Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 113 10. "Going to Kyoto! (End)"

Leaving Fushimi Inari Taisha, the dusk sky seemed to pass over the treetops, waiting for them behind the lights of the hotel.

"Ah~ I've been walking all day, I'm so tired~"

Asami sat down on the tatami, stretched her legs, swung her feet, and sighed.

"Is it really that exaggerated? We were crowded at Universal Studios all day yesterday, but you didn't look this tired."

"Fatigue points accumulate continuously. All my points are added to the Heart Container." She argued confidently.

"And yesterday I spent most of the time queuing and sitting on all the rides. Unlike today, I was walking the whole time. My feet are so tired."

"Who told you to go out and play wearing sandals?" Masumi shook his head.

"What can I do about it?" Mami said matter-of-factly. "Wearing sneakers barefoot is uncomfortable."

"Just tell me why you have to go barefoot." He sighed in frustration.

"Because I'm a barefoot person. What about Masumi-kun?"

"Don't make me out to be like you."

"Oh, so you're the type who likes stockings."

"..."

The tatami trembled and the sound of someone standing up was heard.

"Kurokawa, where are you going?"

"Buy stockings."

"Come back soon."

As Masumi sighed, Kurokawa Mio sat down again. The shadow extending from under her legs was straight and long, intertwining with the shadow of the lamp.

The girls seemed a little tired and remained silent.

"……that."

He tried to speak to break the silence.

"Ok?"

"Do you want to go to the hot spring?" Masumi asked.

"Eh!?"

Five pairs of beautiful eyes stared at him in unison.

"Don't get me wrong, it's the mixed bathing kind."

Masumi explained.

"Mixed, mixed bath?"

The voice seemed even more shocked.

◇

"Wow~"

The snow-white feet turned rosy after being soaked in the hot spring water. After the toes were immersed in the water, they first curled up slightly, and then relaxed and stretched out.

"What's going on? It turns out to be a foot bath hot spring." Mami complained with a bored look on her face, swinging her feet in the water.

"They said it was mixed bathing, I almost got hurt... Although it seems that it is indeed mixed bathing."

Kurokawa Mio also looked very disappointed and lowered her eyelashes.

"Really, Masumi-san just said that suddenly, and I was so scared." Qian Ai patted her chest and said, "I thought it was that kind of..."

She cupped her cheeks, which were gradually becoming hot.

"I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear."

"But I can guess it if I think about it. After all, you haven't even eaten yet. What if you get dizzy after soaking in the hot spring on an empty stomach?"

"Hey, Masumi, what you're saying is... as long as we eat, we can soak in that hot spring together?"

Kurokawa Mio looked at him with bright eyes.

"I didn't say that." Masumi said helplessly.

This foot bath is part of the private bath service and is located in a small circular bathing pool.

Although it is a foot bath, the water level is quite high, and you can immerse your calves under the water.

Before taking a hot spring bath, the group changed into the hot spring bathrobes provided by the hotel. The fabric was slippery chiffon and the hem was very short, reaching just above the knees, probably to match the foot bath. This style is very cool to wear in summer.

The hot spring's outlet trough is amazing. As soon as a person stands up in the water, water will start to flow out, filling up the part that just overflowed.

It’s just that the diameter of the bathtub is a bit small, and it seems a bit cramped for six people to sit next to each other in a circle.

The smooth bare feet sparkled in the ambiguous light in the water, especially the girls' neatly and beautifully trimmed toenails, which reflected glares of different colors.

The aqua one is Rinone, the vermilion one is Kurokawa Mio, Asami's is bright orange, Chiai's is cherry pink, and Kaizuki has nothing painted on, with plain toe tips.

I heard that ecologists who study birds can identify species just by looking at their legs. I guess I can do the same, Masumi thought a little boredly.

Perhaps due to the fatigue from the day, the six people were silent and enjoyed the hot spring quietly.

But the atmosphere was not awkward or boring at all. Instead, it gave people an incredible sense of security, and everything seemed calm and stable.

Masumi couldn't help but sigh, how long had it been since she'd felt like this? Enjoying a hot spring with friends in a training camp-like atmosphere.

Well, never.

Soaking in a foot bath or hot spring with five beautiful ladies...

"it hurts!"

Suddenly, a burning pain came from the back of my neck.

"Ah, sorry, Masumi-kun."

Even as she said this, Asami turned her face towards Kurokawa Mio, who was glaring at her fiercely, and used her eyes to express her fear.

She still had a piece of dead skin torn from the back of Masumi's neck between her fingers: "It's just that it's about to fall off, which makes me a little concerned."

"At least let me be prepared. This is considered a sneak attack, right?" Masumi said in pain.

"Hey, Masumi-kun's reaction is too exaggerated. Are you a giant?" She smiled maliciously.

