Nico Nico Ni~!

Homura smiled and said, "Make a guess, it's one of Muse's members."

Sagiri puffed up her cheeks, but she was still thinking about the manga she had read.

"Kosaka Honoka?" she guessed.

"Correct!" Homura ruffled her hair and continued, "It seems the car behind us caught up, and they couldn't resist telling me."

Sagiri nodded. Given Honoka's personality in the manga, it wasn't surprising for her to do such a thing.

"Young Master, we're almost there," the driver, Yamada, informed Homura, who understood his meaning.

"Did you hear that? We're almost there. Everyone, get ready, we're about to get off!" Homura looked at the little one napping on Sagiri's lap. She seemed to be sleeping soundly in the swaying car.

Although it pained him, he had to wake her up.

"Haru, wakey~wakey~"

"Mew~? (...Is it time for food?)" the little one mumbled sleepily.

Homura sighed and said, "No, but we will arrive soon. This time, you can have fun and play in nature to your heart's content."

"Meow~! (Great, I can finally hunt!)" After stretching lazily, the little one's eyes instantly became sharp.

"Hunting is fine, but make sure you take care of yourself and don't wander too far, okay?" Homura said, somewhat helpless. However, he didn't stop her since it was the little one's own desire.

"Huh? Haru is going hunting?" Eriri was shocked to hear his words.

"Yup, and it's a hunting ability passed down directly from Tora-nee. The little one is itching to go, and I can't stop her."

"Passed down directly from Tora-nee..." The other girls exchanged glances, feeling that his statement was particularly peculiar.

Except for a few newcomers who didn't know, everyone else had heard his stories about Haru and understood who Tora was. It could even be said that she was Haru's adoptive mother.

For those who didn't know, Elf briefly explained to them, and they grasped the situation.

They then looked at Homura with strange eyes... Another person got startled by his cat language!

"But... won't she get hurt?" Nanami expressed her concern.

"Don't worry. This is a private villa area, so there might be some small animals, but there are definitely no dangerous ones."

Upon hearing this, the girls felt that it made sense, so they let go of some of their excessive worries. However, there were still some worries they couldn't completely let go of.

"So, uhh..." Homura smoothed Haru's fur. "Everyone is really worried about you, so you must live up to their concern, don't be reckless, okay?"

"Mew~! (Don't worry, I'm much stronger now than before! I won't act recklessly when faced with danger. I promise!)"

"That's good to hear..."

At this moment, the car came to a stop, and Yamada's voice sounded, "Young Master, we've arrived."

"Great! Thanks for bringing us here this time, Yamada-san!" As Homura watched Yamada, who was repeatedly waving his hands in a nervous manner, he continued, "So, what are your plans?"

"We're definitely going straight back. We'll come to pick you up again the day after tomorrow in the afternoon."

"Understood. Be safe on the way back, and please thank your girlfriend on my behalf."

As Homura finished his conversation with Yamada, everyone else had already gotten off the car.

"Wow! This villa is amazing!" Izumi exclaimed, his eyes wide open, dazzled by the immense villa.

"And the location is pretty good too! It feels like a cabin in the woods!" Elf couldn't help but praise.

"I never thought I will have a day when I could live in such a huge villa, it feels unreal!" Nanami sighed.

"By the way..." Eriri scratched her head. "This villa doesn't seem as grand as the Minamiya residence, does it?"

These words made the several girls who were just boasting about its size feel a bit embarrassed.

"A home is a home, and a villa is a villa. Villas are meant to be enjoyed, size doesn't really matter." Homura tried to smooth things over.

"Speaking of which, where's Haru?" He immediately changed the topic, "Why haven't I seen her?"

"Ahh... Haru-chan, she ran into the nearby forest just a moment ago." Megumi pointed in a direction and said to him.

"Isn't she too hasty?"

"Huh?" Just as he finished speaking, Homura noticed the little figure, not much bigger than a dot, returning with something in her mouth, taking slow steps with her head held high with pride.

"What's the matter?" The girls were puzzled by his surprised expression since they didn't have his sharp eyesight.

He remained silent, simply pointing in the direction from which the little one had come.

Following his gesture, they looked in that direction, and after a few seconds, their mouths also fell open.

"A fish?!"

Haru had somehow brought back a fish! There shouldn't be any other houses nearby, so where did the fish come from? And how did she catch it so fast?!

Coming closer, Homura noticed that Haru's four paws were wet. It then dawned on him that she had gone to the river!

He was speechless. This little foodie, was she not afraid of water just to satisfy her appetite?!

Hastily taking out the bowl brought for Haru, Homura walked over, placing the still-living fish into the bowl.

"Meow~! (I caught something delicious!)" Haru exclaimed.

Homura said with a hint of exasperation, "Aren't you afraid of water? You went to the river to catch fish!"

"Meow! (It's fine. The river is shallow!)" she replied nonchalantly.

As Megumi took out tissues, Homura picked up Haru, whose tiny paws were dirty and covered in mud, and handed her over to Megumi to be cleaned.

"Oh! The fish jumped out!" Elf exclaimed.

The little one struggled to go down and hold onto her prey. Homura quickly said, "Haru, let's leave it for later. I'll help you clean the fish later. It's dirty now anyway, and you don't intend to eat it right away, do you?"

"Meow~ (Okay...)." She gave up the struggle.

In the midst of the conversation, another car appeared within the sight of the crowd.

The vehicles approached slowly, and once the Muse members inside got out, both cars turned back the way they came.

"Homura-kun!" Honoka shouted from about ten meters away.

"Come over quickly!" Homura also yelled back. Honoka was urging the others to hurry up.

As they approached, both groups of people assessed each other. It was then that Homura spoke, "I thought we will both arrive simultaneously when Honoka called me and thought that you all followed right behind my car, but it seems there's been a delay."

"There was a sudden appearance of a little dog in the middle of the road, so the car had to brake abruptly..." explained Kotori briefly.

Homura nodded and looked at the petite figure, only showing one eye behind the eight people blocking the way. He said, "Yazawa-senpai, this should be our second meeting, right? I'm Minamiya Homura, and I'm delighted to see you again."

"Eh?" Nico, taken aback by the sudden conversation, paused for a moment before saying, "Second time? I don't recall."

"The first time was when Honoka, Kotori, and Umi had their first performance. When you sneaked in from behind, I noticed you immediately."

As Homura and the other members of Muse smiled at her, Nico felt embarrassed and promptly...

"Nico Nico Ni~!"

Why are my shoulders trembling?

After witnessing Nico's antic, everyone at the scene had that same thought simultaneously.