Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 88 19. "Sick and Hot Girls"

For breakfast, Rin made udon noodles. The broth was clear and the noodles were smooth, chewy, and flexible. She added different side dishes to suit everyone's taste.

Masumi's was beef and Mami's was fried tofu.

The soft fried tofu absorbs the delicious soup. The moment the tip of your teeth pierces the skin, the warm sweetness spreads on the tip of your tongue.

Asami pressed her cheeks and sighed deliciously, "Delicious!"

"Why is there only one piece of fried tofu?"

"If possible, I want a whole bowl of udon noodles with fried tofu."

"Sister Mami, are you a fox?" Mirai complained.

Masumi was halfway through his meal when he glanced at everyone at the table belatedly and asked in confusion, "Where's Kurokawa? Hasn't he gotten up yet?"

"As for Sister Mio, when I went to call her this morning, she was covered in the quilt and seemed to be in great pain." Mirai said, "She said she had a fever."

"Eh?"

Asami was surprised: "Is it because I almost had a heat stroke yesterday?"

"last night……"

Haiyue crunched the shrimp and suddenly said, "...I heard her...making a very sad sound in the room..."

"A sad voice?"

"Well, it seems like she's crying... but also like... enduring..."

Her room was right next to Kurokawa's, and she claimed to have very sensitive ears, so it was not surprising that she heard these things.

"cry?"

Mami frowned slightly and guessed:
"Could it be that because you're sick and in pain, you can't help crying, but you don't want everyone to hear you, so you endure it and keep your voice down?"

She thought about Kurokawa's personality and felt that it was indeed something she would do.

I figured it out so quickly, I'm worthy of you! As Mami was feeling proud of her own cleverness, another possibility suddenly crossed her mind.

"Masumi-kun..." she began.

"what happened?"

"Did something happen when you were alone with Ms. Mio yesterday?"

"what do you mean?"

"For example, I cruelly rejected her again."

"no……"

Halfway through his words, Masumi's face revealed a look of nostalgia—

"Can we have a future?"

"...As friends in the future."

——Recalling this conversation, he nodded: "I think I did reject her."

"Hmm." Asami rubbed her chin with her fingers, "As expected."

"Sure enough?"

Not only Masumi, but even Kuon Mirai cast a curious look at him.

"My guess, Ms. Mio, is that because of Masumi-kun's cruel rejection yesterday, coupled with the summer heat, your body and mind suffered a double blow, so the flu virus took advantage of your situation and entered your body."

After Mami expressed her speculation, she nodded firmly. Yes, it’s not a speculation, this is the truth.

"is that so?"

Masumi put down his chopsticks and sighed.

He didn't want Kurokawa to continue to be hurt in this awkward relationship, so he cut the Gordian knot and wanted to end their relationship.

But he didn't expect that just a sentence like "in the future as friends" would hurt so much. And after all, Kurokawa wore that doll costume yesterday without taking any precautions against the heat just to help him.

A wave of guilt washed over me in an instant.

"I'll go see her." Masumi stood up suddenly.

"Wait a moment."

Linyin called him softly.

"Ok?"

"Take this udon noodles with you."

◇

The dining table after Masumi left——

"What time did Xiao Haiyue hear the sound last night?" asked Mami.

"It should be... two o'clock in the morning..."

"Eh? You're still awake at two o'clock. Xiao Haiyue must be staying up late playing mobile games again."

"That's not the case..."

"Haiyue-chan really can't lie." Mami sighed, "Whenever she tells a lie, her eyes will drift to the side."

"From now on, leave your phone with me before you go to bed." Linyin said in a cold tone that did not allow for any argument.

"Wow...how...could this happen..."

The jellyfish girl wilted.

◇

Holding the udon noodles prepared for the patient, the light noodle dish had no side dishes added. However, Rin's superb cooking skills were enough to tantalize the taste buds.

Masumi stopped in front of the innermost room on the third floor and knocked gently on the door.

"Kurokawa, it's me."

"I heard you had a fever, so I came to see you."

"Ma-Masumi!?"

There seemed to be a panicked voice coming from inside, and the sound of the quilt rustling.

Masumi waited patiently at the door for a while, and heard Kurokawa Mio say in a hoarse voice: "Come in."

Holding the udon bowl, he lowered his elbow to press the doorknob, then pushed the door open with the side of his body and walked into the room.

Then I saw Kurokawa wrapped his whole body tightly in the quilt, with only two hands and half of his face sticking out from under the quilt, his small fingertips clutching the corner of the quilt.

A noticeable blush crept onto her fair cheeks. Was the fever still there? Masumi slowly approached.

"This is udon noodles cooked by Kamishiro. Eat it while it's hot."

"...I'm sick and don't have much of an appetite..."

"It's because you're sick that you need to supplement your nutrition." Masumi softened his tone.

"Have you taken your temperature?"

"I've measured it."

For some reason, Kurokawa looked at him with a somewhat evasive look.