"Try it yourself."

“I want to, but there’s absolutely no chance.”

"Did you get this sunburned at the beach the day before yesterday? That's serious." Qian Ai frowned, "I clearly told Masumi-san to apply sunscreen properly."

Kurokawa Mio bit her lip and said, "Was it when we were surfing?"

"I'm sorry, it's all because of me..."

"That's not the case."

Masumi said nonchalantly, "If the UV rays are this strong, sunscreen won't be very effective."

"You can't take it so lightly, really." Qian Ai frowned: "You are in so much pain that even taking a bath is unbearable, right?"

"It's not that bad. I bought aloe vera gel at the drugstore in Shinsaibashi yesterday. It feels much better after applying it."

"That shouldn't be taken lightly."

"Haiyue was the same way. She almost went out without sunscreen that day. Luckily, Rinone caught her."

"I...it's okay..."

Haiyue nodded slightly, and while speaking, she suddenly pulled open the wide collar of her yukata.

The chiffon slipped from her shoulders, revealing the shape of the bra that hugged the girl's ample breasts.

There is a small dark blue ribbon in the middle, and when you untie it, you might feel like you are opening a present and getting a surprise.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Masumi looked confused, and the reactions of the others seemed very indifferent.

In other words, although he showed surprise, he did not say anything to dissuade him.

"I do...apply sunscreen thoroughly..."

Sunburn marks are faintly visible on the fair skin, and the two colors complement each other, looking a bit sentimental.

"That's it."

Masumi nodded blankly, "You can put it on now."

"It's okay... this is... a hot spring swimsuit..."

"So... you can watch..."

"Hot spring swimsuit?"

Masumi then recalled that since this hotel had a public hot spring for mixed bathing, people had to wear swimsuits to bathe in it, and the private hot spring was no exception.

"No, no, even if that's the case, you can't just expose it casually." He said helplessly.

"That's just too much. He actually ran away."

Kurokawa Mio's resentful voice came to my ears.

"I was planning on using it as a decisive swimsuit and making a surprise attack while Masumi was in the hot springs."

She frowned and said something that sounded serious.

"Steal, sneak attack?!"

Qian Ai blushed and forced out a word.

The slender white feet waded through the water like a deer, splashing water.

"What? You don't think so? You obviously changed into your swimsuit in advance." Kurokawa Mio sneered with his arms crossed.

"That's for the convenience of taking a hot spring bath. Are you the only one who thinks so?" Rinyin retorted.

"Wouldn't you feel shy about taking a hot spring bath with a boy?"

After answering for the others without authorization, she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable with the silent atmosphere. She squinted her eyes and looked around: "You won't..."

"No, no, absolutely not!"

Qian Ai repeatedly waved her hands in denial, her face flushed red, and steam naturally rose from her head: "Soaking in a hot spring with a boy, even if you are wearing a swimsuit, is too... Girls should respect themselves!"

"NO! NO! Although this is true, it's an exception in front of your loved one."

As the only older character present, although only one year older than Masumi, Ms. Asami pretended to speak with the tone of an experienced person.

"Mami-sister too?"

Mami neither admitted nor denied it, but smiled and said, "The key to this kind of thing is to maintain a sense of proportion."

What kind of thing? What kind of measure?
Masumi remained silent beside them, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the girls' chatter.

"I...want to take a bath together..." the jellyfish girl said frankly.

"Wow, Haiyue?"

"Last time... we were together..."

"Last time!?" "Together!?"

Kurokawa Mio and Chiai said in unison.

Masumi pressed his temples and spoke with a serious expression.

"Let me explain it to you slowly..."

This is a serious topic concerning the girls and my own reputation, so I have to be serious about it...

“…So that’s what happened.”

After he finished speaking, he immediately observed the expressions of the two people.

It can be described as "looking as pale as death".

"How could it be...I was here first..."

This is Qingmei's mumbling.

"Masumi's first year... has already been taken away by those two women..."

This is from an ex-girlfriend… What is this person talking about?
"Anyway, please don't do such boring things."

After saying this lightly, Masumi stood up with a sigh and left the foot bath.

The remaining four people were whispering to each other, and no one knew what they were discussing. Masumi thought it was better not to know.

Wait? Four people?

After walking into the locker room, the girl held onto the locker with her hands to steady herself.

She was using a towel to wipe the graceful lines from her rosy knees to her white toes, and her slender feet, full of water, were shining in the light.

Just now when I was soaking in the foot bath, the reflections were blurry and distorted due to the refraction of light under the water surface, but now it is crystal clear.

Her skin is as soft as a freshly boiled onsen egg, and her curled toes are so cute.

It looks so tempting... No, it can't be so vulgar.

