Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 229, Section 4: "The Red Comet on the Highway"

A trip that you can take on a whim.

The departure date was hastily set for the next day, leaving plenty of time for the trip. The plan was for four days and three nights, with the destination being Rinne's hometown, Gunma Prefecture.

On the day of my trip, I looked up and saw a clear, cloudless sky, its surface a pale, glassy blue.

The six people stopped at the car rental shop and loaded their luggage into the car.

"Didn't you say you were going to drink local sake in Gunma? Why did you bring your own sake?"

As Masumi moved Mami's package into the trunk, she looked at the glass bottle of liquor and asked a question.

Upon hearing his question, Mami proudly tossed her hair.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Masumi-kun is so naive. Just like how you can layer lipstick, this bottle of wine is what I plan to mix with the fine wine from Gunma."

"So, it's like a cocktail, isn't it?"

But can sake be used to make cocktails?

“Mashimi-kun is wrong again. This is not an ordinary wine. It is a high-grade wine that my mother specially sent from her hometown of Kusatsu.”

After emphasizing this, Mami revealed a mysterious smile.

Masumi said in a nonchalant tone, "Just don't drink while driving."

Worried that he might succumb to temptation along the way, Masumi deliberately buried the package containing the alcohol among the many bags of luggage, making it inconvenient to retrieve from either inside or outside the car.

Mami muttered under her breath, clearly annoyed, "...Seriously, Masumi-kun treats me like a creature that lives only by following its instincts."

Qian'ai nodded in agreement, "I think it's still very necessary."

"Why is Chia Ai like this too!"

Mio's backpack was bulging, but it felt surprisingly light when I picked it up. "Is it all clothes inside?"

"Yes." Kurokawa Mio nodded. "You could say that."

"...What do you mean by saying that?" Masumi had a bad feeling.

Kurokawa Mio flashed the same mysterious smile that Asami had just given her:
"Masumi will find out in time."

"Oh, oh..."

For some reason, it makes me feel very uneasy.

"Qian'ai's luggage..."

"Ah! I can do it myself! No need to trouble Masumi-nii!"

Even Qian Ai...

As Masumi watched Aome's slightly flustered back, she suddenly noticed a folded note falling out of her shirt pocket.

"This is……"

Masumi picked it up, unfolded the note, and saw a row of cute, girlish handwriting on the crease.

"Small gestures that will make a guy fall for you"

Before I could even read the next line of text, the note was snatched away by a hand.

"what?"

Masumi looked up and saw her childhood friend, whose face was flushed and who looked very nervous.

"Really, really, Cheng-ge! This is my note!"

Her tongue trembled, and she stammered as she spoke.

"Oh, I know."

He never intended to forcibly seize the property rights of the paper slip.

"No, that's not right!" Qian'ai immediately changed her tune in a panic, "This isn't my note! Who, who put this note in my pocket!?"

You ask me, who should I ask.

Masumi forced a smile as if to reassure her, "Don't worry, I didn't see anything."

"Yes, really."

Logically speaking, such a clumsy lie shouldn't be able to fool anyone. Perhaps Qian Ai is under too much pressure and desperately needs comfort.

Hearing his words, the childhood sweetheart breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good."

After calming down, she murmured very softly, "Honestly, I should have written it in Spanish."

"Ok?"

"No! It's nothing."

Chiai practically fled in a disheveled manner, distancing herself from Masumi and leaving Masumi alone with cold sweat dripping from her forehead.

Speaking of which, the day before the trip, a few girls went to a department store. Well, he was enjoying a rare moment of leisure, spending time alone watching over the store.

Looking back now, it's quite strange that Mio and Kaigetsu, who usually love to be close to him, didn't try to drag him along.

"...I'm thinking of going back to the shop."

Masumi muttered to herself, her face pale, just as Rinne walked over and overheard her.

"What did you say?"

"No, it's nothing."

Chiai's reaction from just now was now transferred to Masumi, even though he himself was the one who least understood why she was so flustered.

The suspicious people are clearly those girls!

"..."

The heiress tilted her head in confusion, but she wasn't the type to pry into people's intentions. She simply said, "Is that so?", nodded slightly, and walked away.

