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

"Brother! I've been calling you for so long and you haven't woken up." Aiyi stopped shaking him only when she saw that he had opened his eyes.

Instead of paying attention to Ai sitting on her lap, Uesugi Kai picked up her phone from beside her pillow and checked the time.

19:13:26

It's 7 PM.

"Have you eaten...?" He was still adjusting to the light after opening his eyes.

"No! My sister hasn't come back yet."

"Didn't come back?"

As her hazy consciousness cleared a bit, Uesugi Kai took out her phone again to check the time.

It's confirmed that it's 7 PM now.

He lifted Xiao Aiyi off his stomach and placed her to the side, then sat up and made a phone call to Hanabi.

"Brother, I called Sister Hanabi," Qian Aiyi said, standing by the bed.

While listening to the dial tone on the phone, Uesugi Kai asked her, "What did Hanabi-neechan say?"

No one answered...

Just like Qian Aiyi said, no one answered the phone on her end either.

Kai Uesugi scrolled through his phone's contacts and called Sakakisa Kitagawa.

After a series of dial tones, the call was answered.

"Uesugi? What's up? I'm going to take a shower now. I'll get straight to the point."

Aren't you at school?

"Huh? It's so late, and I don't have any homework. Who would be working overtime at school?"

"What about fireworks?"

Kitagawa Sakakisa sounded a little puzzled on the phone: "Didn't Hanabi-chan go back a long time ago?"

Uesugi Kai sensed something was off on the phone: "Why didn't you leave together today?"

"She said she wanted to go home early to make you dinner. She went home early as soon as she finished her watercolor assignment today. We were still studying hard in the classroom. We just got home not long ago!"

"Around what time?"

"It's very early, around 3 o'clock."

3 PM...

But by 7 p.m., Hanabi still hadn't gone home.

Kitagawa Sakaki heard the silence on the other end of the phone, then asked, "Uesugi, you're calling because Hanabi hasn't come home yet, have you?"

"Ah."

Another phone rang suddenly, and Uesugi Kai looked towards Chiai's direction, following the sound.

She was pointing her phone screen at herself; the contact name was Firework Sister.

Kitagawa Sakakisa continued to press, "Hey, Uesugi, why aren't you saying anything? Hanabi-chan hasn't come home yet?"

"It's alright, thank you for your concern. I've gotten in touch with Hanabi."

"Oh, well... I'll hang up now?"

"okay."

After hanging up the phone, Uesugi Kai took the phone that Chiai handed him.

"Kai-kun".

Uesugi Kai recognized the uniquely weak tone in her voice, which meant she was alright: "Are you alright?"

"fine......"

Why didn't you answer Qian Aiyi's call earlier?

"...Hanabi just got on the tram... Uncle... he invited Hanabi to dinner... and to meet him..."

Uncle?

Uesugi Kai roughly understood what was going on: "He didn't give you any trouble, did he?"

"No, I just said a few words to Hanabi."

"Was it something like trying to get you to break off the engagement?" Uesugi Kai guessed.

"Um......"

"Did you see that person on the other side?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone; Uesugi Kai could even hear the train moving.

"It's Sekine-kun..."

"Is it the one who gave you gifts before?"

"Um......"

Kai Uesugi stood up, looked out at the darkening sky and smiled: "Come back soon, I bought you a cake."

Perhaps smiles are contagious, because her voice on the phone sounded much brighter: "The spicy cake from Akimori's shop?...Okay, Kai-kun, Hanabi will be back soon."

"Wait for you."

"Ok!"

Is there any more cake?

After Uesugi Kai hung up the phone, he realized that Ai had somehow gotten out of bed and was standing next to him, shaking his hand.

"It's not good for children to eat too much cake."

Aiyi used a child's voice to charm him: "Sister Huahuo eats more than Aiyi."

Uesugi Kai anticipated that his sister-in-law and younger sister would also act cute and ask him for food in the future, and he already had a plan:

"Would you like some spicy cake?"

As soon as Ai Yi heard the word "spicy," she kept shaking her head, saying no, no.

The incident where she was brought to tears by the spicy sauce from Hanabi clearly left her with psychological trauma.

"Aiyi, eat less cake." As the older sister, Qian Aiyi still had some pride, so she put her hands on her hips.

Aiyi made a face: "Sister is lying. You ate the most of the cake that brother brought back."

Qian Aiyi was stunned for a moment: "I...I only ate half of it!"

Aiyi: "I ate more than half a strawberry!"

Qian Aiyi: "Strawberries don't count as cake."

Ai Yi: "Strawberry cake, strawberries are also part of the cake."

"No, that doesn't count."

Even if...

......

With Hanabi Hanabi back, this little home finally felt truly warm again.

She was cooking in the kitchen with the ingredients she had just bought when Uesugi Kai hugged her from behind.

The girl had a slender waist; as I held her tightly, I felt an urge to pick her up and carry her.

Perhaps sensing his closeness, Hanabi's face flushed slightly, and she stopped chopping vegetables: "Kai-kun... Hanabi is cooking..."

"I know, but I just want to hug you." Uesugi Kai bent down slightly, resting his head on her petite shoulder, tilting his head to let the fragrance emanating from the girl's neck fill his nostrils.

"Hmm... Kai-kun, don't hug me so tight. Hanabi can be used for cooking." Hanamaru Hanabi's voice became soft because of his hug.

That's no problem, of course, but she smells really good.

Looking at her rosy, shy face, I really wanted to take a bite.

As she resumed chopping vegetables, I couldn't resist placing my hands on her waist to gauge the distance.

It's so thin, but it feels great to hold your hands on.

"You've lost a bit of weight."

“Being a little thinner…that’s good…” Hanabi Hanamaru couldn’t concentrate on chopping vegetables because of his movements, and her face looked like she had a cold.

"If Hanabi is too thin, your aunt will think that I haven't taken good care of you."

"But... didn't Kai-kun say before that Hanabi was too fat... that she had a bit of a belly?"

"That's to encourage you to go for a morning run. You can't do without exercise, or you won't be able to have children with your small frame. But I do like your small frame, that's for sure."

Uesugi Kai moved closer to her face, and he could feel the burning heat emanating from her rosy skin.

"How about we take a bath together today?"

Hearing the word "bath," Hanabi Hanabi became even more embarrassed, her voice almost inaudible: "Kai-kun, you must promise not to do anything underhanded..."

"Don't worry, I'll just wash your back today." Uesugi Kai took the opportunity to lightly touch her face for a moment.

Hanamaru Hanabi felt her heart flutter wildly because of his closeness and the way his arms were around her waist.

"Um......"

......

Having agreed to take a bath together, Ai-yi was distracted during meals, and asked Hanabi-neechan several times if she had a cold.

Of course, children shouldn't know about this.

Fortunately, each household in this building has two bathrooms; his and Hanabi's are on the second floor.

Kai Uesugi stood at the bedroom door waiting for Hanabi to change her clothes. About five minutes later, the door was opened.

She tied her hair up and wore a pink towel around her neck, revealing delicate and elegant lines to her upper collarbone.

The girl stood in front of him for a while, holding the towel on her left bra with her right hand. Judging from her expression, she was very embarrassed.