220 Their Identities

To maintain the dignified and composed image as the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, laughter was something that needed to be avoided! Especially in a situation like this!

If Kaguya couldn't control her laughter, she would become scandalous! Worse yet, if her father, the stubborn head of the Shinomiya family heard about it, she would be in trouble.

Moreover, with the chance to realize her dream right in front of her, Chika definitely wouldn't let it slip by. Luckily, she was equally engrossed in the manga. So, it was a dangerous situation for Kaguya right now.

Homura decided to stop her before she couldn't hold it any longer.

He didn't say anything but walked behind Kaguya, crouched down, and then reached out, closing the manga she read with a snap. As expected, she was startled!

"Wha—!!!" Almost screaming, Kaguya turned around and found Homura, who gestured to their surroundings.

The intelligent Kaguya immediately understood his intention and nodded.

"Thank you, Minamiya-kun." She thanked Homura and sighed in relief.

"Don't mention it. Besides, I was the one who brought it out in the first place. If you got scolded by your father because of this, I'd really feel guilty." Homura smiled and shook his head. "So, don't read it now. Wait until you're in a safe place."

"Yeah... Although I know it's not right to continue reading here, I just can't help but want to continue..." Kaguya admitted.

"Well, that's the best compliment for me." Homura chuckled again.

"Chika's wish was so close to being fulfilled. I wonder if she'll regret not paying attention to you just now."

As she heard Homura's words, Kaguya's eyes twitched. Considering her understanding of Chika, what he said was very likely to happen.

But Chika had no chance now. This made Kaguya involuntarily breathe a sigh of relief.

"What are you two doing crouching here?" Eriri asked with a confused tone as she popped her head out.

"Nothing." Homura stood up. "I just stopped Kaguya from reading further."

"Stopped her?" After a moment's thought, Eriri understood. "That's a good call. I could barely hold back my laughter the first time I read it, let alone Kaguya, who has never been exposed to manga before."

Everyone returned to their original positions, and Homura continued blocking Kaguya's view.

"So, this is what manga is like..." Kaguya pondered, nodding.

"Works in this format are called manga, but not all manga are comedic like the one Homura showed you." Eriri explained. "There are various types, such as sports manga, idol manga, shoujo manga, and so on."

"There are so many?!" Kaguya was surprised, then mumbled to herself, "Should I have Hayasaka investigate other manga?"

"..." Homura was silent and thought, 'Ai is really going to have a hard time.'

"Phew... done reading!" Chika happily closed the manga. "It's so interesting! Looks like I'm going to have another interest. Hmm... I'll go out tomorrow to investigate."

"Ahh, you should ask Homura and Eriri about that!" Saori said to the two of them. "They are the celebrities in this industry now, y'know."

"Why do I know nothing about this?" Chika frowned, looking annoyed.

"It's probably because our family intercepted the information..." Kaguya understood the situation well. "The information that reaches us is filtered. Although there's nothing wrong with Minamiya-kun's information, it still makes us curious about the industry he's involved in. But our family won't allow us to access such information, so they blocked it all."

"That's totally unfair! I mean, it sounds crazy interesting!" Chika clenched her fist and gave it a vigorous shake. "Eh, whatever, I'll just dig up the info I want by myself."

"Um... Chika-chan... don't you use blogs?" Tsumugi suddenly asked.

"Em? Yeah, I do. Why?"

"Then you can follow Homura-niisan and Eriri's blogs, I don't know much about other works, but you shouldn't miss Homura-niisan's works." Tsumugi gave a helpful suggestion.

"I know! Hmm... I can follow through the contacts. Minamiya, a well-known mangaka, and the founder of a circle named 'Another Dimension', known for works like 'Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun' and 'Your Name.'" Chika said while looking at her phone.

"Oh~! It looks impressive!" She exclaimed with enthusiasm but then felt a bit upset. "I can't believe I didn't know that Homura-kun is a famous mangaka..."

Homura chuckled. "Well, now you know. You should also check the others."

"Umu... um? Eriri isn't here?" Chika refreshed the page but still didn't see it. She looked puzzled.

Homura and Saori exchanged amused glances. Finding Kashiwagi Eri's blog through Eriri's real name would be strange.

Eriri rolled her eyes. "You better search manually. Just search for 'Kashiwagi Eri', and of course, don't tell anyone. Keep it a secret."

"Looks like Eriri isn't planning to hide it from familiar faces. Hehe..." Saori couldn't hold back her laughter and said somewhat surprised.

"Well, not really... But I'm not as concerned about it as before." Eriri replied.

"Found it! Kashiwagi Eri, an exceptional doujin artist and character designer for Another Dimension is known for works like 'Your Name.'" Chika read the information she found. "By the way... what exactly is this circle called Another Dimension?"

"It's a group Homura-niisan established. Eriri and the others are members too. Everyone in the group collaborates to create various works such as games, manga, etc. The one you saw, like 'Your Name', was just released last week and has sold millions of copies." Tsumugi explained.

"I see... 'Your Name.'? Okay! I'll remember that, I want to buy it too."

"No need to buy; I'll give you both a copy for free. I'll find a chance to bring them to your school so you can hide them there."

"Wow tha—"

"Please, don't leave me out while you all chat happily!" Kaguya finally couldn't hold back and interrupted Chika.

"But..." Chika said with her eyebrows raised. "Kaguya-san, you have a flip phone, so you can't follow blogs."

"Flip phones can't follow blogs?!" Kaguya exclaimed with a shocked expression.

'Wait... why are you so surprised, Kaguya? Isn't that obvious?' Homura was speechless but then came to a realization. 'Ahh, I remember, Kaguya isn't very familiar with smartphones and computers!' 

"You can't... but on a computer, it's fine. Go back and tell your maid to help you with it." Homura suggested.

"...Maybe I should learn how to use a smartphone too..." Kaguya mumbled to herself.

"You should... smartphones are becoming increasingly important y'know. So it's worth learning how to use them." Homura spoke decisively.

As she heard that, Kaguya's eyes sparkled, and Homura knew that Ai would be more busy.