Wedding Photo

"Huh? What's everyone doing here?"

Noticing that Homura hadn't come back in yet, Elf came to check, and when she saw Honoka and the others standing there, she asked in surprise.

"We're planning to make an outfit for Rin-chan at Homura-kun's place." Kotori explained with a smile. "Since Homura-kun's house is pretty big, it'll be easier to work here."

Upon hearing this, Homura turned to Nozomi.

"Knew it. Nozomi-senpai's just looking for chances to tease me and Rin."

"Ara?" Nozomi smiled slyly. "Well, I did have that in mind. I mean... Rin-chan got confessed to by you just yesterday. Wouldn't it be a shame if you two didn't get to see each other today?"

'I see...' Homura nodded inwardly.

It wasn't like Nozomi was just messing around—she had definitely thought about this a little.

However, what Homura figured was that from last night's conversation in the group chat, it seemed like Rin was probably still feeling super shy about her brief kiss on his forehead, so he thought giving her a day or two might help her get used to it.

Needless to say, both Homura and Nozomi were thinking about Rin, just in different ways.

Nonetheless, what about Rin's own feelings?

It didn't seem like it had a huge impact on her when they met, but she definitely wasn't as lively as usual, so it looked like it still had some effect.

"Okay, let's go inside." Homura patted Rin's head again, signaling everyone to go in.

"Yeah! Come in, I was just getting bored. Good thing y'all came." Elf vigorously nodded.

"Bored? I've never seen you bored before." Nico said with raised eyebrows.

"Well, Homura gave everyone a few days off, so whoever could go home decided to stay home for a couple of days." Elf shrugged helplessly. "In the end, Homura's place, you know, became a bit quiet."

"Everyone went home... No wonder you're reacting like this..."

Umi nodded thoughtfully before an idea suddenly came to her mind.

'But if Utaha and Eriri aren't around... could this be an opportunity?'

'Wait, what am I even thinking?!'

Umi vigorously shook her head, leaving Honoka and Kotori looking puzzled, while Nozomi just smiled, watching Umi with a hint of amusement.

===

"Are these the materials Kotori bought?" Elf nodded as she looked at the items Kotori laid out. "Yosh, I'll help too!"

"Elf, you don't need to help." Homura shook his head.

"Hm?" Elf raised an eyebrow. "Are you looking down on my skills? I'll have you know, I've had professional training in tailoring!"

Homura still shook his head.

"No, I'm not underestimating you. I've known from the start just how high your girly power is. You've completed all the bridal training courses, haven't you? And with top scores too."

Homura's words shocked the nine members of Muse.

They had assumed Elf was just good at cooking, but she had already undergone bridal training? And even graduated? She was only fourteen!

A girl like her—what man wouldn't like her?

Homura was no exception, of course.

Upon hearing Homura's words, Elf nodded in satisfaction.

She had no idea how Homura knew about her abilities, but since he did and was still stopping her, there had to be a reason, so she decided to hear him out.

"You can't help because this is Muse's bond." Homura explained calmly.

Just this one sentence was enough for Elf to understand, so she didn't insist on helping.

Even though everyone got along really well, everyone in the room knew Muse was special. Muse could only be the nine of them, so when it came to their bond, outsiders naturally stayed out of it.

Of course, the only exception was Homura, since he was, after all, a special existence to Muse.

Unfortunately, Homura wasn't good at sewing, though with his eye for detail and memory, learning it would be no trouble at all. Even so, if a boy got better at sewing than the girls, that would definitely be an even bigger blow than cooking, so he decided not to meddle.

Naturally, Homura was planning to just stand around doing nothing, as he could at least cook them a feast to make up for it.

"Oh yeah! Wait a sec!"

Remembering something, Homura exclaimed, then ran back to his room before returning with a few things in hand.

"This should help you grasp the details better, right?"

Homura grinned and placed three drawings of Bride Rin on the coffee table—one front view, one back view, and one side view.

What Homura showed were basically full-on design drafts.

"Even though I designed this, it somehow feels like you improved it again, Homura-kun." Kotori sighed in wonder.

"Nah, I just redrew your design to match Rin's proportions perfectly." Homura shook his head.

Nico's lips twitched upon hearing this.

"You know, that sounds kinda creepy... Rin's perfect proportions? Doesn't that mean you've got her height, weight, and measurements all memorized? Which means you've got all of ours too, right?"

Hanayo and Umi instinctively covered their chests, and even Nanami, who had just been listening in, took a small step back.

Homura thought for a moment before responding.

"Weight wouldn't be that accurate, y'know? I mean, even with the same body type, muscle mass can make a difference, so I can't say for sure."

Weight wasn't included?

Didn't that mean everything else was?!

"Homura-kun, mind telling me how you know all this?"

Nozomi's right eye twitched as she forced a 'friendly' smile at Homura.

Homura could feel her killing intent, but he decided to pretend he didn't notice.

"Y'all know I have perfect memory, right? So if I take a quick glance, I just know." Homura shrugged casually.

"Isn't that basically a photographic memory?" Elf said speechlessly. "I heard people with that kinda ability are usually just good at remembering words and numbers though..."

"Well... photographic memory is exactly what it sounds like."

Homura nodded calmly, then began explaining.

"For most people, it's actually considered a brain disorder, but mine's a bit different."

"Simply put, you could say I use my brain like a computer, while my eyes work like a scanner—whatever I see gets stored in my brain as memory."

"However, the memory doesn't just pop up randomly because it stays on standby, like a file on a computer, so when I need a certain memory, I can just retrieve it from the right folder."

Upon hearing Homura's explanation, the girls were dumbfounded.

It couldn't be helped since what Homura revealed was seriously insane.

It was no wonder he knew so much and learned so fast.

"So... just glancing at something means you know everything about it..." Nozomi muttered speechlessly.

With an ability like that, knowing their measurements was surely nothing.

"Doesn't that mean, as long as we scale these drawings up accordingly, the outfit will be the perfect fit for Rin-chan?" Hanayo asked.

"Umu." Homura nodded, thought for a moment, and then continued. "Want me to mark down all the exact measurements?"

Hearing this, everyone turned to Rin.

Seeing everyone looking at her, Rin froze, looking back at them, then at Homura.

A moment later, Rin ultimately nodded in agreement.

"We need the measurements anyway..."

As soon as Rin agreed, Homura immediately wrote down all the data, using centimeters and precise to one decimal place.

After measuring based on Homura's notes, Kotori was completely convinced.

"Rin, this is for you."

Homura handed Rin the original drawing of her in a wedding dress, framed in a large photo frame.

Rin took it, staring at the drawing up close for the first time.

"Is this… really me?" Rin murmured, looking dazed.

"Who else would it be?" Homura chuckled.

Elf also looked at the drawing, and after a moment, she scratched her head.

She couldn't shake the feeling that something about the way Homura handled the drawing felt a little off, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"It looks like a wedding photo."

Mashiro commented as Elf pondered what was off.