Living in Tokyo, all I want to do is laze around.

Is it because you can't find Kai-kun?

The girl scratched Uesugi Neko's chubby belly and looked at the sky outside the blinds. Where is Kai-kun?

------

Breakfast at the Uesugi family's house.

Mrs. Uesugi made extra beef curry today.

The kitchen was filled with the aroma of cooking and steam.

Uesugi cat paced gracefully across the table, waiting for breakfast.

Kenichi Uesugi put down his phone, his gaze following the cat's movements.

"Where did this fat cat come from?"

Hanabi Hanamaru said, "It came from the school... Hanabi wanted to keep it, but it seems to already have an owner."

"The school?" Kenichi Uesugi asked, sipping his morning tea. "They must have come quite far. Without identification, they probably don't have an owner."

Uesugi Shio lay on the table watching the cat walk.

"This cat has a gentle personality, but it's a bit fat and a bit lazy."

“Cats are meant to be lazy, so they’re easier to care for,” Kenichi Uesugi said.

"Can I keep Hanabi?" Hanabi reached out to touch him, and Uesugi Neko tilted his head to change the angle and gently licked her pink and white, soft fingers.

It's a little itchy.

"If you want to keep it, then keep it. It looks quite well-behaved. It's okay for an orange cat to be fat; it would be abnormal if it weren't."

Uesugi Neko lay in front of Hanamaru Hanabi, stretching out his four legs, letting the girl's small hands stroke him.

Uesugi Shio supported her cheek with her left hand, pushing the flesh of her face forward as if she were pouting.

"This cat seems especially close to Hanabi-chan."

"It looks about two years old, and its fur is very nice. This chubby cat isn't a stray," said Kenichi Uesugi. "By the way, where's Kai? Still not awake?"

Uesugi Shio pulled a piece of white paper out of her bag and waved it, saying lazily, "A-Zhao left a note saying he went for a morning run, ten kilometers, and will eat breakfast outside, so we don't need to wait for him."

Kenichi Uesugi took a sip of tea and smiled, "It's really rare for him to go for a morning run."

When Uesugi Kai was mentioned, Uesugi Shio fell silent.

There are some things that are not easy to say to elders, but since it concerns Hanabi's happiness, she needs to have a serious talk with Uesugi Kai.

It's too much to trick Hanabi into doing that kind of thing.

She's only a fifteen-year-old girl, still a high school student. If she gets pregnant, what will people think of her?

Should she continue her studies?

Although it's not really appropriate for an outsider to interfere in this matter, as the older sister of several people who grew up together, it's necessary for me to remind him.

A delicate girl like Hanabi isn't meant to be bullied or deceived; she's meant to be cherished.

Uesugi Shio couldn't help but shake her head when she thought about how Uesugi Kai would fool her when they were little and then go off to slack off.

I should use my swordsmanship to help him again.

###Chapter 156 A Balanced Approach to Offense and Defense Leads to Unbeatable Success###

It was almost noon when Uesugi Kai finally strolled leisurely to her front door.

It's indeed a bit troublesome to sneak out after getting dressed.

As soon as I opened the door, a bamboo knife blocked my way.

"Why are you only getting back now?"

Uesugi Kai glanced at the bamboo sword Senkabe blocking his chest and said:

"Ten kilometers, I ran far without realizing it. I was too lazy to run back, so I walked back."

"What kind of make-up excuse is this? If you're too lazy, why don't you take the tram back?"

"I'm broke after eating a bowl of ramen outside."

What noodle shop?

"Sugakiya Ramen".

"You don't have money to eat at this restaurant?"

"I'm poor, after all, I don't even have 200 million yen left."

Uesugi Shio gazed intently into his eyes; the light there was casual, not a lie.

"alright."

She put down the bamboo knife, her long black hair now neatly tied into a ponytail, with only a tuft of light blue hair hanging beside her face, making her look graceful and elegant.

Although her eyes were languid and listless, they couldn't hide her stunningly beautiful face.

