Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 159 Epilogue: "The Indigo Square of Sky and Sea Colors"

The next morning, warm morning light streamed in through the window. Masumi opened her eyes slightly and saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

The unfamiliar pillow, the unfamiliar feel of the bed, and the weight and heat crawling all over his body made him slightly more conscious. Masumi recalled that he was in a hotel in Kashiwa City.

Despite still feeling unsettled last night, and worrying about whether I could actually fall asleep, I unexpectedly slept very soundly.

what time is it now?
He instinctively tried to turn over, but the weight on top of him prevented him from moving. The air in the room was slightly cool in the early autumn morning, and the object on his body seemed to be transmitting its own warmth, clinging tightly to him.

With the thought that it might cause an incident, Masumi focused her attention on the sensation on her body.

Warm and soft.

So much so that when his palm touched it, it felt like it was melting.

It didn't take long for Masumi to understand the situation, after all, it wasn't the first time this had happened... This statement sounded very playboyish.

"Asami?"

Before her was a head of smooth, black hair, loosely draped over her shoulders, partially obscuring a peaceful and lovely sleeping face.

"……call."

Because every time I woke up before, she would cruelly step on me with her feet, this was the first time I had ever seen her sleeping like this.

"This guy is actually quite cute when he's quiet," Masumi thought.

Continuing down, in contrast to the innocent sleeping face, there are voluptuous curves that exude an undeniable presence. The delicate shoulder strap buckle has broken in the middle at some point, and it seems that Masumi's rationality has also broken at that moment.

"Hey, Mami."

Masumi reached out and stroked her sleeping head, gently shaking it. Her thick, butterfly-like eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly raised her head, looking at his face with sleepy eyes.

"Um... Masumi-kun... Good morning..."

Mami was calling out her own name in a slurred voice.

However, the next moment, she revealed a soft, relaxed smile and slid her head towards his abdomen.

"If you're awake, don't go back to sleep." Masumi said with a smirk. "Don't lie on top of me, you're too heavy."

"No...I'm so sleepy...Let me...sleep a little longer..."

The calm morning air was shaken by her coquettish whispers.

Masumi tried several times to move Mami's body away, but Mami took the opportunity to find a perfect sleeping position.

I can't stand it, this guy always does things his own way.

He pressed his temples, wanting to say something more, when he suddenly remembered his phone, which was charging on the bedside table. He had just found the hotel location yesterday, but it shut down due to low battery and he had left it aside ever since.

He picked it up with his hand and pressed and held it to turn it on.

The battery level was still marked in red, and it seemed that the charging cable had been loosened not long after it started charging. He instinctively thought that this was related to Mami.

Speaking of which, before going to Tokyo, I remember Kurokawa telling me something...

"Sigh~"

A dense barrage of messages filled her vision. Masumi instinctively gasped, her trembling fingertips sliding to the top to read them one by one—

Masumio: "By now, you must have finished talking to the editor about work, right? How did it go?"

Masumio: "I've been refraining from talking to Masumi so as not to bother her."

Masumio: "A rabbit with its arms outstretched.jpg"

Masumio: "I like you."

Masumio: "I'm so glad that Masumi's novel was chosen by an editor. I must buy a hundred copies."

Masumio: "I hope Masumi will reply to me after work."

Masumio: "Haven't you checked your phone yet?"

Masumio: "Have we arrived at the hotel?"

Masumio: "Please don't ignore me."

Masumio: "Masumi, I hope nothing bad has happened!"

Masumio: "I'm so worried, what should I do?"

Masumio: "Could it be that my LINE account was hacked?"

Then came more than a dozen missed calls, starting from the time the last LINE message was sent and continuing until about ten minutes after the date changed.

"No answer" 23:21:34
"No answer" 23:22:18
"No answer" 23:23:45
"No answer" 23:24:57
……

"No answer" 00:12:51
Masumi's attention was focused on the last email she sent.

From: Mio Kurokawa

Email subject: None

text
Masumi should be asleep by now.

If you see this email when you wake up, please reply to me immediately!

Please call if you can; I'd like to hear Masumi's voice as soon as possible.

