Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 264, Section 1: "A Disturbing Valentine's Day"

"Masumi! I made some chocolates, I hope you'll accept them!"

Winter days are short, and the setting sun barely disappears below the horizon; judging by the time, it's after the coffee shop has closed.

The beautiful shop assistant with long, honey-gold hair called out to the barista.

"Oh, thank you, Mio..."

Masumi took the small box with a ribbon tied to it from Mio.

"Could this be Valentine's Day chocolate?"

"Yes, I made it myself. I hope it suits Masumi's taste."

Mio blushed, fidgeting shyly with her fingertips, and spoke softly.

It's surprising that while she's so aggressive, she can also retain such an innocent side, reacting like a high school girl giving out her favorite chocolate on Valentine's Day.

Occasionally showing a contrast to her usual self is one of the charms of a girl, Masumi thought.

It's like the heiress tying her hair up in a ponytail, revealing her snow-white nape and soft ears, which are usually hidden by her hair and never seen.

Under Mio's expectant gaze, Masumi untied the ribbon and opened the box, inside which lay four bite-sized chocolates.

Each one was made into a heart shape and coated with cocoa powder.

"It's raspberry truffle chocolate. It's quite difficult to make because you have to precisely control the melting temperature of the chocolate and the mixing ratio of the raspberry puree to maintain the unique creamy texture of the truffle."

"I see, Mio really put her heart into it."

Listening to her detailed explanation of the production process, the light chocolate in my hand suddenly felt a bit heavier.

"Did you ask Rinne for the method of making chocolate?"

Masumi asked casually. Of all the people he and Mio knew, the only one who was truly skilled at making chocolate was Rinne.

"..."

Mio's expression immediately darkened.

"Even though she's with me, Masumi always talks about that thieving cat."

Her tone was sour and jealous, so much so that even the aroma of chocolate couldn't mask it.

"...Rinne often puts me in her mouth too."

Without thinking, Masumi blurted out a soft murmur.

"Ok?"

"No! It's nothing!"

Masumi frantically waved her hands in front of her face.

"Ah, let's try Mio's chocolate now! I can't wait!"

He abruptly changed the subject.

"Yes, I hope Masumi will like it."

Mio temporarily abandoned her argument, picked up a piece of chocolate with her slender fingers, and gazed at Masumi with passionate eyes.

"Come on, Masumi, ah~"

"what--"

With her expectation, Masumi had no choice but to accept being fed.

The chocolate melted in my mouth, the flavors of cocoa powder and icing sugar were strong, as if trying to cover something up, with an almost lethal amount added.

Am I some kind of ant in Mio's heart?
Aside from that, I don't have any particular thoughts.

It tastes like chocolate.

It's just chocolate, after all.

"How's it going? Is it delicious?"

Mio asked him for his thoughts with trepidation.

At this moment, she certainly couldn't let him down, so Masumi nodded without hesitation.

"delicious."

"Really?! That's great!"

An expression of disbelief appeared on her face.

Well... it's a bit of an exaggeration.

Why does Mio seem so surprised?

While Masumi was asking her questions, Mio handed her another chocolate.

The third one, the fourth one.

Mio smiled gently, her smile radiating happiness, only after watching Masumi finish eating all the chocolates in the box.

"Because I added all sorts of things, I was worried the taste might be a little strange... but I'm so glad Masumi thinks it tastes good!"

"All sorts of things..."

what happened?

My head started to feel dizzy.

Masumi's steps became unsteady, but Mio steadied her back.

"Oh dear, because Masumi has a very strong will and body, I was worried about the effects of the medicine, so I added a little more. Now it seems to be working really well."

"Mio?"

She felt like she was losing control of her body, and the sounds around her softened. In her increasingly narrow field of vision, there was only Mio approaching her.

Her obsidian eyes gleamed with a predator's light.

Staggering, Masumi could offer almost no decent resistance before falling into the spider web that preyed on her.

"Don't be afraid, Masumi, please continue to enjoy all of this~"

◇

"...!"

The feeling of being pushed to the limit made Masumi open her eyes in a daze. The morning light shone through the gap in the curtains and rippled on the bed.

A sense of déjà vu.

Is this another dream? It's always the same old formula. The author who created this plot should apologize to the readers who expect this kind of storyline.

However, Masumi had no expectations; she only felt fortunate to have survived a disaster.

And Mio wouldn't be the kind of person to do such dangerous things... probably.

That being said, the dream I just had was so real, it felt like a pair of hands were actually roaming over Masumi's body in a suggestive way—could it be a premonition?

