Comics, daily stories

......

"Boyfriend, how about we go out and have some fun? I feel like Yukino's problem won't be resolved for a while." Yukinoshita Haruno tugged at his clothes.

Nomiyama watched as Yukino walked into the room at the end of the corridor, her gaze sweeping across the corridor before finally settling on a bench not far away.

The spring sunlight shone on her, making the ends of her black hair slightly translucent. She wore a light blue coat, a plain white skirt, and a black belt around her waist that accentuated her figure. She sat upright, holding a paperback in her hand.

She is probably the most suitable person to describe as mature and intellectual.

If this person can maintain this state indefinitely.

"Looks like I can't go out to play, but I ran into an old friend."

Nomiyama responded to Haruno, then met her gaze with those red eyes and walked towards her.

"Senior, it's been a long time."

"Long time no see." Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled as she looked at him, who had changed somewhat from her memory, and closed the paperback.

Nomiyama didn't stand on ceremony and sat down next to her, relaxing his body.

Yukino looked at the person she had met a few times and sat down next to him with a smile.

"This is Yukinoshita Haruno, my girlfriend," Nomiyama said, sitting up slightly to introduce her.

“I know Hino-senpai, junior.” Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded to the person on the other end.

"know?"

"It's probably because of work," Kasumigaoka Utaha explained softly.

"Yes, they came to my house because of work." Yukinoshita Haruno's tone was ambiguous.

“That’s my junior’s house, Hino-senpai,” Kasumigaoka Utaha retorted simply.

Nomiyama looked at the two of them, puzzled as to how they had ended up visiting his home.

"I'm the lady of the house, do you have a problem with that?" Yukinoshita Haruno's smile softened.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought the lady of that house was your sister." Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled gently as well.

"No, no, no, I didn't come here to listen to your arguments." Nomiyama stretched out his hands to both sides. "Please let me go. I still need to apologize to Mai later. At least let me have some peace now."

"Oh? Junior wants end-of-life care?" Kasumigaoka Utaha asked.

"How is this hospice care? Do you think I'll be killed by my own girlfriend?" Nomiyama thought the analogy made no sense.

"Who knows?" Yukinoshita Haruno glanced at the room, then stood up. "Alright, boyfriend, I'm going to Tokyo Bay to check on the slab pouring."

"Where did you get a concrete pile for in broad daylight?" Nomiyama thought she didn't know much about the underworld.

"It's to give you and your junior some space to talk." Yukinoshita Haruno looked at him with disdain.

"If you're not Yukinoshita Haruno, then who are you?" Nomiyama asked suspiciously.

Yukinoshita Haruno moved closer to him and bumped her forehead against his: "I am Yukinoshita Yukino."

Nomiyama nodded earnestly: "Hello, Yukino Yukinoshita."

"Hehe." Yukinoshita pinched his cheek, then got up and left down the corridor.

"That's not like Haruno-senpai's style," Kasumigaoka Utaha said softly.

"Hmm, don't worry about it." Nomiyama looked in the direction she left, his senses spreading, confirming that she was drinking tea and observing from the hotel lobby. "She sometimes wants to make the atmosphere more relaxed."

Nomiyama stopped caring and let her do as she pleased; there was nothing she couldn't let anyone know anyway.

Kasumigaoka Utaha did feel the atmosphere was more relaxed; at least there were things she could say without having to because the other person's girlfriend was there.

After thinking for a moment, she casually began, "When did you get back, junior?"

Nomiyama answered quickly: "Yesterday."

"I thought you would go to find Megumi first, since she is in Chiba."

Nomiyama was somewhat surprised by her familiarity with the people around her, but still explained, "I've already met with Megumi."

Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at him for a while, then finally sighed, "He really is a scumbag, his methods are amazing."

“No.” Nomiyama denied this statement. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes becoming calm and gentle. “It was Megumi who took care of and tolerated me, not what I did.”

“Megumi?” Kasumigaoka Utaha’s gaze fell on the room at the end of the corridor. “I can’t really figure out what Megumi is thinking.”

Nomiyama shook his head, thinking about everything that had happened yesterday: "Let's not talk about that. Why is Senpai here?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha's fingers unconsciously parted the pages of the paperback book: "It's because of work. I didn't expect to run into my junior here."

Nomiyama's gaze fell on a page of the paperback edition, and he recognized the words on it: "The Dancing Girl of Izu".

He recalled this short story by Kawabata Yasunari, remembering the final parting between the male and female protagonists, and asked with a hint of curiosity, "Would you like a story with such a tragic ending?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced down at the paperback, closed it again, and shook her head: "Tragedy or comedy are pretty much the same to me. I only care about the expression of the words. But if I had to choose which I prefer, I would probably choose the comedy ending."

"Hmm?" Nomiyama waited for an explanation.

"Because my life needs a comedic ending." Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled at him.

“I see.” Nomiyama looked away.

"Here, this is for you, a collection of short stories by Yasunari Kawabata." Kasumigaoka Utaha handed over the paperback edition.

"Hmm." Nomiyama took it and held it in his palm.

The corridor quieted down, with only soothing piano music flowing in the air. This was a high-rise building in a hotel, and even the lobby on this floor was nearly deserted on this afternoon.

They seemed to have found themselves in a situation where no one would bother them.

"Junior."

"Here I am."

"I actually think I'm neither smart nor very lucky."

"Really? Please give an example."

"For example, it took me a long time to finally figure out what I wanted, only to find that I had gone down a very wrong path. I made up my mind to go back down that wrong path, imagining starting to pursue it again, but I found that what I wanted was no longer there."

"Is that so? Is it true that one draws their sword, looks around, and feels lost?"

