Uneasy daily life

Mai Sakurajima finished a bottle of water and let out a deep breath: "It's nothing..."

Are you still thirsty?

"I'll get it myself."

Sakurajima Mai bent down and picked up a bottle of mineral water from the suitcase, easily unscrewing it. A hint of worry crept into her heart about Toyohama Kazuka's condition… She'd rushed here in such a hurry; where would she stay tonight? Judging from Kazuka's personality as she'd learned it today, she might have impulsively gone back to Tokyo alone in a fit of anger, and something unexpected could happen. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to help her…

What are you thinking! Things need to be prioritized. Even if your mother has some complaints, you should at least make sure Hehua is settled. If something really happens, who will you be to blame for your regret?

As Mai Sakurajima took a sip of water, she made a decision. She looked up and saw Shirokage and Yukinoshita Haruno already there, talking to Toyohama Kazuka about something.

Then Feng Bin and Hua stood up and angrily chased Bai Ying away from the film set.

Next time I step on you, I'll be a little gentler, you hater.

Mai Sakurajima breathed a sigh of relief.

……

……

Yukino Yukinoshita and Toyohama Kazuka stayed at Jun Sekiya's house for one night. Jun Sekiya, who had just woken up, kindly prepared dinner—a heavy barbecue.

"I think the most delicious food is the kind that's full of life and can fill your stomach! That's why grilled skewers are the best!"

Feng Bin and Hua looked at the dripping oil on the grilled skewers, their eyes twitching: "...Um, I'm an idol too, so I need to be mindful of my figure. Do you have anything lighter?"

"Don't be shy, eat as much as you want." Bai Ying said earnestly, "You can worry about your weight tomorrow."

Feng Bin and Hua glared fiercely at Bai Ying: "The flesh isn't going to grow on you!"

Bai Ying said honestly, "You're really strange. Of course, the meat isn't going to grow on me, otherwise why would I tell you to eat as much as you want?"

I really wanted to kick someone, but I didn't feel like competing with them.

Feng Bin and Hua pouted and quietly ate, not remembering the taste; as long as they were full, that was enough.

After eating a dinner that I'll probably regret in the future, I washed up with my newly bought towel, toothbrush, and water cup, and sat on the bedding in the guest room.

Quietness surrounds me, making even time weary of passing by.

Feng Bin and Hua glanced at the time on their phones... It was only 8 PM.

Normally at this time, I should be at home, flipping through fashion magazines, looking for news about Mai Sakurajima, or listening to music to keep up with the latest trends... Seriously, what kind of nonsense have I been doing, wasting time and making myself suffer?

In the darkened room, Feng Bin and Hua hugged their knees, staring blankly at their phone screen. She recalled the entire afternoon spent huddled in a corner of the film crew, and her already low mood became even heavier.

The crew members came and went, the director occasionally shouted through a megaphone, the actors expressed their stories in front of the camera, everyone was busily looking for something to do, and I could only watch. Wanting to praise my sister's performance, hand her water, or watch how she presented herself on camera—those were things I couldn't do.

Keep your distance and don't get too close to your sister or aunt; that's what your sister told you.

Her sister didn't welcome her, and nobody welcomed her. She had just run away from her mother, who was disliked, to her sister, who was also disliked, and the result was the same... She didn't even know where else she could run to.

He wore that stubbornness on his face, like a clown no one cared about.

Toyohama Kazuka buried her head in her knees and sniffed softly.

I'm so annoying.

If you want me to go back, then I'll go back. I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning!

She was trafficked and gave birth to eight children!

Someone's ramblings flashed through my mind.

...At worst, I can just tell that jerk to give me a ride!

"Hehua, are you asleep?"

There was a voice outside the door.

Sister? What's she doing here? Toyohama Kazuka was taken aback, and replied in a low voice, "She's going to sleep soon. Is there something you need, Miss Sakurajima?"

"There's no need to open the door; it's actually easier to talk things out through the door."

There was some noise outside the door. The other person sat on the floor leaning against the door and sighed softly, "I didn't think things through today, and I'm sorry you had to suffer..."

Feng Bin and Hua felt a lump in their throats and mumbled, "I'm not wronged."

"I hate flowers."

Feng Bin and Hua were stunned, their mood sinking in silence.

"Kazuka took my father away, leaving only my mother and me to depend on each other." The voice outside the door said calmly, "Kazuka probably has never experienced this, has she? That feeling of an eerily silent house, where my mother is worrying about the future every day, filled with anxiety and repression. Hanging on the edge of a cliff, holding onto the rope of life in one hand, and having to hold onto me in the other... It's not Kazuka's fault, but I have to hate you because you took my father away."

Feng Bin and Hua didn't understand the logic behind it. She only felt absurdity and anger. A strong sense of disgust pierced her body, and she shouted in a hoarse voice, "I hate you too! I hate my sister!"

