Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 20 Are we being a little too ambiguous?
"Please come in."

Makoto Akizuki pushed open the door and stood in the entryway, beckoning to Maki Shiina, who was timidly following behind him, to come inside.

"I'm so sorry to have bothered you with this call..."

Shiina Maki, with her head tucked in and her body hunched over like a thief, greeted him respectfully before tiptoeing into the entrance hall.

Since he lived alone and no one usually came to his house, Akizuki Makoto didn't have any extra slippers for Shiina Maki to change into, so he didn't ask her to take off her shoes.

However, Maki Shiina refused, insisting that she had to take her clothes off so as not to dirty the house.

So she took off her shoes and socks and went barefoot into the living room, saying that she would help clean the house before she left.

"...Was it really necessary to go to such lengths? Oh well, let her be happy."

Makoto Akizuki watched as Shiina Maki entered the living room like a thief, then stood there blankly as if she were being forcibly restrained, not daring to sit down. His lips twitched slightly.

He closed the door, took out the groceries he had bought from the supermarket on his way there for dinner, and put the rest in the refrigerator to use tomorrow.

"Please sit down for a while, I'll go make dinner."

"I...I'll help you!"

Shiina Maki immediately raised her little hand and said, "I can cook, let me help Akizuki-kun! I can chop and wash vegetables!"

"Hmm... okay, let's do it together then."

After pondering for a moment, Akizuki Makoto smiled and agreed, then led Shiina Maki into the kitchen.

Fortunately, the kitchen is spacious enough for two people to stand comfortably.

"What are you planning to do, Akizuki-kun?"

"I'm planning to cook some Chinese dishes. I recently saw some on Instagram and they looked pretty good."

Akizuki Makoto casually responded, took out the ingredients, and told Shiina Maki how to help him prepare them.

For example, if he wants to make cola chicken wings, fish-flavored eggplant, and stir-fried greens today, then he needs to make cuts on the chicken wings and marinate them with a little salt.

Eggplants are peeled and cut into strips about two fingers long and wide. After being fried, they shrink and become very small.

Following his instructions, Shiina Maki diligently helped prepare the ingredients with great skill.

She has been diligently studying cooking since junior high school, so she is naturally very skilled at it now.

The two did not exchange words while cooking. Mainly because Akizuki Makoto saw how serious Shiina Maki was, he put aside the things he originally wanted to say to her and planned to talk about them when they ate.

After preparing all the ingredients, Shiina Maki stood aside watching Akizuki Makoto cook, and couldn't help but clap her hands, exclaiming, "Akizuki-kun is amazing! He can even cook. He seems to be able to do anything!"

"No, that's not true. I started learning to cook a long time ago, just like you."

Akizuki Makoto responded with a smile, and their conversation naturally shifted to this kind of casual chat.

"Um... I think Akizuki-kun isn't from Tokyo. He transferred to Myo-sei, right?"

"Yes, my hometown is on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea, adjacent to Takamatsu City."

"Wow, that's amazing! Going to Tokyo to study all by yourself. I definitely wouldn't dare to do that."

Upon hearing this, Akizuki Makoto smiled but did not reply.

You can't exactly say that Ming Sheng High School offered him too much and he couldn't refuse, can you?

During his silence, Shiina Maki began to have wild fantasies.

She wondered if her relationship with Akizuki Makoto was too ambiguous.

He helped her again, bought her, told her he'd been secretly watching her, and then that kind of thing happened on the tram. Now she's learned about his family situation...

If things continue like this, won't something extraordinary happen between them tonight?!
After all, she was bought.

Even if Akizuki Makoto did something to her, such as asking her to serve him, it would be perfectly reasonable.

Of course, she would be willing even if it wasn't bought, and it was precisely because it was Akizuki Makoto that she would be willing.

Although she is timid by nature, she is resolute in her refusal to back down on matters that cross her bottom line.

