Uneasy daily life

Let's prepare ourselves mentally and anticipate the behavior of the troll—what if he takes something from yesterday's group chat and reads it aloud in public?!

Mai Sakurajima suddenly became serious.

Should we go back and change our clothes?

No, this outfit is the image of my character in the play, and I have to be responsible for my work.

Thinking about it carefully, the content is indeed praising myself, so I can simply swallow my pride and applaud in gratitude. As long as I'm mentally prepared, dealing with trolls won't be too difficult; after all, the most unexpected things always happen unexpectedly.

The ringing of her phone brought Mai Sakurajima back to her senses; unsurprisingly, it was her mother calling.

"Um... I'm going out for breakfast... No need... I told you not to accept any gigs lately—I won't go! Even if I have to pay a penalty, I won't go!"

"I don't mean to be stubborn with you... Alright, tell me what kind of job it is..."

"Interviews with reporters? Those reporters actually honestly hand out their business cards and ask if people are willing to be interviewed?"

"I was given a stern warning by the Chitanda family... It's much easier with the help of the locals... Hmm, this place is indeed quite relaxing..."

"Nanjo Fumika? Then I'm even less inclined to do this interview... Anyway, I need to focus on filming, so I refuse..."

"That's all for now, I'm going to have breakfast."

Mai Sakurajima hung up the phone and walked along expressionlessly, somewhat lost in thought.

It's so nice to be in this place; it's remote, nobody knows me, and I don't have to be so reserved. The crew also has the support of Mr. Sekiya and the Chitanda family, so there's no need to worry about reporters. In the city, if I weren't careful, I'd either be chased by reporters or mobbed by fans, and every smile and gesture would have to be perfect…

I did agree with some of the discussions the haters made about my idol, provided that those who were specifically targeting me were excluded.

In this situation where one is neither particularly special nor famous, one can disregard the status of an idol. For example, if one's nose feels a little itchy, scratching it won't be magnified, criticized, or damaging to one's image.

Click!

Someone's taking pictures?!

Mai Sakurajima abruptly lowered her hand and looked sensitively in the direction from which the sound came.

"Yo, good morning, Sakurajima-san."

The white-clad figure waved her phone around in one hand, took a couple of bites of bread with the other, and mumbled a greeting: "Ms. Sakurajima doesn't seem too happy this morning..."

"Because I saw Mr. Bai!"

Mai Sakurajima walked over with a smile and emphasized, "Mr. Shiro, taking photos without permission is a serious offense and can land you in jail!"

“I didn’t take any photos secretly,” Bai Ying immediately denied. “I was just taking pictures of the unique rural-urban landscape formed by the distinctive wooden buildings and lead-gray cement buildings. I think Miss Sakurajima has an ordinary appearance, but she is very confident. Is that okay? It’s not okay.”

?

You were chatting last night—stop! Don't follow the other person's train of thought!

Mai Sakurajima coughed, put on a smile and a cold look, and said directly, "Mr. Shiro, let's be frank. I heard something from your classmate. Apparently, for some ridiculous reason, Mr. Shiro has become my hater."

"How did you know..." Bai Ying looked surprised, took an awkward step back, and then suddenly realized, "Too long to read?!"

"Yes, it's too long..."

Mai Sakurajima paused slightly, realizing she had almost been led astray, and continued, "Anshin-in already explained everything clearly when we first met. Mr. Haku, isn't it absurd to blame me for your failure in the competition?"

Bai Ying sighed dejectedly, "My good-for-nothing subordinate only knows how to betray and stab his superiors all day long... I really am your hater, but I'm not going to pretend anymore!"

"So, Mr. Hater—please hand over your phone. This isn't just me being overconfident. As a hater, you have every reason to take photos and are suspected of committing a crime. Anluo Xinyuan is a witness."

Mai Sakurajima smiled and reached out her hand, saying, "If you delete the photos, the hater can still be considered an attempted surreptitious photo. But if you keep the photos, that constitutes a crime."

My mood improved, and I finally saw an expression of embarrassment and helplessness on this guy's face.

"Tsk! Everyone has their bad luck sometimes, maybe it'll happen in the next instant? Humph!"

Bai Ying handed over the phone.

