Uneasy daily life

[Just Flower: Oh, it's 9528. Wait a minute, I'll change my name.]

[It's not about making flowers: This feels much better.]

[Bai Liang Bai Ying: You're only 9528!]

[Not a flower: If it were a stick figure, it should be panicking and screaming in the chat group, not trying to message me privately.]

[You're a jerk: Did you do this body swap?]

[It's not Hua Nie: If it were, I would have done it long ago. If I had to say, it would be the work of a mastermind. Maybe because you're a shapeless, versatile part, you swapped bodies with me. But I'm still a stick figure, so it really was a body swap. Medically speaking, it's a complication.]

[He's a jerk: a jack-of-all-trades?]

[It's not about making flowers: Feeling like you have no shape, under the influence of puberty syndrome, being able to freely change into a certain shape, is itself a kind of shape.]

Yukino Yukinoshita fell into a subtle silence. To be honest, transforming into Toyohama Kazuka's appearance puzzled her—was she envious of the other person having a mother? Envious of the other person being able to freely exercise their rights as a child? Envious of the other person's straightforwardness? It was all of these and none of them. If you look for logic in a situation, you can find a lot of logic, but the logic you find is obviously not your true thoughts.

[You're a jerk: Stabbing someone in the back is no good habit, and now I look just like you~]

[No, it's not with Hua Nie: Then how do you want to act me out?]

Yukinoshita fell silent again.

It seems that no matter what you do, it won't create a dark history for the jerk. Even if he rolls around in public, people will just say, "That's Bai Ying."

He changed his usual style and became a down-to-earth and polite good student. Others would probably just say, "It's Bai Ying."

There's this strange feeling that no matter how I act, I'm not a jerk; no matter what role I play, I'm always a jerk.

[It's not about Hua Nie: I'll just lend you my identity, which I have no blood relation to, so you can experience the life of a 'shadow'.]

[You're a jerk: So what are you planning to do?]

[It's not about flowers: Of course it's about experiencing the life of a stick figure! I'm reviewing her mom's breakfast. I have to say, her mom has a really skillful hand; she can make even simple home-cooked meals look mediocre. I guess she's busy with work and hasn't paid much attention to breakfast lately. She's probably been finding her daughter acting strangely lately, so she's trying to make things more interesting with breakfast, subconsciously trying to compensate and strengthen their relationship.]

[What a jerk: Shouldn't that be a reward? I really tried my best to be the daughter she envisioned.]

[It's not about being polite; it's just a facade for indifference.]

[Not with flowers: I'm going back to my stick figure life, hehehe!]

The jerk ran away.

Although he has changed his appearance, it has clearly not affected his mentality of causing trouble.

Yukinoshita was a bit lost. What was he supposed to do as a scoundrel? No one seemed to be making demands of him, and he was momentarily at a loss. He tried to think about what a scoundrel would do…

The conclusion is that they can do anything.

Doesn't this amount to having no conclusion at all?

You can't exactly borrow that jerk's phone to make international calls, can you?

No, it's not that there isn't any...

Yukinoshita pondered for a moment, and her eyes gradually brightened.

……

……

I feel like Sakurajima is playing herself quite well today. Her face is slightly stern and expressionless. Did something upset her?

While my lack of facial expressions doesn't necessarily mean I'm in a bad mood, if it were Sakurajima, it would mean he's not very happy.

Yukino Yukinoshita carefully placed the tied garbage bag aside, her thoughts drifting lazily in the morning sunlight.

The sound of a door opening came from behind. Yukino Yukinoshita, who had just put away the trash, turned around and saw a white figure leaning against the door. Her expression brightened as she greeted him, "Good morning, Shiro-kun."

Oh dear, you might think you can keep your emotions hidden, but your face can't hide it at all; your expression simply betrays your feelings.

Bai Ying replied with a smile, "Good morning, Yang Nai."

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced around instinctively, thinking that she was being addressed that way because there were outsiders present.

No one.

"Are you spouting nonsense so early in the morning?" Yukino Yukinoshita said irritably. "The ecology of white fungus is truly amazing."

