Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 164, Section 5: "September, Six People Leisurely Strolling Through the Complex (3)"

"Mio——"

The last sentence was spoken in a barely loud voice, and Masumi almost missed it, but she immediately followed with a low murmur.

“That’s right, Masumi belongs to me. I absolutely do not want to give you to anyone else. My Masumi is mine, mine, mine.”

Perhaps it's better to just skip it.

"Oh, I just wanted to know what Masumi's ideal image is."

Fortunately, Kurokawa Mio quickly regained her composure. Seeing that the oppressive aura had dissipated, Masumi spoke up:
"I don't have that kind of thing, and Mio doesn't need to force herself to change into what others like."

Besides, some things can't be achieved through hard work alone.

Thinking this, Masumi almost subconsciously looked at it, then quickly looked away.

"...Masumi really doesn't understand girls."

Kurokawa Mio stared at him with a disappointed look, a sigh silently escaping her lips.

"While I don't deny that, I think my performance just now was passable, right?" Masumi said with a slight complaint.

"It depends on the occasion."

"Yeah."

That's why people say girls have complicated thoughts.

"Hmm." Kurokawa Mio responded absentmindedly, looking quite troubled. "Never mind, I already expected this when I asked the question."

She seemed to be muttering something to herself, pressing her fingers to her temples. Was she having a headache?
Seeing this, Masumi couldn't help but ask, "Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell? There's a pharmacy in the mall, or else..."

"No need, there's no cure for infidelity anyway."

Ignoring the worried Masumi, Kurokawa Mio uttered weak murmurs.

"Ugh, really, why has Masumi turned out like this? Is it because I've been too lenient with him? Last time in Tokyo, he even shared a room with Asami-san. Although it was an accident, if things continue like this, Masumi will eventually be beaten to the punch by someone else..."

"...Mio, are you alright?"

Masumi hesitated before asking Kurokawa Mio, who was talking to herself. Her eyes were empty, and although distorted, her expression contained a strange beauty that looked truly terrifying to onlookers.

She was only forgiven because she was beautiful.

"But how can we do that? If we want to break the status quo and separate Masumi from the other girls, conventional methods definitely won't work—"

"Right, imprisonment."

Kurokawa Mio suddenly said something strange.

"hold head high?"

Masumi tilted his head, wondering if he had misheard something.

"That's right, the best way is to make Masumi only look at me, right? If I let Masumi go, sooner or later Rinne, Kaizuki, Asami, or even Chia will take advantage of the situation. That's absolutely unacceptable! What a joke! I will never give him to anyone, nor will I allow anyone to take him away. Although if he is taken away, I will definitely take him back, but before that happens, I want him to belong to me. I want his body and soul to belong to me, so I can't just wait passively anymore. I have to take action and make Masumi only spend time with me. That way, Masumi might fall in love with me. So it's okay to do this to Masumi, right? Yes, that's it, my choice is definitely right! I've always only looked at Masumi, so it's not surprising that I want Masumi to only look at me too, right? Although if I do this, Masumi might never be able to form a band with me again... No! Can't we just rent an apartment with a soundproof basement? We can form a band just the two of us, Masumi and me, and the music we play will also..." How wonderful it is that only the two of us can hear this! Masumi and I must be bound by the red thread of fate; this marriage must be blessed by the White Rabbit of Inaba, by the gods. Otherwise, two people so far apart on this island nation could never be together, until now. Therefore, it's right for Masumi to belong to me. Yes, that's right, I'm absolutely right, or rather, absolutely correct. Taking action to achieve a goal is only natural, isn't it? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that; I should do it this way. I will absolutely not hand it over to anyone else! Absolutely! We won't let others ruin our happiness. I like him so much that it would be weird not to be happy. Even now, my heart is overflowing like this...I like you, Masumi...I like you the most...Masumi Masumi Masumi Masumi Masumi Masumi Masumi Masumi Masumi Masumi True, true, true, true, true, true. "

"……that."

Masumi swallowed hard, and asked her hesitantly:
"Mio, you've been saying really scary things since just now."

The blonde beauty's eyes were unfocused, and her beautiful face showed a dazed expression. She kept muttering chilling words from her lips.

Masumi remembered visiting Kurokawa's apartment in Tokyo before.

There is an attic for practicing the piano without disturbing the neighbors, and a basement with excellent soundproofing.

Upon hearing his words, those dark, lifeless eyes immediately locked onto him, and Masumi's heart clenched instantly.

"Oh right, I also have to consider the child. If I'm in love with Masumi, having a baby is inevitable. But the maternity allowance from the Cabinet's maternity subsidy system will definitely be a drop in the bucket. If I have to go out to work and earn money, I'll have less time to spend with Masumi, and the child will take away Masumi's love for me. It's so troublesome..."

She's been talking to herself since the beginning, giving Masumi no chance to interrupt, and she shows no sign of stopping.

"Mio, are you listening to me?"

Kurokawa Mio seemed not to hear, but judging from the content of her words, she was clearly heading in a very dangerous direction, and things would get worse if she continued like this.

