Homura said excitedly, "Sure, come to the park closest to my house at four o'clock tomorrow morning.'
"OK! That's settled. We'll see the sakura in the morning and then I'll take you to gather materials in the afternoon," Ayano made a simple arrangement.
"Good, I'll do as you say."
"Well, I'll hang up now. See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow." After putting away his phone, Homura said to himself, "This is really good news! I didn't expect Ayano to move so quickly!"
*Buzz~*
'Hmm? Who could it be now?'
"Hello, Homura-shi! Congratulations!" It turned out to be Saori.
"Ahh... thank you, Saori. I didn't expect you to remember!" Homura was surprised that Saori remembered and even called to congratulate him.
"As Homura-shi's friend, it's my duty!" the two chatted for a while before Homura went back to complete his task.
===
Sunday, 3:30 AM.
Homura was almost ready, and Megumi was helping him pack food into a thermos and a picnic basket.
Homura said to Megumi, "I wonder if Mashiro has gotten up yet."
"Nanami-chan already went to wake her up, so it should be okay." Megumi was also uncertain.
As they spoke, Nanami came down and said to Homura helplessly, "I'm sorry, Homura-kun. I couldn't get Mashiro up."
Homura wasn't surprised and reminded Nanami, "Nanami, do you remember how I got her attention yesterday?'
Nanami suddenly realized, "Oh right! I forgot!"
Then she quickly ran back to the room and called out to the curled-up Mashiro, "Mashiro, wake up! It's morning already!'
"...Morning, it's already gone~" Mashiro closed her eyes and said something terrifyingly sleepy.
Nanami: '...'
"If you don't get up soon, there won't be any ultimate pineapple bread left for you." Nanami decisively used her trump card.
*SHUA!*
Mashiro jumped out of bed, "NO!!!"
"Then hurry up! Otherwise, when we're all gone, you won't have anything to eat!" Nanami struck while the iron was hot.
"Nanami, help me."
"As long as you get up, everything will be fine."
After the two of them finished their preparations, everyone, including the six people and one cat, headed straight to the destination.
===
On the way, Homura said to his tablet, "Sagiri, it's such a shame you're not here!"
"It can't be helped, there are so many people..." Sagiri muttered. She also wanted to be with her brother, but the place to do Hanami was too crowded for her to accept.
Homura thought for a moment and suggested, "How about we have a Hanami party for you in the yard tonight? There are sakura trees in the yard too, but there are only two, so it's not as beautiful and breathtaking as outside... is that okay with you?"
"Nii-san, thank you. As long as you're here, it's enough." Sagiri blushed, but only she knew why.
"Do you still need to thank me? It's what a big brother should do!" Homura proudly said.
Looking at his appearance, all the girls couldn't help but envy and think that Homura is really good to his sister.
===
"Wow, there are so many people!" Eriri exclaimed in surprise.
The others weren't any better. They arrived early, but there were almost no seats left. If they were ten minutes late, wouldn't they be completely out of luck?
"Quickly, find a place!" Homura shouted, and everyone split up to find a suitable location.
Homura chose a spot, and as he approached the crowd, a familiar voice reached his ears.
"Homura-kun?"
'Huh? Someone here knows me too?'
Looking in the direction of the voice, it turned out to be Okami Nana!
The young man next to her should be her younger brother, right?
"Nana! What a coincidence! I didn't expect you to come and do Hanami too!" Homura was very surprised. It was really lucky to run into each other.
"Yeah! It's really a coincidence! Homura-kun, are you here for that too? If you don't mind, let's go together!" Nana invited him generously.
"But we have six people in total..." Homura would have agreed if it were just him, but what if so many people make them uncomfortable?
"It's okay, there's still empty space next to us. It's lively with more people. And, you brought Haru-chan with you, right?" Nana said, reaching out to pat Hachi's head.
Homura understood. Haru's younger brother was also here, so it would be perfect for the two groups to join together.
"Okay, thank you, Nana. I'll call them over right away."
===
This big group of people, including the recently arrived Ayano, are all sitting together and it is indeed lively.
"Let me introduce everyone! This is Okami Nana, the owner of a pet store and the person who adopted Haru's younger brother!" Homura first introduced Nana to the women.
"Hello everyone."
Except for Ayano, the other women were all surprised. They never thought the world was so small that they would easily meet the person who adopted Haru's younger brother.
"I am Minamiya Homura," he said mainly to Nana's younger brother. Then he patted Haru, who was getting close to Hachi, and said, "This is Haru, also Hachi's big sister."
"Hello, I'm Okami Yugo, a second-year in high school," Yugo introduced himself politely.
Homura naturally followed up with, "Then we are the same age."
Afterward, everyone introduced themselves and briefly got to know each other's situations.
"Oh! Speaking of which, Homura-kun, I read your manga! It's great!" When Nana learned that Ayano was Homura's manga editor, she suddenly remembered this.
Homura couldn't help but ask, "Nana, did you close the store yesterday just to go buy manga?"
If that's the case, Homura would feel a little guilty.
"Not really! I asked Yugo to buy it for me," Nana laughed.
"Yes, I've also read the manga, and Minamiya-sensei is really amazing!" Yugo also praised him, his expression was very serious, not just a polite formality.
Homura waved his hand, "Yugo, don't call me sensei. We are the same age."
After thinking for a moment, Yugo said, "...then I'll call you Minamiya-san."
"Okay, do as you like. We'll have chances to get along in the future. You can call me Minamiya or Homura," Homura said.
Yugo nodded in agreement. He and Homura were not familiar with each other, so he wouldn't call him by his first name right away. After all, he was a person who followed the rules and etiquette.
"By the way, is she Haru?" Yugo looked at Haru and asked Homura.
"Right," Homura replied.
"She looks cool," Yugo said.
Everyone was speechless.
'Why? Shouldn't Haru-chan be cute?! How could she be considered cool?!'
Thinking so, they suddenly saw Haru scolding her younger brother and they secretly nodded.
'Well... she does look pretty cool!'
Yugo reached out and touched Haru's head.
It was surprising that Haru didn't dodge. This was a big blow to the several girls who had been avoided by Haru at the beginning.
Why could this guy who just met her can do this?
'Yes... maybe... he succeeded because Haru didn't react in time? Yes! That must be it!'
They deceived themselves into thinking so.