"Um... Hello, Minamiya-kun!" Fumino greeted Homura with a smile.
"Oh? Is that a cat?" Fumino's eyes lit up as she approached Rizu and stared at the little one.
"Oh, she's Haru-chan. Minamiya-san's cat and family." Rizu held Haru and moved closer.
"Haru-chan? Such a cute little thing!" Anyone could see the fondness in Fumino's eyes.
Homura smiled. It seemed that most girls were powerless against fluffy and cute things.
"Haru, how do you feel about the girl in front of you?"
"Meow~ (She's okay but not as comfortable as this cushion.)" The little one shook her paws toward him.
He was feeling sorry for Fumino. Fortunately, no one could understand what she meant.
"Eh? Minamiya-kun, do you..."
Homura nodded. "Um, Haru and I have a special connection."
"Wow, that's amazing!" After admiring them, Fumino calmed down. "Both of you, come in!"
After entering the house, she naturally wanted to take Rizu and Homura back to her own room.
"Wait a minute!" Homura stopped her. "Furuhashi-san, is this your room? If so, is it really okay for a guy to enter a girl's room so easily?"
"Ah~" Fumino waved her hand with a smile. "It's okay, my room is very ordinary! But still, thank you for considering this, Minamiya-kun."
"Nah, I'm just being polite." Homura also smiled.
"Umu! Come on in! What would you like to drink?"
"Just plain water, please," Homura replied as usual.
Rizu also nodded. "I'll have the same as Minamiya-san."
"Okay, please wait a moment."
He took a look at the room, which was somewhat plain compared to most girls' rooms, but the only difference was that there were many photos of the sky hanging on the walls. Whether it was day or night, all the pictures were of the sky.
He thought to himself, 'She must want to pursue a career related to astronomy, right?'
He took out a cushion that he brought from home and placed it next to him.
"Little one, when we're busy later, you can lie down here, or you can go play in the yard, how about that?"
"Meow~! (Okay, I'll go out and take a look later! I feel like there's something around here...)"
He frowned, 'Did Haru have a special feeling again? What is it this time? Could it be... Koizumi Hanayo is nearby?'
Shaking his head, Homura didn't think about it. Later, he would let the little one go see for herself; he trusted her that much.
"Minamiya-kun, what is this cushion for?" Fumino walked in with a few cups of water and looked at the strange cushion next to him in confusion.
Homura said, "Ahh, since I'm at someone else's home, I was initially unsure whether to bring Haru with me. However, since I don't often take her out to play, I decided to bring her along to your home this time without asking for your permission. So, even if Furuhashi-san doesn't mind, I still want to make sure I don't cause any unnecessary trouble for you."
"There's really no need to be so polite and go that far, Minamiya-kun. I also like Haru-chan!"
"Although I am very confident that the vast majority of people will not dislike my little one, I still need to be cautious, right?"
"It's really unexpected that Minamiya-kun is actually taking this so seriously." Fumino sighed.
"Haha, when it's time to be serious, I'll be serious. When it's time to relax, I won't be uptight." Homura laughed freely.
"Minamiya-san, Fumino... let's start studying now. Minamiya-san only has a morning to spare." Rizu placed Haru on the cushion, interrupting the conversation between the two.
"Ah~ Sorry, Ri-chan! I almost forgot about this, te~he~" Fumino stuck out her tongue and acted cute.
Homura's heart skipped a beat! Damn, Fumino was indeed very cute!
He turned around and took out two exercise books from his bag. "Anyway, let's start by doing some problems. I'll see where you guys are lacking."
Rizu said, "Hmm, no problem."
Fumino said, "Okay! I'll work hard too!"
Taking out a pen, she assumed a fairly standard learning posture.
Twenty seconds later...
The two of them, who were too embarrassed to face each other, covered their faces and said in unison, "I completely don't understand!"
Rizu, with a pouting face, angrily said, "This is definitely a problem with the question! Even in science, we have yet to fully understand the structure of the human brain, let alone the psychology of the characters!"
On the other hand, Fumino was so embarrassed that she was almost curled up into a ball, saying, "I hate it! Don't look at me! My mind goes blank just looking at the formulas! I'm such a useless person! Please don't look at me anymore! I'm just a lowly creature who's not even as good as a bug..."
But at this moment, Homura was all smiles. Wasn't this scene in the anime? He found this scene very interesting!
Homura clapped his hands, and when the two of them looked at him, he said, "Let's put the lesson aside for now, and let me give you some advice first."
"Please go ahead!" (x2)
"First, for Ogata-san." Homura looked at Rizu seriously. "As I mentioned before, tries to engage in normal conversations with others without trying to calculate everything in numbers. Just let your words flow freely without that way of thinking. And one more thing..."
"Try reading more manga and novels, especially those with a lot of psychological descriptions."
Rizu hesitated a bit, "But I've never read any of those befo--"
Homura interrupted, "That's why you should try reading them. It's better and the correct approach than attempting to calculate everything with numbers, math, formulas, and the like. That's just not how it works."
Then Homura smiled and said, "I have a manga recommendation for you. The characters in it have to act for their survival, be wary of all malice, delve into their enemies' psychology, and consider the most successful survival strategies. It's like a perfect example of how human psychology works."
"Eh~? There's such a manga? I want to read it too!" Fumino was also interested.
Rizu, who was persuaded, nodded, "Okay, I understand! I'll go read these kinds of manga and novels!"
"Nee~, Minamiya-kun, what's the name of the manga you recommended?" Fumino asked eagerly.
"The Promised Neverland."
This guy... just wants to promote his own manga, but he does have a point. Reading manga with a lot of psychological warfare like that is definitely quite suitable for Rizu. Perhaps as she reads more, she'll also be able to understand human psychology.
"As for Furuhashi-san, I believe you're the best at these kinds of psychological questions, right?"
Fumino nervously nodded.
"Well then, why don't you try to guess what kind of psychology the person who created this mathematical formula has?"
"If you can understand that, you should be able to understand these formulas as well, right? Once you get started, the rest will become much simpler."
Fumino nodded thoughtfully.
The two girls exchanged a glance and then bowed to Homura at the same time.
"Minamiya-kun, we are truly grateful for your guidance!"
"Minamiya-san, we are truly grateful for this guidance!"