restless daily life

General Tiger's methods are extremely cruel. He uses a full combo from start to finish to kill the opponent, whose health was already low.

"Played well."

The boy stood up, nodded, and smiled approvingly.

General Tiger nearly vomited blood as he watched the other person walk towards the girl holding two cups of milk tea, and the two left chatting and laughing.

"You used to be really good at playing games, right? You even made games. How come you're so bad at it now?"

"I've never played this game, of course I'm bad at it. If you ask a top-ranked player to play badminton, they'll still be considered bad."

"Sports and games are different."

"Oh, it's all just a game, isn't it? Besides, I've already mastered the most powerful game techniques."

"Interference from off-site chat?"

"Hmph, what's the difference between a soul that falls into darkness for the sake of victory and a player who starts the game with anger in their heart?"

"You are the soul that fell into darkness for the sake of victory."

General Tiger stood alone in the autumn wind, his heart heavy with desolation. Had I won? Yes, but was I happy? No.

He stared blankly at the rows of arcade machines, losing all interest in playing all day. It was as if, as the other person had said, a soul fallen into darkness could not experience the joy of victory.

The damage to one's Dao heart is a valid point.

……

Is there a problem with taking a girl on a date to play video games and eat ramen?

Angelina looked at the large bowl of ramen in front of her with a conflicted expression. The ramen at this shop was very well made. The noodles were clearly separated and soaked in the light white broth, with a light layer of oil floating on the surface. The braised egg with yellow under the white broth, the bright green vegetable leaves, and the brown and shiny char siu all had a fragrant aroma that wafted up with the steam, making one's mouth water.

But! After eating ramen all night, my lipstick must be ruined! Luckily, I wasn't wearing any makeup, otherwise the steam from the ramen would have made me look like a ghost, and what if the broth splashed onto my clothes while I was slurping the ramen?

Ahhhhh!

Angelina couldn't help but fumious and said, "Sir! Where's your emotional intelligence?!"

"what?"

The white-clad figure, who was slurping noodles, looked up in surprise: "Was it elegant when you licked your fingers while eating spicy snacks as a child?"

Angelina: "Oh dear! Don't mention that kind of thing—it's all fake! Forget about it!"

"Only people with a casual relationship care about politeness, afraid of offending others," Bai Ying said, slurping her noodles. "What kind of relationship do we have? Do we need all that formality?"

"That's true. After all, the commander is already strange enough, so it wouldn't be a problem if he were even stranger."

Angelina snorted angrily, "I made it look nice, but it's all for you to see..."

Bai Ying immediately looked up at her: "I'm touched! Come on, say it again!"

"...That wasn't me! You must have misheard!"

Angelina couldn't help but shudder. How could she have said something so cheesy and sickeningly sweet!

Let's eat noodles!

Ugh!

……

"Sir, where should we go this afternoon?"

Angelina pursed her lips, feeling a lingering taste of ramen on her tongue... Hmm, she should buy a bottle of water to rinse her mouth later, or have a cup of milk tea to change the flavor. And also, she needs to find some free time to reapply her lipstick.

Sigh, I've been overthinking things for the sake of this date.

“Hmm…” Bai Ying suggested, “Let’s go find the hero and have some fun watching her struggle through the sea of ​​problems.”

"No! You just want me to do math problems!"

"How about going to Tokyo for fun? Let's experience a live band performance in an exhibition hall."

"No way! A round trip would take up most of the day on the road!"

"Want to come with me to find that rebellious director and experience the joy of being pressured to finish a film?"

"No way! Speaking of which, am I going to be on TV again? The director filmed a lot of scenes with me back then..."

"Would you like to request a payment?"

"Huh? Doesn't that mean we have to pay all the students in the school for their work?"

"This is a publicity campaign by the school, and every student has an obligation to cooperate and do so voluntarily free of charge!"

"This is rubbish! This is rubbish!"

Angelina suddenly realized: "Wait, where does Director Jiuzhong live?"

"Kanagawa."

That's not too far...

Angelina suddenly remembered something, scratched her head and complained, "Ah, speaking of which, I haven't gone to check on Kaede's situation yet... Time travel is such a hassle, it makes some things lose their order. I was busy with Koga and Kaede's affairs before, but when I did it all over again, I didn't feel that these things were important at all, and I didn't even think about them at first."

"You belong to the category of those who were most strongly affected, right? Who told you to restart and make the most drastic choice because of your superpowers?" Bai Ying shrugged. "The memories of others are pretty much the same, basically seamless, so they don't cause mental illness. You're the only one who feels the most confused."