“White fungi multiply rapidly in warm climates.” Bai Ying shrugged. “I was at the door early this morning, looking through the peephole, waiting to say hello to my girlfriend. It wouldn’t be good to be so cold.”

girlfriend?

Yukino Yukinoshita pursed her lips and gave a soft snort: "Who are you referring to?"

"Of course, she's my girlfriend."

Bai Ying replied casually.

"...I don't remember when we had that kind of relationship." Yukino Yukinoshita (Yukino) distanced herself without hesitation. "I'm Yukino, your statement only makes me angry—besides..."

Yukino Yukinoshita pondered for a moment, thinking about what her sister might say, and then imitated her in a cold tone: "Huh—? So that's what you were thinking, you rascal? Cough cough, I was just joking. It was a fireworks festival, and Yukino-chan and Mai Sakurajima were right there. I was just teasing them when I said that. I just didn't expect you to misunderstand."

"If it were the older sister, she would probably crack jokes in a similar way."

Yukino Yukinoshita said calmly, "Haku-kun was just teasing me, that's why he called me that, right?"

"As expected, even a mere hero will develop considerable resistance after being repeatedly humiliated and disciplined..."

Bai Ying shook her head and chuckled, then suddenly fell silent for a moment, her gaze calm and straight as she looked over, meeting Yukino Yukinoshita's (Yukino's) eyes.

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

Yukinoshita Haruno (Yukino) wanted to smooth her sideburns.

"What tricks is Bai Jun planning this time?"

The white figure gestured to the side with its lip: "You're not going back after throwing away the trash? What kind of tricks are you planning, brave soul?"

Something felt off, but Bai Jun's oddness wasn't so strange after all.

Yukino Yukinoshita became more wary, glancing at the white figure out of the corner of her eye as she slowly walked towards her house.

A sneak attack was out of the question, so the white figure simply took a few quick steps forward. Yukino Yukinoshita immediately stopped in her tracks. Before she could even ask a question, she saw the white figure already standing in front of her, looking aggressively approaching. She subconsciously took a step back.

He took one step back, then two or three more, and before he knew it, his back was against the wall.

thump.

A hand gently pushed across her face, striking the wall with a slightly dull thud, echoing her rapidly beating heart.

"What if it's Yukino?"

The white figure leaned forward slightly, one hand on the city wall, chuckling softly, and gazed into the other's eyes—hmm, since Yukino-chan moved in, her eyes seemed much brighter. That kind of quick fluttering of eyelashes followed by a forced attempt to remain calm—she really couldn't learn that look…

Ugh?

Bai Ying maintained her smile, but as she observed, questions kept popping into her mind.

Why is Yukino's gaze so cold, like a sharp, stabbing knife?

Shouldn't she be annoyed first, then be pinned against the wall and pushed close, have the situation reinterpreted from a different angle, and then have her cold exterior stripped away to reveal her shy side?

"Even I can't help myself when I'm being groped."

Yukino Yukinoshita smiled brightly.

The white figure was momentarily dazed, and in a sense, it did see a very familiar version of itself, after all, the other person was now looking like itself...

pinch.

“It hurts, it hurts—!”

"Doesn't Baijun really like hands? This is a reward for you!"

I don't feel any urge or fondness for my hands at all... It must be because of that weird hand fetishist, anyway, it's not that my hands aren't attractive!

"Yukino, calm down, let go first..."

Still Yukino! What did I do to make you refuse to call me "Hero" and try to tease me with a seemingly friendly title? No… I do want to hear you call me 'Yukino'! Anyway! It's all the fault of the white fungus's unauthorized growth! We need to intensify the extermination efforts!

Yukinoshita Yono (Yukino) is a self-taught person.

screw.

"Hiss-!"

Yukino Yukinoshita made a mistake in her acting, but she refused to reveal the truth directly, so she could only suffer the two-finger punch from her sister in resentment.

Why did my plan to tease my sister, successfully deceive her, reveal the truth, and then laugh all fail? What on earth did that bastard do?!

……

……

"Ah sneeze——!"