Having confirmed this, Masumi lay her head back on the pillow and let out a long sigh.

Oh no, I completely forgot that Kurokawa told me to contact her after work.

I glanced at the time in the upper right corner of the screen. It was 7:12. Kurokawa had gone to bed so late last night. Calling her at this time would probably wake her up.

It wouldn't make a difference if I notified her on LINE; she'd see it as soon as she woke up.

Masumi: "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Masumi: "Last night in the countryside near Kashiwa City, the signal was very poor, and my phone happened to be out of battery."

Masumi: "I'm sorry I made you worry."

Less than half a minute after a LINE message is sent, the message bubbles all show that it has been read.

It's read in seconds.

Before Masumi could react further, the phone screen suddenly went dark, and a call screen rang.

Not only did it read the message instantly, but it also brought up the phone.

"Hey, Mami, get up."

Mami rested her head on his stomach, her hair sticking up in the wind, making deep, peaceful breathing sounds, and she was leaning more and more heavily on him.

He actually went back to sleep? Masumi suddenly felt like an ice cube was pressing on the back of her head.

He gently placed his hand under Asami's head, his palm touching her soft black hair, and slowly lifted her head—
"Hmm~"

Asami, as if in resistance, withdrew her head like a turtle and escaped from Masumi's grasp.

This guy is such a hassle.

The phone rang even more urgently.

Masumi sighed, feeling guilty for falling asleep while ignoring Kurokawa's numerous messages, and answered the call, bringing the phone close to her ear.

"Hey, Masumi——"

"Can you hear me?"

Hearing Kurokawa Mio's soft, sweet voice as she woke up, Masumi felt an inappropriate emotion well up inside her.

"I can hear you. I'm sorry, Kurokawa. I went straight to rest after checking into the hotel yesterday and didn't check my phone. I'm sorry you were worried."

"It's alright, as long as Masumi is okay. Did the talks with the editorial department go smoothly?"

"Yes," Masumi replied apologetically, "It went smoothly."

"Yeah, that's good."

A sigh of relief came from the other end of the phone.

"By the way, why is it so dark over there, Masumi-kun? Can you see me?"

Can you see it?
Masumi, taken aback, put down the phone she had been holding to her ear and held it up in her hand, facing the camera directly.

The face of a beautiful woman with long, honey-gold hair appeared on the screen.

Wearing pajamas, Kurokawa Mio's image was reflected in Masumi's eyes. Her porcelain-smooth, snow-white skin was covered by a thin silk slip dress.

The sheer fabric draped softly, its delicate openwork clearly outlining her slender and graceful figure.

Faced with her unguarded and adorable appearance, my blood was pumping; this feeling was unexpected.

"Why did you call me on video?"

He focused the image of Kurokawa Mio in the corner of his field of vision and asked.

"Because just hearing her voice isn't enough, I want to see Masumi's face as soon as possible."

Upon seeing his face, Kurokawa Mio smiled gently, as if to add color to the loneliness beneath.

"Masumi, please pay more attention to this and keep in touch with me."

"I feel even more lonely when I'm apart from Masumi."

At this point, she frowned in annoyance, closed her eyes, and shook her head helplessly.

"It's only been two days."

"When I left Tokyo before, more than a month had passed..."

"—Then Masumi should understand how much pain I was in back then, right?"

Feeling guilty, Masumi was unable to answer.

"Feel sorry."

"It's okay, I didn't mean to blame Masumi."

Kurokawa Mio gently shook her head.

"I'm already very content to be able to continue spending time with Masumi like this."

Her slightly flushed cheeks and occasionally flashing pupils accentuated her charm as Kurokawa Mio quietly gazed at Masumi.

"I'm just worried that Masumi will suddenly disappear from my sight like last time."

“No matter how many times Masumi disappears, I will do everything in my power to return to her side, but I don’t have the confidence that I can find her every time.” Kurokawa Mio bit her lip and said, “What if one day…”

This statement is undoubtedly her true feeling.

The vague unease about the future casts a shadow over my heart, as if the invisible thorn stuck deep inside would fall down if I let my guard down.

