I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

"Give me back my Yukino..."

Chapter 16 A Weekend Where Sanity Drops Like Crazy (Part 4)

When Yukinoshita woke up, she found herself sleeping in a very awkward position in front of her desk. As soon as she moved her body, her bones and joints would immediately protest, especially her almost stiff waist. A sharp pain made it impossible for her to straighten her back. The touch under her face was not a soft pillow or cushion, but a hard board, which was obviously warmed by her body heat.

In this uncomfortable position, Yukinoshita observed the room's furnishings and, as expected, she had become Tachibana Kiyori again. Once she could finally move, Yukinoshita stood up and stretched her tired body. She drew back the curtains, and the blinding sunlight instantly illuminated the entire room. Yukinoshita blinked uncomfortably before regaining her senses.

The aches and pains in her body strained her already fragile nerves, and Yukinoshita couldn't help but complain about Kiyoshiro, who wasn't sleeping well and seemed to be doing nothing.

So, her gaze fell on the tablet she had been leaning against. Because of the sudden change in the room's brightness, the tablet was still dark and the content was not visible. Yukinoshita sat back down and curiously turned on the still-flickering computer. A magnified picture appeared before her eyes, one that even someone with her vocabulary could not describe.

It wasn't until the screen on the tablet gradually brightened that Yukinoshita's startled mind began to work. She recognized the tools; they seemed to be called graphics tablets...

Could it be that Tachibana Kiyori would draw such shameless... indecent... pictures!

Yukinoshita was now fully awake. She helplessly raised her hand, not knowing what to do. At this moment, Touko, worried that her daughter hadn't rested properly after "working" all night, pushed open the door and immediately saw the enlarged, embarrassing fan art on the large screen.

Yukino quickly turned off the computer screen, but suddenly realized that her actions seemed to be trying to cover something up.

Touko showed a moment of surprise, but knowing a little about Eriri's "work," she quickly came to her senses. However, she had seen Kiyoshi draw for Eriri before, but she had never seen such a large-scale work.

It turns out my daughter has reached the age where she wants to explore this...

"Mom doesn't object, but you shouldn't watch these things too often, it's bad for your health."

Yuanzi smiled understandingly at Yukino, then considerately closed the door.

"Do not--!"

The explanation that Yukina offered was stuck in her throat as the door closed, and a terrible weekend began.

……………………………………………………………

By the time Yukinoshita finished washing up and went downstairs for dinner, she had already composed herself and was plotting how to get revenge on Kiyoyori.

The little dumpling followed her all the way from the room to the living room, but Yukinoshita, determined to put on a poker face, resisted the urge to bend down and pick up the little cutie, and walked into the living room with her back straight and a cold expression.

She was greeted by Carol's mischievous expression, clearly smug. It was obvious that Touko had already told her what had just happened. Under Carol's undisguised gaze, Yukino almost lost her composure. She hid her pink ears in her loose hair, sat down opposite Touko with a straight face, and greeted her as usual.

Good morning, Mother.

Carol raised an eyebrow and winked at Yukinoshita from her seat in the main seat. According to Kiyoshiro's network of contacts, Yukinoshita had learned about Carol's usual interactions, which could be summarized as—unserious.

So Yukino pretended not to see Carol's mischievous behavior. This was the first time she had done something like this to an elder, so she was inevitably a little nervous, but Carol didn't seem to blame her. Instead, she turned to Touko and acted coquettishly, earning a reproachful look in return.

"Good morning," Yukino said, unsure how to begin, "Mom."

Such intimate terms of address would not appear in the Yukinoshita family.

Carol replied with a smiling emoji, "Good morning, little Qinglai has grown up quite a bit."

Yukino paused in her act of taking a sip of miso soup. Fortunately, the bowl wasn't full; it only sloshed around without spilling. She took a slow sip, put down the bowl, and then picked up a piece of tamagoyaki from a small dish and put it in her mouth, chewing it gently. She seemed oblivious to Carol's ill-intentioned words. Only after swallowing the tamagoyaki did she speak:

"My mom seems very experienced; she must have done a lot of research in the past."

