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

Kai Uesugi put the phone he had just hung up back into his pocket.

On the way home, the sound of the plastic bag swaying and the rain hitting the umbrella were clearly mingled together.

The words Goto had invited me to the class reunion kept echoing in my mind.

To say it's perfect is an understatement; it's been imperfect for a long time now.

Uesugi Kai continued walking, the sky overcast with rain, filled with an unyielding chill.

......

open the door.

"I am back."

Kai Uesugi spoke loudly because he secretly hoped that a soft, warm voice would reach his ears.

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

A street scene in Tokyo at 1:39 p.m.

Cold rain sprinkled across the transparent umbrellas that were being used to walk between the high-rise buildings.

"Welcome to 7 Days Convenience Store."

"Hi, Seunghye, 300 yen."

"Sir, starting in September, you'll be charged for plastic bags. Here's your change: 190 yen. Please keep it safe."

Thank you for your patronage. We look forward to welcoming you again.

After leaving the convenience store, Uesugi Kai, whose chin was now covered in stubble, walked home alone, holding an umbrella.

The whispers of raindrops hitting the umbrella's surface filled my entire body with a chill.

Kai Uesugi didn't react much, letting the chill invade his body as he continued walking through the rain-soaked streets of Tokyo.

He answered the phone, carrying a clear plastic bag containing two cup noodles.

It is the mother.

【Akai, the letter from the University of Tokyo has arrived.】

【Um. 】

[It says on the sign that the entrance ceremony will be held on April 1st!]

That's really lucky.

[Yeah, yeah! I can't believe you actually got in, A-Zhao! This past year must have been tough, right? What do you want to eat tonight?]

Kai Uesugi glanced sideways at the two packs of Nissin Cup Noodles in his plastic bag.

The pattering raindrops continued to fill my ears.

I've already bought some instant noodles.

[Instant noodles? No way! That's unhealthy. When you get home, just wait for me to go grocery shopping; it'll be ready in a minute.]

【Um. 】

Kai Uesugi hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.

Unexpectedly, it rang again.

It's Goto.

【Hello.】

[Haha, Uesugi, I passed! I passed!]

【Congratulations.】

Hey, you have no idea how tough it's been for me lately. Every night I wait for the envelope to arrive at home.

【Um. 】

Kai Uesugi, phone in hand, gazed at the passersby under their umbrellas as they brushed past him.

[Hey, Uesugi, are you alright? You don't sound very happy. Could it be that you...]

You've passed; don't worry.

[You passed? Haha, that's great! The University of Tokyo... I can't even dream of it. There's a class reunion on Friday, everyone's coming. Are you coming?]

【never mind.】

###Chapter 244 Before the May Festival###

For the next few days, Hanabi Hanamoto avoided him.

But she still agreed to move to a new apartment.

......

"The world is full of suffering, but the cherry blossoms bloom on their own."

"Why are you reciting Kobayashi Issa's haiku?" Totsuka Katsura asked, chewing rice and speaking indistinctly.

"Cherry blossoms herald spring, a time to reflect on the passing of another year. Every year, the beauty of cherry blossoms changes with each passing year."

Kiyosaki Takeshi lowered his head and used his chopsticks to pick up some buckwheat noodles from the bowl.

"When the cherry blossoms bloom again in the new year, I wonder if anyone will remember the beauty of the past."

“Kiyosuke, you’re not right about that,” said a quiet-looking girl with glasses across from him. “The past is a kind of beauty. When you pick out those beautiful fragments from the scattered memories of time and cherish them, that kind of beauty that makes you sigh is the most profound ‘beauty of memory’.”

“Memories will fade, disappear, and become blurred. Recalling the beauty of the past will only bring sadness and nostalgia,” Kiyosaki Takeshi said to Nana Umezu, who was wearing glasses.

"That kind of nostalgia is also valuable, and it is also a kind of emotional beauty."

Sadness is not beauty.

Nana Umezu put down her chopsticks and placed her hands horizontally on the table. "Then I'll have to discuss this with you."

"I'd be happy to oblige."

Hearing the two of them discussing literary viewpoints again in the cafeteria, Totsuka Katsura shook her head and said to Uesugi Kai, who was quietly eating beside her:

"Uesugi, don't you think they're a good match?"

“Hmm,” Kai Uesugi picked up a piece of broccoli and put it in his mouth, “What do you mean by that?”

“You see, they have very in-depth conversations every day.” Totsuka Keichi secretly glanced at the two people sitting opposite her.

“It’s just a discussion,” Uesugi Kai said.

“Grigoris said that lovers are often two pairs of people of different natures. Their relationship will bring contradictions and conflicts, but they will also tolerate and complement each other. This growing tacit understanding and respect will make the two people develop feelings of love for each other.”

"Who is Grigoris?" Uesugi Kai thought he was making it up.

Totsuka Katsura immediately took out her phone, searched for 'Grigoris' online, and then handed the results to Uesugi.

"A football player?"

Uesugi Kai confirmed that he was making it up; he probably didn't even realize that the person actually existed when he uttered that name.

At this moment, the two people on the other side who were discussing their viewpoints also stopped their conversation.

All four people at this table are from the Literature Department.

Katsura Totsuka has finished her ramen bowl. "So, how did the discussion on 'Is sadness beautiful' go?"

Nana Umezu smiled and said, "This Saturday and Sunday is the Hongo May Festival. What kind of science and education presentation do you think our Literature Club members should bring?"

The local May Festival.

Since the first Tokyo University Garden Party on May 5, 1923, a campus festival has been held every year in mid-to-late May on Saturdays and Sundays at the Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo.

The science department participates in science and education-related exhibitions, while clubs are responsible for various performances and programs.

The University of Tokyo will be fully open to the public for the next two days, and tourists, citizens, passersby, and students from other schools are all welcome to attend.

The May Festival, which has been held for nearly a century, enjoys considerable popularity.

Totsuka Katsura tilted her head, resting her chin on her right hand, looking thoughtful.

"Let's sell taiyaki."

"Literature is on display! Not food!" Nana Umezu emphasized. In fact, almost every class sets up its own special food stall on May Festival day.

“You can write a haiku on each takoyaki.”

How do you write a haiku on a taiyaki? And why does it have to be a taiyaki?

In fact, the May Festival is more like a recreational event, except that each department needs to present an exhibition with its own unique characteristics.

For example, the engineering department next door set up a small railway track at the exhibition last year, where people could sit on it and circle the entire venue.

Totsuka Katsurachi: "Speaking of which, science and education demonstrations aren't something we first-year students should be doing, are they? Isn't that the job of the third-year students in Hongo?"

Nana Umezu: "We also want to contribute."

Then, her gaze fell on Uesugi Kai, who was eating silently, followed closely by Totsuka Katsura and Kiyosaki Takeshi.

"..."

Uesugi Kai understood what they meant. "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Uesugi-kun, we don't really need to do too much. Just provide a few articles for literary journals."

"What about the content?"

Myths, legends, jokes, proverbs, riddles...

Totsuka Katsurachi: "Wait, isn't this a literary manuscript?"

Kiyosaki Takeshi: "These kinds of things are generally referred to as 'folk literature'."

......

After lunch, in the afternoon, Uesugi Kai went to the library to look up folk myths.

The public knows that submitting mythological records that have been compiled by predecessors as manuscripts for publication will be rejected.

To be more precise, such manuscripts should be based on oral accounts from elderly people, and then compiled and summarized.