Every time Kai Uesugi sees the faint outline of her cousin's face, she is reminded of her aunt who passed away suddenly after only a few meetings.

She used to greet him and Hanabi with a smile, and she was very kind and approachable.

Uesugi Shio placed the bamboo sword beside her leg, then took a lollipop out of her bag, tore open the wrapper, put it in her mouth, and said:

"I didn't mean anything by it, it's just that you disappeared early this morning, Ah-Zhao, which is a bit strange."

"It was already nine o'clock, is it strange to go for a morning run?"

Uesugi Shio's long left leg was pressed against her hip, and her right hand was braced on the bamboo sword planted on the ground: "What's strange is not the time, but the fact that you go for a morning run."

"Some people used to say that my morning runs were strange, but now they've disappeared."

"?"

This statement took Uesugi Shio by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"He has returned to China."

After saying that, Uesugi Kai added a few more words, "international student".

"..."

Uesugi Shio rolled her eyes at his lame joke, "I thought you did something to that person, but it turns out he just went back to his country."

"Otherwise, what does Sister tide think I would do? I..."

"Stop, stop, stop talking! You're taking the conversation off-topic again. Let me tell you..."

Kai Uesugi turned his gaze to the other side.

In the small courtyard next to the house, the roses that had climbed all over the wall had their petals scattered by the rain, looking far worse than the bread that had fallen into the roadside ditch.

The Uesugi couple and Hanabi were tending to his flowers, and while they were at it, they were also moving all sorts of flowerpots from the inner room out to sunbathe.

While pruning the flower branches, Hanabi chatted and laughed with Mrs. Uesugi.

My fiancée is already getting along well with her family so quickly?

However, Xiaohuahu has always been very popular with her parents.

Anyway, when the two of them are together, they treat her much better than they treat themselves.

"Ah-Zhao! Ah-Zhao! Are you listening?"

Uesugi Shiori half-closed her clear, bright eyes and kept waving a lollipop in front of him.

“No,” Uesugi Kai said, turning around.

"Sigh, I talked for so long, and you didn't listen to a single word?" The sigh made Uesugi Shio's already lazy expression look even more helpless.

"This kind of thing is normal for me."

Is it normal to be easily distracted?

Uesugi Shio leaned against the wall, her snow-white thighs under her super short shorts making her figure appear long and eye-catching, while the light blue earrings added a touch of color to her glossy black hair, preventing it from looking monotonous.

Her face is sculpted with exquisitely beautiful lines.

It's just that her beautiful sapphire blue eyes always seem listless, giving off a nonchalant vibe.

She casually stuck the bamboo knife into the umbrella tube against the wall and said nonchalantly:

"Should I summarize what I just said?"

"Better so."

Kai Uesugi was distracted again. He saw Hanabi accidentally cut off a beautiful rosebud with a "snip".

You could have just cut off the root suckers of the grafted wild rose!

My heart skipped a beat, then returned to calm.

Uesugi Shio knew he was watching Hanamaru Hanabi and continued, "What I mean is, Kai, you're being so irresponsible."

"Not responsible for what?" Uesugi Kai asked, turning around.

Uesugi Shio supported her left hand, which was holding the lollipop, with her right hand and shook it up and down, saying:

"The fireworks will be in your room tonight, right?"

"Hmm." Uesugi Kai roughly knew what Shio-nee wanted to say. "I didn't do anything."

"I trust you?"

Uesugi Shio was too lazy to look him in the eye to see if he was lying. "Besides, Hanabi-chan was perfectly fine after she got up. Kai, this is obviously not the first time you've done this."

"?"

How did the topic veer off course like this?

Before Uesugi Kai could speak, Uesugi Shio took out another bamboo sword from behind the door and threw it to him.

"I heard from Hanabi that you've been learning kendo recently. Let me see your skills first, and we'll talk about the rest later."

Then she walked out of the entrance hall, turned the corner, and stepped into his small courtyard filled with flowers.

The figure carrying the knife had no air of refinement, yet it exuded a casual, inexplicable pressure.