Masumi blurted out, "That kind of thing won't happen again."

"Ok?"

"I mean... I'm sorry, I'll be more careful in the future and this won't happen again."

"Really?" Kurokawa Mio's face showed flattery, and she smiled and said, "Then, it's a date."

"Yes, we have an appointment."

Kurokawa smiled from the bottom of his heart.

At this moment, there was no trace of unease on her face. Seeing her relaxed and serene face, Masumi felt her heart skip a beat.

"Is Masumi still at the hotel?" she asked, looking at the background behind Masumi.

"Ah."

"The decor looks really nice, and the bed seems huge, is it a double bed?"

The emphasized ending of the sentence gave Masumi a vague feeling of being tested. Was it just her imagination?

"Because all the cheaper rooms were booked, we stayed in the more expensive ones," Masumi explained. "Oh, I see~"

Kurokawa Mio gave a vague "hmm" without any particular meaning.

"Is Ms. Mami staying in the same room?"

"Uh, she also stayed in a room that cost 18,000 yen."

There was no lie; that's the magic of language.

"Oh."

Kurokawa Mio nodded slightly, resting her chin on her hand, and stared blankly at the screen, unsure of what she was looking at.

Although Masumi had a smile on her face, she was extremely flustered inside.

What kind of feeling is this? It's a strange sense of guilt, like a cheating boyfriend being caught.

He glanced down without making a sound, and the guy lying on top of him looked like an adorable kitten that had let its guard down, its lips slightly parted and drooling.

"Uh... I'll talk to you later, my phone is almost out of battery."

"Hey, it's only been a short while, and I haven't finished chatting with Masumi yet."

Her expression was like someone being forced to take out the trash, pouting her lips in protest.

"You slept so late last night, you should get some rest," Masumi advised.

"Oh my, is Masumi worried about me?"

Kurokawa Mio gently squinted her eyes, suppressing a yawn.

Then—in a tone that sounded like squeezing the last drop of lotion from a bottle of moisturizer—he said:
"Masumi, I like you."

It's as if delicate fingers, like those deftly playing piano keys, are pressed against the screen, as if trying to touch him from a distance.

"Why are you saying this all of a sudden?"

Masumi avoided the main point and looked away.

"A declaration of love."

Kurokawa Mio's eyes gleamed as she smiled and spoke.

Bathed in the morning light, her eyes sparkled with a beautiful light. Masumi felt as if she had been drawn into obsidian, and stared at her face in a daze.

"Ugh~ Masumi-kun, you're so noisy."

These words seemed to bring Masumi's spirit back to its place, and she stiffly uttered an "Eh."

"What's wrong? Masumi."

"No, it's nothing."

Masumi shook her head frantically, her face clearly showing that nothing was wrong, while Kurokawa Mio narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Just then, Mami's groggy complaints came through.

"Masumi-kun, this is never going to end. Who calls first thing in the morning?"

"What's that sound?! A woman?!"

Ah, Kurokawa's voice suddenly rose to a high pitch, then became low.

"Could it be Miss Mami?"

"Uh, it's her... Her hairdryer broke, so she came to my place to dry her hair."

If Kurokawa were to directly say that he and Asami shared a bed at the Love Hotel, he might do something drastic in his frenzy, and the incident that happened last night was even more unacceptable to mention.

"……I see."

Kurokawa Mio nodded slightly, seemingly easily convinced by his words, though it was also possible that she had convinced herself.

"Then I'll hang up now."

"..."

She hesitated for a long time, then nodded slightly, seemingly no longer intending to pursue the matter.

"Okay, see you later, Masumi."

See you later...

"Wait a moment!"

I was interrupted again.

What's that next to you?

"Next to me..."

Masumi lowered her gaze in confusion, seeing Mami peek out without paying much attention. "Don't come out! Don't come out!"
She seemed completely half asleep, with glistening drool still clinging to the corners of her curved lips. She slowly lifted her eyelids and looked drowsily at Kurokawa Mio.

"Ah, it's Ms. Mio."

