I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Qinglai's lips were trembling from the cold, and when she arrived at the apartment, her trembling hands even made it difficult for her to enter the password.

Finally hearing the door open tone, Kiyora kicked off his shoes and rushed into Yukinoshita's room.

At first glance, there was no one in the room, but when Kiyotaka approached the passageway between the desk and the bed, he saw the figure lying there.

"Yukinoshita-senpai!"

Chapter 48 Please Look at Me

"senior?"

"senior!"

Kiyoshiro hurriedly picked Yukinoshita up from the floor and placed her on the soft bed. Her phone screen still showed that she was on a call; she hadn't dared to hang up.

Kiyoshiro gently shook Yukino's body and confirmed that she had fainted, but the reason was still unclear.

If you can't wake him up...

Qinglai had already entered the emergency number into his phone.

"Uh... um!"

A soft moan escaped Yukinoshita's lips. Her vision blurred, and the sounds around her were indistinct, like a rusty machine. Even she, who was usually quick-witted, was momentarily stunned.

Why is Tachibana here?

Why does she look so nervous and worried?

Yukinoshita tried to sit up, but she felt that her limbs were as soft as noodles and she couldn't muster any strength. So she had no choice but to lie down and wait for her facial features to gradually return to normal.

"Yukinoshita-senpai, how are you? Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Does your head hurt? Does anything feel numb? Do you feel nauseous? I'll call a car right now, we'll go to the hospital immediately!"

Was she always this long-winded?

Yukinoshita listened to Kiyoshiro speaking like a machine gun, each word bursting out like a bullet, catching her off guard.

“No,” Yukinoshita stopped Kiyori from calling a taxi with her soft hand, “I’m not going to the hospital.”

She clearly only heard Kiyoshi's last sentence.

“We need to figure out why you suddenly fainted,” Kiyori said, clearly unwilling to listen to Yukinoshita. “What if this happens again? We just happened to switch bodies this time, but what if we don’t next time? What if you were home alone then, and no one knew you had fainted? Have you thought about the consequences?!”

Yukinoshita's head ached from Kiyori's words. "I told you I'm not going to the hospital!"

Kiyoshiro's phone fell to the ground with a thud. Yukinoshita seemed to have used up all her strength at that moment, and she lowered her hand.

"I'm not going to the hospital..."

Kiyotomi stared blankly at the phone that had been knocked to the ground, then sighed, "Senior, now is not the time to throw a tantrum, I'll go with you—"

“If we go to the hospital,” Yukinoshita weakly interrupted Kiyori, “my sister will know.”

"What time is it? Why do you still care whether Yang Nai knows or not?" It would be better if she knew.

Qinglai did not finish the second half of his sentence.

“If my sister finds out, Mom will find out too…” Yukinoshita closed her eyes, the dizziness still surging over her like waves, “I can’t live here alone anymore.”

She will lose her last bit of freedom and return to the cage called "Under the Snow," even if she may never have truly escaped.

After a long silence, Kiyoyori finally sighed helplessly, "Then you should at least tell me what happened, senior."

"It's probably just low blood sugar," Yukinoshita said, covering her eyes with one arm. "Could you please get me a bar of chocolate, Tachibana-san?"

Haven't you eaten yet?

Yukinoshita was silent for a moment, then said, "I forgot..."

All that could be heard was a soft sigh.

"The chocolate is in the refrigerator—"

"I know!"

The next second, Yukinoshita felt Kiyori leave the room. Soon after, the mattress next to her slightly sank, and Kiyori returned to her side with chocolate and a cup of hot water.

Kiyoshi watched as Yukino ate all the chocolate and water, then silently stared at her for a long while, only daring to relax after confirming that Yukino hadn't actually resisted.

Even Yukinoshita would feel uncomfortable being stared at like that by Kiyoyori.

You look like you have something to say.

"There's nothing particularly I want to say."

Kiyori turned his head away, no longer looking at Yukino, but simply lowered his head, showing no intention of leaving.

“…I didn’t expect this to happen, and I apologize for startling you,” Yukinoshita thought for a while, “This was just an accident.”

"An accident?" Qinglai stood up from the bedside. "Of course it was an accident! That's what makes it so terrible! You certainly couldn't have predicted this! If it weren't for me tonight, who knows what would have happened to you?!"

This was the first time Yukinoshita had ever seen Kiyori so aggressive, especially when her anger was directed at her.

Realizing his loss of composure, Kiyoshi took a deep breath and turned his gaze away to calm himself down, only to find his work documents spread out on his desk.

Yukinoshita obviously discovered it as well.

"That's just some finishing touches, it'll be over soon."

She felt a little guilty.

"Is it necessary to be so stressed about these tasks? Our work here has only just begun; you don't need to work so hard."

