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

Miss Futaba, who was still a little sleepy, did not try to hide her bad mood which was fueled by her grumpiness after waking up. She almost had the words "I'm unhappy" written on her face.

"Xingjian, you even bring your sister with you when you travel. Are you some kind of big-baby college student who needs his mother to help with the laundry and cooking when he goes to college?"

"Wait, wait, wait, this is really a misunderstanding, and it's an unprovoked disaster."

Although he didn't know why Futaba's eyes were so full of resentment, Xingjian could still feel the dissatisfaction and hostility emanating from her whole body, so he quickly waved his hand to explain.

"I invited my sister to travel with me—I didn't bring a maid to take care of her daily life. I later explained this to Eriri, and she didn't object."

While Futaba's expression relaxed a little, Miss Hayasaka seemed to have completely failed to understand the slightly strange atmosphere between the two of them. She stood on tiptoe with a smile and patted the boy next to her on the head.

"Don't say that. Even if Xiaoqing doesn't tell me, I will still take care of your daily life."

"—"

Well, now Miss Futaba's face fell again.

"Then again, I've always felt like I needed an explanation."

The gray-haired girl stared intently at the blonde girl with a bright and cheerful smile, her eyes sharp and cold as if she wanted to see through her.

"Hoshimi, your sister, do you have a cosplay habit? Why didn't you choose the identity of Hasaka, a high school student from a girls' academy, this time? Wouldn't it be easier to fit in with the travel group if you switched to that mode?"

Futaba said the first sentence while looking at Hoshimi, and said the second sentence calmly with a smile on her face while turning her eyes to Hayasaka.

Hearing this, Xingjian, who had just felt a little uneasy, calmed down and turned his gaze to Miss Hayasaka beside him - in this situation, of course, it would be most appropriate for her to answer in person.

Hayasaka didn't pay much attention to Futaba's question at first, but when Hoshimi turned around and looked at her, the cute smile on her face gradually faded.

"Yes, but not necessary."

She responded to Futaba's question with just six short words. Of course, that nonchalant attitude slightly angered Miss Futaba, who was not very friendly to her to begin with.

"Xingjian, let me offer some advice for now. Although I don't quite understand why a normal person would want to play another role, if this is a sign of impending split personality, it would be best for your family to consult a psychologist immediately."

"Hello..."

Why does it feel like Futaba's hostility towards Hayasaka-san is so obvious today?

"Oh, that's not necessary."

But before Hoshimi could answer, Miss Hayasaka, who lowered her hand from his head and then grasped his wrist with an extremely natural movement, tilted her head.

"I can play not just one character, but a variety of roles. It's common knowledge that men are very fickle, so it's great to be able to keep things fresh this way."

Having said that, Miss Hayasaka turned her gaze towards Hoshimi with a smile, seeing that Hoshimi looked very awkward.

"Don't you think so, Xiaoqing?"

Indeed, if one person has many faces, even though you are only dating one person, you may feel like you have six or seven girlfriends.

"But that... Hayasaka-san. I'm not that demanding of you and I don't get tired of you, so I just need to maintain the same state."

"Is that so? Xiaoqing, do you prefer a gentle and virtuous older sister or a quirky and naughty senior? I can satisfy you in either way~"

"Ahem, ahem...Aren't we back to square one?"

"........."

Miss Futaba looked at the two guys in front of her who started talking to themselves again without permission, and her already uneasy expression became even more difficult to describe.

Although she also knew that this pair of siblings had no blood relationship in the reconstituted family - but no matter how she looked at it, the elder sister's attitude towards her younger brother was too much beyond the boundaries of being an "elder sister".

She also vaguely felt the not-so-friendly aura emanating from Hayasaka Ai.

Hayasaka Ai's attitude towards herself is definitely not the usual type of [sister treats her brother's friend], that is distant yet polite at the same time.

It is more difficult to describe in words, looking down with disdain from above, but also with a slight sense of playfulness.

Futaba Rio didn't like this feeling very much.

"Well, well—after all, our journey is the same, isn't it?"

Seeing that there seemed to be an indescribable tense atmosphere between these two guys with completely different personalities, Xingjian quickly stepped forward and used his body to block the two women, with a smile on his face that showed that he hoped to turn hostility into friendship.

"Let's get going now—Eriri and Kasumigaoka-senpai might already be waiting impatiently on the station platform."

What's more, if this goes on, not only will Eriri and the others get impatient, but even Hoshimi might not be able to stand the current atmosphere.

"…………snort."

Futaba hummed softly, then quietly turned around and walked back into the room. At the same time, Hoshimi also took a step forward in tacit understanding, and even without Futaba saying anything, she walked to the outside of the entrance and pushed out the suitcases she had piled at the door.