"Calm down, Mio."

Masumi judged that it was impossible to wake Kurokawa with words, so she reached out and took his slender wrist into her palm, then wrapped it around her delicate white hand.

That would be a pointless statement, but Kurokawa Mio's hands were definitely those of a girl—slender fingers, smooth back of the hand, and soft palm. Because Masumi was slightly flustered, she gripped her hand harder than expected.

"Goooo!"

Body heat seeped through her skin, and Kurokawa Mio suddenly cried out as a dark aura dissipated from her body.

"Ma-Masumi?"

Her voice instantly became incredibly soft and sweet.

"Calm down, Mio. I don't know what you're anxious about, but I'm right here with you and I'm not going anywhere."

So please put away those dangerous thoughts you just had.

"Masumi..."

Seemingly touched by her own words, Kurokawa Mio's long eyelashes trembled as she silently gazed at him.

From her wavering gaze, Masumi belatedly realized the meaning behind Kurokawa's earlier comment, "Masumi really doesn't understand girls."

The reason Kurokawa Mio asked this question was actually an outward manifestation of her inner unease, so no matter how she answered, it wouldn't be the correct answer.

After a long silence, she bit her lower lip, her voice low and hoarse, coming from the bottom of her heart.

"...I'm sorry, Masumi. I didn't want to be the kind of girl who is very restrictive. I hate that kind of behavior so much because it would make Masumi feel troubled."

"I want to give you my whole life."

Her obsidian-like eyes were fixed on Masumi, and she murmured something softly in a low voice.

"Give you all."

After saying that, Kurokawa Mio wrapped her arms around Masumi's back and rested her forehead on his shoulder.

"—So, don't hate me."

Kurokawa Mio buried her face in his chest, so Masumi couldn't see her expression.

"I don't hate you because of this, but isn't what you're doing a bit too much?"

"For me, I'm willing to do anything to please Masumi."

Masumi closed her eyes and sighed, "That's why I feel so heavy-hearted."

“There’s nothing wrong with being burdened; it’s my own choice to do it this way.”

“To me, Masumi is valuable; in fact, every move she makes is valuable to me.”

"Okay, okay, as long as you're happy, but there should at least be a limit. Please don't bring up the basement or anything like that again... Mio? Are you even listening to me?"

Masumi carefully chooses her words, trying to be as tactful as possible, but if the other party doesn't intend to listen, it's completely pointless.

Sniff.

"Ah~ Masumi's scent, so comforting..."

Kurokawa Mio buried her face deeply in his cheek, seemingly oblivious to Masumi's calls, completely absorbed in her own world, and pressed herself even closer to him.

The softness felt directly on the body goes without saying, and the fragrance emanating from the honey-gold hair is refreshing and pleasant. The delicate aroma is the scent of tea tree that I bought at a gift shop in Uji during the Obon holiday.

It was a very famous shop in Uji, decorated in a very high-end style. As Masumi walked through the shop, the scent emanating from the aromatherapy humidifier instantly captivated her.

The product catalog states that this aromatherapy product has the effects of refreshing the mind, changing the atmosphere, and relaxing the mood, gradually calming the anxious heart. However, what does achieve all this is not the aromatherapy product itself, but the fact that Kurokawa and he use the same aromatherapy product.

Fragrance is one of the things that expresses a person.

Kurokawa Mio had given him one of her five senses. Masumi realized once again that he was truly cherished by Kurokawa Mio.

In any case, the crisis of being imprisoned in the basement seems to have passed. Does this mean the storm has passed and a bad ending has been successfully avoided?

Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, a stern voice drifted through the air, making Masumi's heart leap into her throat again.

"What are you two doing?"

Three girls with killer-like eyes were staring intently at them, while Haiyue casually looked down at her phone beside them.

Kurokawa Mio slowly raised her face, her expression full of satisfaction, yet a lingering gloom remained deep within her expression.

The atmosphere of a chaotic and unsettling place (or perhaps a battlefield?) made Masumi oblivious to this.

◇ "Ah, I'm exhausted, I've been walking for so long."

Passing through the bustling floors filled with girls, the group bought a large amount of daily necessities and groceries because of the discounts, their fingers turning slightly white from the pressure of the plastic bags.

"Sister Mami, did you buy too much canned liquor?" Qian Ai asked.

"After all, it's a week's worth," Mami replied casually.

"One...one week!?"

Qian Ai looked shocked and subconsciously said, "I thought it was a month's supply."

"Sister Mami, you look more like an uncle than my dad."

"Oh dear, that's a very rude way to say it."

"Does Mami have any complaints? I paid for the alcohol."

"How could that be? I have no objection at all."

Asami gave her a fawning look, comforting her with "Mmm," before changing the subject:
"I've bought so much stuff, it must have cost over 18 yen already! Let's have a raffle!"

"Does Asami really want to travel to Okinawa that much?"

"Actually, I didn't think that much about it, but I've never been on a plane before, and I'd really like to experience it if I had the chance." Mami nodded solemnly.

"There's nothing to look forward to; flying is anything but comfortable."

