Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 24 24. "Karuta"

The gurgling water flows out from the faucet continuously, washing the walls of the cup and fingers.

Masumi cleaned a glass and placed it in a row with the other three.

On a spring afternoon, the sunlight was cut into pieces by the crowded camphor tree leaves in front of the store. The soft light was reflected on the surface of the cup, spreading to the cup body, and sparkling with star-like light.

He poured barley tea into a glass and carried it all on a tray. The shop was still under renovation, and three girls were sitting at a table far away from where the renovation workers were working.

Kamishiro Rinone and Seno Asami sat facing each other, leaning forward slightly, their eyes wandering across the table, as if observing something.

After approaching, Masumi put down the barley tea and then saw the karuta cards neatly arranged on the table. It turned out that they were playing karuta to pass the time.

It was the pair he won at the convenience store last time, and he just left it on the table without paying attention to it.

"Thank you."

When handing it to Rin, the girl raised her clear eyes and gently opened her lips to thank him.

Masumi stared intently into her clear eyes. The amethyst in her eyes seemed to be filtered by the spring sun. It was not as strong as the sparkle of a glass, but appeared hazy and soft.

"Then I start?"

Kuon Mirai gently signaled the start of the game, then picked up a karuta from the deck, slightly opened her cherry-pink lips, and read out the waka on it with clear pronunciation.

"There was no chance encounter at first—"

Almost at the moment she uttered the first few pseudonyms, the amethyst color in Rin's eyes suddenly overflowed.

A shadow flashed past Masumi's eyes.

After coming back to his senses, his gaze refocused on the long, slender, white fingers of Kamiyo Rinone.

She was holding the song card with the second half of the poem written on it.

If we hadn't met by chance, how could I have fallen in love with you?

"So fast."

The three of them were surprised by her speed and accuracy. Mami took a sip of barley tea slowly, suppressed her surprise and said, "It's very strong."

Utaru is a traditional card game in the island nation. The more common one is the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu karuta, which has poems printed on it from the waka anthology "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu".

The rules of the competition are one-on-one competition. Each player chooses 100 cards from 25 cards. After the reciter reads the first half of the poem, the players compete for the card with the second half. The player who empties his deck first wins.

It is a game that tests memory, reaction speed and physical strength.

"The whole yard is covered with white snow—" Jiuyuanwei continued to read.

"——The wind and rain hasten the falling of flowers."

"Everything should be settled——"

"——Mayflies envy the longevity of life."

For several rounds in a row, Rinyin touched the cards quickly and accurately, and the deck in front of her was almost cleared.

Opposite her, Mami was dazzled by the dozens of different cards placed together. Her eyes seemed to turn into mosquito coils, and she complained, "What is this? I can't even see the Chinese characters clearly, and little Rin'in is already touching the cards."

"Ms. Mami." Kuon Mirai gently placed the karuta she had finished reading on the table and sighed, "You can't actually memorize a single waka poem, right?"

"Don't say that. I still remember one song."

"Which one?"

"let me see……"

Mami was recalling seriously: "There was faint thunder and a gloomy sky. But I hope the wind and rain will come and keep you here."

She tried to read with a very affectionate tone, and her gently swaying bangs left a trace of melancholy on her face, as if she was immersed in the artistic conception of waka.

Masumi also had an impression of this waka poem, it seemed to be called Thunder God Tanka, and she remembered the next line was...

"There's faint thunder and a gloomy sky. Even if there's no rain, I'll stay here."

After finishing reading, Mami raised the corners of her lips proudly and looked at the three people, "How is it?" Unexpectedly, the three of them looked at her with dumbfounded eyes.

"What's with that look on your face? Is it because you're impressed by my talent?"

"Ms. Mami..." Kuon Mirai replied with a somewhat helpless tone, "This song is called Thunder God Tanka. It's from the Manyoshu, not the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu."

