Uneasy daily life

President Kudo: "?"

Woman: "Hmph, hmph... hmph hmph..."

"Surprise!" The woman grabbed a lock of her short hair, revealing Kitahara Iori's face. "Oh my! So, President Kudo and I are such a good match? I'm so sorry, Kohei! I have to reluctantly reject your confession!"

"N-nothing, I wish you a long and happy life together. After all, I still need to practice more, pfft pfft pfft—"

President Kudo: "?"

"Hey everyone! This is Kitahara Iori from the Diving Club, running for election midway through the process!"

Kitahara Iori and Imamura Kohei laughed wildly on stage, causing the audience to burst into laughter. The student council president, Kudo, who belatedly realized that he had been made a fool of, was so angry that he could not speak clearly. If you look closely, you can also find a heavily made-up Peking Opera freak leaning against a pillar in the corner of the stage, peeking at the scene.

"Those who make fun of others become the clowns themselves, a fair tit-for-tat."

After thinking it over for a moment, Yukino Yukinoshita roughly figured out the situation—it was probably that student council president Kudo, who liked to mess around with men and flirt with everyone, who fell for a honey trap and was tricked into going on stage, confidently becoming a clown and making people laugh.

"Then I fell for the boy who offered help, my heart pounded, and I felt like it was the best encounter of my life." Angelina extended the plot to conclude, "I always feel that Bai Ying is prone to encountering all sorts of things, and even if he doesn't, he'll get involved, and before you know it, he'll steal someone's heart—maybe we should put a ring on him?"

"Circle?" Feng Bin and Hua took out their phones and checked them, only to find that someone was still nowhere to be seen. "What circle?"

"It's when a girl puts a hair tie on her boyfriend's wrist," Yukino Yukinoshita casually explained. "It's a custom in China, where girls put their hair ties on their boyfriends' wrists to imply that they're taken, but it doesn't have any effect here."

"The hater is still a man of principle, so we can trust him in this regard, right?" Mai Sakurajima joked. "It's not a good habit for Angelina to be constantly worried about whether he will cheat on her again."

Angelina retorted, "I do think about him! How can I show that I care about him if I don't constantly express my jealousy and vigilance!"

“Ha…” Yukino Yukinoshita rubbed her forehead and sighed deeply, “I think you are clearly trying to stir up trouble, to cause a ruckus, to make a scene. You are deeply contaminated by the white fungus, and I’m afraid there is no cure for it.”

"hey-hey……"

Angelina gave a sheepish laugh, "Big, maybe a little?"

"Oh no, it's my turn to go on stage. Where did that guy go?"

Feng Bin and Hua glanced at the lineup and hurried backstage.

……

Where is Bai Ying?

The white figure was blocked.

"Hey buddy, I heard you got a girlfriend?"

"Hmm? Yeah."

"No wonder she won first place in the women's beauty pageant."

"I am over-flattered."

"You seem to be a freshman in our Mechanical Engineering Department as well, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

"There are only four girls in our department in the first year..."

"Very good, very good."

"It is said that there is someone who is your childhood friend, and you not only went to Izu University together, but also chose the same major."

"Yes, yes."

"That's great, I want to have a girlfriend too."

"Who isn't?"

"That's great! I want to be in a relationship too!"

"Who isn't?"

"Do you think you are?!"

The sounds from the cubicle on the left suddenly became eerie.

As dusk approached, shadows loomed, the grass and trees remained still, and a chilling atmosphere lingered in the stillness.

The hallways are clean, the toilets are lined up, and the conversation is not yet over; in the midst of this, a sense of impending jealousy and resentment will surely arise.

A white figure hovered over the toilet. Through the crack in the door and the light from the bathroom, he could see several shadows standing silently outside. He whispered, "Of course I am!"

"Who could you be?" The voice from the right-hand cubicle also became sinister.

"To get into Izu University, you and I are both people who studied hard. Our high school teachers said that we would be free once we got to university, but now that it's been more than a month since the semester started, we're studying even harder." Bai Ying sighed. "We can only choose to study, and we don't know how to choose anything else. Whether it's dating or wanting to have a girlfriend, it's just a dream."

"Yeah," came the voice from the cubicle on the left, echoing the sentiment. "I thought university would be different, but it's the same, even worse than high school. There aren't even many girls here."

Bai Ying sighed, "I suppose after graduating from university, things will just be neither good nor bad, neither hot nor cold. You'll just drift along, not knowing what lies ahead, only knowing how to move forward, like driving on a flat road, the years rolling by—until one day you suddenly become interested and look through those accounts you've cared about for a long time, occasionally clicking on a few names that you vaguely remember, looking at a corner of their lives in their updates. Some are already married, some are traveling and taking photos, some are sharing their joy, some have children, some are in unknown situations... The unseen years suddenly surge like a tide, fierce as a knife, and before you can react, your youth has already withered."

