "What kind of weird thought process is that? How could my sister be a man?!"
At this moment, Megumi spoke up, saying, "Homura-kun, you should explain clearly."
Saying that she stopped the two of them and firmly made them sit down and explain everything.
Eriri said while still full of anger, "I want to see what kind of explanation you can give me!"
Homura smiled awkwardly and explained cautiously, "Actually, you should know Sagiri's pen name, right? You noticed it when you first met her, didn't you? She's a very shy and introverted little girl."
"But... as long as a beautiful and cute model comes to her, Sagiri's 'Eromanga-sensei' side will emerge, and she'll be eager to draw even the patterns on the model's panties. Um... that's probably it," he finished, looking at Eriri and seeing no change in her expression, still full of anger.
"So what?! When did I agree to become a model?!" Seeing that Eriri was about to continue the "marathon race"; Homura felt the need to stop her and signaled that he had something to say.
"Actually, I didn't expect Sagiri to do that too, but Eriri! I think it's because you're too beautiful and cute, causing Sagiri's 'Eromanga-sensei' spirit to burn so fiercely."
Eriri's visible anger kept dissipating, and her face turned redder. Homura was about to breathe a sigh of relief when suddenly he felt two oppressive sensations that sent chills down his spine.
Homura inwardly thought, 'Fuck me, this is bad! I stepped on a landmine!'
He quickly tried to salvage the situation by casually saying, "Of course, I believe Sagiri would be the same way if she saw Utaha-senpai and Megumi!"
The "pressure" slowly dissipated, and Homura's survival instincts once again saved him in time.
After hearing Homura's words, Eriri's face no longer turned red, and she said unenthusiastically, "So how do you plan to compensate me?"
Scratching his head, Homura thought for a moment, then took out his phone and said, "Let me show you a picture! This is my rare collection!"
Eriri looked at him with a black expression, wondering what kind of nonsense this was.
'Was it a pornographic image? Are you crazy to show me this thing?! I want to see what it is!' Eriri thought, so she took the phone. Utaha and Megumi also leaned over, curious.
Then the three girls saw a picture of Haru, the little one, on Homura's phone, but... the smile on the cat's face was too unrealistic!
"Pfftt!" As expected, Eriri was the first to burst out laughing, laughing so hard that she had to lean on the table and shake uncontrollably, struggling to hold back her laughter.
Utaha and Megumi didn't fare any better, each turning away to hide their own loss of composure.
Homura also smiled. As long as they laughed, all the tension dissipated.
You're really amazing, little one!
Outside in the yard, Haru sneezed, scrubbed her face, and continued playing with insects.
After laughing for a while, Eriri finally caught her breath and asked Homura, "What did you do to Haru-chan? How did she end up like this?"
Homura shrugged and said nonchalantly, "I didn't do anything, just gave the little one a massage."
Utaha, with an intentional tone, said, "Heehh~, Homura-kun, you have such skills. You can actually massage a cat until it smiles. Would you mind giving me a massage too?"
Homura's relaxed expression suddenly froze. He couldn't use his pet skills on humans, could he? Unless she agreed to be his... Ahem, that's a bit hard to handle...
Seeing the hopeful expressions on Eriri and Megumi's faces, Homura inwardly sighed.
'Was this like lifting a rock to drop on his own foot?' {TN: Someone is taking an action that is likely to harm themselves in some way, either intentionally or unintentionally.}
"Let's wait until the weekend after I sign the contract and have enough time. I'll give you all the massage then," Homura said.
That was all he could do for now. He needed to buy some time and level up his massage skill a bit more. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough skill points.
"Okay, I really hope the weekend comes soon!" Utaha said, agreeing out loud as she noticed Eriri and Megumi's blushing faces but no objections.
"Well, I'm going to cook now. It's time to eat," Homura said, walking out of the room and heading straight to the kitchen.
As Homura's footsteps grew fainter, Utaha glanced at Eriri and said, "We have to thank Sawamura-san for today."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Eriri asked, annoyed.
"Of course, it's because of you that we were able to see that photo and get the opportunity for a massage, isn't it?" Utaha said, smiling.
"...Although you're right, it's still frustrating coming from your mouth!" Eriri gritted her teeth and said.
"...Here we go again," Megumi said, watching the two bickering, feeling helpless.
===
Homura was cooking, his hands busy while his mind was thinking.
'Why did I suddenly have an additional skill point expense?' Homura wondered as he looked at his only four skill points.
'Plus, I need a comfortable massage skill that can make a cat smile. It should at least be on Master Level, right? That's Level 6?' Thinking about it, Homura had a headache.
'If I had more time, waiting for Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun to grow famous wouldn't be a problem for early-level progression. But this weekend...' Homura thought for a while, finally making a decision...
He would start a new manga!
'It's best to have a heavier plot than Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun comedy. I don't want readers to think I'm only good at comedy. It'll be perfect when I sign with Iida Ayano on Saturday,' Homura said.
After finishing preparing dinner, as Homura was cleaning up, he finally decided on his second manga work...
Homura whispered, "The Promised Neverland..."