Goodbye

The pleasant lunchtime came to an end.

At this point, some people were already preparing to take their leave.

"It's already noon, so if you have things to do in the afternoon, go ahead and do your own thing." Homura checked the time and decided to bring up this topic himself.

"Also, after all that singing and dancing, the nine of you should rest well." Homura continued. "Of course, I'm not kicking you out, but for those who want to continue chatting and playing, you can come over to my place."

Ayano chuckled.

"Even if you say that... Everyone knows you so well. When do you ever chase people away?"

"Huh?" Homura scratched his head. "Did I give myself away that easily?"

"Well, you're right though... Alright, time to go! I've got things to do in the afternoon anyway." Ayano said calmly, her smile becoming more reserved.

"My condolences..." Homura made a praying gesture.

"Oh, come on!" Ayano gave him a playful hit. "Do you really think I'm busy for no reason?"

"Hmm..." Homura pondered for a moment. "You're just busying yourself, right? Because you want new materials for a new manga."

"..." Ayano fell silent.

'So, it's all because of myself?! Well... Although things might be easier if I didn't do this, I just can't bear to miss out on some hidden gems! So be it!'

"Anyone up for coming to my place?" Homura asked the girls.

"Me, me, me!" Saori raised her hand eagerly.

"Me, me, me! I want to go to Homuhomu-senpai's place too!" Yui chimed in, not wanting to be left behind.

"Me!!!" Ritsu shouted loudly.

Mio shook her head, looking at the quite enthusiastic Yui and Ritsu. 'How much do you guys love to play...'

"Are you not going, Mio-chan?" Yui looked at Mio, who was shaking her head, assuming she didn't want to go.

"I'm going. of course." Mio said firmly. "If I don't go, what if all of you cause trouble to Minamiya-senpai?"

"How could that be?" Ritsu laughed. "Don't worry, Mio! We're not kids, how could we possibly cause trouble?"

"Even kids are more reliable than you..." Mio retorted with an expressionless face.

"Ugh! That's harsh!" Ritsu held her heart dramatically. "Mio, you've wounded my heart, y'know!"

"Hmph!" Mio clenched her fist. "Anyway, if you cause trouble later, I'll give you a beating for real!"

"Huh? What trouble?" Ritsu blinked innocently, her eyes shining with mischief.

Seeing Ritsu, Homura was speechless, this girl really was a trickster.

Everyone smiled at their interactions, and after a while, Homura spoke up.

"Yosh! That's it for today. Let's call it a day. We can hang out again sometime."

"Alright, Minamiya-kun, we're going." Kaguya nodded and felt a bit worried about leaving Ai alone at home.

"Wait!" Homura stopped Kaguya, Chika, and Moeha and took out three sets of games from his backpack.

"Here, these are the ones I promised you."

"Wow!" Chika's eyes sparkled.

Kaguya paused, then nodded slightly to Homura.

"...Everyone, see you next time."

She then left, pulling the somewhat reluctant Chika with her. Moeha nodded to everyone before leaving too.

"Homura-kun...! I'll come find you to play later...!" Chika yelled from a distance. 

"Anytime!" Homura called out with a smile, then turned to everyone. "Same goes for everyone, feel free to come over anytime to play."

"Umu, we're off too, Minamiya-kun." Rizu tidied up her hair lightly. "Both Fumino and I need to study, and... we should discuss how to speak with Kirisu-sensei."

Although it was quite unexpected that Rizu was the one who said this, Homura still nodded.

"Sure, feel free to contact me if you need help with anything."

"A~ah, I'm going swimming later... Even though I really wanted to play with everyone a bit more..." Uruka pouted.

"There's plenty of time in the future." Miyako consoled her.

"By the way, Myaa-san! Aren't you coming to Senpai's house?" Nayuta was a bit reluctant.

Miyako shook her head. "Not today. Tomorrow is the start of school, and there's quite a bit to prepare, so..."

"Alright..."

"See you all next time!" Fumino said her goodbyes and her group of four finally left.

Finally, it was time for Homura and his group to leave.

He looked at the nine members of Muse and grinned.

"You all have a good rest this afternoon. Don't you also have to go to school tomorrow?"

The nine exchanged glances, finally lining up and speaking together in sync.

""Homura-kun, Ayano-san, thank you very much!""

Homura just smiled and didn't say much.

To be honest, he didn't really care, but Ayano was the one who deserved their gratitude. She was the one who arranged for transportation and negotiated with the road management department after all.

"Fufu, alright, I'll accept your thanks! I'm satisfied as long as Muse can go further." Ayano waved her hand with a smile. "By the way, I'll send you a copy of the video I recorded when I get back. It's not bad to see your concert from the perspective of the audience."

"You could've just thanked Ayano only, but I know, based on your personalities, you wouldn't let me off the hook. Since you're done thanking, let's go then..." Homura said with a helpless smile.

"Sure thing, Homura-kun, see you!" Honoka waved.

Homura, who was about to leave, suddenly turned back.

"Oh right, and don't make wishes on shooting stars anymore."

Watching Homura's group walk away, the nine girls chuckled.

"I know. I can't take shooting stars seriously anymore anyway." Nico laughed, feeling a bit helpless. "Now, every time I think of shooting stars, I just want to laugh."

"Right? It's like the meaning of shooting stars has completely changed." Hanayo nodded.

"But Homura-kun is right! We don't need to make wishes on shooting stars." Kotori nodded.

"Because it doesn't want to listen..." Honoka muttered under her breath.

"..."

"Honoka-chan!" Kotori said in exasperation. "You know very well that's not what I meant!"

"Sorry..." Honoka felt embarrassed and quickly responded.

"Of course, it's because if there's a wish, we'll all work to make it come true, no need to rely on that..." Eli added.

"By the way... what's our current ranking?" Maki suddenly asked. "I saw it rise by one rank just a moment ago..."

"Quick, check!" Nico was a bit excited.

"Hold on..." Hanayo quickly fiddled with the tablet. "Muse... is now at the twenty-seventh place."

"Didn't expect it to rise just one rank..." Nico sounded a bit disappointed.

Nozomi lightly tapped Nico's head, finding it quite amusing.

"Nico-chan, you're getting a bit greedy. Rising one rank from what we saw before is already amazing y'know."

Umi agreed with that statement.

"Right. But even with this ranking, it's still beyond what we could have imagined before."

"Considering the continuous new comments..." Maki twirled her hair with her finger. "Our performance should still be spreading. Our ranking should continue to rise with time."

"That's true..." Eli nodded. "But that's not a reason for us to slack off. To live up to this support, we must stick to our original goal and never become conceited."

"Yeah! So let's think about a new song!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"Isn't that a bit too fast?!" Maki looked surprised. Composing requires inspiration! You can't just make it happen instantly.

"Is that so?"

Honoka responded casually without disappointment.

"Well then... What should we do?"