"You surprised? We were even more surprised!" Eriri retorted, "We asked him, and he said you were the perfect voice actor candidate as if he had completely figured you out the first time he met you!"
"Now that you mention it..." Nanami also seemed puzzled, "I fainted when we first met, but Homura-kun guessed it was because I was hungry and hadn't eaten for a long time."
"And so are you, Elf." Utaha continued, "When you first moved across from the Homura-kun's house, he already knew a lot about you just after the first interaction."
"I don't think that's it..." Elf denied, "It was probably even before we met. That guy, Homura, lured me with Eromanga-sensei! I always feel like joining Another Dimension was his calculated result, step by step..."
Homura was flabbergasted when heard this! Wasn't this going too far?! Did they have to fabricate all this about him?!
"It's probably because Homura-kun is good at understanding people's hearts," Kotori spoke up for Homura, "Homura-kun told us before that because he knows us so well, he can even predict our actions. That's why it seemed like he heard Honoka-chan's scream, but it was actually Homura-kun who expected it to happen!"
"Speaking of which, understanding people to this extent is almost like having superpowers," Maki said, somewhat incredulous.
"That's all because Honoka-chan, always talking about superpowers and esper matters! Everyone, let's stop talking about Homura-kun like that behind his back, okay!" Kotori huffed.
Homura's eyes welled up with tears. Kotori was truly his savior!
"Yes, it's not good for us to continue this topic..." responded Nozomi, "if we continue like this, we might start to overthink and this suspicion will worsen and never end, you know?"
"Sorry!" Honoka apologized, "I was just so curious about everyone's reaction! So... ehehe..."
Eriri, Utaha, and Elf exchanged a smile, which Homura couldn't see. If he had seen it, he would have known that they were just joking with each other.
"We were just joking! But if we talk about who knows Homura the best, it's probably Megumi, right?" Eriri reluctantly admitted, but still felt somewhat dissatisfied.
"Eh? Is it really Megumi-nee?" Umi couldn't believe it.
"Yeah, Megumi understands everyone well enough. She knows we were just joking, so if the situation gets serious, the one who would have stopped us first would be Megumi." Utaha said confidently.
Utaha's and Eriri's words made everyone focus their attention on Megumi, observing her calm expression, suddenly feeling that she was quite unfathomable!
Megumi: "..."
"But your joke seemed so real that Homura-kun will be scared to death, right?" Megumi smiled faintly.
Homura vigorously nodded. 'Yes, Yes! I was almost scared to death!'
It was clear that Megumi genuinely understood him!
"Am I right, Homura-kun?"
"Absolutely!" Homura reflexively shouted.
"..."
Homura wanted to slap himself! Why did he even respond?!
And what Megumi said earlier, 'Homura-kun will be scared to death.' Instead of 'If Homura-kun heard it, he will be scared to death'.
That implied that she was pretty certain that Homura had heard it!
Well, the hot spring fell silent. Everyone, except for Megumi, instinctively protected their chests and sank into the hot spring, leaving only their heads above the water.
"Homura! Were you peeping, you rascal?" Eriri's voice sounded exasperated!
"No, Eriri." Megumi shook her head. "Homura-kun wouldn't do such a thing, just look at me, I'm not hiding, right?"
Homura was truly amazed. Just moments ago, when he heard Eriri's accusation, he was still contemplating how to explain himself. However, Megumi unexpectedly took the initiative to explain on his behalf!
Just how well does Megumi understand him?
"Alright..." Due to her trust in Megumi and Homura, Eriri emerged from the hot spring once again. "But Megumi, how were you so sure he wasn't peeping?!"
Everyone was puzzled, silently looking at Megumi, waiting for her explanation.
"Setting aside other matters, do you all believe that Homura-kun is a peeping tom?" Megumi scanned everyone before almost all of them emerged from the hot spring. Even though some of them had only recently come into contact with Homura, they could already tell that he was a trustworthy and good person.
Their actions were merely subconscious.
"Just think about the voice Homura-kun had when he was speaking earlier," Megumi said.
"It was a bit distant..." Yui raised her hand and spoke.
"It sounded like he was shouting," added Maki.
These two were quite sensitive to sounds, so they perceived them quite clearly.
"So, it's even less likely that it was peeping since his voice was so far away..."
At this moment, Megumi appeared even more mysterious.
"But, Megumi, how come you suddenly started talking to Homura-kun?" Utaha asked hesitantly.
"Because Homura-kun has excellent hearing..." Megumi responded without hesitation, then looked at Utaha and Eriri, "And you should know that too, right?"
"We?" Utaha and Eriri exchanged glances. "How would we know?"
Megumi tilted her head, her eyes wandering, looking extremely cute, but unfortunately, Homura didn't have the fortune to witness it. "Remember when Homura-kun escorted us home that time?"
"I know!" Sagiri raised her hand. "My mom called me later and told me that you encountered four gangsters!"
"Yeah, it was because of that incident that we ended up staying at Homura-kun's place. After all, it was already too late after the activities, and Homura-kun was worried about us going home alone. But we couldn't let him send us home every day, right?" Utaha said, nodding as she recalled that day with a touch of emotion.
"Wait!" Honoka interjected, "You all encountered such a dangerous situation? Four gangsters!"
"And they were even drunk!" Eriri added, expressing her discontent.
"Isn't that even more dangerous?" Nico exclaimed.
"Honoka-chan, considering Homura-kun's skills, four people aren't much of a threat, right?" Kotori said, "Remember how he managed to catch us quickly and safely even in such a dangerous situation."
"That's true!" Honoka suddenly realized.
The skeptical Elf said, "Is there something else that we don't know?"
"Let's wait for Megumi to finish first, okay?" Eriri sighed, "We already know about what happened that day, but how did you know that Homura has exceptional hearing?"
"We were on a road with some curves, not a straight path, so we didn't know what was ahead. Those gangsters were coming towards us, but when the three of us had no idea about anything, Homura-kun stopped us from moving forward..."
"Ahh!" Eriri suddenly understood, "So you knew at that time that Homura has particularly sharp hearing?"
Megumi nodded.
Sagiri and Eriri couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration again. She could deduce so much information from just those small details. Megumi was truly a terrifying woman!
"Haha... Megumi really understands me! I'm so touched!" Homura's voice rang out again.
Everyone: "..."
It's confirmed... He heard everything they said...