Uneasy daily life

"Ahem, I mean..." Yukino Yukinoshita didn't know how to say it, after all, it was just her own guess.

"Hehe, I get it, I get it." Yui Yuigahama suddenly realized, hugged her tightly, and said with a grin, "Xiaoxue is afraid of being lonely, let's sit together, Yumiko has other friends over there."

I did not mean that……

Just as Yukino Yukinoshita wanted to discuss things in detail with Yui Yuigahama, she felt a familiar gaze again. She silently turned her head and looked over the edge of her seat—Yumiko Miura, who was sitting diagonally behind her among the girls, including Ebina, was casting a sour and resentful look at her.

What did I do to you? How long ago was the last time we argued?

As Yukino was pondering whether to ask directly, she suddenly saw Shiro and her older sister walking into the train, chatting and laughing. They found an empty seat and sat down together, the two of them chatting and laughing merrily.

"...?"

Should I worry about my sister, or about Bai Ying, or perhaps about myself?

I brought a few books with me to pass the time on the journey, but now I can't read them at all...

Am I reenacting the Battle of Gaixia?

Surrounded by enemies on all sides, why is Xue Nai Bie Yi?

Yukino Yukinoshita had a premonition that this school trip experience might be terrible.

Ha, those two seem to be having a good chat.

"I heard that Bai Jun performed a play at the school to promote the campaign. You must know a little about the campaign, right?"

"I'm ashamed to say that it didn't have any effect. In the end, it was just a level that I couldn't even beat with a popular girl."

"Yes, that's true—but don't be discouraged, hahaha, I think with a little effort you can definitely become a famous comedian."

“No, no, no, that’s too boring, not interesting at all. Art can take root in the mud and bloom, but it cannot be submerged in the mud. Beauty needs the contrast of ugliness, but it cannot be beauty in ugliness.” Bai Ying added, “Actually, I think Ms. Yukinoshita also has a lot of acting talent.”

Yukinoshita Haruno asked with interest, "For example?"

"Like this."

Suddenly, Bai Ying covered her face with both hands, then raised her left hand to reveal a slightly pursed mouth, lowered eyebrows, and a sad expression. Then, she covered her face with her left hand and raised her right hand to reveal a bright and sunny smile on half of her face.

Because the movements and expressions changed so quickly, it unconsciously gave people a contradictory feeling that half of the other person's face was smiling and the other half was sad.

"Impressive, impressive!" Yukinoshita Haruno exclaimed. "As expected of the great liar, Mr. Yukinoshita."

"Not at all," Bai Ying said modestly, "How can I compare to Miss Double Agent?"

Yukinoshita smiled brightly, her fingers pressed against her cheek, and asked curiously, "Are you talking about me as a double agent? I could never do such a challenging job as a spy..."

"That's right, that's exactly it. How can you be a good undercover agent if you can't be stubborn?"

Bai Ying exclaimed in admiration.

No! Let's try a different approach!

"Speaking of which, I'm a bit curious about Haku-kun. For Yukino's safety, I did some research on him—"

Yukino took out her phone and smiled as she opened a video.

The video is a performance of a stage play.

Wearing a crown, the majestic king stands on a dark stage, with only one beam of light shining in front of him.

The king strode forward, chasing the light ahead, but no matter how hard he chased, the light could never envelop him.

How can the plague be quelled? The search for the murderer of Laius—who is the murderer? I am the murderer.

A revered hero, a wise and brave king, a villain who killed his father and married his mother, a puppet of fate.

“Oedipus Rex… I remember playing Jocasta, which must have been recorded by that scoundrel playwright, right? The troupe never performs existing classic plays, at most they use them occasionally to train actors—ah, look, I’m out here.”

Bai Ying said with great interest.

In the video's stage, the moving lights suddenly stopped, and the king, who was staggering and chasing the lights, also suddenly stopped, not daring to step into the light that was so close yet so desperately desired.

The empress, dressed in magnificent attire with long hair reaching her waist, threw her crown to the ground and held a sword to her neck.

Jocaster...no, Mother...no—

The king clutched his head in confusion, knocking off his crown.

Oedipus, my king, my husband, my child—my sin.

It seemed like a lament, a hatred, a pain, a guilt, and a relief.

No matter how difficult the problem, there is always an answer called death.

With a flick of the longsword, the actors withered like flowers, and the lights went out instantly.

In the darkness, only the sound of a corpse falling to the ground and two knees kneeling could be heard, accompanied by a sob that gradually subsided from a roar to a choked wail.

Yukino glanced curiously at the white figure watching with relish—was she completely unmoved by such a dark past?!

"Bai Jun acted very well; the emotions in his lines ranged from pain to guilt and then to relief..."

"From today's perspective, I think my acting was just average. Even though I played a supporting role, there were still some flaws."

Bai Ying took out her phone and tapped it, recommending, "I remember this should be a video of my first rehearsals with the troupe—you can follow this Twitter account. That playwright guy used to love using these to tease me, but after seeing them so many times, they're nothing special. If you're interested, you can check out this play, 'Hachiko,' which I consider my masterpiece. I'm the main character in this play, and even the troupe leader commented, 'It's so inhuman, not bad.'"

Hachiko, the loyal dog... the main character?!

Yukishiro's eyes twitched.

Chapter 86 Hachiman Hikigaya: Safe Landing

Do you know the four meanings of the word '汪' (wang)?

"...Um, like tone patterns and pitch?"

"In fact, the barking and behavior of canines can sometimes be very counterintuitive to humans—if you happen to encounter a dog barking at you on the street, to someone who is afraid of dogs, it seems like a declaration that an attack is imminent, but it is possible that the dog is just greeting you or has mistaken you for someone else."

"Is that so? In that case..."

