Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 103 An Unrequited and Heavy Love

Afterwards, Shiina Maki cried her heart out, pouring out all the grievances in her heart, including some...

Extreme thoughts that are characterized by low self-esteem and a morbid, distorted mindset.

For example, she felt sad because there were too many girls around Akizuki Makoto, and then she thought that no matter how hard she tried, she could never compare to those girls.

Then there's the idea that she wants Akizuki Makoto to belong only to her, and that she will also belong only to Akizuki Makoto, and that she would do anything for him.

Akizuki felt embarrassed and didn't know how to answer.

No normal person could respond to such heavy emotions, let alone the fact that he doesn't even like Shiina Maki at this stage.

Do not……

To be precise, he is still a normal person, so he dares not and is unable to respond to such a heavy love.

Although Shiina Maki is indeed much better than Himeyasuki and Shiraishi Rin, her personality is also very heavy. She often says things like "I love you to death" or "forever," which makes people feel heavy and like a black hole.

"Waaaa, Akizuki-kun, I'm so sad."

"Why are there always so many cheaters around you, and they're all so...so...outstanding..."

"This means...no matter how hard I try...it's all in vain..."

Shiina Maki kept repeating her resentment towards the philanderer, especially towards Hime Yuki, in front of whom she felt so inferior that she could hardly lift her head.

Although Akizuki Makoto had a very bad attitude towards Hime Yuki, finding her annoying and clingy, he couldn't really ignore her or cut off all contact with her.

In this way, over time, it's hard to guarantee that no unexpected things might happen.

After all, Ji Yexue is so outstanding and has such a good background. In the eyes of outsiders, she is undoubtedly the most suitable match for Qiuyue Cheng.

……

After crying for an unknown amount of time, Maki Shiina finally calmed down, slowly stopped sobbing, and her body stopped trembling.

She left Akizuki Makoto's embrace and then saw that his clothes were soaked with her tears, leaving a dark stain.

"I'm so sorry, Akizuki-kun..."

She lowered her head in embarrassment, not only apologizing for her behavior but also for the words she had said.

I got carried away with my emotions and blurted out all the dark thoughts I'd been holding in. That must have scared Akizuki Makoto, right?

She began to regret saying those unnecessary things; it had lowered her favorability rating.

"It's okay, I'll just change my clothes. I'll have to wash them anyway."

Qiuyue smiled indifferently and then asked, "Do you want more water? You've been crying for so long, your throat must be very dry. Drink some more water."

"Um……"

Shiina Maki responded softly. Watching Akizuki Makoto get up and go to the refrigerator to get barley tea, she couldn't help but say, "Um... Akizuki-kun, I'm sorry for what I just said. I apologize for saying so many strange things without thinking. Did I scare you?"

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Akizuki Makoto turned his head and replied with a smile, "It's alright. When emotions run high, thoughts can become extreme. I understand."

"Eh……"

Shiina Maki blinked, somewhat surprised that Akizuki Makoto could understand.

Could it be that……

"That wasn't Shiina's original intention, was it? She just got emotional and said things in an extreme way, which I can understand."

"Yes, yes..."

Shiina Maki was somewhat confused, feeling that Akizuki Makoto didn't seem to understand her intentions, but rather had misinterpreted them.

"Shiina-kun, you are a very kind and gentle person. Those thoughts probably weren't your true intention, otherwise you wouldn't have apologized to me."

At this point, Akizuki Makoto had already taken out barley tea and filled Shiina Maki's cup, then said, "So, you don't need to worry about it. I can understand that you were just emotional... right?"

While giving Shiina Maki a way out, he also gave himself a way out.

That way, he should be able to get away with it and avoid making either of them feel embarrassed by those extremely extreme words.

"..."

Shiina Maki lowered her head, looking at the brown liquid in the glass. After a moment of silence, she gently shook her head and said, "No... that wasn't just an emotional outburst, but my true feelings."

Unexpectedly, Shiina Maki refuted Akizuki Makoto's words, leaving him stunned.

"Sorry, Akizuki-kun, did I scare you? Do you think I'm... scary?"

Shiina Maki laughed self-deprecatingly and said in a low voice, "But this is my truest thought. I don't want to deceive Akizuki-kun, and I can't deceive Akizuki-kun anymore."

"..."

Faced with Shiina Maki's sudden self-disclosure, Akizuki Makoto was stunned and really didn't know how to respond to her.

Shiina Maki didn't say anything more, keeping her head down so that no one could see her expression.

At this moment, she was already prepared to be disliked by Akizuki Makoto.

Let alone falling in love with her or dating her, a normal person probably wouldn't be friends with such a gloomy and somber woman, right?

If you're liked by this kind of person, you're set for life; they'll probably keep bothering you until the day you die.

After a long pause, Akizuki Makoto sighed softly, "I also have to apologize to you, Shiina-kun, for not being able to reciprocate your feelings."

"Hmm, it's okay." Shiina Maki shook her head gently, forcing a smile. How could she dare to expect Akizuki Makoto to respond to her?

She was already grateful that no one disliked or feared her.

"If you don't mind, like I said before, I'll help you."

