Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 156 The Bewildered Akizuki Makoto
"Ha ha……"

"Go to hell...go to hell...all of you, go to hell..."

"If I die, then she shouldn't live either; let's die together..."

Shiraishi Rin kept muttering to herself, her face, which should have been beautiful and lovely, becoming twisted and terrifying because of the hatred in her heart.

She stared at the clone standing next to Akizuki Makoto with resentment, wishing she could strangle him to death!
It took away her vitality and her health, which is equivalent to taking everything away from her.

Moreover, she lives such a happy life every day that even sadness has become a precious luxury for her.

She no longer felt sadness, only the fear of death and the deepest, most vicious hatred for her clones.

“Akizuki-kun, you don’t need to worry about us.”

The clone, Shiraishi Rin, looked at the original body in this state, leaned closer to Akizuki Makoto, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Now, you can still regret it. Don't be stubborn."

"I don't care, either Shiina or President Himeya will take care of it, it's the same."

Akizuki Makoto sighed softly. Compared to the two of them, he seemed to be more capable and more likely to resolve the unusual situation that had occurred to Shiraishi Rin.

"What are you two whispering about? Don't ignore me!"

Upon noticing the two whispering so closely, Shiraishi Rin, in her true form, immediately screamed, "Hurry up and help me! Don't ignore me! Come save me!"

Akizuki Makoto glanced at Shiraishi Rin, who was acting like a madwoman and rambling incoherently, and whispered to the clone beside him, "She seems to have gone mad."

"Ah."

The clone of Shiraishi Rin, standing next to Akizuki Makoto, nodded with a complicated expression, her heart filled with repression and sadness.

She knew perfectly well why her original form had become like this.

She deprived the original body of its vitality, making it increasingly weak.

Originally, the body itself was in poor condition, making it even more sensitive to changes in its own state.

Anyone who feels they are constantly heading towards death will inevitably be on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Let's leave it at that for today. I'll think of something, but I can't guarantee when I'll come up with a solution."

After speaking to Shiraishi Rin, who was lying on the bed, Akizuki Makoto ignored her frantic screams and turned to leave the main room.

The clone Shiraishi Rin followed him and left with him, leaving the original alone in the dim, empty, and desolate main room, going mad.

"Sorry, it's all my fault."

After leaving the main room, the clone apologized to Akizuki Makoto with deep remorse.

“If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have become like this.”

"This isn't your fault; you're a victim too."

Akizuki Makoto sighed softly. Whether it was the original or the clone, the situation they faced was cruel.

The entity can feel its life force constantly draining away every day, getting closer and closer to death, with the deadline likely to be the end of this summer vacation.

The clones also undergo a weekly death and rebirth cycle.

In other words, after eight more weeks of birth and death, both Shiraishi Rin will die completely.

The thought of such a cruel future weighed heavily on Akizuki Makoto's mind.

He didn't care at all about whether Shiraishi Rin was alive or dead, after all, she had used her superpowers to mess with him before.

However, the clone Shiraishi Rin is someone connected to them, and he has a fairly good feeling about the clone Shiraishi Rin.

If possible, he wanted to try to solve it, since there would be no loss or cost if he failed.

I'd rather make a mistake than do nothing.

"Akizuki-kun, do you really have a way?"

Shiraishi Rin looked uneasily at Akizuki Makoto's profile, her fear causing her to instinctively clutch at his clothes.

Like a drowning person grasping at a straw, she instinctively wanted to rely on Akizuki Makoto.

No one can remain calm in the face of death; those who say they are not afraid of death simply have no real sense of what death is.

If you told them they would die in a week, they would definitely panic.

"To be honest, I'm not sure either."

Akizuki Makoto sighed softly and then said, "But I will try my best to find a solution and I will definitely not sit idly by."

He could clearly feel that Shiraishi Rin's hand, which was clutching the hem of his clothes, was trembling slightly, indicating the fear in her heart.

"……Um."

Shiraishi Rin nodded, his uneasy expression softening somewhat.

For some reason, although Akizuki Makoto didn't guarantee he could solve it, she felt relieved.

It's as if Akizuki Makoto possesses a quality that makes people feel easily trusting and dependent on him.

