My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 144

Yukino asked us to wait ten minutes, so we sat on the sofa in the lobby. It turns out that the sophistication of a building comes from its lobby sofas…

During this time, Yuihama kept her eyes glued to her phone, her fingers not moving an inch. Judging by her concentration, she was probably looking at the clock on the screen.

I was lost in thought when Yuihama, who was sitting next to me, suddenly stood up.

She pressed the intercom at the Yukishita family's house again.

"Hello……"

"Ten minutes are up."

"Please come in."

After Yukino finished speaking, the door opened automatically.

Yuihama decisively stepped into the building, and I followed behind. After we entered the elevator, she pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.

The elevator ascended faster than expected, and the floor number displayed on the panel kept changing. Before long, we arrived at the fifteenth floor.

We stepped out of the elevator and found several apartments here. I followed Yuihama to one of the doors that didn't have a nameplate.

As if to confirm something, Yuihama clenched her fist tightly before pressing the doorbell.

Although I couldn't tell if it was high-class or not, the doorbell here wasn't a typical buzzing sound; it was more like the sound of an elegant musical instrument. After Yui rang the doorbell once, we waited a moment. The soundproofing of the high-rise building was indeed excellent; I couldn't hear any movement inside. A few seconds later, the door suddenly made a cold, clicking sound as it unlocked, and several more seconds passed before the locks were fully open.

Finally, Yukino carefully and silently opened the door and peeked out.

"Please come in."

Upon entering the room, you can immediately smell a faint scent of soap.

Yukinoshita gave off a different impression than usual. She was slender, and her delicate white knit sweater was slightly loose, with sleeves that were too long and completely covered her hands, revealing her collarbone from the neckline. Her long black hair, tied in a ponytail, fell to her chest, concealing the neckline of her sweater, and her long skirt almost touched her ankles.

Looking inside from the main entrance, you can see several doors. Three of them are clearly bedroom doors, while the others on either side of the hallway are presumably bathroom and toilet doors. Further down the hallway, in an area illuminated only by dim, indirect lighting, lies the living room/dining room. This is the commonly heard 3LDK layout (Note: 60 LDK represents living room, dining room, and kitchen; the preceding number indicates the number of rooms).

This huge house is occupied by only one person, Yukinoshita.

Led by Yukino, we walked through the corridor and into the living room.

From the living room, you can see the balcony extending outwards. Through the windows, you can enjoy the sky where the sun has completely disappeared and the night view of the new city center. A few lonely rays of afterglow still hang in the western sky.

There was a small glass table in the living room, on which sat a closed laptop, next to which were folders filled with documents. Yukino must have been busy working last night.

Overall, the living room is furnished rather simply, probably because the possibility of guests visiting has not been considered. It's like a business hotel, with only the bare minimum of daily necessities, simple furniture, and a warm, cream-colored fabric sofa with a small storage cabinet in front of it.

I was quite surprised to see three large televisions in the living room. But upon closer inspection, I discovered a whole row of Disney character plush toys, like Johnny the Panda, in the TV cabinet below. I'd bet this person bought such big TVs solely for them.

"You sit there."

Yui and I followed instructions and sat on the two-seater sofa, while Yukinoshita leaned against the wall. Yui asked, "Aren't you going to sit?", but she just silently shook her head.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

Although she was facing us from beneath the snow, her gaze was clearly fixed on the ground. Her eyes, usually full of power, were now as calm as still water.

Since I didn't answer Yukinoshita's question for a long time, Yuihama had to find something to say herself.

"Ah, um... I heard you didn't go to school today, so I'm a little worried..."

"Yes. But a day of rest will do, there's no need to be so nervous, and I've already notified the school."

"After all, you live alone, so of course everyone will worry."

"And you're clearly very tired, aren't you? You still look terrible."

Upon hearing Yuihama's words, Yukinoshita immediately lowered her head, as if trying to hide her face.

"That workload did make me a little tired, but it won't be a problem."

"...Isn't that precisely the problem?"

Upon hearing Yuihama's words, Yukinoshita fell silent, presumably because she had been touched on a sore spot. If work were truly going smoothly, Yukinoshita wouldn't be so exhausted as to take a day off.

The way she hung her head under the snow made her look even more vulnerable.

"Yukino, you don't need to shoulder everything alone. Aren't there many people around you?"

"I understand that, so I've clearly assigned everyone their workload so I don't have to take on too much of it myself—"

"But you clearly didn't do it."

Yui interrupted Yukinoshita.

Her voice wasn't loud, and it was very calm, yet I could feel the pressure looming over me. All other sounds vanished, leaving only her words echoing in the air.

"I'm a little angry."

Upon hearing this, Yukinoshita's shoulders trembled slightly. I can understand Yuihama's anger, because Yukinoshita had taken on all the work by herself, which had led to her ruining her health.

I sighed softly, and the next second, Yuihama's gaze swept over me.

"I'm just as angry with you. I clearly told you before that if Yukino was in trouble, you had to help her..."

On the way to Yukinoshita's house, she kept her mouth tightly shut and didn't say a word. So that's why... But I have nothing to explain; it's true I wasn't of any use. Out of guilt, I unconsciously slumped my shoulders.

"...Hikigaya is in the miscellaneous tasks department, and I never asked him to do anything beyond his job description. He has done his job well enough."

