Yukinoshita's Correction Method

"I thought..." Komachi Hikigaya remembered her earlier guess, her expression complicated.

Yukino Yukinoshita said pointedly, "I shouldn't need to repeat the gap between misunderstandings and reality again."

"Hehe..." Komachi Hikigaya laughed and changed the subject. "Then what's the third piece of supporting evidence?"

"This concerns Dong Yunshan's biggest mistake." Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head slightly toward Dong Yunshan. "Will you say it, or shall I?"

Although she knew there was nothing between them, hearing Yukino Yukinoshita say that and seeing her act that way still made Komachi Hikigaya feel... she really looked like a wife scolding her husband for making a mistake.

It was exactly that kind of "Do you know what you did wrong?" feeling.

The sense of déjà vu was so strong that Komachi Hikigaya felt an itch in her heart.

She wanted to say it, but she didn't dare.

If she really said it, Yukino Yukinoshita would probably repeat the gap between misunderstandings and reality again.

Something this interesting, and she couldn't share it with anyone... Just as Komachi Hikigaya was thinking that, her gaze met Yui Yuigahama's.

From that exchange of glances alone, Komachi Hikigaya knew Yui Yuigahama felt the same way.

They understood each other perfectly. Everything went without saying.

"I'll start from the beginning." Dong Yunshan lightly tapped his temple, organizing his thoughts. "After Sasaki and Tanaka first carried the Blue Demon model downstairs, Miki, Hojo asked you to help go to the prop room and get a model for him to use as reference. When you entered the prop room, you saw a strange model—right?"

"How did you know..." Miki widened her eyes in surprise. "Komachi... no, Komachi didn't know either. Did Sasaki tell you?"

"A guess made from the information we already had." Dong Yunshan continued, "Connecting it to a few traces from the past, you realized that model was the girlfriend Sasaki had mentioned. You didn't want to expose him and embarrass him, so after Sasaki went upstairs, you told him his girlfriend had left first, implying that you would keep his secret."

"You could actually guess that much..." Miki let out a long breath of relief. "I knocked on the door, but no one answered. But when I went in, I saw a figure on the curtain. I apologized to the figure, but there was still no response. I felt something was strange, so I walked over, and then I saw..."

Miki's face was pale, and there was a trace of fear in her expression. "Behind the curtain was a foam model. It was wearing clothes, a wig, lipstick, and the eyes drawn on it looked like they were staring at me... and smiling. I got startled and accidentally caught the cloth underneath the model, knocking it over. Then those eyes... were still staring at me. I didn't dare move it around, so I could only cover it with a piece of cloth nearby."

Just listening to Miki's description made Yui Yuigahama feel a chill run over her body.

Among a pile of oddly shaped Blue Demon models, there was a jarringly human-shaped model staring straight at her... Being startled by that was completely normal.

"After Sasaki and Tanaka went downstairs, Sasaki kept playing with his phone distractedly." Dong Yunshan continued, "He was chatting with you about that model."

"After I heard his explanation, I wasn't that scared anymore." Miki anxiously brushed at her hair. "Though I still had nightmares afterward."

"Next is the mistake I made." Dong Yunshan adjusted the video progress bar. "Sasaki did indeed want to take the model home, but he never intended to scare Tanaka."

"He didn't intend to scare Tanaka?" Yui Yuigahama didn't understand. "Then how was he going to avoid Tanaka noticing?"

"The perfect height..." Dong Yunshan showed Yui Yuigahama the paused video image. "And the right color."

On the handheld console's screen, the blue package hanging outside the special building looked like a twisted blue smiling face among branches full of green leaves.

"At first, I thought Sasaki hung the package outside the second-floor window to remove suspicion from himself. But in reality, only by hanging it outside the second-floor window would the package be positioned right between the tree crowns instead of above them." Dong Yunshan lightly tapped the position outside the third-floor window, where there were no dense branches blocking it. "Blue stands out among branches, but if it were green, it basically wouldn't be noticed. Komachi mentioned before that they used a green screen during filming, so there had to be green cloth in the prop room."

"Mm, there's a lot. So why didn't Sasaki use green cloth..." Komachi Hikigaya paused, then let out an "Ah." "It wasn't Sasaki!"

"Exactly. When Tanaka came upstairs to find Sasaki, Sasaki hadn't hung the package outside yet. More precisely, he hadn't wrapped up that special model yet." Dong Yunshan put down the handheld console. "But Tanaka insisted on waiting to leave with Sasaki, so Sasaki could only ask the one person who knew the truth—Miki, to help him finish it."

Sasaki, who left with Tanaka, had kept fiddling with his phone because he was communicating with Miki, asking her to help him wrap the model in green cloth and hang it outside the second-floor window, using the green tree crown to hide the green package.

There was nothing wrong with the plan, and Miki did her best to carry it out.

The problem was...

