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

As Uesugi Kai listened to the rustling of the bamboo in the night wind, he couldn't help but wrap his arms around the girl's soft, delicate waist and continue to bite her.

The flowing love caused Xiao Huahuo's little nose to occasionally exhale some hot yet gentle youthful breath.

......

They parted ways again after a long time.

Hanamaru Hanabi's violet eyes became watery, her cute face flushed red, and her two timid little hands were on his chest.

Their eyes met, and they gazed at each other for a long time, unable to calm the pounding in their hearts just below their throats.

The girl's scent was very sweet, but Uesugi Kai felt a little thirsty.

"Hanabi."

"Um......"

"A little..."

"......"

Hanabi Hanamaru lowered her head, looking at the ripples spreading across the hot spring water beneath her:

"Um......"

Kai Uesugi sat up halfway in the hot spring, the water just above his waist allowing him to comfortably open his body.

"Kai-kun..." Hanabi Hanamaru, wearing a white scarf wrapped around her body, blushed so much that it looked like she could be pinched to drip water, and kept her head down.

"Hmm..." Uesugi Kai closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and leaned his back against the rock.

"What should we eat tonight?"

“Auntie… um… didn’t you say… we’d eat sushi?” Uesugi Kai’s voice was broken.

"Are we... having sushi...?"

"Yes."

"Why sushi...?"

"I do not know."

Hanabi Hanabi's flustered state of mind led her to haphazardly try to find topics to talk about.

Chapter 219 Rain, and Under the Eaves.

Dogo Onsen Street is bustling and lively at night.

Even through the glass windows, one could hear the enthusiastic cheers of the people outside.

Hanabi Hanabi and Kai Uesugi had already put on the yukatas provided by the shop and were quietly enjoying the wide array of sushi in front of them.

Kai Uesugi picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of tuna sushi into Hanabi's bowl.

In the past, Hanabi would definitely thank him, but today, for some reason, she just kept her face down, looking like a shy girl.

The subtle interactions between the two men were clearly visible to the two ladies sitting opposite them.

Mrs. Hanamaru smiled, her eyes crinkling, and said, "Kai, do you understand what love is?"

love?

Kai Uesugi shifted his gaze from Hanabi Hanabi's small face to his mother-in-law's smiling face. Her slightly iridescent purple eyes were even brighter than Hanabi Hanabi's.

He was about to speak when Mrs. Hanamaru interrupted him with a smile:

"Don't agree yet. Think it over before you answer me."

Uesugi Kai didn't understand the meaning behind her sudden question, but he could tell from her eyes that his mother-in-law's words had a hidden meaning.

Mrs. Hanamaru was wearing a loose yukata, and her hair, which had just been dried, was loose and long, draped over her shoulders.

She picked up a piece of fish roe sushi with her chopsticks, chewed it, and then slowly said to Uesugi Kai:

"Sometimes we don't necessarily understand what the other person is thinking, do we?"

Just as she finished speaking, Mrs. Hanamaru interrupted the two people opposite her, beckoning them and saying:

"Eat up, eat up! This restaurant is called Fish Roe House. Based on my and Noriko's tastes, which we often use when we go shopping and explore new restaurants, it's pretty good."

"Didn't Mom eat a lot?" Hanabi Hanamaru reminded her.

Mrs. Hanamaru, with her slightly protruding belly, didn't show any of the reserve typical of pregnant women and replied with a smile:

"I don't know why, but I feel like eating more today."

"By the way, Mieko, have you decided on a name for your child yet?" Mrs. Uesugi interjected.

"There are still more than half a year to go, no rush."

Mrs. Hanamaru always seemed to have a happy smile, making her look very young. She kept gesturing with her chopsticks towards the sushi on the table, saying, "Noriko, aren't you also planning to have another child?"

"What, you want me to have another Huo Huo to continue to torment your little cabbage?"

"Haha," Mrs. Hanamaru laughed, covering her face, "It's still uncertain who is persecuting whom. Maybe I can even get back at them."

