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

Uesugi Kai paused slightly before saying, "That was a private hot spring; the one we just saw was a public hot spring."

"A private hot spring?" Hanabi blinked her eyes under her little round hat at him. "Is it... just the two of you?"

There were only two people, and only one pool.

Hanabi Hanamaru understood what she meant: two people... in one hot spring pool.

Isn't the point to soak in the hot springs together...?

Staring at Uesugi Kai's face, Hanabi Hanabi's face seemed to react again, and she lowered her head shyly, saying:

"Mom...is always like this..."

Kai Uesugi also felt that his mother-in-law was giving away his little cabbage for free.

With such a fine cabbage, how could anyone be afraid of not wanting it?

Or perhaps, the mother-in-law really wants to have a grandson.

"So... shall we go now?" Uesugi Kai lowered her voice.

"..."

“Okay…” Hanabi Hanabi replied softly.

----------

Dogo Onsen consists of three buildings: the main building, the annex building, and Dogo Onsen Tsubaki no Yu.

It is a symbol of Japan's oldest hot springs. Originally a museum-level cultural building, it continues to be open as a public bathhouse.

Following the address on the hot spring ticket given to them by their mother-in-law, the two walked through two more streets before arriving at this retro-style annex hot spring.

The orange lights shone from the low ceiling.

When walking towards the receptionist, Kai Uesugi could touch the ceiling with just a reach of his hand.

In a typical hot spring hotel, after paying the bath fee, you can see the "men's bath" and "women's bath" inside.

However, this is a private hot spring, with only three rooms in the entire complex, so there is no distinction between male and female rooms.

Upon entering, you can see lockers and a wooden drawer covered with towels hanging on the wall.

The locker is for storing clothes, and the towels in the wooden drawer are for wiping the body or covering oneself.

The stone bathroom is decorated with murals made of fired terracotta panels, and is bright inside and open to the outside.

In the center of the open-air bath, which is surrounded by stones, there is a huge cylindrical "soup pot" spout. It is surrounded by a tall fence, and a clump of green bamboo adorns the edge of the bath.

The antique-style traditional baths create a unique atmosphere for the hot spring resort.

The difference between private and public hot springs is that the establishment provides some snacks and tea. On top of the lockers, there are teapots, teacups, and water mochi.

Ehime's signature orange juice and orange liqueur are also served on top.

You must take a bath before soaking in a hot spring.

On the upper right side of the stone chamber, there are three streams of hot spring water flowing continuously down from the groove above.

Looking at the rising steam from the bath, Uesugi Kai said to Hanabi Hanamaru beside him:

"Should we take a shower first or have some snacks first?"

Hanabi Hanabira interlaced her fingers on her skirt and said softly, "Let's... take a bath first..."

The air suddenly fell silent for a few seconds for some reason.

"Shall I help you wash?" Uesugi Kai noticed that she didn't move, but just stood there.

You can hear the sound of spring water flowing into the pool.

Hanabi Hanabi simply blushed and said, "Okay."

After changing out of her white dress in the dressing room and wrapping herself in a white towel, the girl walked out with her bare feet.

The girl's delicate collarbone and snow-white shoulders were on display.

Hanabi Hanamaru held the towel covering her chest with both hands, her face flushed with embarrassment as she didn't dare look at him.

"Kai-kun...go change your clothes first...Hanabi can shower by herself..."

The room was filled with fog.

Uesugi Kai simply nodded at her rosy cheeks, "Mm."

The dressing room was only separated by a sliding curtain, and next to it was a wooden cabinet for storing clothes.

After changing into a white towel, Uesugi Kai took his folded clothes and opened the closet.

The closet is quite large, and Xiaohuahuo's clothes were folded and stored here.

A red magatama, a colorful bracelet, a white dress, pink underwear, white harem pants, and a pair of panties that were secretly hidden in the lining of her clothes but were peeking out.

Ever since I asked her to come down from the tree in the park last time, she has been wearing baggy pants to avoid exposing herself.

Wearing a short skirt can actually be a very distressing thing for girls.

