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

“The other foot,” he called out, and then grasped the girl’s other bare foot, which was shyly exposed.

Hanabi Hanamaru felt extremely ashamed even though she was just offering up her toes.

"Kai, Kai-kun...why don't you try making the fireworks yourself...?"

"That won't do. You promised that I would help you from now on."

"But it feels so weird to have Kai-kun wear that..."

Uesugi Kai brought her two white-stockinged feet together and looked up at Hanabi Hanabu, who was sitting on a stool with her cherry lips pursed.

"Don't you think your feet and legs are pretty?"

"Can this even look good...?"

"Little Fireworks is an artist, so I believe she understands this better than I do."

"But... Hanabi feels something's off..."

"Strange?" Uesugi Kai smiled. "That Yako-chan who stomps on a watermelon, Hanabi drew her in a very erotic way."

"Kai-kun, don't... don't scratch!"

"Isn't that strange?"

"Haha~ Hahaha... No, you can't."

"Isn't that strange?" Uesugi Kai asked again.

Unable to withstand the tickling onslaught, Hanabi Hanamaru could only kick her legs haphazardly, panting heavily.

Kai Uesugi could clearly feel her tiny toes curling inward in his hand.

"No...not surprising—haha...Kai-kun...haha~...Kai-kun, please, please let Hanabi go."

"No."

###Chapter 216 Departure###

--------

dong dong...

“Father.” Uesugi Shio knocked on a backlit door of the Uesugi family home.

"..."

After a long silence, the sound of a wine bottle being put down came from inside the room.

"You can go now. You go today, and I'll go tomorrow."

Uesugi Shio's hand, which had been knocking on the door, froze in mid-air: "Still don't want to come together...?"

----------

After the rain, the sky cleared and turned a bright blue.

Water droplets hang from the verdant pine needles.

Here, lush greenery abounds, the path is damp, and the Uesugi family is strolling slowly through Sakuragaoka Mountain.

Grandpa Uesugi also returned home this morning, leading the way with brisk steps.

"Jiro... still hasn't come?" Old Mrs. Uesugi asked, looking up.

"It doesn't matter whether that kid comes or not, he can just stay like that forever! It doesn't matter!"

Grandpa Uesugi was very disappointed in him because of what happened a few days ago, and even his words were tinged with resentment.

Playing cards can attract a dozen or so inexplicably dangerous people to your home.

That makes absolutely no sense.

— He's just a guy who spends all his time being decadent.

Kai Uesugi and Hanabi Hanabi walked side by side behind.

"Grandpa seems very angry..." The girl's white summer dress swayed in the cool breeze on her slender legs as she peeked out.

"Isn't Hanabi angry? If those people were brought here by your uncle?" Uesugi Kai said to her.

Hanamaru Hanabi didn't actually know the cause and effect of this, only the general outline.

"Even so... Uncle probably didn't do it on purpose, right?" she said in a very soft voice.

Kai Uesugi looked at Uesugi Shio, who was supporting her grandmother. She hadn't spoken much these past few days.

"It wasn't intentional, but Sister tide will feel very guilty about what her father caused."

"But nobody blamed her..."

"It's not that everyone is blaming her, but that she's blaming herself."

Hanabi Hanamaru remembers that Uesugi Shio took good care of her when she was a child, often encouraging her with a smile and frequently writing letters to comfort her.

But since tide Jie's mother passed away, she has rarely seen that gentle smile in the lines of her letters.

The mountain path was muddy, the valley was serene and green, and insects and birds sang in unison.

The lush wild grass covered the clear spring flowing down from the mountain. Looking around, one could only hear the trickling stream, but could not see the babbling water hidden in the forest.

The group continued on their way.

Passing through a small pavilion and past rows of stone lanterns, the view opens up, and the surrounding green weeds begin to recede, replaced by clumps of vibrant crimson spider lilies.

That deep red, so fiery red, like burning blood, painted the path ahead as a "path illuminated by fire."

"This year's business is much better." Grandma Uesugi stopped and looked around.

Hanabi Hanabi stood on the bluestone, pressing down on the strands of hair that were being blown by the wind, her eyes reflecting a crimson wonder.

