Uneasy daily life

The second female lead did some reading aloud for the male lead, but that didn't matter. As if sensing the gaze through the dim light, she looked up and met the male lead's eyes.

"I have a bad feeling..."

The male protagonist stopped his dawdling and muttered to himself.

The second female lead raised her hand and snapped her fingers lightly.

The lights shone brightly, illuminating the entire venue. The violin melody was bright and melodious, the drumbeats were lively and rapid, and the magnetic, deep saxophone described an ambiguous and unspoken feeling...

The girl leaped into the air, trampling the rhythm and sound beneath her feet. Her graceful steps and twirling movements were so captivating that the decorations on her skirt reflected the light, overshadowing all other brilliance, both bright and dark. Whatever the instrument, whatever the light, whatever the melody, once she entered your sight, they all became mere background.

The girl twirled and danced, crashing headfirst into the male protagonist's arms. He instinctively tossed her aside, but his grip was too slow. The girl, seemingly about to fly away, grabbed his wrist and pulled him along, leaping about. In the midst of their chaotic and dazzling dance, the girl, as if wrapping herself in a blanket, draped her beloved's arm over herself. When she stopped, she tilted her head and pressed it against his shoulder.

The male protagonist awkwardly backed away, while the girl remained close, following closely behind with small, shuffling steps that rippled like waves.

Perhaps out of anger, the male protagonist reached out and grabbed the girl's slender waist, lifting her up with a force that made her appear to spread her wings and take flight. He twisted his body, leaving the girl behind him, and as he turned to leave, the girl lightly pounced on him from the side, playfully winking. The male protagonist's body stiffened, and she raised her hand to press down on his shoulder, her long, slender waist arching as if a string had been pulled back, and with a single effort, she supported herself against the male protagonist, standing upside down, her face appearing before him from above.

Like playful banter, like dancing together, like gymnastics, and like figure skating. The girl flutters around the male protagonist like a fairy, while the male protagonist pounces on the butterfly like a clumsy bear. Their different styles of movement are in sync, complementing each other perfectly.

"you win!"

The male protagonist stopped, panting heavily.

The second female lead stopped dancing in front of him and gave him a bright, sunny smile.

"Don't be so downcast, cheer up!"

"Hmph... This world is inherently cold. Forcing yourself to burn only makes the temperature drop faster," the male protagonist scoffed. "What exactly do you want? To change my mind? How arrogant..."

"I like you, so I want to make you happy."

"..."

The male protagonist seemed speechless, while the second female protagonist declared with great enthusiasm, "One day, I will correct your life and sweep away all those unhappy things!"

"what ever."

The male protagonist replied as if he didn't care.

……

"Yuihama, calm down, calm down! Stop twisting your body..."

Hachiman Hikigaya's cheek twitched as he glanced at the writhing paw his girlfriend had placed on his hand and couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

"Ahhh... Guh... Uh... Little White... he he he..."

Yui Yuigahama's face was contorted with rage, and she seemed to have an intense urge to twist and compress herself until she disappeared from the world.

"Don't worry about it, don't overthink it," Hachiman Hikigaya solemnly said in a deep voice. "All phenomena are illusory; all conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning. Thus you should view them... When you see evil, see evil; when you see sorrow, see sorrow; when you see joy, see joy; when you see desire, see desire..."

Yui Yuigahama suddenly calmed down.

Seeing this, Hachiman Hikigaya was relieved, saying, "Very good, very good. Maintaining a calm and composed mindset is an important skill for resisting the chairman's mental attacks."

Hmm? Why is there a quiet yet strange atmosphere around us?

He looked up at the stage.

On stage, the character played by Toyohama Kazuka dances closer to the character played by Sakurajima Mai, while the white shadow stands still, watching Sakurajima Mai with a complicated expression.

"Sister! I've found someone I like!"

"Long time no see, have you fallen for someone else?"

"..."

I sensed a heavy, subtle gaze that sent chills down my spine!

Hachiman Hikigaya's eyes twitched slightly. Could it be...? He turned his head slightly and met the gaze of Kaori Orimoto, who was in the audience seats of the Seaside Comprehensive High School.

The brain thinks like lightning and quickly finds a standard answer.

President! Ahhhhhh!!

Bang! The melody and rhythm changed, and a faint sadness lingered in the gentle, narrative rhythm. The stage suddenly darkened, and a beam of light fell, illuminating the male lead's figure.

"Why the avoidance? Why the coldness? Why the exclusion? Why the silence? Why the hostility?"

The female protagonist's voice was gentle yet tinged with sadness. She stepped out from the darkness into the light, slowly reaching out her hand to the male protagonist, stopping just out of his reach: "Am I still your sun?"

