Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 316, Section 2: "They're all mine"

"Masumi-nii! Open the door!"

"Hot spring hot spring! Hot spring hot spring!"

"Masumi...so slow..."

Before I could even take a short nap in bed, there was a loud knocking on the door.

Masumi got up and opened the door, seeing the five girls' excited faces, even the usually calm Rinne was no exception.

Perhaps it was because the memory of the heir dressing up as a cat to please him was too deep, for a moment Masumi seemed to see a pair of cat ears twitching on the top of her head, and a black tail swaying behind her, making her heart itch.

Seemingly sensing Masumi's "malicious" gaze, Rinne subconsciously shrank back, placing her hands behind her back, yet feeling a lack of firmness and fullness.

Masumi casually looked away and asked the energetic girls:
"After taking such long rides on ferries, buses, and trams, don't you feel tired?"

"Hey, Masumi-kun is such a loser!"

Mami held up a can of beer and mocked him.

"You're only 23, right? A guy needs to be really energetic!"

For some reason, this guy emphasized the words "very energetic" particularly.

I'll show you how energetic I am tonight—that sounds vulgar, so I'll leave it at that.

"Let's go shopping."

Upon hearing Masumi's words, Mio immediately beamed, took Masumi's arm, and whispered to him in a tone brimming with undisguised joy:
"Yes, let's spend a wonderful evening together."

"Mio-neechan! What are you doing!"

Chiai reflexively furrowed her brows, and as if worried about falling behind, she stretched out her arm and grabbed Masumi's arm.

It seems that because they've confirmed their relationship, the girls have become bolder lately... or rather, their desire to get closer to Masumi has become stronger.

However, rather than addressing the deficiencies, the problems often start with small aspects of daily life.

For example, during group trips, the girls will start vying for the spot next to Masumi...

"Chiai has really been enthusiastic lately. She was so cautious in front of Masumi before."

"Mio, Mio... Mio-neechan, who's always been so enthusiastic, has no right to say that!"

"Oh, really?"

Mio revealed a victor's expression, puffing out her chest, which wasn't heaving, and a confident yet provocative smile played on her lips.

"It is precisely because of the passion I have always shown for Masumi that she chose to be the first to respond to my feelings on Valentine's Day."

"There's no order to these things! They're definitely not ranked in any particular order!"

“Masumi doesn’t work at a TV station, and according to the Japanese syllabary, Chiai’s ‘chi’ comes before my ‘mi’.”

"I didn't say 'fifty sounds in order'."

Even in Spanish, Chiai's name is still listed before mine.

Mio answered casually, her teasing tone making Chiai blush.

"Ew... That's too much! Is Mio-neechan trying to challenge native speakers?"

The exasperated childhood sweetheart then blurted out a string of Spanish words that sounded obscure and difficult to understand to everyone else.

The two girls stood on opposite sides, arguing fiercely, while Masumi, caught in the middle, looked annoyed and miserable.

"Waaaaah! Masumi-kun's hands have been taken away! Rinne-chan, aren't you going to help?!"

"It doesn't matter. It's not like I have to stick to him all the time. Besides, the only spot left is behind me, right?"

Rinne said calmly.

"No! No!"

Mami shook her finger.

"And there's also the last resort: riding on someone's shoulders! What do you think, Little Moon?"

The jellyfish girl nodded slightly, her face expressionless.

"Hmm... Rinne is always... ridden by Masumi... I want to help Rinne... get revenge... by riding Masumi..."

"Wow, what outrageous things did Xiao Haiyue accidentally say!"

Asami pretended to cover her mouth with her hand, feigning surprise, while the heiress next to her blushed to the roots of her neck.

"Haiyue, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Whether out of anger or embarrassment, Rinne blushed and quickly closed the distance between herself and Umizuki.

"I didn't... make things up..."

Haiyue continued:
"Last time, Masumi... made me and Rinne... stack up together... mmm!"

The jellyfish girl's mouth was tightly covered.

"Haiyue, please be quiet for a moment."

After a bit of playful fighting, the six people left the hotel and went out onto the street.

Compared to the central Keio-Osaka-Kobe region of western Japan, the word "tranquil" is most fitting to describe Shikoku Island.

Even on a cherry blossom afternoon, the shopping street doesn't feel noisy, and Masumi quite enjoys the atmosphere.

"Hey, Masumi-nii, look, there are so many flavors of orange juice here."

"Imabari towels can be engraved with our names, Masumi and I, so we can love each other forever."

"Mandarin orange ice cream...I want some..."

"Sandy the cat in the orange, um..."

