Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 217 The weak seek solace in each other.

"You're so selfish."

Ji Yexue couldn't help but laugh, then asked, "What would you do if I insisted on being with someone else?"

"...It's best not to do that, because I might do something terrible."

Akizuki Makoto imagined such a scene, and his expression immediately darkened.

He held Ji Yexue tightly, as if he wanted to meld her into his very being, and whispered, "Xue, I will never let you be with someone else. You belong to me, and no matter how despicable or shameless the means I use, I will not let you have your way."

He may not be able to have Ji Yexue, but at the same time, no one else should be able to have her either. Otherwise, he might do everything in his power to prevent Ji Yexue from falling into someone else's arms.

He certainly wouldn't harm Ji Yexue, but the person who dared to try and get close to her might be a different story.

"That's terrible, when did you become like this?"

Ji Yexue sighed softly, her tone tinged with sorrow and pity.

The Makoto Akizuki of the past would never have had such extreme and twisted thoughts.

"I don't know, maybe I've gone crazy too. Do you hate me like this?"

"It's awful, really terrible, but I'm that kind of person too, so there's nothing I can say."

"Then we're all the worst kind of scum."

Akizuki Makoto laughed, happy that he was the same kind of person as Himeyasu.

Unlike him, Ji Yexue was much more normal. At least, although she hated Shiina Maki, she didn't harm her.

She didn't want to fight Shiina Maki to the death. In the end, it was all the fault of that scumbag Akizuki Makoto; there was no other grudge between them.

"It's about time you let go of me, you're very heavy."

Ji Yexue pushed away Qiuyue Cheng, who was lying on top of her, with a look of disdain, her face full of helplessness.

"I don't want to let you go, because I'm afraid that if I do, you'll leave me."

"Are you a child? So what if I leave you? Can't we just go our separate ways and live our own lives? Why do we have to torture each other like this?"

Even if it's mutual torment, it's a blissful torment.

"You really are... sigh."

Ji Yexue wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing, only letting out a soft sigh.

She closed the book, placed it on the tea table, and said helplessly, "Alright, let's go to sleep. I'm tired."

Logically speaking, she should be the one who is sad and wants to act cute.

After all, she was brutally raped by Akizuki Makoto tonight, and you can still see the blue hickeys on her neck through the collar of her yukata.

When she said she wanted to sleep, Akizuki Makoto let go of her and moved with her to the tatami mat on one side of the room.

"Make your own bed and sleep on the other side. Don't even think about squeezing in with me."

"Row."

Qiu Yuecheng nodded, took out a quilt from the cupboard, and laid it down next to Ji Yexue's quilt.

Seeing this, Ji Yexue was speechless. She had clearly told Qiu Yuecheng to sleep on the other side and not to squeeze in with her.

But she didn't say anything, knowing that Akizuki Makoto wouldn't listen anyway.

Tonight, Akizuki Makoto has become abnormal; perhaps too many things have happened at once, causing his mental state to collapse.

Ji Yexue, considering that it was Qiu Yuecheng who had instigated it, indulged Qiu Yuecheng's willfulness.

There was no other way; she was also weak and couldn't ignore Akizuki Makoto's plea for help.

No matter how terrible Akizuki Makoto was or how ugly he appeared, she still loved him; she just stubbornly refused to admit it.

She also misses their happy past and longs to go back to the time they spent in the student council room.

If she could turn back time, she would want to go back to when Akizuki Makoto first joined the student council room.

"Then I'll go turn off the lights."

After making the bed, Akizuki Makoto turned off the main light in the room, which immediately became pitch black. Only the bright, cool moonlight shone through the open wooden window, dispelling some of the darkness.

He groped his way into the dark and lay down on the bedding, with Ji Yexue right next to him.

"Good night."

Ji Yexue closed her eyes and said goodnight directly, clearly not wanting to continue chatting with Qiuyue Cheng.

If the conversation continues, Akizuki Makoto will definitely take the opportunity to push his luck.

"OK, good night."

Akizuki felt a little regretful about this, but thinking that Ji Yexue must be quite tired and not in the mood to chat with him anymore, he obediently stopped.

