Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 114 10.5. "Girls' Gathering in the Hot Spring"

"Wow! It's heaven!"

"It's a hot spring, Mami-san."

"Yeah, hot spring paradise."

As Mami said this she jumped into the hot spring, causing it to overflow with hot water. The splashing water made Qian Ai look disgusted.

"Sister Mami, this is a bathhouse, not a swimming pool."

"What does it matter? It's a private bath, and it's as spacious as a swimming pool."

"This has nothing to do with the size of the private bath."

Qian Ai took a deep breath.

"Really? You looked listless just now."

"I'm fully recovered now because I enjoyed the delicious hot spring cuisine." Mami said with a smile.

"Yeah, I can see that."

The childhood girl poked her slightly plump belly with her finger.

It was so soft that it seemed to swallow up my fingertips, like Wendini's belly rising from the water.

"Ah! Chi'ai-chan has become mean too!"

Mami hurriedly lowered her body to her shoulders. Because the movement was so large, Qian Ai quickly covered her face with her palms to avoid being splashed by the water.

"I'm not laughing at Mami-san." She pouted.

Then the voice suddenly stopped.

Her wet eyelashes trembled slightly, and Qian Ai's gaze fell on the water surface, where something seemed to be floating.

She suddenly sighed exaggeratedly.

"What's wrong?" Asami tilted her head in confusion.

"Ms. Mami's figure is really exaggerated, and she's also very tall. To be honest, she doesn't look Asian at all."

"Isn't Xiao Qian'ai also a mixed-race?"

"My height and figure are a disgrace to Latin Americans." Qian Ai sighed repeatedly: "Even Sister Mami looks more like me, especially... the Andes Mountains."

"Oh, are you jealous?" Asami asked teasingly, with a happy smile on her lips.

“…I am a little envious…”

As she said this, Chiai's gaze continued to wander over the other girls. Rinne and Kaizuki both quietly immersed themselves in the water, their hair tied into buns with towels.

"No, actually, I'm really envious."

In the corner, Kurokawa Mio was silent at first, then she soaked her chin in the hot spring, exhaled bubbles "gurglingly", and narrowed her obsidian eyes.

"Mio, you can't drink hot spring water." Rin reminded with good intentions.

"I didn't drink it... cough cough cough!" She quickly surfaced.

Linyin sighed lightly, then turned her head and whispered to Qianai, "There's nothing to envy about that kind of thing."

"That's right," Asami agreed, nodding. "My shoulders get sore easily, and I'm very picky about clothes. In the summer, loose clothes make me look fat, and in the winter, tight sweaters are too provocative and inconvenient to exercise..."

She listed off a host of worries with ease.

"Actually, I understand that," the childhood girl sighed sadly, "but I always feel like my feminine charm is a little lacking."

"I don't think charm is something so superficial," Rin said with a very serious expression.

"Yeah."

"But boys' thoughts are generally superficial."

"Masumi is not such a superficial boy!" Kurokawa Mio interrupted.

The other girls looked at her strangely.

"Uh, I wasn't talking about Masumi-san!"

Qian Ai had an awkward expression on her face, and this explanation sounded pale and powerless to the other girls.

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything."

"..."

The atmosphere fell into a subtle silence.

Asami clasped her hands together loudly, breaking the silence.

"By the way, let's have a girls' meeting."

"Girls' gathering?" Qian Ai blinked.

"That's right." Asami received the questioning look she gave her and said smugly, "Hot Spring Girls' Club."

"Actually, Mami-san just wants to chat."

"Well, you could say that. After all, apart from the seniors in the club, I haven't really participated in anything serious."

"Okay, everyone, come closer."

"Ms. Mio?"

"I don't need to..."

"Hey, come on, let's have fun together."

Asami forcibly pulled up her arm and dragged Kurokawa Mio over.

"Ms. Mami, please don't pull me like that." Although she said this, she didn't resist much.

Or in a private hot spring with smooth tiles on the bottom, even if you curl up your toes and dig them into the ground, you won't be able to find a foothold.

"Mio-sister, aren't you used to this kind of occasion?"

"why would you say so."

