Uneasy daily life

Yukino Yukinoshita looked around the room again and asked meaningfully, "If you didn't intend to exchange anything, why did you set up a room with 'Sakurajima Mai' in it?"

He definitely cares about me. Otherwise, why would he praise me and set up a room called "Sakurajima Mai" at home? Could it be that Bai-kun is implying that I should move in with him?

That would be a bit...inappropriate, wouldn't it? It's strange. I didn't feel anything special when I let Bai Jun stay at my house temporarily before, but now that I'm going to live with Bai Jun, I'm a little reluctant.

"Of course it's for Sakurajima Mai to live in!"

The white figure suddenly said enthusiastically, "Didn't the hero want to make an exchange? Then stay here! I'm very grateful. You let me stay here before, so today I'll let you stay here. This exchange is possible, right?"

"Hey." Mai Sakurajima kicked again. "You've let someone else stay in my room without permission, so how about you, Hater, go live under a bridge?"

Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head and said, "This exchange won't work. I only did it to prevent the white fungus from losing its culture dish and multiplying randomly everywhere. It was just out of a simple desire to help others."

Bai Ying pointed and said, "You're embarrassed now? You're not innocent anymore! You don't want to simply help others anymore!"

Yukinoshita Yukino: "..."

Bai Ying said knowingly, "Oh dear, when you considered me a friend, you could invite me to stay at your home without batting an eye, and you felt perfectly at ease. But now you're making excuses, and you seem so anxious and nervous..."

White fungus!

Yukino Yukinoshita glared at the white shadow slightly, but remained quite calm. She was almost used to having her thoughts read, after all, it was a strange kind of fungus that could grow into people's hearts.

"Because I'm greedy."

Yukinoshita Yukino said softly.

"So, how about giving it a try?"

The white figure shifted to the side, gesturing earnestly to the bed: "This room was specially prepared for Sakurajima Mai. Why don't you try it out, brave one? For example, this bed, would you like to lie down and test its softness? It's still early, you can close your eyes and take a nap..."

Mai Sakurajima typed a question mark, then stomped and ground her foot against the white figure's toes, saying with a forced smile, "Don't bother me here, you hater!"

Yukino Yukinoshita instinctively took a step back, then realized she was being a bit timid, coughed, and frowned, saying, "This kind of topic isn't funny..."

"It's so hot now, it's normal to take off a few clothes. As the master, I will provide close companionship services."

Bai Ying said in a serious tone, "Anyway, there's no time to lose. Let's do it! Come on, lie down quickly. We'll just sleep in the same bed. Nothing strange will happen. There won't be any problems with the bed..."

"Alright, stop joking," Yukino Yukinoshita replied irritably.

It's another attempt to prank myself. Even if it wasn't a prank, what I just said was a bit outrageous, and that kind of thing only makes me angry...

"What if it's not a joke?"

The white figure suddenly asked a question softly.

Sakurajima Mai froze, her eyes widening in disbelief: "Hey! Hater, what are you trying to do?! That...this..."

"This is my bed!"

Mai Sakurajima managed to utter a single sentence.

Yukino Yukinoshita was also stunned, her mind starting to fill with a flurry of thoughts, as clues began to piece together.

Bai Jun didn't need to dig a pit for his father in any way; he simply pushed his father out of the pit himself, driving away the father who was overprotective and was about to become over-supervisive... This was clearing away obstacles.

In Bai Jun's rented apartment, a room was set up that belonged to Sakurajima Mai, and Sakurajima Mai was equivalent to himself... In other words, it was premeditated.

If this isn't a joke... then it's better to be a joke!

Yukino Yukinoshita was at a loss, feeling the blood rush to her face, her mind in turmoil. She subconsciously took a few steps back: "You, I mean, Haku-kun..."

Bai Ying covered her mouth and said, "Pfft."

Yukinoshita Yukino: #!

In an instant, the girl clenched her fists, feeling her blood rush to her head and her anger surge. She walked up with a face as cold as frost.

"White! Fungus!"

Let's use the Aikido technique passed down from my mother to carry out the sterilization work directly!

Seeing this, Bai Ying immediately kicked off his shoes, leaped from under the bed onto the bed, then quickly sat cross-legged against the headboard, away from the bedside, and shouted loudly, "Brave one! If you have the guts, come up here!"

Up then—

Yukino Yukinoshita tried to climb into bed, but as soon as she bent down and touched the blanket, she immediately straightened up as if she had been electrocuted, glaring at the white figure with embarrassment and anger.

"Come, come!" The white figure patted the blanket, making a sound like the beating of a war drum, his face serious. "Does the brave warrior dare to fight me for three hundred rounds? If not, then retreat!"

"Next time I will prepare pepper spray, which may be more effective in killing germs."

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at the white figure, snorted softly, and turned to leave the room.

It really was deliberately teasing me, that white fungus!

What a joke! Seriously! Seriously—!

However... can the fact that Baijun can make such jokes about me be seen as a sign of closeness?

I have absolutely no idea.

Anyway, let's go home first today, I have a lot of things to do.

In a somewhat hurried manner, Yukino returned home in triumph.

Shortly after boarding the tram, I received a message from Bai Ying on my phone.

[Bai Liang and Bai Ying: I was so busy teasing you that I forgot about the important matter I was commissioning. Since we have conflicting accounts of the investigation results, I'll go to Sakuta's house tomorrow to confirm and see whose findings are correct.]

[Yukinoshita: ?]