Miki had blue-yellow color blindness. She would see yellow as red, and blue as green.

"I thought I was using green cloth..." Miki lowered her head. "It wasn't until Sasaki asked me why I used blue cloth that I knew I'd picked the wrong one."

Sasaki reacted quickly. Although he didn't know the specific reason, after seeing the blue package, he still dragged Tanaka away at once.

"After I heard Tanaka got scared, I kept thinking about what I should do..." Miki's fingers twisted together uneasily. "I didn't want Tanaka to stay that scared, and I didn't want to reveal Sasaki's secret either... Sasaki begged me to wait two days, and other than waiting, I didn't know what I should do."

Komachi Hikigaya held Miki's hand. "This isn't your fault..."

Yui Yuigahama comforted her softly. "You were just trying to help. You didn't mean to scare Tanaka."

Dong Yunshan made a phone-calling gesture. "Hasn't it already been two days? Contact Sasaki and see if you can discuss a solution."

Yukino Yukinoshita's expression was calm, and her voice was even calmer. "That is the third piece of supporting evidence."

The air in the Service Club clubroom went quiet.

"What?" Seeing everyone look at her, Yukino Yukinoshita tilted her head in confusion. "Weren't we discussing this topic?"

Volume 2, Club Activities: Mutual Refusal to Yield

"The situation is clear now..." Yui Yuigahama tugged at the hem of Yukino Yukinoshita's clothes. "But how to eliminate Tanaka's fear has become a new problem."

"Just tell him the truth," Yukino Yukinoshita answered as if it were obvious. "Once he knows what the blue foreign object was, and who hung it there for what reason, Tanaka's fear will disappear—that was decided from the very beginning."

Komachi Hikigaya looked hesitant. "But if we do that, Sasaki's situation..."

"Are there still few people who know now?" Yukino Yukinoshita asked in return. "What difference does one more make?"

Yui Yuigahama and Komachi Hikigaya looked at each other... That seemed true.

"When there's a reliable truth, you want to put your hopes in a false lie instead..." Yukino Yukinoshita stared at Dong Yunshan, her cold eyes narrowing slightly. "Especially you."

Based on his past experience, Dong Yunshan had been the first to guess that Sasaki's girlfriend was fake.

But Dong Yunshan thought the truth was too sad, so he wanted to hide it for Sasaki.

By fabricating a reasonable lie.

Only after Yukino Yukinoshita exposed the falsehoods again and again was he forced to voice his own guesses.

And it was precisely because he had wanted to hide the truth that Dong Yunshan lost the chance to investigate it further.

He had wanted to help Sasaki hide his secret, but had nearly wronged Sasaki instead.

In his conjecture, Sasaki had wanted to take the model away without anyone noticing, and scare Tanaka a little while he was at it.

But the truth was, Sasaki had never intended to scare Tanaka at all.

"Ah... I've got it." Dong Yunshan's eyes shifted. "Sasaki's girlfriend really does exist."

"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama's large eyes were full of confusion. "But you just said..."

"I said just now that all of it was my conjecture." Dong Yunshan waved a hand. "If there's a chance I guessed right, then of course there's also a chance I guessed wrong."

Komachi Hikigaya shook Miki's hand. "Sasaki, he..."

Miki gently shook her head. "What he told me was that there wasn't..."

"People lie, you know. What they say isn't necessarily true." Dong Yunshan raised his head. "Let me think... He originally had a girlfriend, but they broke up some time ago. Out of nostalgia, he couldn't bear to part with the things his girlfriend left behind, and even made a model, pretending his girlfriend was still by his side."

"If that's the case..." Yui Yuigahama murmured blankly, "then it seems... a little better?"

Compared to pretending he had a girlfriend, missing an ex-girlfriend was easier to accept.

Yukino Yukinoshita's icy gaze was like a solid icicle. "Dong Yunshan!"

"Yukino Yukinoshita." Dong Yunshan met her gaze without dodging in the slightest. "This conjecture of mine—do you have any way to disprove it?"

Yukino Yukinoshita's expression was cold. "You're indulging what is wrong. You're running away from what is right."

Dong Yunshan raised his little finger. "First, you can't determine whether my conjecture is right or wrong."

Then came his ring finger. "Second, as long as Tanaka's fear can be eliminated, Sasaki has the right to choose the explanation he wants to choose."

"Finally..." Dong Yunshan made an OK sign. "Only kids argue about right and wrong. Adults just get by."

The air in the Service Club fell silent once again.

"I..." Miki weakly raised her phone. "I'll go outside and take this call."

Komachi Hikigaya got up after her. "I-I'm going to eavesdrop for a bit..."

Yui Yuigahama silently followed them out and closed the Service Club door. "I'm going to e-eavesdrop on Komachi eavesdropping..."

Only Yukino Yukinoshita and Dong Yunshan were left in the clubroom.

