Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 197, Section 38: "The Blade of Kurokawa"

The car continued driving, with ReoNa's "Neryakanaya ~Mira Amami" playing on the car stereo. It's a song written by a female singer from Kagoshima for her hometown, Amami Island.

This is my timeless taste.

Asami was still fast asleep in her chair, her soft, even breathing echoing the rhythm of the song, sounding like the sea breeze and waves.

"Okinawa has 'Nenes,' Amami has this song, and Ishigaki Island has the band Begin, but Miyako Island has nothing."

Listening to the song sung in the Amami dialect, I sighed with melancholy, like a thousand-year-old ancient woman.

“I, like Miss Ruko, could also write a song about Miyakojima,” Kurokawa Mio said.

"But I'm a guitarist, so even if I write it, I can't sing it."

The senior said something with an implied meaning.

Masumi kept her mouth shut, biting her lip tightly.

"—Come on, Masumi, open your mouth."

My feelings were interrupted before they even began to sprout.

Sitting next to her, Kurokawa Mio opened the packaging bag and stuffed the potato chips she bought from the convenience store into Masumi's mouth.

The fries, still retaining a powdery texture, slid down my throat.

"Is it tasty?"

With her mouth full of fries, Masumi simply nodded, while Kurokawa Mio's lips curled into a slightly pleased smile.

Following the coastal highway, the group arrived at IMGYA Seaside Park on the outskirts of the city.

Turn off the engine and stop the car.

The senior in the passenger seat and Mio, who was sitting on the outside, got out of the car first. Masumi stood up, holding onto her seat, and glanced at Rinne, who was still sitting there.

"You guys go have fun, I'll take care of Mami-nee in the car," Rinne said calmly.

Asami lay awkwardly on her lap, her face up, her lips opening and closing like a goldfish, revealing the tip of her pink tongue.

It's a sleeping position that carries the risk of causing a stiff neck.

"Huh? Isn't Rinne getting off the bus?"

Chiai thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll stay and help Rinne take care of Mami-nee."

"Is this okay?" asked Masumi.

"It's okay, and I'm a little tired too, and the sun is shining brightly outside."

Sunlight streamed onto her soft, supple skin, and the girl smiled as if to reassure him, so Masumi nodded.

"I understand. We'll go around and come back."

"We can play a little longer, after all, it's a rare trip."

Haiyue's gaze hesitated between Rinne and Masumi.

Masumi: "Does Umizuki want to go into the sea to see jellyfish? We have snorkeling activities here."

"think."

The jellyfish girl answered without hesitation, then hesitated and murmured:

"But...I can't swim..."

“Don’t worry,” I, Rugu Qiansui, interjected at this moment. “Snorkeling and swimming are two different things, and with me here, I will take care of protecting Miss Hanekawa.”

"In that case, I will entrust this child to Miss Rugu."

Rinne's tone suggested that she was a parent who was busy with work and had temporarily left her child in daycare.

"I will handle it."

I patted my chest loudly, just like my predecessors, and a smile appeared on my lips that could dispel all gloom.

Masumi subtly shifted her gaze; indeed, just as her senior had said, it was incredibly elastic.

"Be careful not to get stung by jellyfish, Haiyue."

Rinne whispered from behind, "Don't swim around while snorkeling, stay close to me, Miss Ruko."

"……understood."

Haiyue's expression was just like any other child's, making people worry about her.

◇

Beneath the white clouds, the seawater ripples gently.

Warm waves, no less than those of summer, surge in, gently lapping the white sand beach for a brief rest before receding once more.

IMGYA Seaside Park is located on the south coast of Miyako Island, not far from the famous scenic spots "Higashi Heian-Nasaki" and "Shinjo Coast", so its brilliance has been almost completely overshadowed.

The afternoon after the typhoon, there were few tourists on the beach.

Kurokawa Mio was quite satisfied, as she had mentioned before at Kiyomizu-dera Temple that she didn't like crowded places.

Haiyue and I, along with our senior Rugu, had already changed into our diving suits and walked out of the changing room.

The black wetsuits covered the two women's skin from their necks to their ankles, but they still couldn't hide their beautiful body curves.

The two beauties are a beautiful sight to behold simply by standing together.

Normally, for snorkeling experiences like this, all you need to do is wear a life jacket over your swimsuit.

