Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 146, Section 21: "Friends, Part 2"

The day after Mami left the starry sky, it started raining from morning.

The weather forecast says this is autumn rain. During the transition from summer to autumn, typhoons are frequent at sea. The warm and humid air brought by the typhoons meets the cold air here, forming continuous rainy weather.

The atmosphere in the coffee shop was unusually quiet. The gentle rain absorbed the surrounding noise, and Masumi suddenly felt as if she were the only person left in the world.

Kamishiro had classes all day, Kurokawa was practicing the piano upstairs, and Hanekawa... was probably playing mobile games.

He was left alone at the bar, reading a copy of "The Collected Works of Bai Juyi".

This collection of works by the most beloved poet among the island nation was one of the books that Kamishiro bought last time to enrich the literary atmosphere of the coffee shop's bookshelves, but it seems to be a bit too highbrow, and few people borrow it.

With a "let's give it a try" attitude, Masumi read the text with Japanese annotations and, to her surprise, it wasn't as confusing as she had imagined.

The book says that this Tang Dynasty poet pursued simple and straightforward language in his poetry, so even old women could understand it (old women could decipher it), which is probably why he was popular in the island nation.
For the culturally challenged people of that era, this might have been the only poetry they could understand? Just kidding.

He silently turned the page, and a poem titled "Sleeping on an Autumn Rainy Night" came into view.

"After the lamp is extinguished, I lie down and sleep soundly to the sound of rain."

The sound of rain really does help you sleep, Masumi thought to himself, he almost overslept this morning because of it.

If it were Seno, it wouldn't be surprising if he slept until the afternoon.

The thought of waking her up quickly flashed through Masumi's mind, and she hesitated. Seno was no longer at the Starry Night Cafe.

With a sense of disbelief, he turned to the next page.

The Chinese characters seemed to be blurred by the raindrops outside the window, making them difficult to see clearly. Masumi sighed, closed the book, picked up her phone, and opened LINE.

His fingers hesitated before typing on the virtual keyboard: "It's raining in Kobe today... What about Kusatsu?"

Seeing this statement, it felt like they were forcing a conversation.

Just as he was hesitating whether to send it, a sweet voice came from behind him.

"Masumi, are you reading a book?"

“Hmm? Yes.” Masumi held up the paperback copy of “The Collected Works of Bai Juyi”.

Kurokawa Mio's gaze, however, was drawn to the sentence lying in the message box.

Her honey-gold hair touched the back of Masumi's neck, piling up on it. Kurokawa Mio bent down and stood behind Masumi, staring intently at her phone screen.

"Are you looking to chat with Ms. Mami?"

"I just wanted to say hello to her."

"Eh—" Kurokawa Mio cast a meaningful glance at her, "Msami-san has only been gone for less than two days, and Masumi is already missing her?"

As she said this, she leaned against Masumi in a coquettish manner.

“After returning to Kobe from Tokyo, Masumi didn’t speak to anyone for two whole months.”

Kurokawa Mio tried to soften her tone so that her words wouldn't sound like a complaint.

"sorry, I……"

"It's okay." She shook her head lightly, not caring, interrupting Masumi's impromptu apology.

"If it's Masumi, there's no need to apologize."

“I know that Masumi just doesn’t want to hinder my musical talent because of herself.”

Deep within Kurokawa Mio's tender eyes shimmered a kind and understanding gaze.

“However, I don’t really care about music as much as Masumi imagines. Compared to music, you are more important to me.”

Looking at her with such a serious gaze, Masumi's stubbornness flew away like sand.

"But you were playing the piano until just now, weren't you?"

Kurokawa Mio smiled gently, "But I've been by Masumi's side all this time."

"..."

Silently, I pressed the key and deleted the sentence I had just edited.

Masumi turned off the lock screen, and her expressionless face was reflected on the black screen.

"Hey, Masumi."

Kurokawa Mio bit her lip and called Masumi's name hesitantly.

"You like Ms. Asami?"

Masumi looked at her and shook her head.

"only friends."

Upon hearing this, Kurokawa Mio stood still, the colors of the rain and the sunlight outside blending down her soft silhouette.

"What's wrong?" "I'm waiting for Masumi to explain."

