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Feeling the pressure of Homura's hands on her stomach, though separated by clothing, it still made Fumino's cheeks blush.

Three minutes later, the massage finished without any inappropriate thoughts.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Fumino couldn't help but exclaim, "The pain is completely gone!"

She even jumped a little in excitement!

"Alright then, I'm heading home. If you ever have stomach pain again, you can come to find me and we could have another massage. It's better to avoid relying on medicine if you can."

Upon hearing those words, Fumino finally understood why Homura had such a conflicted expression when he offered to give her a massage earlier. It was because he knew that taking medication all the time was harmful to her body.

'Did Minamiya-kun speak up about giving me another massage just to help me? Even though it might come across as somewhat improper, he still dared to say it out loud without reservation. Maybe... he wants to help me reduce my reliance on medication?'

He could have pretended not to know or said a few caring words, but he still went ahead and mentioned massaging her stomach.

With this realization, Fumino's heart thumped heavily twice!

"...W-Well then, bye, Minamiya-kun. If anything comes up, I'll give you a call."

Homura didn't say anything, just smiled and waved before turning to leave.

Watching Homura's figure for a while, Fumino finally entered her home.

===

"The lights are still on..."

Next door to Fumino's house, one could tell that someone inside was busy through the window.

"This way, your younger siblings are taken care of well... little one."

"I told you it's fine." Haru, who was held in Homura's arms, raised her paw and pressed on his chest. "We have all found our own families; those two kids did, and Hachi did too, of course... I did as well."

"So, I don't need to worry so much anymore. Sometimes, a glance is enough."

"Yeah..." Homura breathed a sigh of relief. "By the way, I haven't seen Hachi in about half a month. Should we visit him tomorrow?"

Homura continued, "I can also let Nana know, who knows, maybe Hachi will also get to see his two siblings in the future."

Haru remained silent for a moment but eventually spoke, "Alright then, let's go. Although I don't want to disturb their lives... it's better to let them know."

Homura gently stroked Haru, only she would consider her younger siblings so much.

Haru probably felt that if she suddenly intruded into their lives now, it might not be appropriate and would become some kind of drama. That's why she kept his distance and observed from afar.

"Then I'll inform Nana, and we'll go tomorrow morning."

After all, there was ample time until the evening for the banquet and such. But the day after tomorrow, they should leave for Muramasa, thinking about it, the schedule seemed quite tight.

Homura picked up his phone and began dialing Nana's number.

"Nana, it's Homura. Yeah, I need a favor; could you bring Hachi tomorrow..."

===

"I'm back!"

"Welcome back..."

Homura couldn't help but feel a bit exasperated, as the welcome seemed lackluster.

As he entered the room, he found Elf lounging on the sofa, engrossed in her phone, while Muramasa was hunched over the coffee table, feverishly writing a novel.

It must be because of Muramasa that Elf hadn't gone to Sagiri's room to play.

With a sigh, Homura patted Elf on her back and asked, "Aren't you writing your novel? Or are you already done?"

"Write?" Elf glanced at him. "How could I stoop to such a lowly method?"

"Oy oy~ I get it... 'Dark Summoning' right? Use your powerful magic to summon the draft from the demon realm. Am I right?" Homura rolled his eyes.

"Oh?" Elf looked at him surprisingly. "Homura, you understand me, huh? Wait, did I ever mention that to you?"

Elf scratched her head, feeling like she hadn't said anything about it.

"Even if you haven't said exactly that, you've said something similar, right? We're talking about you after all..." Homura replied.

"Hmm... yeah! You're right!" Elf conceded.

"Actually, I know you're the type who doesn't feel like writing unless you're motivated. But there's something I'm a bit worried about."

"What is there to worry about?" Elf propped herself up with one hand and patted her chest confidently. "No problem! I'm in a great mood lately, so my magical energy is abundant! I've already completed the draft!"

Homura nodded. "That's good. Just make sure that while we're at the circle activity, your editor doesn't suddenly barge in and kidnap you."

Elf's eye twitched. Such a thing might have been possible before, but it was highly unlikely now.

"Minamiya-kun, have you decided when to persuade my... father?" Muramasa asked, having just finished that section of her novel.

"Let's do it the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, there's a banquet at Eriri's place, and my dad just informed me about it in the afternoon."

Muramasa nodded. The day after tomorrow it was. She just wanted to know the specific time and wasn't trying to rush him.

"A banquet, huh..." Elf mumbled to herself. "Sounds like it could be fun, but it's probably a hassle, right? I'd rather stay at home and play games."

"Actually, it's not that fun..."

Homura spoke casually and shrugged.

"Unless, as Saori said before, we sneak out secretly. That could make it somewhat interesting. To be honest, if it weren't for my dad and the fact that Eriri's family is the one who hosted the banquet, I wouldn't bother going."

Seeing the main guest who usually attended banquets saying such uninspiring things, Elf lost all interest instantly.

"By the way, Elf, let's discuss how to persuade Muramasa's father."

"Can't we just be straightforward?" Elf replied casually, playing with her phone.

"My father... is against me writing novels. I've mentioned that before." Muramasa stopped writing and responded to Elf.

"Ugh, why are old folks so troublesome..." Elf muttered, putting her phone down. "Why not let Homura handle it? Use some physical persuasion maybe?"

Homura: "..."

Muramasa: "..."

'Persuading her father with physical means? Do you mean beating him? You're quite something.' Homura rolled his eyes.

Under Muramasa's intense gaze, Elf couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Ahaha... just kidding! How about this, doesn't Muramasa's father also write novels? Why don't we use the novel-writing approach to persuade him?"

That was a rather twisted idea, but it made sense, considering Elf didn't know who Muramasa's father was.

"What approach is that? Can you be more specific?" Homura raised an eyebrow.

"Just make it interesting so he'll feel intrigued. So, we write something on the spot, showcasing our abilities. That should do the trick, right?"

"That won't work, my father's view on novels is completely different from mine. He won't waver just because it's interesting." Muramasa said solemnly, feeling annoyed as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Ahh! It's so troublesome! Let's just play it by ear! It's useless to think of anything without knowing the person first!" Elf said with irritation.

"So..."

Homura looked at Muramasa with raised eyebrows.

"You know, can you give us a little info about your father?"