Feng Bin and Hua rubbed their noses, faced the breakfast table, shook their heads and sighed, "Mom, I think these dishes that are easy to master but difficult to learn are too early for you. This meat roll is especially salty."

"It's good enough to have something to eat," Feng Bin's mother said with a sour face.

Feng Bin and Hua, biting into a meat roll, mumbled, "Then why did you go through all that trouble making this new breakfast, Mom?"

Feng Bin's mother rolled her eyes: "I only made you something nice to eat because I saw you've been working so hard lately..."

"Tired?" Feng Bin and Hua asked curiously, "Why would you think that?"

"What do you mean, 'How could you think that way?'" Feng Bin's mother's expression softened slightly. "Even now, your teachers say that your relationship with your classmates has improved, and your agent has also praised your performance..."

Feng Bin and Hua Ran said, "Doing well is tiring, and doing poorly is not tiring?"

Indeed... um?

Feng Bin's mother said irritably, "I meant you've made great progress!"

"Progress requires effort and can be tiring, and so does regression. Isn't that also tiring?"

"?"

Feng Bin's mother felt that her daughter did indeed have a serious problem!

Chapter 50 Going to Chiba

What's wrong with Kazuka lately?

Feng Bin's mother gathered the dishes and put them in the sink, letting them soak in clean water, preparing to wash them when she got home from get off work.

She dried her hands and returned to the living room, where she saw her daughter sitting at the dining table, her hands clasped together, supporting her chin. Her face was full of deep thought, as if she were lost in thought, her eyes vacant and gazing in some unknown direction.

It's really strange, isn't it? Even when I suddenly became more hardworking and serious recently, it wasn't this strange...

"Ahem, why the thoughtful look? What are you thinking about?"

Feng Bin's mother seemed a little concerned, and as she reached for her bag, she casually asked a question.

Feng Binhua said in a deep voice, "I am thinking about the meaning of life."

"?" Feng Bin's mother rolled her eyes speechlessly and habitually urged, "Why are you thinking about all this nonsense? Look at the time! Hurry up and get ready for school..."

"Why is it that some things are present and some are not?" Feng Bin and Hua rubbed their chins, looked up and asked, "What is your reasoning for defining it this way?"

"What's the point of thinking about such strange things?" Feng Bin's mother said irritably. "Stop thinking about these meaningless things all day long."

"If one believes that thinking is meaningless, then isn't the judgment that thinking is meaningless also meaningless? So which side is more meaningless?" Toyohama Kazuyuki clearly described, "Being that thinking about the meaning of life is meaningless is also a kind of interpretation of the meaning of life, don't you think?"

"Stop beating around the bush."

Feng Bin's mother glanced at the time: "Your purpose is to go to school now!"

"Mom believes she has the right to define right and command me, which stems from your position as the family's breadwinner and an adult. But power is not eternal. As time goes by, Mom will face retirement, and I will take over the power from you. So, will I then be able to define right and command you?"

Kazuka Toyohama once again raised a point of view: "Correctness depends on power, but power is not eternal, so there is no correctness, only cyclical and non-repeating errors. This is not an interesting way of thinking."

"..."

Feng Bin's mother sensed that her daughter did seem to be a little sick. Her usual anxiety and impatience subsided, but her worry intensified. She frowned, pulled up a chair, and sat down at the dining table: "Hehua, let's have a good talk. What are you thinking about all the time?"

"'Kazuka is acting strangely. Let me tell you a few words to make her normal again.' Kazuka looked at Kazuka's mother and suddenly said, 'Her conversation was driven by a clear purpose. Rather than discussion, doubt, or debate, it seemed more like she was expressing a conclusion—denying what she didn't like and affirming what she did like. Is that what Mom meant by chatting?'"

"Cough cough!"

Feng Bin's mother couldn't help but cough, and said with a stern face, "I really want to discuss with you what you're thinking."

"The main purpose is to observe my mom. How would she react to such drastically different behavior from her disobedient daughter? And through her reactions, I'd try to understand what kind of person she really is," Feng Bin and Hua said seriously. "I call this the Mom Observation Plan."

Feng Bin's mother pondered the possibility of a psychologist: "So what did you observe?"