"Because I saw you were protecting your chest and sinking your shoulders underwater. From a psychological perspective, this should be a sign of anxiety, right?"

Kurokawa Mio looked at Qian Ai speechlessly, and the childhood girl's face was filled with confusion.

"Let's just leave it at that." She said with some helplessness.

"...I'm really not used to this kind of occasion, or I haven't experienced it much."

Kurokawa Mio scooped up a pool of hot spring water in her palm, stared at the ripples on her palm with sharp eyes, and pursed her lips.

"But it's all my own choice."

Against the backdrop of the hot steam, the fair skin turned a peach color, appearing exceptionally gorgeous without a trace of sharpness, emitting a fragility and ethereality like a light mist.

"Sister Mio, you weren't very sociable before, were you?" Qian Ai spoke hesitantly.

"Ah."

She nodded slightly, then tilted her head slightly in confusion: "Also?"

Qian Ai smiled and nodded.

"Because everyone in Fanxing has very few friends and wasn't very sociable during their school days."

"I know Rin'in best. She always hangs out on her own at school. I've never seen her with any regular friends."

The black-haired girl had a calm expression.

"As for Mami-san, besides the seniors from the Culinary Research Club, you probably don't have any other friends, right?"

"A wandering lone soul needs no place to be bound." Mami puffed out her chest proudly.

"As for Haiyue..."

"I have... a lot of friends..."

Haiyue murmured weakly.

"Oh?"

The jellyfish girl stretched her fingertips out of the water. Her soft fingertips had become a little wrinkled because of soaking in the hot spring for a long time. She bent her fingers and counted them carefully.

"...Kozue, Rinne, Asami, Chiai, Kurokawa, and..."

"Yeah, I know Xiao Haiyue has a lot of friends." Qian Ai chuckled and stroked her arm.

Fingertips sink gently into the skin.

"Including myself... Actually, I am no exception. Don't look at me now."

Her tone gradually softened as she touched upon the memories, but she had no intention of going into details. She tilted her head and looked at Kurokawa Mio again.

There seemed to be endless tenderness in the emerald eyes.

"So, I also want to build a good relationship with Sister Mio."

Qian Ai now has curved eyebrows and is a beautiful, lovely, kind and gentle girl.

For a moment, Kurokawa Mio saw a familiar figure in her.

She pretended to be indifferent and turned her face away and said, "If we can build a good relationship, I don't mind..."

"Uh-huh."

Qian Ai showed a relieved expression and nodded with satisfaction.

"As long as you don't snatch Masumi from me..."

"Wait! Don't say such inappropriate things that will ruin the atmosphere."

Was it inappropriate and ruining the atmosphere? Kurokawa Mio herself felt the same way. Perhaps other people, in such situations, would say sparkling, heartwarming words like in the comics, and then hold the other person's hand tightly.

But she thought that the only thing that sparkled about her was her long, honey-blond hair. That was all.

"I'd like to ask, what do you all think of my Masumi?"

She looked around at the girls.

"I don't know 'your Masumi.'" Rinyin emphasized the words a little, her face as cold as ever. "I only know Fanxing's young master and the barista."

"Oh my, are we finally going to start talking about the girls' gathering?"

Asami's eyes narrowed into an arc: "It's the most common topic of love."

"Love or something..."

It's really easy to get a red face in a hot spring, like Qian Ai is now.

"It's obvious that no one has ever been in love."

"I've talked to him." Kurokawa Mio said calmly, "With the young owner and barista of Fanxing."

Linyin calmly shook her hands, and ripples appeared on the water surface with her movement.

"Oh, Chi'ai-chan really doesn't understand at all. It's like the people who are best at comforting are often the ones who are hurt the most. When it comes to love, of course, people who have never been in it are the most excited to talk about it." Asami said as a matter of course.

"Hmph, that's the kind of crooked logic only Sister Mami could come up with. Why don't you pin it on Dazai Osamu this time?"

"I won't use the same trick twice." Asami shook her finger and turned to Rinne: "Rinne, you've read a lot of books, right? Has Dazai Osamu ever said something similar?"