"Masumi-kun! I managed to pull the hidden Sakamoto Ryoma figure right away! Looks like my luck is going to be pretty good this month!"

Masumi accompanied the five girls as they strolled along the shopping street.

The girls enjoyed shopping, while he enjoyed their laughter and chatter.

"You stand on the bridge admiring the scenery, while someone in a building admires you."

Dogo Onsen Honkan was built during the Meiji period. It is a magnificent three-story wooden building and the inspiration for the bathhouse in Hayao Miyazaki's animated film "Spirited Away".

The year after the building was completed, the famous writer Natsume Soseki visited it, and Ehime gained some fame because of his novel "Botchan".

Next to the hot spring station is a clock with a "Botchan" mechanism, which plays a scene from Natsume Soseki's "Botchan" every hour on the hour.

The group got tired and decided to soak their feet in a stone bathtub.

"Hey! There's a free foot bath over there!"

Asami pointed ahead and said energetically:
“Great! Let’s go in together! There’s no foot bath in the hotel, Masumi-kun.”

The topic was suddenly thrown to her, and Masumi nodded in response.

"That's true, we're already in the hot spring town anyway."

The other girls immediately followed suit.

"Okay, this is a good opportunity to take a break."

The place was relatively secluded, and only the six of them frequented the foot bath. The girls took off their shoes and socks one by one and soaked their feet in the stone tub.

Five pairs of snow-white bare feet were immersed in the hot spring, and the calves that emerged from the water were dazzlingly reflected by the water.

"Masumi-nii, what are you still doing there?"

Chiai tilted her head slightly in confusion, looking at Masumi who was standing there dumbfounded.

"OK, got it."

Masumi snapped out of her daze, and the malicious Asami seized the opportunity to mock her:

"Masumi-kun, with your foot fetish, must be completely mesmerized by now, right?"

As she spoke, she slightly raised her toes, as if she were stretching.

"With so many feet, can Masumi-kun tell which ones are whose?"

Are you playing the final test in Spirited Away?
—Masumi wanted to say that, but what came out of her mouth was something else entirely:

"I can't tell the difference, but they're all mine."

"Wow! What a terrifying answer."

Asami was stunned by Masumi's surprising words. In the foot bath, she could see the girls' white toes curling up and clenching, either out of shyness or excitement.

Ah, I accidentally blurted out what was on my mind.

I hereby solemnly declare that I absolutely do not have that kind of hobby!
The kiss on Qian'ai's instep on the Ferris wheel was just to comfort her and convey my feelings.

That's all. "...Masumi, sit here with me."

Mio, still seated, reached out and pulled him close, then shifted her position to make room for another person between herself and Haiyue.

Masumi sat down between them without ceremony and soaked her bare feet in the foot bath.

"How are you? Masumi-nii, are you feeling good?"

Qian Ai leaned closer and stared at his face, asking:

The slightly scalding water gradually seeped into my feet, as if all the fatigue accumulated in my muscles was dissolving in the water; it was truly very comfortable.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've walked this much in a day. But I still can't tell the difference between Dogo and the hot springs in Kobe or other places."

"It is said that Dogo Onsen is an alkaline simple spring, which has a good therapeutic effect on skin diseases and is known for its skin-beautifying effect."

Qian'ai showed an expectant expression.

"Hey, your skin is already pretty good."

Masumi lowered her head, and her flawless, snow-white skin immediately caught his eye, as delicate and smooth as a boiled hot spring egg.

The round, adorable toes, affected by the water temperature, were tinged with a faint red blush, looking just like a row of neat pomegranate seeds.

I just don't know if it will be just as sweet and delicious.

Her gaze almost drifted to her knees, which were revealed by the lifted hem of her skirt, or even higher, to her snow-white, plump thighs. Masumi could only steel herself and direct her gaze away from her knees.

"Masumi-kun doesn't understand at all. Girls are always anxious about their appearance, and in the end, this is also related to Masumi-kun."

"What's this?"

"Girls all want to show their best side to their lovers, so they are always worried that they are not perfect enough."

"I see."

Masumi nodded in understanding.

"But Mami doesn't need to worry about that, after all, I've already seen your most disheveled side—"

"I don't have that kind of concern!"

Ms. Asami angrily raised her foot high and kicked at Masumi, who quickly grabbed her ankle.

"Hey! What are you doing all of a sudden, Mami-nee! Water splashed all over my face! This is foot bath water!"

"My skirt got wet too."

"Sorry, sorry, blame Masumi-kun. It's his fault for giving such an infuriating answer."

