Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 216 The Culprit Who Created Everything
"……sorry."

Akizuki Makoto lay on the ground by the hot spring, gazing up at the dark, boundless night sky, with Himeyasuki beside him, her hair disheveled.

Her body was covered with many hickeys and fingerprints, all proof of the violence inflicted by Akizuki Makoto.

Of course, Akizuki Makoto was also in bad shape, with many bloody scratches all over his body, especially on his back and shoulders.

"Only now are you thinking of apologizing?"

Ji Yexue raised her eyes, glanced at Qiu Yuecheng, and said weakly while panting, "Since you did it, don't apologize. Be a man."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Akizuki Makoto said in a low voice, "I will take responsibility."

"Responsible?"

Ji Yexue laughed out loud as if she had heard a joke, and retorted, "What will you use to take responsibility? And how will you take responsibility? Do I need you to take responsibility?"

If we make Akizuki Makoto take responsibility, wouldn't that just bring us back to square one?

She never intended to be with Akizuki Makoto, unless he could abandon Shiina Maki and love only her.

But now it's too late. Makoto Akizuki can't abandon Maki Shiina because he's too weak.

He will not stand idly by as long as Shiina Maki is on the verge of collapse.

And she also has her own duty, which is to save the Ji Ye family and prevent it from going to destruction.

"Are you deliberately trying to provoke me? You could have kept it from me, why did you tell me instead?"

Qiu Yuecheng turned his head to look at Ji Yexue, his eyes filled with sorrow, and said, "All for... was to drive me crazy, to make me lose my mind?"

He finally understood why Ji Yexue had been keeping her distance from him; she wanted to provoke him and make him lose his temper.

"You're overthinking it. I didn't mean it that way at all. Don't flatter yourself."

Ji Yexue's expression turned expressionless, and she said coldly, "What good will this do me? Do you think I enjoy being roughly violated by you?"

"No... never mind, let's just leave it at that. I was just being presumptuous."

Akizuki sighed and gave up arguing with Ji Yexue about the issue.

No matter what, Ji Yexue would never admit that she deliberately provoked him and made him lose control for this reason.

Looking at Hime Yuki's profile, Akizuki Makoto said with a serious and earnest expression, "Yuki, please believe me. I have a way to help you. I will prove it to you as soon as we return to Tokyo."

All we need to do is find Dongzi and revise the common knowledge of the two branches of the Ji Ye family so that they will obey Mrs. Ji Ye's words, and all the problems will be solved.

He didn't want to do this, because it was undoubtedly a violation of humanity, and he was using his sister to satisfy his own greed.

He was the one who told Dongzi not to abuse his abilities, yet Dongzi repeatedly broke the rules with violence, which made him lose face and no longer act like an older brother to Dongzi.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Ji Yexue asked in a low voice, "When you said you had a solution, did you mean to ask Dongzi for help?"

Upon hearing this, Akizuki Makoto was stunned, and asked in surprise and disbelief, "How did you know?"

"how could I know?"

Ji Yexue gave a bitter laugh, her tone filled with an extremely complex feeling.

"I also know that we have become like this because of Fuyuko. The person who destroyed our future is not you, but Fuyuko."

Actually, back on the yacht, when Dongzi suddenly appeared and interrupted them, she had a vague sense of unease, feeling that the timing of Dongzi's appearance was too clever.

She knew, she knew how terrible Dongzi was, and she could still recall the fear she felt that day.

On the day that Akizuki Makoto went to watch Shimizu Rei's match and also wanted to reconcile with her, Fuyuko, who was always clinging to him, unusually did not go with him. He even left her behind, even though she wanted to come along.

Furthermore, when she questioned Fuyuko, Fuyuko actually said directly that Shimizu Rei had deceived Akizuki Makoto and that they would not make up!

Looking back now, everything that Fuyuko predicted came true. Shimizu Rei did indeed deceive Akizuki Makoto, and they did not reconcile.

"what?"

Akizuki Makoto seemed not to understand what Ji Yexue was saying. After a second or two of confusion, he suddenly understood something.

