Nanami looked at him incredulously and said, "Let's put aside the fact that you invited me. You actually made a game?! We're about the same age, right?"
Homura nodded in agreement.
Seeing him nod, Nanami grew even more incredulous. "Nee, does that mean you're some kind of amazing person?"
"I'm not that amazing, but my team is. They're almost all geniuses and they work very hard, which is why I invited you."
"Don't tease me, okay? I'm not genius nor talented." Nanami shook her head repeatedly. If they were all geniuses, how could she...
However, Homura disagreed with her. "Perhaps you may lack a little in talent, but your hard work is unparalleled! I have never seen anyone work as hard as you and push themselves so much!"
Nanami felt strange but didn't know how to refute him. She squeaked and squealed for a while, but couldn't say anything.
Homura remembered something and pulled out the club's project from his bag. "Oh, by the way, the big secret I mentioned earlier, Nanami, take a look at it!"
He even used the excuse of fooling Nanami earlier to get her to fill her stomach!
Nanami was embarrassed this time. She didn't expect there to be a real secret. She took the project and used it to cover her face.
Neither of them spoke, and Nanami carefully examined the project that deeply fascinated her, while Homura waited silently for her to finish.
After a long time...
Nanami put down the club's project that was covering her face, and her face was full of shock. Homura didn't ask her anything and just waited for her to recover on her own.
"Is such an amazing work really in need of someone like me, who's only ordinary and not talented?" Nanami was a little uneasy. If she originally planned to agree because of Homura's kindness, it was different now. She was afraid that she couldn't do it, and if she ruined a good work because of herself, wouldn't that be repaying kindness with enmity?
Homura laughed confidently. "Who do you think am I? I am the director and planner of this project! If I say you can do it, then you can do it!"
His confident demeanor infected Nanami, and she no longer hesitated. She said to Homura, "Okay, please guide me, Minamiya-kun."
Another person was recruited, and "Another Dimension" grew even larger. Homura said happily, "No, I should be the one saying that. Please guide me! And you can just call me Homura. Didn't I call you by your first name too?"
Nanami suddenly felt a little embarrassed and lightly scratched her face and said, "... Okay, Homura-kun."
"Wait, speaking of which, how did you know that Nanami is my first name and not my surname?" Nanami looked at him suspiciously. "Chihiro-sensei only called me Nanami, right? She didn't call me by my full name. How did you know?"
'Could it be... he's really a stalker?!' Nanami silently moved a little further away from Homura.
Homura felt a bit awkward.
'Yes, even though I knew it from my past life, I can't explain it! Nanami didn't introduce herself, and I just took the liberty of calling her Nanami. I didn't expect her to be so perceptive.'
'Think quickly... about how to break the situation, Think! Homura Think!' His brain started to run at high speed! 'I'm not a weirdo! Please don't misunderstand me!'
"It was on the way I carried you here. Probably your classmate? Saying something like 'Isn't that Aoyama-san?' Am I misunderstanding something? Your name is not Aoyama Nanami, but Nanami Aoyama?" His brain was running at lightning speed and he did recall a student mentioning it.
"What the hell is Nanami Aoyama?! That's a man's name, right?!" Nanami retorted, her face full of black lines.
"Yes, it's a man's name, which means I'm not wrong, Nanami." Safe now, Homura breathed a sigh of relief.
'Huh? Doesn't that mean Homura-kun already knows my full name and still called my first name on purpose? What is he thinking?' Remembering how Homura called her first name from the beginning, Nanami suddenly blushed and turned away without looking at him!
'Huh? Why is she blushing again? Is she hungry again? Or does she want to go to the bathroom?' Homura was confused.
Dude, you're thinking too much. This is the consequence of the excuse you made up.
Homura thought that she might want to go to the bathroom, and since he was a boy and Nanami was too shy to speak up, what he needed to do now was retreat! He would talk to her after school.
Just as he was about to say goodbye, Nanami suddenly asked him, "Um, Homura-kun, can I ask which character you assigned me to play? Is it the classmate of Mitsuha?"
Homura was stunned for a moment.
'What is she talking about?... Oh, she's asking about the character's role!' So he said directly, "Huh? What are you saying? Mitsuha! You're playing as Mitsuha herself!"
Nanami: "..."
"Eh? EEEEHHH!!!" Nanami's surprised voice echoed from afar...
Homura released his ears, which he had just plugged, and looked at Nanami, who was still open-mouthed, and said, "Why are you so surprised?"
Nanami regained her composure and said incredulously, "Of course I'm surprised! The female lead, it's the female lead! Are you sure it's okay for me to do it?"
Homura encouraged her, "I'm the director, and if I say you can do it, then you can do it! Have confidence in yourself and go for it!"
Nanami was still a bit uneasy and said, "But I can't seem to control my Kansai accent..."
Homura smiled, "That's exactly what I want, your Kansai accent!"
"Huh?" Nanami was stunned and asked again, "Do you really want to use a Kansai accent?"
"It's "your" Kansai accent, no one else's can!" He patted the project documents placed on the bed, "Nanami, didn't you read it carefully? Mitsuha is a countryside girl. Wouldn't it be more convincing with an accent?"
This time, Nanami was at ease. She had not misheard and patted her chest, feeling a little excited. Her big eyes blinked and flapped, this "scene" almost making Homura faint.
Looking slightly unnatural and turning to look elsewhere, Homura asked the crucial question, "Nanami, how many jobs do you have now?"
Nanami paused momentarily when she heard this and looked up at Homura, "Originally two, but recently I got another part-time job at different times."
Homura was shocked. He knew Nanami had been working hard, but who would have thought that she, as a high school student, was actually having that many part-time jobs! She really didn't have any free time at all!
Indeed, he had no way of not caring about this hardworking girl. How could he help her without hurting her feeling?
After a moment of silence, he looked directly into Nanami's eyes and said, "I have a job here. Can I ask you to do it?"
Nanami looked at him strangely and asked, "What kind of job?"
Homura replied, "Taking care of someone."
Nanami was a little hesitant and said, "But... I don't have much time."
Homura replied, "I'll pay you a salary that's 10% higher than the highest-paying job you have right now."
"What about time?" asked Nanami.
"Anytime, except for the time you spend studying," replied Homura.
Nanami swallowed hard, and she might have understood what Homura meant. "Homura-kun, don't joke around."
"I'm not joking. I'm serious," replied Homura.
After taking a deep breath, Nanami said, "I'm sorry but..."
Homura added, "Meals and lodging are included!"
Nanami: "..."
Nanami didn't say anything and swallowed back the words she was about to say.