Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 184 Fireworks Display
Another week and a half has passed since then.

In the blink of an eye, summer vacation is coming to an end, and we've arrived at the last day of August.

During this time, Akizuki Makoto never gave up trying to contact Himeyasu, but he never received a reply, and he didn’t dare to go to the port area to find Himeyasu.

However, he did contact Mrs. Ji Ye. He was worried about Ji Yexue's current situation and sent her a message on a whim.

They had added each other on Line a long time ago, but they didn't contact each other often. After all, they were elders and juniors, and there wasn't much to talk about.

Mrs. Hime conveyed to him that Hime Yuki was doing well, and then expressed her regret that she and Akizuki Makoto were ultimately unable to become a family.

She didn't scold or blame Akizuki Makoto; her reaction was very calm.

Feeling deeply ashamed, Akizuki Makoto dared not bother Mrs. Himeya any further.

Mrs. Ji Ye had always supported and worried about him and Ji Yexue, yet he had done such an outrageous thing to her precious daughter. How could he not feel ashamed?
He did hope that Mrs. Hime would blame him, but such a thought was also selfish, because wasn't it just that he simply wanted to make himself feel better?

Over the past week and a half, his relationship with Maki Shiina has progressed steadily.

Shiina's mother has been discharged from the hospital, and Shiina Maki has returned to her original home to live with her mother.

Every now and then, Shiina Maki would come to visit him. They would go shopping together, go on dates, and then continue rehearsing with Niijima Rie and Shiraishi Rin.

But every time he saw that the drummer's position was empty during rehearsals, he felt extremely uncomfortable.

But he knew he had no right to be sad, because wasn't it all his fault?

If he hadn't been so greedy and selfish, and hadn't broken ties with Ji Yexue, wouldn't they all have been able to get together and perform together?

"...I really miss those days of living together."

Qiu Yuecheng murmured to himself, looking out at the clear blue sky, his heart sinking into sadness once again.

Today is the last day of summer vacation. Tonight, he will go to see the fireworks festival with Shiina Maki, along with Fuyuko, Niijima Rie, and Shiraishi Rin.

Ji Yexue has completely faded out of their social circle, and no one has ever been able to contact her.

Ultimately, only Akizuki Makoto had a good relationship with Hime Yuki; in her eyes, everyone else was probably just a classmate.

And classmates like them are just passersby in life.

……

at dusk.

After putting on his yukata, Akizuki Makoto took the hand of Fuyuko, who was also wearing a yukata and wooden clogs, and went out to meet at the agreed-upon place.

The place to watch the fireworks is Meiji Shrine, where a grand fireworks show is held, along with a temple fair street with thousands of vendors.

"Touko, this yukata you're wearing is so cute, it suits you perfectly."

Akizuki Makoto looked at Fuyuko beside him, who was wearing a cherry blossom pink yukata with cherry blossom petals on it, and smiled.

They bought their yukatas together. They happened to be out shopping and having desserts together that day, and then they suddenly remembered that there would be a fireworks festival in a few days, so they bought them.

Unlike kimonos, yukatas are cheaper. Even a high-quality yukata only costs around tens of thousands of yen, which is no problem for Akizuki Makoto at the moment.

Recently, he has had the idea of ​​returning to writing novels. On the one hand, he feels that he should make plans for the future and earn more money. After all, in Tokyo, a decent house is usually worth hundreds of millions of yen.

On the other hand, it was also because he was too idle and wanted to express his emotions and pass the time through writing.

Now, whenever he calms down, he can't help but overthink, and his mood becomes terrible and heavy.

He had already mentioned his desire to work on a new project to Reika Komatsu, and she was very enthusiastic, saying that if it was confirmed, he should definitely contact Shinchosha for a detailed discussion.

"A new work..."

Akizuki Makoto pondered in his heart that he had ideas for his new work, but it would still be plagiarism.

The targets of the plagiarism shifted from contemporary literary writers who criticized reality to the renowned novelist Keigo Higashino.

And the work he decided to plagiarize was...

"Journey Under the Midnight Sun"!
The novel is about 350,000 words long, and the reason he decided to plagiarize it was because Ji Yexue once said that she wanted to be his "accomplice".

He once refused to comply even at the cost of his life, unwilling to violate moral ethics and bottom lines, but ultimately committed a serious crime because of greed. How ironic.

