Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 26 26. "One Day in Spring"

The entire afternoon passed quietly during the practice snacks. At six o'clock, Sayori Shionji declined the invitation to stay for dinner and said goodbye to everyone.

"Sorry, although I really want to stay and try Miss Kamishiro's cooking that Asami always praises, I have already booked the Shinkansen back to Tokyo tonight."

She said with regret.

"Thank you very much, Miss Shionji. If you have the chance next time, please come to our shop."

Kamishiro Rinne bowed her head in thanks, her long black hair swaying as she bowed.

"Also, if you don't mind..."

She handed Sayori a lunch box wrapped in a napkin.

Inside was a simple bento that I had hastily prepared during the break. The rice ball was wrapped in seaweed and filled with salted cod roe and sour plums. It was full of ingredients and had a solid texture.

"Oh? Thank you, Miss Kamishiro." Sayori Shionji took the lunch box with a smile. "Next time I have a day off, let's go to the Anpanman Museum together."

"must."

As if satisfied with her answer, Shionji smiled sweetly.

"Goodbye everyone. I hope your store's business will be prosperous. I'll come and visit you next time I'm on vacation."

She nodded slightly to everyone, then pushed open the glass door. Asami said, "I'll take you to the station," and left with Sayori Shionji.

In the store, Rinne Kamishiro prepared dinner as usual. Today's dish was teriyaki chicken, a dish in which the chicken is cut into pieces, coated with sauce and seasoned, and then grilled. Every time you chew it, the chicken exudes rich fat, which is the best match with the slightly sweet rice.

After dinner, Masumi read comics to kill time. After the girls had cleared the bathroom, he took a shower and went to bed promptly at 10 p.m. He had been keeping a good sleep schedule lately, going to bed and getting up early.

For the next week, Masumi repeated this simple and orderly life.

Morning jogging, overseeing renovations, practicing his coffee skills, reading manga, and savoring the fruits of his practice with Rin and Mami's Japanese confectionery. Day after day, it was like the JR line on the hillside of Kobe. When the train whistle sounded, he was running along his designated jogging path.

His body gradually memorized the rhythm of the movement. The scenery passing by in front of his eyes and the wind blowing across his cheeks made his steps lighter. When jogging, Masumi would empty his mind and appreciate the scenery around him.

In addition to the motionless buildings and flowers, the life trajectories of the surrounding residents are also within his observation range.

The rustle of rolling shutters as tenants in the shopping district raised their doors, the clatter of mailboxes being opened in the residential area, and the sound of people rushing to work and school...

Whenever the voices of these strangers passed by, Masumi felt like he was peeping at fish of different ecosystems in an aquarium.

But running the same route for a long time will get boring, so Masumi will occasionally change the route slightly.

Then, in the early morning of that day, he walked through the shopping street in a familiar way. The windows of the flower shops were covered with moisture, and the colorful flowers were clearly visible from behind the hazy green shadows.

Every time she walked through this shop, Masumi could feel the refreshing fragrance of flowers.

The morning light shines down from the edge of the eaves at the corner.

A butterfly was fluttering through the flowers in front of the store, its wingtips like fish fins swimming in the river of light.

Masumi followed the butterfly with his eyes, and suddenly heard the sound of a cat on the road. He turned his head and saw that the pattern looked familiar. It seemed to be the calico cat "Xiaoyu" raised by the fish shop owner.

In addition to the cat, there is another familiar figure.

Fingers like white fish gently tickled the kitten. The fingers were slender, with long knuckles. The pink nails were trimmed short and bare, yet they shone brightly.

Kamishiro Rin was playing with a cat there.

Her knees were bent, her center of gravity leaned forward, and the hem of her dress formed arc-shaped pleats.

Masumi slowed down his pace and walked over to greet her.

"Good morning, want to take a walk?"

"Yeah." Rinyin responded, carefully stroking Xiaoyu's fur.

However, upon sensing Masumi's presence, the calico cat, which had been so comfortable with the girl's touch that it had turned over, meowed, wagged its tail, and stood up, scurrying lightly to Masumi's feet. A sigh escaped her lips, "It seems Xiaoyu likes you even more."

Although the girl said this with a blank expression, Masumi always felt that there was a hint of sourness in it, as if she was jealous of the cat, which she found a little funny.

Although it is a crystal clear and frank ice cube, it can also reflect warm colors when refracted by light at different angles.

"I've been running into it a lot lately, and every time I stop to play with it, I think our relationship has deepened."

As Masumi explained, he squatted down, held Xiaoyu's face with both hands and stroked it back and forth. It didn't hide, but squinted its round eyes and let him rub its cheeks. It was a cat with an affectionate personality.

I heard the girl's question:
"You run for exercise?"

"That's part of the reason," Masumi said, "but it's mostly because I'm bored."

"Running because you're bored..."

"Yeah. The band's done, and the cafe's closed for renovations. I've got nothing to do all day, so I need something to keep me going, otherwise I'll just burn out."

It was rare for Kamishiro to initiate a conversation, so Masumi spoke out his thoughts. He could feel that he was trying to shorten the distance between them.

After listening to him carefully, Rinyin said with a flickering look in her eyes, "I don't quite understand your feelings."

Masumi smiled and said, "That's right. This is a worry that only idle people have."

Spending every day together, he got a close feel for what kind of life Kamishiro Rin was leading: like a butterfly flying in the spring breeze, never having a moment's rest.

University life and work in the coffee shop are like two set tracks. In front of them is a smoother road with a visible end. Compared with Masumi, Kamishiro Rin is like the JR line on the seaside of Kobe, running at the same rhythm on the set track.

I prepare meals for everyone, clean the shop, take inventory of supplies and accounts, maintain equipment, and purchase materials. I also take professional courses at school and study for scholarships.

The weekly visits to the hospital and the orphanage were like switches controlling the track changes on a railway, a whistle-blowing tribute from the present to her past self.

She seemed quite satisfied with the monotony of her job and continued with her normal life as a matter of course.

It seems that the daily life that is ordinary to others is exactly what she has been looking forward to.

"You don't play guitar anymore?"

Tama let out an impatient cry, and Masumi pulled his hand away and stood up. He met those purple eyes, and the beautiful morning light washed over him.

Linyin's face was as cold as ever, and her emotions were completely unreadable.

"Well, it's over after all."

"Really? Don't you feel sorry for it?"

"A little bit, after all, it's something I've been holding on to for a long time."

"But what's more, I feel helpless and powerless."

As he said this, Masumi's deep eyes lost their warmth, and he stared at her intently, his mood wavering like the leaf Sakura at the end of his sight.

As soon as May arrived, only a few traces of the cherry blossoms that originally adorned the branches remained.

Spring is gradually fading away, and after the season of new green leaves and cherry blossoms is over, the sunny season will soon arrive with the Pacific high pressure.

Before that, Masumi looked up at the sun hidden in the clouds, and the humid water vapor brushed past his nose, indicating that it was about to rain.

The plum rain season is coming soon.

"Let's go back." He said to Linyin.

"it is good."

(End of this chapter)