“………? ~”

The slightly tense atmosphere disappeared in an instant. Hayasaka was the complete opposite of Futaba. She took the luggage pushed by Hoshimi with a relaxed look on her face, and even hummed a little tune in a relaxed and excited manner for some reason.

"He's kind of cute even when he's a little angry. Xiaoqing's friends are really just like him. They're all quite interesting."

Of course, Miss Hayasaka Ai would never say such a thing.

In short, after a conversation, Ms. Futaba, whose mood index dropped, and Ms. Hayasaka, whose mood index rose instead of falling, finally had to travel together after packing their luggage.

On the way to the station platform, the two of them tried not to talk as much as possible. Futaba just quietly dragged her suitcase and looked ahead, while Hayasaka continued to play the role of a gentle and caring big sister, chatting and laughing with Hoshimi who was walking between them, and occasionally poking her younger brother's cheek with her finger.

Only the boy Xingjian had to be sandwiched between the two of them. He had to carry their luggage while smiling and enduring the oppressive feeling brought by the difference in high and low air pressure.

How should I put it? This feeling of being attacked from all sides, with wolves in front and tigers behind...it's really an uncomfortable position to be in the middle.

"For some reason, I feel like I've become the wooden male protagonist in a youth romantic comedy, caught between two cute girls and fighting for their love. Obviously, I'm not that kind of character."

The boy who saw Hoshi could only complain about the current situation in his heart with such ridicule, and then waited anxiously for the moment of arriving at the destination.

After walking for about twenty minutes, the three finally arrived at the door of the station platform.

At the same time, a pair of golden twintails, which were particularly conspicuous among the crowd, fluttered back and forth - and finally nimbly moved through the crowd and came in front of the three of them.

"Ah—it's coming, it's finally here!"

The blonde girl with twin ponytails, wearing an autumn baseball shirt and loose denim shorts and a fashionable and practical backpack, took off her baseball cap and looked at the three people with different expressions with a slightly indignant and dissatisfied expression.

"You guys are so slow—Kasumigaoka Utaha, who's been fixing herself up at home for an hour or two, just arrived."

Sawamura Eriri pointed with disdain at the black-haired girl with a headband who was standing in the shade with a parasol and wearing a cool and elegant long skirt. The latter also turned her head slightly to the side and gave them a gentle smile.

"Ah, it certainly takes a long time for a woman to take care of her appearance. If you don't understand this now, Sawamura-kun, it's probably going to be hard for you to understand it in the future."

"What did you say, you woman—"

"………ha."

Seeing these two people getting angry and mocking each other as usual, Xingjian boy put the backpack on the luggage beside him with a sense of relief, and his expression, which had been uneasy all the way, returned to its usual state.

Well, this is the daily appearance he is used to.

"Alright, alright. Even though there are two unexpected participants in our travel plans this time, everyone is here after all. Hmm... I think everyone is here... right?"

Eriri reached out and glanced at the watch on her wrist, then she glanced at everyone present again with a slightly uncertain tone, and finally she suddenly had an epiphany.

"Oh, right. Where's Kato-san? I haven't seen her since a while ago—"

"Um, Sawamura-kun."

Just as Miss Eriri was looking around anxiously, fearing that her target person would disappear without a trace, the girl with medium-length black hair who was guarding her luggage under the shade of a tree not far to Eriri's left weakly stretched out her hand to highlight her presence.

"I've been here since just now, about ten minutes ago."

"Ah, uh...I see."

Eriri, who had been worried for a long time, breathed a sigh of relief, but could only smile awkwardly but politely and wave her hand to indicate that she was finally relieved.

"Good—well, there's only an hour left until the tram leaves. Let's go buy our tickets!"

After confirming the number of people, the enthusiastic Eriri walked to the front of the group and became the leader of the tour group.

"Hey, good morning, Hoshimi-kun, Futaba-san—and Hayasaka-san."

Shiyu smiled calmly and indifferently and waved to the three of them. It seemed that Eriri had already informed her that Futaba and Hayasaka were coming.

After Kato smiled faintly, nodded slightly and said "Hello" to them, he considerately shared some of the luggage with Hoshimi (mainly Futaba and Hayasaka's luggage), and followed Eriri and Shiwa with the suitcase in his hand as naturally as possible.

Xingjian had no chance to refuse and could only watch Kato take the luggage and walk calmly in front of him, leaving only an ordinary back view.

“………Hmm.”

Thanks to this, Xingjian, who never liked to stare at other people's appearance carefully, blinked belatedly.

"Kato, you've grown your hair."

It has already exceeded the neck and is almost covering the shoulders.