After leaving the apartment, Makoto Akizuki parted ways with Rin Shiraishi downstairs, politely declining Rieko Shimada's offer to take him home.

Right now, he's still feeling quite unsettled and wants to take a walk alone to calm himself down.

Unfortunately, it seems that some people don't want to give him a chance to sort out his feelings.

Just a few minutes after Akizuki Makoto walked along the old bookstore street in Jimbocho, a very familiar black sedan drove up from the side of the street.

As she approached him, the car window rolled down, revealing a stunningly beautiful, aloof face—none other than Ji Yexue!
"Why don't you tell me what's wrong, or come to me?"

Ji Yexue seemed very unhappy, and even her tone of voice was cold.

Since she had people monitoring Shiraishi Rin, she naturally knew that Akizuki Makoto came to Jimbocho to find Shiraishi Rin, and then went up with Shiraishi Rin.

The person who came to monitor Shiraishi Rin also knew Akizuki Makoto, so he immediately reported to her.

"Didn't this just end?"

Qiu Yuecheng gave a wry smile, thinking to himself that Ji Yexue was indeed a woman of action, having approached him so quickly.

"boarding."

After saying that, Ji Yexue told the driver to stop the car and rolled up the windows to block the view from the outside.

Qiu Yuecheng obediently got into the car without asking Ji Yexue where she was going.

In the car, he briefly told Ji Yexue about what had happened to Shiraishi Rin.

There was nothing to hide, and he didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble by hiding it.

If he doesn't tell Ji Yexue anything, she will definitely feel resentful.

After all, Ji Yexue knew that he and Shiraishi Rin had entered that apartment together.

"……Yeah."

After listening, Ji Yexue nodded thoughtfully, but she didn't feel anything in her heart.

Because Shiraishi Rin and she didn't have much interaction, their relationship was just so-so.

To her, Shiraishi Rin was just a nobody. Who would care about the life or death of a nobody, or feel sad about the tragic fate of a nobody?

"The problem now is, what can be done to resolve this abnormal phenomenon among them?"

"There's no other way, just give up."

Ji Yexue shook her head and said, "Even if you think I'm cold-blooded, I still have to say this: their problems are not something you can solve, nor do you need to solve them."

Akizuki Makoto and Shiraishi Rin didn't get along well either. Even though they were clones, they didn't have much of a relationship and had only known each other for a week.

Moreover, the one I'd known for a week died, and now there's a new clone. "That's true, but I also have my own reasons for helping them."

Qiu Yuecheng was unwilling to give up, and he wanted to do his part, whether for the sake of the clone or for the system mission.

"Heh, aren't you afraid of getting too deeply involved and unable to extricate yourself?"

Ji Yexue sneered, her tone icy: "Do you think this is meaningful? Will Baishi thank you?"

"What will you gain by helping that entity resolve her troubles?"

"Do you want to help her, or the cloned Shiraishi Rin?"

"If it's the cloned Shiraishi Rin, then it doesn't matter if you ignore her. She's going to die anyway. Whether you deal with her or not, she'll still die."

"In the end, the only person you can help is that awful Shiraishi Rin, but that's pointless because the person you're trying to help isn't her, and she won't be grateful for your help."

Ji Yexue's words were all profound and insightful, leaving Qiu Yuecheng stunned after hearing them.

Even he thought Ji Yexue's analysis was correct, because the person he wanted to help was indeed a clone, not the original.

If the original owner had informed him of this situation from the beginning, he would never have offered to help.

"...Give it a try. Even if we end up accomplishing nothing, we won't lose anything, right?"

"As you wish."

Seeing that Qiuyue Cheng still refused to give up, Ji Yexue did not continue to persuade him. She simply said a few words and then turned to look out the window.

She understood perfectly well that Akizuki Makoto was that kind of person, and it was impossible for him to give up.

Moreover, she has neither the status nor the right to interfere with any decisions made by Akira Makoto, nor can she meddle in his interpersonal relationships.

Actually, she just didn't want Akizuki Makoto to help Shiraishi Rin.

She also didn't want Akizuki Makoto to be nice to any other man.

She wanted Akizuki Makoto to pay more attention to her affairs, to see her more often, and to open his heart to her.

Recently, she has been very concerned about what exactly happened between Akizuki Makoto and Shimizu Rei that day, which made Akizuki Makoto show such a complicated and indescribable expression when she asked him about it.