"Hmm..." Rin said after a moment's pause, "Dazai Osamu wrote in 'The Setting Sun': 'Man is born for love and revolution.'" "Well said!" Asami wondered who she was cheering for, and then she asked,

"Does Rin-ne-chan have someone she likes?"

"Hmm? Mami-san suddenly asked something..."

When she asked this, Linyin was speechless for a moment.

"Hehe, because little Rin'in is more honest and speaks her mind, so even if she's lying, big niece can see it at a glance." Asami smiled with narrowed eyes.

"So what's the answer?"

"No."

Rinyin shook her head frankly.

Asami stared at her intently, unable to find any flaws in the girl's expression.

Kurokawa Mio and Chiai both seemed to be relieved, and the hot spring water in front of them began to ripple, and the ripples were almost the same size.

Mami didn't give up: "Then let me ask it another way. Is there someone you care about?"

"..."

"Have."

After hesitating for a moment, Linyin uttered short and clear words from her lips.

"Oh! I got some useful information! So who is this person?"

"Sister Mami, are you a staff member of the city hall?" Rin sighed.

"Oh, okay, okay, I won't ask any more questions."

"But..." She had a cunning glint in her eyes: "Who is it? It's so hard to guess~"

Then he denied his previous statement.

"It's not hard to guess at all."

Mami used the ribbon on the chest of her hot spring swimsuit as a voice-changing bow tie, imitating the elementary school detective in the national animation.

"After all, Rin's social circle is incredibly clean. She always leaves after class at university and never participates in boring things like social gatherings. Sometimes she even takes leave for business, so she definitely doesn't know any boys of the same age at university."

"Not to mention the welfare home, there aren't any single men under 40 in the aging shopping district, so the only place left is this cafe..."

Linyin stopped her with a cold look, her cheeks flushed, probably from the steam from the hot spring.

"Rinyin..." Qianai looked at her in surprise.

Kurokawa Mio murmured in a low voice: "A thieving cat..."

"I have absolutely no desire to fall in love right now." Linyin said firmly.

After all, she was alone, and just balancing her studies, running the store, and finding time to go to the welfare home was exhausting, leaving her with no room for anything else.

and……

She glanced at the girls in front of her calmly.

If you do that, the relationships you've built up so far will instantly collapse.

Linyin moved her legs, which had remained in the same position for a long time. The starlight and the dim light in the private bath cast shadows underwater.

Slender legs, long legs, plump legs, their shadows flickering underwater, postponing the deepest shadows.

"Well, that concludes the interrogation of Rinne-chan."

"Isn't it a girls' club?" Qian Ai complained.

"There's no need to ask Chi'ai-chan and Mio-san."

"Why not ask?"

Ignoring Chiai who was acting as a troll, Mami turned to Kaitsuki: "Next up is... little Kaitsuki!"

"Do you like Masumi-kun?"

"So direct!" Qian Ai was shocked.

The jellyfish girl nodded slightly.

"Woooa ...

Feeling the hot breath beside her, Qian Ai tilted her head slightly.

Next to her, Kurokawa Mio's lips formed a dangerous curve, and the sound that flowed out was like a golden retriever panting.

"Um, Mio-nee-sister..."

"Being with Masumi...being taken care of by him...I feel safe..." Haiyue said softly.

"I see. She's the type who draws a sense of security from him."

Mami nodded slightly, then, as if crossing a line in the sand, added fuel to the fire:

"Hey, does Kaizuki-chan want to become a lover or husband and wife with Masumi-kun?"

"..."

Unexpectedly, Haiyue tilted her head, thought seriously about this question for a long time, and then shook her head gently.

Asami, Chiai, and Rin looked at each other with surprised expressions.

Kurokawa Mio frowned: "Not lovers, not husband and wife, then... lovers?!"

She was struck by lightning.

"Well, Sister Mio, I don't think Haiyue is that kind of girl."

Kurokawa Mio was completely unable to listen, and just muttered in confusion, "What if Masumi finds a lover behind my back?", "Forgive him, or...", "What if he asks Haiyue to be his lover?", "What if Masumi kneels down and begs me, and makes me soft-hearted", while thinking.

