Why wasn't I the one who got the male lead's script?

Miss Hayasaka Ai shrugged innocently, trying to completely distance herself from the matter.

"Besides, this concerns your reputation, Xiaoqing, and that of other girls. If you don't handle it with caution, there will be problems—unless you can prove that you are not actually interested in girls."

----

Okay, Xiao Ai is going to start making trouble again (dog head funny

A Never-Ending Week at the World Line's Divergence: Chapter 2: The Arrangement of Fate (?) (Part 2)

Ah, this... is truly an unimaginable path.

"Isn't there a saying that goes, 'You'll never know what your sexual orientation and preferences are until you find that specific person.'"

Miss Hayasaka raised her eyebrows with a smile, looking determined not to give up until she had made trouble.

"Eh...what if I'm not interested in anyone?"

As an old nitpicker, Hoshimi also asked the same question without giving in, but of course this was a piece of cake for the master of sophistry, Miss Hayasaka Ai.

"——Then I will be responsible for taking care of Xiaoqing's life from now on~"

"What? This kind of brother-con statement sounds particularly heavy."

"This is a role model of a responsible and loving brother. Xiaoqing, you should have some respect for your sister. And after all..."

Miss Hayasaka Ai turned her head away slightly, and the expression on her face no longer had the vitality and spirit as before.

On the contrary, it has a bit of melancholy and sighing taste.

"People around us can drift apart without us even noticing. Being able to stay together like a family and stay close together is already happiness enough."

"........."

This time, Xingjian did not try to shake off Hayasaka's hand. His originally frivolous brows drooped a little, and he just silently looked at this sister who was half a head shorter than him but extremely reliable.

Hayasaka Ai, who loves to act cute and act like a spoiled child, and who also loves to tease others and clean up after others, can easily make others forget the fact that she is actually just a 16 or 17-year-old girl in love.

"——That's why life is short. Go meet the people you want to meet and have fun with the people you are close to, Xiaoqing!"

However, the gloom on Hayasaka's face disappeared in the blink of an eye, and was replaced by a bright smile.

"Hey, wait a minute—Sister, didn't you just say you were going to vote against my travel plans at the family meeting?"

"Yeah, that's why I said it was just a plan. Think carefully about what we just discussed, Xiaoqing--"

The blonde girl stuck out her tongue playfully, then let go of the boy's arm and leaped in front of him with a few light and lively steps. Finally, she turned around and showed a cute and carefree smile.

"If traveling with only female companions is a cause for controversy, then wouldn't it be better to have more male companions? Besides..."

Having said this, Miss Hayasaka smiled happily and winked at the boy.

"Since we're going on a trip with friends, it's not allowed to only care about one side and ignore the other, right?"

"…………ah?"

Hoshimi, who probably realized what Hayasaka wanted to express, raised his eyebrows and his expression looked a little subtle.

Yes, Miss Hayasaka Ai's plan from the very beginning was of course to "use both soft and hard methods to get Hoshimi to transfer to Shuchiin" - this ultimate goal was not shaken at all.

However, because she didn't want to force Xingjian, she could only use the method of gentle persuasion and subtle influence to guide Xingjian in the direction she wanted.

Therefore, in order to achieve this ultimate goal, she had to resort to some more roundabout methods.

——For example, try every possible way to bring Xingjian’s classmates at Shuchiin together with him so that the two sides can communicate more.

Hayasaka Ai is well aware of how close the relationship between her brother and Shirogane Ishigami is, but if their relationship is to reach the level of "best friends", someone still needs to help.

If their relationship with Shirogane Ishi becomes closer, the balance in Xingjian's heart will probably tilt more towards Shuchiin.

With this in mind, Hayasaka quickly put his idea into action - for example, through subtle influence, he made Miss Eriri suggest "Let's go traveling together", and when Shirogane and Kaguya were arguing over the arrangements for the holiday travel, he hinted to them both that "the hot spring hotel is very good".

