บท 242: Understand Each Other

Waving twice, Homura flipped the switch of the mic.

"Yosh! They have all gone, and I won't take up too much of your time. Just bear with me a little."

Homura chuckled.

"I'm sure you can all guess what I'm about to say. Yep, I want to say something important."

"For us Otaku, supporting idols is cool, but disrupting their daily lives is a big no-no. So, I hope everyone can understand their situation. Besides, those girls earlier were just school idols and still in high school, so please understand."

"Don't worry! We understand!" Someone from the crowd shouted.

"Alright then! That's enough of the chatter. Let's disband!" Homura declared but suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right! For those who couldn't make it, shouldn't we share some details with them, you know, spreading some salt?"

Everyone looked at the smirk on his lips, all sporting bewildered expressions!

'What the hell? How can Minamiya-sensei be so mischievous? But... We like it.'

That was what the crowd thought, and their smiles took a suddenly wicked turn! What kind of storms will these people whip up online?

Turning off the mic, Homura returned to the sound car, shut down all the equipment, and retrieved Maki's laptop before leaving.

As he approached his group, Eriri grinned.

"Why did you goad them into provoking others?"

"How's that my problem? If I didn't say it, would they not do it?" Homura shrugged.

"Yeah, you're right." Elf chimed in with a chuckle. "You're not making them do it, you're just encouraging those who were already planning to."

Homura looked at Ayano.

"So, Ayano, what's the plan from here on?"

"Not much of a plan. The two cars will head back."

Homura nodded. "They should be tired, but Honoka and Rin probably want to play more, and Nico might as well. The others are harder to predict."

"Homura-niisan, it's not really necessary to play something specific. Just chatting together is also nice." Tsumugi suggested.

"Indeed, Homura-kun, you've known everyone for so long, but we've just met you know!" Chika said while circling everyone except Homura. "We newcomers have plenty to ask and talk about."

Homura thought for a moment and felt that what Tsumugi and Chika said made sense! Kaguya and Chika were only familiar with Eriri, Tsumugi, and Saori after all. So, there were definitely a lot of things to talk about.

"What about all of you?" Homura asked while looking at everyone.

"Minamiya-sensei!" Uruka laughed. "For us, being able to witness this concert is already an incredible experience! The rest isn't as important!"

"Um, Minamiya-kun, even if it's just like this, it's something I've never experienced before." Kaguya also agreed and nodded.

"Well, why not go to our school then?"

Nozomi's voice suddenly came from behind Homura. He turned around and saw that Muse had reverted to their school uniforms.

"Great job. The concert was a real success." Homura said to them.

"Umu, weren't all of these within Homura-kun's expectations?" Nozomi smiled.

"What do you mean?" Homura asked, slightly intrigued.

"From the previous arrangements, the start of the concert, to the ending just now, it seemed like you had it all under control. No matter what situation arose."

Hearing Nozomi's explanation, even everyone from Another Dimension, as well as the groups of Fumino and Kaguya, couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Indeed, that's the feeling I got. Since Homura took charge of the music, it was as if he had a script in mind from the beginning." Elf chimed in.

"He used humor to ease their nerves, chatted with the crowd, and even did that dance to extend the break time for Muse." Utaha added.

"Lastly, he reminded everyone not to excessively bother and chase after Muse. Throughout the whole process, Minamiya-kun's role was indispensable." Kaguya also joined.

Homura pondered silently.

Even though he was confident in his ability to adapt on the fly, hearing them say all this, why did it feel like he had actually planned it all out? He hadn't really thought so deeply about it, though. Was he losing his touch?

"I don't think Homura-kun went that far." Megumi finally spoke up.

Homura sighed in relief, his savior had finally stepped in! Given her understanding of him, her thoughts were definitely worth waiting for!

With Megumi's joining the fray, the girls' attentions shifted towards her. They might argue with each other, but when it came to Megumi, they admitted defeat.

Even Megumi herself hadn't expected her words to have such an impact, right from the start!

"If all this was planned by Homura-kun, how far does he need to go?" Megumi mused aloud. "He would have to predict everything, including our reactions, the crowd's reactions, what questions they'd ask, and what they'd say."

"Remember all possible assumptions, prepare solutions for each, arrange it like a script, and follow it from beginning to end..."

"Leaving aside whether this is even possible, the sheer workload makes me doubt if anyone could manage it... Would Homura-kun really do something like this? After all, Homura-kun is not a diligent type..."

The girls laughed. Homura wasn't particularly lazy; there were just times he didn't feel like cooking or wanted to lie around all day. But didn't everyone have those moments?

Once that topic concluded, they continued chatting. They also inquired about Muse and their school, Otonokizaka High School. It seemed like they were genuinely interested.

Homura's mind drifted from the conversation and inwardly sighed. He wasn't sure if others had caught it, but he had certainly noticed the change in Megumi's words just now.

It was as if she knew him well, and he knew her too. If he guessed right, her earlier words probably meant—"Even if it's true that the workload is too much, isn't it a bit sad if everything is scripted? Doesn't that mean our relationship with him is just a mere script and not genuine?"

It was clear that Megumi was a bit upset at the girls, but her words, if taken literally, would damage her relationship with everyone, including Homura. Maybe that was why she cleverly twisted it into a playful jab.

For everyone, Megumi always tried to adapt to everything. Realizing this, Homura soon smiled and gave Megumi a headpat.

As this happened, Megumi found herself frozen in surprise. It was the first time Homura had done this to her.

But Megumi quickly caught on. Perhaps he had figured out something from her words earlier? She smiled slightly, appreciating the feeling of being understood by someone.

Observing Homura's behavior, several girls seemed to grasp something, and the intelligent ones might figure something out soon, like Utaha.

Utaha, who always rated Megumi's danger level as max, would she understand the meaning behind his smile and his gesture of head-patting Megumi?