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

What's more, Hanamaru Hanabi is the kind of girl who doesn't know how to say no.

All the expectant, amused, and supportive gazes of her classmates were focused on her.

This increased her stress, making her even more anxious and nervous.

The air just froze.

The room was completely silent, and no one made a sound to disturb the development of the two.

The feelings are genuine.

Love letters are conspicuous.

Hanabi Hanamaru watched the boy bow deeply for a long time in silence, her pupils trembling slightly, and she pursed her lips.

After a long pause, she seemed to have made a decision, turning her gaze to the side, and her soft voice slowly drifted out:

"I'm...sorry..."

The soft, gentle words sounded like a bolt from the blue to the student in front of him. His face instantly fell, and his heart pounded violently with trembling hands.

He looked up, still unwilling to believe the result, and handed the pink envelope forward again with both hands.

"Please...please don't do this..."

Hanabi Hanamaru was forced to take another step back, grabbing onto Ayaka Rie, whose expression was unfriendly.

At that moment, the beautifully packaged and emotionally charged envelope in the boy's hand suddenly became dull and lifeless.

The boy still couldn't believe the result. Facing her delicate and lovely face, he cautiously continued to tentatively pronounce the words:

"Hanamaru-kun, please reconsider! I—"

"You can leave now."

A calm voice appeared before the boy.

Hanamaru raised her eyes, her weak voice still barely audible: "Uesugi-kun..."

Terai Hideo's expression now held unease and confusion. Facing the man who had suddenly blocked his way, he tentatively asked:

"You are--"

“I know you’re going to ask who I am, but I don’t need to tell you,” Uesugi Kai glanced at the envelope in his hand. “The important thing now is that you can leave.”

Terai Hideo's Adam's apple bobbed as he tried to catch a glimpse of Hanabi Hanamaru, who was behind him, but Uesugi Kai immediately blocked his way.

He couldn't help but look at him and said very politely:

"Excuse me, classmate... could you please move aside? As far as I know, Hanamaru doesn't have a boyfriend. What gives you the right to block my way?"

"You can't even gather information properly?"

Uesugi Kai thought his expression was fake. "I go to school with her every day and you didn't even know?"

Seeing this, the surrounding students started discussing it amongst themselves, their eyes fixed on Hanamaru Hanabi behind them.

Already timid, she lowered her head further under everyone's gaze.

Seeing Hanabi's state, Ayakari was furious. As she helped Hanabi up, she immediately shouted at Kai Uesugi:

"Uesugi, get that guy out of here, he's no good."

Going to school together...

Terai Hideo paused, looked up at Uesugi Kai, and tried to keep smiling. "But...you're not Hanamaru-san's boyfriend right now...I just feel...I just want to..."

"Go now, immediately, right now." The voice brooked no argument.

Terai Hideo swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing, and tried his best to open his stiff jaw:

You can't—

"Do you think Hanabi is easy to talk to and will readily accept your confession?" Uesugi Kai interrupted him directly. "Do you think you're so charming just because you're a member of the baseball team?"

Terai Hideo looked surprised: "How come you—"

"Do you think you can gain sympathy just by looking innocent?"

Words, constantly exerting downward pressure.

"Do you think you can get Hanabi to agree to your request just by relying on the pressure of the surrounding classmates' gaze?"

Terai Hideo's pupils contracted, and he frantically looked around, trying to defend himself: "No! I just—"

"Is this your confession? Is this your so-called request for a lifetime?" Uesugi Kai looked at him with disgust. "Taking advantage of a girl's vulnerable personality, confessing before everyone has left, hoping she will agree to your request under pressure from her classmates."

His voice was much louder.

"Don't you think what you did was extremely shameful?"

Feeling the gazes of his classmates turning to him, Terai Hideo shrank back, clenched the letter in his hand, and said through gritted teeth:

"I just...I just wanted to..."

"Walk."

"But..."

"Hurry, let's go." Uesugi Kai said, enunciating each word clearly and leaving no room for argument.

