"Umu! I feel all warm inside and even got sweaty!" Elf exclaimed with a bright smile.
"..."
Homura stayed silent and narrowed his eyes.
Confirmed!
Elf was definitely lying and wanted to play some trick.
All warm inside? Clearly, the juice was supposed to be ice-cold, so how could it be warm?
Meanwhile, after hearing Elf's words, Honoka, Rin, Hanayo, Maki, Nanami, and Kotori, who were standing behind her, all looked at her with admiration in their eyes.
At this moment, they truly admired Elf.
She was only fourteen, yet she had done something truly amazing!
"How about letting everyone have a taste? After all, Homura, you made quite a bit, right?"
Suddenly suggesting this, Elf finally revealed her fangs.
"Sure thing!" Homura nodded with enthusiasm. "I have indeed made quite a bit. Just let me know if you want some."
"Well, I recommend everyone give it a try. This is quite a rare treat, after all." Elf said, turning to the others.
As for those who had already tried it, they silently watched the scene, keeping straight faces, pretending not to hear or see anything.
"Hana, won't you give it a try?"
Turning her head to Muramasa, Elf asked with a smile.
"No, when you suggest something, it's never a good sign." Muramasa shook her head without hesitation.
'Dammit! Did she find out?'
Elf complained inwardly, then glanced at Eriri.
"What about you, Eriri?"
"No, thanks. I prefer fruit juice." Eriri replied with a calm smile.
"Wait, this is made by Homura, y'know?! It's different from regular vegetable juice!" Elf continued to persuade.
'It is indeed different... very awful!' Honoka complained inwardly.
God knows how she managed to endure being served a glass of vegetable juice by Homura every now and then over the past couple of days, with no way to refuse.
Eriri turned to Utaha, who subtly moved a little farther away.
"Nah, I'm not really in the mood for vegetable juice." Utaha shrugged nonchalantly.
"It's tasty!" Elf said very seriously. "Believe me, this is very tasty! After drinking it, you'll definitely want more!"
Seeing her like this, Homura was starting to feel a bit sorry.
She was clearly trying to deceive everyone, but unfortunately for her, no one was falling for it. Moreover, since she was getting a little too impatient, everyone could tell something was off.
In fact, Elf didn't want to rush things, but the lingering taste of vegetable juice in her mouth kept reminding her to rinse it out, making her impatient. It wasn't until she couldn't resist and ran off to rinse her mouth that everyone saw through her trick.
"Like I thought, that juice isn't as good as it looks..." Eriri remarked.
"I've never had anything worse than this..." Honoka muttered.
"Senpai, why did you make it so awful?" Nayuta asked curiously. "Couldn't you make it tasty as a reward?"
"Well, how should I put it..."
Homura thought for a moment, then answered.
"Good-tasting ones don't have the same effect."
As soon as he said this, the girls who drank the vegetable juice grimaced.
"Alright, don't doubt it—let me explain." Homura shrugged. "First, did you feel refreshed when you drank it?"
As soon as they heard his question, the girls who took part in the special training had dark expressions.
"It felt like my brain was going to explode when I drank it! If that's what you mean by 'refreshing', then yeah, I guess it was refreshing." Yukiho replied sarcastically, sounding irritated.
Upon hearing this, Eriri shuddered.
She couldn't even imagine what it would be like for one's brain to explode. Fortunately, she hadn't drunk the vegetable juice earlier.
"Well, it's packed with nutrients and good for your throat, like I mentioned earlier. Now, let me explain why I made it taste so awful."
Homura nodded calmly and kept explaining.
"In short, if I made it tasty, you'd just focus on it instead of your training."
He said this while staring straight at Honoka.
"Of course, I could also not give you the tasty vegetable juice for free and use it as a reward instead. For example, you could earn a drink by meeting certain requirements."
"However, you should know that this vegetable juice is essentially meant to protect your throat—or rather, your voice. So, no matter whether you meet the requirements or not, you'll end up drinking it anyway."
"Since it's pointless, it's better to make it taste awful to keep you alert instead of making it tasty and letting it distract you from your training."
At this point, Homura looked at the girls' expressions one by one.
'Honestly, it's mainly because your faces are so funny when you drink it. But that's something I can't say out loud...' Homura thought with a chuckle before continuing, "Well, everyone's been working hard these past few days, so let's have a barbecue party in the yard later."
After forcing down the awful vegetable juice for so long, it was time to treat everyone to some delicious food.
"Really?" Hanayo asked with a hopeful expression.
"Really." Homura nodded with a smile.
"Yatta~!" Honoka raised both hands and cheered loudly.
===
After dropping off Muse and the two little sisters at their homes, Homura returned to the backyard and called his father.
"Oh? Has the time finally come?"
Kosuke spoke as if he'd been waiting for the call.
At this moment, Homura inquired about the animation company and the previous issue he had discussed with his father.
"Yeah, we're finally going to use the recording studio you helped us rent before."
"Um, but do you kids think you can handle it on your own, or do you want me to arrange some pros for you?" Kosuke asked.
"Don't worry, Dad, it's just recording for a game." Homura chuckled. "We'll take it one step at a time."
"Well, if that's what you say, I won't interfere then."
"By the way, I have something else I'd like to discuss." Homura continued. "There's only one animation company under our family, right?"
"Isn't that obvious? Any extras would've merged." Kosuke replied firmly. "So, what exactly do you want to ask?"
"Ayano told me that our animation company is pretty amazing, and you've seen the info on Another Dimension's website, right?" Homura asked tentatively. "Is their capability good enough to produce anime for my circle's works?"
Kosuke thought for a moment before replying.
"Let me tell you this much. As long as your key animators don't hold them back, there won't be any problems."
"Dad, you must be joking." Homura chuckled. "You know who the artists in my circle are. Plus, with Kosaka Akane's help, there won't be any problems."
"In that case, there's no problem." Kosuke chuckled too.
He realized that his son's circle was growing larger and larger. He wondered how far it would go in the future.
"By the way, have you figured out the schedule? Set it early to avoid any conflicts with the company."
"Everything's set. We'll start production in early June, and I'll announce it online. By the way, you mentioned conflicts... is our animation company really that busy? If it's busy, shouldn't it have enough good works to focus on? Why is everything depending on Meruru?"
"..."
"You got anything else?"
Kosuke didn't answer the question and instead asked with an impatient tone.
Homura rolled his eyes, wondering why his father was so sensitive.
"Tomorrow, I need to organize a voice actor audition..." Homura replied. "I need some male voice actors."
"Alright, wait a moment..."
After a while, Kosuke's voice came again.
"Done! A car will pick you up tomorrow, and you can take a day off yourself. Okay, I'm hanging up."
*Toot* *Toot* *Toot*
Homura listened to the busy signal on the phone and sighed.
'It really isn't that far off...'
Homura pondered and checked the date.
'June 1st is on a Saturday, huh? Well, let's surprise everyone on Children's Day then... Hmm, only five days left, and they're all workdays? Looks like I'll be working late again... In that case, time for the real deal.'