Yukinoshita's Correction Method

"......" Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes moved slightly, and her own expressive meow seemed to ring in her ears again.

The black cat ear headband is still in her schoolbag.

One day, she will...

"I won't forget the ultimate goal of correcting him just because of a single victory or defeat." Yukinoshita Yukino's voice was icy. "Furthermore, when he makes progress, I should allow him to achieve periodic victories to stimulate his initiative and facilitate the smooth implementation of subsequent corrections."

"So... he's been really attending classes lately," Hiratsuka Shizuka replied with an approving look. "The corrections are starting to pay off."

Yukinoshita Yukino narrowed her cold eyes slightly, "This is just the beginning."

"However, I don't know much about him." Hiratsuka Shizuka flicked the ash from her cigarette. "Shinobu went to junior high school in Nagoya, and later moved to Chiba due to a family job change. Before that, my knowledge of him was limited to my friends... and what Shinobu's mother told me about an incident from his childhood."

"When you were a kid?"

"Before he was born..."

Yukinoshita Yukino: “…” This is too small.

"When Mama Dongyun was pregnant with him, she was about six or seven months pregnant. During that period, the fetal heart rate needed to be monitored every day..." Hiratsuka Shizuka paused, "You know what a fetal heart rate is, right?"

"Fetal heartbeat."

"You really know... We noticed the fetal heart rate was extremely unstable, so we rushed to the hospital for a checkup." Hiratsuka Shizuka exhaled smoke, a complex expression on her face. "It turned out that the unborn child, Azuma Yunshan, was playing with the umbilical cord. He fainted from lack of oxygen, so he naturally let go. He woke up a moment later and continued pinching."

"..." Yukinoshita Yukino inexplicably felt that this was something that Azuma Yunshan could do, "What else?"

"Gone."

"Isn't Dongyun's mother your friend?"

"It's a married friend," Shizuka Hiratsuka corrected. "The kind of friend who's watching the kids while you're drinking alone at home. The kind of friend who can't stop talking about her kids when you call her to chat. The kind of friend who's five years older than you, whose son is already sixteen, and you're still single..."

Well, now that you know you are single, you don’t dare to contact the other person.

"What about after arriving in Chiba?"

"He lived on his own in junior high school, and it's the same since he came to Chiba, except he rarely attends classes—wait a minute." Hiratsuka Shizuka calmed down, put out her cigarette, and walked out. When she came back, she had a pile of leave requests in her hand. "These are all his."

“You actually approved them all?”

"I approved his request for leave. If anything happens outside, it's his own fault. If I don't approve..." Hiratsuka Shizuka flipped through a pile of photocopies, "I'll be responsible for these things."

This is......

Yukinoshita Yukino quickly glanced at them and found something in common, "Medical records?"

"Injured, hospitalized, discharged, injured, hospitalized..." Hiratsuka Shizuka continued, lighting another cigarette and exhaling the smoke with a long sigh. "He spent most of his first year of high school like this."

Yukinoshita Yukino looked through it carefully, "What's the reason?"

"Helping others is my passion." Shizuka Hiratsuka pulled out the first one. "I got hit by a car at first, and then it was like I was addicted. A few days after I was released from the hospital, I was stabbed twice while chasing a thief. After I recovered, I was at the gym when some idiot was unloading weights from one side, and the bar got crushed by the weights from the other side and flew out. He stopped me."

Yukinoshita Yukino found the corresponding medical record, "Broken arm..."

"Later, he even opened a handyman shop to help people in all kinds of difficulties. A high school student who interacted with people in society every day..." Shizuka Hiratsuka scratched her hair irritably. "The day I went to pick him up, he was being chased by someone with a knife and jumped from the second floor."

Yukinoshita Yukino quickly understood Hiratsuka Shizuka's irritability, "That's why the teacher wants to keep him in the Servant Club."

"Helping others is a good thing, but this is too much." Shizuka Hiratsuka pointed at Yukinoshita Yukino, cigarette in hand, "I just thought of your Servant Club. You know what happened later."

"Hasn't the teacher talked to him?"

"[I like watching other people's miserable lives.]"—that's his answer." Hiratsuka Shizuka tutted, "I have a feeling that's not the truth."

"It should be the truth, but he just didn't finish." Yukinoshita Yukino adjusted the order of the medical records according to time, "He is... confirming."

Hiratsuka Shizuka was confused, "Huh?"

Yukinoshita Yukino handed over the sorted medical records and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Broken leg, broken arm, dislocated right shoulder, twisted thigh, cracked eye..." Hiratsuka Shizuka flipped through the pages, "The injuries are quite comprehensive."