Mami angrily soaked her feet back into the foot bath.

The farce came to an end, and Masumi wiped her hands with the towel she had just bought. Suddenly, she heard Kaigetsu yawn softly next to her.

"...Hahoo."

His bluish-green pupils became empty and lifeless, blinking frequently.

Is Haiyue sleepy?

"Because... I got up very early... and I was walking around on the street..."

"But you seemed quite energetic just now."

"Because Masumi... wouldn't let me sleep... just like... back then..."

"Don't be so ambiguous!"

Masumi sighed, while Mio beside her openly displayed her wariness.

"Wait! Haiyue, explain yourself clearly, when was that?"

The other three girls who knew the truth all tacitly looked away, leaving only Mio, who was kept in the dark, anxiously stretching out her arms and shaking Kaigetsu's shoulders through Masumi.

"Ugh... I've been... dangled around by Masumi again..."

Haiyue was drifting off to sleep when her lower abdomen twitched involuntarily, and her body slowly leaned towards Masumi.

When our shoulders touched, I felt a warm sensation like a hot water bottle. Looking closer, her cheeks were as soft and supple as a baby's.

"Hey, Haiyue, don't actually fall asleep. There's no chair back here, so it'll be hard for me to help you up."

Masumi said, looking troubled.

"Just like last time... let me lie on... Rinne..."

The jellyfish girl spoke quite casually, but the expressions on the faces of the others were somewhat stiff.

Especially Rinne, when faced with Mio's suspicious and scrutinizing gaze, she simply lowered her eyelashes and pretended to be clueless.

Her fair toes gripped the tiles beneath the foot bath tightly, gripping them with a mixture of nervousness and embarrassment.

"I'm going to sleep..."

Haiyue finally rested her head on Masumi's shoulder, her soft hair brushing against his cheek and neck.

Left with no other choice, Masumi had to wrap her arms around Kaigetsu's shoulders and use them as a chair back.

We lingered in the sweet and sour space surrounding the foot bath for quite a while, until the sun was about to set, before the six of us finally left to have dinner at the restaurant we had booked.

"Okay! Hot spring cuisine——"

Asami waved her hands and cheered...

"—Why did it become a dish in the hot spring town?"

...and then he looked dumbfounded like this.

"Is it a good place?"

The red lanterns provided a warm glow. In a private room deep inside the izakaya, against a backdrop of an orange tree painting, Masumi asked with a rather smug expression.

"This izakaya has a high rating on Tabelog, and its yakitori and sake are very popular..."

Halfway through her sentence, Masumi looked at Kaigetsu across from her with a strange expression as she ate.

The Mitarashi dango at this izakaya comes in a string of four.

Originally, this was the type of situation Haiyue was least adept at dealing with, but now she handles it with ease.

First, stick out the tip of your tongue and lick the sweet soy sauce off in circles, then use the surface of your tongue to hold the dumpling.

His mouth narrowed immediately, his lips swallowed the dumpling, and he slurped the whole string of Mitarashi dumplings into his mouth.

The entire process does not require the use of teeth.

Rinne watched Kaigetsu eat with a complicated expression; it was now completely shaped like Masumi.

Moreover, they did it even better than I did!
boring.

She wouldn't be jealous of her daughter... or her friend over something like that.

"Well, the eggplant as a snack with drinks is quite delicious."

Mami looked a little unwilling. The perfectly thick sauce soaked the large pieces of eggplant, making it a delicious match with the first glass of draft beer.

"But what about the feast I've been looking forward to?"

"Of course there will be a big meal, but it's not today. Mami wouldn't want to go to the hot spring with a full stomach, would she?"

"Anyway, it will eventually become bulging, so it doesn't matter what method you use."

Masumi pressed her forehead:

"...You're drunk."

"I didn't!"

Turning to look at Masumi, her cheeks were flushed, and her brows were furrowed in displeasure.

Whether her flushed cheeks were from drunkenness or shyness was hard to tell.

However, because he and Mami were sitting side by side, close to each other, he could sense that her body temperature seemed a little high.

His left hand, placed under the table, unconsciously groped along the edge, slowly prying open the gap between his buttocks and the tatami mat, covering half of Asami's buttocks.

"What did Masumi-kun buy at the convenience store during the day? Do you expect me to say—Eek!"

Masumi pinched him hard.

"Ms. Mami?"

Chiai and Rinne both cast puzzled glances at her.

"No, it's nothing."

Under Masumi's menacing clutches, Mami tearfully shut her mouth and drank alone in silence.

(End of this chapter)