Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 139 Shiraishi Rin's Reappearance, She Actually...

Because he tossed and turned in the middle of the night, it wasn't until dawn that Akizuki Makoto finally felt sleepy and drifted off to sleep.

Around nine o'clock in the morning, while Akizuki Makoto was still fast asleep, Fuyuko returned home.

She quietly pushed open the bedroom door and looked at Akizuki Makoto, who was lying on the bed holding a black rabbit plush toy. A faint smile appeared on her face.

That's good. Only in this way can my brother be happy.

Dongzi didn't wake Qiuyue Cheng. Instead, she climbed into bed, lay down next to him, hugged Qiuyue Cheng's head, and buried his face in her arms.

Recently, Akizuki Makoto has developed the habit of sleeping on his side because Fuyuko holds him every night while he sleeps.

"Brother, are you tired? Get some sleep..."

As Fuyuko spoke softly, she stroked Akizuki Makoto's head, imbuing her words with a magical power.

In this way, Akizuki Makoto can get a good night's sleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

Before she cast her spell, Akizuki Makoto's face, even in his sleeping state, was shrouded in a shadow, his brows furrowed slightly and the corners of his mouth turned down.

Clearly, he was having a bad dream, so even though he was asleep, his face remained somber and grave.

But after the incantation was applied, Akizuki Makoto's expression immediately calmed down, and his disordered breathing gradually became steady.

Dongzi held Akizuki Makoto in her arms the whole time, stroking his head and comforting his soul.

It wasn't until noon that Dongzi finally spoke softly, waking Qiuyue Cheng.

"Brother, it's time to get up."

Dongzi remembered that her brother had things to do this afternoon, so she couldn't let him oversleep.

Moreover, this afternoon is a crucial part of the event, and we can't let my brother miss it.

"Um……"

At Fuyuko's gentle call, Akizuki Makoto frowned, murmured something, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Dong...zi?"

When he opened his eyes, he vaguely saw that incredibly cute and beautiful face. Even without seeing it clearly, he immediately recognized that it was his sister.

"Yes, it's Dongzi."

Dongzi nodded gently, smiled sweetly, and then said, "Brother, it's already noon."

"Yeah……"

Akizuki rubbed his eyes, sat up in bed, and gradually regained consciousness.

He squinted at the bright, sunny scenery outside the window, and couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

already……

That's all in the past.

That nightmarish yesterday.

For some reason, Akizuki Makoto felt unusually refreshed at this moment, as if everything that happened yesterday was just a dream, or as if a long time had passed.

"Is Dongzi hungry too?"

Looking at the obediently lying Dongzi beside him, Akizuki Makoto couldn't help but smile and placed his hand on her head: "Brother didn't buy groceries today, shall we go out to eat?"

"Good~"

Dongzi responded cheerfully, got out of bed, and went to the wardrobe to choose clothes.

When they went out together last week, Akizuki bought her a lot of clothes, including expensive dresses and affordable everyday clothes.

However, Dongzi still prefers to wear the few white dresses she brought.

She was wearing one of those dresses today—a white, light, flowing dress with ribbons. Combined with her youthful, budding beauty, she was undoubtedly the ideal woman in every young man's heart.

When Akizuki Makoto finished washing up and went back to his room to change, Touko was already ready to go out, even combing her hair and tying it into a high ponytail.

Normally, she wears her hair down, letting her long, dark, shiny hair cascade over her shoulders, just like Ji Yexue.

Akizuki Makoto's casual attire is also very simple. Because it is approaching July and the weather is unbearably hot, he wears relatively thin, loose-fitting trousers with a plain-colored T-shirt.

As he left the bedroom, he took out a large fisherman's hat and put it on Dongzi's head.

"Let's go."

Akizuki Makoto smiled, took Fuyuko's hand, and went out with her.

When it was time to leave, he subconsciously reached for his phone to check the time, but when he put his hand in his pocket and found nothing, he paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that he seemed to have left his phone at the hotel.

When Dongzi noticed that Qiuyue Cheng had stopped walking, she tilted her head and asked, "Brother, what's wrong?"

"Ah...it's okay."

Akizuki Makoto forced a smile, somewhat regretting not retrieving his phone last night.

He didn't care about the phone's intrinsic value, but it contained a lot of important data that money couldn't buy back.

