Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 224 26. "Seeing the Moon on a Moonlit Night"

Haiyue slept very soundly.

It's like a stranded jellyfish finally returning to the ocean it depends on for survival.

"Hmm~"

Sunlight pierced through the sea's surface, and the moon slowly opened its eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling appeared before my eyes.

After staring blankly for a long time, human consciousness finally returned to the jellyfish girl's body.

It's... Masumi's... room...

Haiyue stretched out her arms and raised them high in the sky, then straightened her upper body and, with a whoosh, sprang to her feet.

What came into view were four people lying around in the room in a completely chaotic manner.

Mio crossed her arms and lay face down on the MIDI keyboard, her long, smooth, honey-gold hair disheveled by her headphones.

Mami wrapped herself up in the blanket on the bed, occasionally uttering incoherent murmurs.

After that……

Haiyue rubbed her sleepy eyes, and groggily turned her face towards the remaining two people, her half-closed blue-green eyes suddenly widening.

Masumi, sprawled out on the floor of the room, fast asleep, and on top of him, a beautiful black-haired girl.

Rinne lay on top of Masumi, seemingly using it as a substitute for a bed, relying on Masumi's body, which was much larger than hers.

However, the direction her head was facing was completely opposite to Masumi's. This posture... Kaizuki had seen it in Mami's collectible manga!
However, there was a difference: neither Masumi's loungewear nor Rinne's turtleneck sweater showed any signs of being wrinkled.

She crawled around to Masumi's side and gently shook his shoulder, but Masumi didn't move.

I was busy recording songs and producing music videos from morning till night, and I stayed up all night, so it's no wonder I slept so soundly.

"Mmm..."

Masumi suddenly turned her face towards her, startling Haizuki, but she kept her eyelids tightly closed and showed no sign of waking up.

"..."

The jellyfish girl gazed silently at Masumi's sleeping face.

The boy has a very defined jawline and a pointed chin, but his cheeks look very soft.

stamp.

The jellyfish girl extended her index finger and gently touched Masumi's cheek.

"Well……"

So tender, just like the Ise lobster I ate on Miyako Island, with plump and bouncy shrimp meat inside after peeling off the hard shell.

Poke, poke, poke, poke.

Several shallow dents were poked into her cheeks, which bounced back to their original positions the moment the girl moved her fingers away and poked elsewhere, only to reappear at the spot where her fingers had poked the cheeks.

Haiyue became addicted to playing with the toy, just like a child who had received a new one, constantly poking at it with her finger.

"Um……"

Masumi made muffled sounds in her sleep.

Haiyue smiled faintly: This boy is very mature, strong and tough when he is awake, but when he is asleep without any defenses, he looks very childlike and very soft.

Hard (strong) yet soft (gentle), Masumi, could it really be a lobster?

And the flesh on the cheeks, it must be very soft when you bite into it, right?

The jellyfish girl is very agile.

"Awoo--Pop~"

Although it's as soft and chewy as shrimp meat, it doesn't taste like Rinne's cooking; it only has the salty taste of skin.

Seeing the faint teeth marks, Haiyue frowned slightly, then took Masumi's hand.

It was this hand, with its slender, long fingers and warm, broad palm, that held her firmly on that day.

Jellyfish drift with the current, yet they cannot truly trust the waves, because they might be accidentally pushed ashore and stranded.

However, this person is different.

His thoughtful and considerate gentleness allowed Haiyue to trust him with peace of mind.

Masumi's body temperature traveled through my palm to Kaigetsu's small hand. It was both firm and soft, very comfortable, and I wanted to hold it like that forever.

However, she doesn't have much time left.

In her sleep, Rinne let out a muffled groan.

"It's just a minor cold... I don't need you this time..."

"Give me the medicine... You just stand there... no... you and Haiyue, get out of here..."

Haiyue blinked curiously, wondering what Rinne was dreaming about. She was even in Rinne's dream.
Curious, she walked around to Rinne's side, and as she reached out her hand, a sudden emergency began to take shape in her mind.

"Ugh."

Not wanting to repeat the embarrassing situation at the doujinshi convention last time, Haiyue stopped the current command without hesitation.

To avoid waking Masumi, she tiptoed out of the room and gently closed the door.

◇

After hearing the girl's light footsteps fade into the distance, Masumi opened her eyes.

"...What's going on?"

Masumi actually woke up quite early, but because she was being held down, she couldn't reach her phone and therefore couldn't know the exact time. In any case, she was even earlier than Kaizuki.

To describe it with a specific event, it's like Masumi having a nightmare where she's suffocating because her face is buried in a peach, and then waking up to find that the nightmare has come true.

Even now, after struggling, he is only a few centimeters away from the nightmare in reality... Couldn't Haiyue have helped him move a little earlier?

Not only did they not help, they also bit themselves.

Although it didn't hurt, it was a bit of a mess. Just as Haiyue was childishly poking his face for fun, something similar happened to Rinne's face.

