As night began to fall, the buildings on Academy Island lit up one by one, illuminating the coastline.
Meanwhile, in a room on the top floor of the boys' dormitory, chaos erupted.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The sound of gunfire echoed as bullets shattered the glass and shot out from the room.
Soon after, a loud voice rang out from inside the room.
"Holes! I'll shoot holes in you!"
Accompanied by the sharp cry, more gunshots resounded in the room.
Bullets whizzed through the air at near supersonic speed and they were all aimed at Fang Li, who stood by the window.
But Fang Li, with a calm and almost leisurely manner, sidestepped the bullets with ease.
After dodging the bullets, Fang Li looked ahead.
There, Aria held two Colt Government Model pistols, one black and one white. Her face was filled with anger and her eyes brimming with tears, as she yelled at Fang Li.
"If you're not dead, then hurry up and come back, you idiot Fang Li!"
In her rage, Aria continued to fire at Fang Li, completely losing control.
This rampage began right after Aria woke up, saw Fang Li, and stayed silent for a moment before bursting into this fit of anger.
"Making me worry so much, and then you sneak back while I'm asleep?"
"Are you a businessman coming back from some social event?"
"You… you…"
As she spoke, Aria stomped her feet in frustration.
"Holes! Holes! I'll definitely put holes in you!"
At this moment, Aria's worry for Fang Li had completely transformed into anger. She fired her Colts without holding back, relentlessly shooting at him.
Unfortunately for her, bullets no longer posed much of a threat to Fang Li.
With just a few steps, Fang Li easily dodged all the incoming bullets and he couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Aria's tear-filled, frustrated expression and spoke.
"I know I came back too late, but can't we talk this out? Do you really have to resort to shooting me?"
"I don't care! This isn't even a challenge for you, is it?!"
"That's true, but shooting up someone else's room isn't exactly polite, is it?"
"What? Do you have a problem with that? You dare have a problem with that?"
"...I really want to say that I do."
"Shut up, Shut up, Shut up!"
For a moment, Fang Li thought he was hearing Shana's voice.
But Aria wasn't listening to Fang Li at all. She kept firing, filling the room with the sound of gunshots and the clatter of falling shell casings.
It wasn't until she emptied both guns that Aria finally stopped shooting.
Even then, she continued to glare at Fang Li with her teary pink eyes, her face red from trying to hold back her emotions.
Seeing Aria like this, anyone with any sense of patience would give in.
Not to mention, Fang Li wasn't angry at all to begin with.
With a helpless sigh, Fang Li asked Aria, "So, are you calm now?"
Aria didn't respond and just kept glaring at Fang Li before turning around and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She muttered, "I wasn't worried about you! So, I'm not angry!"
This statement completely contradicted everything she had said and done earlier.
With another helpless sigh, Fang Li softly said, "How about some peach buns from the top dessert shop in the harbor?"
Aria's shoulders trembled slightly.
Noticing this, Fang Li smiled and gently asked, "If I treat you to as many as you can eat tomorrow, will you forgive me?"
"You... you think that something like that can make up for the past three months of worry?!" Aria turned around sharply and glared at Fang Li again, shouting, "I won't fall for your tricks!"
Even though she said that, it was obvious she was trying hard to resist.
Her adorable behavior made Fang Li smile even more.
Then, looking straight at Aria, Fang Li suggested, "If you really can't forgive me, you can break off our partnership. I won't stop you."
"Huh?" Aria was stunned for a moment, then panicked slightly as she stammered, "Th-there's no need for that, right?"
"Why not?" Fang Li teased her, pretending not to know. "Aren't you really mad at me?"
"That… that's a different matter." Aria stubbornly argued, "I'm not angry enough to break off our partnership."
In other words, she wasn't that angry after all, was she?
"Okay, but you still owe me an explanation." Aria insisted, looking at Fang Li seriously. "What exactly happened that day? Why were you gone for three whole months? And what about Great-Grandfather? Where is he?"
These questions must have been weighing on Aria's mind for a long time.
"…Alright." Fang Li hesitated for a moment before agreeing. "I'll tell you everything that happened that day."
…
In the living room, Fang Li and Aria sat together on the sofa.
Fang Li explained everything that happened that day, glossing over the details of his three-month disappearance, but otherwise telling Aria everything.
After hearing the whole story, Aria's expression became complicated.
"So, that means… Great-Grandfather is really dead?" Aria muttered softly.
"I can't be sure." Fang Li replied. "At least, I didn't see him die with my own eyes."
Since he hadn't seen Sherlock die, Fang Li couldn't definitively say that he was gone.
After all, Sherlock was too much of a legendary figure for Fang Li to believe he'd die so easily.
"Even if he said his time had come, I still believe he's alive."
Fang Li genuinely believed this.
After all, Sherlock was the first person to completely overwhelm Fang Li in every way.
So, Fang Li couldn't believe that he would die just like that.
"Honestly, I'm more concerned about something else than Sherlock."
With that, Fang Li turned to Aria.
Looking straight at her, he spoke the words that had been on his mind.
"And that's the Hidan within you."
(End Of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 70 chapters on my patreon and I've also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/GGS6395
As long as I reach 200 dollars on my Patreon, I will post 10 extra bonus chapters per month in batches of 5 for that month. If I reach 300 dollars then I will post 15 bonus chapters in batches of 5 for that month. If I reach 400 dollars then I will post 20 extra bonus chapters in batches of 5 for that month. So come and support me.