Yukinoshita Yukino pointed out the key point, "And no part of the body has ever been injured a second time."

"Huh?" Hiratsuka Shizuka repeated, "Is it really a coincidence?"

"If it's not a coincidence," Yukinoshita Yukino's mind flashed with the image of Azuma Yunshan hanging on the steel pipe, "he was confirming the strength of his body, or rather... confirming that he was still alive."

"You make it sound like a mentally ill person harming themselves..." Hiratsuka Shizuka's voice stopped abruptly. It wasn't until the long ash of the cigarette fell off that she suddenly came to her senses. Like Dong Yunshan often did, she tapped her temple with two fingers together, "Is there something wrong with him? No, these are all accidents!"

Yukinoshita Yukino reminded, "Teacher, you should also understand his ability to control his body."

"This..." Hiratsuka Shizuka frowned, "If this is true, then he must receive professional treatment."

"What's the reason?" Yukinoshita Yukino raised her eyes, "Because he bravely and selflessly stood up for others, you think he has mental problems?"

Volume 1: First Meeting in High School: Chapter 18: One Heart and One Mind

"...Ahhhhhhhh!!!" Shizuka Hiratsuka ruffled her messy hair even further, "I'm going to take this brat to the hospital, even if I have to use force!"

"Given his physical condition, it might not be that easy." Yukinoshita Yukino calmly stated the facts, "In fact, it might even have the opposite effect."

"Damn it..." Shizuka Hiratsuka bit her thumb unwillingly, "Is this his real purpose? Using the pleasure of helping others to cover up the fact that he was harming himself..."

"There's no need to deny his selfless nature based on his purpose. Regardless, the fact that he helps others remains unchanged." Yukinoshita Yukino's mind flashed with the image of Azuma Yunshan's gloating smile. "On the contrary, having this purpose makes him more like the person I'm familiar with."

Hiratsuka Shizuka lit another cigarette, "Then I can't just do nothing..."

"Actually, the teacher is just the right amount of slow."

Hiratsuka Shizuka: “Huh?”

Normally, shouldn't this be the teacher's line?

No, the teacher can’t say that.

"If you discovered it too early, you would have interfered with his actions, which would have likely worsened his condition." Yukinoshita Yukino waved her hand to disperse the approaching smoke. "The fact that we let him go before just allowed him to smoothly transition to his current stable state."

"steady state?"

"How long has it been since he was injured?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka recalled carefully, "About... two or three months."

The most recent medical history was a long time ago, and since then there have only been some minor injuries that did not require treatment in the hospital.

The last time Shizuka Hiratsuka remembered getting injured was when Dong Yunshan was helping someone out two or three months ago.

With the help of Hiratsuka Shizuka's information, Yukinoshita Yukino successfully confirmed her guess, "He has successfully completed the confirmation of his physical condition, so he is willing to stay in the Servant Club."

"I thought my method was effective." Hiratsuka Shizuka muttered, "So he's okay now?"

"Now he's started a new confirmation, or rather, continued the previous confirmation—a mental confirmation." Yukinoshita Yukino finally grasped the crux of the matter. "But unlike the body, it's not so easy to repeatedly traumatize the mind in a short period of time, so he needs the help of others to accomplish this. In this process, he can better perceive his own existence. The final result is what he told you..."

Shizuka Hiratsuka stubbed out her cigarette. "I like watching other people's miserable lives."

"His habitual formalism stems from his inner emptiness. He can't even confirm his own existence, so he can only package himself through formal imitation." Yukinoshita Yukino finally understood the internal logic of Azuma Yunshan's series of performances. "Reflexive escapism stems from his self-isolation. He is like an egg, protecting himself with a hard shell, absorbing heat only from the outside, waiting for the moment when the chaos within truly takes shape, and then dares to touch the shell that imprisons him..."

Yukinoshita Yukino's voice gradually weakened, and her cold eyes gradually became dull.

Hiratsuka Shizuka noticed her abnormality, "Yukinoshita?"

"...I need to make some adjustments to the subsequent correction plan." Yukinoshita Yukino came back to her senses, "Thank you for the information, teacher."

Hiratsuka Shizuka put away the medical records and leave request, "Then I'll leave it to you."

-

"About Yukinoshita?" Shizuka Hiratsuka flicked a cigarette from the pack and put it between her lips. "Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"

"This kid's a bit stubborn." Azuma Yunshan recalled Yukinoshita's look when she left. "I thought winning once would make her realize her shortcomings, but it seems... it just aroused her rebelliousness."

