Hashima Izumi

Amidst the laughter of the group, the doorbell rang.

Homura looked at Megumi and said, "Megumi, that must be Hashima Izumi, right?"

"I think so, but why is she here so early?" Megumi also seemed puzzled.

Nanami continued, "Maybe it feels early because our breakfast is a bit later than usual. It's the perfect time for her to arrive, we can prepare a few extra servings."

Homura: "..."

He was confident in his cooking skills. So, if they were truly preparing for more servings, he believed it wouldn't be just a few!

But this wasn't the time to consider that. It was better to go and open the door first.

Stopping Megumi from going to open the door, Homura himself went to the entrance hall to welcome the guest inside.

As soon as he opened the door, Homura saw the figure of a girl with red hair.

"Umm... I'm Hashima Izumi. Nice to meet you, Minamiya-sensei!" She seemed nervous, and it was understandable after getting to know him in depth over the past couple of days. After all, he had been in the spotlight a lot recently.

Although they were both newcomers in the industry, she and Homura were not at the same level at all, as far as heaven and earth.

"Well, nice to meet you too. I'm Minamiya Homura. By the way, I'll just call you Izumi, and you can call me whatever you like, alright?" Homura dispelled her nervousness. "Did you bring your stuff? We're going out to have fun these two days, so you need to bring some personal belongings."

"Yes! No problem. After Megumi-nee told me last night, I packed everything!" Izumi patted her shoulder bag.

"Umu, let's go, let's have some breakfast and chat. We'll officially set off in the afternoon."

After saying that, he led her back to the living room.

"Izumi-chan, welcome." Megumi greeted Hashima Izumi.

"Megumi-nee, and everyone, sorry to disturb you all!"

"No need to be so polite. Although you're under Kosaka Akane, I truly wanted to recruit you, you know." Homura didn't hide his thoughts. "And we'll be spending a lot of time together in the future. It feels awkward to be too formal. Just be natural, okay?"

Izumi nodded, but seeing her tense posture, he didn't intend to interfere much. They would have time to get along better in the future.

"These three, you haven't met them yet. Let me introduce them to you."

Then he introduced Ayano to her, "This is my manga editor, Iida Ayano."

Ayano greeted her, "Hey! Don't be nervous. Just relax. Homura himself doesn't pay much attention to those formality things."

"And these two are Kani Nayuta, who just came to visit, and her editor Shimano Kirara."

"Hello," the two nodded.

"Lastly, the person next to me is Hashima Izumi, a new artist from Rouge en rouge. She will be training with me for a while, and I hope the training period will be as long as possible."

The people from Another Dimension already knew Izumi since she had visited yesterday. He was introducing her to Ayano and the others this time.

Estimating that the steamed buns were almost ready, he looked at Utaha and Elf.

"Utaha-senpai, Elf, are you done reading? If you're done, let's eat!"

Utaha seemed somewhat silent, and judging from her hand movements, she had probably finished reading.

As Homura had expected, Utaha had indeed been hit hard, and it was quite a blow to her!

Nayuta's age appeared no larger than Elf or Sagiri. If it were written in any other genre, it wouldn't have been a blow to Utaha, considering their different specialties.

However, Nayuta excelled in writing romance novels, though a tragedy one. As soon as Utaha received the novel and began reading it, she was deeply drawn to its content, inevitably moved, and even had tears in her eyes for a while.

She could feel it herself - Nayuta's writing skills were on par with her own, but their ages were different.

And that was what hit her the hardest.

Homura didn't rush and just watched her in silence. Others also sensed it to varying degrees and silently waited.

In her mind, Eriri kept saying, 'Kasumigaoka Utaha... are you feeling discouraged? Do you want to give up? That's not acceptable... Come on! Pull yourself together! Aren't you Kasumi Utako?!'

Utaha suddenly looked up and gazed at Homura. "Homura-kun, can I make a request?"

'What could it be?' Homura pondered silently, but it didn't delay his response. "Utaha-senpai, just tell me what you want."

"Let Kani Nayuta-sensei join Another Dimension too!" Utaha said with seriousness and thought with determination. 'That would make it more competitive, right? I, Kasumigaoka Utaha, must break my limit and advance to the next level!'

Her words stunned everyone!

Is this still the same Utaha who always wanted to investigate every little detail of new members and complained about it every time? However, this time she herself directly handed the person over to Homura. Is this really the Utaha they know?!

Homura thought as expected. But this was exactly what he had in mind.

"I don't mind at all. In fact, I also want Nayu to join us. However, we should ask for her opinion first, shouldn't we?"

Megumi and the others secretly mocked, 'With that look on Nayuta's face, which clearly screams fangirl and worship, how could she possibly not join when given such a great opportunity?'

Homura himself knew, of course, but that didn't mean he could make decisions for others.

Sure enough, when Nayuta heard this, she jumped up from the sofa in excitement!

"I'll join!" Her little fist clenched tightly, revealing just how happy she was.

"Kani-sensei..." Editor Shimano, spoke up, "There's no problem with you joining, but will it become an excuse for you to delay your manuscript? You should know that editors can be terrifying when it comes to deadlines..."

Nayuta's gaze shifted uncomfortably. She had actually thought of that!

Shimano immediately understood that behavior, with veins popping on her forehead. "You should know that your work and your writing skills need to make even greater progress for it to be helpful to Minamiya-sensei! Joining based on a stroke of luck alone would make you nothing more than a leech. Is that really okay for you?"

Nayuta: "..."

She had to admit that her words made sense. And she had been caught in a vulnerable spot.

Right now, Nayuta's desire to be with Homura was more important than anything else. When she imagined the scene Shimano described... She shivered suddenly and shook her head firmly!

"...I hate it! Who said I would delay my manuscript? I will never do that!"

A smirk formed at the corner of Shimano's mouth. This was truly a win-win situation!

Not only did it fulfill Nayuta's wish, but it also ensured she wouldn't be able to delay her manuscript anymore.

Homura, Ayano, Elf, and Utaha all caught a glimpse of her fleeting expression.

Utaha and Elf shuddered slightly, recalling the days of being pushed by their editors for their manuscripts.

As expected... Editors are truly terrifying beings!