"No, it should be: being in the wilderness with no way to go."

Nomiyama put the paperback into his pocket and turned to look at her.

"But senior, you're only nineteen. Your life has just begun."

Kasumigaoka Utaha paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Indeed, there is still time."

She brought up another topic: "How's your year, junior? I heard from your girlfriend that you 'died,' 'were struck by lightning,' or 'are probably dead.'"

Nomiyama gasped, "Hiss... Who said that? So ruthless!"

Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her gaze to the room at the far end.

Nomiyama scratched his head: "Oh, Mai is right, I'm just resurrected after death."

Kasumigaoka Utaha sighed softly, "Junior, you're going to get played by those guys."

Nomiyama didn't take it to heart: "It's nothing. When I suffer a loss, it's always them who feel sorry for me."

"You really are a scumbag, even you know it."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Given this situation, we can only take the beatings while accepting compensation."

"Forget it, I'm not going to talk about this with you." Kasumigaoka Utaha shifted her gaze to the window at the far end, where a striking blue sky and white clouds stretched out. "Are you still going to school, junior? Tokyo or Chiba?"

Nomiyama thought of what they had agreed on before leaving that afternoon: "I won't come to Tokyo; I'll study at Chiba National University."

Kasumigaoka Utaha clutched the hem of her skirt, a faint smile on her face: "In that case, junior will be my junior again."

"You didn't go to Tokyo University?" Nomiyama was somewhat surprised and a little disappointed.

“No, I’m not that interested in Tokyo anymore.” Kasumigaoka Utaha stretched, exuding a lazy charm. She leaned back in her chair and softened her voice. “By the way, Mai is also at Chiba National University.”

“I know that.” Nomiyama waved his hand. “I just think it’s a bit of a shame that you’re not going to Tokyo University.”

“Didn’t I tell you? I have something else I want.” Kasumigaoka Utaha stepped on him.

“No, you didn’t say that.” Nomiyama dodged the question.

"No, I definitely said that."

"You didn't say that."

"I said that."

"Whether you say it or not is not important, senior, can you please stop trying to put me down?"

"Huh? Mai told me you really like this kind of thing, and that you're a masochist. I was thinking..."

"Don't even think about it, please don't even think about it, and I'm not a masochist."

"Then why didn't you avoid it?" Kasumigaoka Utaha's voice was smug.

Nomiyama looked down at the black-stockinged thighs lying on her lap, her eyes darting around, her gaze drifting towards the white skirt beneath.

Forcibly pulling his gaze away, he moved a few meters away: "Stretch your leg over here, does this have to do with SM or anything like that?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha blinked innocently.

"Aren't they all suppressing you?"

......

Yukino Yukinoshita pushed open the door, closed it casually, took a few steps, and smiled at the person leaning against the headboard holding a script.

"Yukino?"

Mai Sakurajima was stunned for a moment, then put down her script and quickly stepped forward to hug him: "You're back."

Yukino Yukinoshita hugged her back and said, "Mmm."

"Wait, let me make you some tea." Sakurajima Mai let go of his hand and took two steps, then froze. "Um, Mom usually prepares the tea, I don't know where she keeps the tea leaves..."

"It's alright, there's no need to be so polite between us." Yukino Yukinoshita took a few steps and sat on the bed. "Did Auntie go to work?"

"Ah, she got a job offer today. She was worried she wouldn't be able to explain it clearly over the phone, so she went for a face-to-face meeting." Mai Sakurajima opened the drawer under the TV, took out a few candies, and tossed them to Yukino.

"Is this your job?" Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the familiar candy wrapper and began to peel it without making a sound.

"Yeah, I don't really want to take on any acting roles lately, so I have to turn down all those job offers." Sakurajima Mai sat down next to her, leaned in, and put her arm around her hand. "Yukino, want to have dinner together tonight?"

“Okay, let’s go back to Chiba for dinner tonight,” Yukino Yukinoshita said, explaining the purpose of her visit.

Sakurajima Mai paused, released her grip, and leaned back on the bed: "No, I have work to do tonight."

Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head and looked at her: "Mai isn't the type to ignore her boyfriend because of work."

Mai Sakurajima's expression remained unchanged: "We broke up. I announced it unilaterally."

"Why? Logically speaking, Mai should blame me more, since I was the one who led the incident. As for Nomiyama-kun, he couldn't really take care of much in that situation."

"Because the initial reason was with him, and also, I broke up with him."

"Really? But Mai still goes to his house in her spare time, doesn't she?"

"That's just because I wanted to play with Megumi. After all, you and Eriri aren't here, and I don't have many friends left in Chiba."

"I see," Yukino Yukinoshita said softly, falling silent.

Time began to take shape in this room, ticking away second by second.

Until one moment, a hand took another person's hand.

Yukino Yukinoshita said softly, "But that's not how it is."

She thought of the person who had simply taken him to get their marriage certificate without much thought.

His gaze gradually settled: "Mai, you will never give up on this relationship, even though you avoided giving me that gift before."

"The current situation can be described as a decisive move, or it can be described as waiting for him to come over so that we can ask him for more."

Sakurajima Mai sneered: "Yukino Yukinoshita, I'm not you. I don't have that kind of desperate feeling for him. A person who would risk their life for another girl?"

Yukino Yukinoshita simply looked at her: "Mai, he will fight for you too, just like you said when you confessed on the radio, that you are each other's life-saving cure; the life-saving cure for him has never been just one person, didn't you know that from the beginning? Last time, I just forced him to have no choice."

Mai Sakurajima looked at her silently.

After a long pause, she said, "So, you came to see me before him this time."