"That's right! In fact, to present these things from a dramatic perspective, it is unavoidable to distort them. The so-called distortion is similar to various rhetorical devices in writing, changing the original appearance of something to carry the emotions that you want to express, so as to achieve the effect of letting the audience appreciate it."

"Wait, didn't you just say that the troupe leader praised you for playing a dog well?"

"Because I have become one with the dog, becoming a bridge for communication between dogs and people, I can not only perform the dog's words and actions, but also let the audience fully understand the original meaning - for example, this look, and this loud bark. If you only listen to the sound, it sounds like the dog is barking angrily, but when combined with the look and body movements, the audience can understand the meaning of 'crying out in extreme pain'."

"Wow, you're really amazing, Bai-kun, hahaha..."

"An actor is like a translator. The skill of an actor lies in how to translate a script into a play accurately and meaningfully. Many times, the script requires the actor to take initiative and use their performance to enhance the play's emotional impact. Ms. Yukinoshita is slightly lacking in this regard. While a smile and kindness are suitable masks for social interactions, they cannot truly touch people's hearts. They can only be used to disguise and conceal oneself, and cannot be used to change or sway others."

"Oh? So Bai Jun is so confident that he can sway anyone?"

"Haha, of course not."

Bai Ying casually said, "Let me give you an example—if there is a person whose only pursuit is success and fame, who only thinks about what he can get, whose heart is full of ambition and has no room for anything else, then he will not be moved by anything... Hmm, isn't there a saying, 'playing the lute to a cow'? He is tired of joy, anger, sorrow and happiness, so why would he care about other people's crazy talk?"

"Of course, such people are so rare that you can't find them even if you want to. More common are patients with intermittent human disorder and my misunderstanding that they are memory editing."

Can't find her even if I want to? Isn't my own mother just that kind of person?

The Yukinoshita family, the daughter of the Yukinoshita family... I've heard it so many times I'm sick of it.

Under the snow, Yang remained noncommittal, but quickly came to his senses; now was not the time to think about such things.

I never expected that the embarrassing history I finally found online would be completely useless to this guy. He even seemed to enjoy watching it more than I did!

We must now consider other methods...

While Yukinoshita was thinking rapidly, she was also dealing with Shiro's incessant deductive theories and various topics.

Ah, we're having a really fun chat.

Yukino Yukinoshita withdrew her lingering gaze.

Hmph, if you say anything weird to your sister, you'll be kicked out when we get back...

However, the school trip will end in seven days, which is also half a month's rental period. You won't need to clean it yourself, and Baiying will pack up and leave, right?

I didn't even ask him if he had found a place to rent—why would I ask him? He's just a kind-hearted temporary tenant; if he leaves safely, it will save me a lot of trouble.

……bother.

"Xiaoxue, is that your sister? Why is she on the tram?"

"Who knows, humph."

Hmm? It seems like he's even more unfriendly and irritable than when we talked about Hayama-kun before.

Yui Yuigahama tactfully changed the subject, talking about their upcoming trip.

Damn it! Yui! My Yui! And Hayato too—!

Yumiko Miura, sitting further back, gritted her teeth and continued to cast a sour glance at Yukino Yukinoshita, who was diagonally in front of her.

Wait, so why does Hayato like dead people's faces?

Could it be related to that guy's weird talk about lust?

Huh? Did I get scammed?

Yumiko Miura's gaze was distant, but unfortunately, she couldn't see the white figure sitting in the front row.

That doesn't make sense, does it? I'm the one who's closest to Hayato. Hayato always calls that deadpan guy Yukinoshita, and Yukinoshita has never shown any particular concern for Hayato. Is she closer to me?

My head hurts, I can't figure it out, I don't understand.

bother!

"Oriki, what do you think?"

Hachiman Hikigaya withdrew his gaze from what was ahead, feeling as if he had stumbled upon some rather unusual gossip, and unusually, he was quite interested in sharing it.

"Oh," Houtarou Oreki replied listlessly.

Hachiman Hikigaya turned his head and saw that the other person was even wearing an eye mask, looking like he was preparing to sleep until the final stop.

Speaking of which, based on recent observations, the other person is not the same type of socially anxious as me at all... clearly a lazy bum who just says "oh," "um," and then backs out when there's something to do.

He's the type of person who wouldn't even bother to hate someone.

"You can go into the water to catch fish."

"Huh? Catching fish?"

"After all, it's a rural area with plenty of rivers and such. Hmm—how about we organize a trip for everyone to play in the water and catch fish? Oreki-kun! What do you think of this idea?"

Chitanda Eru, who was sitting next to Angelina, was chatting when an idea suddenly popped into her head. She turned her head and asked with great interest.

Oreki Houtaro: "zz..."

Hachiman Hikigaya: "No."

"Huh? Why?" Chitanda Eru shifted her attention, opening her eyes wide with curiosity as she asked.

"Because those water areas are not very safe, teachers will probably warn students in advance not to go into the river, let alone organize it."

Houtarou Oreki pushed up his blindfold and explained calmly, "Besides, I've already said that it's not good to organize things forcibly—if you want your classmates to have fun, you can check the meeting time, ask which classmates are interested, sign up, arrange buses, and let them bring their swimsuits to the swimming pool in the city."

"Oh--"

Chitanda Eru suddenly realized what was going on, took out her phone and tapped around, probably communicating with her family.

Angelina covered her mouth with her small hand and looked at Oreki Houtarou with a smile.

Houtarou Oreki turned his head to the other side and reached out to pull down his blindfold.

Hachiman Hikigaya smirked and looked at him with a sly grin.

……bother.

Once the blindfold is pulled down, the world becomes irrelevant to me.

……

……

Yukinoshita's father was driving to Kamiyama City.

The tram sped along the Shinkansen line.