Wait, a hand?

Masumi remained impassive, narrowing her eyes as she felt the piercing gaze on her face.

Beside him, a beautiful woman with long, honey-gold hair gazed tenderly at him.

Even without looking directly at her, Masumi could imagine what Mio looked like now, with her beautiful honey-gold hair perfectly covering most of her snow-white body.

Mio's skin is delicate, with a fair, cool-toned complexion that makes her skin appear even whiter, and it's flawless.

Sometimes she would gaze intently at Masumi's face, and sometimes she would reach out and stroke the curves of Masumi's body from her shoulder to her fingertips.

The sensation of skin touching skin directly made Masumi reflect on her situation once again.

No way!? Could that not be a dream?

Upon realizing this, Masumi could no longer remain calm and pretend to be asleep. She suddenly sat up straight in bed, startling Mio.

"Masumi! When did you wake up?"

"just."

"So you saw all the different things I did?"

"...Just to be on the safe side, may I ask what happened just now?"

"It's nothing." Mio seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then smiled and said, "I was just enjoying Masumi."

"This ambiguous statement makes me uneasy."

"It's because Masumi is sleeping so soundly that I can't wake her up no matter what I do."

Mio pouted as if she was being difficult.

"This reason won't hold up in court."

"No, as long as there is love, there is no sin~"

"Mio's statement has the feel of a criminal in many ways."

As soon as Masumi finished speaking, she saw Mio sit up in bed and lean towards her like a large dog. "What are you going to do?"
Masumi watched with trepidation as she saw that she had found her true home in her own body.

"...I just want to spend more time with Masumi."

It's a gentle voice, devoid of any pretense or affectation.

If we were to use an animal analogy, Mio would definitely be the loyal dog type of character.

This can be deeply felt in various aspects.

Because of her lack of confidence, she secretly glances at Masumi's reaction, which makes Masumi see her pain. However, she also enjoys it, and you can feel that she is working very hard, which also shows Mio's selfless dedication.

Hearing Mio's bright voice, Masumi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, Mio is still acting normally so far.

At present, there is no sense of yandere tendencies that would lead to actions such as "drugging," "illegal imprisonment," or "coercion."

She didn't seem to be in a bad mood. If only things could stay this way... Masumi couldn't help but wish that.

"Masumi hasn't gone for her morning run for the past two days."

"Yes, because I twisted my ankle on the slippery road last time."

Thanks to this, Masumi was able to sleep in for a few days, which was a rare occurrence, and she often saw a certain girl when she woke up in the morning.

"Has it not recovered yet?"

Mio frowned with worry.

"I recovered a long time ago, I was just being lazy."

Even after January, Kobe is still in the heart of winter, and your eyelids will feel heavy if you relax even slightly.

After all, winter is a season when you're particularly prone to dozing off, no matter how long you've slept.

Could it be that his body wants to hibernate? Masumi thinks that if there's a way to hibernate, that wouldn't be bad, but he has to be careful that other girls won't come and enjoy him while he's asleep.

"I see." Mio smiled. "I wish time could last forever."

"I'm not planning to skip work today."

"It's just a metaphor," she said reproachfully.

"After all, Masumi isn't the type to be easily manipulated. If we wanted to do that, the only option would probably be to drug Masumi and then imprison her."

Mio made a startling statement as if nothing had happened.

"……what?"

"To be honest, Masumi has always been so resistant to my intimate behavior. If this continues, I really have to prepare to take coercive measures."

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Masumi immediately stopped her. In fact, anyone who had received legal education in modern society would have stopped her.

This is not something you can simply bury your head in the sand and pretend you never heard it.

"What's wrong? Masumi, is something the matter?"

Mio, unaware of what was going on, raised her head.

"No! Suddenly talking about 'drugation' and 'imprisonment' is terrifying!"

Masumi broke out in a cold sweat.

"It's so unreasonable that Masumi and I have been living under the same roof for so long and haven't taken our relationship any further!"

She spoke with conviction.

"Uh, I don't see how this relates to what Mio said about existence."

Just because you live under the same roof, you have to have sex? What kind of adult comic worldview is this?

"Because we're not roommates, although Masumi and I aren't officially in a romantic relationship right now, we're definitely in a flirtatious phase, right?"

Mio asked the question incisively.

"Can a period of ambiguity that has been explicitly defined still be called a period of ambiguity?"

Masumi tried to distract her with convoluted words, but it was completely futile; in fact, it only added fuel to the fire.

