Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 254, Section 29: "Senior, shouldn't the first stop after getting off the plane be the ○-person Hotel?"

The light snow that had stopped for a while at noon resumed falling from the night sky when Masumi went out.

"Then I'm going out."

He said this to the shop.

"Are you sure you don't need me to go with you?"

Mio was extremely cautious about Masumi picking me up alone, just like the loyal dog seeing its master off.

Looking into those pitiful, watery eyes, Masumi sighed quietly and tried to persuade Mio to wait for him obediently at the coffee shop.

"So you'll come back on time and won't stay out overnight, right?"

"Ah."

Masumi patted her head reassuringly and noticed that Mio had pouted and her lips were curved.

This cold-faced beauty with long honey-gold hair sometimes reveals a pure and adorable puppy-like side.

"Nothing will happen, Mio, don't worry."

"Um……"

She didn't seem to be at ease at all, tilting her head and rubbing against Masumi's palm.

While dealing with her, Masumi used her free hand to put on her scarf.

If he continued to pester her, it would never end, so he hardened his heart and gently pushed Mio away with his hand.

"That's settled then. I'll go back to the shop as soon as I get my senior, Ru Gu."

◇

The sky, already painted with the darkness of night, was now slightly bleached by the swirling snowflakes and the city's Christmas lights.

Christmas songs played in the shopping street, and the station, overpass, and sidewalks were all decorated with glittering lights, making it much more lively than usual.

However, with people coming and going at the station, everyone was too busy to even glance at it.

Masumi waited in front of a pillar in the square in front of the station, idly scrolling through her phone to check the current time: 7:27.

The breath he exhaled was white.

He looked up at the sky, and snowflakes drifted down in front of him, landing on the tip of his nose.

Today's snow is wet, containing a lot of moisture. The snowflakes almost melt into water before they hit the ground, and they will get wet if they are exposed to snow for a long time.

In short, it's weather that makes you wonder whether or not to use an umbrella.

But before that, Masumi had something even more troubling to do.

He glanced sideways at the crowd of people coming and going. It was already more than ten minutes late, and his senior was still nowhere to be seen.

I wish it didn't snow today.

Masumi's gaze followed the trail of water droplets sliding down her coat, and she couldn't help but think this.

My senior arrived in Kobe from Kansai Airport by train.

The thought of the trams possibly being delayed gives me a headache.

He stared at the phone screen in front of him, his index finger tracing the rounded edges of the screen.

Masumi: "Where is my senior?"

The message is currently unread.

I glanced at the top left corner to check the time: 7:35. I felt even more anxious.

As soon as she relaxed, her thoughts would drift in a bad direction. Masumi shook her head, trying to dispel the bad thoughts in her mind.

"Oh my, handsome, are you alone? Want to come to an izakaya for a drink?"

Suddenly, a sweet voice rang out from behind.

A hand rested on my shoulder, its fingertips tracing the skin, and a cold touch swept across my neck.

Upon hearing this frivolous tone, Masumi immediately realized who it was. She turned her head, her long hair, even blacker than the night sky, fluttering gently.

The newcomer smiled and brushed her long hair aside, revealing a stunningly beautiful face.

Beneath her long, thick eyelashes, her eyes, like jewels displayed in a glass shop window, were slightly narrowed, and she wore a joking expression.

Masumi sighed softly, "Senpai, please don't use that flirtatious tone."

"Sorry, sorry. There was a problem with my checked baggage, which caused the delay. It's only just arrived now, and my phone is also out of battery."

I clasped my hands together in a gesture of respect, just like the ancient masters, and said sincerely.

"I'm really sorry to have kept Masumi waiting for so long, so I wanted to act silly on purpose to calm her down."

Masumi gently shook her head.

"I'm not that petty, I'm just worried that something might have happened to my senior."

Like my predecessor, I was wearing a khaki trench coat, the buttons on the front were fastened perfunctorily, and there was a long gap between the short skirt and the high-heeled ankle boots.

It's winter now, yet they're still going bare-legged. Japanese girls are really tough.

"Hmm~ It seems that showing you my legs directly is more effective at venting Masumi's anger than acting stupid."

Her eyes crinkled with laughter, and her luscious lips curved into a mischievous smile.

"Senior, have you forgotten the temperature here because you haven't been back to Kobe for so long?"

As Masumi spoke, she took the bag from her senior and decided to avoid her words, starting afresh.

"let's go."

"Where to go?"

“Of course, a coffee shop,” Masumi replied without hesitation.

"Huh~"

She clearly showed considerable dissatisfaction.

“It’s rare for my older sister to come to Kobe, so shouldn’t Masumi do her best to be a good host? At least show me the Christmas lights in front of the station.”

"So you have such refined tastes, senior. I remember you used to complain that the wires in the lighting fixtures were all twisted and crooked and looked ugly."

No one is static.

As my predecessors said, it was as if it were a matter of course.

