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

"I said I want it, so I'll take it. You can buy whatever you want." The domineering old man forcefully stuffed six Fukuzawa Yukichi cards into Uesugi Kai's hand.

Aunt Uesugi Yoshiko smiled and said, "Akai, this is your wages."

"..."

“It’s good to accept it, little one. Come here, Xiaoxi.”

The old man called Uesugi Shio over again and gave her the same wages from his wallet.

Uesugi Shio understood her grandfather's personality very well, so she didn't try to refuse like Uesugi Kai did.

"Grandpa, are you... really okay over there?" Uesugi Kai asked.

"You mean the farmers' association?" The old man with white hair chuckled. "Your grandson wants to help your grandfather?"

"..."

"It's too early for you two children to do this. Trying to take everything back from them would require more than just serious damage or even the destruction of your family."

Kai Uesugi knew that his grandfather rarely spoke in this tone.

"Do you see those orange trees that were cut down?" Grandpa Uesugi pointed to the hill behind the house.

"Ah."

"That was done by those guys who bribed someone to do it. Jiro was even injured because of it. Their purpose was simple and clear."

Before Uesugi could finish speaking, he said, “At that time, we had already gathered a lot of people, ready to fight back our rights, but after my tree was cut down, Jiro was injured and hospitalized, and their families were threatened, they began to waver.”

“Coercion and bribery are their common tactics, and I understand their judgment when faced with two choices.”

"And now?" Uesugi Kai sensed that his grandfather was unwilling to talk about it and had overlooked many details. He probably didn't want to deal with these things that he couldn't solve himself.

"Now?" Old Master Uesugi smiled. "It's a compromise, I guess. I'll continue to supply them with goods, and beyond what they need, I can find some channels to sell them myself."

"The reason... is naturally that they still think highly of the oranges that this old man grows."

In the end, Grandpa Uesugi's gaze returned to his two grandchildren:

"Ah-Zhao, Xiao-tide, I know that you came here largely because of me, but many things cannot be solved by adding two more high school students. There was also a reason why I was not at home before, which was because I did not want you to get involved."

"It's enough that you all live your own lives peacefully."

------------

Grandpa's truck disappeared at the end of the rain-drenched coastal highway.

Kai Uesugi opened a transparent umbrella and walked home with her cousin.

“Ah-Zhao”.

"Ah."

"Do you ever feel like you can't help with anything? I mainly came back here for Grandpa's sake."

"Let's do what we can, we're just students."

Uesugi Shio remained silent; she simply disliked the feeling of wanting to help but being unable to do anything about it.

The town streets were still damp with rain, with only a few pedestrians walking through them.

In the light mist created by the splashing raindrops, a person walked towards me on the road ahead.

He held a black umbrella, his shoulders slumped, his eyes looked listless, and his features vaguely resembled those of Uesugi Shio.

He stopped in front of the two of them and extended his hand to Uesugi Shio.

"Going to play cards again?"

"Money." Uesugi Jiro, looking haggard, simply stretched out his hand.

The rain pounded against the umbrella, making a loud thud and splashing noises.

"But you caused a lot of trouble for everyone last time."

“They just lied to me.” Uesugi Jiro glanced at Uesugi Kai beside her out of the corner of his eye, then continued to extend his hand.

Uesugi Shio was already used to the hand that reached out to her, but seeing her father's expression, she felt helpless and took out the 60,000 yen that her grandfather had just given her.

Watching his daughter take the money, Uesugi Jiro's outstretched hand remained suspended in mid-air, unmoving: "Is that all? Did you secretly hide money to buy lollipops again?"

The moment Uesugi Shio handed over the money, Uesugi Jiro, holding a black umbrella, coldly criticized:

"childish."

Upon hearing the last word, Uesugi Kai snatched the 60,000 yen that his cousin was about to hand to his uncle.

Putting everything else aside, he knew that Sister tide had never bought him any nice clothes, cosmetics, or other things that girls use.

All I had for myself was that cheap lollipop.

I thought she was saving money, but now it seems she handed it all over to her uncle.

