"You're right not to tinker with it."
"Exactly, I'm afraid forcing it open would damage what's inside."
"So, let's wait. Hang up for now, I'll look up some information to see if similar boxes have been discovered before."
"Alright, goodbye, Dad."
"Yeah."
Homura hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the girls, he said, "By the way, let's discuss something and get our story straight if we get questioned. Let's say we're helping Mugi dig up a time capsule."
"Why?" asked a puzzled Yui.
"It's to keep Haru-chan's special ability from being discovered, right?" Mio astutely noticed his intention.
"That's right. There are many animals that can understand human intentions and feelings, but there are too few that can hunt treasure. So... please keep it a secret and make sure to protect the little one safety."
"Don't worry, Homura-niisan. We all really like Haru-chan, so... today, we're just here to help me dig up my time capsule. I happened to remember burying one nearby, but I don't know where. If it weren't for everyone's help, we wouldn't have found it so quickly."
The others nodded and smiled. Even the airhead and slow-reacting Yui nodded earnestly.
"Homura, since we pretend not to know where it's buried, aren't those two holes too little...?" Elf asked.
"You're right..." Homura nodded wryly. "There aren't enough... so I'll dig a few more, maybe even make the hole of Mugi's time capsule deeper to avoid suspicion."
"So, you all should go back to the campsite first. I need to get moving." Homura said, not waiting for the girls to respond and running off.
"Shouldn't we help?" Izumi raised her hand.
"In fact, we won't be of much help..." Megumi shook her head. "Homura-kun is very physically strong, even after digging a half-meter-deep hole, he hasn't shown any signs of fatigue, but it's different for us..."
"We'll leave the physical work to Minamiya-kun. The rest is up to us," Muramasa added.
"Oh? It's rare to hear such words from you, Muramasa. It surprises me," Elf said, looking amazed at Muramasa.
"After all, Minamiya-kun has taken care of us a lot, and he believes that we can keep it a secret. So we can only meet his expectations, right?"
"Muramasa is Muramasa after all..."
===
Homura dug holes along the way, making bigger and deeper holes for larger trees and smaller, shallower ones for smaller trees.
Though he called it digging holes, it was more like loosening the soil. After all, if there was nothing in those holes, why keep them? They had to be filled and leveled.
In the end, he dug six or seven holes. When he was enlarging the hole where he found Tsumugi's time capsule, She arrived with her time capsule box.
"Homura-niisan, here you go. You need it, right?"
Homura nodded with a smile, reaching out to take it and leaving a mark at the bottom of the hole with it. Then he left the hole as it was. They would fill it up later when the people from the two families arrived.
"Mugi, have you contacted Uncle Kotobuki?"
"Yes, I called him as soon as you left."
"That's good. Now, we just have to wait for them."
After about twenty minutes, the people arrived. Homura led them to the destination and then came back by himself. Then, slowly filling the holes...
Five minutes later.
"Hmm? Why is it getting dark?" Homura looked up and saw dark clouds approaching in the distance.
"Although I didn't check the weather forecast, are you kidding me?" Homura was speechless, dropped the shovel, picked up his phone, and called Kotori.
"Kotori, where is everyone?"
"Ah, Homura-kun, we're practicing our dance now."
"It seems like it's going to rain outside. I'd like everyone to help me pack up the camping gear."
"...Rain? Alright, got it. We'll be there soon!"
After hanging up the phone, Homura started running back to the campsite.
===
"Looks like everyone has started packing up." Homura arrived at the camping site and looked at the busy girls, speaking up.
"Well, there's no choice... It's already getting dark, and it looks like there's a high chance of rain." Elf grumbled, clearly not done having fun yet.
"Yeah, everyone, let's pack up quickly. I've also called Muse and the others; they should be here soon."
"But this is really sudden!" Mio glanced at the sky once again.
Ritsu seemed to remember something and looked at Mio with a mischievous smile.
"By the way... Everything was fine just a moment ago, but it suddenly turned out like this... Mio, do you think there's something wrong with that thing we dug up?" Ritsu's expression was filled with anticipation.
"Huh? W-what could be wrong?" Mio got tricked again by Ritsu's words!
"Ritsu... Can't you stop teasing her at a time like this?" Homura shook his head helplessly. "We were already pressed for time to pack everything up, and if you scare her to the point where she can't move, what will we do if we end up being drenched because we couldn't finish in time?"
"Hehe..." Ritsu awkwardly scratched her head. She just fell into her old habit of teasing Mio, but it really wasn't appropriate at the moment.
"Homura-kun! We're here!" Honoka's energetic voice came first.
"Oh! Thanks, everyone! Let's all work together and pack up quickly. It wouldn't be good if everyone gets soaked." Homura said.
"After all... the hot springs are open-air..." He added, causing the girls to pause for a moment.
That's right, the hot springs were indeed open-air! So if it rains, they could only forget about enjoying the hot springs.
Not to mention the magazines in the rain... Rainwater would also cool down the hot spring...
"Hurry up, everyone! I want to soak in the hot spring, I don't want to turn into a soaked chicken because of rain!" Nico urged everyone to get to work. After all, she became a soaked chicken on the very first day, so she had a deep understanding of it.
Soon, everyone finished organizing their belongings and headed toward the villa.
*Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!*
The sound of thunder rolled in.
"...Let's pick up the pace! The rain is probably coming soon, and it's a thunderstorm. It's not safe to be outside!" Homura called out, and everyone immediately quickened their speed!
"Kya!" Umi exclaimed. "It's raining!"
"Run quickly, nyaa~!" Rin also shouted in surprise and increased her speed again!
In the instant that everyone entered the villa, raindrops began pounding the ground, rapidly intensifying into a heavy downpour!
"Wow, such heavy rain." Elf let out a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, everyone came back in time, only getting a few raindrops on them."
"Homura-niisan..." Tsumugi seemed hesitant to speak. "What about those people?"
Homura knew she was referring to the people from the two families who had come to deal with the box.
"Well, I guess they've probably left by now. It's just a box, and with so many people, they would have finished in no time." He shrugged.
Hearing his words, Tsumugi nodded, feeling relieved.