However, the experienced person said that this gives a better diving experience and also avoids being stung by unknown marine creatures or scratched by sharp coral reefs or rocks.

"Why didn't Mio change into her wetsuit? Aren't you planning to try snorkeling?"

Masumi looked at Kurokawa Mio and asked.

She was wearing a white dress that clung to her thighs in the sea breeze.

Through the thin, soft fabric, the navy blue swimsuit underneath was faintly visible.

“I want to play that,” Kurokawa Mio said, pointing in Masumi’s direction.

"Huh? Me?" Masumi's expression froze.

Although it's a bit too blunt, it's definitely something that Mio would say.

"If Masumi Ken is willing, it's not impossible..."

Kurokawa Mio suddenly hugged her arms shyly, her fingers moving across her upper arm as if playing a keyboard.

Masumi immediately realized she had misunderstood and turned back as if to downplay the issue.

A mother and her daughter were kayaking on the sea not far away.

"I see, a kayak." Masumi nodded. "But you need two people to ride together."

"Isn't Masumi and I a perfect match?" Kurokawa Mio retorted, then lowered her head with a gloomy expression.

"Or...masumi would prefer to snorkel with Ms. Ruko and the others."

“No, that’s not true.” Masumi shook her head. “Then, Masumi, let’s go kayaking together.”

"Na?"

She took a step forward, her fair feet then suddenly seeming to remember something, and added, "I'll pay for all the kayaking!"

"Uh, Mio, don't get so worked up, calm down."

Masumi took a step back, not daring to accept the implication. "Besides, the problem isn't about the expenses. Don't you think it's a bit awkward when the other person pays for all the travel and entertainment?"

"No." Kurokawa Mio shook her head without hesitation, denying it. "Masumi is handsome no matter what."

She has too much of a bias towards herself.

"Wouldn't that make me look like a gigolo?" Masumi sighed. "Does Mio intend to turn me into a kept man?"

"I don't care if he's a gigolo."

She seemed to be serious.

"It doesn't matter."

Masumi thought for a moment and said, "How would Mio feel if she heard me say, 'Great! With girls supporting me, I can live an easy life for the rest of my life'?"

"Isn't that great!"

The unexpected reaction brightened Kurokawa Mio's expression, but her eyes gradually became vacant.

"If Masumi were the kind of lazy, good-for-nothing woman who relies on men for support, that would be perfect."

"Uh, Mio?"

I always felt that Mio's obsidian-like eyes had become cloudy, but it must be my imagination.

Ignoring Masumi's calls, she opened her lifeless eyes, took a deep breath, and continued:

"That's right, that way Masumi will never leave me, and she'll only be able to support me. Rinne, with her personality, will probably leave heartbroken. Since I control the finances, flights to Miyako Island are absolutely prohibited. This way, no other girls will bother me. It'll just be Masumi and me. I can take care of Masumi every day. Ah~ there's nothing happier than this. So this is good, this is perfect! Masumi, just become that kind of man, even more useless, even more hopeless, so that no other girl will come near you, and you'll become mine, only mine, Masumi... Hehe, hehehehe..."

It wasn't my imagination; that laughter was truly terrifying.

"Hey, Masumi, what do you think? Don't worry, as long as it's Masumi, I'll take care of you with all my might. Just thinking about 'Masumi needing me' makes my heart flutter. I don't think I've ever told Masumi this before, but when she first asked me, 'Want to join my band as a keyboardist?' I had an indescribable feeling, one I'd never experienced before. Even though I rejected her then, I was thinking, 'I want to know my true feelings.' There's a saying, 'People judge the depth of love by the pain of separation,' so I think I'll know when we meet again."

"Then I understood, this must be the feeling of destiny. This person is my destined one. I want to be with him for life, this person can't live without me, and I can't accept any guy other than Masumi—I understood and accepted this in my heart, without any reason, maybe it's instinct, no! It must be fate! It was God who brought us together. There are so many keyboard warriors in the Tokyo underground scene, like stray cats on the street, why did Masumi have to come to me? It's practically the same as 'Masumi confessing to me,' right?"

"Speaking of which, Masumi should understand deeply now, right? You and I are connected by the red thread of fate. From the day we first met, I, who had just left my second band, wandered into a deserted livehouse on a rainy day for some reason, and saw Masumi playing guitar and singing in front of a small audience. For some reason, I felt so attached to her. At that time, I didn't know, but now it can only be explained by the word 'fate.'"