If you buy a new phone, you can only get a replacement SIM card, but the corresponding data can't be recovered.

"Should we go look for it...?"

Akizuki Makoto hesitated, instinctively resisting the urge to return to the hotel.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that he now experiences a fluttering feeling whenever he sees a hotel; he's already developed PTSD.

"Brother, are you looking for your phone?"

Dongzi's sudden question startled Qiuyue Cheng. He didn't seem to have mentioned the phone to Dongzi.
"How did Dongzi know?"

"Because my brother was taking things out of his pocket."

"Uh...is that so?"

Akizuki Makoto scratched his head. For some reason, he suddenly didn't want to investigate why Fuyuko knew he was looking for his phone, and he also accepted Fuyuko's explanation as a matter of course.

"Your brother's phone is with Dongzi."

Dongzi spoke softly, took off her small backpack, unzipped it, and took out a cell phone.

Upon seeing this, Akizuki Makoto stared in astonishment, asking in confusion, "My...my phone, how did it end up with Fuyuko?"

"Because my brother's phone was on the sofa in the living room, I put it away for him."

"is it?"

Akizuki Makoto frowned, lost in deep confusion, sensing that something was amiss.

Last night, he probably looked for his phone, searching the whole house, but eventually realized he must have left it in the hotel, so he gave up.

Then why...

"Did I search the living room?"

Akizuki Makoto thought for a moment, then decided not to search the living room's memories, only the bedroom and bathroom, before giving up.

"elder brother."

Dongzi called out softly, interrupting Qiuyue Cheng's thoughts and bringing him back to his senses.

He looked at the phone Dongzi handed him, quickly took it, and said with a smile, "Thank you for putting it away for me, Dongzi. I've been a bit careless lately."

At this point, his doubts about why the phone ended up with Dongzi completely disappeared. "Dongzi is happy to be able to help her brother."

Dongzi smiled and tightened her grip on the hand she was holding with her brother.

Akizuki Makoto turned on the screen and saw a photo of Touko and the Kaede sisters on the lock screen, realizing once again that this really was his phone.

There are many message notification boxes on the screen, as well as several missed calls.

Among the missed calls were familiar numbers and unfamiliar ones; Ji Yexue and Xiaosong Lihua had both called him.

Ji Yexue hit three times: once yesterday afternoon, once in the evening, and once at night.

At the same time, she also sent many LINE messages, constantly asking him where he was, what he was doing, and why he wasn't replying to her messages.

Reika Komatsu called at 10 a.m. and sent a LINE message to remind him that he had to hold a book signing at Shincho Daishosha in Akihabara at 2 p.m.

Besides these two, Shiina Maki also contacted him to ask if he was free recently and if she could ask him to go out.

They live right next door, yet they still use their phones to send messages, leaving you unsure of what to say.

Finally, Makoto Akizuki saw the message from the contact person whose contact name was "Rei".

Her words were brief, only five words: —
"I'm sorry, goodbye."

"What...what a joke!"

As Akizuki Makoto looked at the message, the emotions he had managed to suppress suddenly became intense again.

He gritted his teeth and made a Line call, only to be shocked to find that Shimizu Rei had unilaterally deleted him as a friend.

Suddenly, he felt like he had punched cotton, feeling both powerless and frustrated.

"Brother, calm down."

Dongzi noticed the change in Akizuki Makoto's expression, so she used her words of power to calm his agitated heart.

"call……"

Akizuki Makoto took a deep breath and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Fuyuko, I made you worry."

"It's okay."

Dongzi gently shook her head and smiled, "No matter what, Dongzi will always stand by her brother's side."

"……Um."

Akizuki looked at the chat history with Shimizu Rei on his phone screen, then turned off the screen and put the phone away.

After that, he and Dongzi finished lunch and went to the convenience store to buy a box of pudding, as well as many flavors of ice cream and popsicles.

Goodbye, brother.

"Okay, be a good girl and wait for me to come home."

Finally, Akizuki Mako said goodbye to Fuyuko at the door of his house. After all, he was going to attend a business event and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to take Fuyuko with him.

Dongzi didn't show any intention of going and suggested that she go home instead.

……

Thus, I took the tram and arrived at Akihabara, the paradise of anime and manga.

