Fantasy Library.

Chapter 397 must be a joke!

As time passed, the sun began to set.

As the setting sun's rays began to dim, evening glow appeared in the sky.

At this point, the temperature on Itogami Island began to drop noticeably, gradually easing the daytime heat.

Just before the sun completely set, Akina Gisa finally managed to run out of the junior high school building.

"Oh no, we've spent too much time training, we won't be able to make dinner in time!"

Akina's face showed a hint of anxiety.

"Is it too late to buy groceries now? There shouldn't be much meat left by this time, right? Speaking of which, there was a special offer today! I've completely missed it!"

Although the girl was running very fast, she kept chattering away, so much so that she didn't notice when someone appeared in front of her and ran right into them.

"careful!"

By the time Akinagi reacted, it was too late, causing her to gasp in surprise.

However, the person who appeared in front of her seemed unusually relaxed.

"Oh?"

With a casual turn, the person easily avoided the oncoming Akinagi.

"what!"

Akinagi felt a blur before her eyes, and then she stumbled into nothingness, completely losing her balance and about to fall to the ground.

Before Xiaonagisa could even show a look of terror on her pretty face, she felt her hand being grabbed and pulled towards her, falling into the arms of a stranger.

"You're the one who should be careful, aren't you?"

When a somewhat familiar voice came from above, Akina Gisa looked up, still shaken.

What came into view was a face that was neither unfamiliar nor particularly familiar.

"It's you?"

Akina immediately recognized the other person's identity.

Isn't this the neighbor I met yesterday?
"Hello, Xiao, we meet again." Aize hugged the still-shaken girl, smiling as he looked down at her and asked, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"N-nothing." Akina shook her head blankly at first, then finally came to her senses and realized her current situation.

Feeling the boy's scent coming towards her and his warm embrace, the girl blushed as expected.

"I'm so sorry! It's all my fault for not watching where I was going!"

Xiao Nagisa quickly withdrew, her face flushed as she left Aize's embrace.

"It's nothing, at least I didn't bump into anything." Aize said nonchalantly, "But you, why are you still lingering in the academy at this hour, and why are you running around in such a hurry?"

"Oh!" Upon hearing Aize's words, Xiao Nagisa immediately remembered her own situation and panicked again, saying, "I'm in a hurry to get home to make dinner... no! I need to go buy ingredients first!"

As she spoke, Xiaonagisa was about to turn around and run away again, but was stopped by Aize.

"Are you sure you can still make it to buy groceries at this time?" Aize pointed to the setting sun and the darkening sky, and said, "Even if you can barely make it, it's too dangerous for you to rush over like this."

"Luckily it was me this time, but what about next time?"

"What if you hit a child, or even a car? That would be a much bigger problem, you know?"

Aize's words helped Akina Gisa gradually regain her composure.

"Okay..." The girl became a little frustrated and said dejectedly, "It seems I won't be able to make dinner today, I'll have to order takeout."

"But... Waaah, I really don't want to eat takeout! Takeout is so unhealthy, especially for Kojo-kun. What if he gets addicted to takeout like Mimori's mom?"

"I'm so worried... I'm so worried!"

Xiao Nagisa started rambling on like an old aunt, making Aize both amused and exasperated.

"It's just one takeout order, no need to be so nervous, right?" Aize chuckled. "Kojo-kun may seem lazy, but he doesn't seem like the type to give up just because of one takeout order."

“That’s because you don’t know Kojo-kun. He’s a…” Akatsuki Nagisa was about to complain about her unreliable brother when she suddenly froze and said, “Wait, you know my Kojo-kun? Speaking of which, why is the neighbor’s older brother here?”

"What? You didn't know?" Aize blinked and said, "I just transferred here today. I'm in Class B of the first year of high school, and I'm in the same class as your classmate Gucheng, right?"

"Is that so?" Akira Nagisa suddenly realized, and then said with a mixture of joy and dissatisfaction, "Kojo-kun is really something. The new neighbor has transferred to his class, and he didn't even tell me. If he had told me in advance, Nagisa would have definitely thought of having a welcome party, so she wouldn't have forgotten the time, forgotten to buy groceries, and missed the time to cook dinner."