Why is this so?
Haiyue has made initial progress in overcoming her mental block, and the first music video she uploaded to the account was completed after working through the night. Everything is thriving.

What should have been a moving event, symbolizing the vitality of bamboo shoots breaking through the soil, always ended with an unsatisfactory scene.

Masumi tried to contemplate the philosophy of life with the mindset of an ancient Greek sage in order to gain inner peace, but with little success.

As if dissatisfied with being constantly poked in the face, the heiress retaliated.

The seeds sprout, break through the soil and grow strong, nourished by rain and dew into tall peach trees. In the scorching heat of July, the white peaches ripen and fall to the ground.

Yes, Masumi got hit squarely.

◇

The moment I opened my eyes, the morning sunlight streamed in through the gap in the curtains.

Kurokawa Mio then looked at the time displayed on her phone: 8:42. So early? No, it's already the next day!
"Sorry, Masumi, I fell asleep without realizing it."

She straightened her upper body and said in a flustered manner, as the blanket draped over her slipped off.

"It's okay, anyway, Mio has finished her part."

Masumi said nonchalantly.

Are you hungry? Shall we have breakfast now?

"Eh, Masumi made this?"

As Kurokawa Mio looked at Rinne and Asami sleeping on the bed, her fingers unconsciously clenched slightly.

These two girls are shamelessly sleeping soundly in someone else's bed... Oh well, as long as they stay away from Masumi, it'll be fine.

Masumi shook her head: "No, it's a bento box I just went downstairs to Matsuya to get."

Back in Tokyo, there were times when I stayed up all night with my bandmates. After waking up, nothing was more perfect than having a huge bowl of beef bowl at a 24-hour fast food restaurant to recharge.

However, considering that they were all girls, he added salad.

"...No, I don't have much of an appetite."

"Is that so?"

Haiyue, who hadn't been staying up late much, was now enjoying her meal at the table. Her portion was a medium-sized bowl of onsen egg and grilled meat rice.

"Ah."

Kurokawa Mio nodded, her dark eyes darting around, and in a lazy tone, with a cute, muffled humming sound like she had just woken up, she said sweetly, "Hey, Masumi."

"what happened?"

"Can you give me your body?"

She said it so casually, but it startled Masumi: There were other people present, Mio wouldn't...

Looking at the surprised Masumi, Kurokawa Mio continued:

"I mean... can I lie on your arm?"

"Eh."

Realizing her misunderstanding, Masumi paused slightly, while Kurokawa Mio said coquettishly, "Um... is that not okay?"

"I've been staying up all night for Masumi, can't I even have this small reward?"

She said pitifully, "Isn't this painful, pleading voice a bit too much?"

"Well, it's not impossible."

Humans are a species that can eventually adapt to whatever they encounter.

Once I realized this, I felt amazing to be a part of it.

"That's wonderful!" Kurokawa Mio's face lit up with a smile. Then she stood up and naturally took Masumi's wrist. "Let's go without further ado."

"Huh? Where to go?"

“My room,” Mio said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Can't it be done here?"

Entering Mio's room alone under these circumstances felt no different from a novice adventurer venturing into the Demon King's castle alone.

"You need a bed to have a wrist pillow."

As Kurokawa Mio spoke, she glanced unhappily at Masumi's bed. When her gaze fell on Rinne, Masumi secretly clenched a handful of sticky sweat in her palm.

He went to great lengths to move Rinne to the bed without waking the girls present.

"Ok."

Masumi nodded and quietly closed the door.

For some reason, I always feel guilty for secretly doing things behind other girls' backs.

For the wrist pillow, Kurokawa Mio even changed into a provocative black lace nightgown.

"Does it look good, Masumi?" she asked, swaying her swaying skirt.

"Hmm." Masumi first affirmed, then casually reminded him, "Today is a business day."

“I know.” Kurokawa Mio smiled gently. “So just using it as a pillow for a little while is enough, but even so, I want to treat it with the same care and attention I would give a birthday present.”

There's no need to dress yourself up like a gift.

"..."

She suddenly puffed out her cheeks as if she were being difficult.

"What's wrong? Mio."

"Speaking of which, it's so unfair that it's so easy to tell a girl's size, when a boy can't tell at all."

Is the reason I'm thinking about this kind of thing because I've been staring at one spot for too long?

Masumi sighed quietly, "When did Mio become like Mami?"

Kurokawa Mio's expression turned cold: "You mean Ms. Mami knows—"

“I didn’t say that,” Masumi immediately denied.

"Hey, Masumi."

"Ok?"

An eerie light shone from Kurokawa Mio's eyes.

"I want to know more about Masumi."

"...Do you still need a wrist pillow? We don't have much time left."

"want!"

The two of them squeezed onto the narrow single bed, and Kurokawa Mio, like a clingy golden retriever, pressed her head against Masumi's arm.

The subtle fragrance tickles your nose, and when a girl rests her head on your arm and acts coquettishly, it's hard not to be tempted, right? So it's the same for Masumi.

Kurokawa Mio suddenly spoke up: "...Masumi, have other girls rested their heads on your arm like this?"