"How can it be so outrageous?" a voice from the right cubicle scoffed. "What kind of 'mono no aware' literature are you writing here? I think you've just not done enough homework."

“That’s right, that’s right,” echoed the voice from the cubicle on the left.

"Even though you say that, you still don't have girlfriends."

Both sides fell silent simultaneously, and the murderous intent grew stronger.

"Look, just like now—people who think they have invincible courage always like to criticize their feelings of sorrow and grief as mere whining, believing that all spiritual deficiencies stem from material lack, laxity and indolence in the pursuit of material things. But what can they do? They come in haste and go in haste, and they are still all alone."

Bai Ying sighed, "I can already see it. No matter how many years have passed, when you look up, you'll find yourself still standing at the starting point, and you'll see that boy from before. He'll ask you—Are your parents still controlling you? Will it be easier when you grow up? You're finally allowed to like someone, right? You can date, right? Is your girlfriend the girl you like? You have money to buy whatever snacks you want, right? You can go anywhere freely except for school and home, right?"

"If you can't answer any of them, you're still imprisoned in this world, losing interest even in asking and answering your own questions, and only silence remains."

"A ghost, the ghost of a boy, haunts your aimless life..."

Left side: "Shut up! You traitor!"

The person on the right: "Are you showing off? You must be showing off!"

"No, I'm showing you a path you've never imagined before."

Bai Ying said earnestly, "What's the use of being jealous that I have a girlfriend? Why not ask me to give you a hand? Putting aside everything else, I have a very wide network of connections. I can even find out where the girls you were interested in in high school are, let alone small things like organizing a social event..."

"Of course, my time and energy are limited, and the number of spots is also limited."

After a brief silence, a hushed voice came from the left: "Godfather! When the door opens, I'll clear the way for you and guard the exit!"

"This humble general will protect our lord and march forward, swearing never to retreat!" A righteous voice came from the right.

"Alright, alright! Children! Let's go!"

The sound of toilet doors opening came from both sides at the same time, followed by a chaotic commotion.

The white figure raised his hand, pushed open the door, stepped down from the throne, and leaped out to fight.

The countless rebels in the toilet were now in chaos, and two fierce generals who suddenly turned against them instantly turned the battlefield into chaos.

"Damn it! You two traitors! Have you forgotten the bond between brothers?!"

One person was shoved out and angrily shouted at them.

"Nonsense! Do you think I can find a girlfriend by following you guys?!"

"What--?!"

The man turned around instantly, shoved aside the people blocking the toilet door, and shouted loyally, "General! Please take this route!"

"I've remembered your contribution, Kenta Fujiwara!"

The white figure burst out of the restroom in the blink of an eye, dodging a deadly whip kick from the left, shoving aside the oncoming strongman, and making a sharp turn onto the road, with a large group of mechanical engineering students chasing after him with deafening shouts.

Seeing the pursuers getting further away, and with the flowerbeds on both sides steep and the trees dense, the white figure laughed loudly: "Nojima is a fool, Yamamoto is a strategist. If I were to use troops, I would have laid an ambush here beforehand..."

Before they could finish speaking, shouts erupted, and figures swarmed around them, some leaping over the flowerbeds, others bursting out from behind the bushes.

"Kill the 'normie'!"

"Anyone with a girlfriend will be killed!"

"Let's go together!"

Unfazed, Bai Ying charged towards the oncoming crowd, weaving through them before they could close in, leaving behind a series of earnest warnings: "Fellow students, if you don't kill me, you'll remain single dogs who can't find girlfriends; if you kill me, you'll still remain single dogs who can't find girlfriends. Wouldn't that be a waste of time? Be careful..."

"As long as I can take you down, that's enough!"

Despite his chubby figure, Shinichiro Yamamoto kept up with him every step of the way.

"Since I can't find a girlfriend anyway, I might as well kill the guy who has one! You traitor who betrayed the honor of mechanical engineering, stop now and die!"

I wonder which guy made this accusation that resonated so strongly with the hunting team.

Tsk, if it were one-on-one or a small group, there are plenty of ways to get the other side to turn against them, but with such a large and fervent crowd, they'd probably be buried before they could even say a few words.

After all, one single scumbag is just a different breed of loser, but a group of single scumbags becomes a destabilizing factor in society, and the two are not comparable.

……

"Excuse me, could you please introduce yourself?"

"My name is Toyohama Kazuka, a first-year student at Yokohama National University, and a member of the Izu University Aid and Service Department."

"Hmm... Feng Bin, why would a girl like you participate in the men's competition?"