"I misjudged you..." Yukino Yukinoshita closed her eyes and slowly steadied her slightly hurried breathing. "During the doll commission before, I thought you had a pursuit of the truth, and the courage to take action. But in reality, you only wanted to find a solution that didn't require effort and avoided conflict... am I right?"

"A more mature and more appropriate solution," Dong Yunshan corrected with clear logic. "It's a balance between subjective and objective factors, not blaming every problem on the person involved being incapable."

"Personal ability is limited, but that is no reason to set limits on your own ability." Yukino Yukinoshita stood perfectly straight, like a reef facing the tide. "Sasaki can face his own problems directly and use that to grow and transform, while you want to take him and run away."

"If you want to move a chair away, you first have to stand up. Moving a chair while sitting down is not only strenuous, it's easy to fall over." Dong Yunshan stood up and dragged the chair aside. "You eat one bite at a time, and you walk one step at a time. Growth and transformation both need time. Why rush it?"

"What can be done now must be done now, so that you can do more in the future." Dong Yunshan's face was reflected in Yukino Yukinoshita's ice-blue eyes. "If you don't do what can be done now, then in the future there will be even more things you can't do, including the things you can do now."

"If you push yourself when you should be resting, then by the time you want to rest, you may not even have your life left." Dong Yunshan looked at his own young face in Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes. "Being a little kinder to yourself isn't a sin. There's no need to drive yourself so hard."

Outside the Service Club clubroom, Yui Yuigahama and Komachi Hikigaya were eavesdropping—

On the sounds inside the clubroom.

"They're like a kind father and a strict mother," Yui Yuigahama sighed in a low voice.

"It's a clash between idealism and realism," Komachi Hikigaya said softly.

"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama looked at Komachi Hikigaya in surprise, feeling as if she had been betrayed.

They had clearly been eavesdropping on flirtatious banter together, so why had she suddenly started attaching lofty meaning to it?

"As I thought..." Komachi Hikigaya's eyes flickered. "Those two really should combine."

"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama's eyes widened, feeling as if she had taken a hit.

She had clearly been attaching lofty meaning to it, so why had she suddenly turned it dirty?

"Idealism emphasizes the pursuit of ideal goals and values, and believes that humanity can achieve perfection and improvement; realism, on the other hand, pays more attention to real conditions and practical feasibility, and focuses on practicality and actual results." Komachi Hikigaya explained further, "When facing different problems and challenges, each mode of thinking has its own strengths and limitations. Therefore, depending on the specific situation, it is necessary to combine the strengths of idealism and realism while avoiding the limitations of both, in order to achieve better results."

Yui Yuigahama blinked her big eyes, and suddenly understood.

To sum it up...

Giving colored value to things, and making valuable color.

Inside, the two argued with fiery intensity, neither giving an inch.

Outside, the two watched with relish, all harmony and joy.

When Miki came back after finishing her call, this was the scene she saw.

"Um..." Miki patted Komachi Hikigaya on the shoulder. "I just—"

"Wah!" That was Komachi Hikigaya, startled by Miki.

"Ah!" That was Yui Yuigahama, startled by Komachi Hikigaya.

""Hm?"" That was Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita, who had heard the sound.

Knock, knock, knock!

Komachi Hikigaya reacted quickly, raising her hand to knock on the door. "Miki's back."

She said it as if she had just left together with Miki.

Yui Yuigahama inwardly admired her. As expected of an older sister with a younger brother at home.

An only child like Yui Yuigahama had absolutely none of that rich experience.

Huh? Something about that seemed a little off.

"Come in." Yukino Yukinoshita brushed her hair back and sat down again.

Dong Yunshan also dragged back the chair he had moved away earlier.

"I just got a call from Sasaki. He told me he'd thought about it for two days and still didn't know what to do, and he had no one to discuss it with, so he could only ask if I had any ideas." Miki's expression was complicated. "So I told him Dong Yunshan's guess, and then... he went to find Tanaka."

"...That's good too." Yukino Yukinoshita closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Although you've already admitted defeat, this time... you won."

"From the moment I admitted defeat, I had already lost." Dong Yunshan shook his head. "A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. What matters most is..."

Yukino Yukinoshita opened her eyes and looked toward Dong Yunshan, waiting for him to continue.

"Although I gave him a way out," Dong Yunshan said, the corner of his mouth twitching, "I hope even more that he can move forward the way you hoped he would."

"Even if he moves forward, he still has to take it one step at a time." Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her gaze slightly. "There's no need to rush."

"Whoa~~~" Yui Yuigahama excitedly clasped Komachi Hikigaya's hand. "They really combined!"

Dong Yunshan & Yukino Yukinoshita: ""???""

"Ideals! She meant their ideals!" Komachi Hikigaya hurriedly explained, then asked back under Yukino Yukinoshita and Dong Yunshan's stares, "What did you think she meant?"

Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita silently looked away.