"Well……"

Recalling what happened on the train, Shiina Maki felt a tingling sensation throughout her body, her eyes welled up with tears, and she unconsciously tightened her legs together.

She can still vividly recall the feeling of being pressed against the window by Akizuki Makoto, their bodies pressed tightly together.

The stiffness she felt, especially, brought her excitement to its peak. "...It's done."

"Huh? Ah!"

Just as Shiina Maki was writhing and secretly aroused, she suddenly heard Akizuki Makoto's voice in her ear, and immediately came back to her senses.

It turned out that while she was engrossed in her fantasy, more than ten minutes had passed without her realizing it!

Before this, Akizuki Makoto, who wanted to talk to her, immediately fell silent when he saw her fidgeting and her cheeks flushing unnaturally. He didn't dare to make a sound.

He was afraid that if he made a sound, Shiina Maki would lose control and blurt out the word "time stop" like she did the morning before yesterday.

Akizuki Makoto placed the bright red chicken wings on a plate and handed it to her, saying, "These are cola chicken wings, want to try some?"

"Okay, okay!"

Shiina Maki quickly took it, then picked up her chopsticks, took a piece, and took a bite.

The slightly sweet flavor, combined with the golden-brown fried chicken wings, made her eyes light up, and she exclaimed in admiration.

"Delicious! Akizuki-kun is amazing, he can make such delicious food!"

"As long as it suits your taste."

Qiu Yuecheng smiled slightly, cleaned the pot, poured in oil, and began frying the eggplant to make fish-fragrant eggplant.

It's a pity we didn't have a clay pot. If we had cooked the fish-fragrant eggplant in a clay pot, the flavor would have been elevated to another level.

Afterwards, he quickly prepared the dish, washed his hands with Shiina Maki, sat down at the table, and began to enjoy dinner.

"Shiina-san."

During the meal, Akizuki Makoto watched Shiina Maki enjoying her food and thought it was time, so he called out to her.

"Ok?"

Hearing Akizuki Makoto call her, Shiina Maki quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, straightened her posture, and asked, "W-what's wrong?"

"It's okay, relax, it's just some casual conversation."

Akizuki Makoto chuckled lightly, offered a reassuring remark, and then continued, "I just wanted to ask you what your plans are for the future... um, I mean, your family."

"This, this..."

Shiina Maki immediately became embarrassed, her eyes darting around, and her words becoming hesitant.

She understood what Akizuki Makoto meant; he simply wanted her to escape her family of origin so she wouldn't continue to be abused by her mother.

But how can we so easily come up with a solution to this problem?

Leaving aside whether her mother would agree, even if she did break away, where would she go?

She felt really bad about bothering Akizuki Makoto again, even if he didn't find it troublesome.

"This can't go on, can it? Look at all those injuries you have..."

Qiu Yuecheng sighed halfway through his sentence and said, "To put it bluntly, sooner or later, your mother will beat you so badly that she might even beat you to death."

His words were not malicious speculation, but a real possibility.

Shiina Maki's body was covered in shocking bruises and wounds. Anyone who saw it would not be able to help but frown and feel the cruelty of the perpetrator.

"but I……"

Just as Shiina Maki hesitated, Akizuki Makoto spoke up at the right moment: "It's okay. Your mind is still a bit confused, isn't it? Think it over carefully. There's no need to rush to answer and make a decision."

"……Um."

Shiina Maki pursed her lips and nodded gently, indicating that she would consider it carefully and give him a proper answer.

She had never thought about these things before, because she didn't care if her mother beat her to death, since she had no hope for the future and was just barely surviving.

But things are different now. She has hope to survive and dreams for the future.

She wanted to continue seeing Akizuki Makoto, to see his gentle smile, even if they were just friends or classmates.

As long as she could see Akizuki Makoto and stay by his side, she was already very happy.

From now on, the update time will be changed to two updates every day at noon.
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(End of this chapter)