Uneasy daily life

Sakuta Azusagawa gave a brief introduction: "This is Rio Futaba, my friend and classmate at school."

Rio Futaba, dressed casually, glanced at Shoko Makinohara without thinking. She couldn't help but adjust her glasses, suppressing the urge to complain about her friend.

This guy probably didn't create a fictional Makinohara Shoko just to cover up his "prison-themed" aesthetic...

Azusagawa Kaede stared at the other person stiffly, trying to straighten her head and puff out her chest.

The new intruder is beautiful and has a great figure; she's the same age as my brother!

Rio Futaba, Danger Level: ☆☆☆☆!

In short, unleash your fighting spirit!

"Hello……"

Ahem, this is a case of diplomacy first, then force!

Azusagawa Kaede looked at her older brother, her composure returning, and muttered, "Brother's bringing people home again."

“As you can see, my sister is good at bullying her own family,” Sakuta Azusagawa said simply.

"Oh……"

Rio Futaba gave a brief reply, feeling quite nervous, and couldn't help but complain, "Couldn't you have just said it over the phone? Really..."

“Words alone are not enough; we need to show the evidence to Futaba,” Sakuta Azusagawa said casually. “Don’t be nervous, Kaede; Futaba is even more nervous than you.”

"Shut up!"

Rio Futaba interrupted her irritably, but did not deny it.

I simply couldn't bring myself to visit a friend's house unless I wanted to confirm the specific symptoms and existence of 'adolescent syndrome'.

This is where bringing a book comes in – sit on the sofa, flip through the book, lower your head, and the world becomes irrelevant to you.

Rio Futaba began flipping through the pages of quantum mechanics.

Azusagawa Kaede continued playing with the cat with Makinohara Shoko, occasionally stealing a glance.

So he's an introverted person too. Should we lower or raise his danger level? Xiangzi's danger level can be eliminated—people who like cats are rarely bad!

"Meow?"

"Meow!"

The big tabby cat and the little white cat suddenly perked up and looked towards the door.

Ding dong——!

The doorbell rang again. Sakuta Azusagawa, who had poured Rio Futaba a cup of tea, went to open the door. Kaede Azusagawa was startled by the strange movements of the two cats.

Could it be that...?

Good afternoon, all three of you.

Sakuta Azusagawa greeted him.

Azusagawa Kaede looked toward the entrance as if facing a formidable enemy.

Bai Ying and yet another girl?!

My brother has definitely become a social butterfly!

……

……

"Calm down, brave one. Don't believe everything you hear, because I might be saying that your weight is equivalent to two people..."

The white figure slipped away from Mai Sakurajima's feet and stepped into the room, not forgetting to tease her, "Wearing yellow glasses means everything looks yellowish."

Wasn't it all because of your pranks yesterday?!

Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath and suddenly noticed that Sakuta Azusagawa's gaze was a little strange. He wasn't looking at her or the white figure, but at an empty space on the other side. She couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Azusagawa-kun, what are you looking at?"

Mai Sakurajima shrugged and followed him inside.

“I’m watching Mai Sakurajima,” Sakuta Azusagawa replied tentatively.

"Ok?"

Yukino Yukinoshita frowned, noticing something was amiss, and asked suspiciously, "The Mai Sakurajima you're talking about is......"

“It’s Hero Plus.” The white figure peeked at Makinohara Shoko and clicked his tongue in amazement. “You’re really cunning, raising demons to seduce your targets.”

When will the white fungus become the white fungus plus?

Hero Plus? It really is me.

Yukino Yukinoshita dispelled her doubts, and Sakuta Azusagawa, who was very familiar with Haku, was probably just casually playing along with Haku's joke.

"..."

Sakuta Azusagawa remained silent, rubbed his head, and looked at Mai Sakurajima.

Mai Sakurajima gestured towards the white figure who was trying to bypass the two cats' blockade.

"Bai, if we're ever hunted down, I can be your alibi witness."

Sakuta Azusagawa was deeply impressed by the extent of someone's fearlessness.

Even if you forget about Mai Sakurajima's existence, you can still indirectly learn about her from others, but you can't directly observe her.