Mai Sakurajima took the phone, opened the album, and prepared to delete the photos. Hearing such a stubborn and defiant comment, she smiled brightly and replied, "Then today is a bad day for you, Hater-kun. You'd better go to the shrine and change your luck... Hmm?"

Mai Sakurajima's smile gradually froze. There was indeed only one photo in the album—a cropped-out corner of a vast blue sky, with a small white cloud nestled within it. Beneath the cloud were houses of varying heights, the rustic wooden buildings contrasting with the modern concrete structures, and through the adjusted angle of the lens, a certain beauty could be discerned.

Where are my photos?

Sakurajima Mai suspiciously tapped her phone, only to find it hidden? Or deleted? This guy's phone is so clean; besides the chat app, there's nothing else.

"Oh dear—"

He drew out his voice, gradually raising it, and grabbed Sakurajima Mai's ear, making her look at him with a bewildered gaze.

The white figure was hopping and skipping around, and Mai Sakurajima's heart skipped a beat, vaguely sensing that something was wrong.

"And so on—"

"Breaking through the alchemy furnace and shaking the heavens, the Qitian staff displays its might."

"The Jade Emperor cried out for help in a panic, while the Buddha discussed Wukong in the clouds."

……

"Where were you born? In what year did you attain enlightenment? Why are you so tyrannical and rampant, wreaking havoc on the Heavenly Palace?"

Sakurajima Buddha asked with a smile.

"Heaven and earth were born from nature, and the Great Dao was originally established."

Bai Wukong twirled his staff and arrogantly declared, "The underworld holds my soul captive, the heavens demand my respect! With a single thought, I am free, and I will return this staff with joy! Bring on your moves, for if we must distinguish between superiors and inferiors, then let's have a fight and settle things!"

Sakurajima knew her opponent's background and had only been polite before resorting to force. She confidently stated her terms: "Fighting and killing are against the natural order. If you can leap out of my palm, then you win; if you can't, then you lose."

"Hahaha! What's so difficult about that? Watch me come right away!"

Bai Wukong somersaulted away.

Sakurajima Buddha smiled and lowered his head. In his palm, Bai Wukong darted around like a headless fly.

How could a mere monkey escape my grasp?

"When I'm tired of flying, I take a leak and make a mark."

You piss-sperm monkey!

"Hey! My throat feels so much better!"

I'll teach you a lesson when you get back!

"One, two, three, four; two, two, three, four; three, two, three, four... Buddha, you idiot! Exercise is good for your physical health, cursing is good for your mental health, awesome!"

I'll hold back! But I'll get you into a real mess later!

"Haaah... I'll take a nap before going back, and leave that stupid bald monk waiting."

Fed up!

Sakurajima Buddha gripped his hand tightly, and with a snap, a monkey hair appeared in his hand.

Upon closer inspection, one could see several lines of small characters on the monkey's fur.

……

"The mantis stalks the cicada, the sparrow catches the insect; their schemes all come to naught. How high is the moon over Haiti? You only half understand, and don't understand at all."

The white figure shook its head and said earnestly, "Brave Plus, do you think you have the truth and that you've endured my undisguised pointing fingers? Is it all worth it?"

Mai Sakurajima stood still, her deep eyes somewhat vacant.

Although it's unclear how the other person found out, there's no doubt that this hater knows that he is a hater!

Looking back now, it seems that from some point onward, this guy never hid his aggressiveness? Since I knew he was a hater, I naturally never suspected anything. After all, even if he was a strange hater, what kind of hater wouldn't attack me?

It's a complete cognitive bias; they haven't figured it out—the other party is clearly displaying aggression while casually pretending they're not a hater, and they've taken it for granted that they believe it!

"Hate fan..."

Mai Sakurajima felt like she was laughing in anger. She was embarrassed, annoyed, and flustered because she hadn't revealed her cards and had been stubbornly attacking. Now that she had revealed her cards, she thought she had a royal flush, but her opponent pulled out five Dark Wizards and she was completely bewildered.

She made her stance clear with her actions, closing in a few steps, stepping on the white figure's left toe, and gritting her teeth as she said, "You really know how to play tricks on people!"

Who was Bai Ying? He snatched his phone from Sakurajima Mai's hand and pulled it out with a snap in the blink of an eye.

Then he forcefully pulled his foot away, turned around, and ran away.

"Wuhu! You violently trampled on your idol, now the evidence is irrefutable!"