"Only people who have flown on airplanes have the right to say this."

"Speaking of which, what if all six of us win the first prize?"

"Sister Mami, there's only one first prize."

"Oh dear, we'd better hurry up and leave, or it will be bad if someone else takes it first."

Chatting casually, the six of them arrived at the raffle area of ​​the GRAND MALL on the first floor.

"The exciting moment of the lucky draw has finally arrived."

Mami clenched her fists in front of her shoulders, looking excited, and turned to face the other five people.

"How should we draw? Should everyone draw once, or should Little Sea Moon with Lucky EX draw six times?"

"Everyone should take their own," Rinne said calmly.

"Well, since it's the store manager's opinion, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Sister Mami, please don't portray me as a tyrant."

With a sigh, Rinne took the lead and approached the lottery machine. On the counter was a small gashapon machine, and inside the gashapon capsules were slips of paper with the prizes listed.

"So, what did Rinne draw?"

Asami asked urgently.

Rinne was slightly surprised. "Third prize, 5kg of rice."

"Hmm, not bad. We won the third prize right away, which means we're having great luck this time."

"But we bought so much stuff, how are we going to take it all with us?"

"The staff said that it could be delivered to my door together with the cabinet I just bought at the mall."

"Okay, then there's no problem." Mami relaxed her face and nodded. "Next up is Masumi-kun. You'd better try your best to win the grand prize!"

"I'm sorry," Masumi said expressionlessly, "the only karuta prize is a fifth-place card, which is a deluxe edition that can be given as a souvenir."

"Wow, how lame, and it's karuta too. Is Masumi-kun just too destined for this?"

Where is Chia?

"Sixth prize: a Kameda dessert coupon."

Is Kameda that chain of coffee shops?

"Hmm." Qian Ai nodded. "It seems like they opened a new store in this mall not long ago."

"Eh, that doesn't seem as good as Masumi-kun's karuta, since we work in a coffee shop."

"Sister Mami, pay me back for the drinks tomorrow!"

The childhood sweetheart puffed out her cheeks as if she were being sulky.

"Ahem! Qian, calm down. Your prize will be very useful. Let's go to Kameda for the celebration later."

Qian Ai was puzzled: "What kind of victory celebration is this?"

"Isn't a victory celebration called 'uchiage'? It sounds like 'launching into space,' and we'll be taking a plane to Okinawa anyway, so isn't it similar?"

"Sister Mami, you really won't give up."

Chiai made a defeated expression.

"Where's Little Moon? She must have gotten something good, right?"

Asami looked at the jellyfish girl with high hopes in her eyes.

"this."

Haiyue pointed to a cat plush toy wearing a koala headgear on the shelf.

Second prize: an oversized Sandy the Cat Ragdoll.

"What? Why is Sandy the Cat's doll considered a second prize?"

As soon as Mami blurted out those words, a strong chill emanated from her side.

It's obvious that the person in question is the heiress who's so obsessed with cats that even her underwear has a cat pattern...

Rinne Kamishiro stared at Asami with icy eyes. "Asami-nee, I think the second prize is set up very reasonably."

"Sorry, I misspoke! Long live Sandy the Cat!"

Asami clasped her hands together in apology.

“But if possible, I would prefer to see Sandy the cat at Aeon Mall in Okinawa.”

Rinne turned her face away, sighed helplessly, and said in an even softer voice, "Yamamaya (Iriomote Cat) is cute too."

"Huh? What's that? A breed of cat?"

"Yes, it's a species unique to Iriomote Island in the southwestern part of the Ryukyu Islands, and there are currently fewer than 100 left in the world."

This was the first time Masumi had ever heard of this creature; it seemed that Kamishiro was indeed quite knowledgeable about cats.

"After all that talk, what's inside your gashapon capsule?" he asked bluntly.

"Hmph, although it's not the grand prize for Okinawa tourism, it's still a big prize that's not far behind!"

Asami had a mysterious smile on her lips.

"Huh?" Qian'ai was taken aback by her appearance, looking curious and expectant. "What is it? Is it a second prize like Haiyue's?"

"Qiang Qiang!"

Asami, mimicking Doraemon pulling gadgets from his four-dimensional pocket, held the slip of paper from the gashapon capsule high above her head.

"—The last prize! A deluxe pack of facial tissues, humanity's best friend!"

Qian Ai felt her expectations had been disappointed and stared blankly, saying, "Isn't that just a consolation prize for last place?"

"In the end, only Asami-nee got the worst prize," Chiai sighed.

"I told you long ago, my luck stat is only E."

Mami hung her head in dejection, suddenly like a cigarette butt with only embers left, which, after being blown by the dry wind, ignited a tiny spark.

"Oh, right, and Miss Mio too! She's our last hope."

After saying something to the staff, Asami looked at Kurokawa Mio, who was slowly walking over, and asked her expectantly.

"What did Miss Mio draw?"

Faced with Mami's expectant gaze, Kurokawa Mio gently shook her head, crumpling the note into a ball in her palm.

"Sorry, I didn't win anything."

(End of this chapter)