"Denying it is a lie," said Ayano as she shrugged her shoulders. "But we still need a few more issues for the Weekly Magazine before that can happen, right?"
It made sense because if the anime caught up to the manga's progress, it could have a significant impact on the magazine's sales!
Ayano didn't say it, but they understood it, so they decided to tease the readers first.
"Is "The Promised Neverland" going to be published in the next issue?" Homura wanted to inquire about other information.
Ayano didn't speak, but only nodded her head.
"What about this?" Homura shook the contract in his hand.
"Oh, this?" Ayano took it over. "Let me see what name you filled in... "Love Live!"?"
She didn't quite understand the meaning of this name, or rather, now even Muse themself didn't know.
But she didn't dwell on it. "If it's 'Love Live!', it will probably be next month."
Homura understood that it was better to delay it, as they needed to progress according to the real schedule.
"OK! My job is complete! I'll take off first! I'll bring you to gather materials for your work on the weekend!" After saying goodbye to everyone, Ayano left.
Homura watched her leave with a helpless shake of his head.
===
The next day, after school.
The four students of Toyogasaki and two of Suimei met up together to go to a recording studio together.
After paying the fee, they entered the studio. This time, Homura only intended to show the girls that he had the ability to complete the game's music, not to record them yet.
He picked up the guitar and played a casual solo, and they were already impressed, looking forward to his next performance.
Homura opened his mouth and, under their expectant gazes...
"King called me to patrol the mountain~!"
Everyone was dumbfounded!
Homura was laughing out loud when seeing their reaction!
Although the song was quite fun, Eriri exclaimed, "Isn't that the song you make for your phone's ringtone? Are you really going to include it in 'Your Name.'?"
Homura quickly shook his head. "How could I? It's just a joke with you guys. Isn't it fun?"
"Fun your head!" Eriri shouted. "Can't you be serious for once?"
*Cough!* Homura coughed. "Wait a minute, let me get familiar with the instrument first!"
He opened the System Skill page and, to confirm his guess, he decided to try the bass guitar.
Homura tested the sound and tone of the bass guitar continuously. To others, it sounded like an amateur that little-by-little became a pro as he played on it.
He looked at his new Level 5 Bass Skill, nodding in satisfaction.
The test was over, now it was time for the real thing!
Homura took back the guitar.
===
After the song ended, Eriri and Utaha were surprised, while Megumi and Mashiro remained calm but had a gleam in their eyes.
Only Nanami looked excited and said, "That was amazing! Homura-kun, what's the name of that song?"
Homura looked nostalgic and replied, "The song is called Zenzenzense (Past Past Past Life)." {TN: Your Name. OST by RADWIMPS}
Utaha asked, "I've never heard of it, is it a new song?"
Homura scratched his head and said, "Well, you could say it's a new song!"
Eriri didn't bother asking further, thinking he probably wouldn't give a different answer anyway.
"What a weirdo," Eriri sighed, "but at least we know the game music is in good hands now!"
The others nodded in agreement. They couldn't deny that Homura sang better than any other singer they had heard so far.
Homura had no idea that he already had a few fans.
===
Time marched forward with firm steps, and arrived on Saturday.
It was another day of the release of the Manke Weekly Magazine, and Homura and his group once again came to the Manke Bunko Store near their home. This time, Haru was in Megumi's arms, and there was a slight difference in the members compared to the last time, with one more person.
Sagiri, the little loli, had also come out! She was now hiding behind Homura, grabbing onto his clothes.
"Sagiri, this is a rare outing for you, how do you feel?" Homura felt the sensation of his clothes being pulled from behind and asked the little loli.
"…It's okay, with Nii-san here, there's no problem!" She had a bit of self-hypnosis as if cheering herself on.
But Homura did sense her anxiety and comforted her, "It's okay, not only is Nii-san here, but everyone is here, so we will definitely protect you! Now, try to observe the surrounding environment and people as much as possible. These can all be used as inspiration for your drawings! But don't force yourself, just take it slow."
Homura reached out and awkwardly touched Sagiri's head.
"…Okay," Sagiri answered softly.
She began to look around tentatively, but the various people around her made her quickly look away. However, she looked back again...
She repeated these two actions, which made the girls laugh. This time, Sagiri was completely different from the 'perverted old man' Sagiri.
Since Sagiri was now able to leave her room, they naturally couldn't avoid being used as a model by her, so everyone knew about Sagiri's perverted behavior.
Eriri once served as her model and already gave up her resistance, so the two of them still often drew each other.
Utaha didn't have much to say, when Sagiri wanted to draw her, she didn't agree, but she didn't object either.
Mashiro and Eriri's habits with Sagiri were very similar. They also draw each other, and Mashiro's honest and pure personality sometimes left Sagiri unable to cope because Mashiro didn't know what 'shy' meant! That's why, Sagiri's interest in drawing her has waned considerably.
Megumi did not object to Sagiri drawing her, but Sagiri felt a little pressured when Megumi stared at her during the drawing process, and Megumi's expression was not very expressive, so Sagiri had one more person she could not deal with.
What Sagiri was most interested in was Nanami, because Nanami loved being shy the most, and her reactions made Sagiri unable to resist! However... Nanami was the most guarded. Although Sagiri wanted to draw her the most, Nanami never let her have her way!
"Homura-kun! Look, there are so many people in line this time!" Nanami exclaimed excitedly; she was more excited than Homura, the author himself who should be the most excited!
"I know." Homura held onto Nanami, preventing her from getting too excited and bouncing around. "Nanami, thank you for being so happy for me!"
Nanami, who instantly quieted down, now had only one sentence repeating in her mind.
'Homura-kun held my hand... Homura-kun held my hand...'
Eriri snatched Nanami's hand away and pulled her away from the crowd, saying as they walked, "Nanami! Let's go see what they're saying around the crowd together!"
Nanami secretly regretted that she could finally hold Homura-kun's hand, but it was only for such a short time...
However, Nanami, who was naturally innocent and kind-hearted, did not complain, but instead said happily, "Okay! Let's go!"
Then, Nanami took the initiative to pull Eriri towards the crowd...