"Why do I have to come pick out a swimsuit too?"
Muramasa muttered with unwillingness.
"There's always a time when you'll need them, especially since summer is almost here y'know. When you go to the beach, a swimsuit is essential." Elf comforted.
"I didn't plan on going..."
"Huh?!" Elf couldn't help but exclaim. "As a girl, isn't it a waste not to go to the beach in the summer?!"
"But—"
"Alright, stop!" Elf interrupted Muramasa, who still wanted to say something. "Let me choose a swimsuit for you today!"
"..." Muramasa fell silence.
"Can I help you with something?"
The sales assistant nearby was attracted by Elf's voice and asked politely.
"No need. We'll handle it ourselves; we'll call you when we're done." Elf responded.
"Alright." The sales assistant politely smiled and stepped aside.
"But..." Elf thought for a moment. "Let's choose for Nayu first. After all, it's related to her writing."
Hearing that, Muramasa breathed a sigh of relief; at least it wasn't her. Even though she couldn't escape later, that was still a while away, right?
"By the way, Nayu, do you have an idea for the swimsuit?" Elf asked for Nayuta's opinion.
Hearing the question, Nayuta shook her head.
"I've never worn anything other than school swimsuits, so I'm not really sure... But I want to try them on one by one!"
"Yosh! Let's start with a one-piece then." Elf handed her a cute-looking one-piece swimsuit.
Nayuta took it and entered the fitting room. After putting on the swimsuit, she took out her laptop and started brewing her writing mood. After a while, she shook her head and stuck her head out of the fitting room.
"It's just not working..."
"Then try a two-piece." Elf brought another swimsuit.
Nayuta changed again and tried to get into the right mood. This time, she felt a little better, but it still felt awkward in various ways.
She stuck her head out of the fitting room and shook her head at Elf again.
Later on, the more swimsuit she tried, the less fabric there was, but this made Nayuta's mood keep improving!
Meanwhile, Elf outside the fitting room was speechless. Was her writing mood really directly linked to the amount of fabric on her body?!
It was truly a bizarre condition.
However, Nayuta didn't just try on the swimsuits; she took selfies in each one, and then—
===
Toyogasaki High School, Year 2, Class B.
Homura, who was in the midst of class, felt his phone buzz.
He took it out and looked at it.
"!!!"
Seeing several photos sent to him, Homura instantly widened his eyes.
Save and copy to the secret folder!
These two simple actions seemed like he had practiced them a thousand times.
Every now and then, his phone would vibrate, followed by a flurry of quick movements. Beside him, Megumi had no idea what he was doing, but she knew he was fiddling with his phone.
'Did this girl really go on swimsuit shopping?!' Homura thought inwardly as the photos kept coming in.
*Plop*
Suddenly, a small paper ball landed on his desk.
Homura looked at Megumi suspiciously but didn't notice anything unusual. However, the only one who could have thrown this paper ball was her, right?
Unfolding the paper ball, he found a simple question mark.
'Well, if that's the case, I shouldn't reply with text...' Homura pondered.
After a moment of chin-stroking, he had an idea. He picked up a pen and quickly wrote on the paper before tossing it back.
However, it remained unfolded.
As the teacher wrote on the board, the paper spun and landed on Megumi's desk.
"..."
Megumi lowered her head and immediately noticed his response—a drawing of a chibi girl in a swimsuit.
She rolled her eyes and promptly ripped the paper.
Homura shrugged and redirected his gaze to the board, but then his phone buzzed again.
'Another one?'
[Homura! How do I look? (Attached picture)] - From Yamada Elf
'Elf too? Do all the girls at home go swimsuit shopping too?' Homura pondered and repeated his previous moves and replied with a thumbs-up emote to Elf!
In no time, her response came.
[Heehee... look! (Attached picture)] - From Yamada Elf
'Oh? It's Muramasa! Nice, nice! Save!'
After sending her an emote of surprised expression, Homura waited and waited.
Wait for what? Of course, he was waiting for Sagiri's photo in a swimsuit!
Unfortunately, he waited for several minutes, but Sagiri's photo didn't arrive.
'Isn't she going? Or is she too shy to send one?' Homura rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Surprisingly, at the end of the class, Elf sent another message. Homura quickly opened it and immediately saw a group swimsuit photo of four girls!
Squeezed into the same fitting room, Muramasa blushed, gazing down at her own fingers while Elf's hand formed a V sign around her neck!
On the side, Nayuta wore a bright smile, her eyes narrowed happily.
As for Sagiri, she didn't show her face; she wore a straw hat, concealing it entirely.
Under the bewildered gaze of Megumi, who had just arrived behind him, Homura decisively saved the photo. However, he refrained from placing it in the secret folder since he sensed her sneaky glances at his phone from behind.
"I thought that since I had already given her a solution, Nayu wouldn't go swimsuit shopping, but here it is..." Homura turned to Megumi. "I never expected them to go together..."
"Maybe Elf-chan started it..." Megumi shook her head. "I can't imagine the shy Muramasa-chan and Sagiri-chan going swimsuit shopping."
"Sagiri bought one before though." Homura laughed. "Of course... it was online shopping. How else do you think she designs her characters in swimsuits?"
Megumi, who had been briefly lost in thought, regained her composure. It made sense; Sagiri had always been like that.
Homura thought for a moment and sent a message to Elf.
[Is Haru with you guys?] - From Minamiya Homura.
Before long, Elf sent a photo. She was crouching on the ground, and Haru was sitting beside her, wearing a confused expression, as if she didn't understand what these people were doing.
Homura felt relieved; as long as Haru wasn't by herself.
Meanwhile, Megumi observed all of his reactions. If Eriri or Elf were here, they would probably tease him, saying he was like a worrywart father!
All they could say was that Haru was everyone's favorite. Needless to say, everyone hoped she would be fine.
"Speaking of which, Megumi, besides game script and coding, is there anything else you'd like to learn?" Homura asked.
It wasn't really good to make her solely responsible for the programming, thus he wanted to hear her opinion.
Megumi didn't immediately answer his question but pondered for a while. Nearly three minutes later, she finally answered.
"There are many things I'd like to learn... like Homura-kun's cooking skills..."
Hearing that, Homura raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue.
"And maybe voice acting...?"
"Megumi, I know you want to be helpful..." Homura interrupted. "But for voice acting, unless you can improve your usual tone, it might not work—wait a minute..."
He suddenly paused and was taken aback by a sudden realization.
"You can maybe voice 'Kuudere' characters or maybe 'Half-Kuudere' characters?"