The male protagonist did not extend his hand. Across what seemed like a short distance but was actually like a chasm, he softly sang: "A lonely shadow rises in the spring, the scorching sun burns my heart. My beloved transcends time, and I dare not approach her in my longing."

"The warm spring sun illuminates the lonely shadow, which yearns for the sun, vainly hoping to get closer, but its hopes are scorched. Of course I love the sun, but we are separated by time. No matter how intense my longing is, it cannot reach the unreachable place... I am still in the past, you are not the past, so we cannot get close."

The female protagonist lowered her eyes slightly.

"Yes, I am no longer the gentle sun I once was, because my gentleness has brought sorrow—the sun should have gently soothed the sorrow of the night, but instead it scorched the longing to get closer."

"When the sun begins to grieve, it can no longer shine gently."

The female protagonist turned to walk away alone, but the male protagonist suddenly reached out and grabbed her.

He pulled hard, leading the other person's hands, and they strolled along in a slower rhythm.

"You are still my sun, and you grieve for hurting others. I cherish your light, but I have not witnessed the confusion of your burning."

The two danced in perfect coordination and unison.

The male protagonist muttered to himself in a low voice: "I presumptuously assumed she was a gentle girl, presumptuously assumed she wouldn't feel sadness, pain, or confusion, wouldn't be at a loss when others liked her, wouldn't feel sad when she rejected someone... I presumptuously liked her, presumptuously judged her, presumptuously approached her..."

"I can no longer treat others with gentleness, I can no longer carefully judge distance, I can no longer cheerfully spread light, I can no longer give kindness to every soul..." The female protagonist followed the melodious and slow dance steps, her eyes slightly raised, "I always think of that special person—in a casual conversation, there are different feelings; in a moment of leisure, someone makes eye contact and then parts; in a phone call, someone tries hard to find a topic... You have to take responsibility for making me unable to be gentle to everyone."

"Be the one to receive my last bit of tenderness."

offstage.

Hachiman Hikigaya was drenched in sweat. "What the hell?! What is this?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Chairman! Adaptation isn't fabrication! History isn't fiction!"

Yui Yuigahama was drenched in sweat. Huh? Huh? Ahhhhh?! What's going on? The girl who rejected Hijikata back then is suddenly plotting against him two years later?!

Kaori Orimoto is sweating profusely! Hey! Isn't your stage play's story a bit too far-fetched?!

The audience is watching the stage play, and some are already immersed in the story.

The lights suddenly flashed!

The second female lead burst in, separating the two, and, trying her best to appear extremely sad, asked, "And what about me? Am I just my sister's shadow?"

No—you are the sun! You are my sun too!

The three danced continuously, weaving and intertwining back and forth, their movements both chaotic and harmonious.

Sometimes, the second female lead simply follows the rhythm and snatches the first female lead away from the male lead; sometimes, the male lead exerts force and takes the second female lead away from the first female lead; sometimes, the three of them barely manage to coordinate and dance the same synchronized dance, presenting the audience with a variety of variations and combinations of three-person dances.

A chaotic love triangle, sisterly strife, a cheating boyfriend, the establishment of a harem...

The story unfolds silently through the dance steps, and it also comes to a close with the dance steps.

As the lights gradually dimmed and the actors were about to leave the stage in darkness, the male lead's muttering voice drifted out.

"I like her because of her gentleness towards me? I like her because I see that gentle shadow in her?"

"Is this really love? I was rejected by her, but I still haven't forgotten the feeling of someone reaching out to me... I still hope that another person will reach out to me, someone who will be brave, fearless, and carefree, reaching out to me without any worries..."

"I like them? No, there's no such thing as liking them. It's just that I'm lonely and like the feeling of being treated gently—even though my expectations are repeatedly dashed, I still yearn to be loved."

"The more trials and tribulations you go through, the more you love yourself..."

"I just like myself."

The curtains closed, and all sounds gradually faded away.

Hachiman Hikigaya finally couldn't hold back any longer and glared at the stage in a frantic manner.

Slander! It's slander! The president is slandering me!

An unprecedented and extremely unusual crisis was crashing down on him like a tidal wave.

Since the chairman is unjust, don't blame Hachiman for being unrighteous!

Chapter Eighty-Four: Conspiracy! ×2!

"Ahem... I'll go check on the preparations for the show..."

During a break between programs, Hachiman Hikigaya coughed.

"Oh……"

Yui Yuigahama was a little distracted: "Yeah, go ahead, Hachiman."

"..." Hachiman Hikigaya silently looked down at Yui Yuigahama's hand that was gripping his forearm.

"Ah, cough cough..." Yui Yuigahama quickly withdrew her hand, chuckled twice, and then quietly looked at the stage.

The atmosphere is really strange!

Hachiman Hikigaya suddenly felt awkward about leaving, as he felt like he wasn't carrying a head on his neck anymore, but rather a pile of black pots!