He didn't care and asked, "How many degrees?"

"40 degrees."

Kurokawa casually reported a number.

"40 degrees!?" Masumi was shocked and frowned deeply. "It's so serious. Just lying down and resting won't do! We must go to the hospital quickly. Come on, I'll help you up..."

"No, thanks!" Kurokawa Mio wrapped herself in the quilt and shrank in panic.

"I, I read it wrong. It's 39 degrees. No! It's 38 degrees."

"Can this be wrong?"

"Because, because my head is fuzzy." She exhaled forcefully, "and everything I see is blurry too."

"Anyway, there's no need to go to the hospital. I can just rest on my own."

"Is that so?" Masumi breathed a sigh of relief. "If you feel uncomfortable, be sure to tell me immediately, or find Kamiyo, Seno, and the others..."

Halfway through his speech, he suddenly remembered what Haiyue said, that Heichuan hid in the room alone last night and tried not to cry out loud. The guilt suddenly felt like glass piercing his chest, making his heart wail, and he could not refute it.

When a person comes to a strange city and is hurt by words from someone who is considered to be his closest relative, he must feel very painful inside.

Masumi thought again of the night when Rin was in the orphanage. She was alone on the observation deck of Rokko Mountain, curled up in a small ball like a watermelon worm, crying secretly.

That feeling of uneasiness is probably the same feeling.

Masumi then put on a gentle tone as possible and said to the girl on the bed:

"Don't be afraid, I will always be by your side."

Wait, what are the lines in this romance comic?

After blurting out the answer, Masumi immediately added, "Uh... there are also Kamishiro, Seno, Kuon, Hanekawa, Chiai, and everyone from Fanxing can..."

But Kurokawa Mio didn't hear a single word of what was said afterwards.

There were starlight twinkling in the dark eyes, like a night lit up by stars; the face covered under the quilt showed a hazy happiness.

("Don't be afraid, I will always be by your side.")
(Ahhh~ What is this! Is Masumi confessing her love to me!? How bold!?)

(I am now! So happy! I am almost dying of happiness!)

(No, no! I can’t die so easily!)
(I didn't expect Masumi to be so worried about me just because I pretended to have a fever! As expected, he loves me.)
(If that's the case, I'll just act more serious and make Masumi lose her mind and hug me tightly out of fear.)
feasible.

Kurokawa Mio secretly praised her own perfect plan. Hypocritical tears welled up in her obsidian eyes, and she called out in a delicate voice:
"Masumi..."

"what happened?"

"My head hurts." "Headache? Is it because of the fever?"

"Well, it's not just my headache, my throat hurts too, and I feel weak all over. Can you..."

"Feel sorry!"

Masumi's sudden apology startled Kurokawa, and he swallowed back what he wanted to say: "Huh?"

"I didn't expect you to have such a high fever. I'm sorry, I kept chatting with you even though you were clearly feeling so bad."

Masumi said with a guilty conscience, "You should have a good rest first. Remember to eat your udon noodles. I won't disturb your rest and will leave first."

After saying this, he put down the udon noodles and turned away without saying a word.

The decisive action made Kurokawa Mio look dumbfounded.

"Wait! Wait! That's not true!"

"Actually, I'm fine..."

The door was closed gently.

Kurokawa Mio stared at Masumi's departing back in a daze.

"how so……"

She lowered her eyelashes in disappointment, and a sad and fragile murmur came out from between her lips.

It backfired and was overdone.

A lonely expression appeared on her pretty snow-white face.

However, just a moment later, there was a sudden sound of door hinges shaking.

Masumi opened the door a crack again and leaned out.

"Masumi!"

Kurokawa turned sadness into joy.

"I, I have something to ask you..." He looked strange.

"Did you come to my room last night?"

"Eh?"

Kurokawa Mio tilted her head, her smile stiff.

(How could this be! Were they discovered again?)

(How should I answer? I was feverish and confused, so I went into the wrong room?)
(Those words were also just dreams.)
While his brain was working rapidly, he remained silent on the surface.

At this moment, Masumi's voice sounded faintly.

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say it."

Masumi shook his head and sighed. It must have been just a dream. After all, Kurokawa was in so much pain, how could she possibly run into her room?

Kurokawa Mio quietly breathed a sigh of relief where he couldn't see.

However, Masumi's next question made her heartstrings, which had just relaxed, become taut again like a bowstring in an instant.

"I heard from Haiyue that you cried in your room last night?"

Seeing Kurokawa's bewildered expression, Masumi quickly said, "Sorry! Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean anything else. I just hope you can stop being so stubborn and just speak up if you have any grievances."

He then took a deep breath and said, "After all, it's all my fault that things turned out like this."

"Well...it's not Masumi's fault."

Kurokawa Mio tried her best to maintain her usual gentle tone, but she always felt discouraged without realizing it. It was obvious that Masumi came to care about her as she wished, so she should be happy.

But if Masumi found out I was doing that... my heart suddenly began to tremble with uneasiness.