"Because my boyfriend said that in the male voting, apart from interpersonal relationships, guys are generally too lazy to vote, while girls' votes are split among more participating guys. So if a girl boldly participates, she can easily win by getting the guys' votes..."

Feng Bin and Hua complained about the competition logic that someone had mentioned.

"Oh? Toyohama-san, is it because of your boyfriend's request that you're participating in the male election?"

"Half and half, it's quite fun playing with him."

Feng Bin and Hua glanced at the audience, showing no sign of stage fright: "It's just that we don't know where that guy has run off to..."

Hmm—I feel like just chatting like this definitely won't beat those two guys from the diving club. Maybe I should try confessing to someone like them? Like pretending to be a guy and confessing directly to an older woman or something? No, no, that's too much of a poor imitation. How about just doing a regular performance, like dancing or singing? That bastard's probably off somewhere; he's definitely got a bunch of weird ideas…

Suddenly, shouts of fighting and the sound of rapid, drum-like footsteps filled the air. Looking up, people on and off the stage saw a man waving his arms and running wildly, with a group of people chasing after him, kicking up dust.

A white figure rushed into the audience, like a nimble wild dog in the mountains, running erratically to the front of the stage. Meanwhile, the pursuers behind him, due to their large numbers and lack of agility, were momentarily trapped in the crowd.

In no time, Bai Ying jumped onto the stage. Suddenly, she straightened up, smiled, and bent slightly towards Feng Bin and Hua, reaching out her hand.

Feng Bin and Hua handed the microphone to the host next to them and placed their hands in Bai Ying's hands.

What kind of dance?

"Of course, dance however you want to have fun!"

Bai Ying reached out and pulled, and Feng Bin and Hua leaned forward. Bai Ying raised her arm and turned, and Feng Bin and Hua spun on their toes. No extra accompaniment was needed to remind them of their steps, nor was there any need for prior rehearsal to hone their tacit understanding. Feng Bin and Hua danced freely, and Bai Ying always caught them in perfect sync.

Whether it's a sudden whim, leaping into the air and turning to get close to Bai Ying's arms, or using her arms to hook around Bai Ying's neck as a foothold and stretching her body to her heart's content, even while wearing a men's suit, she still manages to show off her beautiful and flexible femininity, or she simply hooks her legs around Bai Ying's waist and tries to hang on him to do some high-risk, high-failure-rate moves.

Like bees fluttering around buds, indulging in the fragrance of the flower's heart; like woodpeckers vigorously tapping on tree holes, asking if the insects are home; like dreams entwined with drowsiness, hazy and indistinct, sometimes near, sometimes far.

Bai Ying raised an eyebrow, pulled her back into his arms as she spun through the air, and whispered as he shifted his weight, "I told you to jump however you want, why are you always jumping so close? Is this some kind of striptease or pole dancing?"

Feng Bin and Hua came to their senses, slowed their pace slightly, and subconsciously glanced at the audience.

Suddenly, a series of indistinct noises arose from the audience, and all eyes were fixed on him. Those who had chased the bastard to the stage now stared at him with ferocious expressions and murderous intent, almost unable to resist rushing onto the stage to capture and bury him alive...

There are so many people, quite a few men and women are staring at that bastard... Usually, whether it's Koyuki, Daiyuki, my sister, or Angelina, they all often glance at that bastard, but the feeling is different now.

Feng Bin and Hua moved their feet lightly and saw the white figure again.

There was a hint of teasing and mischief in Bai Ying's eyes.

It's not surprising. He understands the feelings that I sometimes can't figure out, so when I feel strange, he must have already figured out why.

Yes, that's the kind of guy he is.

So in front of him, there's no need to hide, endure, or pretend.

"I guess it's because I like dancing your dance."

Toyohama Kazuka said directly.

"Then I'll dance one you like."

Bai Ying released her grip, took a slight step back, and faced Feng Bin and Hua, who had turned around, while they were sideways to the audience on stage.

He suddenly knelt down on one knee and reached out to hand over a small white flower that he had casually picked from some flower bed.

Feng Binhua subconsciously picked up the small white flower, ignoring the sudden uproar and commotion from the audience, or the heartbroken cries of the miserable science students. In any case, it was all noise she didn't need to hear. She just felt particularly novel. Usually, because of the height difference, she rarely had the opportunity to look down on that jerk.

Suddenly, I don't know who started egging us on to be together, who was shouting for me to say yes, or who was tearfully accusing me of breaking up with that jerk...

Fengbin and Hana suddenly felt that it was very noisy outside. They should be the ones talking now, but then they suddenly remembered what they had heard while chatting with other people.

That's right. No matter whose intentions are good or bad, no one should bother me because I like you.