After saying goodnight to each other, they both closed their eyes, but neither of them could fall asleep for a long time, nor did they feel sleepy.

Logically speaking, Ji Yexue should have fallen asleep quickly, since she always slept very quickly and peacefully when Qiu Yuecheng was with her.

She had always known that the reason for her insomnia was that she was too dependent on Akizuki Makoto.

"...This is the first time we've ever slept together, isn't it?"

At some point, Ji Yexue opened her eyes and said softly, "Before, we would always fall asleep with the phone hanging up."

Akizuki Makoto opened his eyes and nodded, saying, "Yes, this is the first time."

Ji Yexue suddenly thought of something and laughed self-deprecatingly, "I gave you my first time, but what did you give me? It's my first time sleeping with someone of the opposite sex."

"Uh……"

Upon hearing this, Akizuki Makoto paused for a moment, then, while pondering, said, "My first kiss was with you."

"what is this?"

Ji Yexue was somewhat dissatisfied; wasn't that her first kiss too?
"First love?"

"This is good, even though you were my first love."

Ji Yexue nodded in agreement, then continued, "But I think your first love should be that Shiina guy. I remember how you treated me and her before."

"No, you were definitely my first love, right? I only had a slight crush on Maki back then, so it wouldn't count as my first love."

Akizuki Makoto affirmed this with an unquestionable tone; this was the only point he was absolutely confident about.

"Yeah, that makes sense, otherwise you wouldn't have chosen me in the first place."

"Xue, I'm very sad right now because I've been thinking about things from the past."

Akizuki Makoto's voice suddenly choked up, and his tone became more lost and sad.

He could no longer restrain himself, so he got out of his own bed, crawled into Ji Yexue's bed, and hugged her.

"I really want to go back to the beginning of summer vacation, when we went back to our hometown for a holiday together."

"I regret it so much, I really regret it so much, I did so many terrible things."

Why must we hurt and torment each other? Can't we each take a step back?

Akizuki Makoto sobbed and mumbled incoherently, unable to contain his grief.

"Now that things have come to this, let's not say such things anymore. My compromise is just what you want, to die alone."

Suppressing her surging emotions, Ji Yexue took a deep breath and said, "You know I don't want to share you, so there's no way I can agree to it. No matter what you do, I won't change my mind." "I've suffered no less pain than you. Your betrayal has driven me to the brink of madness with hatred. I've wanted to kill you countless times."

"Why are you telling me all this now? Haven't you gotten enough? You've already taken all my firsts."

"My first love, my first kiss, my embrace, my first time..."

As Ji Yexue finished speaking, she felt as if her chest was about to split open, and she was in great pain.

But she suppressed her grief, neither crying nor sobbing; her voice was trembling.

"This trip will be the last time we spend together, and let's put an end to everything here."

"I will live a solitary life as you said, because I have no love left. I can't love anyone else but you."

"So stop doing this. Stop looking so pathetic, broken, and overwhelmed."

After listening to Ji Yexue's words, Qiuyue Cheng remained silent for a long time.

During this period of silence, he gradually adjusted his mood.

Finally, he took a deep breath and said in a hoarse voice, "This is not our end, and our relationship will not end here."

"...It's up to you."

Ji Yexue closed her eyes again and remained silent; at this moment, they needed no words.

They began to embrace each other without anyone knowing when it started. Her head rested on Akizuki Makoto's chest, and he held her tightly in his arms.

It wasn't just Akizuki Makoto who wanted to seek warmth and comfort; she did too.

The two held each other like that, feeling each other's presence, and unknowingly fell asleep.

Tonight, they had the same dream: they returned to the student council room where they spent the most time.

That was their first meeting. It was when Akizuki Makoto, on the advice of his homeroom teacher, came to the student council room, met Ji Yexue, and was amazed by her.

……

The next day, early in the morning.

"I had another wonderful dream."

Ji Yexue opened her eyes, looked at the yellowish-white Japanese-style ceiling, and murmured to herself.

She felt a dampness on her cheeks, and when she reached out to touch them, her fingertips felt cool and wet.

It seems she cried unconsciously.

