Chapter 89

“Eh. If I remember correctly, it should be Ichinose Chizuru.”

Ichinose Chizuru?

Mizuhara Chizuru, right!

Lin Ye immediately remembered.

Isn’t this the female lead of *Rent-a-Girlfriend*?

Life is truly full of surprises; here comes another one.

“Lin-ge, what do you think……”

“Fine, I leave it to you.”

Lin Ye agreed directly.

There was no reason to refuse; even if the Otaku failed, he wouldn’t lose anything.

However, Lin Ye remembered that in the original work, Ichinose Chizuru wore pigtails and large glasses in college, dressing herself as a dowdy girl from the countryside, not attracting much attention from the opposite sex.

Could it be that in this world, the experiences regarding ‘Ichinose Chizuru’ had also changed?

“Good, leave it to me.”

The Otaku patted his chest, indicating it was handled.

This was an opportunity to foster his relationship with Lin Ye, and he would definitely seize it.

But how to go about it? He had a bit of a headache; he didn’t have a good lead yet.

Fujibayashi Ryou was unhappy. Although she kept a smile on her face, it lacked authenticity, making people feel she was forcing a smile.

Just then, a commotion broke out outside.

“Something happened, something happened! Someone is going to jump off the building outside the mall.”

“What’s the situation? Jumping off a building here? Was it a breakup?”

Many people, hearing this, followed the crowd out of curiosity.

“Let’s go take a look too.”

Arriving outside the mall, they looked up and saw a man and a woman. When Lin Ye saw their faces clearly, his pupils constricted.

Fujibayashi Ryou also saw them clearly.

“Lin Jun, they are……”

She had just tugged at his sleeve when a sudden exclamation rang out.

“Ahhh……”

“They jumped!”

“Thud, thud……”

Two dull sounds of flesh hitting the ground heavily rang out.

Lin Ye pushed through the crowd to get closer to the blood-stained corpses.

He used ‘Time Stop’ to further confirm their identities.

Kawasaki Yasunari and Miyata Chiharu.

Having died in the eerie school building, they had ended their lives in reality through suicide.

Was this suicide?

No.

Lin Ye didn’t believe it at all.

He returned and said to the Otaku:

“Contact that friend of yours immediately.”

“I, I just tried, I can’t get through.”

The Otaku’s face was pale, and the hand holding his phone was trembling uncontrollably.

“Keep calling.”

Lin Ye wanted to determine if this was a coincidence or an inevitability.

If he prevented the ‘suicide’, could they be saved? Would a price have to be paid? Who would bear that price?

He wanted to figure this out.

“I, I can’t get through on the phone. I’ve already contacted his father.”

Three minutes later.

The Otaku shook his head.

“Lin-ge, still can’t get through.”

“If you see him, or confirm his situation, send me a message.”

“Okay.”

But before leaving, the Otaku couldn’t help but ask.

“Lin-ge, if, if we had died over there, would we……”

“Hmm.”

“I understand.”

He bowed deeply to Lin Ye to express his gratitude and then left.

Fujibayashi Ryou, having witnessed the two people’s suicide with her own eyes, was hit with a massive shock.

If she had died, would she also have ended her life by suicide? Her sister would surely be very sad and heartbroken looking at her corpse.

The breeze under the sun blew through her short purple hair, and Fujibayashi Ryou felt cold inside.

“Fujibayashi.”

“Fujibayashi.”

After being called several times, Fujibayashi Ryou finally came back to her senses.

“S-sorry.”

She hurriedly lowered her head to apologize.

“Treat me to dessert.”

“Eh!”

“Don’t tell me you’re reluctant to treat your savior to dessert? Or do you need me to treat Miss Fujibayashi to dessert?”

“No, no, no, I’m willing, I’m very willing. Let’s go right now. Lin Jun, you can eat whatever you want, order anything.”

A flustered Fujibayashi Ryou grabbed Lin Ye’s hand and walked outside.

Outside.

Police sirens wailed ‘woo-woo’.

……

Coffee shop.

Lin Ye and Fujibayashi Ryou sat opposite each other.

By the window, a little sunlight spilled onto their skin, bringing a bit of warmth. For Fujibayashi Ryou, who had experienced the eerie school building in the dead of night, the sunlight brought her more peace of mind.