Following the navigation, Akizuki Makoto walked to Shincho Bookstore.

At this moment, there were still seventeen minutes left before the autograph session officially started at 2 PM.

From a distance, the entrance to the Xinchao Bookstore was already packed with people.

Even under the blazing sun, there were two long queues in front of the store, mostly women, probably making up 70% or even 80% of them!

Makoto Akizuki was surprised by this scene. After all, he was a literary writer, not some virtual character from two-dimensional space. He shouldn't be worth such fervent pursuit by these people, right?
"Ah, isn't that Akizuki-sensei?!"

As Akizuki Makoto approached the queue, some people noticed his arrival and immediately exclaimed in surprise.

Even now, he is fully armed, following Komatsu Rei's instructions to buy a pair of sunglasses and a mask to wear in order to avoid causing a commotion before he appears in the store for autograph sessions.

But it was precisely his unusual attire, coupled with his tall stature and the aura he exuded, that made his true identity immediately apparent.

In an instant, the people in line became restless and surrounded Akizuki Makoto.

Fortunately, the organizer, Shinchosha, had anticipated this situation and immediately dispatched security personnel to stop the surging crowd and protect Akizuki Makoto, escorting him into Shinchosha Bookstore.

As he entered the bookstore, he heard excited shouts rising and falling, all declarations of love for him, which made him feel a little scared.

After all, judging from the excited expressions of those people, it felt like if there were no security, he might be challenged to a duel on the spot by his enthusiastic fans.

Under the fierce escort of security personnel, Akizuki Makoto entered the bookstore safely, where Komatsu Reihan, the editor responsible for liaising with him, was already waiting for him.

Accompanying them were several middle-aged men in suits, all of whom were senior executives or editors-in-chief of the New Tide Society.

"Hello, Ms. Qiuyue."

As soon as Akizuki Makoto entered, Komatsu Reihan and her group immediately came up to greet him and introduced themselves.

But Akizuki had no interest in exchanging pleasantries or greetings with them. His gaze was fixed on a girl in a white dress standing in front of a row of bookshelves deep inside the store, holding a book and reading.

"This……"

Akizuki Makoto stared wide-eyed at the elegant and virtuous girl in the white floral dress, wondering why she was there.

And one by one
"Why did she stand up?!"

Akizuki Makoto suspected there was something wrong with his eyes, otherwise how could Shiraishi Rin, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, be standing so bright and beautiful in front of the bookshelf?
Seemingly noticing his unadorned, naked gaze, Shiraishi Rin, standing in front of the bookshelf, turned her head to look at him from afar and smiled slightly.

"Long time no see, Yu-Deng-Jun."

She gently moved her cherry-colored lips, making a mouth shape.

"what……"

Reika Komatsu noticed Akizuki Makoto and Shiraishi Rin's condition and smiled with a slightly troubled expression, explaining, "Ms. Shiraishi had surgery abroad last week to heal her legs... When she learned that today was Akizuki-sensei's autograph session, she insisted on attending, and we couldn't stop her."

"Is...is that so..."

Akizuki Makoto was still in shock. When he first saw Shiraishi Rin, he thought he had gone mad.

However, he had some doubts about the authenticity of the surgery being performed abroad.

Given Shiraishi Rin's family background, they must have already searched for renowned doctors for her. Why did they wait until now to have surgery to heal her legs?

Moreover, having been paralyzed for so long, there should be no possibility of a full recovery.

But this wasn't something that Akizuki Makoto should think about or delve into, so he was puzzled for a moment before following Komatsu Reika's guidance to sit down at the autograph table.

Throughout this process, Shiraishi Rin watched him quietly with a faint smile on her face.

The spoiled young lady who used to be unreasonable and argumentative upon first meeting seems to have changed completely.

Makoto Akizuki had not yet noticed Shiraishi Rin's change, because he was already busy preparing for the autograph session and had no time to think about anything else.

As the clock struck two, the New Tide Bookstore opened its entrance, allowing those queuing outside to enter in an orderly fashion, purchase books for signing, and take photos.

For most authors, at book signings, hardly anyone wants to take a photo with them; one out of ten is considered lucky.

But on Akizuki Makoto's side, it was the complete opposite; almost everyone wanted to take a photo with him!

(End of this chapter)