The Next Day.
Homura woke up early to prepare breakfast, with Megumi helping on the side.
The reason for waking up earlier than usual was that after breakfast, he had to take Mashiro who couldn't go on her own for registration at the Art Division of Suimei University of the Arts, or "Suiko" for short.
As they were almost done with preparations, Homura looked at Eriri lying on the couch and said, "Eriri, could you help me call Mashiro and Sagiri down?"
"Uh, sure, I'll go now," Eriri lazily replied, then slowly made her way upstairs.
Homura asked Megumi with a smile, "Megumi, isn't this kind of Eriri really rare?"
Megumi looked at Homura with her big, cute eyes, not quite understanding what he meant.
"It's not common, but what's so strange about her?" she asked.
Homura didn't know what to say. Were they not on the same page?
"Don't you think there's a contrast between Eriri when she's sleepy and Eriri at other times? Do most girls like that kind of gap-moe, or am I just misunderstanding something?" Homura wondered, beginning to doubt himself at the end.
Megumi's expression finally changed from her usual calm demeanor, looking somewhat troubled.
"Well, I don't know what other girls think, but I probably wouldn't think about things like that myself," she said.
Homura: "..."
"AHHH!!!" Eriri's startled scream could be heard, and Homura dropped everything to rush upstairs.
Eriri and Sagiri were standing outside Mashiro's room, and Homura quickly asked, "What happened?"
"I don't know! Did a burglar come in?!" Eriri pointed to Mashiro's room, and Homura looked inside.
"What the hell is this!? It looks like a tornado went through here!" Homura's forehead was covered in black lines as he suddenly remembered this scene.
Walking into the room, he saw all of Mashiro's clothes, including her underwear, scattered throughout the entire room. On the desk next to the computer, there were photocopies of the "Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun" and "The Promised Neverland" manga that he had given her yesterday.
He went straight to the desk, crouched down, and knocked on the bulging lump under the desk. "Oiii~! Mashiro~~ Please wake up~~"
The bulging lump began to move, and after a while, Mashiro's head emerged from the pile of clothes.
"Homura?" Mashiro was still a little groggy and mumbled.
"Get up! You have to go to school later, you can't be late on the first day!"
"I know..." Mashiro's naked body emerged... wait a minute, naked?!
'Ah! I knew it! If I knew; I wouldn't ask Eriri to call Mashiro. Good thing she screamed, or I wouldn't witness this divine scene!'
'Umu! Thank you! Thank heaven! Thank earth! Thank you Eriri, for screaming!'
Homura stared dumbfoundedly, stunned by the scene...
"You BAKA! Why are you still staring, you like it aren't you!" Eriri quickly ran over, covered his eyes, and pushed him out of the room. "Get out! Get out quickly!!"
"Sagiri, watch over your brother, and don't let him peek!"
*BANG!*
After saying that, the door was closed.
Sagiri looked at Homura with a puffed-up cheek and let him stand against the wall, not wanting to talk with him.
Homura was still immersed in the scene just now, and the sound of Eriri's angry voice came into his ears.
"Ah!! Hurry up and put on your clothes!! Why are you naked?!"
"Why am I naked?"
"I'm asking you, why asked me!"
"Washing, then getting clothes."
"Then why aren't you dressed?!"
"Everything has been taken out."
"I see, so that's why the room is like this... Wait, why are we talking about this now?! Hurry up and put on your clothes!"
"... I'm dressed."
"Where?! Where are you dressed?! Button up properly!!"
"What about underwear?"
"Put them all on!"
"Which one should I wear?"
"AAHHH!!! Just wear whatever!"
"Then forget it."
"Are you kidding me?!" Eriri was so frustrated that she picked up a pair of underwear at random. "Just wear this one!"
"This underwear is not cute," said Mashiro with a hint of disgust.
"JUST KILL ME!!!" Eriri stormed out of the room and disappeared who knows where.
Mashiro appeared at the door with her clothes disheveled, tilted her head, and asked Homura in confusion, "What happened to Eriri?"
"... Probably," Homura rubbed his nose and replied, "She went to get reinforcements."
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Eriri grabbed Megumi.
"Megumi, I'll leave Mashiro to you!" Then, she grabbed Homura, "You come downstairs with me, you rascal!"
"Just look at that dumb face of yours!" Eriri looked at Homura, who was still a little dazed, with an unfriendly expression, "How is it? Is she pretty?"
"That was an unfortunate accident." Homura looked embarrassed.
This was really embarrassing! He was actually stunned! He quickly went to the sink to wash his face and wake up!
Eriri sneered, "Is it? It seems like, someone is very happy!"
"Accident, accident. Even if I see Eriri, I would still react the same way," Homura quickly replied.
*SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!*
Eriri continuously slapped Homura's back, "BAKA! Who asked you to see?!"
While Homura was washing his face, he was pushed into the sink by Eriri's slapping, so he didn't see that Eriri's face now looked so red and hot like it could fry an egg!
"By the way, what happened? Homura-kun," Utaha suddenly appeared out of nowhere and asked.
"Ah... it was a series of accidents." Homura dried his face and continued, "It was mainly caused by Mashiro's lack of common sense. Just be careful in the future!"
Utaha's eyes flickered. She felt that his explanation was a bit perfunctory. 'Could there be something fishy? I'll observe for myself.'
After a while, Megumi came down from upstairs with Mashiro and Sagiri.
Homura looked at Mashiro, who now looked even more radiant than when they first met; he secretly gave Megumi a thumbs up.
At the dinner table, Utaha asked curiously, "Mashiro Isn't from our school?"
"No, Mashiro is going to Suiko, to study art in the Art Division," Homura replied.
"Wow, the Art Division in Suiko, where there are only about 20 students in the entire grade?" Eriri exclaimed.
"You knew?" Homura had never looked into it himself, but he was surprised that Eriri knew about it.
"Of course, after all, it's an elite training system where the entire grade only has 20 students. I've also looked into it before. I used to want to apply to Suiko, but later I heard that most of these 20 or so students are "different" from ordinary people, so I gave up," Eriri sighed.
Homura also sighed, "After all, geniuses always have some peculiarities, right? Look at Mashiro, she has no common sense!"
Hearing Homura's example, Eriri was at a loss. She almost screamed when remembering the earlier incident.
"Ara? Actually, Sawamura-san can also go to Suiko. You also have some peculiarities, right, Kashiwagi Eri~Sen~Sei?"
The cunning and black-belly senpai took the opportunity to attack Eriri again...