Sato led the puzzled girls to the first floor, then stopped in front of a wall.
What are we doing here?
They looked at each other.
Sato sighed lightly and, with a somewhat helpless expression, placed his hand on the wall in front of him.
With a loud sound, he pushed it to the side, and the wall slid away, revealing what was inside.
It was actually a sliding door, and beyond it was an entirely different space.
As the door opened, everything inside came into view.
It was a room arranged like a small cinema. The space was wide and enclosed, with no windows. At the far end stood a massive screen, and several rows of seats were neatly arranged in front of it.
"Wow!!!"
The girls stared wide-eyed at the scene. Ritsu stammered, " Sato, your house even has a private theater?!"
Sato's expression turned complicated. "I didn't expect that I'd only be gone for a month and he'd already set up something like this at home."
The "he" Sato referred to was naturally Nohara Ginnosuke.
When he had heard about it during the May holiday from others, he had been completely stunned as well.
From the time he left home to go to school until he returned, just over a month had passed. Yet somehow, a private theater had appeared in his house.
And if he hadn't heard about it from Konomi and the others, even he would still have been kept in the dark.
"Haha… I didn't expect Uncle to be so trendy!"
Ritsu scratched her head and laughed awkwardly.
Sato thought for a moment, then couldn't help but shake his head and smile, agreeing with her.
Although his father could sometimes be irritating, and liked to rely on his age to strike up conversations with young, pretty women, he was also clever, optimistic, understood children well, fashionable, and full of a sense of fun.
Maybe that was exactly why he could remain such a carefree old man.
"Anyway, the soundproofing here is excellent. Once we clear out the seats, we can use this place freely for practice."
Everyone was quite satisfied with the spacious room. However, Mio suddenly glanced at Ritsu and sighed.
"It's a pity Ritsu's drum set can't be brought here."
Even when disassembled, a drum set was still quite bulky, far less convenient to carry than instruments like guitars and basses.
"It's fine, we can just find a few buckets for Ritsu to make do with!"
"Ugh… why did I have to learn drums…"
…
Although it was still early, after giving the girls a tour of the house, Sato began helping them lay out bedding for the night.
Halfway through, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside.
"Sato!"
He paused, then stood up and looked out the window.
He immediately saw Fujimiya Konomi and the Miyauchi sisters, among others. It was worth mentioning that, after Kanna's enthusiastic invitation last night, she had stayed over at the Miyauchi household.
"A girl's voice?"
Behind him, several girls blinked as they looked at him.
Sato smiled helplessly. "They're my friends. They probably heard you all came and got curious."
"Huh? Sato's friends?"
At that, the girls' eyes lit up. They crowded to the window, pushing Sato aside as they looked outside.
"Wow, they're all girls!"
Ritsu exclaimed in surprise.
The others also looked astonished, finding it hard to believe.
There wasn't a single boy among them.
Hirasawa Ui suddenly turned to look at Sato with a complicated expression. "It seems Senpai is very popular…"
Sato took out a quilt from the storage cabinet and laid it on the floor. Hearing that, he smiled. "It doesn't really have much to do with popularity. Maybe it's just that the… feng shui here is off, so there are fewer boys."
After saying that, he walked to the window and waved at the group outside. "Everyone, come in."
[Outside]
"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect that guy Sato to be this popular. All the ones who came are cute, pretty girls!"
Miyauchi Hikage crossed her arms and clicked her tongue in amazement.
After speaking, she looked at Fujimiya Konomi and grinned. "Konomi, looks like you're under quite a bit of pressure."
Fujimiya Konomi slowly turned her head toward Miyauchi Hikage, a gentle smile appearing on her beautiful face.
"Hikage, what are you talking about? Why can't I understand it?"
Miyauchi Hikage instantly shut up, but her face remained full of smiles as she wiggled her eyebrows at Konomi with a look that said she understood everything.
"Could it be…"
Behind them, Ichijou Hotaru suddenly showed a shocked expression as she looked at Fujimiya Konomi, covering her mouth in surprise.
"Hm? Could it be what…"
Fujimiya Konomi turned her head, her smile still soft.
"N-nothing!"
Ichijou Hotaru stiffened and quickly lowered her head.
So Konomi-senpai actually…
"Huh? What are you all talking about? Why are you only saying half of it…"
Watching everyone speak in half sentences, Koshigaya Komari looked completely confused and asked irritably.
What is going on with everyone?
"Hehe, big sis!"
Koshigaya Natsumi patted Komari on the shoulder. Just then, she noticed someone's gentle gaze and cleared her throat before grinning. "You can figure it out yourself!"
"Huh? Even you know, Natsumi?"
Komari looked at her with disbelief.
How does everyone know except me?!
"Let's go in first."
Up ahead, Fujimiya Konomi suddenly spoke, interrupting their conversation.
…
Before long, two groups totaling more than ten people had gathered inside the Nohara household.
At the long table, Sato sat at the head, feeling a headache as he looked at the two groups seated below.
On both sides of the table sat small clusters. They observed each other curiously, yet there was still a sense of unfamiliarity.
Good grief.
For a brief moment, Sato felt as if he were sitting on a throne, with civil and military officials lined up below him.