Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 47, Part 14: The Last Day of May (Part )

The last day of May is a working day.

Masumi got up early as usual, put on his sportswear, and started his morning run around 6:30.

After persisting for more than a month, my body has adapted to this rhythm.

During the plum rain season, there are still many people killing time in the park in the early morning: elderly people are taking leisurely walks with their pet dogs, and some people are doing radio gymnastics in the spacious open space to exercise their bodies.

The hydrangeas are in full bloom in the flower beds beside the road.

The long sound of brass instruments came from deep in the leaves. Masumi guessed that it must be a high school student in the wind instrument club practicing hard.

I remember that the wind instrument competition in Hyogo Prefecture was in late July or early August, so it lasted for at least a month.

Come on! Girl. (Or maybe a boy.)
Masumi silently said "Come on" in his heart to the stranger he had never met before, and ran through the park with his fists raised.

After returning to the store, I rushed to the room on the third floor to change clothes and went downstairs to have breakfast.

The salt-grilled smelt has brown charred marks on its slender body, and emits the unique aroma of roasted fish oil.

"Today's omelet is a little sweet."

Masumi said to Rinone while eating.

Upon hearing this, Kamishiro Rinone, who had just taken off her apron and sat down on a chair, picked up a piece of omelet with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, chewing it carefully: "Hmm, it is a bit sweet."

"Maybe it's because I've been making too many desserts recently." Linyin replied lightly, so she was not as stingy with the sugar as before.

It seems that Hanekawa Kaizuki likes this dish very much.

There were four omelets on the small plate in front of her. She ate three of them at the beginning, and when only the last one was left, she would just use chopsticks to break off a small piece of the omelet each time and eat it with rice.

But even so, the small omelet was quickly eaten up.

As for the main course, I only took a light bite of the smelt.

Haiyue picked up the bowl, sipped the miso soup, and stared at the empty plate expressionlessly.

Seeing her like this, Linyin sighed softly, said lightly, "Wait a moment", then stood up and walked into the kitchen.

In the quiet morning, through the curtains, you can hear the sound of oil heating.

After heating the frying pan, Rinyin seasoned the evenly stirred egg liquid, poured it into the pan and fried it slowly over low heat, rolled it to one side to set, then poured the egg liquid again and continued... skillfully making one omelet after another.

Then he served the freshly made omelet to Hanekawa Kaizuki.

"Thank you."

The girl muttered a thank you and reached for her chopsticks towards the steaming omelet.

"Do you like omelets?" Masumi asked.

Haiyue swallowed the food slowly and said slowly: "...I don't like that kind of fish."

"So you don't like shad croaker..." No wonder he only took a bite. "Don't you like the texture of fish roe?"

Masumi really likes the feeling of the fish eggs bursting in her mouth.

"Ah."

"I don't like all fish eggs..."

The end of her words was weak and dissipated in the morning air.

After breakfast, Kuon Mirai, a student-like figure, left the café shrouded in the late May rainy season, leaving behind him. Kamishiro Rin had classes at university today, so she briefly cleaned up the kitchen and the shop before heading out into the morning light.

She was wearing a white sweatshirt and dark blue jeans. Masumi felt that this slim-fitting outfit suited her figure better than a dress.

After the two left, only Masumi and Hanekawa Kaizuki were left in the store staring at each other.

Mami and a delivery box arrived on the first floor at the same time.

The mailing address was Shiga Prefecture. "Did your family send it?" Masumi asked Asami.

"Yeah, I mentioned it to them on the phone before, but I didn't expect them to actually send it."

Mami hadn't changed into her reception uniform yet. She squatted on the ground and opened the cardboard box, which contained a box of summer oranges.

She peeled the orange and took a bite when she could see the flesh. The juice flowed down the corners of her lips. "Hmm~ So sweet, you guys try it too."

"Masumi-kun."

Asami picked up an orange and threw it directly at him, but Masumi caught it steadily with his palms folded together. "——Good shot!"

"Isn't it the season for oranges yet?"

Masumi said as he peeled an orange.

"Hmm." Mami tilted her head in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

Hanekawa Kaizuki remained silent, crunching the orange beside her.

"Aren't these grown by your family?"

"Oh, that's what you're talking about." Mami nodded as if she understood. "My parents farm in the countryside, but they grow rice. Omi rice, you know?"

"Yeah, it's quite famous."

Omi rice, produced in the land near Lake Biwa, is considered a specialty of Shiga Prefecture.

Masumi had already peeled the orange completely and was carefully picking out the orange pith. He was used to picking off all the white fibers on the orange before eating it.

"Come to think of it, the Koshihikari rice we had last time was delicious too." Mami started eating her second orange. "You went shopping with Mirai the other day and ended up bringing back a huge bag of rice. It really surprised me."

Because it was too heavy, Masumi couldn't carry it no matter what, so he borrowed a flatbed cart from a convenience store to transport it back.

"It's all thanks to Jiuyuan. I go to the convenience store every day to try my luck, but I didn't expect her to win the lottery on the first try."

Mami nodded in agreement: "Little Mirai has always had good luck. If she hadn't helped me draw the card last time, I would have almost eaten the well again."

"But don't lose heart, Masumi-kun. As long as you persevere, goddess of luck will favor you sooner or later."

"Thank you for your good words."

After finally picking all the orange peels, Masumi broke off a small piece of orange and put it into his mouth. The juice overflowed and the sour and sweet taste spread on his tongue.

Mmm, very sweet.

After leisurely eating oranges for a while, it was time for business.

The sky was foggy and drizzling.

The first customer to come was Mr. Hojo, a regular customer.

He didn't bring his laptop, ordered a hot mocha, and sat down on the high wooden stool in front of the bar.

"Good afternoon, aren't you going to write a novel today, Mr. Hojo?"

Masumi chatted with him casually while operating the coffee machine.

"I always have to give myself a day off," Mr. Hojo said slowly, taking a sip of coffee. "I've been having a hard time writing lately. It's been painful."

"Sometimes, I enjoy the rainy scenery while sipping steaming hot coffee and listening to jazz. It's so relaxing. Rainy days can make the scenery we're used to seeing look completely different."

"It's a statement that fits the identity of a writer or a literary youth." Masumi smiled.

“Are you inspired now?”

"Still nothing." Mr. Hojo smiled bitterly and took another sip of coffee.

"But I still like rainy days."

"It's okay if it's just a light rain, but if it rains heavily, we in the service industry will have a headache."

"And it's very difficult to dry clothes when they're wet on rainy days, which is very annoying."

"Hearing you say that, it seems like I'm starting to hate rainy days again."

"Writers change their faces pretty quickly."

After finishing his coffee, Mr. Hojo thanked him softly and left. Only the jazz music and the sound of rain echoed in the store.

During this period, there are not many customers placing orders.

After Masumi cleaned and wiped the cup and put it on the shelf, he found that there was nothing to do.

But just sitting there seemed a bit boring, so Asami and Kaizuki played with their phones to pass the time, so Masumi also picked up a book to read.

Spending boring time in a boring way is the norm in life.

(End of this chapter)