Although "Journey Under the Midnight Sun" is quite long and he couldn't say he copied it word for word, he clearly remembered the plot development and many details.

Furthermore, he also has the advanced skills that the system provides for him to choose from, which gives him confidence that he can write well.

He was confident he could finish 350,000 words within a month.

He abandoned the handwritten manuscript and decided to type it directly on the computer this time for the sake of speed.

As for why he was in such a hurry, it was because he held onto a sliver of hope.

He hoped that his new work, which marked his comeback, would be seen by Ji Yexue, so that he could convey something to her.

Although this may seem a bit presumptuous, even if Ji Yexue saw it, so what?

Can he still win over Ji Yexue with a novel?

Obviously, that's impossible, so it's just wishful thinking on his part.

But it was precisely because this was wishful thinking that he was so motivated that he decided to write it within a month and then have Shinchosha prepare for promotion and sales within half a month.

Only when you lose something do you know how it feels. Akizuki Makoto recently experienced this deeply, feeling the impending loss of someone important to him.

It's like there's a piece missing from my heart, and I feel incredibly depressed.

Every night as he fell asleep, he would have random thoughts, reminiscing about every little thing he did with Ji Yexue.

Especially when they were still unfamiliar with each other, they tacitly went about their own business in the student council room during lunch break.

Such ordinary daily life, which would have seemed commonplace and easily attainable in the past, now appears incredibly precious.

This reminded him of a saying, "It is nothing like the carefree days of youth."

……

When the Akizuki siblings arrived at Meiji Shrine, everyone else was already there.

The three Shiina members traveled together, and they had gathered together as early as the afternoon.

"Cheng, Cheng Jun!"

Shiina Maki, who had been looking around as if searching for something, waved excitedly and ran to greet Akizuki Makoto and Fuyuko as they walked hand in hand.

Today, she was also wearing a yukata, a light blue striped one, which looked very virtuous and beautiful, and suited her perfectly.

She pinned her black hair back with a hairpin, revealing her snow-white nape. Her bangs were also carefully styled, showcasing her beautiful face, which had been hidden beneath the disguise.

"You took off your glasses, are you okay?"

Makoto Akizuki noticed that Maki Shiina was no longer wearing her thick black-rimmed glasses, which surprised him.

Those black-rimmed glasses seem to have a pretty high prescription; it's a wonder Shiina Maki could recognize him even without wearing glasses.

"Hehe, I was wearing contact lenses. Rie-chan said glasses don't look good on me."

Shiina Maki smiled shyly and asked nervously, "W-Will it look weird? I can wear it back." "No, it's fine this way, it's cute."

Akizuki Makoto shook his head and smiled, "The yukata suits me very well; I almost don't recognize myself at all."

"Cheng Jun is the one, very handsome..."

Shiina Maki whispered, her fair cheeks slightly flushed, and even her small ears turned pink.

Whenever she was praised by Akizuki Makoto, it always made her overjoyed.

Afterwards, Shiraishi Rin and Niijima Rie also came up, greeted each other one by one, and entered Meiji Shrine together to start strolling through the temple fair.

The group consisted of four men and one woman, all of whom were strikingly good-looking, attracting the attention of many passersby who whispered among themselves.

In particular, Shiina Maki and Fuyuko were holding onto Akizuki Makoto's hands on either side, clinging tightly to him, making passersby think it was some kind of real-life harem.

Needless to say, Shiina Maki, as his girlfriend, naturally walks hand in hand with Akizuki Makoto.

Dongzi is an important younger sister. There are many people at the temple fair, and if she doesn't hold on tight, she might get lost.

He was very worried about his adorable younger sister. If she got lost and was found by someone, they might not return her.

"I never thought that Akizuki-senpai would actually date Maki-chan."

Rie Niijima and Rin Shiraishi walked behind. Looking at Makoto Akizuki, who was surrounded by women on either side, she remarked, "I originally thought that Akizuki-senpai agreed to date Maki-chan out of pity, but now it seems that he really wants to date her."

It's no wonder she thinks that way; anyone who knows the inside story can see that Akizuki Makoto truly loves Hime Yexue.

Moreover, just a week before announcing her relationship with Makoto Akizuki, Shiina Maki was crying and saying that she had been dumped by him, but then they suddenly started dating a week later.

It's hard not to imagine that Akizuki Makoto acted out of pity.