Masumi slapped her cheeks between her hands.

Calm down, Masumi. Right now, no one is your teammate. You need to become stronger on your own.

All the luggage was loaded into the car, and Masumi put it in the trunk.

This red, seven-seater vehicle will be the companion for the group's four-day, three-night road trip.

"It's decided, we'll call it the 'Red Comet'!"

Asami casually gave her partner a name, but it didn't seem very auspicious. What if they encountered a seven-seater car named "White Devil" on the road?
It's decided, this road trip absolutely cannot include stops in Osaka and Yokohama.

The beginning of a journey is always the most exciting moment. Asami, like an animal that can't sit still, kept shouting, "Let me drive! Let me drive!"

"...Huh? Is everything alright?"

Qian'ai asked worriedly.

"Or it would be better to have Rinne, Masumi-nii, or Mio-nee-nee drive."

"Is Chihiro really that worried about me?!"

Asami puffed up her cheeks like a pufferfish, as if she were being difficult.

"Well, because Asami-nee's personality has always been very unreliable... very enthusiastic and lively, it makes people very worried about your driving style, whether you might... use launch control or something."

Qian Ai carefully chose her words, trying to refuse as tactfully as possible.

"...You can rest assured about Chiai."

Asami said confidently, "At least I passed the driving school exam properly."

"How can you be so convincing! And is there any improper way to do this?" Qian Ai complained.

"Stop standing here chatting, it'll get dark soon if we don't leave now."

Asami urged everyone on with her words, and without any hesitation, she sat in the driver's seat, while Rinne, who had driving experience, naturally sat in the passenger seat.

Masumi and Mio sat in the middle row, while Kaizuki and Chia sat in the last row.

"Red Comet! Launch!"

The rented car was an automatic, which was easy to drive. Mami put her left hand on the gear lever.

The engine was started, the car roared to life, and it drove away from the rental shop.

Qian'ai, who had been on edge, visibly relaxed, and her slightly furrowed brows revealed a different emotion.

"...Isn't the speed a bit too slow?"

On a weekday in November, traffic on the Meishin Expressway was not congested, and Mami drove cautiously in the slow lane.

Are all Zeon's mobile suits turtles?
"Safety, safety is the most important thing!" Mami emphasized. "Better safe than sorry."

That's true.

Qian Ai's expression was complicated: "However... although I'm no longer worried about my personal safety."

"But I'm more worried about Asami's mental state now."

Calm down, calm down, Mami murmured to herself repeatedly.

"Mami-nee, are you alright?" Rinne asked worriedly, "Should I take over driving?"

"Hey, but we can't park here, right?"

The driver, Mami, had long since given up.

"There's a rest stop up ahead. Let's turn around here... Ah, we've passed it." Rinne said casually.

"Hey, hey! Where?"

Mami looked away in a bit of a panic.

"Focus on what's ahead, Mami-nee," Rinne instructed. "Let's wait for the next rest stop."

"okay."

Asami gripped the steering wheel, her face tense, looking every bit like a novice driver.

◇

It has been almost two hours since we left Kobe.

Meishin Expressway, Kusatsu PA rest stop.

"Oh, we've arrived at Mami-nee's hometown, but we can't see Lake Biwa yet."

Chiai curiously surveyed the scenery surrounding the rest stop.

This place seems to have been the intersection of the Nakasendo and Tokaido, two of the five major roads, during the Edo period. Kusatsujuku was considered a major transportation route.

Even today, in the Reiwa era, this place remains a frequent rest area for long-distance drivers on the Meishin Expressway.

Here, have something to eat.

Masumi holds a fried meatball in a plastic cup, which is said to be made with Omi Wagyu beef and is a specialty of this rest stop.

Haiyue stood next to him, peeling open the meat bun she had just bought from the 711-Eleven convenience store; a thin layer of dough was stuck to the wrapper.

She opened her lips, took a small bite, and smiled contentedly.

"Phew—I'm so nervous. This is a completely different feeling from taking the test in the training field."

My buttocks were a little sore from sitting for so long, so I stretched my thighs and moved my wrists around.

Gradually, the tense muscles relaxed, and it felt very comfortable.