Do you think your outrageous conclusion has any merit?

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: You? What??]

[Under the Snow: Shiro's confidence is quite outstanding.]

A prominent figure who has nothing but self-confidence.

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: Indeed.]

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: Brave one, if one day you wish you could die, remember to think of my face.]

[Yukinoshita: ?]

[Under the Snow: Is there no gap in the dispersion frequency of the white fungus?]

[Bai Liang and Bai Ying: I'm not lying to you, really.]

Yukino Yukinoshita sat on the train, lost in thought for a moment. Could it be a subtle expression of affection?

[Under the Snow: Does the thought of the white fungus give me the courage to live?]

[Bai Liang and Bai Ying: No, you'd feel it's a waste if you didn't kill me before dying.]

[Under the Snow: Sword.jpg!]

"I meant well."

Bai Ying said with a sigh, "If puberty syndrome is cured, how will the memory of 'not having Mai Sakurajima' in the minds of those indirectly affected change again? It's a really interesting question worth studying. Don't you think so, Hero Plus?"

"I will not save you."

Mai Sakurajima said this while continuing to heat up her lunch, which she hadn't eaten yet.

……

……

Summer vacation, a happy summer vacation, a relaxing summer vacation, a free summer vacation, a summer vacation without a minister...

Hachiman Hikigaya was sitting on the sofa, playing games on his phone, and should have been in a good mood.

But he couldn't hide his worry. His birthday was in a few days, and Komachi had made an appointment with the department head to go shopping in order to pick out a gift for himself.

Why do people have birthdays? What a foolish custom... No, if there were no birthdays, wouldn't Komachi also have no birthdays?

"So the reason people have birthdays is because Komachi needs birthdays."

Hachiman Hikigaya discovered the truth of the world.

"Sigh, my brother's saying weird things again. He's really not ashamed at all." Komachi Hikigaya said with one hand on her mop and the other on her hip, "Feet."

"Hi!"

Hachiman Hikigaya changed from a sitting position to a lying position.

Hikigaya Komachi pushed the mop past her.

"Komachi..." Hachiman Hikigaya suddenly asked, "Do you know Mai Sakurajima?"

"Sakurajima Mai? Who's that? The pretty girl that Onii-chan suddenly met?"

Hikigaya Komachi asked casually.

"nothing."

Hachiman Hikigaya continued playing the game, feeling that he would have to write a little more in his notebook diary.

Just yesterday, Komachi knew about Sakurajima Mai...

Is the world crazy, or has Hachiman gone mad?

Ugh, I feel a bit cold.

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Indecisiveness

8 month 4 day.

Komachi knows Sakurajima Mai and understands that she has the identity of a popular idol. The Sakurajima Mai we know is obviously the same one, which proves that it's not that I have a problem, but that I don't know that Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, who are related to Sakurajima Mai, have a problem—they shouldn't have forgotten Sakurajima Mai.

Mai Sakurajima was also a participant in that terrible dark game, so it's impossible that Yukinoshita and Yuihama had no recollection of it.

Does the minister remember Mai Sakurajima?

I don't know, and I don't dare to ask. Getting involved with the minister is like someone who's tired of a mundane life and wants to seek excitement.

I think it's highly likely that this was a prank by the minister—the minister set a trap to try and harm the innocent Hachiman.

It's not impossible to suddenly be ostracized and targeted by others. A friend of mine experienced this. When he was discussing anime with a fellow anime enthusiast in his class, the surroundings suddenly became very quiet. All the classmates were blatantly silent, showing their targeting of 'anime lovers'. The vast silence they created swallowed up the discussion about anime.

This sudden, collective targeting is not surprising.

The minister has a motive, and if he doesn't have one, he'll create one.

The probability of Yui being scammed cannot be increased any further.

While Yukinoshita is undoubtedly upright, her affection for the minister could make her susceptible to manipulation, and her act of informing on him also gives her an incentive to cooperate with the minister.

This must be a trap set by the minister!

8 month 5 day.

Komachi suddenly doesn't remember Sakurajima Mai, which is very strange. Is there something wrong with my memory, or with Komachi's memory, or... is there something wrong with Sakurajima Mai?

Because it's impossible for Komachi to be won over by the minister and join him in deceiving her.

Komachi no Naka de would never do something so wicked!

In other words, did Komachi really forget Sakurajima Mai? Because it's impossible for her own memory to have changed. She can find a lot of news about Sakurajima Mai online. Those news articles are not things she has seen before, which means they really exist and are not her illusions. However, the information and news she found online seem to look different to Komachi.

The news is about a female celebrity, but the celebrity's name is unknown. In Komachi's eyes, it is normal for a female celebrity's name not to be known in the news.

It's not that being forgotten by many people is a big deal.

As someone who's been ignored and forgotten for years, what's the big deal about being forgotten? A lone wolf doesn't need that kind of fake bondage.

It is unacceptable to be forgotten by those who remember you.

For example, if Komachi forgets herself—ugh! No way!

Is Mai Sakurajima perhaps in a very dangerous and strange situation?

The question is, why do I specifically remember Mai Sakurajima? Why do Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, and Komachi forget Mai Sakurajima? Why was Mai Sakurajima suddenly forgotten by them?

If we're talking about the closest relationship, it's definitely the department head who acted in the movie with Mai Sakurajima. Does he know anything? Does he remember Mai Sakurajima...?

……

……

Hachiman Hikigaya glanced at the user named Hakura Hakuei in the chat software, pondered for a moment, and then returned.