Be good, everything's alright now, our Zhang family!

Chapter 81 Be good, it's all over now, let's go home!

The call has ended.

Shiina Mahiru's shoulders slumped, and her delicate face had turned deathly pale, as if all the color had been drained from it.

She already had some doubts about her parents, feeling that they didn't care about her at all.

Therefore, she deliberately rebelled and did not go to the girls' school chosen by her mother. Instead, she came to Zongwu High School with the highest score in her grade.

From childhood to adulthood, Shiina Mahiru was practically raised by her maid, Aunt Koyuki.

When she was little, other children were taken to school by their parents to register, but she was always accompanied only by her maid, Aunt Xiaoxue.

Moreover, her parents were often away from home, and she lived alone in that luxurious house, never experiencing the warmth of family.

Living in that empty house, she felt no sense of belonging.

Shiina Mahiru thought it was because she wasn't obedient enough or didn't perform well enough, and that the other two were just too busy with work to come back.

Therefore, she studied hard and improved her grades. She tried her best to read people's expressions and use her own methods to please everyone. With her intelligence, she successfully created the image of an "angel" in everyone's eyes.

She was self-disciplined, never did anything unnecessary, was an all-around athlete, and had excellent grades. She was the "other people's child" that everyone envied.

To prove herself, she even tried to learn cooking skills from Aunt Xiaoxue.

On the day she was to enter high school, she cooked a sumptuous meal herself, waiting for her parents to come home, hoping they would see her hard work and praise her.

However, the two people did not return even after the food had gone cold.

Now that things have come to this, Shiina Mahiru's mother's words have made her understand.

All my efforts over the past ten years have been meaningless.

She hid her true self, striving to become so outstanding and dazzling, but instead of encouragement and praise, she received only disgust.

If her parents are getting a divorce, then what exactly is she?

Was that house really a home?

Can she ever go back to that "home"?

Shiina Mahiru wanted to cry, but couldn't. She felt very depressed and didn't want to do anything.

She has suffered a great blow and is showing signs of becoming despondent.

"Shiina-kun, aren't you done on the phone yet? You should head back now."

Shinji Kaminaga's voice rang out, and Mahiru Shiina's delicate body trembled.

She gave him a bitter smile and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Kaminaga-kun. You should go back now. I have something to do and want to wander around outside a bit more."

"Okay, then I'll take the groceries back for you. You can pick them up at my house when you get back."

"Um."

Shiina Mahiru nodded blankly, whispered a thank you, and then turned and left unsteadily.

Shinji Kaminaga frowned as he watched her retreating figure.

""

"Why does Shiina seem so distracted? Did that phone call just now really upset her?"

Because of his excellent hearing, Shinji Kaminaga had already heard the contents of the phone call.

He was somewhat worried about Shiina Mahiru in this state; she looked dejected, her eyes were lifeless, and she seemed to be giving up on herself.

Shinji Kaminaga sighed, used spatial teleportation to instantly return to his front door, pushed open the door, and went inside.

Place the ingredients in the container.

Seeing Yukino Yukinoshita busy in the kitchen wearing an apron, he said, "Yukino, I've bought the ingredients. The bag over there is Shiina's. I have to go out for a bit, I'll be back in a bit."

Having said that, he left quickly without waiting for Yukino Yukinoshita's response.

Given Shiina Mahiru's looks, it wouldn't be good if she gave up on herself and got picked up by someone else. Rather than letting someone else pick her up, Shinji Kaminaga felt it was better for him to do it himself.

Yukino Yukinoshita watched someone's back, her little mouth involuntarily pouting slightly.

"What? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"And he just ran into Shiina-kun?"

Thinking of Shiina Mahiru, Yukino Yukinoshita looked down at her own heart and sighed softly.

Compared to Shiina, she is under tremendous pressure. How did she grow up like that?

What's the secret?

As if reflecting Shiina Mahiru's feelings at that moment, a sudden downpour began.

She strolled alone to the park, sat on a swing, and stared blankly at the rain-soaked dust on the ground, letting the raindrops fall on her golden hair.

His clothes were also soaked and clung tightly to his better-looking body.

The blonde beauty was thus subjected to the unpleasant sensation of cold raindrops falling on her neck.

No matter how cold the rain was, it wasn't as cold as her heart.

In the past, she could find excuses to convince herself, "My parents are just too busy with work. They didn't mean to stay away from home, didn't mean to not encourage or comfort me, and didn't mean to not take me out to play."

-

However, she now knows that they did it on purpose.

Those two nominal parents, who were related to her by blood, actually loathed her existence and never had the patience to take someone they disliked out to play.

From the very beginning, she was a child whom her parents did not expect.

"Ha~, how laughable, Shiina Mahiru, all your efforts of the past ten years have been nothing but a joke!"

"You've wasted over a decade of your time!"

After a few low, cold laughs, Shiina Mahiru's eyes welled up with tears, whether from the rain or not, they slid down her fair cheeks.

She resigned herself to the rain, letting it soak her to the bone, thinking that since no one cared about her anyway, she might as well not have this health.

The girl, deeply hurt by her parents' indifference, felt increasingly cold inside, and had a sense of despondency as if she had lost the meaning of life.

Just as the girl continued to give up on herself, a voice entered her ears.

"You idiot, Shiina, what are you doing?"

Shinji Kaminaga ran up to her with an umbrella, using it to shield her already soaked head. "When I said I had something else to do, did you mean coming here alone in the rain?"

He said this in an annoyed tone, and reached out his hand to her.

"Hurry up, let's go home. You'll catch a cold if you get wet in the rain any longer."

Shiina Mahiru looked at his outstretched hand, her lips moved, but in the end, her nose stung and she turned her head away without responding to him.

He's such a gentle person, he only helped me because he felt sorry for me. Actually, he likes Yukinoshita, doesn't he?

I don't want that kind of pity. Anyway, Shinji Kaminaga's gentleness will never belong to me.

Thinking this to herself, Shiina Mahiru lowered her head and said coldly, "Please leave me alone, Kaminaga-kun."

"Now that I've seen it, how can I just ignore it? We're teammates in the same club!"

Shinji Kaminaga said decisively, placing the umbrella directly on the swing, then stretching out his arm and quickly passing it through the back of her slender legs.

Shiina Mahiru gasped as her petite body was lifted up in a princess carry.

Shiina Mahiru snapped out of her daze, her face flushing red, and she instinctively struggled.

"Put me down, Kaminaga-kun, what—what are you going to do?"

"Shiina-kun, please be good. It's all over now. Let's go home."

Shinji Kaminaga said softly, then, ignoring the umbrella, he carried her through the heavy rain and walked step by step toward the apartment.

Hearing his gentle voice, Shiina Mahiru's body trembled, and she felt a lump in her throat, almost bursting into tears.

Why is this guy being so gentle with me?

Moreover, he told her to "be good." That familiar scent wafted over her, making her heart race and her beautiful eyes widen involuntarily.

Shiina Mahiru's body went limp, and she stopped struggling, acquiescing to his act of carrying her home.

She was very unsettled.

His scent felt so familiar to her.

Could it be that the one who saved me and Yukinoshita from the vampire progenitor that night was really Shinji Kaminaga?