Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 98 I'll take you to meet the older sister who will buy you a cake.

When Akizuki Makoto returned home, Fuyuko had just finished taking a bath and was coming out of the bathroom.

Her pajamas were yukatas, a type of kimono, which she brought from her hometown.

"Brother, welcome back."

Dongzi shook her wet, long black hair, ran to the entrance, and threw herself into Akizuki Makoto's arms.

"She came over to act all cute with her hair still wet, how willful of her."

Akizuki patted Dongzi on the back, signaling her to let go, then squatted down and looked her in the eye, saying, "Back in our hometown, didn't your parents teach you not to do this? It's both willful and rude."

At certain times and in certain ways, he could spoil Dongzi.

But he had to correct Dongzi on matters of etiquette, so that she wouldn't do anything so outrageous when facing others in the future.

As the older brother and guardian, he must take on the responsibility of correcting and educating his child.

"Um... Dongzi understands, I won't do it again, I'm sorry, brother."

Dongzi immediately nodded in acknowledgment of her mistake, and then said, "Dongzi was just too happy to see her brother."

"You can't do that again."

Akizuki Makoto didn't say anything, but patted Fuyuko's head, gave her some instructions, and then led her into the bedroom.

He had Dongzi sit in the chair in front of the desk, stood behind her, picked up a strand of her dark, shiny hair, and dried it with a hairdryer on the medium setting.

Dongzi's hair is very long, reaching down to her waist, and it's really not easy to dry it.

Akizuki Makoto blew her hair for several minutes until it was about 70% dry, and then he planned to let it dry slowly over time.

It's summer now, so you won't catch a cold even if you don't dry your hair.

Akizuki Makoto put down the hairdryer, rubbed his hair which he had just dried, and said, "Alright, Dongzi, play by yourself for a while. I'm going to take a shower first, and I'll tell you something when I get back."

"Okay, Dongzi will wait for her brother obediently!"

Dongzi nodded in response, took out her diary from the drawer of her desk, and began to write down what had happened that day. Her legs, which were hanging down under the chair, swayed gently, and the ahoge on her head moved up and down.

Clearly, she was in a good mood, having spent a fulfilling day with her brother, and her diary entries were no longer just empty expressions of longing.

Her diary entries began when she woke up, first describing her washing up, then, accompanied by her parents, taking a boat with Shimizu Rei off the island and transferring to a train.

Then there was the feeling of both joy and unease when I was about to see my brother.

She kept reflecting on herself, realizing she was a bad child who had done bad things.

After that, he wrote down in great detail the series of events that happened after he got off the train and met Akizuki Makoto.

Halfway through writing, Akizuki Makoto, having just finished showering, quietly opened the bedroom door and came up behind Fuyuko to watch her write in her diary.

This scene moved him deeply, reminding him of the time when Dongzi, clutching her drawing diary, asked him for help.

After standing quietly for more than ten minutes, Dongzi wrote about how Qiuyue Cheng helped her dry her hair. Then she put down her pen, turned to look at Qiuyue Cheng, and said happily, "Brother, Dongzi is very good. She insisted on finishing her diary and waiting for you."

"Yeah, great."

Akizuki praised her with a smile, feeling a sense of satisfaction as he watched his younger sister grow up.

Dongzi blinked and asked curiously, "What does brother want to say?"

"Well..."

After considering his words carefully, Akizuki Makoto finally chose to ask directly, "Does Fuyuko want to go to school with her brother?"

"go to school?"

Dongzi tilted her head and didn't react, unlike when her parents suggested she go to school, when she immediately shook her head and refused.

"Yes, I'll go to the same school as my brother, so we can go to and from school together from now on."

"Are you in the same class as your brother?"

"No...this is definitely not a class, we have an age difference."

"If Dongzi can finish learning all the high school material, can she be in the same class as her brother?"

Dongzi's eyes brightened slightly as she asked hopefully, "Dongzi knows that it's possible to skip grades in school."

"No."

Akizuki Makoto shook his head and refused, his face stern and his tone serious: "Dongzi, you must study properly in the grade corresponding to your age. You can't skip grades."

Knowing that Dongzi was very smart, he dared not agree to let her skip a grade.

"All right……"

Dongzi lowered her head with some regret, and then said, "Dongzi will listen to her brother. If her brother wants Dongzi to go to school, Dongzi will go."

"So nice."

Akizuki Makoto then smiled, placed his hand on Touko's head, and gently stroked it.

"I'll try to figure out a way for you to transfer to the school I'm in a few days."

"Hmm~"

Dongzi nodded gently, naturally opened her arms, hugged Qiuyue Cheng's neck, snuggled close to him, and said in a slightly tired voice, "Brother, let's go to sleep, Dongzi is sleepy."

"it is good."

Akizuki Makoto picked up Touko and put her on the bed, while he chose to sleep on a makeshift bed on the floor.

This morning, while helping Dongzi pack his luggage, he ordered a quilt from Amazon, scheduled to be delivered tonight.

After all, Dongzi was already sixteen years old, while he was eighteen.

They have no problem sharing a room, but sharing a bed is not appropriate.

