Tai Chi

"Hey, Megumi, don't you think Eriri is doing this on purpose now?" Utaha asked, though she already knew the answer.

Not even waiting for Megumi to reply, Utaha marched right up to Homura and stood behind Eriri, huffing.

"Eriri! Cut it out already! How long are you planning to embrace him?!"

Eriri, however, kept silent, pretending not to hear.

'Yeah, I must've fallen asleep, but... why am I being held like this—huh? One of Homura's hands is on my back, while the other is on my head, so whose hands are on my waist?'

Just as Eriri was wondering, the hands on her waist suddenly started pushing—pushing her away from Homura!

'Kasumigaoka Utaha!' Eriri yelled angrily in her heart and tightened her grip on Homura a little more.

"Heh, didn't expect you to be this strong..." Utaha gasped, then chuckled. "But if you wanna put your all into it, coordination across your whole body is essential, so..."

Hearing this, Eriri had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the next moment, she felt the hands on her waist move down to her calves, another push backward, and then her feet left the ground!

Eriri: "!!!"

She felt like her heart had leaped to her throat.

'Damn woman...' Eriri gritted her teeth and complained inwardly. 'What's wrong with just hugging for a while? When you wanna hug Homura later, just watch me mess it up for you, Kasumigaoka Utaha!'

Regardless, she still didn't give up.

Even though she was now hanging in the air, she still clung tightly to Homura's lower back.

Seeing this comical scene, the others were a bit speechless.

"Ahhh—! You're about to pull off my socks!" Eriri suddenly yelled.

"Let him go then." Utaha retorted casually.

"You should be the one letting go! Doing this kinda thing is just making a fool out of us!"

"It's fine, we're all friends here. No one's gonna laugh at us."

Needless to say, no matter what was said, Utaha and Eriri were clearly at odds today.

Homura couldn't help but think the problem started with that 'Shi-chan' nickname.

"Ladies, you can stop now. If this goes on, the progress of the anime's gonna be in jeopardy." Homura finally spoke up.

"Fine..."

Speaking of the anime, that was also Eriri's wish, so she relented.

"Let go of me, or I won't be able to let go..." Eriri said with a frown.

"You're giving up this easily?" Utaha teased, but she slowly let go of Eriri nonetheless.

"Hahh... let's talk about it later. I don't wanna affect the anime's progress and disappoint the fans."

As soon as Eriri finished saying this, she took a deep breath on Homura's chest, then happily let go.

"Hmm, smells kinda good..." Eriri nodded.

Homura: "..."

"What a seductress..." Utaha rolled her eyes, then casually walked over to Homura's side and took a sniff. "Well... it does smell kinda nice."

Homura: "???"

"Hmph, yet you have the nerve to say that to me..." Eriri smirked.

"Hmm..." Homura sniffed himself as well. "Well, I can't really smell anything..."

"I thought you were gonna say it smells nice too..." Elf chimed in, looking bewildered.

"If it's the smell of detergent, then yeah, it actually does smell nice." Homura shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmm~"

Honoka suddenly leaned in as if wanting to sniff Homura as well, but Yukiho immediately intervened and pulled her away.

"Nee-chan!"

"What? I just wanted to know what it smells like..." Honoka muttered. "They say Homura-kun smells nice, but I still don't know..."

Seeing this little commotion, everyone's hearts seemed to flutter a bit.

"Um... Minamiya-senpai... Are we still learning that training method?" Alisa asked while timidly raising her hand.

Everyone: "..."

Everyone except Homura had already forgotten about it.

"Yeah, learning is important." Homura nodded, then turned around. "Let's all do this together. Whether you need it or not, it won't hurt to learn."

And so, amidst the curiosity of the girls, he taught them again the training methods he had already taught Muse, and while it was convenient, he also taught them a few self-defense moves.

It was better to know a little than nothing, right?

Besides, they wouldn't use it on him anyway.

"I still don't think it's that useful..." Elf muttered.

"You can learn this too, but I can't guarantee you'll be able to do it." Homura shrugged before throwing a punch into the empty air.

Needless to say, this was the first time he was showing the girls his moves.

At first, they didn't think much of his soft, fluid motions, but when a few leaves began moving around him in a rhythmic pattern, they realized this wasn't just any simple action.

By the time he finished, the leaves had gathered in a yin and yang pattern beneath his feet, leaving the girls in awe and stunned.

"Wait a minute... is this that so-called Tai Chi?" Utaha said, still not quite believing her eyes. "Can Tai Chi really do this? I always thought the old guys in the park were just doing some fake stuff."

"Don't be biased against Tai Chi..." Homura said helplessly. "What those old guys do in the park can't even be considered Tai Chi."

"Can't help it, can we? That's how everyone perceives it..." Elf chimed in, shrugging her shoulders.

"Anyone can easily search it up online..." Homura shook his head.

"So, Homura-kun's skills are this good because of Tai Chi?"

Honoka, seeming genuinely interested, spoke with an excited expression, which caused Rin's eyes to sparkle.

"Yeah, there's no doubt about it." Homura nodded firmly. "Besides, the way Tai Chi is practiced and the way it's used in combat is different. What I just showed you was just a bit of the practice for the body, but as for the fighting techniques... I can't demonstrate that for you."

"Why not?" Honoka asked curiously.

"Because they're used in actual combat and meant for fighting people, so there's no need to demonstrate them for you."

Upon hearing this, Megumi pondered for a moment before asking.

"Homura-kun, the time you fought those thugs, were you using those fighting techniques?"

Once Megumi asked this, Utaha and Eriri recalled the scene from back then, and it seemed like there was a little resemblance to the way Homura had been punching earlier.

Homura thought for a moment before answering.

"A bit, yeah. My body wasn't as good back then, so using a bit was no big deal."

"A bit? Just a bit? And what do you mean it didn't matter?" Eriri asked, looking confused.

"Literal meaning. Back then, my body wasn't as good as it is now, so using a bit of the fighting techniques wouldn't cause any serious consequences. But now, with my body being a lot stronger, if I weren't so in control of it, a slip-up could kill someone."

Hearing Homura's explanation, the girls' lips twitched uncontrollably.

Was he showing off?

No, he had said that he would either be honest with them or keep it a secret, so was what he said really the truth?

"Homura-kun, you really won't accidentally hurt anyone, right?" Kotori asked, a bit worried.

"No worries." Homura smiled and reassured everyone. "Luckily, there are techniques to control the power in martial arts. Now that I can 100% control my body, it'll mostly be alright, but when I do use the techniques, the chance of error is, at most, about 5%. And that error rate is getting smaller and smaller over time, so please, rest assured."

Upon hearing this, Kotori finally sighed in relief.