No, Mother-in-law, there's no chance anymore.

Kai Uesugi silently complained to himself as he fed Hanabi.

......

After finishing our sushi and filling our stomachs, we took a quick stroll around the tourist street that surrounds Dogo Onsen.

They drank juice together, ate cheesecake together, looked at each other, and gently wiped the dirt from the corners of each other's mouths.

At the souvenir shop, Kai Uesugi tied red chili-colored hair ties around Hanabi Hanamaru's temples.

Looking into her bright eyes as she faced him, his heart couldn't help but beat faster.

The thought of a girl like this leaving him fills him with a profound sense of emptiness.

If she's no longer by my side, what direction will I have to strive for?

"Is it not pretty?" Under the bright lights of the gift shop, Hanabi Hanamaru called out to him when she saw him staring blankly.

"No, it looks great." Uesugi Kai smiled at the girl.

In my heart, I still kept recalling Mrs. Hanamaru's words.

Suddenly, the outside became noisy, with shouts like a tsunami and thunderous drumming followed.

The surrounding crowd all looked in the same direction, their pupils reflecting the magnificent and breathtakingly beautiful floats.

"Want to go out and take a look?" Uesugi Kai asked.

Hanabi Hanamaru's response to his invitation will always be the same:

"Um......"

The dazzling lights reflected each other, and people holding round fans smiled during the festival.

During the grand and elaborate parade of floats, the Edo-style streets, reminiscent of a castle, appear beautiful and profound against the night sky.

--------

August 16th, Weather: Rain

Uesugi Kai sat on the veranda of the mansion, listening to the light rain, gazing alone at the garden where the flowers and plants had been rearranged, feeling a chill in his heart.

The eerie red spider lilies were soaked by the rain, and their leafless branches swayed and drooped incessantly.

—The flowers are not seen from the leaves, and the leaves are not seen from the flowers.

The flower language of this longing that can never be touched is "sad memories".

“Here I am.” Uesugi Shio, dressed casually, sat down next to Uesugi Kai.

"Is Shio looking for me?" Uesugi Kai asked casually, her gaze falling on the moss on the stone beneath her dangling legs.

"No," Uesugi Shio said listlessly.

"Is it boredom?"

"It's because I'm bored."

Is Uncle still playing cards?

“That’s just how he is,” Uesugi Shio said, opening the lollipop wrapper but not eating it right away. “And he will always be like that.”

The rain seemed to have gotten heavier, cascading down Grandma's money tree, which was full of green leaves.

"You can let your uncle try to find another relationship."

Uesugi Shio rewrapped the lollipop in the newly opened wrapper and handed it to him, tapping him on the head with it.

"When did A-Zhao start coming up with such terrible ideas?"

Uesugi Kai ignored the tap on his head, since he didn't feel anything. "It always has to be changed."

"The problem is that it's not so easy to change, and besides, with his slovenly appearance... no one would want him anymore."

The bright red spider lilies in front of us looked even heavier after being soaked by the rain, their slender branches seemingly about to break.

"Sister tide, you must have had a very tiring time these past few years, right?" Uesugi Kai knew that her uncle didn't like her very much because of her aunt.

Uesugi Shio smiled and said, "Why is Kai concerned about her older sister? Hanabi-chan is going abroad soon, right? I think you should cherish this time and spend more time with her."

"What is Shio-nee's dream?" Uesugi Kai asked, looking at the raindrops falling from the eaves.

"No."

"No? I think Sister tide seems like someone with a lot of dreams."

Why would A-Zhao have such a thought?

"Sister tide, you work very hard in kendo, right? Everyone at the sports festival is saying that the new captain is very strong."

"Is hard work the same as dreaming?"

“Isn’t that right?” Uesugi Kai said.

“There are many reasons to work hard, and dreams are just one of them.” Uesugi Shio stretched out her left hand and rested it on her raised leg, while picking up the stick of a lollipop with her right hand.

"Sometimes, dreams are not absolute, and there are things in life that are more precious than dreams."