“It seems that saying was true,” Masumi suddenly said.

"What did you say?" Mami picked up a meatball with a skewer and put it in her mouth.

"A person's personality may change after they hold the steering wheel."

"That's because it was my first time driving on the highway." Asami swallowed her second meatball, kicked the ground like a defiant child, trying to justify herself.

Dust swirled around him. Masumi squinted, covered the rim of the cup with his palm, and nodded, saying:

"Thinking about it carefully, you only got your driver's license a few days ago and you dared to drive on the highway. You're surprisingly bold."

"If I could, I'd still like more impressive qualities," Mami said sullenly.

After a short rest at Kusatsu Station, the group continued their journey.

The crimson comet found a more suitable driver. Rinne focused her mind, gripped the steering wheel intently, and pressed the accelerator with her canvas-shoe-clad foot, propelling the car into the fast lane.

Take the Meishin Expressway, then the Shinmeishin Expressway, and then the Dongmei Expressway.

The scenery flashed by outside the window.

The navigation system indicates that we have entered Aichi Prefecture.

With a skilled driver, you can feel at ease whether you're enjoying the scenery from the car window or sleeping.

That's why Mami in the front passenger seat, and Kaizuki and Chiai in the last row, all dozed off, having gotten up very early for the trip.

Masumi propped her face up and looked out the window, where the plains of Nobi stretched out in waves of blue on both sides of the national highway.

Maintaining the posture with her neck constantly turned to one side wasn't very comfortable, so Masumi turned her head left and right as if to stretch her muscles. She saw Kurokawa Mio take off her shoes, put her feet on the chair, and sit with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Her fair feet were encased only in flesh-colored half-length stockings, with only the toes covered. The beautiful arches of her feet and her fair, rosy heels sank into the leather seat.

Yes, this scenery is much prettier than Nori Plain.

A black headphone wire peeked out from between Mio's blonde hair, crookedly extending all the way into the front pocket of her hoodie.

"What is Mio listening to?"

After asking, Kurokawa Mio handed the right earphone to Masumi, and the two of them put on one earphone each, connecting them with a wire.

Putting the headphones on, I heard the clean tone of the piano and an unfamiliar melody.

"Did Mio compose this music?"

“Yes, but it’s only a short section,” Kurokawa Mio said.

As if she had just thought of something, she suddenly asked, "Can I write the lyrics for the next song?"

"Yes, of course."

Having a desire to express oneself is a good thing, and Masumi is also curious about what Mio's lyrics will be like.

"Mmm." Kurokawa Mio smiled somewhat restrainedly. "I won't let Masumi down."

The car suddenly shook violently.

The three girls who were dozing off woke up one after another.

"Huh? We're already in Gunma? That was fast," Mami mumbled sleepily.

"No, we've only just arrived in Shizuoka Prefecture." Rinne said with her usual indifferent expression, "Let's rest here for a bit and have something to eat."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I am indeed a little hungry."

Asami took the tissue Masumi handed her and wiped her glistening lips clean.

Their rest area is Makinohara SA in Shizuoka Prefecture.

As we got off the bus, two large buses also drove into the large parking lot.

The female high school students in uniforms jumped off the train one by one.

"This is Shizuoka Prefecture, but I can't see any cherry blossoms at all. Isn't this the place in Japan where cherry blossoms bloom earliest?"

"Idiot, it's not like it can open a year in advance."

"It's the Makinohara rest area."

"The Swiss roll looks delicious."

"Oh no, I'm starting to get hungry."

The restless students began to discuss what they saw, their faces beaming with a sense of liberation after their long journey.

It appears to be a girls' school that came from Northeast China on a study tour.

"How youthful it is, high school girls." Chiai sighed melancholy. "It's been two years since I graduated from high school without even realizing it."

"Doesn't Chiai want to become more mature?" Masumi asked, puzzled.

"That's true, but it would be great if one could be both young and mature."

Qingmei said something that was hard for her childhood sweetheart to understand.

"Girls are so hard to understand," Masumi sighed.

In the rest area restaurant, the girls ordered Makinohara Swiss Roll, strawberry parfait dessert, and black tea.