"It's all Kojo-kun's fault!"

Seeing the girl start to complain incessantly about her brother, Aize really wanted to tell her that her brother was a total siscon and would never mention anything about her to her.

Forget it, let's save that guy some face.

"Let's skip the welcome party. It's just a transfer school, no need for that," Aize said with a smile. "But since you're already too late to buy groceries and cook anyway, how about we go out for a meal together?"

"I was just looking for a place to have dinner, and I would be very grateful if someone I know could recommend a good restaurant to me."

Upon hearing this, Akinagisa didn't think much of it and readily agreed.

“If your neighbor doesn’t know where to eat, Nagisa can take you to your usual restaurant!” Akatsuki Nagisa was as enthusiastic and talkative as yesterday, but she looked a little troubled and hesitant, saying, “But what about Kojo-kun?”

She seemed somewhat worried that her brother wouldn't have anything to eat.

"Should we invite Gu Cheng along?" Aize said. "Don't worry, I'll treat you. Don't worry about the cost."

“How can that be?” Akinagisa was initially somewhat tempted, but upon hearing Aize’s words, she immediately shook her head in rejection, saying, “Our neighbor has only just transferred here, and he hasn’t even been on Itogami Island for long. He still has many expenses to cover, so how can we waste money on something like treating someone to a meal?”

"Don't let Itogami Island's appearance fool you, the cost of living here is quite high. Nagisa always racks her brains to figure out how to save money."

People who can settle in places like the Demon Realm Special Zone are naturally from families with decent financial conditions.

The Akatsuki family is not an ordinary family. Akatsuki Kojou and Akatsuki Nagisa's father is an archaeologist, their mother is the chief researcher of the medical department of a world-renowned magic industry complex, and even their grandmother is a priestess of a local shrine in Japan. The family's income is not low, and they are not stingy with their living expenses for the two siblings, allowing them to live a relatively comfortable life.

Because of her parents' divorce and her grandmother's bad relationship with her daughter-in-law, Akina has been a worrier since she was a child. Although she is only a junior high school student, she has already lived a life of meticulous planning like a mother.

Under such circumstances, coupled with her naturally kind and caring personality, Akinagisa would not allow her friendly neighbor to squander money on her and her brother.

So, Akinagi ultimately chose to let her older brother grow up independently.

"I'll send a text message and tell Kojo-kun to figure out how to have dinner himself. We can't keep having Nagisa take care of him forever; it's time for him to grow up on his own!"

Akina had long harbored resentment towards her brother and was determined to take this opportunity to cause him some trouble. This girl was incredibly efficient; without giving Aize a chance to object, she had already taken out her phone and quickly typed in a text message.

"Alright, please come with me, brother next door!"

Akina smiled at Aize. Although her smile wasn't as breathtakingly beautiful as Natsumi Yase's, it was still so cute that one wanted to protect her.

"Let's go then." Aize naturally wouldn't dwell on how to solve the dinner problem for a grown man, and nodded, saying, "By the way, just call me by my name. It feels weird to always be called 'neighbor brother'."

“Then I’ll call you Ai-kun!” Akatsuki Nagisa said cheerfully, “Ai-kun, you can just call me Nagisa!”

"Is that alright?" Aize asked somewhat intriguingly, "We haven't known each other for very long, so you really want me to call you by your name?"

In island nations, calling someone by their first name is still considered quite intimate.

“But you’ve known Kojo-kun for even less time, and you’re calling him by his name now, aren’t you?” Akinagi said cheerfully. “Almost all my friends call me that, so it’s fine for Ai-kun to call me whatever he wants.”

“Alright.” Aize shrugged and said, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”

"Mmm!" Akina nods repeatedly.

The two then left Ayakami Academy together and headed outside.

…………

At the same time, in Xiao's apartment.

At this moment, Xiao Gucheng was lying on the sofa, looking like he was on his last legs.