"You're the one with a mental illness!"

Angelina scratched her head again. This was all Kira Yoshikage's fault; he had made time go backwards and left everyone numb.

Oh...right, and about Dad and Mom...they probably have memories of the past because of their superpowers...

Should we take the officer home and ask him to help explain?

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Melancholy of Toyohama and Hana

"Ugh……"

In the café, a blonde girl rested her chin on her hand, gazing melancholically at the afternoon sunlight streaming through the window. Her face carried a mixture of loneliness, turmoil, worry, and indignation, along with restlessness and anxiety. Her gaze was melancholic and unfocused, as if she were staring at something unforgettable, so much so that her soul had left the place, leaving only an empty shell.

"Ugh……"

Seeing the other person's lost expression, the short-haired girl couldn't help but empathize and let out a sigh, holding her coffee cup and muttering to herself, "If..."

She probably felt it was absurd and bad, or perhaps she didn't even know it herself. She just said "what if" and then fell silent.

"if……"

The blonde girl repeated the word unconsciously.

Time can be reversed, life can start anew, the world can begin afresh, and everything can begin anew.

If only I had done this, if only I hadn't done that, if only others had acted differently, if only I had acted differently... it's as if with enough "ifs," one can surely find a satisfactory outcome. "If"—what a perfect word! It makes mistakes not mistakes, past events not past events, it can soothe all resentment and regret. Is there a more perfect, more captivating word?

"if……"

If only I had...

The blonde girl clenched her fist and tapped the table, sending ripples through the coffee in her cup. She was filled with resentment, her voice low and strained: "Everything started over, but nothing has changed... Everything's different now, isn't it? Why is this happening!"

"Well..." the short-haired girl pondered, a helpless smile appearing on her face, "because they're exactly the same."

"What's the same?"

The blonde girl took a swig of coffee: "Look, Feng survived, didn't he? He even resolved his issues with Hua Feng, and that bastard took care of the cyberbullying Hua Feng was doing. Azusagawa's mother didn't fall seriously ill because of it. Everything has clearly changed! It's all for the better!"

The short-haired girl sighed: "So logically speaking, you wouldn't have met the grown-up Shoko-san, and you wouldn't care about a middle school student. You might even have accepted my confession... But that's not right, is it? If you remember everything, you won't accept it, and if you don't remember everything, it will be hard for me to accept it either..."

“A terrible thing, no matter how much it gets better, is still a good thing. But what about things that are neither good nor bad? Those are things we have to go through.” The short-haired girl’s face shone with a Buddhist and philosophical light as she spoke earnestly, “I am still me, my senior is still my senior, Shoko is still Shoko, and Kaede is still Kaede—as long as the people are still the same people, life will continue to go on much the same way.”

"I will still be born in the countryside, my father will still be my father, my mother will still be my mother, I will still work hard to get into a better high school in the city, I will still value interpersonal relationships too much to the point of suppressing my own feelings, fearing that my relationships will be damaged, and when I encounter some naive and unavoidable problems, my senior will still be that kind-hearted person, teasing me while lending a helping hand, I will still fall in love with the gentle senior, and I will still be rejected by my senior..."

The short-haired girl shrugged: "Who told me that the senior I liked happened to like someone else at that time? No matter how many 'what ifs' there are, it won't change this kind of thing. If it really could be changed, could I really accept it without any obstacles? And would I really not hope for a 'better' 'what if'? Maybe this is fate. Fate is the best arrangement, and also the worst arrangement."

"You must feel this way when you think about everything."

How do you feel? What are you talking about?

The blonde girl looked at the other person with a bewildered expression, her eyes full of clear confusion.

The short-haired girl couldn't hold back any longer, and her tone returned to normal: "It means you are still your mother's daughter, your father's daughter. The things that bother you will still bother you, the things that make you happy will still make you happy, and the things you have to face will always be faced! So, no matter how many times, no matter how many minor changes there are, everything will continue to come as if it were destined!"

"Isn't there a saying that goes something like this? The wheels of time keep rolling forward..."

The blonde girl pondered, "That makes sense. My older sister was born to Dad and Aunt, while I was born to Mom and Dad. I still yearn for an outstanding older sister, and Mom will push me to do better to compete with her. Whenever I can't resist going to see my sister, I'll run into that jerk... No wonder, even if I had my memories back then, they'd all be pretty much the same. Even if I had those memories earlier, I'd still have to face these problems, maybe just resolve them more smoothly..."