Masumi restrained himself with the will of a samurai from the Warring States Period, avoiding looking at the snow-white curve.

However, the warriors of the Warring States Period do not seem to be associated with the term "sitting in a woman's arms without being tempted".

The nobles of the Warring States Period seemed to be like this because they preferred male beauty to female beauty. It's really strange, but it seemed to be the trend of that era. It was not only the case in the island countries, but also in the Ming Dynasty, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire.

Regardless, despite the chaotic thoughts running through his mind, Masumi suppressed his wavering feelings. Then the black-haired girl looked over.

"that……"

The delicate and tempting lips trembled slightly.

"what happened?"

Her behavior made Masumi a little nervous.

"I wouldn't do that."

"What kind?"

"A sneak attack... or something."

After saying this, Rinyin was obviously embarrassed. She fanned her face with her hands as if she was hot, and then looked away embarrassedly.

"I'm going back to my room first."

"Oh."

I didn't know how to respond. "I believe you" sounded strange, so I just mumbled a response.

She unconsciously threw the towel in her hand towards him. Masumi gently caught it and watched her back disappear at the end of his sight.

Just as she was about to use it to wipe her legs, she belatedly remembered that this was the one that God had just used on her behalf.

Uh, that's okay.

◇

dinner time.

The crab and beef sukiyaki provided by the store were both delicious. The former was part of the compensation and was very large.

After eating the hot spring dishes provided by the hotel, Masumi firmly refused the girls' kindness to let him go to the hot spring first, and waited for them to come back from the hot spring in the room.

After a long while, footsteps were heard at the door of the room.

"Masumi-kun, you can go to the hot spring now."

Asami had a teasing smile on his face, while Kurokawa Mio stared at him unwillingly.

"Oh."

After confirming the slightly moist hair of the girls and their smooth, rosy white skin after soaking in the hot spring, Masumi walked towards the private bath with a towel.

Why was he so nervous? He was the only boy on the group trip.

The private bath is semi-open-air, and artificial imitation stones are used to create the atmosphere of a natural hot spring.

There is a stone civet cat next to it, with a leaf on its head, also carved from stone.

The stars dotted with the Milky Way hang above our heads, shining brightly. The light mist rising from the hot springs also reflects the brightness of the Milky Way, clear and bright.

Soaking in the hot spring, Masumi leaned against a rock, gazing at the starry sky, imagining what Kawabata Yasunari wrote: "Looking up, the Milky Way seemed to pour down towards his heart with a "crash".

What does that feel like?

The hot spring bath was uneventful, nothing happened.

relieved.

The accumulated fatigue in the body was completely washed away by the hot spring, and Masumi walked out of the private hot spring with light and leisurely steps.

I bought some iced milk from the vending machine, opened it and took a sip. The cool taste moistened my throat and was quite pleasant.

After walking for a while, he saw the girls in the entertainment area, in front of an inconspicuous ping-pong table in the corner.

"Mamami, come and watch the fight!" Asami waved when she saw him.

Qian Ai and Hai Yue sat on the bench nearby.

The green plum girl was in charge of turning the pages of the scoreboard, while the jellyfish girl quietly sipped her strawberry milk.

Standing at the two ends of the ping-pong table, posing as if they were competing with each other, were Kamishiro and Kurokawa.

Hot springs, milk, and table tennis are often served as a combination meal in island countries, and seem to have a long history.

But Masumi is a rare picky eater and doesn't like the feeling of sweating after taking a bath.

But watching other people play is quite interesting.

It should be said that watching the fun is human nature.

"How's the battle going?" he asked.

"Mio and Rin have each won two games, so now is the crucial match point," Qian Ai introduced.

"so."

It's a best-of-five series, and it's quite tense.

His eyes first fell on Rin, the girl had her black hair tied up in a single ponytail that swayed as if it were alive.

Her face was flushed from having played four rounds of table tennis, and labored gasps escaped her lips.

The collar of the yukata was slightly open, revealing the white collarbone vaguely. The underwear slightly exposed from inside was hidden in the light and was quite inconspicuous.

Isn't this the white bikini on the beach?

Masumi looked away as if feeling rude, but then looked around with obvious wariness.

Fortunately, they were the only table nearby.

In order to avoid disturbing each other, the entertainment area is separated by simple partitions, so even if someone passes by, Masumi can remind the girls in time.

"Get ready, I'm going to serve."

Kurokawa Mio's provocative voice pulled his thoughts back to reality.

Her long honey-gold hair was loose, and she raised her arms high. The sleeves of her yukata slid down her arms and piled up, revealing her snow-white and smooth armpits.

"what!"