"So you want to get to know her better so you can prescribe the right medicine for her." Shizuka Hiratsuka fiddled with her cigarette case. "I thought we bullied her too badly after we defeated her before, so to prevent her from retaliating too harshly, you want to prepare in advance."

"Whether we win or lose, our goal is to correct her." Dong Yunshan picked up a lighter beside him. "The original correction method has limited effectiveness, so of course it needs to be adjusted."

"So... she's really taking concrete action," Hiratsuka Shizuka replied with an approving look. "The corrections are starting to pay off."

"But this is just the beginning." Dong Yunshan helped Hiratsuka Shizuka light a cigarette. With a flick of his finger, the lighter began to spin at his fingertips. "I need more information."

"You should have heard something about Yukinoshita's family situation." Hiratsuka Shizuka exhaled a puff of smoke. "Her father is the president of a construction company and also serves as a county councilor. Their family is quite wealthy."

"Hmm?" Dong Yunshan noticed something. "As I recall, council members of local public organizations shouldn't be able to concurrently serve as representatives of companies that have close ties with those organizations."

"You actually know all this... That's right, you're out there in society every day." Hiratsuka Shizuka shook her head. "Yukinoshita's father married into the family."

Dong Yunshan understood, "The family business has transitioned from commerce to politics, and Yukinoshita's mother is the president, but to the outside world, everything is the same."

"That's what I mean." Hiratsuka Shizuka paused, "And then, she has an older sister."

Dong Yunshan vaguely realized something, "Excellent?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded vigorously, "Excellent in all aspects."

"Family heir?"

"The only designated heir to the family, responsible for almost all external activities."

"No wonder..." Dong Yunshan tried to put himself in the situation.

If I were the second son of a famous family——

It's completely irrelevant.

However, Azuma Yunshan understood Yukinoshita Yukino's problem.

From childhood to adulthood, both the people around Yukinoshita Yukino and herself have been comparing her with her sister.

Judging from what Shizuka Hiratsuka said...

It was a pretty bad loss.

"She's not just talking nonsense. She's experienced too many failures, so she wants to be as prepared as possible to ensure that nothing goes wrong." Dong Yunshan finally understood the internal logic behind Yukinoshita Yukino's series of behaviors. "It's not that she won't take action, but she doesn't want to act without certainty."

The lighter at her fingertips spun rapidly, and Dong Yunshan's thoughts became clearer. "She's like an egg. Everything in her past is like a hard shell that binds her. After repeated failures, she can only calm down and accumulate strength. Only when she truly takes shape will she dare to touch the shell that imprisons her..."

The sound of the Eastern Spruce faded, and the rotation speed of the fingertip lighter gradually slowed down.

Hiratsuka Shizuka noticed his abnormality, "Tomo?"

"I think I know what I should do." Dong Yunshan came back to his senses, "Thank you, teacher, for telling me this."

Shizuka Hiratsuka put out her cigarette and smiled, "Then I'll leave it to you."

----

PS: Thanks to [the God on the Left] for the reward!

The more I write, the more I want to write.

The more I want to write, the more confused my thoughts become.

The more confused your thoughts are, the less you write.

So, the more you write, the less you write.

≡ω≡

Volume 1: First Meeting in High School: Chapter 19: Forming Cliques

Service Club, in the activity room.

Yukinoshita Yukino sat on the chair by the window. The muscle soreness she had felt before had disappeared, but she did not move the table.

After all, with the support of a table, reading is more comfortable.

The hand that was turning the pages of the book continued to rise, and Yukinoshita Yukino tucked her falling hair behind her ears, revealing her earlobes as warm as warm jade.

She tilted her head slightly to look in the direction of East Spruce, "Why are you always staring at me?"

Dong Yunshan steadied his breathing, gripped the dumbbells and exerted force, "Do you know how to synchronize thoughts and movements?"

"It refers to the process of consciously aligning intention and movement during fitness equipment training, establishing a connection between muscles and brain nerves." Yukinoshita Yukino explained it clearly. "It's suitable for training isolated muscle groups."

"When the mind is focused on a certain part of the self, the thoughts become vacant and the gaze becomes unconsciously fixed in one direction." Dong Yunshan blinked. "That's what we call daydreaming."

"You weren't looking at me on purpose, you were just daydreaming, right?" Yukinoshita Yukino retracted her gaze, "I thought you couldn't contain your love for me."

"Before you think I like you," Dong Yunshan shifted the dumbbell to his other hand, "first let's define what liking someone is."

Yukinoshita Yukino's voice was cold, "Okay, I know you've never been liked before."

"No, how do you know I'm looking at you if you're not looking at me?" Dong Yunshan realized the problem. "Could it be that you can't control your love for me?"