"Um... is there a difference? The Manyoshu and Hyakunin Isshu should be included, right? After all, the Manyoshu is bigger than the Hyakunin Isshu."

Masumi didn't know what to say. The three people's speechless gazes made Asami's eyebrows droop slightly, and she stared at the karuta on the table in dismay.

"Continue?"

A question from the distant future.

"The last time." The continuous failures have made Mami lose interest.

Kuon Mirai cleared his throat, slowly reached out and picked up the karuta, glanced at Mami again, took a deep breath, and recited: "Hmm... Rapid Rock Smashed." "I know!"

The sudden shout startled Masumi who was watching the fun, and even Kuon Mirai and Kamishiro Rin'one were stunned in their tracks.

"I really have an impression of this. Let me take a look..."

Asami desperately lowered her head to search for the target card. After messing up her own formation, she excitedly shouted "Found it!", holding a katari card tightly in both hands and holding it up, like a gold digger holding a nugget, with a smile on her face.

Her neatly manicured pale pink nails reflected the afternoon light as Asami read the words on it.

"The rapids shattered the rocks, and they were helplessly separated."

The karuta only ended here, but Mami recited the second half fluently.

"Sooner or later we will meet, and my longing for you will only deepen."

"So you memorized one song." Masumi said.

Asami shook her head and answered honestly, "When I memorized it, I didn't even know what Hyakunin Isshu was. I thought it was the lyrics."

Masumi was stunned for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Animation?"

"Bingo!"

Asami snapped her fingers crisply.

"It's the theme song from the Girls' Opera."

She pushed her bangs back, tilted her right cheek upwards, and smiled faintly. "But after all, it can be considered a comeback."

"This isn't a shutout anymore."

"Although I really want to affirm you, Sister Mami, but..." Kuon Mirai stopped mid-sentence and lifted her hair as if she was troubled.

Rinyin continued for her: "In karuta competitions, the rules prohibit the use of both hands. If you initially use your right hand to pick up a card, then if you subsequently touch the designated card with your left hand, it will be invalid."

"Hey——Why is that?"

Mami sighed and rested her chin on the table, one cheek pressed against the cool surface while the other puffed up like a pufferfish, making Masumi want to poke it.

"I thought playing with karuta with one hand in anime was just for show, but I don't know there's such a rule."

"Still playing?" Jiuyuan Weiwei looked at her and asked.

"No more playing. There's no suspense if we continue anyway."

The game is over, today's winner is Asami's defeat.

Seeing her frustrated look, Rinone sorted out the scattered karuta cards and comforted her, saying, "We're just killing time. Don't take it seriously."

Although it was Mami who was clamoring for a showdown at the beginning, she thought it was a game of who could hit the flying cards faster.

"I'm not that fragile. But this game is really difficult."

Asami sighed and immediately turned her gaze towards Masumi, "Masumi-kun likes to play this?"

Her thick eyelashes blinked slowly up and down, her expression was slightly distorted, and her eyebrows were furrowed, as if to say, "Denounce my doubt quickly."

"No, I won it in a lottery at the convenience store yesterday."

"That's good."

A sigh of relief escaped Asami's lips. "I thought I was being betrayed."

"What's that like?"

"Because Xiao Linyin and Xiao Weiwei are both top students, right? If you are also a hidden academic master, then the atmosphere of ordinary people in the store will be entirely up to me. It's so hard."

Masumi was a little confused about her train of thought.

"In other words, Fanxing currently has two ordinary people and two top students, making it a very balanced group."

As Mami was talking nonsense, the wind chimes started to shake without permission, as if to stop her from continuing.

——Dingdong.

Along with the sound of wind chimes, a soft female voice slowly fell.

"excuse me."

A petite figure stood in front of the door.

Her tone was soft, giving people the feeling of a floating mist, circling and caressing along the shoulders, hair tips, and eyebrows.

"My name is Sayori Shionji. I'm here to help at your store at the request of Asami Seno. Please give me your guidance."

(End of this chapter)