Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 199 Parting on bad terms
"Eh? Why?"

Shiina Maki looked at Niijima Rie in surprise, not understanding why she suddenly said she wanted to switch stores.

Clearly, they've already arrived here.

"Let's go first, I'll explain to you later."

Rie Niijima grabbed Maki Shiina's hand forcefully and dragged her away, her face looking very unpleasant.

Seeing this, Shiina Maki didn't press the matter further and obediently left with Niijima Rie.

Once they were far away from the coffee shop, Rie Niijima slowed down and her expression softened slightly.

"Rie-chan, what's wrong?"

"..."

Faced with Maki Shiina's question, Rie Niijima remained silent for a while before saying in a low voice, "I saw someone I really dislike inside. I didn't want to run into him, so I left. I'm sorry, I didn't know I would run into him."

She wasn't lying.

The moment she saw him, the senior she had once respected instantly became someone she loathed.

"That's right."

Shiina Maki laughed and said softly, "It's okay. You should have explained it to me earlier. I was worried something was wrong. You scared me."

"Feel sorry……"

Rie Niijima could only apologize, not only for suddenly taking Maki Shiina away, but also for keeping it from her.

But she really couldn't keep it from Shiina Maki. If Shiina Maki saw what she was seeing, it would surely shatter everything.

"Senior Qiuyue, what... what are you trying to do?!"

Rie Niijima gritted her teeth, roaring inwardly as she questioned Makoto Akizuki.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, she saw Akizuki Makoto sitting in the corner, feeding Shiraishi Rin with pancakes.

For a moment, she thought she had misread it, because this was too outrageous.

But no matter how she looked at it, it was undoubtedly Akizuki Makoto and Shiraishi Rin.

This coincidence was unbelievable to her, yet she was also furious.

The two of them sat together, oblivious to everyone else, playing a feeding game, behaving like a complete idiot couple!
If it were a tangled affair with Ji Yexue, or a secret rendezvous with her, she might not be so angry, because she would have known some of the hidden details.

But she couldn't tolerate it when the target was Shiraishi Rin, because it was a betrayal, a blatant betrayal!
Without a doubt, Makoto Akizuki and Rin Shiraishi betrayed Maki Shiina together.

She still regarded Akizuki Makoto as a respected and reliable senior, even though he was indecisive and ambiguous in matters of the heart.

A scumbag is a scumbag, and a scumbag is a scumbag; their nature will never change.

Unable to win over Ji Yexue, he turned his attention to Shiraishi Rin.

Surprisingly, Shiraishi Rin actually accepted it without hesitation!

Doesn't Shiraishi Rin know how important Akizuki Makoto is to Shiina Maki?

Don't they know this is blatant betrayal?
She was secretly meeting with her friend's boyfriend, even though she had previously thought Shiraishi Rin was a good kid.

……

at the same time.

Completely unaware of the exposure, Akizuki Makoto fed Shiraishi Rin a pancake and then took one for himself.

"Waaah... Akizuki-kun, you're so forceful."

Shiraishi Rin looked at Akizuki Makoto with resentment, feeling ashamed to death.

She actually played a feeding game in public. Luckily, no one saw it, otherwise she doesn't even want to imagine how embarrassing it would have been.

"Shiraishi, you're surprisingly innocent."

Akizuki Makoto chuckled and teased, saying that feeding him was too basic for him, since he had already crossed the adult threshold.

He's become immune to those routine, heart-fluttering physical advances and can do them with a calm and collected demeanor.

Feeding Shiraishi Rin feels just like feeding Fuyuko, doesn't it?

He also frequently fed Dongzi.

Like Fuyuko, Shiraishi Rin is also very docile, like a harmless little rabbit.

"It's...it's because Akizuki-kun's level is too high. I don't have any experience at all..."

Shiraishi Rin muttered a complaint under her breath, turning her face away as if she didn't want Akizuki Makoto to see her in this indecent state.

Judging from the heat on her cheeks, she could tell that her face was definitely flushed and her expression must be very strange.

Even though she knew it was betraying her friend, she still couldn't stop her heart from fluttering.

"I'm sorry, Maki-chan, I'm so sorry..."

The thought of Shiina Maki instantly made Shiraishi Rin feel depressed again, and her heart ached.

