"Honoka, what's wrong?"
Seeing her stare at the food on the coffee table with a conflicted expression, Homura asked with twitching eyes.
"If you want to eat, just go for it. Why are you so torn... are you on a diet or something?"
"Yeah..." Honoka sighed. "I feel like I gain weight way too easily. It'd be nice if I had Yui-chan's metabolism..."
Homura glanced at Umi.
"With your current activity intensity, I don't see the harm in eating a bit more?"
"Eating more is fine, but the problem is, once Honoka starts, she can't stop. She just keeps going." Umi shrugged helplessly.
Looking at the food, Honoka's heart ached.
So many snacks made by Homura were right in front of her, but she couldn't indulge in them.
"Okay then, I'll get you something low in calories."
Homura quickly left and, after a while, returned with a bowl of strawberries.
"How about these? They're low in calories, high in water content, and nutritious."
"Well, it's not bad, but it's not made by Homura-kun..." Honoka grumbled.
"Wait until dinner, then." Homura shook his head. "After all, you're having dinner here tonight, right?"
Surprisingly, his words perked up Honoka instantly.
At the same time, the others also brightened up.
In all honesty, they hadn't thought of dinner until Homura mentioned it.
Realizing they could all have dinner here during the voice-acting training, everyone felt excited about Homura's dishes.
Only Alisa and Yukiho seemed puzzled, but no one intended to tell them.
After all, they would figure it out at dinnertime.
===
After chatting for a while, Megumi and the rest finally returned.
After introducing Yukiho and Alisa, Homura's voice-acting training officially began.
"None of you are interested in voice acting?"
Homura primarily looked at Sagiri and Nayuta, who he thought had voices suited for Illyasviel.
After all, their voices clearly had that loli charm.
Unfortunately—
"Nii-san... I'd rather stick to drawing." Sagiri shook her head, not wanting to take on such a high-profile role.
Homura nodded, understanding the reason.
If Sagiri didn't want to, he wouldn't push her.
Nayuta scratched her head and answered, "Senpai, I'm actually okay with it. If you think I can do it, I'm willing to give it a try... but you know... my work habits... I'm not sure if they'll carry over..."
"..."
Homura was at a loss for words as he recalled her work habits.
"Okay, I get it! Nayu, you can keep writing novels."
Watching him desperately trying to stop her, Nayuta silently chuckled.
'It seems Senpai really cares about me, mwehehehe...'
Homura did have a backup plan—he could have Nayuta record separately. Still, it felt wrong to do so given her circumstances.
"Alright, let's get going."
And so, Muse's nine members, two little sisters, along with Nanami and Megumi, made a total of thirteen students ready to undergo Minamiya-sensei's specialized training!
Using the living room as the center point, Homura led them to the room opposite the circle's activity room. Although the room had excellent soundproofing, he arranged it this way to ensure no distractions.
The room was already set up with a large whiteboard and several long tables, with chairs tucked underneath the tables.
"Take a seat wherever you like—there's no need for formality. Just think of this as a casual conversation."
Homura stated as he handed them the script to everyone.
The dialogues in the script were taken from the works of Another Dimension's members, with a significant number coming from 'Your Name.', as it was what they were most familiar with.
"Minamiya-senpai, do we have any teaching materials?" Yukiho raised her hand and asked.
Homura shook his head.
"No worries about the skills part, just trust me. I'll teach you everything I know, and you'll definitely see progress if you follow my guidance."
"If you don't understand something, just ask. I'll give each of you some personal guidance. At first, your skills might be a bit limited, so I'll assign you specific roles based on what suits you best."
"Once your skills are up to par, you'll have more control over your voice and can choose roles that showcase your skills best."
"By the way, mastering these techniques is also super beneficial for your singing. Many vocal skills are universal after all."
Clearly, out of the thirteen girls in this voice-acting training, eleven were most interested in this particular statement. After all, nine were school idols, while two aimed to become school idols. Since singing had its benefits, they were eager to learn more.
Homura waved the script in his hand.
"As for this, it's solely for your practice. Use the techniques I teach you, choose the roles that suit you best, and then bring these scripts to life using only your voices. Any questions?"
"Homura-kun, I have a question." Nanami raised her hand. "What about the practice methods? Alone, or...?"
"Of course, you can't practice alone." Homura grinned. "You'll need partners and an audience. The audience's feedback will be essential since you might not be aware of your own limitations. I will do my best to help you achieve a magnificent transformation in your voice-acting skills within a week."
"A week..."
Except for Honoka and Nanami, the rest couldn't help but twitch their mouths.
His statement sounded a bit far-fetched!
If they didn't trust Homura enough, someone might have already objected.
"At most, one week." Homura nodded. "So, shall we begin?"
===
Two hours later, even though the voice acting training hadn't ended, it was time for dinner.
With over twenty people to feed, Homura alone wouldn't be efficient, so those capable pitched in.
In truth, when it came to cooking skills among Muse's members, only Nico and Kotori could truly impress.
Kotori specialized in pastries but could also help with the main course. However, Nico was surprisingly even more skilled in this area.
As for Yukiho and Alisa, it was better not to have high expectations of them.
Homura, on the other hand, had quite impressive cooking skills. He was near the top of the culinary world, with Elf following closely behind.
Following them, there were Honoka, Nanami, and Muramasa, whose cooking skills weren't far behind.
At this moment, the seven of them worked tirelessly in the kitchen for quite some time, with Homura's exceptional cooking skills shortening the process.
In the end, they managed to serve the meal while it was still hot.
As for the dining table, while Homura and a few others were busy in the kitchen, the rest had moved several long tables from the temporary classroom and placed them together. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been enough space for over twenty people.
Yukiho, watching her sister eagerly awaiting the meal, couldn't help but ask.
"Nee-chan, is this necessary?"
"Yukiho..."
Honoka looked at her sister with a serious expression.
After a few seconds of silence, she finally spoke up with a shrug.
"Oh well! You'll know when you taste it yourself!"
Yukiho was speechless.
She assumed that maybe her sister was just too lazy to explain. After all, as the saying goes—you would understand once you tasted it, so why bother explaining?
"Yosh, this is the last dish!"
Homura came over with a plate and gestured broadly with his hands.
"No need to say anything, let's eat!"
Several seconds later, Yukiho and Alisa looked at several empty plates on the table with bewildered expressions.