Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 23 Pandora's Box Has Been Opened

the other side.

Upon entering the bathroom, Akizuki Makoto looked at the suddenly erect Akizuki and fell into deep thought.

Tonight, he took a cold shower for the first time in a long time, and then warmed up his body with the still slightly warm bathwater in the tub.

After taking a shower, Makoto Akizuki returned to his bedroom, where Maki Shiina was already dressed and reading the manuscript of "Snow Country" on the bed.

She was so engrossed in watching that she didn't even notice when Akizuki Makoto pushed the door open and came in.

Seeing this, Akizuki Makoto silently left the bedroom and went to the living room.

He planned to sleep on the sofa tonight, leaving the bed for Shiina Maki; it was the right thing to do for both reason and emotion.

You can't expect someone covered in injuries to sleep on the sofa; that would make him seem too harsh.

He sat in the living room, waiting for his hair to dry naturally, while playing on his phone and replying to messages on Line.

Most of them were casual conversations with him.

When the hands of the wall clock pointed to ten o'clock, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.

Maki Shiina came out of the bedroom carrying the manuscript, her eyes and nose red, as if she had just been crying.

"Autumn, Autumn Moon Lord..."

She stood in front of the bedroom door and softly called out to Akizuki Makoto, who was sitting in the living room.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Makoto Akizuki looked up at Maki Shiina with a puzzled expression.

"Why did it end like this? It's so tragic!"

Shiina Maki pouted, and tears welled up in her eyes again as she thought of the ending of "Snow Country".

Upon seeing this, Akizuki Makoto immediately stepped forward, pulled out a few sheets of paper and handed them to her, saying, "Because what I wanted to express was this kind of extreme, poignant beauty of nothingness, and it is precisely because of this ending that it can touch people's hearts, right?"

"Waaah, but... but..."

Shiina Maki sobbed, unable to utter a word for a long time, and finally broke down in tears, like a child who had fallen down.

There's no way around it, the atmosphere of Snow Country is just too sad, and the Japanese love that kind of thing. Anyone who doesn't cry after watching it is a genius.

Afterwards, Maki Shiina cried for a long time before her emotions stabilized.

Akizuki took a tissue and wiped away the remaining tears from the corners of her eyes, teasingly saying, "I knew I shouldn't have let you see them, your eyes would be swollen tomorrow."

Shiina Maki muttered softly, "Ugh... It's okay, anyway, no one will look at me except Akizuki-kun."

"If you're willing to get a haircut, tidy up your appearance, and wait for the bruises to heal before wearing summer clothes, a lot of people will look at you."

"No, I only need... Akizuki-kun to look at me, that's enough, and I only want Akizuki-kun to see me."

Shiina Maki spoke the latter half of her sentence very softly, almost like lip reading.

However, Akizuki Makoto, who was face to face with her, understood what she meant.

He paused for a moment, then laughed helplessly: "Alright, it's getting late, go to sleep early. I'll just make do on the sofa tonight."

"No! How can we let Akizuki-kun sleep on the sofa!"

As expected, Shiina Maki's reaction became intense as soon as she heard him suggest that she sleep on the sofa.

"You're injured, but I'm not. It's okay if we spend the night together."

“But…but…”

Shiina Maki hesitated, unable to bring herself to say, "But we can sleep together."

Whenever she tried to speak, the feeling of inferiority would choke her.

She was only treated gently by Akizuki Makoto because of her special circumstances; how could she dare to make such an outrageous request?

Isn't that a bit too ugly and shameless?

Makoto Akizuki was clearly unaware of what Maki Shiina was thinking. He raised his hand and gently patted Maki Shiina's shoulder, saying, "It's okay, my sofa is fine too. It's not as good as a bed, but it's only for one night."

Yes.

It was just for one night.

Just like the spell cast on Cinderella, after tonight she will return to that dark, damp attic where she never sees light.

She and Akizuki Makoto could only meet at school, and when they did, they could only exchange greetings. Apart from that, they had no further contact.

She knew perfectly well that there were limits to how much she could give.