Instead of treating the other person as a "mother," she treats them as a "friend," making the term "Mom" less unacceptable. Although this role is almost never played in Yukinoshita's life.

"Of course, you Japanese are generally a bit ashamed to talk about this kind of thing. We don't have so many taboos where I'm from. Back then, your mother, Touko, and I—"

Carol's words came to an abrupt halt, a look of pain flashing across her face before she immediately looked pleadingly at Touko, who was smiling very generously and politely.

If you ignore the porcelain bowl and chopsticks that the other person is about to crush.

"Oh my dear, what nonsense are you spouting in front of our daughter?"

Her family status was obvious.

Yukinoshita chose to bury herself in her food, admiring Carol's ability to say such a thing without batting an eye.

The hamburger patties tasted great, with plenty of juice bursting between your teeth. The meat was firm and chewy, and even Yukinoshita, who has a light palate, had to admire Touko's skill in making hamburger patties.

However, Touko, now angry, seemed unwilling to let Yukino off the hook. "Is it really alright for Kiyori to get up so late today?"

Touko stroked her face and tilted her head to look at Yukinoshita, who was enjoying her hamburger. "I usually meet Reina at 7 o'clock in Daikichi, but I'm already late today."

Yukino glanced at the wall clock in the living room—it was exactly eight o'clock.

Now the hamburger patty in my mouth doesn't taste so good anymore.

She still vividly remembers the icy, piercing gaze that shot from the side when she failed her solo performance that day, and the scene after the club activities when the two of them took the train home in silence. Even Yukinoshita, who was known as the Ice Queen, couldn't stand Takasaka Reina staring at her without saying a word, exuding a dangerous aura.

Yukino hesitated before taking out her silent phone and unlocking it with her fingerprint. Sure enough, a flood of LINE messages popped up, all unsurprisingly from Reina Kousaka.

"Qinglai, I've already set off. Where are you?" — 6:15.

"Qinglai, I'm already down the mountain, why don't I see you?" — 6:30.

"Why didn't you answer my call? You didn't even check your messages. I'm leaving you now, I'm going up the mountain. Don't forget, the latecomers have to treat everyone to shaved ice." — 6:44 PM

"What's wrong with you? Are you sick again?" — 7:30.

"Please prepare yourself mentally, Qinglai." — 7:55 AM.

Chapter 17 A Weekend Where Sanity Drops Like Crazy (Part 5)

The last message was only five minutes ago. Yukino could sense a dangerous undertone in the other party's sudden change in tone. She checked the missed calls and sure enough, there were five identical calls...

Yuanzi smiled and picked up her phone. "Rina just called to ask how you were. I told her you just overslept and there's nothing to worry about. It seems Rina cares about you a lot."

Yukinoshita held her scalding phone, unsure how to react, while Carol, standing beside her, was suppressing a laugh, her shoulders trembling as she clearly struggled to hold it in.

Soon, the next message came in:

"I'll give you twenty minutes."

Read.

Yukinoshita looked up at Touko, who was blinking innocently, and felt a headache coming on.

"Kiyoshi would better hurry up and go, because it's really hard to coax Reina when she's angry."

Helpless, Yukinoshita had no choice but to put down her half-eaten breakfast, hurriedly grab her oboe, and head out the door. Using her phone's GPS, she located Mount Daikichi and sped off on her bicycle towards it.

When Xuexia arrived at the foot of Mount Daji, panting, she saw a girl wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and tight jeans standing under the shade of a tree with a black leather suitcase. Her eyes were closed, and the summer breeze caressed her face and blew her black hair.

"too slow."

Reina opened her eyes and gave a cold glance at Yukino, who was still sitting on her bicycle with one leg on the ground. Her breathing was a little disordered, her hair was messed up by the wind, and her face was flushed with a healthy red. She had obviously rushed out of the house as soon as she saw the message.

It's impossible for Kiyoyori to get from her house to Daikichi in twenty minutes unless she can ride her bicycle as fast as a car; Reina is just making things difficult for her.

"You are ten minutes late."

"Excuse me."

Reina remained silent, waiting for the other party's explanation.

I went to bed a little late last night.