Afraid that Masumi would notice her flaw, she quickly covered her mouth and nose with her palms and coughed violently: "Cough cough cough cough!"

"Sorry to disturb your rest."

Masumi scratched his ear and said, "Then I won't disturb your rest. Remember to take your medicine on time. I wish you a speedy recovery."

The door was closed again.

This time, Kurokawa Mio subconsciously held her breath and remained on guard for a long time before slowly relaxing.

“…That was a close call.”

She immediately held her cheeks with the palms of her hands. Why was it so hot? The capillaries transmitted heat through her skin, and her face felt so hot that it was about to burn.

(Is it really a fever?)
(And, Haiyue actually heard it, how could it be possible...)
(Is the noise I make really that loud? I'm clearly trying so hard to hold it in.)
Kurokawa Mio picked up the coral fleece blanket given by Masumi from the bedside and buried her face in it, looking particularly fragile.

(Did my voice actually sound like I was crying at that time?)

(Ah~ What if Masumi hates this type?)
◇

In the afternoon, there are no customers visiting.

Asami leaned leisurely on the bar, looking at Masumi who was constantly busy, and asked lazily: "Masumi-kun, there are obviously no customers, what are you doing?"

“Develop new products.”

"New?" Mami blinked curiously. "New coffee?"

"We do have that." Masumi nodded. "For example, there's the whipped coconut latte, perfect for the summer beach, and the sparkling coffee."

"Also, we want to develop new drinks for people who can't drink coffee, and regular drinks are too ordinary..." he explained slowly.

"Sure, Masumi-kun." Asami smiled and patted Masumi's shoulder. "You worked really hard for the special surprise prize."

"It's not like it's for a special surprise prize."

"Okay, okay, I'm relieved since you two are working so hard."

Mami narrowed her eyes and smiled, "It's like playing Sprawl and encountering two god-level teammates."

As she spoke, she glanced at Haiyue who was concentrating on playing mobile games.

Knowing that her phone will be confiscated at night, the girl now cherishes every moment she spends with her phone.

"Although the teammates I met in Spra Dun were all terrible, and their quality was particularly poor."

"two?"

"Well, Rin-chan is in the kitchen right now, working hard to develop new desserts."

Asami teased, "The team leader and Wakato are so in tune with each other."

"This is a coffee shop, not the Yakuza," Masumi sighed.

"That's not important. Actually, it's because last time I was in Tajima Hot Springs, I heard Rin-chan talking about the Bubble Era, so I went to play Yakuza."

She clenched her fists, her bones cracking, and the blue veins could be seen from under her thin white skin. She waved her fists at the air and spoke in a loud and confident voice.

"Huh! Huh! Ha! Hey!"

Straight punch.

"Pegasus Meteor Fist!"

Uppercut.

"Lushan rises to dominate the dragon!"

"Don't practice boxing here." Masumi looked like she thought she was causing trouble.

Asami puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction: "Do you think I'm useless, Masumi-kun?"

"When did I say that?"

"Because I used to only know how to bake cookies, but now Rin-chan and Saori-senpai have learned baking, and their dessert skills have been upgraded to Lv.5. So I'm completely useless now."

Asami made a sound of self-abandonment, and the power of her punches weakened a bit.

"It's okay, at least the waiter job is right for you." Masumi consoled him, "You have a pretty face after all."

"Are you saying that I'm useless except for my face?"

Isn't this what you boasted about last time in Tajima?

Masumi sighed, then immediately denied it: "Of course I didn't say that."

He subconsciously glanced at the pair of bulging melon bags, and down the slender waistline, the legs were round and plump, and the toes that used to be plain were now painted with shiny orange nail polish.

It's not that she has no merit except her face.

Asami didn't notice Masumi's gaze, and even if she did, she wouldn't have cared. She just said to herself, "From today on, I'm going to be an excellent barista."

"Huh? When did you learn how to make coffee?" Masumi asked in surprise.

"of course!"

She recited the allusive lines from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms with a smile on her face: "When a man has been away for three days, he should be looked at with new eyes." She is indeed a hardcore player who calls herself a die-hard fan of Koei Tecmo.

Asami ran to the nearby table, picked up a book, and waved it in front of him.

“I will study this textbook hard!”

Masumi focused his gaze and saw that what she was holding was a book called "A Barista Guide from Scratch, Even a Hot Girl Can Learn Easily!"

The cover features an animated-style blonde hottie with her hands clasped together and a beautiful smile, with words written next to her: "Hottie is so grateful! Even I can make coffee!"

What a strange book this is.

"Where did you buy the book?" Macheng held his forehead with his hand.

"It doesn't matter where you bought it, as long as it works. Look, it says 'Hot Girl is grateful' right here."

So why is it a hot girl?

Shaking his head in silence, Masumi said, "...You should be in charge of the dining area."

"Hey! That's too much! Masumi-kun."

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(End of this chapter)