Uneasy daily life

Not to be outdone, Hachiman Hikigaya also took out his phone to take a picture of the rather disheveled white figure being chased by a group of cats.

Bai Ying made a peace sign in response: "Remember to add the caption 'Bai Ying breaks up the pet shop's cats here.'"

"I underestimated you, Bai Jun..."

Yukino Yukinoshita made a subtle comment, then subconsciously glanced at the pet store that sold cats, noticing that Mai Sakurajima was talking to the store manager.

The store manager handed out the little black cat that was inside a garbage bag.

Chapter 95 Yukino: I'm not sleeping!

"Hmm... It is said that meeting is fate."

Bai Ying put away her phone, smiled, and said, "You two should get to know each other properly, discuss your life goals, confirm your development direction, accumulate emotional value, refine the details of the agreement, exchange opinions amicably, actively express your personal demands, reach a unified consensus, establish a mutual aid alliance, and turn a new page in history..."

A string of slang came crashing down on him.

Yui Yuigahama, who was observing Hachiman Hikigaya's new look, was taken aback. Why did it sound so strange?

"and many more!"

Hachiman Hikigaya reacted quickly, raising his hand to try and grab the white figure first, clearly underestimating the difference in physical abilities.

The white figure sidestepped and dashed away into the distance in the blink of an eye.

"As your elder, I won't bother you any longer! Don't be afraid, bravely say what you like! I'll go buy torches and a cross to celebrate for you!"

Hikigaya Komachi suddenly realized and quickly winked at Toyohama Kazuka: "You're Toyohama-neechan? Let's go for a walk over there together!"

"what……?"

Before Toyohama and Hana could react, they were pulled away by Hikigaya Komachi, whom they were meeting for the first time.

Hachiman Hikigaya and Yui Yuigahama looked at each other in bewilderment.

If you're going to cause trouble, either do it naturally so no one notices anything unusual, or be so blatant that it makes people feel awkward enough to prove their innocence. Don't do it in such an ambiguous and suggestive way!

Hachiman Hikigaya was quite annoyed. Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita walking out of the pet shop, he quickly called out, "Yo, Yukinoshita..."

"You guys are busy, see you tomorrow."

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded calmly, said a few words, and left.

Mai Sakurajima, carrying a bag of small black cats, glanced with interest at the two who hadn't noticed her, and then left.

In the blink of an eye, after the cat and dog battle, only Hachiman Hikigaya and Yui Yuigahama remained on the street.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward and somber for a moment.

The puppy in Yui Yuigahama's arms barked a few times and stretched out its little paws, wanting to get closer to Hachiman Hikigaya.

"Haha, it seems that Pancake still remembers Xiaoqi's life-saving grace."

“I wish it would just forget about it…” Hachiman Hikigaya added dejectedly, “God knows what the minister will do with those photos.”

“Yeah, she’s a newbie after all.” Yui Yuigahama hesitated for a moment, then asked with feigned enthusiasm, “I came out to pick out a gift, but after looking for ages I still don’t know what to buy. Does Hachiman have any favorite things?”

"Whatever. Actually, I've always been pretty casual about my birthday. If my parents have time and remember me, they'll buy me a cake. If they don't have time, they'll just give me 10,000 yen instead."

Hachiman Hikigaya joked, "If you really don't know what to give me, just give me 10,000 yen."

Yui Yuigahama patted the other person's shoulder, displeased, "How can you just give money away like that! Doesn't Xiaoqi have anything she particularly wants?"

Hachiman Hikigaya tugged at his collar, glanced at the blazing sun, and sighed deeply: "If I had to say, I really want to find a cool place right now..."

"Hmm, let's go to the rest area, there's air conditioning there." Yui Yuigahama looked him over curiously, "Hachiman's clothes look a little ill-fitting."

"Because this is my dad's, I should have just followed him without any shame. At worst, I would have been called 'disgusting' and 'garbage sauce' by Komachi."

"Ah ha ha……"

……

……

On the shopping street, Yukino Yukinoshita and Mai Sakurajima are searching for a white figure.

"Meow~"

The little black cat poked its head out of the bag, let out a listless meow, and looked as if it had endured the ravages of war, the fall of dynasties, the destruction of its homeland, and the devastation of its desires.

Mai Sakurajima would occasionally reach out and tease the little black cat, rubbing its head and chin.

"Aren't you afraid you won't be able to take good care of it?" Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't help but ask. "If it disappears from its sight, won't this cat be without an owner?"

"I'm also wondering if the cat can't see me."

Mai Sakurajima chuckled, "Even if we can't observe it, it's not a problem. This cat is very intelligent and tenacious. Even if I disappear, Kazuha and Black Powder can take good care of it. It can even take care of itself. Besides, with it around, I'll have more determination to get through this."

"Even if it's not necessarily useful, at least it can motivate me to work harder."

Mai Sakurajima said softly.

That's a line I can't follow up on... I can't exactly say, "I'll take care of your cat, so you don't need to worry," can I?

Yukino Yukinoshita paused for a moment, then said softly, "There's no need to be so pessimistic. If something really goes wrong, I should be able to remember this cat and try to remind myself to take care of it. I can write about this in my diary when I get back."

Does Yukinoshita like this cat?

Mai Sakurajima picked up the bagged cat with great interest and poked the little black cat's cheek.

The little black cat was probably annoyed. It opened its mouth threateningly at the finger, and after confirming that it had scared the finger away, it put on an expression that its cat life had no joy or sorrow, only emptiness and exhaustion.

"Indeed, I like it very much."

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at the little black cat and said, "Sakurajima-san probably has no interest in reselling it to me."

"Of course not, I like this cat too."

