章 228: Bizarre Fathers

"Everyone, Minamiya-kun is asking if we have time to attend an event tomorrow morning."

Fumino had plenty of time herself, but she had to check with her friends.

If no one could make it, going alone wouldn't be great either.

Rizu, Uruka, and Miyako exchanged glances.

Miyako spoke up first. "I'm free tomorrow. I've finished everything I wanted to do before, and... Nayu won't be absent tomorrow, right? So, I thought of going to see."

Fumino nodded, relieved that Miyako was going. It would be even better if everyone went together though.

After a moment's thought, Uruka added, "I've decided to go swimming tomorrow afternoon, but I don't have any plans in the morning."

"I'm fine with that too." Rizu agreed readily, surprising Homura who heard them on the other end of the phone call.

"Alright then..."

"Hold on, Fuminocchi." Uruka interrupted, "Can I ask... what exactly is the event? Minamiya-sensei's blog post was so mysterious. It's really curious."

Fumino nodded. "Let me ask..."

As soon as she put the phone back to her ear, Homura's voice came through. "Have you seen my latest manga?"

"Latest manga?" Fumino mumbled to herself, and Uruka caught on quickly.

"Love Live?"

The three of them, excluding Rizu, exchanged surprised glances again.

"Could it be..."

"How?" Homura chuckled. "Did you guess it?"

"A concert?" Fumino ventured, though there were other options, she leaned towards this one.

"Haha, remember to keep it a secret. They're just school idols for now, let's not burden them with more pressure."

"Sure! We'll keep it a secret! And, we'll go tomorrow." Fumino decided directly. Such a rare event, it would be a shame to miss it, right?

"Then be at Akihabara by 8 AM tomorrow. I'll send you the location. Although the performance will be later, coming early will secure you a good spot, and you all can hang out together."

"Alright! See you tomorrow, Minamiya-kun!"

"See you tomorrow."

"Yahoo~!"

Fumino barely hung up the phone when Uruka burst into joy.

"Awesome! Muse's concert—"

Uruka stopped mid-sentence as Fumino covered her mouth hastily. Uruka was very excited. Ever since she saw the video of 'START:DASH!!' that day, she had been really interested in Muse!

"Uruka-chan, Minamiya-kun told us to keep it a secret!" Fumino breathed a sigh of relief, they would be in trouble if this info got out! She understood what Homura meant, so she had to make sure not to cause him any trouble on her side!

"Why can't we say anything?" Uruka finally broke free, looking puzzled. "Isn't it... better for more people to know?"

"Minamiya-kun said Muse can't handle that much pressure right now, having a bigger audience isn't good for them."

Miyako also understood. "Ahh, so that's why Minamiya-sensei's blog post was so mysterious and seemed somewhat casual."

"Right, with Minamiya-kun's popularity, revealing the specifics would attract so many people. That's terrifying for Muse as a newcomer."

"I'm not too concerned about that." Rizu spoke up too. "But have we already decided to go tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I talked to Minamiya-kun. We're meeting at Akihabara at 8 AM tomorrow."

"...As long as we can go, it's fine! Whether others go or not doesn't matter!" Uruka stood up abruptly. "I have to prepare well today! A~ah, I can't wait for tomorrow!"

Watching Uruka, who had already let her excitement out, the others could only shake their heads in resignation.

===

On the other end, Homura, who had hung up the phone, didn't put his phone away. After a moment of silence, he dialed Eriri's number.

"Homura? What's up?"

"Eriri, I want to ask you something. Do you think our invitation to Kaguya and Chika to go to Akihabara will succeed?" Homura got straight to the point.

He was thinking of inviting both Kaguya and Chika. Chika might be manageable, but as for Kaguya...

Sure enough, Eriri shared the same opinion. "Well... Chika should be fine, but Kaguya... If it's just a regular outing, it's okay. But for a concert..."

At this moment, Homura was quite vexed. The rules of the Shinomiya family were capable of twisting anyone's plans.

He really wanted to take Kaguya out and let her join a fun activity with everyone. It was so important for her. She had never experienced anything like that before.

"Can we come up with a plan to bring her out?" Homura pondered for a moment and then asked.

"Huh? What if she's exposed? She will definitely get exposed, right? After all, she will disappear for a whole morning!"

There was a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"By the way... have you completely given up on convincing the head of the Shinomiya family?" Eriri asked playfully. She knew that the old man of Shinomiya was not one to be easily persuaded.

"...Are you kidding me? You want me to convince that stubborn old man?" Homura rolled his eyes.

Because reasoning wasn't how Kaguya's father operated. It was all about adhering to the proper etiquette. Etiquette was what mattered most to him. You could see that from how Kaguya had lived all these years.

"Well then, Homura, do you have any good ideas?"

"...Hahh, I'll think about it." Homura furrowed his brows. This wasn't an easy task.

"Hehe... I'm waiting for good news! Bye!" With a chuckle, Eriri hung up the phone.

Resting his chin on his hand, Homura started thinking. But before he could even get into the groove, Elf started asking questions.

"Wasn't the invitation successful before? Why did you call Eriri?"

Homura briefly explained the situation and also introduced the background of Kaguya's family.

"So, Elf, do you have any ideas?"

"Why are there a lot of bizarre fathers? And this one is especially more annoying?! Seriously! If this lady had such a father, I would have revolted by now!" Elf commented with irritation.

"..." Homura was silent.

'Revolt? With your current personality, that's quite possible. But if you were to grow up under the influence of a father like Kaguya's, would your personality still be as rebellious as it is now?'

"How about just snatching her away?" Elf clenched their fist angrily. "Beat anyone who dares to stop you! Just go all the way and beat that old man too! You can definitely do it, Homura!"

Homura was dumbfounded. Was this the only idea Elf could come up with? What the fuck? Did she think he was some kind of Shounen protagonist?!

Previously, he had to persuade Muramasa's father, and now she was suggesting beating the entire Shinomiya family?!

"Okay, okay, this lady was just talking casually..." Elf sighed while waving her hand. "That kind of stubborn father is just the most irritating, not gonna lie."

After venting her frustration, Elf started discussing the issue carefully with Homura.