The voice outside the door remained indifferent: "You should hate me. Our two families should have never spoken to each other again."

"Nonsense! I don't care about your father at all! Apart from the fact that I pestered him so much many years ago that he introduced me to you, I can't remember anything he said to me after that! You want him? Go find him! Blame me? Hate me? Are you crazy!"

Kazuka Toyohama was emotionally agitated, angrily questioning, venting, and roaring: "Mom's sick too! What about Sakurajima Mai! What about you taking Sakurajima Mai as your goal! What about how Sakurajima Mai is this at your age! What about how Sakurajima Mai can do this if you're not good enough! I'm definitely not as good as you!"

The voice outside the door said calmly, "You were never as good as me to begin with."

"Yes! I'm not as good as you! No matter how hard I try, I'm no good! I'm just a useless daughter, I can't satisfy Mom! She wanted a daughter as outstanding as you! She deserves to have given birth to such a good-for-nothing! You're all right—everything I do is wrong! I'm the one who's sick!"

Feng Binhua's voice choked with sobs, her lips trembling as she tried to say something, but no words came out. Her stubbornness couldn't hold back her surging emotions; she could only bury her face in her hands, trying to keep her sobs from getting too loud.

"Are you finished?"

Feng Bin and Hua did not reply, nor did they want to.

"Now that we've talked about the things we dislike, it's time to talk about the things we like," a gentle voice said from outside the door. "I really like flowers, I really do."

"...You say you hate it, then you say you like it, are you sick?" Toyohama Kazuka sniffed.

"Aren't you the same? Kazuka." The voice outside the door said, "You have to finish talking about what you dislike before you can talk about what you like. Maybe you were too young back then and didn't understand the meaning of your father's remarriage, so you were very close to your suddenly appearing younger sister, and that's why you fell in love with Kazuka. What about you? I'm actually very curious about why you like me."

Feng Binhua was a little taken aback and said in a low voice, "...She was the older sister on TV when we were little."

"That surprised me a bit."

“I think I mentioned it when we met that time…” Feng Binhehua sobbed and muttered, “Don’t all the boys like Ultraman? It’s normal for me to like older sisters… When I was in kindergarten, I had a friend who had an older sister… I went home and said I wanted an older sister, and Dad let it slip, pointing at the TV and saying that was my sister. Later, I kept pestering him, and I finally got to see her once during a theater troupe audition…”

"What a strange and ill-fated relationship."

"After that, I followed all your shows... I wrote you so many letters, but you didn't reply to a single one..."

Kazuka Toyohama couldn't help but confide her grievances. "It's because I dislike them that I didn't reply at all."

"Is that so? I didn't expect to have a special fan so early." The voice outside the door said, "Why is your mother so persistent about me? Maybe it's envy, or maybe it's worry and a competitive spirit... We children are probably born unable to judge who is right and wrong in the affairs of our elders."

Feng Bin and Hua hugged their knees, and said dejectedly, "He's just sick..."

“You’re right, who doesn’t have some worries?” The voice outside the door said softly, while opening the door a crack. “Hehua, hand over your phone. I’ll talk to your mother and let her know you’re not in danger—a worry is a worry, and a problem is a problem. Let’s keep things separate.”

Feng Bin and Hua looked at their phones, not wanting to go out... They probably looked terrible right now.

"Mom's number is on the blacklist."

Feng Binhe and Hua put their phones out through the crack in the door. She muttered something and then caught a glimpse of a long, slender, fair hand picking up her phone.

Huh? This isn't my sister's hand!

Feng Bin and Hua reflexively pulled the door open forcefully.

The white figure leaning against the door lost its support and fell back into the room with a thud. Yukinoshita Haruno, who was holding Toyohama Kazuka's phone, was taken aback when she saw this and said with a grin, "Oh dear, you rascal. It seems we've been discovered."

The white figure lay on the floor, its eyes moving upwards to look at Toyohama Kazuka, whose eyes were red-rimmed and lifeless. In the voice of Sakurajima Mai, it said in a friendly tone, "Good evening, Kazuka-chan... Is it possible that I am Sakurajima Mai, and I have become the white figure?"

The bare feet quickly magnified in my field of vision.

"Nisnei——!!!!"

Chapter Twenty-One: Sisters' Heart-to-Heart Talk

boom!

The white-haired figure, head in a daze, glared sideways at the stomping foot beside him: "Calm down! You believe me or not..."

With a quick lift and drop of its foot, the white figure hurriedly moved its head to dodge, its bare feet landing heavily on the floor with a crisp, melodious sound, like a skull being split open and a monument being shattered.

"Damn it! That kick of yours could cost me a house?!"

"Aaaaaah! Die!"

Let's just perish together! Let the world be destroyed!

Feng Bin and Hua had lost all reason. Seeing that they couldn't step on Bai Ying's head, they stepped on Bai Ying's chest again.