"Eh."

The problem is fatal.

But Masumi didn't want to lie to Kurokawa Mio, so he chose to tell the truth:

"...I've never used it as a pillow."

Well, because Mio only asked about the wrist rest position.

Language is an art, no, it's magic.

"Yeah."

Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Kurokawa Mio revealed a very cute smile and chuckled softly, "Now I'm the first girl to rest my head on Masumi's arm, how happy I am."

"Oh, um..."

Her voice was a little stiff. Ever since she had been close to Mio, her body had been inexplicably tingling. Mio's perfect body temperature pulled Masumi's consciousness into a blur.

It is said that body temperature can induce sleepiness.

"Are you sleepy, Masumi?"

Masumi suppressed a yawn: "No problem."

"Don't force yourself. I'll wake Masumi up before we open for business, so you can sleep soundly."

"No, really, it's not necessary." Masumi insisted on refusing.

Kurokawa Mio pouted with dissatisfaction: "What? Is Masumi worried that I'll secretly take off your clothes while you're asleep and do this or that to satisfy my desire to know Masumi better? If that's the case, don't worry, I won't do that, in fact, I haven't even thought about it."

...Isn't that a very specific point?
Moreover, the repeated emphasis on this statement makes it even more suspicious.

"...She just wanted to get to know Masumi better." Kurokawa Mio muttered under her breath as her scheme failed.

"After all, you can only see the 'normal Masumi' when she's asleep."

"Huh? What does 'usual me' mean?"

What corresponds to the ordinary me? The special me?

"Ah~ it's swollen... no, it's nothing."

A gentle smile appeared on Kurokawa Mio's lips as she easily deflected Masumi's question.

Masumi seemed to realize something and decided not to delve into it further.

Then she sat up and said to Masumi:
"Thank you for the wrist pillow, Masumi. I'm very happy. I'm hungry, let's go get breakfast."

"Oh."

The crisis has passed, and the sun shines again.

Half an hour before the store opened, Amamiya Kozue arrived as promised.

Good morning, everyone from the Stars.

Her gaze swept over the group in turn, lingering longest on Haiyue's face before finally settling on Masumi's.

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

"How is everyone doing with what we discussed last time, a week later?"

"...Please take a look at this."

As Masumi said this, she pushed the laptop screen towards her, pointing it directly at the tip.

A video file named "Complete.mp4" lies quietly in the folder.

Using illustrations provided by Asami, beginners Masumi and Rinne added lyrics, background transitions, and geometric patterns to create a fast-paced music video.

Mio Kurokawa's keyboard playing and Kaizuki's vocals infuse the music video with soul.

As the music video played, the song title I, like that of my predecessor, appeared on the screen: "Seeing the Moon Over the Sea on a Moonlit Night."

Vocal:

Lyrics: Kongkongliu Aquarium

Music/Key: Kurokawa

Illust: Ryujinin Michiyo

Movie: Black Cat

A girl with light blue jellyfish-like hair appeared on the streets of Sannomiya, her skirt floating in the air.

The streets, resembling water tanks, shimmered brightly, and the girl was like a jellyfish sparkling in the night.

Her slender fingers gently pressed the black and white piano keys, weaving a rhythm like the lingering sound of ocean waves, and her voice flowed from her lips.

Like butterflies dancing in the water, their brightly colored fins...

Can't I yearn for what I don't have?

The colorful scales resembled a gown woven from flower petals.

Isn't it strange to dream of owning something that's clearly not suitable?
The clear voice is like the gentle seawater, and the delicate emotions within it are like the bioluminescent insects on the crest of the waves at dusk, rippling out a tranquil glow in the ocean.

This singing voice is completely out of character for Haiyue.

He usually speaks haltingly, as if he's praying.

But the lyrics sung at this moment are incredibly clear and firm, as if they have transformed into tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of moon jellyfish, their colorless and transparent bodies drifting with the waves to all the seas in the world.

Why is my body always transparent?

Swim forward clumsily, that's just a wish.
But it can't become the moon in the sea.
Each moon jellyfish is very delicate, and can only bear a little bit of emotion and longing.

Even so, their presence, imbued with the light of the night, can illuminate the cold, dark depths of the sea.

Kurokawa Mio's koto music traveled slowly on the calm sea, carried only by the lingering sound of the wind, overlapping with the sea moon's song.

Compared to the temperature of the moon, the jellyfish's body must be much colder, but as long as it is exposed to sunlight at least once a day, that's enough.

This is how Haiyue felt when she sang:
Just once, so that when you're lost, when you're frozen, I can hold your hand and offer you warmth.

Let's say goodbye to this mundane, drifting lifestyle.
It's alright, the taste of those tears is more familiar to everyone.
Look, those water droplets that splash up with each struggle look just like pearls, don't they?

The song ended at the horizon, and the jellyfish, bursting with light, painted the night with their colors.

Looking up at the vast expanse of the sky where the waves crash against the ground...
Seeing the moon on a moonlit night

(End of this chapter)