Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 147, Section 22: "From Kobe to Kusatsu"

After passing through the long tunnel of Mount Rokko, the tram departs from the border of Hyogo Prefecture.

On a sunny weekend with no clouds, Masumi jumped off the train with her backpack and arrived at JR Kusatsu Station.

Kusatsu City is located in the southern part of Shiga Prefecture, bordering Lake Biwa to the west. It is the second most populous city in the prefecture and is only half an hour away from Kyoto by train, so it is considered part of the Kyoto metropolitan area.

That was all Masumi had of the city.

After entering Mami's address into Google Maps, it showed that you need to take a bus from the station to a rural area along the shore of Lake Biwa in the northwest.

Waiting for the bus with him at the bus stop was a girl who looked like a high school student. Her hair had been carefully ironed, and her appearance stood out in the small city of Kusatsu.

"...Are you a Seigaku, senpai?"

The voice suddenly rang out, and Masumi quickly glanced around before realizing that the other person was talking to her.

“No, I’m already a working adult,” he said, shaking his head.

"Aoyama Gakuin University" refers to students of Aoyama Gakuin University, whose campus is located in Shibuya, adjacent to Omotesando, one of the most bustling and fashionable areas in Japan. They are considered by the Japanese to be the most stylish university students.

“I see.” The high school girl nodded. “Because your senior’s outfit is very fashionable.”

The outfit he was wearing was specially chosen for him by Qian'ai before he set off. "Since you're going to see your elders, you must dress appropriately," the childhood sweetheart said earnestly as she straightened his collar.

"Thank you."

"Are you a student at Omi High School?" This time it was Masumi's turn to ask.

I just remembered that Seno's younger brother was studying in Omi, so I asked casually.

"No, it's the International Intelligence Bureau," the other party replied. "Also, Omi Takashi is in Hikone City, right?"

"Oh."

Masumi gave a faint reply, ending the conversation, and stared blankly at the passing vehicles.

The girl, however, pretended to be familiar with him and leaned closer, staring at his backpack as she asked, "Are you here for tourism, senior?"

“No.” Masumi hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’m here to visit a friend.”

Perhaps sensing that Masumi wasn't in the mood to talk, the girl murmured the word "friend," leaned back on the bench, and stopped talking.

As complete strangers who had just met, her words certainly didn't have any hidden meaning, but Masumi inexplicably felt a little guilty.

A faint gloom settled over his heart, and before his eyes—the shadow of the bus loomed over him; the bus had arrived.

Heading from Kusatsu city towards Lake Biwa, the buildings along the road gradually become lower, and the yellow-green rice paddies undulate in the September autumn breeze.

"Next stop—Kataoka Station—"

The bus stopped on the road near a residential area. Masumi got off. Asami's house was in Shimodera-cho, a 15-minute walk from there.

Seno Ru's mailing address only extends to the town level; you'll have to find out the rest yourself.

Walking along the narrow road squeezed by rice paddies, the barking of dogs grew louder as it approached, faint and almost imperceptible, as if it were coming from the entrance to another world.

Masumi realizes that she is trying to get closer to Mami's world.

Seeing some children by the roadside, he went up to ask them what was going on.

"Little friend, do you know where the Seno family lives?"

"The Seno... family?"

The child tilted his head, puzzled, then suddenly seemed to remember something, his eyes widening as he stared at him with an expression as if he had seen a monstrous flood.

"Uh, what's wrong? Why are you staring at me?"

"..."

"Yes, Aunt Renmei said so, an uninvited guest!"

"An uninvited... guest?" Masumi was completely confused.

He subconsciously looked around. This was Kusatsu City in the Reiwa era, right? Not the estate of the Zensho Domain.

The child offered no explanation whatsoever, shouting, "Something terrible has happened!" before running away at full speed.

Masumi stood there blankly, then gripped the shoulder straps of her backpack tightly and took off with all her might.

"Wait! I meant no harm!"

He tried to catch up with the child while explaining, but the child wouldn't listen and kept running on by himself.

Masumi had the advantage in both stamina and speed, while his opponent only had the advantage of being familiar with the road conditions. However, Masumi still subconsciously slowed down and followed behind him.

"Aunt Renmei! Aunt Renmei!"

We stopped in front of a detached house, and the child shouted into it without any suspicion.

This must be the Seno family's residence, Masumi thought to herself as she stopped in front of the building.

The child turned around: !!!∑(Дノ)ノ!!!
"Why are you here?"

"Didn't you bring me here?"

"Who brought you here!" the child shouted, his cheeks flushed. "I only came to remind Aunt Renmei..."

"well."

Masumi leaned down slightly and asked in as gentle a tone as possible, "Could you tell me what you meant by 'uninvited guest'?"

"—Kyosuke? What happened?"

The woman who came out of the detached house interrupted him.