"You hater—!"

Mai Sakurajima took two quick steps and looked down at her pleated skirt.

I should have worn safety shorts... I should have just chased after this hater and crushed their feet into roasted pig's trotters!

Idol? I didn't want to be that kind of person anymore!

……

The journey from Chiba to Jinde is long, taking three to four hours... If I leave now, I should arrive by noon. I have class the day after tomorrow, so I need to return to Chiba from Jinde tomorrow afternoon...

This is a choice made by someone who seems mentally unstable and whose behavior is utterly erratic.

The school trip report is finished. Staying at home, besides petting the cat, reading, or preparing for lessons, there's nothing else to do; it's filled with a restless tranquility. Logically speaking, there are many things I can do, but the things I'm thinking about seem to have no meaning other than causing myself more trouble.

The fact that he suddenly ran back to the formation was something that Haku-kun didn't need to observe; Yui-hama could easily deduce his motives with a simple deduction!

It's easy to be guessed, but it's very difficult to guess Bai Jun's thoughts.

What if I press them directly? What if I absolutely need an answer?

Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't quite explain whether it was the sense of crisis brought about by someone's sudden praise of Mai Sakurajima, or the straightforwardness and courage after understanding her feelings, or perhaps just a sudden impulse.

Feeling somewhat agitated, she slung her small bag over her shoulder and went downstairs, intending to go shopping to clear her head.

Then, at the apartment entrance, she bumped into Yukinoshita's father, who was waiting in his car.

Yukinoshita's father: "..."

Yukino Yukinoshita: "Father, what are you doing here?"

"Following your mother's orders, thoroughly investigate any actions Yukino takes that are driven by emotion." Yukinoshita's father read out the decree with feigned seriousness, then chuckled, "Of course, Yukino remains calm and isn't acting on impulse..."

"I did have the absurd idea of ​​going to battle now and coming back tomorrow."

Yukino Yukinoshita raised her hand to rub her temples, looking troubled, and said, "I don't even know what I'm thinking, I'm so upset."

puff--!

The father clutched his chest and gasped for breath under the snow.

That wretched and formidable threat plus!

"Let's put that kid aside for now. Didn't you say you wanted to try out a job at home? Let's talk about this!"

Chapter Five: Even Bystanders Are Not Clear

"Yukino, your identity is that of a student, and your job is to study..."

"Yukino, for a relationship to last, it needs to be maintained with reason..."

"Yukino, the difference between wishful thinking and unwavering belief lies in self-doubt. You need to learn to doubt your own feelings..."

"Yukino, there's a difference between humans and animals: humans can deny themselves..."

"Yukino, I think there's something wrong with Shirakage. He's like someone who didn't graduate from elementary school and had to repeat a grade..."

Yukino, sitting in the passenger seat with her seatbelt fastened, muttered to herself as she drove. Her brow furrowed slightly, and she coldly admonished, "Father, pay attention to the road while driving. Don't look around or chatter—I just want to get out of the car as soon as possible to feel at ease sitting next to a talkative driver."

That wretched and formidable threat plus!

"Ahem, yes, drive carefully."

Yukinoshita's father focused his attention, but couldn't help adding, "In this respect, you and your mother are quite alike, but in your tendency to be easily emotional, you're more like me. It was your mother who advised and restrained me back then..."

Yukino Yukinoshita smiled sweetly: "Father, next time I come home, I'll ask Mother about the ridiculous things you did in the past that she didn't finish telling me last time, and see what they were like."

"Hahaha! That's all in the past, no need to bring it up again!"

Yukino's father said seriously, "Dad needs to concentrate on driving, so Yukino shouldn't talk."

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at her father and fell into deep thought.

The things my father avoids are probably things like "Hachigaya's friends," things that make him want to die just thinking about them, right? Thinking about Hachigaya reminds me of excessive self-awareness, and excessive self-awareness reminds me of all the things I thought were right at the time, but afterwards, I felt like dying when I realized what I was doing, and I wanted to go back in time and kill my past self...

Yukino Yukinoshita frowned slightly, recalling her embarrassing past when she misunderstood the situation, took the blame for her mistake, and was then ridiculed by Haku.

I will admit it, I will allow it, I will bear all the mistakes—White Shadow, Yukino Yukinoshita version.