Seeing Nozomi's usual antics, Homura turned his head to Eli.
"Eli, how did Nozomi pick up this habit anyway?" Homura asked curiously.
"How would I know?" Eli's face darkened.
"You wanna know? Why not ask me yourself, Homura-kun?" Nozomi smiled and leaned over to Homura.
Homura: "..."
"But can you say it yourself?" Homura's mouth twitched.
"Homura-kun, you tell us—which one of us has the best figure?"
As she asked, Nozomi even puffed out her chest a little—it was obvious what aspect she meant.
If it was about the overall figure, Eli probably had the best one, but if it was just about breasts...
"Of course, it's you, Nozomi..." Homura answered truthfully.
Hearing this, Nico pursed her lips, looking a little resentful as she lowered her head.
Even Rin had lines on her face, looking exasperated.
"See! I'm just giving everyone energy!"
"Nozomi Power! Maximum charge! Eiii~!"
"AHHH—!!!"
Nico shrieked as Nozomi's dragon claw hands caught her chest again!
"Everyone really has it tough..." Homura remarked with a sigh.
Hearing this, the others also looked exasperated and nodded in deep agreement.
"Eiii!"
Homura's mouth twitched wildly as he lowered his head to look at the pair of hands reaching out from behind him.
"Ahahahaha!"
Nico, who had just been the victim, was now laughing the loudest.
"Nozomi... can you explain what you're doing?"
"Eh? The feeling is surprisingly nice... I thought with how strong Homura-kun is, your body would already be all muscle!"
Nozomi sounded genuinely surprised, and after squeezing a few more times, she let go of her hands.
However, Homura suddenly grabbed those hands!
"Eh?"
"These are muscles, but not the kind you're thinking of. If it were all that kind of muscle, I'd have power but lose flexibility. Getting to this state where I can be both strong and light is not easy."
As he spoke, Homura gently pulled her hands forward and bent down, making Nozomi end up lying on his back!
Through the whole process, Nozomi didn't feel the slightest discomfort—on the contrary, with the way all his strength coordinated, she lay on his back easily and comfortably.
""Ohhh~!""
Honoka and Yukiho exclaimed in amazement.
"Oh my, I really didn't expect this~" Nozomi put on a surprised expression. "I can't believe Homura-kun is actually carrying me on his back!"
After saying this, she started poking and prodding Homura's back with her hands.
"It really is springy..." Nozomi said thoughtfully. "Is this the result of martial arts training? There's nothing to see on the outside, but your abilities are surprisingly strong. And... Homura-kun's back is really broad... It makes girls feel at ease."
Everyone looked at this scene, speechless.
"Hmm... Yeah, just like Eriri and Utaha said, Homura-kun smells nice... What exactly is it?"
Hearing this, Homura started to sweat.
'If she keeps studying me like this, will she dissect me next?' Homura thought jokingly, then said nonchalantly. "Isn't it just the smell of laundry detergent?"
"No way, nyaa—mmph!" Rin clapped her hands over her mouth as soon as she finished speaking.
Hearing this, everyone suddenly understood—it must have been when Homura was holding her last time that Rin secretly took a sniff.
"I wanna try too! I wanna try!" Honoka raised her hand. "I was curious what it was last time, but Yukiho wouldn't let me!"
While saying this, she even gave Yukiho a pitiful look.
Yukiho: "..."
'Hmph~ Like I care what you do!' Yukiho grumbled inwardly.
"Hurry over, Honoka-chan!" Nozomi waved her over.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't go doing weird things!" Homura quickly shouted.
"He's right." Nico chimed in. "We're outside! What if someone sees us?!"
"It's fine! It's so dark, nobody's gonna recognize us!" Nozomi thought for a moment. "If we all surround Homura-kun, no one can see him, and all they'll see is our backs!"
Homura: "..."
"Oh, then there's no problem!" Nico nodded.
'You're agreeing with her?!' Homura looked at Nico in disbelief, then shook his head. "Nozomi, I'm putting you down. Stand still."
"No!" Nozomi wrapped her arms around Homura's neck. "Haven't you heard, it's easy to invite a god in, but hard to send one away? Hmph, it's not so easy to get me off!"
"Is that so?" Homura raised an eyebrow. "Well, that works for me."
In the next moment, he hooked Nozomi's legs and stood up straight, officially carrying her on his back.
"Guess I'll just carry you home like this."
Nozomi: "..."
'Huh? Why does this feel different from what I expected? As I thought, Homura-kun is full of surprises from the very start. Even the tarot misreadings are all because of him...'
"Oh~ I haven't smelled this before..." Honoka said, then sniffed Homura again. "But it does smell pretty nice..."
Homura: "..."
"Honoka-chan... stop smelling Homura-kun!" Kotori, blushing, pulled Honoka back. "It's way too embarrassing for girls to do that!"
"Eh?! Really?" Honoka's eyes widened. "But didn't Nozomi-chan and Eriri-chan do it too?"
Upon hearing this, Kotori was speechless.
She couldn't exactly say those girls just didn't have much shame, but if she were to be honest, she kind of wanted to try as well.
'Ah! Kotori! What are you thinking?! You're a proper young lady!' Kotori thought flustered and shook her head.
"What smell? Why are all your noses better than mine?"
Homura really felt like they were just messing with him, but Honoka didn't seem like the type to just joke along for no reason.
"Maybe..." Nozomi leaned in close to his ear. "It's the smell of a boy?"
"Bruh, that's just the smell of sweat, isn't it?" Homura said with a deadpan face.
"Uh..." Nozomi didn't really know what to say to that.
"By the way... shouldn't we get going already?" Eli's voice sounded, full of helplessness. "We can't just stand around here."
"Yup!" Nozomi nodded and pointed forward. "Homura-kun, let's go!"
"Nozomi, are you really planning to stay up there?" Homura asked as he started walking anyway.
Seeing this, the others followed along, and Nico even tried to shield Nozomi from view as she was carried by Homura, but it was useless—after all, with Nico's petite body, there was no way she could block the sight.
"Who knows?" Nozomi chuckled. "Guess—will I get down or not?"
"So do you think I'll guess right?" Homura asked back.
"..."
Nozomi was silent for a second, then replied.
"I thought you'd just guess outright."
"Heh, that'd be way too passive." Homura chuckled.
"Well... at least for now, I'm not getting down." Nozomi didn't say whether he had guessed right—if she did, she would be the passive one.
It was a tiny little game between them, and they both silently dropped it after that.
"Nozomi-chan, what's it like to be carried like that?" Honoka asked curiously.
"Do you wanna try it later, Honoka-chan?" Nozomi smiled. "Being carried by Homura-kun is nothing like being carried by your dad when you were little."
"If it was the same, I'd be a little troubled." Homura said dryly.
"Fufu~"
Nozomi chuckled—a chuckle that was filled with happiness.