“Precisely because your front desk work has just begun, we in the logistics department should work even harder,” Yukinoshita looked much better and more energetic than before. “We are already short-staffed, and Toyonosaki is already somewhat dissatisfied with this plan, but this is the most reasonable solution we could get. Besides, logistics work is very complicated, even with Hachiman and the others helping us—”

Kiyori seemed unable to hear what Yukinoshita said next.

"Hikigaya, Hikigaya, Hikigaya!"

She abruptly interrupted Yukinoshita, and Kiyoyori could feel the fire in his heart surging uncontrollably, fueled by a feeling of jealousy.

"Thanks to Hikigaya-senpai, the conflict with Toyonosaki was able to be resolved satisfactorily this time!"

"Yukinoshita-senpai is working so hard because she doesn't want Hachiman-senpai's efforts to be wasted, right?!"

"Such perfect teamwork is truly enviable!"

Qinglai's eyes were red, and she no longer knew what she was saying. Even though a small voice in her heart told her that these were all baseless and ridiculous guesses, the seed began to take root in her heart the moment it was planted, until a fire ignited it.

"Tachibana-san, I hope you know what you're saying right now."

Even when Yukina was ill, she still had such an imposing presence, but Kiyoyori felt that she lacked her usual aloofness.

"My relationship with Hachiman is just—"

"Don't say his name again!"

Kiyoshiro forcefully pressed Yukinoshita down onto the bed, pinning her hands down with her own.

She hated it terribly, she hated the name that Yukinoshita kept on her lips.

Why……

why? !

Why do you always stare at him?

when……

When will you finally see me...?

Kiyoshi buried her face in the pillow beside Yukinoshita's neck, loosened her grip on Yukinoshita's hands, and trembled as she sobbed softly.

So, it turns out I've always been—

"Sorry……"

Aside from apologizing, Kiyoyori didn't know what else to say.

Yukinoshita stared blankly at the familiar ceiling, subconsciously reaching out to gently soothe Kiyori, whose emotions had suddenly spiraled out of control.

She heard Kiyoshi's question, which sounded like he was talking to himself, but she didn't know how to answer it.

Fool……

If you really have been watching me all along,

And why couldn't they notice it?

Actually, I've always been watching you.

But how could I possibly say such a thing...?

P.S.: Because I couldn't put the author's notes in, I'll put it in the main text: Actually, Kiyora has always been suppressing her emotions, especially her jealousy. She's a very proud person; she's confident enough that she doesn't need to envy others. She can be "someone else's child," but she's actually jealous of what others have, especially when that thing is something she desperately wants. I've been building up Kiyora's jealousy of Hachiman for a long time, starting from the cultural festival. Kiyora gets jealous, but she doesn't realize it herself. Why did it only erupt this time? It's because her tolerance threshold had reached its limit. Yui's words laid bare the truth for Kiyora, and Yukino's fainting was the trigger that caused her to explode. Afterwards, she'll definitely feel ashamed because Kiyora is actually a rather introverted child.

As for Yukino, although I didn't write the details, it's quite clear what she said to Hachiman at the amusement park. In short, Hachiman was rejected, and even before he could say anything, Yukino had already distanced herself from him. This wasn't just because of Kiyori, but also because of Yui. The reasons Yukino couldn't say anything were complex. First, she wasn't sure about her feelings for Kiyori; second, she knew Kiyori actually had feelings for her senior, and she discovered that these feelings were mutual; finally, she believed there was a deeper connection between Kiyori and Haruno.

In short, things aren't really clear between the two yet, and that's about it for the Christmas activities. After that, it's the New Year and Valentine's Day storylines, which is the end!

Chapter 49 The Curtain Falls

Ah ah ah ah ah!

Upon returning home, Qinglai ignored the surprised looks of his two mothers and rushed straight to his room without glancing at them.

He slammed the door shut and buried himself in his pillow like an ostrich.

What's wrong with this child?

Yuanzi looked towards the stairs with a puzzled expression. "He ran out without even eating, and came back without saying goodbye."

"I'm so sorry," Touko said, turning to the person sitting next to her. "It's rare for Asuka to have time to come over, and this child is really impolite."

"It's alright," Asuka said, lowering her hand from where she was about to greet Kiyori, though he clearly hadn't seen her. "I'll go up and check on him."

Asuka walked easily to Kiyoyori's room, knocked on the door symbolically, but received no response. She had no choice but to open the door and go in, only to see Kiyoyori rolling around on the bed with his head in his hands, completely unseemly.

At this moment, Kiyoyori was completely unaware that someone was at the door of the room, and was still immersed in the tsunami of shame that was sweeping over him.

Why would she say something like that?!

This is just like...

Isn't it just like—