"But--"

"It's okay, there's still time, and I can still work from home, so the progress hasn't been delayed. Yuihama-san, you don't need to worry too much."

"Wouldn't that be strange!"

"yes……"

The gaze beneath the snow was firmly fixed on the ground.

"...What do you think?"

It took me a moment to realize that Yukinoshita was asking me a question. The wall behind Yukinoshita stretched all the way to the kitchen, and she was standing in the dim light, so I couldn't see her expression.

I should tell her, "Your approach is wrong."

I am not Hayama, and I cannot spout grand principles like him.

I am not Yuihama, and I cannot be as gentle as her.

However, I know very well that Yukinoshita made a mistake.

"From a general perspective, relying on others, helping each other, and supporting one another is the most correct thing to do. This can be said to be the most standard answer."

"Um……"

Yukinoshita seemed uninterested in listening to me; her hands, which had been crossed over her chest, fell limply to her sides, and her reply was devoid of emotion.

"However, those are all idealistic views; the world won't change because of them. There will always be someone who draws the worst possible outcome, and someone who has to suffer losses and do more work, getting themselves covered in mud—that's the real reality. So, I don't want you to rely on others or cooperate with others."

I heard her sigh weakly, but I had no idea what emotions were mixed in that sigh.

"However, what you did was wrong."

"...So, do you know the correct way to do it?"

Her voice was trembling.

"How could that be? At most, I know it won't be what you're doing right now."

"..."

To date, Yukinoshita has maintained her independence. Even when people come to her for help, she never intervenes arbitrarily. While she may offer assistance, ultimately it depends on the individual's wishes.

However, this time is different. Yukinoshita is handling all the work, big and small, and may even, as she herself said, do everything she can to make the school anniversary celebration look the way it should. Whether she can satisfy all the participants is another matter.

However, this would contradict the ideal she had envisioned.

There was no reply from Xuexia; a silence descended.

"..."

"..."

The living room was quite cold, and the temperature felt on the body was even lower than the actual temperature.

Bin sneezed, then sneezted, looking like he was crying.

Yukinoshita also felt the growing chill in the room and moved away from the wall she had been leaning against.

"Sorry, I forgot to make tea..."

"No, no need for that... I, I'll help."

"Don't worry about my health. I'm much better after a full day of rest."

"The 'body,' is it...?"

Yukino still downplayed her own affairs, which I found hard to accept.

"Um..." Yui hesitated, unsure whether to continue. Without catching her breath, it would be difficult to say anything more. She paused, then slowly said, "Um... actually, I've been thinking about it. Yukino, you can rely on me and that withdrawn guy... not anyone else, just the two of us. Although I can't be of much help myself... but he definitely—"

"Would you like some black tea?"

Before Yuihama could finish speaking, Yukinoshita turned and went into the dimly lit kitchen. Yuihama's words could not reach that space.

Our conversations are always like parallel lines that never intersect.

This luxurious building, precisely because of its towering height, resembles the Tower of Babel in the Bible (Note 61: According to Genesis, humanity once united to build a tower that could reach heaven. To thwart this plan, God caused humanity to speak different languages, making it impossible for them to communicate with each other, thus causing the plan to fail). No matter what we say, it cannot be conveyed to the other person.

Yukinoshita returned carrying a set of black tea cups, and everyone sipped their tea in silence.

Yuihama held the cup with both hands and blew on it to cool the tea.

She stood still under the snow, holding her cup and looking out the window.

No one spoke; we just drank our tea in silence, and it was all gone in no time.

There's nothing to talk about if we stay here any longer.

I put down my teacup and stood up from the sofa.

"Okay, I'm going back now."

"Huh? Oh, then I'll do it too..."

Yuihama then got up and followed me to the door. Yukinoshita didn't stay with us.

But she still walked unsteadily to the door to see us off.

As Yuihama was putting on her shoes, Yukinoshita quietly touched her neck.

"Yuhihama-san."

Wow! Yes!

Yuihama cried out in fright at the sudden touch. Just as she was about to turn her head, Yukinoshita gently applied pressure, indicating that she didn't need to.

"Um... it might be difficult for me to rely on you right now, but I definitely will someday. So, thank you..."

"Xiao Yukino..."

Yui Ayashiro gave a gentle smile, her cheeks flushed slightly.

"But I want to think about it some more..."

"Um……"

Yuihama looked ahead and gently placed her hand on Yukinoshita's hand.

"Yuihama, I'll trouble you again."

"Ah! Wait—"

I didn't give her a chance to finish speaking and quietly closed the door.

Although it's a bit embarrassing, I'll just hand it over to her later.

Yuihama has accomplished what she was supposed to do in a way that only she could do.

However, this is still not enough to solve the problem.

Since that's the case, the task of solving the problem falls to me.

The idea that time heals all is a lie. It simply banishes everything to the borders of oblivion, rendering them unimportant and insignificant, allowing the problems themselves to gradually fade away.

The idea that changing yourself can change the world is a lie, a deception. The world constantly erodes us, forcing us into rigid frameworks and eliminating anything that doesn't fit. In this process, we only allow ourselves to stop thinking. The entire world and society relentlessly brainwash us, forcefully instilling the idea that "changing yourself will change the world."

Whether we rely on emotions, perseverance, or spirituality, nothing will change this world, this society, or these groups.

This time, I'll tell you how to truly change the world.