Fortunately, Akizuki Makoto did not take any further action after that, and Ji Yexue did not give him any further orders.

Shiraishi Rin "luckily" got through the afternoon tea time and parted ways with Akizuki Makoto at the shop entrance.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

After saying goodbye, Qiuyue walked towards the station as the twilight descended.

Ji Yexue stopped climbing on his back and walked beside him.

"Impressive. You managed to get Shiraishi to submit to you. I don't know whether to call you surprisingly resourceful or despicable."

"It doesn't matter, I don't care about the evaluation. Call it despicable or shameless, say it all you want."

Akizuki Makoto put on his Bluetooth earphones and muttered to himself calmly.

In this way, to outsiders, he would appear to be making a phone call using a Bluetooth headset, rather than being a weirdo who talks to himself.

"Hey, just pretending."

Ji Yexue snorted coldly, slightly annoyed. She wanted Qiu Yuecheng to show more self-blame, or rather, pain.

By adopting such a carefree attitude, doesn't she just make herself look like a clown entertaining herself, with only she finding pleasure in it?
"Let me take you home. Do you want to take the tram?"

"I don't need you to deliver it. Now that things have come to this, stop pretending to be gentle and considerate."

“I have never pretended.”

Amidst their playful banter, Akizuki Makoto entered the station and waited on the platform for the train to arrive.

Although he was somewhat reluctant, he was about to part ways with Ji Yexue here.

"Snow, are you satisfied with today?"

Akizuki turned his head to look at Ji Yexue's translucent, dreamlike profile and asked, "If you're satisfied, please don't disappear suddenly like this morning. I'm very worried."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yexue was stunned for a moment, then her face darkened and she said coldly, "I don't need you to worry about me. Don't say such things to me again. It's disgusting."

The moment she uttered "Disgusting," a fleeting look of pain crossed Akizuki Makoto's face.

Being spoken to like that by Ji Yexue really hurt him, but it was also understandable.

He is not worthy of worrying about Ji Yexue now; he has no right to worry.

"Tch, how boring..."

Ji Yexue looked at the silent Qiuyue Cheng, clicked her tongue, turned around and left the platform, heading in a completely different direction from him.

Originally, she had planned to ride the same tram as Akizuki Makoto and tacitly allow her to take her home.

But now she doesn't have that thought anymore, because her mood has suddenly become particularly bad.

She hated that Akizuki Makoto used such a gentle tone to genuinely care for her, and she hated even more the fact that she herself was wavering because of it. "Makoto, you bastard, how far are you going to toy with me before you're satisfied...?"

Ji Yexue's face was gloomy as she muttered to herself, a complex and indescribable emotion filling her heart.

Akizuki Makoto did not stop her from leaving, but simply stared at her departing figure until she disappeared from sight.

Just then, the tram arrived at the station. Reluctantly, he turned his gaze away and plunged into the surging crowd, entering the tram car.

……

When Akizuki Makoto returned home, it was nearly 6 p.m.

"Ah, Cheng-kun, you're back!"

As he opened his front door and was about to enter the foyer, the neighbor next door suddenly opened their door, and Shiina Maki came out from behind it, greeting him with delight.

"……I'm back."

After a moment or two of silence, Akizuki Makoto smiled and nodded in response.

However, Shiina Maki keenly noticed this one or two-second pause.

"Are you okay?"

She asked softly, looking at Akizuki Makoto with a worried gaze, "Is the reconciliation with President Himeya still not going smoothly?"

The only thing that could upset Akizuki Makoto is Ji Yexue, especially since he left this afternoon to go find her.

"Well..."

After carefully considering his words, Akizuki Makoto replied, "Don't worry, although things aren't going smoothly, it's not like there's no progress at all."

"Yeah……"

Upon hearing Akizuki Makoto's response, Shiina Maki's expression showed a moment of disappointment, but she immediately smiled again to avoid worrying Akizuki Makoto or noticing that she was unhappy.

"I hope they can reconcile smoothly. I really hope that Cheng-kun and President Ji Ye can get back together soon."

"Maki... don't force yourself to say that. It's okay if you complain about me."

Makoto Akizuki sighed. How could he not see that Maki Shiina was forcing herself to say things against her will?
How could she possibly want him to reconcile with Ji Yexue?
She probably only pretended to be like this so as not to make him more annoyed.