"Ah~ I went a bit too far without thinking. After all, those are all things of the past. Right now, all I want is to be by Masumi's side all the time. I hope Masumi can rely on me. I can accept whatever Masumi does, so Masumi doesn't need to feel guilty and can be as willful as she wants. I will listen to Masumi and will dedicate everything to you. Because no matter what kind of Masumi she is, she is still Masumi. And I think if Masumi is a little bit useless, she can rely on me even more. You can take money from me as you like, and you can treat me however you want. After all, I already belong to Masumi. It doesn't matter what Masumi does to me, I will be very happy."

"I'm sorry, Masumi, it might sound a little heavy-hearted to say all this to myself, but I'm not that kind of heavy-hearted girl. I just hope you can think about this seriously, because there won't be another girl like me who is so completely open with you. Even I think I'm too easy to please, but there's nothing I can do about it, because Masumi is my destiny. I want to give you everything I have, so Masumi, just give yourself to me too. I will make Masumi happy... Masumi, did you understand? Were you listening to me properly?"

"Eh, um, of course, I've been listening to what Mio and I were saying."

A smile quietly curved at the corners of Mio's lips, but her beautiful black pupils were as dark and deep as black holes, as if they wanted to swallow everything in front of her.

That expression was so oppressive that Masumi nodded subconsciously and stood there, as if she had fallen into a state of paralysis.

Okay, such heavy pressure... Every word is so heavy.

Thinking about it carefully, it's always the same.

Even a casual remark from him was like a pebble dropped into the water, bouncing and creating ripples on the surface of her heart, and then—

Mio responded by creating a raging storm.

This unequal emotional bond persisted between himself and Mio.

Even if you build a breakwater to resist it, this tide will never stop.

No, it's because I unconsciously left myself some leeway.

The barriers that had created cracks were shaken by the tide of emotions, and gradually, Masumi's reactions became ambiguous.

They never gave a clear answer; it was a very cunning response.

This made Masumi realize that she was running away.

Some people in this world are bound by constantly thinking about the future, so they force themselves to think about the present and only think about what they should do, just like that heiress.

Is this situation applicable to me?

The constant self-questioning caused Masumi's emotions to tremble uncontrollably.

The feeling was like when I first arrived in Tokyo, and because I was short of money, I lived in a Showa-era apartment next to an elevated highway, locking myself in a six-tatami room.

Whenever the tram rattles by, Masumi's world shakes incessantly.

Just like it is now.

——Is this really okay?
Continuing to dwell on ambiguous feelings will naturally lead to no clear answer.

Now that things have come to this, Masumi can no longer give up the present.

People can't easily change themselves, and Rinne's thoughts are the opposite of that; past experiences are just that—past experiences.

So Masumi pulled her former self, who lived in the 6-tatami-mat apartment, out of her memories.

"Mio!"

Just as a ripe melon falls from its vine, and water flows naturally into a channel, Masumi was taken aback when she blurted out her name.

If it were me at Shinjuku Station back then, I certainly wouldn't have been so natural.

In other words, people are always like this, and the one standing here now calling out her name is Masumi at this moment.

"Masumi?"

Kurokawa Mio trembled, probably quite surprised, her gaze darting around in confusion as she looked at her own hand and Masumi's hand.

Masumi's palm sank slightly into her soft skin.

After uttering the first word, he shamelessly went off-key from then on.

"Uh, well, I meant to say, let's go kayaking together."

Her fingers also loosened their grip on Kurokawa Mio's arm.

"Eh?"

As if to fill the silence she had left behind, a gentle smile appeared on Kurokawa Mio's lips, and she slowly opened her mouth.

“Great! I’m so happy to be able to kayak with Masumi.”

A warm hand reached out and grasped Masumi's trembling fingertips.

Her body heat seeped into his skin, like calm waves, gently propelling him, and finally allowing Masumi to decide on her answer.

"Also, I have something I want to say to Mio."

This time, instead of giving ambiguity, I gave her a clear answer.

"Ah."

—Mio Kurokawa nodded gently, sunlight seemingly sliding down her honey-gold hair.

(End of this chapter)