But it's clear that Akizuki Makoto would never tell her.

Or rather, Makoto Akizuki would never tell anyone, because even he himself didn't want to recall that day and wanted to forget it.

"……get off."

After a moment of silence, Ji Yexue suddenly spoke up and told Qiu Yuecheng to get out of the car.

"OK, bye."

Akizuki nodded, got out of the car without hesitation, and hailed a taxi on the roadside to go back.

Ji Yexue watched him leave without any hesitation, feeling frustrated and wanting to punch Qiu Yuecheng twice.

……

After getting home by car, it was already 7:30 p.m.

When Akizuki Makoto opened the door, he saw a sumptuous meal laid out on the living room table.

Fuyuko and Shiina Maki were sitting at the table. When they saw him return, Fuyuko immediately got up, ran over, and jumped into his arms.

"Brother, welcome back~"

"I am back."

Akizuki nodded in agreement, then placed his hand on Touko's head and patted it before asking, "Did you come all this way to wait for me to come back? Why don't you eat first?"

"Hehe, I feel like my brother will be back soon. It was just finished a few minutes ago."

Dongzi smiled sweetly, took Qiuyue Cheng's hand, and sat down at the dining table.

"Touko helped with it too, and Maki-nee taught me how to do it."

"so smart?"

Akizuki Makoto was somewhat surprised, but considering it was Fuyuko, it wasn't surprising.

She is naturally skillful and intelligent, so she can definitely learn anything quickly.

Today was no exception. Thanks to her inspiration, he was able to think of going to Jimbocho to find Shiraishi Rin. Otherwise, he might have had to wander around for several more days.

Shiina Maki asked curiously, "Akizuki-kun, where have you been?"

"I've resolved something."

Akizuki Makoto gave a vague response, hesitating whether or not to tell Shiina Maki the truth.

Shiina Maki and Shiraishi Rin are close friends. If she knew the truth, she would definitely be very sad and upset, and then she would overthink things like an idiot.

"Oh……"

Shiina Maki nodded, seemingly not intending to ask any more questions.

Just as Akizuki Makoto relaxed and thought he had gotten away with it, she suddenly asked, "Is it about Shiraishi-chan? Fuyuko said you went to see her."

"..."

Akizuki Makoto glanced at Touko sitting beside him, who looked innocent and bewildered, and was momentarily speechless.

It seems that Dongzi can be a little loose-lipped sometimes.

But this is also his fault; he didn't tell Dongzi what he was going to do.

"Yes, I went to see Shiraishi. There's something I wanted to talk to her about in person."

Makoto Akizuki nodded and readily admitted it, then briefly explained the whole story to Maki Shiina.

Now that things have come to this, there's no point in hiding it anymore, and besides, it's not something that needs to be hidden anyway.

He had originally planned to tell Shiina Maki tomorrow, because if he told her now, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Maki Shiina immediately turned into a teary-eyed puppy.

"Waaaah... Waaah... Shiraishi... Shiraishi-chan..."

Shiina Maki sobbed and mumbled incoherently, clearly too grief-stricken to speak.

She's a very sentimental person, and according to Akizuki Makoto's wishes, Shiraishi Rin from last week had already...

Sure enough, the message that came that Sunday was a farewell to them.

Shiina Maki regretted not realizing it that night, and also regretted not saying goodbye to Shiraishi Rin properly.

"Shiraishi-chan...so pitiful..."

After crying for a while, Shiina Maki felt less upset, so she wiped away her tears and said in a low voice, "Only one week to live, how cruel, how terrifying."

"There's nothing we can do now, we're at a loss."

Akizuki Makoto sighed softly. If he couldn't rely on the system, then he was just an ordinary person.

Ordinary people have absolutely no way to interfere with superpowers.

Furthermore, it's unclear whether the unusual situation that happened to Shiraishi Rin can be considered a superpower.

What kind of superpower is so deformed and twisted?
A healthy individual splits off, but it can only survive for a week, at the cost of consuming the original body's life force. This is just too unreasonable.

The superpowers he knew were all things that only existed in hentai anime.

Hypnosis, invisibility, sensory control, time stop, distortion of common sense...

(End of this chapter)