"Just like Masumi used to be more like a woman than a woman, but now she has five beautiful women around her."

My side is a little itchy.

She gently poked at the soft flesh around Masumi's waist with her finger.

"So? While I was away, did you manage to get together with any girls?"

Masumi turned his head away, not daring to look at his senior, afraid that his thoughts would be revealed in his eyes.

"It's cold outside, let's hurry back, senior."

"Hmm, those shifty eyes... that's suspicious."

Like my senior, I puffed out my cheeks and suddenly reached out with my thumb and forefinger to Masumi's bangs, removing the stray snowflakes from his hair.

"Well, based on my understanding of Masumi, it's probably the same as before, with no progress at all."

I smiled gently, and my nonchalant tone made Masumi feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

Moreover, she said in a stiff tone, "Ugh...really," as if to say, "I'm really defeated by you."

Masumi's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

However, this slight reaction was keenly noticed by the beautiful senior in front of him.

"Huh! Really! No way!? With whom?"

Although the senior actor feigned surprise, it was clearly an act.

“I didn’t say anything… And senior, you don’t seem surprised at all.”

"Well, when a man and a woman who like each other live under the same roof, it's only a matter of time before things get heated. Speaking of which, I didn't expect it to be that Ms. Kamishiro. She seemed so aloof. You really can't judge a book by its cover."

"Eh."

Masumi looked at my senior, Ruko, in utter astonishment, as if she had discovered something terrifying, and blurted out, "How did you know, senior...?"

"Hmph~ Don't let my appearance fool you, I've actually studied mind reading."

I blinked cutely, puffed out my chest confidently, and the curves of my body, wrapped in a turtleneck sweater, were faintly visible beneath the trench coat, which wasn't properly closed at the front.

Masumi was still in disbelief and shock, unable to recover for a long time.

"is this real?"

"It's fake. Actually, we planned to test their reactions one by one, but we didn't expect to find out with the first one."

The senior colleague smiled smugly at his accidental but accurate guess.

Her expression was clearly composed, yet when she smiled, she made no attempt to hide her inner joy.

Masumi hunched her shoulders and immediately bent her back as if withered.

"I feel like I've lost to my seniors again."

"Don't be so downcast, isn't this a good thing?"

The senior patted him hard on the shoulder, "Ah~ Masumi-kun has grown up without us even realizing it. He's grown up to the point where he's no longer suitable to wear a junior high school uniform."

"Is this neighbor lady, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere, hallucinating?"

"Don't change the subject. It's okay to brag to your older sister, but Masumi can be a little more honest."

"Senior, you've misunderstood. I just..."

There was no point in hiding it any longer, so Masumi told her everything that had happened.

Of course, he only talked about what happened that night in Gunma Prefecture.

If I were to recount what happened during our phone call last night, I wonder how my senior would view me.

"What? That's all?" I mischievously twisted Masumi's hair.

"Is Masumi perhaps a theater actress? With such a strong obsession with balancing things, your coming-of-age ceremony is going to be quite a struggle, having to deal with six people at once."

"If possible, I hope you won't make such a startling statement."

"Really, Masumi doesn't understand my good intentions at all."

Like my predecessors, I let out a sweet sigh from my rosy lips adorned with lip gloss.

"I want to eat crepes, from the one I used to go to in high school."

She smoothly changed the subject, saying that this part was quite straightforward.

"Hmm, but it's a long way to get there from here."

Starting half an hour ago, Masumi received LINE messages from Mio every few minutes, urging him to go back as soon as possible.

Her wariness of me, a senior like Ru Gu, is far too extreme.

"Want to eat!"

The beautiful senior stared straight at him; with that kind of expression she used to ask him, no one could refuse.

Masumi shrugged helplessly, "After you're done shopping, hurry up and take the train back to the coffee shop."

The outline of the street was bathed in blue and white light, deeply imprinted in the depths of my pupils.

I walked along the familiar shopping street to the dessert shop, a place I frequented during my high school days after the club activities ended, as part of the 72nd term of the Light Music Club at West High School.

The moment I stepped through the door, the warm air instantly relaxed my body.

"The store's decor hasn't changed much."

A nostalgic light shone in her eyes.

"You've changed a lot, senior."

"Ugh~ Big sister's figure has been this good since she was little."

"……senior."

Masumi raised her voice slightly in protest.

"Okay, okay." I smiled indulgently and asked, "What flavor would Masumi like to eat?"

"No need, senior, just order your own portion."

"I see, so you wanted to share the same portion with me."

No, that's not true.

Masumi calmly retorted, hoping that her senior would stop talking to himself.

The freshly baked crepes were still warm when I took a big bite.

Chew chew
"Wow~ This is definitely the place to eat crepes! The outer layer is filled with whipped cream, and the inside is filled with strawberries and chocolate chips. The crispy texture of the crepe is also amazing. 3.5 stars!"

Like an old friend, I pressed my cheeks and made a satisfied sound, while gently tapping the floor with my high heels.