"Give me the money." Uesugi Jiro, with his shoulders slumped, simply turned his hand in a different direction.

“I still respectfully call you uncle out of respect for my father, but you, who have never helped my cousin since she was a child, have no right to ask your underage daughter for money.”

Uesugi Shio was raised by her grandparents starting from the third year after her birth.

"What she owes me, she will naturally have to repay for the rest of her life."

"Give it to him, A-Zhao."

Uesugi Kai didn't understand what Uo-nee had to owe this fake father. "Are you sure?"

“Yes,” Uesugi Shio responded in a much lower voice than usual, “Give it to him.”

On the misty, rain-soaked street, a lifeless Uesugi Jiro clutched a neatly arranged 60,000 yen note in his hand and walked away in another direction, holding a black umbrella.

"What do you owe him, Sister tide?"

Uesugi Shio simply shook her head, then turned her head to look at him with her sapphire blue eyes and said, "Do you remember all the complaints I made to you before?"

"..."

"About your aunt?"

Uesugi Shio exhaled and closed her eyes, the sound of rain filling her ears as she reminisced for a long time.

“I don’t have any ambitions, but every time I think of my mother sitting weakly in a wheelchair, I feel that my existence is unnecessary. Without me, my father and mother would definitely be living a happy life now.”

For about half an hour after returning to the Uesugi house, Uesugi Kai spent his time thinking about his cousin.

Her mother was disabled and had always been in a wheelchair. Ever since he met this aunt, her expression had become worse day by day.

Kai Uesugi didn't know what illness his aunt had, but he knew it was a condition that started after his cousin was born.

The father, Jiro, was busy making money every day, while the mother at home was getting worse and worse, and debts were piling up to pay for her medical treatment.

In the end, it all ended with the mother leaving on her own initiative...

What was Uesugi Kai's deepest impression of Shio when he was a child?

That was her standing on the shore, gazing at the fishing boats trying to find her mother, with the townspeople behind her gossiping behind her, and her father sitting slumped on the shore, head bowed, holding those bills of paper, letting the tide soak his trousers.

Soon, young Uesugi Shio was sent to her grandfather's house in the same town. When she got up to use the toilet at night, she heard her father and grandfather having a big argument.

From that day on, she already knew that she was probably not liked by her father.

About half an hour later, someone knocked on the door.

Kai Uesugi, who had been taking a nap with his eyes closed, got up and pulled open the shoji screen.

"Sister tide."

"Yes," she replied. "Mr. Sakakibara is here. Are you going to practice kendo today?"

“Actually, a notification on the phone would suffice,” Uesugi Kai said.

"I think it would be better to come in person."

"Sister tide, these past few years... haven't been easy for you..., have they...?"

Uesugi Shio paused for a moment, "Because of what happened with my father earlier? Actually, no, it's just that I'm missing something."

"What is Sister tide's goal?"

Why are you asking this again?

There must be some reasons why people put so much effort into kendo.

"Akai," Uesugi Shio called out his nickname, "I should be more concerned about you than about my older sister. You've been so absent-minded these past few days. School is about to start, and you still have the goal of getting into the University of Tokyo, right? What about winning first place in the national kendo tournament?"

This time, it was Uesugi Kai's turn to remain silent.

"Originally... I did have some goals and expectations, but now I feel like nothing matters anymore."

So you're planning to give up?

"Not at all."

This statement was self-contradictory, and Uesugi Shio understood the reason for his state of mind.

"Why don't you call Hanabi back?"

"That was...her dream...I was too selfish of me to always keep her by my side..."

--------------

--------------

Kai Uesugi woke up at 10 a.m. and stared blankly at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling for the next half hour.

......

After a long while, I reached out with my right hand and felt around. Apart from the blankets, there was only empty air.

......

He's really gone...

Kai Uesugi opened his eyes and groped around for a while before finally managing to grab the phone with his outstretched hand.

He held his phone up to his face, pressed the power button with his thumb, and stared blankly at her adorable smiling face on the group photo wallpaper.

The screen turned off and on again and again.

After a period of blank staring, Uesugi Kai finally put down her phone and turned to sit up in bed.