If she were to be presumptuous and assume that she and Akizuki Makoto were friends, or even more than friends, based on what they had experienced together that day, then she would be in the wrong.

Akizuki Makoto was simply too gentle, showing her pity. "...I understand."

Shiina Maki suppressed her sadness, lowered her head, and answered in a muffled voice. Then she turned and went into the bedroom, no longer arguing with Akizuki Makoto.

"I hope there won't be any misunderstandings."

As Qiu Yuecheng gazed at her slightly lost and dejected figure, he pondered to himself.

He was afraid that Shiina Maki would overthink things, but there was nothing he could do about it. A person's personality is hard to correct in a short time, especially since he himself had a half-hearted attitude.

He was well aware that his actions had been ambiguously keeping Shiina Maki hanging on.

He neither took the initiative to show his affection nor rejected her; wasn't he just keeping her hanging on?
"...Let nature take its course."

Akizuki sighed softly, turned off the living room lights, lay down on the sofa, closed his eyes to rest, and began to drift off to sleep.

Although it's only 10 o'clock now, and it's a bit too early to go to bed, considering that there are still many things to do tomorrow, it's best to get enough rest. Besides, there's nothing to do now, so it's good to get some rest early.

Tomorrow, he'll have to stand up for Shiina Maki and punish Sawada Rimi and the others.

As he pondered these things, a wave of drowsiness gradually washed over him, and Akizuki Makoto's consciousness slowly blurred until he finally drifted off to sleep.

……

……

Meanwhile, in the bedroom on the other side.

Lying in bed, Shiina Maki tossed and turned for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

Logically, lying on such a soft, warm bed, which was also filled with the scent of Akizuki Makoto, she should have fallen asleep quickly, but she couldn't sleep.

Whenever she closes her eyes and tries to fall asleep, the thought always comes to mind that if she falls asleep, this dreamlike time will come to an end.

Then, she will develop a fear of sleeping.

She didn't want to accept this dreamlike, blissful time.

She still wanted to be with Akizuki Makoto, to be cared for by him, to be praised by him, to be treated gently by him, and to feel the warmth of his body.

"...No, this can't be done, can it?"

Shiina Maki bit her lip, trying hard to suppress this desire.

At first, she was content just to see Qiuyue Cheng and occasionally have a conversation with him, but now she longs to take things a step further with him.

even……

Still fantasizing about being desired by Akizuki Makoto.

"This is wrong, it's so strange, why can't I control myself..."

Shiina Maki muttered to herself, feeling her body uncontrollably get out of bed and walk towards the living room outside the door.

In the dimly lit living room, slivers of moonlight streamed in through the open curtains.

By the faint moonlight, Shiina Maki could vaguely make out the figure lying on the sofa.

At that moment, her heart began to pound, and a strong desire instantly devoured her reason.

The gloom that had been suppressed all day was now completely released.

"...time stops."

Shiina Maki gently moved her lips and uttered the two "spells" that opened Pandora's box.

In the end, she couldn't control her desires and decided to make a move on Akizuki Makoto.

Despite having resolved more than once to stop using time stop to do those illicit things with Akizuki Makoto, she still couldn't resist.

because……

She absolutely couldn't do these things if she didn't stop occasionally.

She was too greedy.

From the very beginning, what she sought was not merely to look at Akizuki Makoto and be satisfied. Otherwise, why would she have followed Akizuki Makoto before gaining the ability to stop time, secretly smelling his clothes and picking up the water bottles he had drunk from, and why would she have brazenly leaned on the table in front of him and pressed herself against him after gaining the ability to stop time?
The idea that one can be satisfied simply by looking at Akizuki Makoto from afar is nothing but a complete lie.

"I'm sorry, Akizuki-kun, I love you, I love you to death, I love you hopelessly..."

Shiina Maki looked at Akizuki Makoto, who was lying on the sofa and had stopped breathing, and knelt down on the ground in a dogeza posture to apologize to him.

then……

She was about to begin, and she was blaspheming God.

(End of this chapter)