There's still a month until strawberry season, and the strawberries adorning the top of the parfait aren't very plump, but they're still quite sweet.

"The desserts here are so expensive."

Looking at the prices of the desserts on the tablet, Rinne showed a slightly pained expression.

"The parfait is twice as expensive as in Kobe city, and the Swiss roll is too, it costs 1400 yen."

It was rare to see the heiress with an expression other than calm and indifferent, and Masumi smiled as if it were a novelty.

Looking back at the back row, Mami, Mio, Chia, and Kaigetsu were chatting together.

"Everyone looks so happy, that's great."

"Hmm, it seems that traveling always brings joy, just like when I went to Miyako Island and Kyoto last time."

Rinne ran her fingers through her black hair and answered softly.

"Is Rinne happy?"

"Ah."

She nodded without hesitation.

Masumi suddenly thought of something: "Speaking of which, all three times it was other people's idea. Did Rinne herself have any places she wanted to go?"

"I'd go anywhere with you all."

If Rinne had spoken like this in high school, she would definitely have gone from an aloof beauty to a heartthrob.

"Isn't there anywhere you want to go?"

Masumi asked in a probing tone, wanting to know more about the heiress.

Rinne thought for a moment and said, "...I want to see some 'special' scenery."

"……special."

Masumi pondered the word, trying to decipher its meaning. "It's probably a kind of scenery that's hard to see normally, right?"

"should."

Rinne herself wasn't quite sure either.

"For example, abroad?"

"Overseas countries, it feels so far away."

For the first 20 years of her life, Rinne has only been moving between Kansai and Kanto.

"It is indeed far. If Rinne were to travel abroad, where would she like to go?"

"Eh."

Faced with the sudden question, Rinne lowered her eyelashes quietly and looked at the floor as she spoke.

"Hmm...maybe Egypt?"

"Egypt?"

Completely unexpected, Masumi blinked in surprise.

China, with its proximity and abundance of cultural and scenic attractions, offers enough visual fatigue from seeing giant pandas; or France, which inexplicably has a fondness for Japan; or Northern Europe, where you can see the Northern Lights.

Masumi had expected these to be the results.

"An unexpected answer, why?"

"I want to see the pyramids."

"pyramid?"

"I see. It must be spectacular to see in real life. I've only ever seen it on TV and in books."

Of the seven wonders of the world listed by Mediterranean travelers, only the pyramids have stood to this day.

"Hmm, don't you think it's amazing? It has stood for thousands of years. Sultan Osman of the Ayyubid dynasty once tried to demolish the pyramids, but he gave up because of their magnificent scale."

Rinne murmured, "Beautiful, powerful, this is the kind of special scenery I want to see."

"Eh~ that's really impressive." Masumi nodded in agreement, smiling as she said, "Hearing you say that makes me want to go see the pyramids too."

Upon hearing this, Rinne raised her face, her beautiful purple eyes looking directly at him.

"Then, do you want to come along?"

"Eh?"

Masumi looked at Rinne in surprise.

The beautiful girl casually tucked her black hair behind her ear.

"Such a magnificent view, it must be so much fun for everyone to see it together."

Yes, indeed. Masumi could easily imagine Mami excitedly shouting and startling the camels next to her with her eyes slightly closed.

"However, my English is terrible, and I feel very uneasy about going abroad."

"It's okay, I'm here."

Rinne said earnestly.

These words, though brief and light, somehow made people feel reassured, as if weighed down by a thousand pounds.

“Yes.” Masumi nodded. “The coffee shop has been doing better and better lately, so going on a trip abroad isn’t such a far-fetched idea anymore.”

"Let's travel together someday."

"So, it's a date?"

Rinne extended her slender little finger. She was actually being this serious. She couldn't show any weakness.

"Ah."

Masumi hooked her little finger on it.

When Masumi first traveled to Osaka, she told Chiai, "I don't want to make promises lightly; I only want to do what I can do right now."

But now, things have changed.

—Someday.

Even if it's an agreement that's uncertain whether it can be fulfilled.

But when faced with a lifetime that can sometimes be so long as to be unsettling, it is precisely these accumulated agreements that allow people to envision the future more clearly.

(End of this chapter)