If there was a point of divergence, it was on the yacht that night when they were about to confirm their feelings for each other, but were interrupted by Dongzi.

As it turned out, just as Ji Yexue said, it was Dongzi's sudden appearance that interrupted them, preventing them from building a deeper bond.

But he didn't think it was Dongzi's fault, nor did he suspect it was intentional.

Because if he is to suspect Dongzi, then he has to delve into why Dongzi did this and what the point of doing it is.

The process of investigation was extremely painful, and it also meant betrayal.

He didn't want to doubt Dongzi, so even when Dongzi's words and actions seemed strange to him, he didn't delve into them or think about them carefully.

"...This can't be blamed on Dongzi, can it? She has a spoiled personality and can't stand being lonely."

Akizuki Makoto racked his brains, desperately trying to find a reason to excuse Fuyuko for interrupting their actions on the yacht that night, but even he himself was somewhat unsure of himself.

"is it?"

Ji Yexue revealed a complicated expression and laughed self-deprecatingly, "What if I told you that Dongzi even knew that you went to reconcile with your childhood sweetheart, but was forced to do so by superpowers, making reconciliation impossible, yet remained indifferent? What would you think then?"

"..."

At this moment, Akizuki Makoto fell silent. Instead, his expression became dull and empty, and his eyes lost their light, becoming dim and lifeless.

Upon hearing Ji Yexue's words, he instantly recalled the day before he went to reconcile with Shimizu Rei.

He invited Fuyuko to watch Shimizu Rei's match, but Fuyuko refused and instead kept Himeyasuki, who wanted to go with him, from going.

At the time, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but now that he thinks about it, it's really... terrifying when you think about it.

"She told me this herself. Although she didn't tell me what would happen between you and your childhood sweetheart, she did tell me that you were deceived by Shimizu Rei and that you two will not make up."

"Even you didn't know or realize that Shimizu Rei was lying to you, so how would Fuyuko know?"

"Since she knows all this, she must also know what Shimizu Rei will do to you, but she didn't stop her."

Ji Yexue's words made Qiuyue Cheng even more incredulous and terrified.

in case……

Dongzi really knew everything, but she didn't stop him. So what was she thinking?

Why did she suddenly appear on the yacht that night to stop him and Ji Yexue?

He thought of the strange things Dongzi sometimes did, such as how Dongzi always appeared in time when he was confused, in pain, or in need of help.

Especially that time with Shiraishi Rin, when he went to Fuyuko for help, Fuyuko was already prepared. "Now, do you still think that the way things turned out has nothing to do with Fuyuko?"

"But... but... there's no reason for Fuyuko to do this. Why would she do it?"

Akizuki Makoto was completely baffled. He couldn't understand why Touko would hide it from him, or why she would suddenly appear on the yacht that night to stop him and Himeyasu.

"You should ask her about this yourself."

Ji Yexue said softly as she stood up from the ground, and continued, "I'm tired, so I'll go back and rest first. Let's just treat tonight's events as a dream."

After saying that, she put on a bath towel, left the hot spring room, and went into the Japanese-style room.

Akizuki Makoto watched her leave without trying to stop her. His mind was in complete chaos, and he couldn't understand the situation at all.

"Dongzi, why did you hide this from me..."

He looked up at the dark, boundless night sky, muttering to himself, his mind in turmoil.

If it were the old him, upon learning all this, he would have been blinded by rage and immediately called or bought a ticket back to Tokyo to confront Fuyuko.

But now, he had no such thoughts at all; he felt neither anger nor a desire to question.

Of course, he still wanted to ask Dongzi why she knew everything but didn't say a word to him.

If you were to ask him why he wasn't angry or didn't want to question them, the answer would probably be...

He believed in Dongzi.

This trust stemmed from the belief that Dongzi would not harm him and that she was wholeheartedly devoted to him.

He believed that Dongzi had her own reasons for doing this, and that she had unspeakable difficulties.

Therefore, he did not feel angry, but only disbelief and horror after learning everything.

Suddenly, he felt that Dongzi had become a stranger, and he didn't know where this feeling started.