"So hungry..."

Akira groaned weakly.

"My stomach is about to break from the acid... I'm going to starve to death..."

Xiaojia's older brother, who was starving, began to complain.

"Why isn't Nagisa back yet?"

The complaint had barely left his lips when Xiaogucheng's phone rang.

He weakly reached out, picked up the phone, and looked at it...

"Kojo-kun, Kojo-kun, I'm going out to eat with the older brother next door, so I won't be able to cook for you. Just order takeout, but... no instant noodles, no hamburgers, no cola, basically no junk food. I'm going to check the trash can when I get back, and if I see any instant noodle containers or hamburger wrappers, I'm going to tell Mama Fukamori and she'll give you a scolding—Nagisa."

Upon seeing the contents of this text message, Akira was immediately stunned.

"Having dinner with the older brother next door?"

Akatsuki's consciousness was instantly wiped out by a surge of inexplicable anger and panic.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

A moment later, Akiko let out a dry laugh.

"This must be a joke, right? It must be a joke!"

"This is Nagisa! That Nagisa! Not long ago, she was just a little kid, carrying a backpack, and she believed in Santa Claus until she was in fifth grade..."

"Nagisa, who is like this, actually said she wanted to go out to eat with the boy next door..."

Xiao Gucheng tried to convince himself, but the more he talked, the angrier he became, and the more his whole body trembled.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Akatsuki Kojou, whose sister complex was instantly aroused, sat up abruptly, grabbed his phone, and began sending text messages and making phone calls with an almost frantic intensity.

Unfortunately, one of the younger sisters seemed determined to leave her brother to his own devices. In addition, she had put her phone on silent while participating in club activities, so she didn't answer any calls or read any text messages.

This caused Akatsuki to collapse onto the sofa, completely exhausted.

"The older brother next door..."

Thinking of Aize, who had just become his classmate today, Xiao Gucheng's affection for him instantly plummeted to negative levels.

"You bastard! If you dare to mess with my little one, I won't let you get away with it!"

In Xiao's apartment, the angry roar of the "loser brother" echoed throughout the entire house.

Meanwhile, Aize and Akina had already left Ayakami Academy and were having their meal.

…………

In a family-run restaurant not far from Ayakai Academy in the southern part of Itogami Island...

This is a very popular restaurant in the area.

Because of its proximity to Ayami Academy, this restaurant is usually frequented by students from Ayami Academy. Even now, as the sun is setting, there are still quite a few Ayami Academy students in their school uniforms sitting here.

Some were eating, some were chatting, and some had even spread out their notebooks and books, diligently doing their homework, creating a peaceful scene.

The shop that Akinagi introduced Aize to is this one.

The two sat facing each other in a relatively cool spot, ordering food and chatting happily.

More accurately, it should be said that Akina Gisa fully displayed her talkative side, continuously speaking to Aize.

"Let me tell you, Ai Jun, you have no idea how much trouble my family members cause me."

Whether or not Xiao Nagisa truly had no suspicion of others, she once again began to pour out her troubles to Aize.

"Let's not even talk about Kojo-kun. He lives an extremely lazy and listless life. He doesn't participate in club activities, rarely does housework, and just spends his days playing around with Yase-chika!"

"Yashiro-kun is also very reckless. Even though he's already a father, he still spends all his time with a bunch of beautiful women, which always makes Fukamori's mother angry. I really don't understand what's so good about that kind of slovenly middle-aged man whose room and research lab are always a mess!"

"And then there's Shensen's mother. She's over thirty years old, yet her personality is still so improper. Not only does she like to play pranks, but she also sexually harasses other women. Her cooking skills are terrible, and her living space is a complete mess. Don't you think her personality and lifestyle are very problematic?"

"Honestly, why can't Nagisa's family be a little more reliable? I wish a beauty like Asagi-chan could be my older sister..."

The girl's barrage of complaints only elicited a wry smile from Aize.

It sounds like this girl is quite pitiful...

(End of this chapter)