Masumi looked toward the source of the voice and saw that the woman in front of her looked exactly like Asami, except that the faint crow's feet at the corners of her eyes showed that she was no longer young and was a mother.

"Aunt Renmei!"

The little boy called "Kyosuke" ran behind Aunt Hitomi and hid, occasionally stealing glances at Masumi with a darting gaze. Even from several steps away, his whispers could still be heard clearly.

“Listen to me, Aunt Hitomi, that person must be the uninvited guest from Kobe that you mentioned.”

"Eh?"

Aunt Renmei showed a moment of surprise, but quickly returned to her usual smile.

"Kyosuke, go play first. You can leave things here to Auntie." She gently stroked the little boy's newly grown stubble.

"Hmm? Oh."

The children who had completed their mission ran off, leaving only Masumi and Hitomi behind.

After a moment's hesitation, Masumi asked politely, "Excuse me, are you Seno... Asami's mother?"

"Yes." Seno's mother nodded slightly. "I am that child's mother, Seno Hitomi. Nice to meet you."

She seemed a little melancholy, her brows furrowed, and said softly, "If there's anything you need, please come inside and talk."

"excuse me!"

Masumi tiptoed into the entryway, took off her shoes and neatly placed them in the corner. Her gaze lingered on the shoes side by side for a moment before she finally found the low-heeled sandals that had been relegated to the shelf.

These are the shoes Asami wore on the day she left Kobe.

Seno's mother led the way without saying a word. The house looked very old, and the weight of two people walking on the wooden corridor made a creaking sound as if they were about to collapse, which was a little scary.

It gave the impression of a rural horror movie; the house was quiet, no one else was there, and the sound of the wall clock sent chills down your spine.

"No need to change into slippers, this way please."

"Uh, yes."

In the dimly lit corridor, Seno's mother's face was slightly pale. She skillfully opened the sliding door and led him into the innermost Japanese-style room.

This room seemed to be used to receive guests. Masumi looked around and saw a framed photo hanging on the wall, probably a family portrait taken during the Shichi-Go-San festival.

In the photo, Mami is wearing a kimono, looking tiny, holding a candy, and her mischievous smile has been just as wicked since she was little. Next to her is an even younger boy, probably her brother, who looks like he's about to cry.

"Then I'll get straight to the point."

Seno's mother took a deep breath, her chest trembling. Masumi finally knew who Mami inherited her genes from.

"Eh? Okay, okay."

Suddenly getting to the point, Masumi lowered her eyebrows, feeling lost. Shouldn't she be the one to state her purpose first?
"Speaking of which, the uninvited guest that the child was talking about was..."

"Please give that child a chance!"

Seno's mother unilaterally interrupted Masumi, who was talking to herself, and then solemnly bowed her head and clasped her hands in apology.

"Opportunity?" Masumi looked completely confused.

“That’s right.” Seno’s mother nodded, her words earnest. “I don’t know what kind of trouble that child got into outside, how much debt he owed, that made him come back so disheartened and lock himself in his room all day…”

"But don't worry! By late September, when the rice is ripe, we will have paid off all her debts! Please give her a chance!"

“Um…” Masumi scratched her ear awkwardly, “You might have misunderstood something, Auntie.” “Misunderstood? Auntie?”

Seno's mother seemed quite surprised, then, as if realizing something, she tentatively asked, "Um...aren't you a debt collector who came from Kobe?"

"of course not!"

Masumi shook her head, then adopted a more formal tone: "Let me introduce myself. My name is Miyazawa Masumi. I'm Seno's colleague... former colleague, and friend."

◇

"Oh dear, what a huge misunderstanding."

A smile immediately spread across Seno's mother's face. "I'm so sorry to have made you see such an unseemly side of your elders, that you actually mistook Mr. Miyazawa for a debt collector."

"fine."

"I knew it! How could such a handsome and charismatic young man be working as a debt collector?" she said innocently. "He'd probably be more popular as a gigolo."

"..."

In terms of being outspoken and fond of joking, this mother and daughter are indeed cut from the same cloth.

"Sorry, Auntie was just joking. Although I often hear Mami mention Mr. Miyazawa, this is the first time I've met him in person. He is indeed a handsome man."

For some reason, Seno's mother's eyes were bright and she was staring straight at him, which made Masumi feel a chill run down her spine.

"Thank you for the compliment, but it's too much."

Masumi shrugged dismissively, then immediately asked, "Why do you think Seno ran back to Kusatsu in a sorry state because she was drowning in debt?"

"After all, she's my daughter."

Seno's mother, filled with emotion, handed the brewed black tea to Masumi, who thanked her softly before listening to her continue:
"That child seems carefree, but deep down he is more sensitive than anyone else, and he is very stubborn. Even if he gets hurt, he will not turn back."

"So, seeing how unusually she acted after returning home is really worrying. I wonder if something happened." Seno's mother frowned slightly.