In fact, that is indeed the case. However, it cannot be said that Makoto Akizuki has absolutely no feelings for Maki Shiina, only very few. Therefore, he can pretend very well and present himself as the perfect boyfriend.

Even when he was with Shiina Maki, he would occasionally think of Himeyasu.

"Then... what about President Himeya?"

Shiraishi Rin spoke softly, somewhat hesitantly, "President Himeya must be very angry, right? What exactly is Akizuki-kun thinking?"

"who knows."

Rie Niijima shrugged. They had pressed Maki Shiina about how Makoto Akizuki was going to deal with Himeyasu, but Maki Shiina had been evasive and avoided answering.

Shiina Maki couldn't possibly reveal Akizuki Makoto's thoughts; she didn't want him to be seen as a terrible scumbag.

Although Makoto Akizuki didn't care and was willing to take responsibility for his actions, Maki Shiina wanted to protect him.

"Akizuki-kun..."

Shiraishi Rin gazed at the figure with women on either side of him, muttering to himself, his expression a mixture of disappointment and complexity.

Rie Niijima, who was standing next to her, noticed the change in her expression and couldn't help but sigh, feeling quite helpless.

My senior is truly a man of grave sins.

He's practically a walking, talking succubus; wherever he goes, women fall for him.

However, this is understandable. After all, Akizuki Makoto is excellent in every way, and he is also very mature and reliable. What girl wouldn't like a man like that?

Fortunately, she was indifferent to men, otherwise she would have fallen for her senior colleague.

"Rin-chan, if you're sad, I can comfort you, okay?"

Rie Niijima suddenly hugged Rin Shiraishi and said with a grin, "Leave everything to me, I guarantee I'll make you forget the sadness of your breakup."

"No, no need, and besides, I haven't broken up with anyone..."

Shiraishi Rin stammered in her defense, her eyes filled with guilt, offering no convincing explanation whatsoever.

"Rin-chan is so cute! I really envy Akizuki-senpai. I want to be a man in my next life too!"

"Rie-chan, what's with this sudden talk...?"

"Hehe, pretending to be stupid won't work. Rin-chan, you're so easy to understand."

Afterwards, Rie Niijima also teased Rin Shiraishi to her heart's content.

Seeing Shiraishi Rin blush and her heart race when she was told the truth, she sensed that Shiraishi Rin had ulterior motives.

Although it's a pity that my good friend fell in love with the same person, thankfully Shiraishi Rin was able to turn back and didn't fall as deeply as Shiina Maki.

She would be in real trouble if her two friends got into a physical fight because of a relationship dispute.

"...How could I possibly like Akizuki-kun?"

Rin Shiraishi watched as Makoto Akizuki walked ahead, chatting happily with Maki Shiina, and muttered to himself.

She didn't like him, she just cared a little, after all, he was her savior.

She had always wanted to repay Qiuyue Cheng's kindness, but unfortunately, he didn't give her that opportunity at all, deliberately distancing himself from her and avoiding any connection with her.

This made her feel very uncomfortable, even though she didn't ask for anything, she just wanted to repay the favor.

But Akizuki Makoto didn't think so. He knew that people's desires could be aroused.

Just like Shiina Maki at the beginning, her desires kept growing until they became uncontrollable.

The reason for this was that as Akizuki Makoto's relationship with her deepened, he repeatedly mistakenly believed that they were just friends and that it was nothing serious.

The result...

And that's how it turned out.

Akizuki Makoto would rather be deluding himself than repeat the same mistake.

Accepting Shiraishi Rin's gratitude is undoubtedly opening Pandora's box.

"...?"

Seemingly noticing the gaze fixed on him from behind, tinged with a hint of resentment, Akizuki Makoto turned around and looked at Shiraishi Rin.

At that moment, Shiraishi Rin immediately lowered his head, avoiding Akizuki Makoto's gaze and not daring to meet his eyes.

"What's wrong? What are you looking at?"

Shiina Maki also turned around and asked a question.

"It's nothing, just checking if those two are lost."

"Cheng-kun is so gentle."

"...No, that's not true. Where were we?"

Akizuki Makoto withdrew his gaze. Although he had noticed that the gaze that had been fixed on him just now came from Shiraishi Rin, he didn't think much of it.

After all, he was in the lead, so it was normal for him to be watched. And now that things have come to this, even if Shiraishi Rin had any ideas, he would still consider Shiina Maki.

(End of this chapter)