----

Okay, the main stage of this volume is about to arrive and the characters who are supposed to appear are about to appear (dog head)

A Never-Ending Week at the World Line's Divergence: Chapter 5: Plan Master: Miss Hayasaka Ai (Part 1)

The place Eriri chose was a little-known hot spring hotel surrounded by a maple forest.

It was autumn recently, and the hillside behind the hotel was visibly dyed a brilliant variety of colors by the maple forest. Even near the shrine located a few hundred meters away from the hotel, there were occasional red maple trees mixed in.

In general, it is a great place for a holiday trip with pleasant scenery and few people around, which is enough to make you feel relaxed and happy.

After taking a bus for several hours from the platform of the arrival station, Miss Eriri finally arrived at the hotel entrance. She took off the baseball cap that was pressing on her head and looked at the retro and particularly romantic Japanese-style hotel with a radiant look in her eyes.

"Okay, this is the destination of our trip!"

"Hey, Sawamura-kun, your taste is surprisingly good."

Kasumigaoka Utaha took off her sun hat and walked gracefully down from the car. She looked up at the hotel with a look of surprise and admiration that was beyond words.

"Well, I can rest and recuperate here. The quiet environment is also very friendly to writing. Well, at least I can work in peace when there are no activities. Well done, Sawamura-kun."

"Hey, Kasumigaoka Utaha, since we're all traveling, why don't we put work aside for now..."

"Ah, do you think it's that easy to come up with a work that suits your artistic style and genre, Sawamura-kun?"

Shiyu gave her a somewhat unpleasant look, as if she was despising Eriri for being so busy that the day was so imminent.

"If we two want to work together, it's not just about enhancing each other's strengths in our respective areas of expertise. We need to consider all aspects of our work. You should also put in some effort."

"Hey... you're still as nagging and worrying as ever..."

Eriri drooped her little face, looking as if she was disappointed because Shiyu kept bringing up work, but she still didn't refute her.

"Well, having said that, Sawamura-kun, you've taken every aspect of your travel choices into consideration. You've also taken everyone's feelings into consideration, and even with the increase in the number of people, you were able to adjust the plan in a timely manner. This is truly impressive. Keep up the good work."

"Tsk, that's all. I'm still going to do something that will impress you."

"…What are these two up to?"

Futaba, who was confused by the situation, frowned, leaned back slightly, and whispered to the Hoshimi boy who got out of the car behind her with bags and a look of despair on his face.

"Oh, those two seem to be planning some kind of collaboration. After all, an illustrator and a light novel writer, they might have some common perspectives on creation."

Xingjian briefly explained what the two of them had been discussing recently, and then with some difficulty carried several boxes of luggage out of the car one by one.

"As for the rest of the quarrel...just take it as a symbol of the good relationship between these two people."

Miss Hayasaka, carrying her backpack and personal belongings, leisurely got out of the car behind him. Her expression was calm, with a hint of the ease of a behind-the-scenes operator watching the show with pleasure.

"Well, this is the place I chose, so of course I'll do everything I can to make sure you all like it."

Otherwise, how can we gather all the people who have good relationships with a certain star-seeing boy?

"Ever since everything returned to normal, I feel like the relationship between Sawamura-san and Kasumigaoka-senpai has become much better."

Just at this moment, the girl with medium-length black hair who was at the end of the team also slowly got off the car carrying bags of things - most of what Kato was carrying were things for Hoshimi to share.

However, Miss Kato's gaze was not directed at Hoshimi, but at Futaba, who was standing next to him with an intriguing expression on her face.

"I didn't expect that Futaba-san and Hoshimi-kun's sister would also be traveling with us. We'll have to spend the next week together, so please be kind and take care of them."

She spoke to Futaba very appropriately and normally, and nodded to her politely - but the latter seemed a little wary of her initiative, and after a long silence, she still said nothing and also lowered her head in a faint gesture.

"Sorry, sorry, Kato. I didn't notice there were so many luggage when I got off the bus just now. Can you leave it all to me?"

Xingjian realized that Kato seemed to be carrying too many things, quickly put down the things in his hands, ran to her and wanted to take the luggage. Unfortunately, Miss Kato Megumi didn't seem to want to hand it to him at all, and didn't even let go of her hand.

"It's okay, Hoshimi-kun. You're the only boy on this trip, and it doesn't seem right to leave all the hard work to you."

The girl with black medium-length hair that just reached her shoulders just smiled faintly, politely declined Xingjian's kindness, and even hugged the luggage in her arms with more strength.

"If I could share some of the burden with you, this journey wouldn't be so hard for you."

"Ah...Kato..."

Although Xingjian tried hard to suppress his expression and not let the emotions on his face be too obvious, he still couldn't help but sigh.