"I see."

Upon hearing the other person mention that Mami was "acting out of character," Masumi inexplicably became concerned and casually asked, "Has she been a bit depressed lately?"

“No, quite the opposite.” Seno’s mother gently shook her head. “She’s been a little too cheerful lately.”

Masumi asked, puzzled, "Isn't being cheerful a good thing?"

“That might be true for others, but for that child…”

Seno's mother spoke with an unspoken meaning, seemingly troubled.

Masumi wisely refrained from pressing the issue.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Komizawa came to Kusatsu this time for..."

"There are some things I'd like to talk to Seno about."

"I see." She smiled knowingly. "Is it a topic between young men and women? The kind that can't be openly discussed."

That's not wrong, but it just sounds a bit odd.

"By the way, do you want to go directly to her room to find her?"

Seno's mother suddenly said something, seemingly out of nowhere.

"That child probably doesn't know you're here, right?"

"Ah."

Masumi nodded slightly. He hadn't informed Seno beforehand.

"In that case, the child will be very happy to see you appear in front of her in person."

She smiled, her eyes crinkling, and then, displaying remarkable agility, stood up from the tatami mat and tugged at Masumi's arm.

"aunt……"

Faced with the farmer's forceful actions and strength, Masumi gave up resisting and followed Seno's mother upstairs to the second floor. For some reason, from the moment he stepped into Shimodera-cho, he had a feeling of being led by the nose.

"Mami, how long are you going to sleep? The sun is about to set!"

With a powerful shout, Seno's mother yanked open the door.

The room that comes into view is a standard Japanese-style room. It was probably cleaned in advance because they knew Mami was coming back. The clean tatami mats exuded the scent of rushes, and various peripheral figurines were neatly arranged.

The only thing that seemed out of place in the tidy room was the blankets wrapped up in the center, twisted and curled up like a sleepy bug craving the warmth of the bed, with occasional muffled groans coming from under the blankets.

"Let me sleep for another ten minutes... no... five minutes will do."

Seno's mother sighed deeply, "This child has been like this ever since he came home on Monday. It's really a headache."

No, she's like that all the time at the coffee shop.

“Completely different. This time, she didn’t even watch late-night anime at 1 a.m., and went to bed early at 8 or 9 p.m.

“Is that so?” Masumi nodded, her expression also becoming serious. “Then it is indeed very serious.”

"That's it."

Seno's mother looked very troubled. "I'll leave the task of waking her up to you, Mr. Miyazawa."

"I?"

"Hmm, speaking of which, you must have a lot of experience waking her up, right?" she said meaningfully, covering her mouth.

“I’ve heard Mami mention it; she always exhausts her.”

"If possible, please ask Auntie not to use such strange language," Masumi said helplessly.

"Sorry, I'm from the countryside, I don't really understand how city people talk."

The mother and daughter spoke in exactly the same tone, laughing it off.

"Well then, I'll leave this place to you, Mom... Auntie will take her leave now."

"By the way, in September, we won't be having any guests at my house during the day."

With a mysterious smug expression, Seno's mother patted his shoulder forcefully, as if to reassure him, and closed the slatted door. Masumi finally understood why Mami liked to pat or elbow him all the time.

A silence, as fine as dust, floated in the room.

What is this?

Anyway, let's wake up Seno first.

"Seno?"

He tentatively called her name.

Mami's head, still half-asleep, peeked out from under the covers, her eyelids fluttering slightly as she responded to Masumi's voice.

It seems she heard herself speaking.

"That title and voice... sound so familiar..."

Mami slowly lifted her eyelids, looking at Masumi with sleepy eyes, and uttered a muffled murmur.

"Masumi-kun? Am I dreaming?"

"No, it's true."

"Eek, Masumi-kun likes to lie even in his dreams, he's so dishonest..." she muttered to herself, a mischievous smile immediately spreading across her lips.

"It's rare for Masumi-kun to appear in my dream, I have to play a good prank on him."

"……What did you say?"

Mami's voice was too soft for Masumi to hear clearly.

"Hey, Masumi-kun."

A snow-white hand, marked with a red imprint, emerged from under the covers and patted the tatami mat beside it, seemingly gesturing for Masumi to come over.

"Come to my side."

"Oh."

Masumi sat close to the bedding, observing Mami's sleepy expression, and for some reason felt inexplicably at ease.

Her lips were beautifully shaped, with a gentle, smiling quality, opening and closing repeatedly as if she were murmuring something.

After examining her closely, Masumi confirmed that she had indeed said "I've been tricked."

...Huh? Been tricked? What kind of trick?
As he squinted, deep in thought, he saw those long, slender, pale hands grip the blankets tightly, then suddenly pull them back, enveloping the boy before him—

The incident happened so suddenly that Masumi had no time to resist and was swallowed up by the man-eating bedding monster.

(End of this chapter)