In this way, the two groups of people who would have had nothing to do with each other during the holidays finally came together intentionally or unintentionally under the arrangement of Miss Hayasaka Ai.

Moreover, both parties seemed completely unaware of the true identity of the person behind all this.

Miss Hayasaka Ai was extremely satisfied and complacent with her series of actions. Although the quality of her recent actions had fluctuated a bit due to changes in her mood, overall it still remained at a normal level.

It wasn't until she was preparing dinner in the kitchen that the black-haired boy leaning against the kitchen door looked at her back and muttered those words.

"If we all go on a trip——what will you do, sister?"

His question, which sounded nonchalant and no different from usual, made Hayasaka Ai pause in cutting the carrots, and the cheerful smile on her face froze slightly.

After school, Hayasaka Ai followed Hoshimi back to his house and ran to the kitchen and rolled up her sleeves, saying, "I'm going to cook a big meal to reward Xiaoqing."

——However, she thought of thousands of reasons to justify her arrangements, but she never thought about how to answer questions about herself.

“………Alas, I really don’t know if this can be considered an old problem of yours, sister.”

Having seen her subtle reactions, Xingjian let out a helpless sigh, then slowly walked to the chopping board, rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands, picked up the vegetables beside him and began to share Hayasaka's work.

"You've arranged everything for us, but you've never thought of including yourself?"

“——Hmm.”

It took Hayasaka Ai about half a second to come back to her senses - this was actually rare for her with her quick thinking.

"Travel, sister, do you want to go?"

"...I am not qualified to participate in this kind of thing, and it is better for me not to get involved—"

"do you want to go?"

"........."

It seems that the answer is self-evident.

"That can't be helped. After all, I have to consider the possibility of Kaguya-san getting involved..."

The blonde girl who had been talking about other things spoke calmly, and her face no longer had the excitement and happiness she had before.

“…Puff.”

However, in contrast to her, the black-haired boy only studied her expression carefully before gently covering his mouth and laughing.

"Did I just say something funny?"

"No, I'm just happy about what you said, sister."

Xingjian smiled and waved her hand, her frank and clear smile showing no sign of trying to hide it from beginning to end.

Instead, he bent down, allowing himself to turn completely sideways to look at Hayasaka's profile—the smile on his face became even more intense.

"After all, you were willing to arrange for Shinomiya-san to come along for me... Doesn't this mean that I now hold some weight in your heart?"

"—"

And Xingjian's words completely froze the blonde girl's eyes, and her azure pupils contracted.

"I know what you're up to, sis... It's probably the same as Isshiki's. I hope to see some interesting youth romantic comedies included in our travel plans."

Having said that, Xingjian sighed, washed the lettuce over and over again before placing it safely in the basket.

"But compared to me, it's better for you to focus on yourself. After all, your personality makes it harder for you to find a partner for a romantic comedy than mine."

Everyone wants to see the all-powerful maid Hayasaka Ai, or the energetic, cheerful and lively school girl Hayasaka Ai.

In order to please others, she must have consciously or unconsciously shaped herself to be what everyone expected of her.

Although this is definitely contrary to my true self.

"Well, I'm almost understanding now. You're actually the kind of person who gets angry and sad, and throws tantrums like a normal little girl—but if you don't show your true self, others will only know you through your facade, and end up being immersed in your false mask, right?"

So in the final analysis, it is just tying yourself up in knots and tying up others.

"——That person doesn't exist. Even if he saw the real me, he would still accept it with a smile."

Hayasaka's sword swinging motion had completely stopped.

She stared at the clean chopping board, but her azure pupils seemed to be looking at something even more distant.

"Besides, I can't allow such people to exist."

This means that the omnipotent Hayasaka Ai has weaknesses and soft spots again.

There is only one such person, Kaguya Shinomiya, and that is enough.

"The point isn't whether or not it can happen—it's whether or not you, sister, want such a person to exist."

However, Xingjian's calm words inadvertently broke a corner of her already deeply ingrained thought cage.

