Uneasy daily life

"White! Shadow!" Miura Yumiko exclaimed angrily, stomping her wooden clogs as she charged forward. "Don't you dare mess things up or make up stories!"

"Calm down, I'm your wingman!"

The white figure quickly took a step back, shielding Hachiman Hikigaya and Houtarou Oreki on either side of him, trying to show his loyalty: "Look, I've called on my friends today to help you with your love affair. Besides, we agreed when we went into battle that I would do my best to help you..."

Hold it in! You can't swear in front of Hayato!

"I don't need it!" Miura Yumiko said with a forced smile. "Are you leaving or am I leaving?"

"You don't need my help?"

Bai Ying suddenly realized, quickly switching from wingman to bystander mode, and said expectantly, "Then hurry up and reject her. I love seeing that awkward and lonely scene when a confession fails, like falling snow."

Miura Yuko: "?"

You're the one who should refuse—

"White Shadow, what's so interesting about this?" Hayama Hayato replied helplessly. "There are plenty of other interesting things at the fireworks festival, aren't there? You..."

"Don't worry, I know you're a gentle, kind-hearted boy with a compassionate nature." Bai Ying's tone became light, as if she were reciting hymns, or like a priest gazing at the world with compassionate eyes. "Child, I know you want to refuse, but you don't want to refuse too sharply, leaving any scars on your heart or in reality... It's complicated, isn't it? You just want to follow your heart, but you can't control how your actions will be interpreted. You never intended to hurt anyone, but you inevitably become part of the wound."

Hayato Hayama's expression stiffened slightly as he scratched his head, feeling like he was almost used to it: "Shirokage, stop for a second..."

“In that case, there’s only one way—avoid everyone we know and tell her the rejection as tactfully as possible, in a way that won’t be known by those around us.” Bai Ying murmured to herself, seemingly lost in her own world, her voice soft but clear. “Being rejected must be embarrassing, right? If those around us find out, won’t they make fun of Yumiko? Won’t this cause Yumiko even more harm?”

Hayato Hayama's brow twitched violently, and he tried to pull Yumiko Miura away with force.

Miura Yumiko remained unmoved, hopping mad with anger, looking as if she were about to crack the white figure's head open: "What nonsense are you spouting—"

Bai Ying ignored her, seemingly lost in some kind of reverie, occasionally uttering unfamiliar sounds.

Did you know? Miura confessed his feelings to Hayato, but Hayato rejected him.

A girl is whispering to her friend.

"Haha, what an overestimation of yourself. You always act so arrogantly, how amusing."

The classmates who were usually a little dissatisfied with Miura Yumiko made fun of it and casually mentioned it.

"See? Miura hasn't dared to talk to Hayato lately."

Some people enthusiastically followed the trending topic.

"Not as good as Xiaoxue."

This is what the pink-haired girl, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

What should have been an ordinary affair, after being chewed and fed to each other by mouths, mixed with everyone's saliva, lost its original form, turning into a messy blob, which was then spat onto the person involved. Miura Yumiko felt utterly humiliated, and then became extremely angry at them, but she couldn't find who they were—there were rustling sounds behind her, and in front of her were rows of innocent-looking faces, occasionally she could spot someone with a disdainful and mocking expression, but that didn't seem to defeat them, instead it made the discussion even more intense.

A failed confession, gossip from classmates, several heated arguments that led to emotional breakdowns...

Exhausted, Yumiko Miura suddenly transferred schools one day.

Hayato Hayama couldn't do anything, and occasionally he would hear his friends say things like, "As expected of Hayato, he's so popular~" or "Can't even Miura do it? Hayato's standards are really high." These were either words of envy or teasing.

A cheerful person may be able to resolve trivial conflicts and disputes, but cannot stop an unintentional, malicious revelry.

As before, Hayato Hayama messed up something important again.

End!

"Enthusiastic about elevating people to godlike status, yet excited about toppling statues; humanity's two eyes, one on the forehead for bowing, the other on the sole of the foot for trampling—it's all well-intentioned gentleness, yet it can't save anything! Gentleness is meaningless; you should treat trash with the same attitude you would treat trash! Hayato Hayama is no longer a social butterfly! JOJO!"

Bai Ying clenched his fist and made a melodramatic declaration. In the ensuing silence, he frowned in dissatisfaction and said, "This ending isn't quite right! In this increasingly indifferent era, to convey a sufficiently strong sense of tragedy, Miura really had to jump off the rooftop—and so Hayama, who rejected Miura's confession, became the next hot topic to be discussed, racing towards a darker path, becoming a new-era villain who is 'smiling on the surface but actually distrusts everyone and harbors malice'... Calm down!"