She let out a powerful shout, letting the ball bounce high on the table, and swung the racket with all her might—

The ping-pong ball, with great force, drew a long parabola in the air, making a sharp sound like the whistling wind, and rushed towards the opposite side fiercely.

The black-haired girl looked calm, holding the racket firmly, blocking the attack, the ball even sparking on the surface of the racket, and then returning the attack in full.

Everything happened in a flash, and the movement of the ball and the two people was so fast that it seemed like an afterimage.

The above is the beautification from the half-baked light novel writer Miyazawa Masumi.

The actual situation is——

"what."

"Humph."

The two women waved their rackets listlessly, and the ping-pong balls bounced weakly on the table, sometimes failing to cross the net and sometimes going out of bounds.

They clumsily tried to pick up each other's balls that went out of bounds, and were exhausted and sweating.

Kurokawa's physical strength is weaker, but her skills are more sophisticated than Kamishiro's, so the two women have been fighting back and forth so far.

It was rare to see Kamishiro being clumsy, so Masumi wasn't surprised.

Girls who are good at everything only exist in light novel heroines, and nowadays readers don’t seem to buy into the all-round heroines.

Also, the panting sounds of the two girls playing table tennis make it easy to fall into reverie.

No wonder this scene appears in many hot spring episodes of animations.

She and her table tennis game are still going on.

The counting board had completely become a turn-based game, with Qianai taking turns scoring for the two. Finally, when Rinyin stepped forward to catch the ball, her expression suddenly changed and she stopped abruptly.

The ping-pong ball fell to the ground.

"I won!" Kurokawa Mio raised the corners of her lips.

"Ah."

Linyin bit her lower lip unwillingly, put down the racket, and then covered her chest tightly.

"What's wrong? Linyin." Qianai walked forward and asked with concern.

The black-haired girl lowered her head, her shoulders beginning to tremble. Did she sprain her ankle while exercising? Masumi and Asami approached with concern.

"The button... popped open..."

She originally spoke at a volume that only two people could hear, but it was too quiet in here, and after several people gathered around, they could all hear it clearly.

Kurokawa Mio's face immediately darkened.

Suddenly I'm not that happy about the victory. What's going on?

"Ahaha~" Asami laughed dryly, "Little Rin'in is really amazing."

"Well, let's go back to the room first." Qian Ai said considerately.

In the table tennis match, Kurokawa wins.

◇

Back in the room, the girls played with their phones for a while, mainly editing photos and sharing the photos they took today, and then made the mattresses on the tatami.

Originally, if there were five people, they could be separated, but now there is one more person, so they have to sleep close together.

Speaking of which, Masumi has only seen this kind of plot in some light novels or comics.

For example, the male protagonist and the five sisters who were traveling with him were forced to stay in a hot spring hotel because the road was blocked by heavy snow, and there happened to be only one room.

Am I also the protagonist of a light novel in some library? He laughed at his own childish thoughts in his heart.

A pillow hit Masumi's face hard.

"Masumi-kun is smiling so much, watch your moves!"

"Pillow fight..." His helpless voice came from under the pillow: "...Are you a high school student on a school trip?"

"Are you okay? Masumi!" Kurokawa Mio said in a panic.

"You woman, I want to avenge Masumi!"

"Wow! Miss Mio has become so scary! Chiai-chan, Rin-chan, come and save me!"

"Xiao Haiyue, give me your pillow too!"

"Sister Mami, you accidentally hurt me!"

"Hey, the pillow fight is supposed to be a free fight, right?"

"So cunning!"

"..."

There was a noisy pillow fight for a while.

Now the last piece of the puzzle of returning to the hot springs is complete, Masumi thought.

The three girls who played the craziest lay on the bed sheets exhausted, breathing lightly and rapidly.

"It's time to go to bed."

Rinyin said calmly, "We have to get up early tomorrow to catch the train to Uji."

"Wait, there's one most important thing that hasn't been decided yet!"

Asami raised her arms weakly.

"what?"

"The location of the bed."

"..."

Several girls looked at each other.

"I want to sleep next to Masumi!" Kurokawa Mio declared her sovereignty without hesitation.

Haiyue's slow voice followed closely: "I want one too..."

"Why is it like this? I..." Qian Ai blushed and stammered.

"Hey, then I want to sleep next to Masumi-kun too."

Mami narrowed her eyes and smiled, enjoying the fun.

"you……"

Rinne sighed.

After a heated discussion, which wasn't that intense actually, everyone finally decided on the beds.

Masumi: "Don't you need to ask for my opinion?"

door.

Rinne, Kaiyue, Asami
Chiai, Masumi, Kurokawa Mio

"Then I'll turn off the lights."

Rin said as she flipped the light switch, and the light bulb hanging from the ceiling went out.

"Good night."

In an instant, the air was stained dark.

(End of this chapter)