"That's not right either. Besides arguing even more with my mom, it's hard for me to directly solve these problems... Hmm, no matter how I think about it, I still have to stick to the original method: find my sister and that jerk to deal with my parents."

The short-haired girl nodded and said, "That's right, that's exactly what I mean."

The blonde girl couldn't help but smile: "So, meeting that jerk was fate, right? Hehe~"

Seeing this, the short-haired girl couldn't help but show a hint of sympathy and emotion, then smiled and said, "Yes, isn't it nice to be destined to meet a good person?"

“So!” the blonde girl changed the subject, “Koga, let’s turn back time.”

“Toyohama…” the short-haired girl sighed, “Strictly speaking, what I did wasn’t time travel, but more like pulling the world into it and constantly calculating, starting over if I wasn’t satisfied… In a way, it was more like a curse that tormented me with ‘what ifs,’ and I couldn’t truly move forward unless I let go of the past. Kira Yoshikage was the one who truly reversed time… And I can no longer do that.”

The blonde girl asked in surprise, "Why?"

"Because, I probably don't like you as much as I thought I did, right? I'm just like a little kid, crying and making a fuss when I don't get what I want, and constantly running away from things that make me unhappy..." Koga Tomoe laughed. "I'm not the same person I used to be, so naturally I can't do those strange things."

"Then, what should I do?!"

Feng Bin and Hua frowned.

Koga Tomoe pursed her lips, but still asked directly, "Toyohama... likes Shirakage?"

"Yes."

Koga Tomoe was a little taken aback by the straightforward answer, but such determination and decisiveness meant that it was even harder for her to let go of the matter.

Tomoe Koga couldn't help but advise, "Didn't we just say that if it's already an outcome, instead of throwing a tantrum like a child, why not take a step forward and bravely face it?"

face……

Images flashed through Feng Bin and Hua's minds—while the bastard was asleep, they would sneak into bed, imitate the weird things they had just seen, do those outrageous things, and then just run away, not daring to spend any time alone with the bastard... Face it... Face it...

I can't face it!

why? !

Why, even if the world were to start over and everything were to begin again, would I still do something so stupid?!

If I had remembered it sooner, I wouldn't have done that!

Lately, I can only train hard and pretend I've forgotten, but every night I bang my head against the wall until I can't lift it up. I can't even look at that jerk anymore!

Feng Bin and Hua's faces were filled with struggle, confusion, and entanglement.

Koga Tomoe seemed to see another version of herself in him. She reached out and took one of the other's hands, trying her best to gently comfort him, "It's okay, it's just that fate played a trick on you."

Toyohama Kazuka murmured with a complicated tone, "I'm such an idiot..."

“People always do stupid things.” Koga Tomoe smiled. “So don’t think about ‘what ifs’ anymore. If you’re fixated on ‘what ifs’, you can easily get caught in a cycle of constantly pursuing ‘what ifs’ until you forget what you’re supposed to do. In the beginning, I just wanted to avoid being confessed to by my senior, which would cause problems in my interpersonal relationships.”

"That's it..."

Feng Bin and Hua sighed deeply. Yes! That matter is over! Thinking about it carefully, so much has happened since that incident. Although it's not too long ago, that bastard might have already forgotten about it. So as long as they forget it too, then no one will remember...

How could that bastard forget!

Definitely! They'll definitely find an opportunity to bring up the old story again, and use a boomerang to pierce themselves into the shape of Yukinoshita!

Be bold, you might even grab yourself for a refill!

Ah ah ah ah ah!

Feng Bin and Hua grew angrier and angrier, and slammed their fists on the table in shame and indignation: "Damn bastard!"

Koga Tomoe slammed his fist on the table in a mock-serious manner, echoing, "Yeah! That damned senpai!"

The two exchanged a smile, their understanding deepening. They picked up their coffees, ordered some desserts, and chatted about topics typical of girls. Koga Tomoe told Toyohama Kazuka about interesting things in the countryside, while Toyohama Kazuka told Koga Tomoe about trends and fashion. Their relationship quickly grew from acquaintances to best friends.

Ding Ding Ding!

My phone rang.

Feng Bin and Hua took out their phones, their expressions changed, and they tried to remain calm as they answered, "Hello! What's up?"

Are you in Yokohama? I'm coming over to visit!

Koga Tomoe quickly gave her a wink and clenched her fists: "Come on! Don't be afraid! Look him straight in the eye! He's just a guy I used to like!"