Dongzi lay in bed, fighting off sleepiness, watching her brother busily spreading bedding on the floor. She asked, puzzled, "Brother, aren't you sleeping in the bed?"

"No, Dongzi can sleep in the bed by herself. My brother's bed is too small." "Hmm... okay."

Dongzi nodded her little head gently, without insisting that Qiuyue Cheng come up to sleep with her.

She never objected to her brother's arrangements and always listened to him.

By the time Akizuki Makoto had laid out the bedding, Touko was already asleep, curled up on her side like a child, clutching the black rabbit plush toy she always carried with her.

Goodnight, Dongzi.

After speaking softly, Qiuyue Cheng turned off the light and crawled into the quilt in the dark.

……

……

The next day, the morning light was faint.

Qiuyue Cheng got up early, tiptoed out of the bedroom, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

After washing up and preparing breakfast, he returned to the bedroom and woke up Dongzi.

He was probably too tired yesterday, because it took him a while to wake Dongzi up and tell her to wash up.

Afterwards, the two ate breakfast together and casually whiled away the time at home, waiting for Shimizu Rei to contact them.

Dongzi's way of passing the time is simple: either she draws or she makes dolls.

The supplier of materials for her paintings and dolls was naturally Makoto Akizuki.

He has been sponsoring it, and fortunately it's not too expensive, costing around tens of thousands of yen a month, which is acceptable.

At 9:37 a.m., the doorbell in the entryway suddenly rang.

Akizuki Makoto, who was learning to sculpt dolls with Fuyuko in the bedroom, put down what he was doing and got up to go to the front door.

As expected, standing outside the door was Shimizu Rei.

Today she was wearing a red sports bra with a thin white jacket over it, revealing her abs and a small glimpse of her chest. Faint white marks were faintly visible on the shoulder straps.

Good morning, Li.

Akizuki Makoto was the first to greet them, and then said, "Shall we go play badminton now? I'll tell Fuyuko, and then we'll head out."

"……Oh."

Shimizu Rei stared at Akizuki Makoto for a long time until a look of confusion appeared on his face, before he finally gave a muffled reply.

Then, Akizuki Makoto turned around and went back to his bedroom, telling Fuyuko that he was going to play badminton.

Dongzi simply nodded, obediently indicating that she would wait at home for her brother to come back and help him look after the house.

Seeing how sensible Dongzi was, Qiuyue Cheng thought for a moment and said softly, "At noon, your brother is going to a cake shop to meet a lady. Dongzi, do you want to go? She might buy you a cake."

Upon hearing this, Dongzi's eyes lit up immediately, and she nodded vigorously, excitedly saying, "I want to go!"

If you buy her a cake, of course she'll go; she's already looking forward to meeting that lady.

"Let's go then, we'll go over after we finish playing badminton."

Akizuki Makoto laughed and left the bedroom, giving Fuyuko time to change her clothes.

Knowing he was going out today, he changed his clothes while Dongzi was getting ready for bed, while Dongzi remained in her bathrobe without changing.

Soon, Dongzi changed her clothes; she was still wearing a white short-sleeved long dress.

However, the design is different from yesterday's; some areas have more lace details, and there's a light, flowing tie at the chest.

The everyday clothes that Dongzi brought were mostly skirts like these, along with a few Gothic Lolita dresses.

She was still clutching the black plush rabbit, which had become something she carried with her everywhere.

"Let's go."

With a bag containing badminton rackets on his back, Akizuki Makoto took Touko's outstretched hand and left home.

While badminton can be played anywhere, it's definitely best to play on a proper court to unleash your full potential.

A badminton court like those in a park where you just string up a net and draw the court on the ground is absolutely not acceptable.

So the three of them went to a nearby stadium, where they could pay to rent the right to use the venue.

Walking down the street, Akizuki Makoto suddenly asked, "Rei, why did you suddenly run away yesterday?"

"……fine."

Shimizu Rei turned her head to the side, clearly not wanting to answer the question.

Of course, she couldn't say the reason out loud; wouldn't that make her seem too pretentious, willful, and unreasonable?

Moreover, it would expose her true feelings, which was by no means what she wanted.

"Fine……"

Akizuki Makoto wisely refrained from pressing the matter further, as a young girl's thoughts are often difficult to express and awkward to articulate.

Judging from Shimizu Rei's expression, it's not a big deal, so there's no need to worry about it too much.

Did brother and sister Li have a fight?

Fuyuko looked up at Akizuki Makoto, then at Shimizu Rei, asked a question, and then suddenly pulled Akizuki Makoto's hand and placed it on Shimizu Rei's hand.

Upon feeling the warmth and touch of Akizuki Makoto's hand, Shimizu Rei was immediately startled.

But before she could say anything, Dongzi continued, "Brother, Sister Li, if you quarrel, hold hands and make up, don't be stubborn."

Upon hearing this, both Akizuki Makoto and Shimizu Rei were taken aback, then looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally smiled at each other.

"There's no argument or quarrel, so Dongzi doesn't need to worry."

(End of this chapter)