Makoto Akizuki stopped dwelling on the topic of Shiina Maki's true feelings and chose to forcefully move on.

"Whether it's the cake shop or family matters, I'll help you solve them, whenever you need me."

Regardless, Akizuki's desire to help Shiina Maki will not change, because it has nothing to do with other factors.

How could he possibly stand idly by when Shiina Maki was crying so bitterly in front of him?
Recalling all the moments he spent with Shiina Maki, he couldn't bear to see such a gentle and kind girl being destroyed by malice.

...Actually, he wasn't incapable of accepting Shiina Maki's heavy emotions; he just hadn't realized it yet.

This can be seen from the fact that he never said a single harsh word to Shiina Maki.

If Ji Yexue said something like that to him, he wouldn't even consider giving each other a way out; he would just retort with "Don't act crazy here."

……

After changing into clean clothes, Akizuki Makoto took Shiina Maki from home and headed to the "Hoshimi" cake shop.

First of all, we definitely need to confront the store manager. We can't just let Shiina Maki suffer injustice without doing anything.

At the very least, we should get her wages back and make the store manager apologize to Shiina Maki.

Only then did they consider how to separate Shiina Maki from her family.

Regarding this matter, Akizuki Makoto actually had a solution that would solve the problem once and for all without any effort, but he didn't want to use it.

He wants to use legitimate means to get Shiina Maki out of that family.

Soon, the two arrived at the "Hoshimi" cake shop. At this point, Shiina Maki couldn't help but feel nervous, still feeling lingering fear of the fierce and intimidating shop manager.

Without realizing it, she shrank behind Akizuki Makoto and tugged at the hem of his clothes.

Perhaps sensing Shiina Maki's unease, Akizuki Makoto stopped and took her hand, holding it tightly!
"It's okay, don't be afraid, I'm here."

"……Um!"

Shiina Maki felt the warmth of her hands being enveloped, nodded emphatically, and all her unease vanished in an instant.

So the two walked into the store hand in hand, but the middle-aged man was nowhere to be seen; only the middle-aged woman was at the front desk.

According to Shiina Maki, they are a married couple who run the business together.

Normally, middle-aged men bake bread in the kitchen, while women work at the front desk handling cashier duties, packing, and customer service.

The middle-aged woman, busy at the front desk handling cashier duties, didn't notice the two of them enter; she was still busy serving customers.

Seeing this, Akizuki Makoto walked straight to the front desk and shouted at the middle-aged woman, "Where is the manager of this store? Call him out!"

Since they're here to stand up for Shiina Maki, there's no need to be polite to them, or they'll think he's easy to talk to and can be bullied at will.

"you……"

Faced with Akizuki Makoto's aggressive questioning, the middle-aged woman paused for a moment before noticing Shiina Maki behind him.

At that moment, she suddenly understood something, and asked coldly, "What are you trying to do? Don't interfere with our business! We can talk about it during our break time."

"Quickly call the store manager out."

Qiu Yuecheng sneered and said in a cold voice, "You had better give me an explanation today, or I'll call the police."

Upon hearing that the police had been called, customers who had come to buy cakes in the store started discussing among themselves, wondering if there was something wrong with the cakes sold there.

"What are you doing!"

The middle-aged man in the kitchen seemed to have heard the argument outside, and immediately came out of the kitchen and went to the front desk.

Upon seeing Akizuki Makoto and Shiina Maki, he was visibly taken aback, then his face darkened and he said in a harsh tone, "You brat, you just said you'd call the police? Call what police? You're interfering with our business, that's why we're calling the police!"

"Ah."

Akizuki Makoto scoffed and went straight to the point, listing the accusations: "Not only did you not sign labor contracts with your employees, but you also exploited them wantonly. Isn't it right for me to call the police?"

"You—"

The middle-aged man was furious and was about to retort when Akizuki Makoto looked at the customers in the shop and shouted, "Let everyone judge this! You hired a young girl to work, knowing full well that she doesn't know how to make cakes, yet you arbitrarily deducted her wages under the pretext of wasting materials. She hasn't even earned her wages yet, and she already owes you tens of thousands of yen for wasted materials."

"That's fine, but they've learned how to make pastries, and they're quite good at it, and they taste pretty good too, and you're only paying them 800 yen an hour?"

"I thought you were heartless enough, but I didn't expect you to make someone make more than a dozen kinds of pastries in the kitchen by themselves, and then make them clean up for you for two hours after get off work without pay. Aren't you just bullying honest people?"

The customers who came to buy cakes were mostly housewives living nearby, thinking of buying cakes to take home for their children.

When they heard that the store manager was so unscrupulous and unreasonable in hiring employees, they were moved and began to criticize the middle-aged couple at the front desk.

In an instant, the scene descended into chaos. The overwhelming barrage of curses and accusations turned the middle-aged couple at the front desk pale and their faces paled.

The middle-aged man who was the store manager seemed to be blinded by anger, his face turning from pale to flushed.

"Shut up, you nosy brat!!!"

He roared and yelled, grabbed a rolling pin and rushed out from behind the counter, swinging it fiercely at Akizuki Makoto.

(End of this chapter)