Mai Sakurajima teased the little black cat again, causing it to bare its teeth and meow in disgust from time to time. Its lively and playful appearance made Mai Sakurajima chuckle occasionally. Yukino Yukinoshita watched with some envy. Knight at home had recently been living a life of eating and sleeping to his heart's content, becoming increasingly fat and wide-set.

"If something really happens to me, please adopt this cat."

“…pessimism is not a good thing.”

"It's not because of pessimism, it's because of helplessness."

Mai Sakurajima's smile faded, and she said clearly, "Yukinoshita must have felt that way before, right?"

"..." Yukino Yukinoshita recalled the various conflicts she had with her family in the past and couldn't help but say, "You can trust Haku-kun."

"He told me not to trust him."

That was just—

"Don't make expectations of someone on your own, and don't be disappointed in someone on your own. The same applies to the relationship between parents and children... Recently, I have come to understand my mother's previous helplessness, the visible pressure and obstacles, and the confusion about the unknown direction and path. She placed all her hopes on me, and I inevitably placed all my hopes on her as well, until the situation became too difficult to resolve, and we had to separate to stay calm."

Mai Sakurajima made a few casual remarks, looked into Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes, and chuckled, "You're surprisingly kind-hearted. I'm quite relieved to give you the little black cat."

Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the little black cat and sighed softly, "You're so reasonable... I don't want your cat, keep it and take care of it yourself."

Mai Sakurajima couldn't help but smile: "Given Kazuha's carelessness, he'll only end up fighting with the cat. I can't even imagine what he'll do to the cat."

"They'll probably keep it in a garbage bag," Yukino Yukinoshita scoffed. "It's so unfair that a cat likes her even though she doesn't like cats."

As the two were chatting casually, they saw a white figure walking out of a shop.

The white figure carried a life-sized cross model on its left hand and held an Olympic torch-shaped handle in its right.

"Bai Jun, what are you planning to do?"

Yukino Yukinoshita found herself surprisingly calm.

“A gift,” the white figure said matter-of-factly. “Give this set to Hachiman, and if the situation warrants, send him away… Hmm? Why are you here?!”

The white figure looked at the little black cat, then at Sakurajima Mai: "You've also been bewitched by the devil?!"

Mai Sakurajima calmly replied, "I think keeping a cat at home can effectively ward off evil spirits."

"This will only attract evil spirits!"

Suddenly remembering something, Bai Ying quickly flipped back into the shop, but emerged a moment later with a small cross about half a meter long in her hand. With a broad smile, she said, "Brave Plus bought a demon? Great news! This is the Demon Pleasure Stand that comes with it. Just tie the demon to the cross and light it, and you'll get a burst of enthusiastic cheers..."

Sakurajima Mai rolled her eyes: "I'd rather you be tied up!"

Yukino Yukinoshita casually added, "Then put dozens of cats around it."

What a vicious scheme!

……

……

Is she a love rival?

Back home, Yukino Yukinoshita carefully fed Knight. Under Knight's pitiful gaze, the owner picked and chose the already meager food before eating it. Knight finished the cat food in a few bites, trying to conquer the owner's food supply with his eyes.

Unfortunately, today's eye contact maneuver had almost no effect.

Sakurajima Mai, isn't she a love rival?

Yukino Yukinoshita pondered with a bit of irritation, feeling like she had figured out the other person's attitude, yet also feeling like she hadn't—what should she do when faced with a love rival? This was the first time she had encountered something like this.

This isn't even the worst situation... Your rival is in danger and might not live much longer.

Mai Sakurajima's words today felt like she was making her final arrangements, but why herself? That makes sense; Haku wouldn't agree to those things, and he doesn't have many friends...

I like Bai Jun, you like Bai Jun, aren't we friends? What a joke.

From a generally rational perspective, when it comes to rivals in love, it's simply a matter of who's more capable and who wins the heart of the person they like. It's either win or lose; it's that simple.

Now, however, a serious question of life and death has been added to the mix... Should we wish for Mai Sakurajima's early death? That would be too absurd, and I can't get over it in my mind.

I would prefer everything to be normal and for fair competition.

To be honest, I felt both sympathy and unease for Mai Sakurajima—what if I were in her shoes? I hadn't directly experienced this, yet I was still terrified by memory blockages and cognitive confusion. What would Mai Sakurajima, caught in the vortex, do?

Yukino Yukinoshita sighed and wrote down things about the little black cat in her notebook.

sleep……

Yukino looked towards the bed, her brows furrowing involuntarily.

……

……

Mai Sakurajima Fan Club

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: @Lone Ranger, which do you prefer, the cross or the torch?]

[Lone Ranger: No, thank you.]

[Want to be a bunny girl: If you don't want any of these, you'll end up wanting them all.]

[Lone Ranger: Then I'll take them all.]

[Want to be a bunny girl? ]

[Lone Ranger: Who are you? Miss Toyohama?]

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: Do you know Mai Sakurajima?]

[Lone Ranger: I don't know him.]

[Little Mako: Let me introduce you to the rising star of the entertainment industry, Ms. Sakurajima!]

The Lone Ranger's profile picture turned gray.

Chapter Ninety-Six: Experiencing the Treacherousness of Adulthood

"...Can Hikigaya-kun see the messages I send?"

Sakurajima Mai was somewhat surprised. Judging from the content above and below, the other party had indeed noticed her. Since she didn't know who the account belonged to, she even guessed it was Toyohama Kazuka. Could it be that the power of adolescent syndrome was reduced when separated by the internet?

She quickly pulled up Bai Ying's private chat.

[Want to be a Bunny Girl: Haters, does adolescent syndrome not affect the internet?]

[Bai Liang and Bai Ying: Who goes there?!]

Mai Sakurajima was startled, and her breath caught in her throat.

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: What's your name? Where do you live? What do you do? How much wealth do you have? Can you give me a share?]