She's pretty, but when she squats or sits on a stool, she worries about whether she's exposing herself.

To solve these problems for girls, lantern pants were born.

After tying a scarf around her waist, Uesugi Kai went outside and found Hanabi already in the hot spring pool with her back to him.

Didn't I ask for help taking a bath?

Needless to say, Uesugi Kai knew that she was probably shy halfway through and didn't want to be seen naked.

After bathing in the hot spring, Uesugi Kai took some juice and water mochi from the cabinet and carried them to the poolside on a wooden tray.

Then, stepping through the water, I entered the hot spring.

Normally, people don't wear clothes or towels when soaking in hot springs, but Hanabi wrapped a towel around her chest instead.

The steaming hot spring water constantly warms every inch of your skin.

Uesugi Kai sat down next to Hanamaru Hanabi, picked up a water mochi from a wooden plate, and held it to her lips.

The girl, seemingly deep in thought, unconsciously opened her mouth and took a bite.

Then he chewed slowly.

Seeing that she only took two-thirds of the bite, Uesugi Kai didn't mind and ate the rest himself.

"What are you thinking about?"

Hearing the sound, Hanabi Hanabi snapped out of her daze and turned her little head over the spring:

"Kai-kun...is Hanabi annoying?"

Kai Uesugi smiled, picked up another piece of rice cake, and fed it to the girl.

Why are you suddenly asking this?

"Hanabi's personality...is really annoying, isn't it..." Hanamaru Hanabi buried her head in the spring water.

“Most of the time, I really don’t have much energy,” Uesugi Kai said.

"Hmm," Hanabi nodded from underwater, then popped her head out again and said, "Hanabi also feels a bit down..."

“It’s annoying… right…?” she asked him.

Kai Uesugi noticed that her pupils were trembling slightly and realized that this was a sign of her insecurity.

Perhaps this is the reason why I thought about going to study in a very, very far place.

Uesugi Kai put his arm around her exposed snow-white shoulder, pulling the girl closer to him:

Are you worried?

"Um......"

“But little firework always has to grow up, doesn’t it?” Uesugi Kai said, holding the petite body of the girl in his arms. “I can share your burden, but I can’t bear it all for you.”

"But don't worry, Hanabi, Kai-kun will always be waiting for you."

A strange feeling was flowing through the girl's heart, a feeling that compelled her to get closer to him and let him hold her.

"Kai-kun...do you ever think about fireworks?"

"Will do."

"Kai-kun, don't you hate fireworks?"

"Will not."

"Kai-kun, will you always love her?"

"Will do."

Hanabi Hanamaru held his hand, carefully feeling the lingering, indelible flutter in his heart.

"I'm sorry... Kai-kun... I'm sorry... Hanabi couldn't do her best... Hanabi is even very useless, very useless. I've always been protected by Kai-kun, and I've troubled Kai-kun with so many things."

"But Kai never disliked her, never said she was annoying, and never blamed her for her mistakes. Hanabi didn't know how to repay his care, so she could only secretly like him and only wanted him to like her back..."

"Kai-kun...isn't Hanabi very selfish...?"

"Isn't liking someone always selfish?" Uesugi Kai said to the girl's upturned, wet face. "Kai-kun doesn't want Hanabi to like anyone else either."

"So try to be happy. We still have a long way to go. Supporting each other, caring for each other, and giving to each other are what we should learn and grow along the way."

"Kai will always be there for Hanabi, helping her to change her many shortcomings."

"Isn't what happened during this period exactly what we like?"

The girl's hands were small and soft.

Just like her personality, she is gentle and weak, and can easily get hurt if she is not careful.

"Thank you..." she said cautiously.

“Then…” Uesugi Kai turned around, placed her back on the warm stone, braced his hands on either side of her, and looked into the girl’s bright, sparkling eyes. “Give me a kiss, okay?”

Hanabi Hanamaru closed her eyes and tilted her head back slightly when she heard his gentle voice.

The girl felt the heat of the hot spring, slightly parted her cherry lips, and let the other person push her teeth apart.

A sweet, warm current of love flows and mingles on the tip of the tongue.