Bai Ying reacted swiftly, protecting his chest and bracing his arms against the force of the stomping. He then grabbed Feng Bin and Hua's ankles with his hands and shouted, "9528, stop looking! Infiltration failed, begin the assault!"

"Here I come~"

Yukino put her phone in her pocket, smiled, and stepped forward: "Little sister, you should calm down..."

"Xinei!"

Feng Bin and Hana used a battle cry.

Yukinoshita Haruno took action.

From stillness to movement, a swift step brought him close to Toyohama Kazuka, gently pushing her back into the room. Before she could even react, two hands gripped her shoulders tightly, and the person who was still in front of her was now behind her. Something fast and heavy swept over her heels, and in the blink of an eye, she felt the weightlessness of being lifted off the ground. Her body was then pulled by the hands gripping her shoulders. The room spun around in a flash, and she was laid down on the soft bedding.

"Pack it up! Pack it up right now!"

The voice of Bai Ying offering advice came from behind.

Yukinoshita, who had gently laid Toyohama and Kazuka down, immediately chuckled and pulled up both ends of the blanket, wrapping it around Toyohama and Kazuka.

"Aaaaah! You two idiots! You're so stupid! You trip and fall while walking! You choke while eating! You step in dog poop, you bastards!"

Fengbin and Hana cursed and struggled, but they could not avoid being wrapped up like wriggling caterpillars.

"Oh, your aggression is nothing special," Bai Ying said leisurely, sitting on the caterpillar's lap. She coughed and cut off her voice. "You perverted woman-voice-man! You heartbreaker! Do you know how wronged I was just now? Do you know how painful it was to tell you what was on my mind? Things I'm too embarrassed to say in front of my sister, you actually lied and said! You're not my confidante! You're just a toilet that hasn't been cleaned in thirty years!"

The caterpillar struggled even more violently: "Aaaaaah! You bastard! You bastard! Shine shine!"

Yukino Yukinoshita leaned back, holding the struggling upper body of the caterpillar in her arms, and said with a smile, "Little sister, there's no need to be so embarrassed. I really didn't expect your feelings for Sakurajima-san to have a bit of a fan-admiration feel to them."

Yukino handed the phone to Shirokage.

"Hehehe, now all the puzzle pieces are complete." Bai Ying tapped her phone, pulled out a phone number from the blacklist, and suddenly noticed that the caterpillar that had been struggling just moments before had stopped moving, as peaceful as a salted fish, completely still, and she could even hear a faint sobbing sound.

"You rascal, you made the little girl cry!"

"Stop messing around, you clearly hit too hard."

It wasn't my sister—it wasn't my sister, those words weren't said by my sister…

Feng Bin and Hua struggled but couldn't break free. They had the will to die together, but not the strength. As their anger subsided, they couldn't help but bury their faces in the blankets, overwhelmed with sorrow... and the result was that bastard's cruel joke.

"Damn it, why is she crying?" Yukinoshita Haruno asked curiously.

“Everyone says you’re not a normal young person at all. You’re too thick-skinned and not sensitive at all. You’re completely indifferent unless you’re stabbed with a knife.” Bai Ying said seriously, “How can you compare to young girls? They’re so tender. They’d cry their eyes out if they got bitten by a mosquito… Well, that’s one way to put it.”

"When Kazuha Toyohama confides in someone she wants to rely on, only to find herself deceived, the psychological gap between hope and despair, and the reality of failure leading to her quiet sobs, reflects the sensitivity of an adolescent and her desire for recognition and affection from a specific person. It highlights the importance of communication between people and expresses the importance and complexity of interpersonal communication."

Yukinoshita Haruno wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "Yes, it is indeed very important."

Feng Bin and Hua said in a hoarse voice, almost crying, "Climb!"

This guy really knows how to treat people differently. Because he's the kind of person whose emotions come and go quickly, he's incredibly decisive when it comes to lying, even choosing to use 'forceful attacks' without a care in the world—isn't he afraid of being chased and hacked with a knife? He even calmly made the person cry. Guo Huan is such a scoundrel.

Yukinoshita Haruno pondered this with great interest. Unlike the boring, unconscious attempts to figure out what others really meant in social situations, this was quite interesting.

Feng Bin and Hua were crying when they suddenly heard a familiar voice.

[Hehua! Where have you been? Haven't you come home yet?!]

"Mom?!" Feng Bin and Hua stared wide-eyed, trying to turn their heads, but they couldn't see the scene over there.

"Hello, Auntie."

That bastard is using my sister's voice again.

Who are you? How did you end up with Kaori's phone?!

"Auntie, please calm down. I'm Mai Sakurajima. Kazuka is fine; she's with me."

【...You over here?!】

"I'm filming in Jinde, Jinde in Kamiyama City. Kaha came here all by herself."