Asami placed her hand, which was pressing against the red mark, in front of her chest, keeping it half-open and not clenched, and waved gently, revealing a silly and innocent smile.

"Good morning."

Masumi's temples throbbed, and she covered her eyes with her hands, unable to bear looking directly at them.

On the other side, Kurokawa Mio seemed completely unable to calm down.

"Ms. Asami, that outfit, and that double bed... what did Masumi and she do!?"

"Could it be that……"

The words stopped abruptly.

Masumi removed her hand from her view and found that the screen had gone dark.

Oh no, my phone died and shut down.

The black, reflective phone screen reflected the two people staring at each other.

Mami's eyes glazed over for a moment before finally refocusing.

"……what?"

After taking a full minute to realize what was happening, her body suddenly appeared to be bleeding, with the red stain gradually spreading.

It definitely looks like it's harmful to the body.

"Masumi-kun..."

Mami called his name in her extreme nervousness.

"Ok?"

"Can we stay here forever?"

"What a stupid thing to say."

"I was serious."

Her pupils and moist lips trembled so much they seemed about to fall off as she spoke in a tearful tone.

"Because if I go back, I'm very likely to be killed by Miss Mio."

"No, it won't happen," Masumi reassured her.

"Really?"

"Ah."

"Then Masumi-kun promised me that he would guarantee my personal safety."

Asami, as if scooping honey, hooked her little finger around his and gently stroked it, her expression still showing lingering fear.

Masumi nodded helplessly.

"promised."

Another agreement was made, and Masumi didn't know whether it was good or bad.

Perhaps the tension from before had dissipated, as Mami's eyes returned to their usual expression. Looking at Masumi's soaked, discolored pajamas, she asked, puzzled:
"Masumi-kun, why are your clothes covered in water stains?"

"Who do you think caused this, Miss Drooling in Her Sleep?"

"How could that be? I've always been a very disciplined sleeper."

Mami blushed, as if she had jumped up, and touched the corner of her lips with her fingers.

"Eek—it's actually true."

“I’m not usually like this, Masumi-kun. I was just half asleep. You can believe me.”

Masumi stared at Mami, who was gesticulating wildly as she explained, and nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, okay, I believe you."

"You're just being perfunctory."

"I'm not just giving a perfunctory answer."

"But you don't even dare to look me in the eye."

Miss Mami maliciously stretched out her foot and stepped on his chest.

Her legs were fair and seemingly flawless. While the curves of her feet were undeniably beautiful, just how beautiful were they? Slender, fair with a rosy tint, and smooth and supple.

Listening absentmindedly to Mami's complaints, Masumi turned her gaze to the curtains. Through the gaps, she could vaguely see a corner of the blue sky; it was another sunny day.

My time in Tokyo is coming to an end.

Is it really okay to end things this way? A vague question arose in Masumi's mind.

In contrast to his complex emotions was the clear blue autumn sky outside the window.

That was an indigo square formed by the contrast of the sky and the sea.
-
Volume 5: Indigo Squared: The End

◇

The Ryukyu Islands, Miyako Island.

Pulling open the flower shop's roller shutter, a pungent smell of rust mixed with moisture hits you.

Good morning, Ms. Hibino.

"The typhoon is over, and today is a beautiful sunny day."

A soft greeting came from behind.

A girl with long, flowing hair stood in front of the flower shop, her white dress swaying slightly in the sea breeze, reminiscent of the white sand beaches of Naha Maehama.

Ms. Hibino paused for a moment, then smiled and replied:

"Good morning, it's me, Miss Rugu. Are you here to buy flowers again today?"

The girl in front of me has a habit of buying a flower every day to please herself.

"Yes, because of the typhoon, we haven't seen fresh bouquets for several days, so it's a bit lonely."

Ms. Hibino said sarcastically, "Ms. Ruko loves flowers even more than I, the florist."

"You're joking."

I smiled gently, then looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Speaking of which, the sky looks bluer than usual after the typhoon."

Ms. Hibino tilted her head. "Is that so?"

"Yes, it's an indigo square, a blend of sky and sea colors, washed by the rain at sea."

(End of this chapter)