"I..."

"Come on!"

After repeated stern rebukes, the boy had no choice but to leave reluctantly, glancing once more at Hanamaru Hanabi, who was hiding behind him with her head bowed.

He sighed inwardly.

Holding the envelope from which he had just confessed his feelings in his right hand, he turned and left, utterly dejected.

The students watching spontaneously made way for him.

At that moment, the whole world seemed to dim.

The next second, Ayaka Rie loudly chased away the students who were watching and lingering in the corridor:

"Alright! Alright! Everyone, hurry home, what's there to see!"

Once all the onlookers had left, Hanabi Hanabi finally dared to look up at Kai Uesugi, and said timidly in a low voice, "Thank you... Uesugi-kun..."

Her pitiful appearance reminded Uesugi Kai of the past, of the shy little girl who used to tug at his clothes and follow closely behind him.

"fine."

"He's at least a man," Rie Ayaka commented calmly, "and he's done right by Hanabi-chan's all along..."

Hanabi Hanamaru, who had her head down, tugged at her hand.

“Forget it,” Ayaka Rie sighed, re-examining Uesugi Kai, “Why are you so clueless about this? Weren’t you getting along quite well with that annoying Goto guy?”

"Doing pretty well, what do you mean?"

“As expected, he’s just like that guy Murakoshi,” Ayaka Rie gave him a disdainful look, without explaining anything further. “Let’s go, let’s go to the study session.”

After saying that, she took Hanabi's little hand and walked towards the stairwell. The huge corridor was now empty except for Kai Uesugi.

The setting sun scorched the sky, its fiery red color making the air feel heavy and oppressive.

"Murakoshi? I resemble him? Is that even possible?"

Kai Uesugi muttered something to himself, stopped in his tracks, and unconsciously looked up at the sky in the distance, which was gradually darkening.

A gentle breeze caressed my ears, a refreshing and invigorating feeling.

But for some reason, he just couldn't enjoy the sunset in front of him.

When Hanabi was confessed to, her heart felt like it was blocked and she was suffocating.

The pain of having something precious about to be snatched away by someone else.

He couldn't help but recall Ayaka Rie's words earlier, calling him a blockhead, and the way Hanabi secretly glanced at him.

He knew her very well, so well that he even knew her little sleeping habits.

They were childhood sweethearts.

She was the little girl sitting quietly on a bench in the park, smelling the fragrance of flowers; she was the figure following closely behind him on the street; she was the smile that presented him with flowers held in her delicate hands.

Do I... like her?

Kai Uesugi asked himself a question, and a series of memories flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

Among those radiant smiles, a snapshot from just a few days prior, of her shy and beautiful appearance as they held hands in the Imperial Garden, is frozen in time.

The image of her pursed lips rejecting the confession was deeply etched in my mind; her distinct features were engraved there, radiating a strange sting.

Should I make some changes myself?

The setting sun melted everything away.

###Chapter 30 The Streets of Tokyo###

When I arrived at the classroom, the sky outside was already somewhat dim.

Before entering, Kai Uesugi glanced at his watch.

18:09:25

He knocked lightly on the door and then pushed it open to enter the classroom.

In the classroom, apart from the four people he had invited at noon, only Haneda Nozomi was sitting at the lectern.

Leaning back in his chair, dressed in a professional teacher's uniform, he held up a "Comprehensive Chinese Language" textbook in one hand. His long, black hair was neat and elegant, clean and tidy.

Hearing the door open, Haneda Nozomi turned to him and said, "Uesugi, come in and sit down. You can do your homework for today first. If you don't understand anything, you can ask me."

"Ah."

Uesugi Kai agreed and casually found a seat near the front.

He glanced at Hanabi Hanabu subconsciously; she was very quiet, quietly doing her homework.

It seemed ordinary, but Uesugi Kai knew that she was still somewhat bothered by what had just happened.

Kai Uesugi tried his best to calm his complicated emotions and maintain a normal demeanor as he opened his schoolbag.