After all, that dream was too beautiful. They returned to the time when they first met, with their memories intact, corrected all their mistakes, and avoided an unfortunate future.

"I've really been indulging in these ridiculous daydreams lately, I'm going crazy..."

Ji Yexue thought to herself, then looked up at Qiuyue Cheng, who was still fast asleep.

His sleeping face was peaceful, with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, clearly indicating that he was having a good dream.

Ji Yexue reached out and stroked Qiuyue Cheng's face, still feeling a lingering attachment to that beautiful dream.

Unfortunately, reality is cold and cruel, which is why she woke up crying.

The tears streaming down my face, I don't know if they were from the happiness in my dream, or from the shattering of my beautiful dream.

"Well……"

Under Ji Yexue's gentle touch, Qiuyue Cheng seemed to sense something, frowned slightly, and then slowly opened his eyes.

When he opened his eyes and saw Ji Yexue's face so close to his in a half-dreaming state, he was still somewhat stunned and incredulous.

"What's wrong? Are you still half asleep?"

Ji Yexue spoke first, withdrawing her hand from his face as if nothing had happened.

"No... I just find it incredible that the first thing I saw when I woke up was you."

Akizuki murmured to himself, a happy and content smile on his face.

"I wish this moment could last forever, so I could wake up every day and see you, that would be..."

"enough."

Ji Yexue suddenly interrupted Qiu Yuecheng, somewhat annoyed, and said, "I've already told you, don't say things like that anymore. Can't you care more about my feelings?"

She was still reeling from the afterglow of that beautiful dream when Akizuki Makoto had to say such cruel things to her.

What Akizuki Makoto said was indeed beautiful and blissful, but the inability to realize it is painful and cruel.

They don't have that kind of future, so saying it out loud only brings sadness.

"……Feel sorry."

After a moment of silence, Akizuki Makoto apologized softly, saying with deep regret, "I didn't consider your feelings."

"Alright, let's stop talking about this and get up."

As Ji Yexue spoke, she got up from the bedding and tidied her slightly disheveled bathrobe.

After that, they went to the washroom to wash up, tidy themselves up, take a shower, and change into clean clothes.

They're going out together today, so they can't keep wearing their yukatas.

Although the yukatas provided by the hotel were very nice, it still looked strange to walk on the street in a kimono.

Unlike Kyoto, where it's perfectly fine to wear a kimono and walk the streets all year round, Hakone is a cultural capital that preserves traditional customs.

After breakfast, when the sun was high in the sky, they left the hotel and headed to their first stop on their sightseeing trip—Hakone Yuryo.

As its name suggests, this is a place for hot springs.

They called it sightseeing, but they were just passing through. They were going to take the Hakone Tozan Railway to Gora Park on the mountain.

Because it was the off-season and it wasn't a holiday, there were plenty of pedestrians on the street. The young and handsome couple, Akizuki Makoto and Hime Yuki, stood out, attracting almost 100% attention.

"Shall we walk hand in hand?"

Looking at Ji Yexue, who was walking ahead with her arms crossed, Akizuki Makoto suggested, "Since we're here on a trip, how about we create more memories?"

"We're not dating, so why should we hold hands?"

Ji Yexue glanced at her, then suddenly laughed and said, "However, if you really want to hold hands, it's not impossible. I have a way to let you hold my hand."

"any solution?"

Akizuki Makoto felt that the method was probably not very good, but he still asked the question and wanted to do it.

There was nothing he could do; he just wanted to hold hands with Ji Yexue.

"Reach out your hand like a puppy and shake my hand. It's not that I can't hold your hand, but would you like to be my puppy?"

"...What kind of weird play is this?"

As expected, Ji Yexue's wicked sense of humor came out again, but Qiuyue Cheng only made a sarcastic remark and did not refuse.

Afterwards, he looked around to make sure no one was around, scratched his head, and, suppressing his embarrassment and awkwardness, extended his hand to Ji Yexue.

"You're really hopeless. You've been trained so well already? Who trained you like this?"

Ji Yexue smiled as she looked at the outstretched hand and asked, "If a puppy wants to hold its owner's hand, shouldn't it at least extend its hand? Shouldn't it make a request?"

(End of this chapter)