Curiosity and Surprise

"Homuhomu-senpai, we're here!"

Yui, looking excited, ran into the room and declared in an energetic voice.

"Hey!" Elf, on the sofa, greeted.

"Hey, everyone! Hmm? Where's Homuhomu-senpai?" Yui scanned the room, not finding any trace of Homura.

"Yeah... It's rare for Homura-shi to not come out..." Saori said as she came in, looking left and right to find Homura.

"Saori, did you come with everyone?" Eriri asked curiously.

"It's just a coincidence." Nozomi chimed in as she entered.

"Coincidence?" Sagiri couldn't help but comment.

"Um, it's rare for Yui-chan not to oversleep." Tsumugi said while smiling.

"Yeah! I didn't oversleep today either!" Honoka's lively voice chimed in.

"Nee-chan, is that something to be proud of? I was the one calling you to wake you up, right? I called for so long at that!" Yukiho scolded.

"Ah, Yukiho! Why are you saying that in front of others?"

"What? Everyone is already familiar with it." Yukiho shrugged casually. "Who doesn't know your habit?"

With that, the two sisters performed a short comedy skit as soon as they entered, but it would be even better if Kirino joined them.

"Nayu, long time no see!"

"Myaa-san!"

Another voice resounded at the entrance, and this time it was Miyako, Fumino, Rizu, and Uruka.

"Hey, isn't everyone here too early?" Elf couldn't help but say. "It's just past seven, you know. Did you all come without having breakfast? And Kuroneko, aren't you in Chiba? When did you wake up?"

"Could it be..." Megumi guessed. "Everyone planned to mooch off a meal?"

"..."

Silence fell, which meant Megumi had hit the nail on the head!

"I'm sorry, guys. Today's breakfast wasn't prepared by Homura." Elf said with a wry smile.

"No worries! Elf's cooking skills are second only to Homura's! I guarantee it!" Eriri added with a smirk.

"You joking? I'm not Homura, okay? Did you want to wear me out by making breakfast for so many people by myself? Alright, those who can cook, come help me!" Elf declared.

With that, the kitchen soon filled with people.

Luckily, the Minamiya residence's kitchen was quite large, and the open layout allowed them to chat with everyone while cooking, making it not boring at all.

"By the way, Kaguya-chan is here, but where's Chika-chan?" Tsumugi asked curiously.

"Well, about that... it's a long story... but now that you mention it, why hasn't Chika come yet?" Eriri was confused.

*Ding-Dong*

Hearing the doorbell rang, Eriri turned to Kaguya.

"It should be Chika... Kaguya, let's go together! I want to see her reaction when she sees you."

"Sawamura-san, you're really mischievous..." Kaguya said with a slight smile. "But well, I'm interested too."

Upon hearing this, everyone had a perplexed expression.

Apparently, these two girls were surprisingly quite alike.

"Kaguya-san?!"

As expected, Chika's surprised voice resounded.

"You really came! Homura-kun is amazing! How did he do it?!"

Watching Chika continuously circle Kaguya, Eriri sighed.

"Alright, let's go inside first. Don't hang around in the foyer, Chika."

"Yeah! I need to ask Homura-kun how he did it!"

Walking into the living room, Chika saw everyone who had gathered.

"Ahh? Everyone! Hello! And... Where's Homura-kun?"

"Right, where did Minamiya-kun go?" Fumino asked as well.

"He went to sort out some loopholes or something to reduce the chances of Kaguya being discovered." Eriri answered while rolling her eyes.

"Speaking of which, how did Kaguya-shi manage to get out of her house?" Saori pushed up her round glasses. "Homura-shi said he was working on a solution, and I was wondering about the result..."

"Nothing works..." Utaha shook her head. "Homura-kun wanted to discuss this with all of us initially, but it didn't work out in the end. Eventually, he consulted Shinomiya-san for information."

"Wasn't it me who brought Kaguya-san out before? Wouldn't that work?" Chika couldn't help asking.

"If using that method, there would still be my family's servant following, the probability of being discovered is very high, and it would also implicate Fujiwara-san, so I didn't agree." Kaguya explained calmly.

Following this, Eriri explained the situation of the Shinomiya family to everyone, and, as expected, they were all dumbfounded.

"What the heck?! With all of those, how could someone escape from that place?!" Nico exclaimed. "Wait, she actually succeeded..."

"How the heck did he do it? Could it be ninja techniques?" Ritsu asked with a serious expression. "Is the Minamiya family secretly a ninja clan?"

"Why on earth did you come to that conclusion?!" Mio exclaimed while raising a fist.

Ritsu instinctively covered her head and stopped making jokes.

"We also don't know. Minamiya-senpai brought Shinomiya-san back and then went back to settle things..." Izumi shook her head.

"Could it be..." Yui's eyes flashed. "Homuhomu-senpai is outside to block enemies and beat all of them? Homuhomu-senpai is amazing! I really want to help him!"

Upon hearing this, everyone had a face full of black lines.

"Seriously, that's too ridiculous!" Elf shook her head. "Homura said before that he left for morning exercise or something. Naturally, he'll come back after this morning exercise is done."

"But I still want to know how Nii-san did it..." Sagiri mumbled.

"Isn't there someone who knows everything that happened?" Utaha chimed in with a smile.

As soon as everyone heard this, their gazes focused on Kaguya, and even those busy in the kitchen stopped their movements and looked at her.

Surprisingly, despite being stared at by dozens of people, Kaguya didn't show the slightest hint of nervousness.

Making the heiress of the Shinomiya family feel nervous? 

Impossible!

"Honestly, I didn't see how Minamiya-kun got into my place, but I did witness how he got out. I guess he must have used the same method."

Kaguya spoke and got up to grab the backpack that Homura brought.

"I was having breakfast when I answered Minamiya-kun's call, and when I got back to my room to call him back, he told me to open the window, and then..."

Kaguya pulled out the rope, showing it to them.

"Minamiya-kun just swung into my room using this rope."

""WHAAAT?!""

Everyone yelled simultaneously, nearly lifting the roof off the house. 

Thankfully, their yells were well absorbed by the house's soundproofing materials, and none made their way outside.