Meow~?

Everyone felt like time was passing so slowly...

Everyone stared intently at Rin's condition, ready to rush forward at the slightest sign of her sneezing!

"Ahh~" Rin reached out to rub her nose.

Homura and the others inwardly felt something was wrong. Suddenly, Rin blurted out, "A cat hair touched my nose, it feels a little itchy. Almost sneezed, nyaa!"

Everyone nearly collapsed! In such a critical moment, she made such a misleading gesture! Rin, are you really not doing it on purpose?!

Speechless, they continued to observe. Five minutes passed like this, and Rin finally had her fill! Nothing bad happened to her, which relieved everyone.

"It seems like there's no problem!" Honoka patted her chest.

"That's great, Rin-chan!" Hanayo had a beaming smile on her face.

"Let's not celebrate too soon." Homura shook his head. "I hate to dampen your spirits, but let me explain some possibilities."

"Possibility one: Rin is completely cured! She won't be allergic to cats anymore, which is the best outcome."

Everyone nodded, waiting for his further explanation.

"Possibility two: Rin was only allergic to certain types of cats, and Haru wasn't among them. That's also quite good."

"Different cats carry different allergens. Rin may only be allergic to certain types, so as long as we pay attention to the types of cats she interacts with, it should be fine."

"Possibility three: Haru is special, as I've been saying. The possibility is that Rin is only not allergic to Haru. The specific situation may require more careful investigation..."

The Muse group nodded in understanding. Eli said, "It seems we need to pay attention to this matter, Homura-- the possibilities mentioned by Minamiya-sensei are all valid. As members of Muse..."

"Wait! Eli-chi, did I hear wrong?" Nozomi interjected with a mischievous smile. "Homura... Hehh~?"

Eli: "..."

Can't you let it slide?

"As members of Muse, we should pay close attention to Rin's physical condition, especially when she wants to be in contact with cats!"

"...Ahh! She ignored it!" Honoka exclaimed.

Eli's temple twitched decisively. They wouldn't let her go. Do they all enjoy seeing others in difficult situations?

"...I wanted to mention Homura-kun, what's wrong with that?" There was a hint of self-deprecation in her tone.

Homura leaned closer, tapped his chest, and said with a smile, "My pleasure!"

Eli once again felt speechless. Because she had heard this 'Homura-kun' too often, it slipped out naturally. How can these people have such sharp ears?!

"Speaking of which..." Nico hesitated and said, "I've always thought that we should have a more casual way of addressing Homura-kun. After all, he has helped us a lot. Calling him Minamiya-sensei feels a bit distant, don't you think?"

After hearing Nico's words, Maki and Hanayo hesitated as well. They glanced at each other, and then Maki said, "But, we're still first-year students..."

Homura waved his hand. "Just call me whatever you like. I'm used to being called different things. Even Elf is in ninth grade, and she just calls me Homura, right?"

Maki breathed a sigh of relief. It was somewhat easier within Muse, after all, they were all girls! But calling Homura by his name directly would truly put them to the test!

Everyone's gaze turned to Rin again. At this moment, the two lolis, Kuroneko's little sisters, approached Rin, carefully caressing Haru's fur.

Not far away, Kuroneko forcefully pulled Kirino, who was almost drooling, and said angrily, "You! I won't allow you to go over there!"

"Don't be like that! You let your little sisters go to Mio-senpai's side at the hot springs earlier! Kuroneko, we're friends, right? So please don't stop me!" Kirino said frustratedly while trying to advance.

"It's precisely because we're friends that I have to stop you! I don't want a dangerous person like you near my little sisters!" Kuroneko pulled Kirino more strongly.

"Kirino? What are you doing?" Honoka looked at Kirino's behavior, puzzled.

'Oh shit!' Kirino broke into a cold sweat. She completely forgot that her cousin was also here! If she lets Honoka inform her dad, she will be in trouble!

"Cousin... It's nothing! Right! Kuroneko and I are having a tug-of-war!" Kirino awkwardly made up an excuse.

"A tug-of-war?" Honoka had a question mark over her head. What kind of tug-of-war were they playing?

"Yeah! Exercising!" Kirino jumped a few times.

"I see..." Honoka looked at her skeptically.

"That's right!" Kirino nodded vigorously.

Kuroneko and Saori beside her both wore speechless expressions. They thought Kirino was beyond help!

Kuroneko seemed lost in thought. 'It seems that leaving Hinata and Tamaki on Honoka-senpai's side is a good choice...'

Homura couldn't hold back his laughter from behind! Kirino, who was about to let loose her obsession, actually forgot about Honoka's presence. It seemed inevitable that her secret would be exposed.

When it came to people close to her, Honoka was exceptionally sensitive.

"Alright then! But you shouldn't be exercising now, right? You just soaked in the hot spring, or you'll be all sweaty again," Honoka's expression became more natural.

"Ahaha... I forgot for a moment! Don't worry, cousin! I'll go rest right away!" Kirino swiftly ran back to the villa.

Honoka watched her retreating figure, her expression slightly unusual. It seemed that the earlier reassurance was just a pretense, and now Honoka would secretly observe her cousin.

'Good luck... Kirino.' Homura chuckled inwardly.

"Homura-kun, do you know something?" Nozomi suddenly spoke up, and Homura almost blurted it out without thinking!

"Well... Ahem! It might not be best for me to say. It's better if Honoka discovers it herself." Homura replied.

"...Is that so?" Nozomi looked at Homura, recalling his secret smile just now. She nodded and smiled, saying, "Alright! I'll also lend a hand to Honoka-chan and see what her little cousin is hiding."

Homura could only think, 'Ended, Kirino is in trouble...'

He didn't believe that she could hide anything from Nozomi's observation!

"I'm looking forward to the sisterly heart-to-heart talk afterward."

Suddenly, Homura turned his gaze towards Rin, and the atmosphere became somewhat strange.

Rin: "Nyaa nyaa nyaa~"

Tamaki: "Nyaa nyaa!"

Haru: "Meow~? (What are these two humans saying?)"

"Pfff... Gahahaha!" Homura finally couldn't hold back this time. The little ones amused him.

Startled, the people nearby quickly moved away from him.

"Senpai?" Nayuta gave him a strange look. "What's wrong with you?"

Homura pointed at Rin, while the others had puzzled expressions.

"Isn't Rin and Tamaki-chan imitating a cat's meow? Maybe they thought that Haru also said something to them. Unfortunately, Haru was saying, 'What are these two humans saying?'."

Everyone: "..."

It was supposed to be an adorable scene... Why did it suddenly become awkward?

Looking at Rin, who was still in her own world, everyone decided - let's not tell her the truth!