"Eriri, can you tell us roughly when you sneezed?" Nozomi asked directly.
'Why ask that? I totally don't remember!' Eriri frowned and thought in frustration.
Before Eriri could answer, Elf raised her hand.
"Around 7:53 in the evening, I think... When they were talking, I checked the time on my laptop and it was 7:55..." Elf said, giving an approximate time.
Nozomi: "…"
"Well... it seemed like the fan who kept talking about you, that's probably me."
"Huh?" Eriri found that hard to believe. "Nozomi, why would you keep bringing me up?"
"Because Homura-kun asked me where I learned all that nonsense stuff!"
Homura: "…"
'It was my fault?!' Homura thought speechlessly before retorting, "Well, you really did say it!"
"But I only said it because Honoka-chan and the others brought it up first!" Nozomi shot back.
"It's got nothing to do with us!" Honoka hurriedly waved her hands. "It's just that Homura-kun wanted to make us drink that awful vegetable juice!"
Homura: "..."
"That's because your minds were all over the place. You weren't even paying attention in class!"
"And whose fault do you think that was?!" Nico shouted.
"Oh... so it's still my fault, huh..." Homura, seemingly giving up, shrugged nonchalantly, then walked over to Sagiri and patted her head. "Sagiri has grown a lot... You've become more cheerful and are getting closer to the outside world... Yeah, that's great..."
"Outside world..." Sagiri muttered. "As long as I have Nii-san's world, that's enough for me…"
"Come on, be a little greedy! Why not have both?" Homura pinched her cheek.
"No, that sounds like a hassle..." Sagiri wrinkled her nose.
"It's fine! Just a little hassle! Punch it and conquer it!"
Seeing this, Nozomi shook her head and smiled.
"Homura-kun really is as gentle as ever..."
"Yeah..." Utaha let out a soft sigh. "Honestly, no matter how Eriri's sneeze started, as long as I hadn't said that, the conversation wouldn't have gone this way... Was he worried I'd blame myself too much? He went all the way around just to put the blame on himself... So foolish..."
Hearing this, Eriri glanced at her.
"Yeah, that's right, Homura's just that foolish, so you should give him up already."
"Giving him up? Too bad, I just like that kinda foolish guy."
"Hmph, there's plenty of those out there!"
"Just being foolish isn't enough, there are extra conditions. Like being able to write novels, draw, compose, sing, dance, do voice acting... Best if their surname is Minamiya. And if their given name is Homura, then that's perfect!"
Hearing Utaha's excuse, all the girls were stunned.
"Why don't you just say it's Homura already!" Eriri was so mad she started shaking.
"No way! I'm a reserved girl!"
"I've never seen anyone so shameless!"
"Thank you, thank you~"
After a heated exchange, in the end, the thick-skinned Kasumigaoka Utaha emerged victorious.
===
"Seriously, Rin-chan should just stay at Homura-kun's place!"
On the way home, as Homura escorted Muse home as always, Nozomi still hadn't given up on the idea—it was unclear if she really meant it or was just teasing everyone.
"And Honoka-chan, Umi-chan, and Kotori-chan too! It's the perfect chance for a night ambush!"
"No way!" Kotori shook her head hard. "And Nozomi-chan, how can you say that right in front of Homura-kun?!"
"Huh? So it's fine as long as Homura-kun isn't around? Okay… I didn't expect Kotori-chan to get this shy. We'll talk about it in secret once we're home, okay?"
"You already said it out loud!" Kotori's face turned red again.
"Wait, why is it us?!" Umi exclaimed while blushing.
"Yes, nyaa~! Everyone should come along!" Rin chimed in.
"Exactly! Especially Nozomi-chan!" Honoka nodded in agreement.
"Speaking of which..." Eli spoke up. "Nozomi, you always live alone, don't you?"
Nozomi: "…"
'Eli… I can't believe you, of all people, would sell me out...'
"Doesn't that mean… it's totally fine for Nozomi-chan alone to stay over?" Honoka looked at Nozomi suspiciously. "Yet you keep making us stay over... you're obviously teasing us!"
"In that case, let Nozomi-chan be the one to stay at Homura-kun's place, nyaa~!" Rin exclaimed energetically.
"Looks like the tables have turned, huh." Homura remarked with a smile.
"It's all Eli-chi's fault..." Nozomi sighed.
"There's no need to hide it from everyone, is there?" Eli said nonchalantly.
"Well, can't you stay over too, Eli-chi?"
"Me? I don't live alone." Eli shook her head.
"Yeah, my sister lives with me!" Alisa raised her hand.
"You and Alisa can stay over together then!"
"Huh? And why would I need to stay over?!" Eli shouted in surprise.
"What? Does that mean you don't like Homura-kun?" Nozomi grinned mischievously.
"No!" Eli denied it reflexively.
"Seriously, you're totally being led around by the nose..." Maki covered her face.
"So, you don't dislike him..." Nozomi smiled teasingly while tapping her chin with her finger. "Does that mean you like him?"
"..."
"Staying over is out of the question..."
Eli continued the topic, ignoring Nozomi's question.
"If you stayed over alone at this time, isn't that just telling everyone you want to make a move on Homura-kun? Even if I do have feelings for Homura-kun... I don't have any intention of trying to get ahead of the others."
She then turned to Rin.
"Rin probably feels the same, right? That's why you never tried to get closer to Homura-kun on purpose..."
"Nyahaha~ Busted, Eli-chan found out." Rin stuck out her tongue and acted cute.
"Eh?! Why, Rin-chan?! Why?!" Hanayo looked shocked, and everyone else didn't look much better.
"Rin just feels like that would be a bit sneaky, nyaa..."
Hearing this, everyone looked at Rin with complicated expressions.
It went without saying that ever since Homura confessed to her, Rin really had changed a lot.
"But..." Maki frowned. "Even if you didn't try to get closer, somehow it still feels like you two have gotten a lot closer?"
"Nyan nyan nyan nyan nyan~"
Rin, acting dumb, didn't answer, but it was obvious from her reaction that Maki was right.
"Hmm, something did happen after all..." Nozomi looked at Rin and smiled. "Homura-kun always drops Rin-chan off last when he takes us home, after all. It wouldn't be strange if something happened while they were alone..."
Hearing this, Rin stiffened, then quickly ran to the front of the group as if nothing had happened.
"Rin doesn't know anything~!" Rin exclaimed.
"Fufu, I'll see where you run off to tomorrow at school..." Nozomi chuckled.
"Nozomi sounds like some kind of final boss..." Nico muttered as she quietly shuffled a step away.
"Hm? Nico-chi? What did you just say?" Nozomi reached out with both hands, giving Nico a mischievous look.
"Nothing!" Nico shook her head like a rattling drum.
Seeing Nozomi's usual antics, Homura turned his head to Eli.
"Eli, how did Nozomi pick up this habit anyway?" Homura asked curiously.
"How would I know?" Eli's face darkened.
"You wanna know? Why not ask me yourself, Homura-kun?" Nozomi smiled and leaned over to Homura.
Homura: "..."