Homura sighed, taking a quick step to kick a small stone lying ahead of Mafuyu.
Unfortunately, his sudden move surprised her, causing her to lose her balance and stagger.
*Thud!*
She only regained her balance when her shoulder hit a tree, shaking it slightly.
However, without warning, something fell from the tree and landed on her head.
In that instant, the air seemed to freeze.
Homura was completely dumbfounded.
What had fallen on Mafuyu's head was her worst nightmare, and that was precisely why Homura couldn't bring himself to tell her!
However, Mafuyu also had a bad feeling about this because if it were just leaves on her head, they wouldn't have this kind of weight.
Until she felt something squirming on her head, her face turned ashen.
"Kyaaa—!"
She went crazy, frantically shaking her hair and bouncing around wildly!
"Kirisu-sensei!" Homura shouted in haste. "You've already shaken that thing off!"
"Ehh?!"
While still in mid-air, Mafuyu, tears welling up in her eyes, heaved a sigh of relief.
"Ugh!"
Unfortunately, upon landing on the ground, she sprained her ankle.
Homura rushed over, shifting Haru to his shoulder, and supported her.
"Are you okay?" Homura asked with worry.
'Mistake...' Mafuyu thought in distress.
Being seen in such a messy state by a student was not good.
"I think I'm okay... I'll give it a try." Mafuyu answered with furrowed brows.
"Ouch!"
However, as she attempted to walk, she felt a sharp pain!
Homura quickly steadied Mafuyu's body, scanning the surroundings for something to sit on, but there was none.
"Let's go, I'll walk you home." Homura stated, moving Haru from his shoulder to his head and half-crouching in front of her.
"Eh?" Mafuyu stared at his actions, stunned. "Eh?!!!"
"Why are you so surprised? Come on up!" Homura turned his head to her.
"No, no, no!" Mafuyu vehemently shook her head. "As a teacher, how can I let a student carry me?"
"I'm not your student." Homura retorted.
"That's still not acceptable."
After saying that, Mafuyu tried to walk on her own again, but her body immediately swayed.
Homura quickly caught her swaying body with his back, ignoring her protests, and quickly set off.
"Kirisu-sensei, please give me directions."
Mafuyu, blushing profusely as she watched Haru's swaying cat tail in front of her, reluctantly began pointing the way for Homura.
In fact, Homura had thought about whether to give Mafuyu a princess carry or just support her by holding her shoulder. However, the former might make her tense up and strain her waist. As for the latter, considering her injury and the possibility of more discomfort if she had to walk, it seemed better to carry her on his back.
Feeling the soft touch on his back and his palm, Homura had to shift his focus to calm his mind.
"If we had a chair or something to sit on just now, I could have given you a massage to make you feel better."
"Massage?" Mafuyu looked puzzled. 'Why did he suddenly mention that?'
"That's right..."
Homura was about to nod his head but then gave up since Haru was still on his head.
"I'm not talking about just any ordinary rub, but a therapeutic massage."
Upon hearing that, Mafuyu was somewhat incredulous.
She had already understood how knowledgeable Homura was through what she had seen earlier, but the fact that he was also proficient in massage?
"My shoe... it's about to fall off." Mafuyu whispered while burying her face in the back of his neck.
'Is she feeling embarrassed?' Homura thought with a wry smile.
However, as Mafuyu buried her face against his neck, Homura felt her warm breath and looked at her shoe almost slipping off her beautiful foot clad in black stockings.
'Calm down, me...' Homura felt uncomfortable.
With a demeanor that already exuded sensuality in every move, this situation was making it even worse!
Homura silently recited the 'Amithaba' and took a deep breath. He slightly adjusted the position of his arms and removed her shoes one by one.
Her fatally seductive feet in black stockings were now exposed, and Homura felt as though 'Amithaba' was utterly useless!
Homura felt somewhat awkward and desperately shifted his gaze elsewhere.
"Give me the shoes..." Mafuyu suddenly murmured.
Homura felt relieved that she seemed to have noticed his dilemma and volunteered to fetch her shoes.
What Homura didn't see was that Mafuyu's face grew redder and redder.
"It's no problem to give them to you..." Homura sighed. "But how should I give them to you?"
Mafuyu hesitated and fell silent.
Indeed, their situation was a bit awkward.
"I'll try to reach them myself."
After a while, Mafuyu spoke, her hand in front of Homura started moving downward trying to grab her shoes.
However, with her movement, her two soft peaks got squished hard into his back.
"How about this! I'll toss them up, and you see if you can catch them!"
Homura quickly called a halt; otherwise, he might turn into a wolf soon!
"What if they fall to the ground?" Mafuyu asked.
"Don't worry, even if you miss, I can catch them." Homura responded in an instant.
Soon a somewhat peculiar scene unfolded for any onlookers.
A young couple, with a young man carrying a woman on his back, walked slowly.
The young man wore a gentle smile on his face with a cute little cat perched on his head.
The woman on his back blushed, making it a heartwarming and romantic sight that would bring a smile to anyone's face.
However, what on earth was with those flying shoes?!
After several failed attempts, Mafuyu finally managed to catch her shoes.
This made both of them breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ahh, that's my apartment just around the corner!" Mafuyu exclaimed, pointing out her apartment not far away.
Homura immediately carried Mafuyu to the door of Apartment 201.
After Mafuyu got off Homura's back and put on her shoes, she hesitated.
Should she invite him inside?
If she did, her messy place would be exposed! Wouldn't that damage her reputation as a teacher?
But if she didn't invite him, it felt wrong. After all, he carried her all the way home; not inviting him would be impolite.
She had two choices.
Which one should she choose?
Homura quickly noticed Mafuyu's dilemma, but what could he do?
However, seeing her still silent, which made the atmosphere somewhat awkward, he decided to speak up.
"Kirisu-sensei, can I come in? If it's not convenient, I can find another place to help you with the injury; it should heal quickly."
'Whatever, let it be!' Mafuyu stopped hesitating and made a decision. "It's not inconvenient; it's just that my place is a bit messy..."
After saying that, her gaze slightly shifted to the ground.
Homura's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly. He understood that 'a bit messy' was an understatement.
"It's fine, I can help you tidy up a bit. Besides, with your injury, you shouldn't be moving around too much." Homura responded with a wry smile.
Finally, Mafuyu opened the door to her apartment with determination.
What Homura saw was like a scene from a hurricane passing through. Though there had been a few glimpses in the anime, seeing it in person was truly astonishing for him!
Suppressing his peculiar expression, Homura helped the embarrassed Mafuyu into the apartment.
He made her sit down in the entryway, and once again, helped her take off her shoes.
Her twisted ankle was already swelling.
Watching her ankle's condition, Homura had no more reservations.