“Customer, two lattes, one strawberry mille-feuille cake and one matcha cake. Please confirm.”

The waiter bowed and left quickly.

“Still worried about the suicide from earlier?”

Actually, Lin Ye wasn’t unable to understand.

His mindset was so good, and he didn’t have much fear facing the eerie, because he had the trump card of Time Stop; he had confidence. But Fujibayashi Ryou was different. She was just an ordinary girl, at most an ordinary girl who had mastered some medical skills. If she really had to survive alone in an eerie instance world, the probability of survival was very small.

“A little.”

“Then what about more? We can be considered friends now, right? There’s no need to hide it from me.”

Fujibayashi Ryou thought for a moment and pushed her phone toward Lin Ye.

“I replied to my sister’s message, but she hasn’t replied to me until now. Could it be that she also……”

“That’s not possible.”

Lin Ye pointed to the message Fujibayashi Kyou had sent to Fujibayashi Ryou.

“If she had also been dragged in, Miss Fujibayashi Kyou would absolutely not have had the chance to send you a message.”

From the time they entered the screening room to the time they came out, it was a total of an hour and a half, just about the length of a movie.

Of course, the time they spent in the eerie school building exceeded six hours.

And it was the same with the ‘No. 18 Bus’ before; the time he spent in the eerie instance, time in reality would also pass, just at a different speed.

“So, don’t worry. She should just be busy for the moment and unable to reply to your message in time.”

“Mm.”

With Lin Ye’s comfort, Fujibayashi Ryou felt at ease.

She took a sip of coffee, the bitterness and sweetness spreading on her tongue, and then used a spoon to stuff a small piece of red-and-white strawberry cream cake into her mouth.

The delicate, smooth texture spread rapidly, filling Fujibayashi Ryou’s heart with joy and relaxation.

Sweets always make people happier.

“Lin Jun, you eat too.”

“Okay.”

……

Ten minutes later.

Fujibayashi Ryou went to the restroom, and Lin Ye waited outside alone. Feeling bored, he walked around nearby to stretch his limbs.

At 3:30 in Chiba, the sky was a vast blue. Feeling the gentle breeze, Lin Ye’s mood also became increasingly good.

“It’s him……”

Suddenly, an indignant female voice rang out.

“Officer Murakami, he’s the one who kidnapped my sister. Hurry and arrest him.”

Lin Ye turned to look and saw an indignant girl with long purple hair, and beside her was a police officer in uniform.

Silence spread.

Passersby at the scene cast their gazes over one after another.

“A kidnapper?”

“Someone just committed suicide, and now there’s a kidnapper. Chiba hasn’t been peaceful lately!”

“This man looks quite decent, how could he be a kidnapper?”

“But looking at that girl, she doesn’t seem to be joking. With such a pretty older sister, the younger sister must be pretty too. It’s not hard to understand why she’d be kidnapped.”

……

……

Passersby discussed among themselves.

Murakami stepped forward.

He had come to the Chiba mall to handle the couple’s suicide incident from fifteen minutes ago, and then this girl named ‘Fujibayashi Kyou’ had approached him, saying she had found the kidnapper who had abducted her twin sister.

The girl indicated that the kidnapper was not far away, so he had no choice but to come over and take a look first.

“Hello, I am Officer Murakami from the Chiba Police Station. Miss Fujibayashi suspects you kidnapped her sister. Please cooperate with my questioning.”

Officer Murakami asked.

“This is a misunderstanding. I did not kidnap Miss Fujibayashi Ryou.”

“Impossible! You and my sister disappeared from the movie theater at the same time, and no matter how I try to contact my sister, I can’t reach her. If she wasn’t tricked and kidnapped by you, how could she not have contacted me until now?”

Fujibayashi Kyou glared at Lin Ye, her momentum fierce, even wanting to rush forward.

Her sister was the person she valued most, a treasure she would never allow to be touched.

For her sister, she could abandon everything.

“You can check the messages on your phone.”

Fujibayashi Kyou took out her phone, only to find it had powered off.

“It’s out of power, it’s off. Tell me, where is my sister? She disappeared with you, you must know where she is. Don’t give me the lie that she’s already gone home.”