Rio Futaba looked up thoughtfully, and couldn't help but adjust her glasses.

Something extraordinary beyond our current understanding—it seems puberty syndrome really does exist...

Chapter 80 Let's play games!

The group briefly introduced themselves, mainly to introduce Yukino Yukinoshita to Rio Futaba, whom she had never met before.

"This person is one of the judges, deciding whose investigation results are correct."

Bai Ying said confidently, "The hero's unimaginative investigation results are just giving me free points."

"Unlike Bai Jun's investigation results, which are entirely based on imagination and have not a single piece of evidence."

Yukino Yukinoshita subconsciously paid attention to Rio Futaba. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes were carefully observing her... She seemed to be a quiet and introverted person. She didn't show any particular expression or demeanor towards Shiro-kun, and at the same time, she seemed a little uneasy, perhaps because she was in someone else's house?

It's somewhat subtly similar to Hikigaya-kun, with that feeling of being averse to life and unnatural.

"What were the findings of your investigation into my scars?"

Sakuta Azusagawa put down the drinks meant for the guests, still quite concerned about the scar on his chest.

Azusagawa Kaede was playing with cats with the elementary school students when she stopped two cats from rushing towards the white figure. Upon hearing this, she couldn't help but prick up her ears and listen carefully.

Shoko Makinohara was also watching over there, curiously rubbing the little white cat in her hand.

"My investigation concluded that the scar was caused by a forensic examination."

Yukino Yukinoshita added meticulously, "The scars are very straight, and the three scars are positioned very carefully. The signs of human intervention are very obvious. In the words of that forensic doctor, it was a necessary step to perform an autopsy and remove the heart organ."

"What were the results of the forensic investigation...?"

Sakuta Azusagawa felt strange. The three scars appeared because of puberty syndrome, the kind of sudden outbreak where you bleed profusely and collapse. He never expected to actually get an answer from a forensic autopsy of the scars from a 'common sense' perspective. But explaining the cause of the scars with a forensic evaluation, even if it's not completely off-topic, is at least completely nonsensical.

"Of course it's love."

Bai Ying said solemnly, "Because of love, those scars suddenly appeared on your chest."

Love? Didn't Bai Ying find any concrete results from her investigation either?

Azusagawa Sakuta pondered.

“Perhaps this unexpected situation aligns with Sakuta’s thinking,” Rio Futaba teased her friend slightly, then asked, “But it sounds rather imprecise. What specific definition do you have for love?”

The white figure turned to look at Yukino Yukinoshita.

Yukino Yukinoshita was blowing on the steam from her teacup when she saw this and was taken aback. She preemptively said, "What Haku said before was that due to quantum entanglement, the wounds from the forensic autopsy after the future Azusagawa died in an accident appeared on the current Azusagawa."

It's an absurd conclusion, a ten or even nine out of ten, that would kill your IQ if you even pondered it for a moment.

Yukino Yukinoshita noticed that Sakuta Azusagawa and Rio Futaba didn't criticize the conclusion; instead, they both looked thoughtful and pondering.

?

"The hater even fabricated a subtle story about 'Sakuta Azusagawa and Shoko Makinohara'."

Mai Sakurajima sat next to Yukino Yukinoshita, carefully observing her eyes and micro-expressions. She even tried waving her hand in front of Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes and poking her cheek.

“That was before. Now I’ve changed my mind—in terms of details, Azusagawa Sakuta should have been executed by firing squad, not killed in a car accident.” Bai Ying described carefully, “Azusagawa Sakuta used the devil to lure minors with malicious intent. He could have been imprisoned or jailed, but the clever Holmes saw through his trick, arrested him, and he confessed to his crimes. After his death, his body was autopsied, and the intense resentment of his failed attempt triggered quantum entanglement, which is why there is a scar on Azusagawa Sakuta’s chest now.”

Rio Futaba pushed up her glasses and retorted, "That's not what quantum entanglement means..."

"Literary creation is purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. If you take it seriously, you've already lost."

Bai Ying issued a disclaimer, layering armor over it: "What does Sakuta say? My investigation results are perfect, aren't they?"