When emotions exceed the threshold, the verbal retaliation module fails, and the physical attack mode is activated!

Bai Ying stepped back, shielding the two shields in front of her: "Calm down! I just had a sudden inspiration and came up with a story! Don't get angry because of me and beat Oreki and Hachiman into pigs!"

“Miura!” Hachiman Hikigaya, sweating profusely, quickly raised his hand and said, “I swear to God, I will not reveal a single word of what I saw and heard today to anyone. In fact, even if I did tell, I doubt many people would care, since my social circle can only be described as utterly isolated…”

Houtarou Oreki succinctly stated: "Our class is different."

"You two go somewhere cool and stay there!" Miura Yumiko tried to bypass the bandits from the side and go straight for the bandit leader.

"Calm down, the world is so beautiful, why be so agitated..."

The white figure maneuvered around two shields, dodging and weaving as she resisted Yumiko Miura's pursuit.

"Alright, Yumiko."

Hayato Hayama stopped the enraged Yumiko Miura and said with a wry smile, "Let's go for a walk over there... Shirokage, can you keep this a secret?"

"Huh? What are you saying?" Bai Ying frowned. "You actually doubt that a mere Miura Yumiko can steal my thunder and shake my position as the head of the Seven Heavenly Kings of Soubu High School?"

Hayato Hayama was speechless; perhaps he was worrying unnecessarily.

Hachiman Hikigaya then added sarcastically, "The captain was just saying, don't take it too seriously. If that situation really happened, as long as you slightly abandon your dignity and muster the courage to confess to a boy, you could instantly steal everyone's thunder..."

Bai Ying's gaze suddenly sharpened: "You womanizing scumbag!"

"?" Hachiman Hikigaya retorted, "Captain, what makes you say that?"

"How could someone as awful and cold as Hachiman randomly select a lucky audience member to stage a fake confession?" Hakukage pondered for a moment. "Hmm? If that were to happen, you'd probably be more likely to go and confess to Hayama yourself..."

...tired.

Hachiman Hikigaya sighed, "Why can't it be Oreki?"

The two looked at Houtarou Oreki at the same time. Houtarou Oreki said, "Is it possible to have Hikigaya confess to Miura and then be rejected, which would have the same effect of diverting attention?"

"forgive me."

Hachiman Hikigaya smirked. What a terrible idea! He just rejected Yui Hama, and now he's going to fake a confession to Miura. He might as well just go all out and participate in the club president's drama... Hmm? Why am I thinking this? Is it because of my guilt towards Yui Hama? No, how could a despicable and cold-hearted guy like me feel guilty?

"enough!"

Miura Yumiko finally snapped, her roar silencing the three noisy people.

She looked at Hayato Hayama, her lips moved but she didn't say anything, unconsciously biting the corner of her mouth.

"I'm sorry." Hayama Hayato shook his head helplessly, feeling an urge to say something, but not knowing where to begin.

Yumiko Miura took a deep breath, seemingly wanting to apologize for leaving without saying goodbye. In the end, she was unable to maintain proper etiquette. She wanted to say something, but felt that she had been fooled by the whole thing, and her emotions were in a state of confusion and subtlety, almost making her speechless.

So Miura Yumiko chose to focus on running ahead.

"This year's fireworks display was truly filled with blood and tears, setbacks and pain..."

The white figure sighed.

Hachiman Hikigaya rolled his eyes and suddenly noticed his phone ringing.

Meanwhile, Angelina, who was playing with fireworks and watching the drama unfold, found her phone ringing.

……

"The place closest to the sky?"

After a moment's thought, Toyohama Kazuka confidently declared, "The closest place to the sky during the fireworks festival must be the shrine on the mountain—no! Even though I'm a bastard, I still have some brains. I remember there's a river nearby, and the river reflects the sky, so the closest place to the sky should be the riverbank!"

Giving a confident answer, Toyohama and Hana looked at Sakurajima Mai with a self-satisfied expression.

Mai Sakurajima is tapping on her phone.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

"Where is she beneath the snow?"

Mai Sakurajima couldn't help but chuckle: "Would a hater like you seriously play a guessing game with me?"

Toyohama Kazuka: "..."

[Want to be a Bunny Girl: Yukinoshita, where are you?]

[Under the Snow: Sakurajima-san, where are you and Haku-kun?]

The two messages, one after the other, were less than five seconds apart.

Across the chat window, Yukino Yukinoshita and Mai Sakurajima fell silent, a strange and peculiar empathy surfacing simultaneously.

Yukinoshita covered her mouth: "Pfft~"

The chat window was simultaneously left unattended; neither of them asked about it or retracted their messages, tacitly pretending that they hadn't sent the message.