“The red spider lily,” Uesugi Kai said. “I don’t remember it ever having one before.”

“It was planted two years ago,” said Mrs. Uesugi kindly. “Originally, there were only a few clumps of wild flowers here.”

“This vibrant red expanse is truly astonishing,” said Mrs. Hanamaru, standing with Mrs. Uesugi.

“They’re growing very well. Grandma, have you considered transplanting a few to your home?” said Uesugi Kai, then squatted down and gazed at the bright red umbel-shaped inflorescence.

"Haha, it's not that I want to move it back to plant, it's that Akai wants to." Grandma Uesugi smiled and followed her grandfather, continuing to walk forward.

"It would be a great choice to use it as a garden flower."

Uesugi Kai didn't rush to follow. Instead, he picked a spider lily, held the green stem, and walked up to Hanabi. Under her clear, spring-like gaze, he helped her tuck it into her hair.

A gentle breeze stirred, causing the girl's white skirt to sway amidst the vibrant red flowers, and her soft short hair and the strands falling in front of her temples danced along with it.

Admiring her face, Uesugi Kai couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Kai-kun..."

"what happened?"

"If... if Hanabi is gone for a long time... Kai-kun... will you still miss her?"

"Why are you suddenly asking this?" Uesugi Kai squatted down again and picked another flower, placing it in her palm.

"I just... wanted to ask..." Hanabi Hanabi's fair and jade-like small hands clasped together.

Kai Uesugi stood up, while in the distance, Uesugi Uoshio supported her grandmother as they walked slowly away, their backs to her, exuding an indescribable charm.

"I will miss her, I will miss her terribly. For me, isn't fireworks my world?"

Hanabi Hanabi lowered her head: "Kai-kun is so outstanding, actually... he would be fine without Hanabi."

Kai Uesugi never considered himself outstanding, and he used the spider lilies he had just picked to adorn the girl's short hair once more.

"My efforts are only to ensure that Xiaohuahuo can have a better life in the future."

"Kai-kun!"

Amidst a sea of ​​vibrant red spider lilies, a young girl raises her head, her white dress, floral ornaments, and gentle breeze all enhancing her beauty.

"Hanabi...it might really be time for her to leave..."

Kai Uesugi was stunned, staring at the dreamlike yet real girl in the white dress before him.

"Why...?"

----------

Even the day before the Ghost Festival, many people returned to the town from the city to pay respects to their ancestors at the cemetery.

Passing by one stone tablet after another, each engraved with a name and a brief introduction, the ancestors of the Uesugi family are in the far left corner of the cemetery.

Uesugi Kai scooped the water from the small wooden bucket into a small groove in front of the stone tablet called "Water Receipt".

Grandpa Uesugi offered wildflowers he had picked along the way and placed a cup of wine he had prepared in front of his father.

"Sagawa, it's been so long, are you still angry?" The old lady Uesugi, who had her hands clasped together, opened her eyes slightly and said.

Grandpa Uesugi just stared at his father's name on the sign, "I will never forgive this man... no, a man who abandons his family doesn't deserve to be called a man."

“When Rina and I were crying in the snow, wearing raincoats and holding our mother, we didn’t see this guy at all.”

Grandpa Uesugi's sharp features didn't even want to see that name again, and he clenched his fist holding the food box.

"Heh, maybe he's having a good time drinking somewhere."

Grandpa Uesugi's real name was Uesugi Sagawa, and Uesugi Rina was his sister who unfortunately died in the earthquake.

The two children were raised by their mother alone from a young age, eating sweet potatoes every day and living a poor rural life.

The mother and her three children were essentially dependent on each other for survival.

"But he still came back."

"He's gone, that's all. What's the point of talking about coming back? I'm already doing more than enough by offering him a glass of wine every year!"

“Grandpa.” Uesugi Kai bowed to the stone tablet and stood up from his squatting position. “Speaking of which, don’t I also have a great-aunt?”

Uesugi Sagawa was very kind to his grandson, Kai, and said with a smile, "These are all old stories, nothing to talk about."

Seeing that his grandfather was unwilling to talk about it, Uesugi Kai did not press him further.

He had never heard his grandfather mention anything about his great-aunt before.