"Explain what?"

"About Ms. Mami."

"There's nothing to say," Masumi sighed.

Kurokawa Mio was stubborn. "Then I'll keep staring at Masumi. I think she'll naturally start talking after a while."

"Kurokawa can't possibly be that free, can he?"

"Because Masumi is a busybody."

Seeing Masumi's wry smile and helpless expression, she smiled happily.

My gaze fell on the cover of "The Collected Works of Bai Juyi".

Masumi, thinking of the poet's "frank expression," carefully selected words in her mind before slowly speaking.

"Besides the sadness of parting with friends, I think I feel more regret for Seno's 'giving up'."

"Give up on becoming a cartoonist?"

"Ah."

"Because I've experienced the feeling of 'giving up'—the unbearable resentment, the unbearable resentment—I don't want to see these things happen again."

"However, I also know that it is naive to expect all dreams to come true. No one will laugh at someone who works hard. That's a lie."

Masumi only said these two sentences.

Kurokawa Mio's tightly closed lips seemed to want to say something but stopped, as if she was thinking about something. Her gaze was uncertain, but in the end, she shook her head as if she had thrown away her worries.

Her soft, warm, and fragrant palm gently enveloped the back of his hand.

"Sometimes, people will dedicate their entire lives to wishes that may never come true. Some may laugh at such foolishness, but those who laugh are nothing more than bystanders on the sidelines of life."

"Ryunosuke Akutagawa?"

"As expected of Masumi." Kurokawa Mio smiled slightly, but her tone was extremely serious: "Now you can definitely write lyrics that touch people's hearts even more."

"I think that if Masumi is willing to cheer up and let Ms. Asami see your efforts, things might turn around."

Masumi gave a vague "hmm" in response.

Unsatisfied with this response, Kurokawa Mio waited for his next reply like a loyal dog.

"Thank you, Kurokawa. I'll consider it."

Faced with this genuine interaction, Masumi merely gave a perfunctory reply.

Seeing someone cheering me on makes me happy, and knowing that others are looking forward to it makes me happy too. These are two very happy things, so why do I feel breathless and my chest is pounding?

At this moment, he remembered the kind message from the stranger that Seno had mentioned to him. While it served as a source of motivation, it also became a curse that bound her.

Then there was that night in Koike-cho when Kuon Mirai confided her true feelings to him: "The things I look forward to also have a side that terrifies me."

"...I'll go upstairs and take a look."

After saying just that, Masumi's figure disappeared at the end of the stairs, and Kurokawa Mio's expression froze for a moment.

Before leaving, Mami tidied up the room very well, packed the luggage she couldn't take into cardboard boxes, and piled them up in the room. This scene looked like both a farewell and a first encounter.

In the glass tank next to it, a black goldfish swam in the water, its soft back undulating.

The bubbles rising and falling on the water's surface are produced by oxygen supplied from an air pump. This equipment was purchased by Seno after consulting with Jindai, who had only returned from Uji two days prior and was already panicked by the goldfish's listlessness.

Looking down from the water's surface, the bottom of the fish tank was covered with colorful pebbles bought from a 100-yen shop, interspersed with resin decorations.

This shows how much Seno cares about this goldfish.

Even so, she left it here, citing the reason that it was inconvenient to take it home.

Masumi walked to the vicinity of the fish tank, intending to pick up some food to feed the goldfish, but her toe accidentally kicked the cardboard box placed underneath.

It was heavy and substantial, presumably containing a lot of things, but a piece of white paper with the words "Please discard" was pasted on it.

After hesitating for a moment, Masumi slowly squatted down, peeled off the white paper, opened the cardboard box, and took a deep breath after seeing what was inside. A numbing sensation spread from his fingertips to his entire body, completely draining him of time to think.

My throat feels so hot, and my vision is blurry; all I can see are the shadows of goldfish swimming under the fluorescent lights.

Just then, my phone vibrated slightly in my pocket.

It was an email from an unknown sender.

Masumi held his emotions tightly, his face calm, but the trembling corners of his mouth betrayed him.

Through the heavy rain, his gaze was fixed on the sky east of the county border.

(End of this chapter)