"If it's about admitting guilt and accepting punishment..."

Sakuta Azusagawa thought for a moment and said, "My future self succeeded, which is why I was arrested. It's not too bad."

"?"

Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but glance at Shoko Makinohara, who was playing with the cat on the other side. Should she call the police?!

"In conclusion, both Black Fan and Yukinoshita have the same answer, right?" Mai Sakurajima waved her hand in front of Yukinoshita's eyes and said casually, "Both Black Fan and Yukinoshita believe that the wounds on Azusagawa-senpai's body came from a forensic autopsy. This is the answer Yukinoshita got from a professional—could Azusagawa-senpai's puberty syndrome really be related to 'his future self'?"

Sakuta Azusagawa pondered for a moment and said, "Then can I beat up my future self?"

Yukino Yukinoshita did not react.

Rio Futaba seemed to be deep in thought when she asked, "She can't directly observe your condition?"

"It seems so at the moment." Mai Sakurajima tried poking Yukino Yukinoshita, but it had no effect. "Like this."

Yukino Yukinoshita looked up, and Mai Sakurajima was taken aback, thinking that the other had noticed her. But then she noticed that Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at Rio Futaba, seemingly wondering who the other was talking to. Once she realized that the other wasn't talking to her, she turned her attention back to Yukino Yukinoshita.

Rio Futaba adjusted her glasses, tried to think scientifically and objectively, and after a moment's thought, said, "There are currently no relevant records or studies. Even using quantum mechanics to explain Sakuta's condition is still far-fetched and violates the scientific spirit of seeking truth from facts."

"That means my investigation results were correct."

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at the white figure and said calmly, "Winning was entirely expected, White-kun."

"Impossible! My conclusion is clearly more correct!" Bai Ying said confidently. "Your conclusion is just 'the injury was caused by a forensic autopsy,' while my conclusion is much longer! It has a story of logic, a story of cause and effect, and a story of evidence. Isn't it more interesting than your dry conclusion? Sakuta, you tell me, whose investigation results are more accurate?"

"I don't know where my injury came from, there's no cause or effect, I just remember being injured suddenly..."

Sakuta Azusagawa bluntly stated, "Your conclusions are actually the same, aren't they? You all say that the wound on my chest was caused by a forensic examination."

Upon hearing this, Yukino Yukinoshita was stunned, and after a moment of reflection, she pondered it carefully.

Putting aside the absurd parts of Bai Jun's two conclusions, purely in terms of the type of injury, they are indeed the same, and when we went to discuss it yesterday, it was indeed I who first stated the investigation results...

Rio Futaba and Mai Sakurajima also realized what was happening and focused their attention on the white figure.

"It seems that Baijun copied my conclusion and added a lot of minor details, making it appear as a completely new conclusion at first glance."

Yukino Yukinoshita gazed at the white figure posing as The Thinker.

Bai Ying slapped her thigh and said earnestly, "This proves that we are on the same wavelength!"

"That means my investigation results were correct." Yukino Yukinoshita went straight to the point, stating confidently, "I won this case. Yay!"

"Ha, naive." Bai Ying decisively pulled someone into the fray. "Why don't you ask the referee and the client what they have to say?"

Rio Futaba immediately distanced herself from the situation: "I have no opinion."

Sakuta Azusagawa said in a serious tone, "I am extremely grateful for the two of you working together to clear up my doubts."

"..."

Yukino Yukinoshita felt a bit stifled, her anger subsided somewhat, but she also felt something was off. Wasn't the outcome quite obvious?

Having drawn his own conclusions through investigation, and then reprocessing them, it seems like a victory for Bai Jun no matter how you look at it—are the client and the judge trying to smooth things over? Or perhaps he guessed wrong, and Azusagawa Sakuta has never encountered a case of being treated by a forensic doctor before?

"Sakurajima Mai, who do you think is the winner?"

The white figure looked to the other side and asked.

Mai Sakurajima: "Anyway, it's not a hater."

I'll just give it a kick—a warning won't do any good, at least I need to vent my anger.

Yukino Yukinoshita: "What are you doing, Haku-kun, putting up such a stubborn resistance?"