"The senior's scoring principles are too realistic. You can be a little more ambitious when scoring outside of Tabelog."

"No, no! It's said that giving a store too high a rating might make people think it's a store favored by foreign tourists, thus affecting the willingness of local residents to visit."

"Huh? I didn't know there was such a saying."

"Yes, because Miyako Island is a tourist destination, so I know a lot about it, big sister."

For some reason, the conversation suddenly turned to food website ratings.

After hastily ending the topic, a bored Masumi focused all her attention on the beautiful senior across the table.

She still had half a crepe left in her hand, and she ate it gracefully, bite by bite, her soft, full lips slightly deformed from chewing.

Looking at it makes you want to eat it.

Well, he wasn't referring to his senior's lips; he wanted to eat a crepe.

I could eat their lips... no, no way!
"Eh~ Masumi wants some too? I can't do anything with you. Come on, open your mouth."

Masumi took a bite of the crepe her senior handed her. Ah, she was being fed again, just like before.

His first experience of eating crepes was when my senior, Ru Gu, brought him to this shop.

"It's almost time to go."

"Uh-huh."

The senior, who had finished eating, was elegantly wiping the corner of his lips with a tissue when he heard this, and nodded.

As she pushed open the glass door, a rush of cold air hit her, causing her to shiver.

"It's so cold."

I crossed my palms in front of my lips and exhaled a warm, white mist.

She had just taken a step forward when her tall, slender body suddenly tilted sharply to one side and fell over, like a pudding with one side cut off.

"senior."

Masumi reacted quickly and caught her.

"Ouch~ that hurts."

My lips trembled as I let out a sound of pain.

"I think I twisted my ankle," she said.

"Huh? Senior, can you still walk?"

"No! I can't walk anymore~ Little Masumi, carry me!"

The senior spoke in a coquettish tone, a barely perceptible glint in her eyes.

"Please stand firm, senior. We'll be at the station soon."

Masumi sighed, helped her staggering senior, and slowly walked towards the station.

However, due to the wet snow, the ground of the shopping street was quite slippery, and there were puddles on the slightly sloping road surface.

I could barely stand, leaning almost all my weight on Masumi. The soft touch expanded from her arm, it was pure bliss.

But Masumi simply couldn't enjoy this happiness with a clear conscience.

The thought of his senior enduring the pain of twisting her ankle made him realize he couldn't let it go unnoticed. He quickly took her back to the coffee shop!
However, it turns out that no matter what happens, one should remain calm, otherwise something even worse will happen.

Because of her excessive eagerness, Masumi made an unexpected fool of herself—

He was tripped by the staggering foot of his senior and fell hard.

Is it a case of misfortunes never coming singly? There just happened to be a puddle nearby.

Adding to the fact that the snow was so wet it was hard to tell whether it was snow or rain, the senior was soaked to the bone.

I always feel like everything is like in the movie "Final Destination," both accidental and deliberate.

But Masumi had no time to consider the proportion of deliberate versus accidental factors; the most pressing issue at the moment was—

"Ah!"

Because her legs were bare, her body seemed very cold. Her dark, shiny hair clung to her cheeks.

After sneezing two or three times, she hugged Masumi tightly to keep warm.

"senior?"

"It's so cold, so cold. Masumi's body is so warm. Please let me warm up."

The senior gave her a look like a small animal that had been drenched in rain. Oh no, she meant her upper arm felt as cold as an ice pop. This made Masumi anxious.

"I understand, senior, but we can't walk like this, hugging each other like this!"

"Was it Masumi who got me wet? Then please take responsibility."

"No, well... even so, how can I take responsibility...?"

"Take me somewhere warm first. In my current state, I can't possibly make it to the coffee shop."

Indeed, the senior was trembling slightly all over.

It is said that girls have a slightly lower body temperature than boys, although it is unknown whether there is reliable scientific evidence to support this claim.

But there's no doubt that the senior was soaked to the bone and in the middle of a snowy winter, so it must have been very cold.

Masumi sighed quietly.

Ultimately, it was all because I was too slow to react and tripped up.

It's a rare opportunity for his senior to visit Kobe, and he certainly doesn't want his senior to spend the entire holiday suffering from a cold.

"...Is there anywhere nearby where I can take a quick shower and change my clothes?"

Masumi scanned the surrounding scenery, the soft glow of Christmas lights enveloping the streets.

“Yes.”

The next second, he heard his senior's answer without hesitation.

"That seems like the place would be fine."

"where?"

Masumi looked in the direction her senior was pointing.

There it was, a building bathed in an ambiguous pink glow, brimming with the festive atmosphere of Christmas.

In an instant, memories of September in Kashi came flooding back.

"Don't just stand there, Masumi."

I, like an ancient thousand-year-old, smiled, revealing my white teeth.

Like moonlight occasionally peeking through gaps in the clouds, it was dazzling for a fleeting moment.

Let's get warm together.

(End of this chapter)