Look what the student council president has done! In the time it takes to put on a stage play, poor Hachiman has become a 'fickle scumbag,' a 'selfish man who doesn't care who he likes and only cares about his own feelings,' a 'scumbag who uses his current girlfriend as a substitute for his first love,' a 'harem guy who tries to seduce his first love while keeping his current girlfriend in check,' and a 'low-EQ, impulsive man who confesses his love via email'...

Okay, the last one might be fine, but the ones before that are all blamed!

Hachiman Hikigaya desperately wanted to defend himself, but he horrifyingly discovered that he couldn't refute the facts—wasn't he the one who was treated gently by Kaori Orimoto and then fell in love with her? Wasn't he the one who confessed his feelings via email, was rejected, and then fell into a state of "youth is all about being a bastard"? Wasn't he the one who was liked by Yui Yuigahama in high school? Wasn't he the one who suddenly bumped into his first love with his current girlfriend?

Gan!

It seems there's only one person who can refute this!

"I'm not as audacious or unafraid of trouble as the president," Hachiman Hikigaya sincerely remarked. "The closer the relationship, the more of the people involved, the greater the disaster. Look at that ballroom dance the three of them did just now; only the president could pull it off—it's better to like one less person than to like one more person..."

Yui Yuigahama blinked: "So, Hachiman just likes the feeling of being treated specially?"

"Well..." Hachiman Hikigaya thought for a moment, then looked away slightly. "Because you can only feel a special connection when you're treated specially... So-called expectations are a manifestation of liking yourself, and responding to expectations in return becomes a manifestation of liking the other person. The more you like yourself, the more you like others liking you... Don't you like being treated specially?"

"But it's different, isn't it?" Yui Yuigahama pursed her lips.

"What's the difference?"

"Orimoto-kun is special too, isn't he?" Yui Yuigahama raised her eyes, her gaze darting away as she asked, "Hachi, have you really treated me specially? Am I special to you?"

Hachiman Hikigaya's brow twitched slightly, and under Yui Yuigahama's slightly brightened gaze, a few cold sweats began to appear on his back.

Yui Yuigahama suddenly leaned closer, her face nearer, and whispered, "Hachiman, will you fulfill my wish?"

Ugh! Didn't you already respond when I confessed?! What a troublesome guy... Don't get so close without realizing it, making it seem like something has to happen to fit the atmosphere, you annoying overly familiar and outgoing person!

Hachiman Hikigaya suddenly stood up and turned to go backstage to find the culprit.

Yui Yuigahama looked at his back and couldn't help but pout slightly.

"Of course... Yui."

Hachiman Hikigaya walked briskly towards the backstage area.

"Hey hey hey..."

Yui Yuigahama scratched her forehead with a silly grin in her seat, hiding a hint of smugness in her eyes—Shiro's stage play was really useful; there weren't many opportunities to ask Hachiman to express his feelings so naturally!

Sigh, it's a pity I don't know how to act cute or make requests, and I don't know if I might accidentally be unreasonable.

As for the various explicit and implicit references in Xiaobai's stage play, don't take them all seriously. After all, Xiaobai sometimes makes things up for artistic purposes.

I am Yui Yuigahama, who could understand Yui Yuigahama better than me? Xiaofeng's enthusiasm for dancing is excessively direct, clinging to Xiaobai like a leech, she's clearly playing herself.

The actor completely failed to portray the fact that "Yui Yuigahama likes Hachiman Hikigaya" well. Thumbs down!

Yui Yuigahama's thoughts wandered happily...

Bridge Bean Sacks!

Where is Zheben?

Could it be that she... she... she... she... could she really like Xiao Qi?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible! She refused outright back then, and two whole years have passed since then. Logically speaking...

[Common sense? Ridiculous. If there were standard answers to human mental activity, all emotions would lose their luster, all creation would become stagnant water devoid of life, and every character would be utterly fixed—how to love, how to hate, how to grieve, how to rejoice… In tragic stories created in this way, even the sorrow would seem perfectly natural!]

[Take-for-granted sadness is not sadness, it's numbness!]

What makes something dramatic? It's when a cheerful, outgoing, and beautiful girl happens to be exceptionally attracted to a withdrawn, negative, and aloof boy with lifeless eyes—that's what drama is!

Yui Yuigahama's mind flashed back to the occasional everyday words that the white figure occasionally uttered.

Wow! From this perspective...

"A girl who was once clueless about interpersonal relationships and simply acted kindly and friendly to others as instructed by her parents or teachers experienced the psychological impact of being confessed to and rejecting a confession for the first time! She understood the complexity of interpersonal relationships and began to realize the importance of maintaining appropriate distance between people. To avoid having to reject others again, she had to examine her relationships with others more carefully. As a result, she could no longer treat everyone with the same simple and unpretentious kindness as before..."