This made him feel even more guilty, since he had lied to Shiina Maki that afternoon and done something to betray her.

“I won’t blame Chengjun. I’m already very content.”

Maki Shiina smiled; she was indeed very content and happy, and she wasn't lying.

but……

She was referring to the present.

Now, Akizuki Makoto belongs to her alone, and she can still possess him exclusively.

If she can no longer have Qiuyue Cheng all to herself in the future and has to share him with Ji Yexue, then she will not be satisfied or happy.

She is also a very greedy person; once she gets something, she wants more.

"I'm sorry, Maki. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please feel free to tell me."

Akizuki Makoto walked up to Shiina Maki with a sense of apology, reached out and hugged her, pulling her into his arms.

Shiina Maki closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around Akizuki Makoto, and, feeling his presence, said, "Makoto-kun, you're so strange. You don't owe me anything, so why are you making it up to me?"

"To put it another way, is there anything I can do for you? What would you like me to do for you?"

Sure enough, once a person does something wrong, they will try their best to make amends to the person who was hurt.

The sudden show of goodwill was nothing more than a result of guilt.

Shiina Maki understood this principle very well, and this was exactly what she wanted.

She wanted Akizuki Makoto to feel indebted to her so that he wouldn't leave her.

Therefore, she would forgive Akizuki Makoto and say with a smile that it's okay, even though she was in great pain inside.

"Come and warm me tonight, Cheng-kun."

"Don't... make me feel lonely anymore."

"Let me feel your presence, leave your mark on me."

Shiina Maki raised her head and looked up at Akizuki Makoto, her eyes moist and affectionate, her cheeks flushed with a strange emotion.

"……I see."

Makoto Akizuki nodded and agreed. If this would put Maki Shiina at ease, he would do it without hesitation.

Just like Ji Yexue asked him to get close to Shiraishi Rin, even if he was unwilling, he would not refuse.

He has vowed that he is willing to give up everything in order to make Ji Yexue and Shiina Maki happy and to make up for what he did to them.

He can relinquish both his own will and his dignity; that is his enlightenment.

Although he was cowardly and indecisive, that was only when faced with the choice of giving up one of the two.

……

"Then I'll go back first."

After embracing quietly for a while, Akizuki Makoto released Shiina Maki and parted ways with her.

It was a separation, but only a temporary one. Afterwards, Shiina Maki would bring the food over after she finished cooking, and they would eat together.

"Okay, I made Chengjun's favorite dishes tonight, so look forward to it!"

"Ah."

Akizuki nodded, finally revealing his usual gentle smile.

He patted Shiina Maki's head, then went into the entryway to change his shoes, and then went to the bedroom to change his clothes.

After he finished doing all this, he picked up his phone, intending to send a message to Ji Yexue to ask if she had returned home.

However, when he unlocked his screen and opened Line, a message from half an hour earlier caught his attention.

That is……

It was sent by Rie Niijima.

The content is very simple; it's just an address.

That address was the coffee shop where he had afternoon tea with Shiraishi Rin that afternoon.

When Akizuki Makoto saw this message, his eyes widened, his heart immediately started pounding, and a tingling sensation ran down his spine.

"Was it...exposed?"

He didn't expect that things would be exposed so quickly, that they would be revealed on the same day!

Unfortunately, it was also exposed to Rie Niijima, which puzzled him greatly.

Could it be that……

Did Ji Yexue do it?
He immediately suspected Ji Yexue. The reason was that he didn't believe that Niijima Rie had accidentally stumbled upon him and Shiraishi Rin's secret rendezvous.

It couldn't have been other students who witnessed it and told Rie Niijima, because she had also looked around and didn't see anyone from her school in the store.

Therefore, the only possibility is Ji Yexue, as only she has a motive for committing the crime.

Ji Yexue wanted to expose his relationship with Shiraishi Rin so that Shiina Maki would feel betrayed.

"...Xue, you're really impatient. Are you in such a hurry?"

Akizuki Makoto smiled bitterly. He didn't blame Ji Yexue, nor was he angry. He calmly accepted the fact.

I just don't know if Shiina Maki knows that he went to meet Shiraishi Rin this afternoon.

But he felt that Shiina Maki was probably unaware of the situation, otherwise she wouldn't have remained silent and calm when they bumped into each other at her doorstep.

(End of this chapter)