"Since that's the case, let's just move on to the next step!"

Taking advantage of the situation, Mio placed her hands on Masumi's shoulders, and he was suddenly pushed down onto the bed, forming a riding position with Mio in front of him.

She was wearing a very high-end lace embroidered lingerie set.

Because it's winter now, and everyone except Mami is bundled up, fair skin exposed to the air can easily create a visual impact.

"Let Masumi take this off herself."

Mio slightly raised the corners of her lips, a sweet smile that anyone would find endearing.

"Wait! Why did things suddenly escalate to this point!?"

Was last night's dream really a precognitive dream?

"It's alright~ I've already consulted with Lady Zhi Ri, and that deity will surely bless me and Masumi to have a child who inherits our musical talent and is physically strong."

"I think as long as the child grows up healthy and safe, that's enough... Wait! Mio is too hasty! Wasn't it supposed to be within this year?"

"But it's already February, and people say pregnancy takes ten months."

The honey-gold hair hanging down from above shimmered like tassels adorning a canopy-covered bed.

"No, no! I'm not ready to take on the responsibility of raising a child! And I'm not ready to do this kind of thing with Mio."

"I've always wanted to do that with Masumi."

"After all, Mio made such a wish in front of Oki's life."

“Since Masumi knows this, she should show some mercy to them.”

She bit her lip, her watery eyes revealing a pleading expression, which was practically a foul under the circumstances.

"Didn't Masumi not object to going to the hot springs during the year-end holiday?"

"Well, that was an unavoidable situation. Besides, Mio didn't seem to be in much pain at the time, did she?"

While Masumi was stammering and trying to explain, Mio took a breath and closed the distance between them, as if she wanted to swallow up the space between them, and hugged Masumi tightly.

"It's okay, as long as Masumi is happy, my pain can also be transformed into happiness."

"That's the kind of setting you'd expect from an adult manga! It's impossible! Mio ended up choking on water the whole time, didn't she?"

"...I love you, Masumi."

"Don't use that kind of excuse when you can't find one!"

Because Masumi's shouts were loud enough, it was about time someone arrived.

really.

"Masumi... so noisy..."

Haiyue, dressed in a penguin mascot costume, appeared at the door, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

Her eyes, which had been half-open, suddenly opened a little, as if to confirm something, her gaze shifting between Masumi and Mio.

"Hmm...at a time like this...I should tell Rinne..."

The jellyfish girl walked away without looking back.

"Shouldn't this be over? Mio, Kaizuki has already gone to find Rinne."

"At that jellyfish's leisurely pace, it would take about three minutes for the two of them to go from the third floor to the first floor to call Rinne and then walk upstairs again."

Mio analyzed calmly.

"...Huh? So what?"

"So, we don't have much time left!"

As she spoke, she pressed down on him fiercely.

"Huh!? Three minutes! That won't do!"

"...We really can't be careless at all."

Suddenly, a stern voice came from the doorway.

Rinne stared at them with icy eyes, emanating a strong chill from her body.

"I only asked Mio to wake Masumi up, but you dog are not lazy when it comes to taking advantage of people's weaknesses."

A dark aura enveloped her entire body, and Rinne uttered cold and sarcastic words from her delicate lips.

Mio retorted sharply.

"What right does that philandering cat have to talk about me! I just did exactly what you did to Masumi."

Suddenly, she smiled slightly and said something with an implied meaning.

"Oh~ I see. You're angry, which means that Rinne subconsciously thinks her behavior was excessive, right?"

"It's none of Mio's business to criticize me."

"Then I'll be the same!"

Every time the cats and dogs fight in the coffee shop, it's the same old routine with the same few lines. Even Masumi is getting a little tired of it, but the two of them don't seem to get bored at all.

It should be said that as long as Masumi remains the fuse, the war will not end.

Because there was only one fuse.

While the two were arguing, Masumi shook off all of Mio's fantasies clinging to her body, just like shaking off dust from her clothes.

That was close! I almost sang Yutaka Ozaki's "I Love You" on the creaking bed.

That said, after the New Year, it felt like time was flowing much faster all at once.

Masumi glanced at the calendar on her phone, her gaze naturally lingering on a particular date.

February 14th, Valentine's Day.

That day was a day when the coffee shop would be incredibly busy, and Masumi also had a feeling it would be a very tiring day.

Hopefully, I won't receive strange chocolates with all sorts of added ingredients, like in my dream.

(End of this chapter)