After a moment's thought, Yukino Yukinoshita decisively sent a message to Hachiman Hikigaya.

Mai Sakurajima hesitated for a moment before sending the message to Angelina.

written request for leave

He tried to return to the second level of cultivation, but his breathing became disordered and his mind became confused. Even with the will to turn the tide, he could not avoid going astray. He asked for a leave of absence to seek the elixir of immortality and waited for an auspicious day, Labor Day, to heal his old injuries in order to break through.

My mind's a bit blank today, so I'm just slacking off. I did have a plan for the ending of Volume 2, but figuring out how to lead it off in a fun and engaging way is the problem. My soul's been drained, abaaaaah…

Let's try to give the rather disorganized second volume a semblance of a complete ending.

Spend the day slacking off.

Chapter 147 Not So Fair

"Child, do you like to eat candy?"

A composed young man, probably nearing middle age, sat beside a flower bed and asked a girl, who was probably still in elementary school and had just finished playing and was taking a break.

The girl pushed up her glasses, looking somewhat taciturn. He looked at the stranger who had suddenly struck up a conversation, puzzled. His still innocent eyes could still hold curiosity and trepidation: "Hmm... I quite like it."

"Give."

The young man took out a piece of candy and handed it over.

The boy hesitated, vaguely feeling that he couldn't accept things from strangers.

"I just bought a bag of candy," the young man said, gesturing to the bag in his hand. "What I'm giving you is just a tiny piece."

The girl reached out and took it, unwrapped the candy, and put the pure white candy into her mouth. Her eyes lit up with joy at the magical sweetness she had never experienced before.

"Thank you, it's very sweet." The girl was very polite.

"You're welcome." The young man handed over another one. "Want some more?"

The girl took the candy and was about to happily peel it when she suddenly heard the other person's deep, powerful shout.

"and many more."

As the girl looked up in confusion, the young man reached out and took the candy back: "I've changed my mind, I won't give it to you."

"?" The girl was bewildered, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Are you upset because I took your candy?" the young man asked. "Or because you feel betrayed? Because I gave you candy for no reason, and you think I'm a good person, maybe even a friend? And now that I've taken the candy back, you feel like I've betrayed that friendship?"

The girl didn't quite understand, vaguely feeling as if a pot had been slammed down on her head. She said aggrievedly, "Uncle, you gave me the candy..."

“I will give you the candy, but you must agree to one condition; this is called a transaction. If you stand there crying and rolling on the ground demanding my candy, attracting others to stand up for you and try to get my candy, this is called moral advantage. You can reach out and snatch the candy from my hand, then run away quickly so I can't catch you; this is called primitive struggle. You can give up the candy and not take any action to get it; this is called restraining desires—which one do you want to choose?”

The girl was a little confused. She wanted to stay far away from this strange man, but she also wanted that candy. She had never eaten such sweet candy before.

The young man listed a bunch of options, and finally placed the candy in the girl's hand: "Of course, none of the above options matter, because I will still give you the candy."

The girl looked blankly at the candy, then blankly at the young man.

"Why aren't you smiling or saying thank you?" the young man asked, frowning. "I gave you a piece of candy earlier, and you thanked me and smiled back. Why are you neither thanking me nor smiling now that I'm giving you another piece of candy?"

The girl hesitated for a moment, then handed the candy back: "Then I'll give it back to you."

"Very good, you've learned to say no," the young man smiled. "The unfortunate thing is that there are many things you can't refuse—for example, what if I refuse your refusal?"

"Rumi——!"

A few children waved from the side of the street.

The girl decisively placed the candy on the tiles of the flower bed and hurriedly ran to her friend.

The Yukinoshita sisters, who had witnessed the scene of the child being teased, had contrasting expressions: one with a subtle expression, and the other with great interest.

"Did you choose to give up in the end?" The young man picked up the candy and observed it. "This candy is quite delicious. It's interesting that you were able to give up something to get it."

The Scarlet Troupe... I thought the members of the Scarlet Troupe would at least be somewhat normal.

Yukino Yukinoshita said helplessly, "Props maker, is it fun to tease children?"

"Of course it's interesting. Children are at the age when they are most thoughtful and courageous. There's a saying that goes like this: a colleague always says that people should die by the time they turn forty. They are ignorant in their youth, confused and searching in their adolescence, and then they are tempered and refined after entering society. In the end, they become an inflexible, rigid rock, only able to ramble on about 'worldly conclusions' that they don't even understand themselves, and tell others 'you should'."

The prop master remarked, "Like a corpse, every day it exists is an echo of life."