"Well, I rushed over, so everyone gotta be worried about you, Kirisu-sensei..."
Glancing at the name 'Katou Megumi' on the phone screen, Homura spoke to Mafuyu before answering the call.
"Homura-kun, what happened? Is Kirisu-sensei okay?"
Megumi's speed of speech was surprisingly fast, showing genuine concern.
"Don't worry, everything's fine. Nothing serious happened."
After saying this, Homura heard several relieved sighs from the other end.
"Thank goodness... But what exactly happened?"
Hearing this, Homura glanced at Mafuyu.
How exactly was he going to explain?
"Hmm... how should I put it..."
Homura pondered for a moment, then continued.
"It's just that Kirisu-sensei got startled by some little creature, and without clarifying the situation, I hastily ran out."
"Little creature?" Megumi sounded confused.
Homura felt like a question mark was about to pop out of his phone.
Mafuyu, on the other hand, had her lips twitching.
Now, her dignity as a teacher was gone.
However, she also understood Homura's explanation.
Was she supposed to let Homura, who never lied to the girls, come up with a lie just to save her dignity?
Needless to say, that wouldn't just be a loss of dignity but would be outright unbecoming of a teacher.
Moreover, those girls were just worried about her, so was it fair to leave them in the dark?
"Well... these little creatures are everywhere, almost every household has them." Homura added. "By the way, they love narrow, damp places, especially in kitchens."
The more Megumi and the girls listened, the more puzzled their expressions became.
Was he talking about cockroaches?
Moreover, Kirisu-sensei's reaction—making even Homura dash out so urgently after being scared by one—just how frightening was that cockroach?
"So... Homura-kun, are you catching that little creature now?" Megumi asked, her expression odd.
"I was just about to look for it when you called..." Homura paused for a moment, then added, "Oh, why don't you chat with Kirisu-sensei for a bit? I'll go find that little creature first."
He handed the phone to Mafuyu.
"I'm truly sorry for causing everyone to worry..." Mafuyu apologized.
"It's nothing, Kirisu-sensei. As long as you're okay, that's all that matters." Megumi replied gently.
Seeing Mafuyu already engaged in conversation, Homura started to move.
Bending down, he began searching for the very troublesome cockroach, making Mafuyu, who watched him, blinking her eyes.
Why wasn't he squatting down?
As she looked at her hand still tightly grasping his arm, Mafuyu blinked again.
Was this the reason?
Should she squat?
Mafuyu started to squat, but halfway through, she stopped.
She remembered that if she squatted down in just a towel, some 'parts' wouldn't be covered.
Was this the reason he didn't squat down?
Touched by such consideration, besides marveling at Homura's attentiveness, Mafuyu couldn't help but feel extremely happy, even a bit fluttery.
Just hearing her scream had made him rush over at top speed, and although she could see some lust in his eyes, his self-control was strong enough to restrain it.
Mafuyu felt like a seed in her heart had started to sprout.
"It's not... here..." Homura muttered to himself. "It wouldn't be good if it ran off somewhere else..."
"Eh? Can't find it?" Mafuyu spoke up.
She would be the most worried if they couldn't find the cockroach.
"Huh? Can't find what?" Megumi asked, puzzled.
"Minamiya-san said he can't find that thing..." Mafuyu said into the phone, then glanced anxiously at Homura.
"It's not surprising if you can't find it... after all, it's such a small creature and alive, so it'll likely move and run away if something approaches it..." Megumi said thoughtfully.
"But..."
Megumi now understood just how much Mafuyu feared and disliked cockroaches.
It was unexpected, but Mafuyu in this state was undeniably cute!
"Well, just leave it to Homura-kun, Kirisu-sensei. I believe he'll surely find it."
"...Mm, thanks, Katou-san."
"Just call me Megumi, Kirisu-sensei."
As they chatted, Homura wasn't just searching through things randomly but was taking out each piece of underwear, shaking it, and then putting it somewhere else.
Once he had taken out enough, he picked up a paper cup and chuckled.
"Finally found you!"
After exclaiming this, he crumpled the paper cup in his hand with his strong grip.
'Rest in peace, pervert cockroach...' Homura said inwardly.
Megumi, hearing Homura's words, smiled.
"See? I told you Homura-kun would surely find it. Now you can relax, Kirisu-sensei."
"Megumi, Homura is trending!"
Elf, who was playing with her phone nearby, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"Huh? Isn't that normal?" Eriri said, puzzled.
"Not that!" Elf shook her head and placed her phone on the table. "It's this!"
In no time, the girls gathered around to take a look, and what they saw was a video playing on the screen, showing a man running like crazy, moving so fast that he couldn't be seen clearly at all.
Soon, the video was slowed down, freezing the frame as the man passed by. Upon closer inspection, the man shouting anxiously into the phone with a face full of worry was none other than Homura.
"Uhh... where did this video come from?" Utaha frowned.
"Somebody's live-streaming outdoors." Elf replied.
"What are people saying?" Nanami asked.
"Here, take a look for yourselves." Elf said, pointing to the comments section.
[Comment 1: Yo, this dude's incredible! Lightning legs!]
[Comment 2: No joke, that's freaking fast. Without the slo-mo, I wouldn't see a thing.]
[Comment 3: Hold up... Why does this dude feel so familiar?]
[Comment 4: Yeah, I feel that too, total deja vu...]
[Comment 5: Yo, ain't this Minamiya-sensei?!]
[Comment 6: Damn, it is! What's the deal? Why was Minamiya-sensei running like his life was on the line?]
[Comment 7: Yeah, he also looked all tensed up and super worried. Hope it ain't something serious.]
[Comment 8: Guys, quit being so pessimistic!]
Just like that, there was a barrage of questions about what had happened and whether anyone knew where Homura was now.
Indeed, as Elf had mentioned, Homura had become a hot topic, trending and escalating rapidly.
Seeing the comments, the girls looked at each other speechlessly.
"It feels like it's turned into a big deal?" Eriri's mouth twitched.
"We definitely have to explain..." Utaha said, sounding a bit troubled. "But the question is... how do we explain it? We can't just tell the truth, can we?"
"Nope." Megumi shook her head. "If the truth sounds absurd, they'll think we're lying."
Indeed, who would believe that Homura had rushed so frantically just because of a cockroach?
It sounded ridiculous!
If a cockroach could make him do something like that, what about a big spider?
"Um... I think I've caused trouble for everyone again..."
Mafuyu's voice came from Megumi's phone.
"No, it's not your fault, Kirisu-sensei." Megumi replied gently. "By the way, can I ask you to tell this matter to Homura-kun? We all need to think of a solution."
"I heard you. No worries, just leave it to me." Homura's voice suddenly came.
"Have you already figured out a solution?" Megumi was surprised.
"Yeah, I just need you all to help me spread the word for a bit, and let's not let any rumors spread."
Finished saying this, Homura hung up the call and then sighed.
'What bad luck to be caught on someone's live-streaming like that...'
Not wasting time, Homura quickly opened his blog.