Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 58 My Sister and My Childhood Sweetheart

After taking a shower and coming out of the bathroom, Akizuki Makoto dried his hair, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes to rest, and began to slack off.

After lying down for a while, he suddenly remembered something, so he picked up his phone from the bedside table, opened Line, and sent a message to a contact named "Shimizu Rei".

【Good evening】

I received a reply very quickly after sending the message.

Reiya Shimizu replied with a "Good evening," and then expressed surprise.

Akizuki Makoto actually contacted her first. Could it be that something happened to him?
[Nothing much, I just suddenly felt homesick today, and then I thought of you and Dongzi, so I came to say hello.]

Hey~ You're homesick too? You left so decisively, leaving Dongzi all alone.

【…】

Akizuki felt somewhat ashamed, as unpleasant memories were stirred up.

Shimizu Rei was his childhood friend and neighbor. They had been in the same school and even the same class since elementary school.

The "Dongzi" she mentioned naturally refers to his younger sister, Akizuki Dongzi, who is three years younger than him.

The family members were very casual in naming him, but because they wanted him to be an honest and upright child, they named him "Cheng" (诚).

My younger sister was born in winter, so I named her Dongzi (冬子).

In stark contrast to him, his younger sister was frail and sickly from a young age. She was a delicate, clumsy, yet endearing child.

Because of this, he took good care of Dongzi since he was a child, which made Dongzi particularly attached to him. Even in junior high school, Dongzi still wanted to sleep in the same room as him, which gave him and his parents a lot of headaches.

One of the reasons he accepted Ming Sheng's invitation was because of Dong Zi.

He still remembers the expression on Fuyuko's face when he told her he was going to live in Tokyo.

[Haha, want to video chat? I'm at your place right now, with Dongzi!]

Just as Akizuki Makoto was immersed in his memories of the past, his phone vibrated. He looked at the message on the screen and sat up straight.

Let's fight!

After a moment's thought, he replied as follows.

A few seconds later, Shimizu Rei received a video call invitation.

He clicked "accept," and the screen immediately went black.

After a brief pause, the screen from the other side appeared.

In a square Japanese-style room, a vibrant young woman with short hair and healthy tanned skin appeared.

She was wearing a sports bra, a thin white jacket, and black leggings, and was sitting cross-legged on the tatami mat.

Beside this energetic girl was another girl who looked like a doll.

Wearing a yukata that resembles a kimono, her exposed skin was as white as snow, her delicate face was like that of a porcelain doll, and her round eyes were bright and beautiful, as if inlaid with black gemstones.

She was beautiful, but the only pity was that her face lacked vitality and liveliness, as if she were a porcelain doll, beautiful but incredibly empty.

"Unnie..."

As Akizuki Touko stared blankly at the image displayed on her phone screen, her slightly listless face visibly brightened up after a second.

"Onii-chan!"

She excitedly shouted again, straining her face to get closer to the screen, pushing Shimizu Rei aside.

"Haha, you two are still so close, you siscon!"

Rei Shimizu's laughter came from the other side of the screen, which made Makoto Akizuki smile as well.

Seeing how energetic they were, he felt a sense of relief.

"Long time no see, Dongzi."

He greeted me with a smile and asked, "How have you been lately? How's your health? Have you been eating well, listening to your mother, and going to school diligently?" "Yes, yes!"

Akizuki Touko nodded vigorously, her voice high-pitched: "Yes, Touko ate well! And she missed her brother, she missed him so much!"

"Really……"

Akizuki Makoto nodded, his smile fading as he deliberately put on a stern face and said, "So you didn't listen to your mother and go to school properly?"

Since he transferred to Mingsheng High School, Dongzi has been skipping classes and not going to school for various reasons.

No matter what he and his parents said, Dongzi was very reluctant to go to school.

There was nothing else they could do but let Dongzi study at home.

Fortunately, Dongzi, like him, was naturally intelligent and didn't have much trouble with her studies. However, she was too naive and innocent, even though she was already in the first year of high school.

Makoto Akizuki hasn't seen Fuyuko in a long time.

I haven't seen her, let alone heard her voice in a long time.

He would call his parents once a week or every two weeks, but he would not contact Dongzi. His parents would not ask Dongzi to come over and chat when they called him.

Dongzi doesn't have her own cell phone. She usually stays in her room reading, drawing, or doing some handicrafts, such as carving dolls.

Although Akizuki Makoto felt it was somewhat cruel, he could only endure it because he knew it was for Touko's growth and to make her less dependent on him.

"Hey, stop yelling at Dongzi."

Shimizu Rei squeezed into the screen, showing half of her face, pouting, and said in a feigned angry tone, "You know perfectly well that Fuyuko will be afraid of you getting angry and unhappy, yet you still put on a long face. Do you want her to have insomnia for the next few nights?"

"……It was my fault."

Akizuki Makoto immediately backed down, apologized sheepishly, and softened his expression.

Just as Shimizu Rei said, when Akizuki Fuyuko saw him with a stern face and a fierce tone questioning her, her bright little face instantly became flustered and shrouded in unease.

"Unnie..."

"Dongzi, your brother is just joking with you, don't take it to heart."

Shimizu Rei ruffled Fuyuko's hair, messing up her thick, glossy black hair.

Fuyuko Akizuki didn't pay any attention and looked at Makoto Akizuki in front of the screen, asking anxiously, "Is Onii joking? Aren't you angry?"

"No, why would I be angry?"

Akizuki Makoto regretted what he had said. He hadn't been in contact with Fuyuko for so long that he didn't know how to interact with her properly and subconsciously adopted the demeanor of a strict older brother.

"That's good……"

Dongzi immediately felt relieved and smiled again, looking as beautiful as a flower bud about to bloom.

"Brother, when are you coming back? Dongzi misses you so much."

The last time Akizuki Makoto went home was during winter break, and he only stayed for a week during the New Year before returning to Tokyo.

"It's summer vacation, Tokyo is too far to go back to, and my brother doesn't have any vacation time."

It's not actually that far. You can take the Shinkansen for five hours to get to Takamatsu City, and then take a half-hour ferry back to the island.

"Hmm...it'll still take so long."

Dongzi pouted, looking sullen, after all, she hadn't seen Qiuyue Cheng for half a year.

Qiu Yuecheng doesn't call her either. In the past six months, she has only called Qiu Yuecheng three times, and each time the call was limited to ten minutes.

Video calls like today are very rare, and in principle, they shouldn't be allowed.

If his parents found out, they would definitely scold him for spoiling Dongzi again.

(End of this chapter)