Yukinoshita didn't know what Kiyori had been doing last night, so she could only give a vague answer.

Reina tilted her head, "Reading pornographic books?"

Yukinoshita suddenly fell silent. She didn't know if Kiyori had read the book, but she knew he had seen inappropriate pictures.

Not hearing Yukinoshita's rebuttal, Reina turned in surprise to look at her childhood friend, whose face seemed even redder. "Really?"

Then she scoffed, "Pervert."

Yukinoshita, forced to bear a false accusation: ...

"You're punished by having to buy me shaved ice." Reina didn't give Yukinoshita a chance to refuse.

Yukinoshita nodded. "Okay."

“I want purple Argentina,” Lina said seriously.

Yukinoshita frowned in confusion. She didn't eat these things often, nor did she attend lively fireworks displays or festivals, so she wasn't very familiar with the flavors of shaved ice, but...

Purple Argentina, does it taste like that?

It sounded like the older sister was deliberately teasing her, making up a story to see her make a fool of herself, but the Kousaka Reina in front of her only left her with the impression of being "serious." She walked beside her with a normal expression and didn't seem like the kind of person who would tease others.

Reina led them to the shaved ice shop that the two of them frequented in the summer.

"Hey, Reina, Kiyora!" The shop owner was a cheerful woman with short hair, slightly tanned skin, a bright smile, and very white teeth. "This is your first time here this year! What would you like for two people? The usual?"

Same as always? It seems the shop owner and the two people are old acquaintances.

Reina didn't say anything, leaving the ordering entirely to Yukinoshita. She suddenly felt something was off, but considering she couldn't reveal it, she still said to the shop owner in a serious tone, "Give me a purple Argentine."

Everything around seemed to have fallen silent.

Reina's suppressed laughter came from behind Yukinoshita. The shopkeeper quickly realized what was going on. "Ah, little Kiyora got tricked by little Reina again? We don't have 'Purple Argentina' here, but you can try 'Blue Hawaii'."

As expected, she had been tricked. Yukinoshita glanced at Reina behind her, who was laughing so hard she could barely stand up straight, with a hint of annoyance.

"It's really bad fun."

"It's punishment, punishment!" Reina laughed as she wiped the saline solution from the corner of her eye with her finger. "It's because Kiyoshi never learns his lesson, and besides, pfft! Your serious expression is really funny! Hahaha!"

Unlike Reina's unrestrained laughter, Yukinoshita's face was almost frozen, as if chilled to the bone like a freezer in a shop.

The shop owner smiled helplessly, "Kiyoshi should learn his lesson. How many times has Reina tricked you? You can't just not look at the menu because you like one flavor. That's why Reina tricked you so many times."

"Alright, you two go inside and sit down. I'll cook it for you according to my usual taste."

Yukinoshita parked the car with a sullen face, then sat down with Reina in their "exclusive" seats. Two bowls of shaved ice were quickly brought to the table. The one in front of Yukinoshita was drizzled with yellow sauce, while Reina's was drizzled with pink sauce.

Reina scooped up a large spoonful and put it in her mouth, then frowned and pressed her hand to her forehead, revealing a happy yet somewhat painful expression. Yukinoshita wasn't very good at appreciating these foods filled with artificial coloring, but she still scooped up a small spoonful and put it in her mouth under the shopkeeper's eager gaze.

The pineapple's sour taste stimulated her taste buds upon entry, instantly sweeping across her entire mouth. Then, a sweetness covered the sourness, but did not completely drive it away. Coupled with the finely ground ice fibers, Yukinoshita couldn't help but show the same "painful yet pleasurable" expression as Reina.

The last time she tasted snacks like this was when she was a child. Back then, she hadn't fallen out with her sister yet, and she would just blush and accept her teasing. But things have changed now. She doesn't know if it's Yang Nai who has changed, or if it's her.

A bitter taste suddenly spread through my mouth.

"Alright, I was just teasing you a little. Why are you making such a face?" Reina casually scooped a piece of food from Yukinoshita's bowl with her spoon, while Yukinoshita just frowned.

"You can have mine too?"

"No need."

She withdrew her gaze from the snow.