There was a girl known as Fujiwara Chika.
Don't be fooled by her innocent appearance; when she wanted to, she could be quite a schemer. Especially when it came to something interesting, Chika stopped at nothing to secure victory!
This time, she saw through Homura's plan to stall, and she shut down his escape route right when he was about to put his strategy into action.
Homura suddenly grinned.
"Well, whatever. No matter what Chika does, Honoka and the others won't upload it online."
"Wow! You gave up surprisingly quick!" Eriri exclaimed in surprise.
Homura shrugged.
"What else can I do if I don't give up? She won't stop until she achieves her goal. If it weren't for those 'dangerous' comments, uploading my video wouldn't really matter actually..."
"..."
'So, it's because of the comments...? That's rather funny reason.'
The girls fell silent for a moment and thought like that in unison.
"Heh, it wouldn't be a big deal if it were someone else, but Chika is just too curious." Eriri laughed.
"Yeah, I managed to change the topic just now, but well, as you know, she realized it..." Homura said with a helpless expression. "So, let's just forget about this topic. Let's check if there's any interesting reaction from Muse later."
Megumi nodded.
"Chika-chan will go ask them, and no matter how it goes over there, Muse will probably tell Homura-kun. That's what you want to see, right?"
"Yup." Homura smiled. "Let's watch some other videos while we're at it and wait for some messages."
===
"Ah, Chika-chan..."
Honoka looked at her phone ringing and answered it.
"Hello, Chika-chan? What's up?"
"Honoka-chan! I want to see that video of Homura-kun dancing! He said it's with you guys."
"Wait a sec!" Honoka put her phone on speaker. "Could you repeat that?"
"Huh? I want to see the video of Homura-kun dancing... Are you guys sure you haven't deleted it?"
The nine girls exchanged puzzled glances. Why would Chika suddenly want to see that?
Honoka hesitated.
"But... Homura-kun told us not to share it with anyone."
"Oh, c'mon, Honoka-chan! I'm a close friend of Homura-kun. How can I cause harm to my close friend?"
That actually made sense.
"Chika-chan, it's me, Nozomi." Nozomi stepped forward. "The video is at Eli's home, and we're at school right now. So, you'll have to wait until later."
"...Alright." Chika sounded a bit disappointed. "I'll wait for your message then. Bye-bye!"
"Bye~!"
"So..." Nico raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't Maki have it on her laptop too?"
"Well, yeah..." Eli nodded. "But we should still ask Homura-kun."
"I already asked him." Kotori raised her phone.
...
[Showing Chika shouldn't be a problem, but it's important not to upload it online. I'll give you a link to the video for you to understand the reason why. After reading the comments on the video, please consider my safety, okay girls? (Attached link)] - From Minamiya Homura.
...
"What does he mean, nyaa?" Rin looked incredulous. "Is there actually danger?!"
"Let's check it out quickly!" Honoka was getting impatient.
"Alright, give me a sec... There, done!" Hanayo swiftly entered the URL.
"Isn't this... Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss?" Maki said in surprise.
"It is, nyaa! Oh, and someone's already doing a cover so fast..." Rin was intrigued.
"And it's a man!" Umi noticed a crucial point.
"Is something threatening Homura-kun here?" Eli furrowed her brow.
"It's starting! Let's watch!" Kotori exclaimed.
===
The nine girls wore expressions of not knowing what to say.
"Although, from the dance perspective, it was really good and it also had a professional touch... But what's up with this restlessness inside my heart?" Eli said with a complicated tone.
"It's probably because of the expressions..." Honoka felt like something was off.
"Scary, nyaa..." Rin stared blankly, her gaze completely unfocused.
Although the others also felt awkward, they still thought it was worth watching.
"So, what about the comments?" Nico asked.
"Ah, sorry! I forgot to turn them on!"
"...Could it be? Are we going to watch it again?" Maki said as the corner of her mouth twitched constantly. Even though it was good, watching it again was a no-go. It felt like it would be too much for her mental health!
...
[Comment 1: Yo, quick heads up! If you just started watching, do yourself a favor, don't keep going! Seriously, trust me on this one!]
[Comment 2: What the heck is going on?!]
[Comment 3: OMG... it's done, it's done, I'm done for!]
[Comment 4: Dude's a total pro! Like, no doubt, a freaking pro!]
[Comment 5: Can't resist, gonna give it another go! Swear, this is the last round, promise!]
[Comment 6: I'm stuck in a loop with this!]
[Comment 7: My eyes!!! This nightmare is gonna haunt me forever!]
[Comment 8: Okay, but this guy? Unexpectedly adorable. He's legit making my heart go all doki-doki.]
[Comment 9: Hey, where are you from, cutie? Judging by the vibes, Akihabara, maybe? Heehee... How about we plan a meetup sometime? I swear, you won't regret it!]
...
All nine of them looked utterly baffled. Why did these comments feel a bit off?!
Not a single criticism; instead, everyone seemed quite interested. However, the thing was, they were interested in the man in the video.
"Mwahahaha!" Nico couldn't hold it in. "No wonder he said it was for his safety! The comments are mostly from guys! Hahaha!"
""Is there something wrong?""
Honoka and Umi didn't seem to grasp the problem here and asked with a confused tone in unison.
Kotori suppressed a smile and leaned in, explaining to the two.
Suddenly, Umi froze.
"They must be joking, right?" Honoka was puzzled for a moment, then smiled and nodded. "That's right, it must be a joke! Homura-kun knows it very well. But seeing someone else being talked about like this in the video is one thing; if it were Homura-kun..."
She stopped herself from saying more.
The rest also understood; it was just too awkward.
"Besides, this person did it voluntarily, self-recorded, and self-uploaded, while Homura-kun only did it to make tutorial videos for us." Eli added.
"So, should we let Chika-chan see it?" Nozomi wondered.
Everyone thought for a moment. Since Homura said it was okay for Chika to see it, then it should be fine as long as they explained it to her.
"Yeah, now that it's settled, let's continue discussing Love Live." Nico suggested.
"Speaking of which... Our manga's name is also Love Live..." Umi sighed. "Homura-kun decided on that name a long time ago. Did he already know we would definitely participate back then?"
"You're right..." Kotori wondered. "Even though Hanayo-chan mentioned rumors about Love Live before, did Homura-kun actually know since long ago?"
"Wait a minute!" Nico suddenly widened her eyes. "Having our manga and Love Live share the same name, won't it cause a problem?"
Everyone was startled; it was entirely possible!
"Ahh, that shouldn't be a problem." Maki chimed in.
"Why?" Nico asked confusedly.
"Minamiya family has been actively developing the entertainment industry, and Love Live, as a new event for entertainment, with the Minamiya family's influence... You know what I mean..."
Maki closed her left eye and played with the tip of her hair.
"So that's not a problem at all..."