This made him feel lost, as well as regretful and tormented by the current situation.

It all started on that day when he awakened the system and encountered various abnormal women.

"My life has become a complete mess in just six months..."

Akizuki Makoto laughed bitterly and self-deprecatingly. If he could, he really wished he hadn't awakened this damned system.

But in this way, he won't get involved with Shiina Maki, Himeyasuki, and others, and deepen their bonds.

Without the system, he felt that the three of them would be three different parallel lines, never intersecting.

But this is just wishful thinking on his part. In reality, even without the system, he would still inevitably get involved with abnormal women. It's all inevitable.

The problem doesn't lie with him or the system, but with the abnormal woman.

The system's existence allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of abnormal women, preventing him from being manipulated by them without realizing it.

In other words, from the moment he arrived in Tokyo and was targeted by Himeyasu and Shiina Maki, his life was destined to be entangled in a love-hate relationship with them.

Afterwards, Akizuki Makoto lay in the hot spring room for about half an hour until his chaotic and complicated emotions calmed down a bit before he got up and left.

When he returned to the Japanese-style room, he did not see Ji Yexue, but instead, the door to Ji Yexue's room was tightly closed.

Seeing this, Akizuki hesitated for a moment before returning to his room, putting on a yukata, and then going to her room.

"Xue, are you asleep?"

He asked through the closed sliding door, feeling somewhat uneasy.

There was no particular reason for coming to find Ji Yexue; he simply wanted to stay by her side.

Ji Yexue said he would treat everything that happened tonight as a dream, but how could he possibly do that?

"what?"

From behind the door came Ji Yexue's clear, cold voice. She seemed to have calmed down and composed herself, her tone and manner returning to normal.

"May I come in? I want to stay with you."

"..."

After Akizuki Makoto finished asking his question, Himeyasu, who was behind the sliding door, did not respond for a long time.

Just as Akizuki Makoto was about to speak again, the sliding door was suddenly opened.

"You really like to act cute. Didn't I tell you to forget everything that happened tonight and pretend nothing happened?"

Ji Yexue, dressed in a yukata, appeared behind the door. She looked at Qiu Yuecheng with displeasure and sneered, "Looking at your pathetic appearance, you must have come here to seek comfort, right?"

"……yes."

Akizuki Makoto nodded in agreement, then laughed self-deprecatingly, "Can I, a pathetic man, seek your comfort?"

"..."

Ji Yexue fell silent again. During this time of silence, she kept her eyes fixed on Qiu Yuecheng, her gaze unfathomable, as if she were thinking about something.

After a while, she turned around and said as she walked back to her room, "That's enough, just for one night."

"Xue, as expected, you won't just stand by and do nothing about me."

Qiu Yuecheng immediately laughed and followed Ji Yexue into the room, closing the sliding door behind him.

Because it's a Japanese-style inn, they sleep directly on tatami mats with bedding; there are no beds.

The interior setting is also very simple, without any messy furniture or TVs.

Ji Yexue knelt down in front of a small table in the center of the room. On the table was a pot of freshly brewed hot tea, a teacup, and a book.

Because it was still early, just past nine o'clock, she was reading and drinking tea in her room to pass the time.

After Ji Yexue knelt down, Qiuyue Cheng couldn't wait to hug her from behind, burying his head in the crook of her neck and whispering, "Xue, it's okay if you don't stay with me, but don't choose anyone else. I will help you resolve the family matters."

"What's the point of all this? Do you want me to grow old alone?"

Ji Yexue remained unmoved by Qiu Yuecheng's actions, letting him hold her while she casually picked up the books on the table and continued reading as if nothing had happened.

"If you are lonely, I will come to keep you company anytime. Whenever and wherever you need me, I will come immediately."

"Does this mean you want me to become your mistress? Do you want to help me resolve my family issues so you can make me a woman at your beck and call?"

"No, I didn't mean that. You are still free, but I just hope you won't get involved with any men."

If possible, Akizuki Makoto wouldn't even want any man to get close to Himeyasu, nor would he want her to have any male friends.

(End of this chapter)