Lin Ye could still understand this feeling of concern for her sister.

But being called a kidnapper, this feeling was really a bit ‘special’.

“She’s right behind you, you can see her if you turn around……”

“Hmm?”

“Sister……”

Fujibayashi Ryou, who had walked around after leaving the coffee shop and seen Lin Ye, walked over quickly and discovered her sister, Fujibayashi Kyou, was there.

“Sister, that’s great. I thought something had happened to you.”

Fujibayashi Ryou took two small steps and rushed into Fujibayashi Kyou’s arms, hugging her sister tightly. Feeling the warmth of her sister’s body and the familiar, pleasant scent, her whole heart melted.

“Ryou.”

But why was it her who had something happen? It was clearly her who was worried about Ryou’s safety!

“Ryou, where did you go before? Why did you suddenly disappear, and why didn’t you answer your phone?”

“This……”

Fujibayashi Ryou hadn’t prepared an excuse, and now, being pursued by her sister’s questioning, she was at a loss and could only look at Lin Ye with a pleading gaze.

“We must have gone to the wrong screening room in the movie theater. The signal there wasn’t good, so we didn’t receive your messages. Miss Fujibayashi and I were wondering why you hadn’t come yet.”

“Then you could have come out to find me!”

Fujibayashi Kyou instinctively didn’t believe it; she couldn’t accept this reason. She always felt something had happened between Lin Ye and her sister.

“Sister, I…… I fell asleep. The movie was a bit boring.”

Fujibayashi Ryou whispered.

Facing her sister’s explanation, Fujibayashi Kyou recalled the beginning of the video; it was indeed very boring, and she had almost fallen asleep too. It was just that later, when her sister didn’t appear, she became worried and left the movie theater to start searching for her sister and Lin Ye, even calling the police.

“Fine!”

She huffed, deciding to question her sister properly after getting home.

Now there were too many people, especially with Lin Ye on the scene; her sister definitely wouldn’t tell the truth. Once home, as her sister, she would definitely make her sister tell the truth.

“Miss Fujibayashi, since your sister is safe and sound now, and it was just a misunderstanding, I’ll be leaving first.”

Officer Murakami felt helpless, but it was a good thing it was just a misunderstanding.

No one was hurt, no one was injured.

“Sorry, Officer Murakami, I’m very sorry.”

Fujibayashi Kyou apologized repeatedly.

“Be careful when going out in the future. As the younger sister, Miss Fujibayashi should also keep in touch with her sister in time; it’s not good to make your sister worry.”

“Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s fine.”

Murakami indicated it was fine.

“You too. Since the three of you came out to play together, don’t separate. It’s easy for the one left alone to let their imagination run wild and cause misunderstandings.”

He smiled and returned to the scene of the couple’s suicide.

Leaving behind a helpless Lin Ye and a slightly shy Fujibayashi Ryou.

“If I find out you bullied my sister, don’t worry, I guarantee I won’t beat you to death.”

Fujibayashi Kyou said the words ‘beat you to death’ in a calm tone.

“Sister, Lin Jun didn’t bully me. Don’t threaten Lin Jun like that, it’s not good.”

“Calling him so intimately, it seems something happened between you two in the few hours I wasn’t there that I don’t know about.”

Fujibayashi Kyou’s scrutinizing gaze went back and forth between Fujibayashi Ryou and Lin Ye. Lin Ye stood firm, showing no reaction, and Fujibayashi Kyou couldn’t discover anything. But Fujibayashi Ryou was a girl who couldn’t hide her thoughts; facing her sister’s scrutinizing gaze, she immediately exposed her guilty side.

“Hehe.”

She stared at Lin Ye.

“You tell me. If you tell me, I might consider letting you off.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Ryou.”

“Sister, really nothing happened.”

Fujibayashi Kyou realized it would be very difficult to get them to talk.

She wanted to question them further, but hearing the hushed whispers of the passersby around them, she dropped the idea.

“They say it’s a love triangle. The man is dating the younger sister, and the older sister is dissatisfied and came to stop it.”

“No, the older sister and the man are a couple, but the man isn’t honest, secretly asking the younger sister out to play, and then the older sister found out.”

“But this older sister is really ruthless! She called the police directly saying the man was a kidnapper.”