The boy was still concentrating on the work at hand, but he also expressed his thoughts fluently and naturally.

"No matter who you are, you'll always want someone who not only appreciates your strengths but also accepts your weaknesses... Even I'm the same way. It's human nature."

Most people like to show their best selves in front of others in order to attract others to pursue them, but in the end they will worry about questions like "What if he only likes my most perfect side and cannot accept my true appearance?"

Or, people who are used to showing their most perfect selves in front of others can no longer allow their true flawed selves to appear - because that will only bring disappointment and frustration to others.

So they are used to pretending, and dare not believe what others say when they say "I like you". What they like is the perfect mask they have created, or the real person under the mask who occasionally cries and throws tantrums like a child.

Hoshimi looked at Hayasaka's somewhat bewildered eyes with a smile, her tone gentle yet firm.

"Actually, I don't think it's necessary to erase this little thought. It will make Miss Hayasaka Ai more humane."

"...?"

"And I also believe, sister, you will always find someone who can see through everything about you and still choose to accept all of you."

The black-haired boy casually put all the vegetables into the same bowl, a faint smile gradually rising from the corner of his mouth.

"Until then, I'll stay with you, sister—you can't find anyone else to rely on anyway, right?"

"........."

Hayasaka Ai didn't answer, but just stared at the boy's profile. It took a long time for her to come back to her senses.

Oops.

It seems a bit bad.

"This child... since when did he start being able to speak these words so openly?"

The blonde girl suppressed her inexplicably upset mood and felt a little unbelievable.

"There's no need to be so surprised, right? After being helped in such a lavish way by you, it would be strange if my mentality didn't improve at all."

Xingjian smiled helplessly and shook his head as if he had seen through Hayasaka's little thoughts.

"To be honest, before that day, I always had negative expectations and outcomes for interpersonal relationships... You guys rekindled my confidence in this area, and made me feel like I could believe and have expectations again."

The boy expressed his true feelings in an exceptionally gentle tone. Even after Hayasaka stopped what he was doing, he did not remain idle. He methodically took out a peeler and started working on the freshly washed potatoes.

Therefore, some things that I was originally ashamed to say have gradually become something that I can express frankly.

"From now on, I also want to continue to get along well with everyone and build stronger relationships with everyone. Although it sounds a bit greedy, selfish, and ungrateful, this is what I really want. So-"

Having said that, the boy suddenly put down the peeler and the half-scraped potato in his hand.

He turned sideways seriously, and then stared at Hayasaka's still somewhat dull eyes with serious eyes, as if he wanted to see through all the hesitation and indecision in her heart.

"I hope you can think more about yourself, sister."

After Hoshimi finished speaking, he didn't give Hayasaka a chance to refute and spoke the next sentence in a compact manner.

"So, include yourself in this travel plan."

As if to allow Hayasaka to hear more clearly, he took a big step forward - the distance between them was instantly shortened from the comfortable one or two meters to less than ten centimeters.

"...?"

Miss Hayasaka Ai, who has always been quick-witted and intelligent, is now in a state of complete brain failure.

The reason was, of course, the cheek of the boy who was already in front of him but still unaware of it.

"Too close—wait, that's a little too close!"

This child is so scary after evolving into a mature form. What will happen if he grows into a complete form in the future?

----

The series of natural counters to black-bellied schemers (funny). Let's look forward to what kind of ruthless (thick-skinned) character Xingjian will grow into in the future who blurts out sweet words.

A Week of Never-Ending Time at the World Line's Divergence: Chapter 3: Love War Begins! (Part 1)

——When receiving the information about the recommended travel destinations for autumn trips, Kaguya Shinomiya was actually a little hesitant.

Although she was not very good at using electronic products (such as mobile phones and computers), in order to observe the blog of a certain Silver President, she could not help but clumsily open the webpage and look for every little detail and clue in the other person's life in the posts where the other person recorded his daily trivialities.