"do not know……"

Haiyue murmured.

"Don't know?" Asami was slightly stunned.

"I wonder... what lovers and couples... will do..."

Haiyue shook her head, her face full of childish expression, as if asking "How are babies made?", a pure and innocent expression.

Chiai:!!!∑(Дノ)ノ!!!
"No way, she's too innocent! Are there still such simple girls these days? Is Haiyue really not some wealthy lady, or is she living in a desperate situation isolated from the world?"

"Qian Ai knows... teach me..."

"Eh, ah, me?"

Qian Aixin fiddled with the ends of her hair hanging down from her temples nervously.

"Well, what lovers and couples should do is similar to what Haiyue's parents do." She unconsciously used the tone of explaining to a child.

"Making bread?" The jellyfish girl tilted her head.

"Well, there are other intimate actions, like this fireworks festival, where you can walk side by side with him in the bustling festival, the crowds are very crowded, you lower your head because of shyness, and carefully pull the sleeve of his yukata with your fingers, and then he looks back at you..."

As she spoke, her voice unconsciously became filled with a hint of expectation and longing.

Rin and Asami looked at her strangely. Even Kurokawa Mio's gaze drifted over. Then, she sighed softly and continued to mutter softly:
"What should I do if Masumi asks Kaitsuki, Rin'in, and Chiai to be his lovers? Seriously... there are too many thieving cats!"

She sounded a little frantic.

Haiyue was not affected at all. After listening to Qianai's narration, she shook her head and said, "That kind of thing... I can do it now..."

"No!"

"Rin, Mami-sister..."

Qian Ai looked at the two of them as if asking for help.

Rinne sighed as if she was troubled, and was just hesitating about how to start when Asami spoke first.

"Leave it to me! Let me explain it clearly to Xiao Haiyue."

"Ms. Mami? Please don't say anything inappropriate or weird."

"Relax, am I that kind of person?"

It's totally unsettling.

Mami looked confident, her rosy lips forming a happy curve. "Simply put, lovers do the things in the comics I showed Xiao Haiyue."

"Comics?" Qian Ai was confused.

The jellyfish girl's entire face instantly turned incredibly red.

"But... the comics... don't say they are lovers..."

"After doing that kind of thing, you naturally become lovers. It's a necessary ritual." Mami smiled with a wicked look in her eyes.

Qian Ai looked at the two of them blankly: "Is this a girls' comic? Wall-dong, kissing, and the like..."

"Well, it's a comic about girls, so that's not wrong."

"Well, while using a shojo manga analogy seems appropriate, it doesn't seem very realistic."

Qian Ai thought about it seriously and said, "I don't really like reading girls' comics. The plots make people feel embarrassed and drag on. Although the descriptions are very delicate, the emotional development is too slow."

"Well, the ones I'm collecting are progressing pretty quickly."

Asami blinked.

"Then...what about couples?" Haiyue asked.

"If we're a couple, we'll take it a step further and ask Xiao Haiyue to give Masumi-kun lots and lots of little jellyfish."

"..."

"Sister Mami... stop talking, Haiyue's face is so red."

Qian Ai and Hai Yue's eyes met, her blue eyes swayed unnaturally, and the blush on her face took a long time to fade away.

"Wait, is Haiyue going to faint from soaking?"

"Give birth to... a little jellyfish..."

"Uwaa ...

Qianai and Rinyin quickly helped Haiyue out of the hot spring, helped her to sit on the wooden bench next to them, and then found a clean towel, wet it with cold water, and put it on her forehead.

For a while, the jellyfish girl's breathing was light and shallow, like a jellyfish stranded on the beach. Fortunately, she gradually recovered.

Qian Ai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she turned back to Mami, frowning:

"Ms. Mami, you've been asking us questions all the time! What about you?"

"Ahem!" Mami feigned a cough. "Um... I declare that the first Fanxing Girls' Gathering has concluded successfully!"

"That doesn't count!"

Qian Ai, with cheeks puffed up like a squirrel, clenched her fists and protested in an indignant and dissatisfied tone.

(End of this chapter)