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

“I don’t know what Yuri has been doing lately, he hasn’t come to see me at all.”

He looked up, examined his reflection in the glasses again by the light of the incandescent bulb, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

-----

Today is July 21st. For the past two weeks, Uesugi Kai has been trying to complete the task.

Unfortunately, even spending every morning at the shrine yielded no clues.

"Uesugi, why haven't you been around in the mornings for the past two weeks?"

"I'm going to relax," Uesugi Kai replied casually.

Totsuka Katsura wasn't too bothered, knowing he wouldn't come to class every day:

"Final exams are coming up soon, how's your preparation going?"

Kai Uesugi, sitting in the back row of the classroom, glanced at the "Introduction to the Study of Life and Death" on his computer and said to him, "Are you sure you want me to tell the truth?"

"Stop, no need to say anything more. I know you must not have prepared anything." Totsuka Keichi took out a stack of bound materials from her bag. "This is what Professor Okuno asked me to give you. You missed many classes while you were sick and hospitalized."

Kai Uesugi took it casually; the cover read "Clinical Life and Death Ethics".

"Professor Okuno told you not to fall behind in your studies and to study hard."

This sounds like something a middle school teacher would say, but the fact that the professor was willing to give him personally compiled study materials shows that he still values ​​him.

"Why didn't the professor hand it to me himself?"

“I don’t know,” Totsuka Katsura shrugged. “He seems to have a lot of free time, and he sometimes goes to bars.”

If you don't know, you don't know. Uesugi Kai doesn't want to delve too deeply into it.

"Also, are you free this summer vacation? How about we go on a spring outing together?"

As Uesugi Kai flipped through the documents in his hand, he said to him, "Why are you always thinking about inviting me? Where's your girlfriend?"

"Of course she'll go, but it's more fun with lots of people, lots of greenery, and a vast grassland. We can have barbecue and beer there at night..."

"There are a lot of mosquitoes." Uesugi Kai glanced at him once and then looked away.

"Mosquitoes? That's no big deal. Once you start eating barbecue, you forget about mosquitoes."

“Your legs are covered in bites from last night,” Uesugi Kai said, closing the file and putting it away. “I have a competition in July, so I won’t have time to go on vacation.”

"Competition? What competition? Archery competition? Don't mention that. If it weren't for your name still on the archery club's recruitment board, which I see every day when I pass by, I would have almost forgotten that you're in the archery club."

"The way of the sword."

"You know kendo?"

"No doubt about it."

......

At noon, after leaving the University of Tokyo, Uesugi Kai hailed a taxi on the roadside to go to Hanabi Hanamaru's school.

The distance between Tokyo University of the Arts Ueno Campus and the University of Tokyo is only 2 kilometers on foot.

However, since she attends classes at the Ueno campus in Adachi Ward, she doesn't need to rent a place that requires her to take the train to school.

They would run into each other after a short walk outside after class.

Following her memory, Uesugi Kai arrived at the art department where Hanabi was located. Standing under the shade of a tree, she sent her a message, but before she could click send, a smiling man walked towards her.

"Uesugi-kun."

"Hmm." Uesugi Kai nodded in response, a very ordinary one, neither cold nor disgusted.

However, because of this ordinary response, Sekine Sagara felt that he had no presence in front of him.

"I didn't expect Uesugi-kun to come here at noon."

Kai Uesugi put down his phone and looked at the guy in front of him who was a head shorter than him: "No need for pleasantries. We're not that close. Just say what you want to say."

Sekine Sagara's expression remained unchanged, but his tone shifted slightly: "You're very smart."

"What's so smart about me?" Uesugi Kai asked with a smile.

"You seem indifferent and unconcerned, but you've actually already made your plans, haven't you?"

"I don't understand what you're saying."

"I know you understand."

Kai Uesugi calmly said, "Didn't you help Hanabi break off the agreement between the two families? I didn't do anything; she should be thanking you instead."

Sekine Sagara held back; he knew the other was teasing him. Given the other's usually calm and collected demeanor, he knew that Uesugi Kai definitely knew something.

He lowered his voice:

"You knew all along that this business marriage would be difficult to achieve."

Kai Uesugi smiled but remained silent.

Sekine Sagara wasn't a fool; from this moment on, he understood that Sagara had him completely under his control all along.

The marriage alliance has always been blocked by Hanabi's father, and it will take a lot of time for the Hanamaru family to achieve it.

Once the eldest uncle of the Hanamaru family presents his terms to persuade the head of the Hanamaru family, success is certain, but persuasion takes time.

It has a high probability of success, but it will definitely take time.

His idea was to make a breakthrough by focusing on fireworks.

Since it's difficult to persuade them, it's better to do them a favor, take a step back to move forward, and gain their favor.

We can develop feelings for each other later.

Given her personality, Sekine Sagara was certain that if he helped her resolve the troubles of the arranged marriage, she would definitely develop feelings for him.

But the reality is... Hanamaru Hanabi didn't feel any goodwill towards him because of the favor he did for her, and they didn't get any closer.

This problem only shows that Uesugi Kai was on guard.

......

Kai Uesugi looked at him with his hands in his pockets: "In handling this matter, I can only say that you overestimated yourself."

After figuring it out, Sekine Sagara's smile vanished. "I thought you were someone who didn't care about anything, but I didn't expect you to be so controlling. You know everything, and you've figured me out. But how did you know? Aren't you always loafing around outside? You even volunteered the other day."

"Don't you have a 'sister' named Yuri?"

Sekine Sagara understood instantly, and then asked, "What about the method?"

“A month ago, in the shopping district, you gave your sister 10 yen.”

He hesitated, but Sekine Sagara understood his meaning, and he was somewhat annoyed:

"Tch, a woman who only cares about money. Fine, you're something else, I know you're something else, but I won't give up."

"You won't give up?"

Kai Uesugi maintained a calm expression and a flat tone: "A woman named Komachi Hasezuka has been living a very extravagant life lately. She's been to LV, WCLOSET, GU, and Muji stores. But she's just a childless couple who doesn't even have a job and still relies on her elderly parents for food, clothing, and shelter. Why did she suddenly receive such a large sum of money?"

Why are you bringing this up?

"It's nothing, it's just that this woman from Hasezuka Komachi has an older sister. She got married and took her husband's surname, I think... it's Yamane."

His expression before could be described as angry, but he was still able to hold back. Now, his expression showed a bit of uncontrollable panic.

The suspect, who was arrested by the police for arson a few months ago, has the surname Yamane.

Kai Uesugi didn't look at him again. He took out his phone and glanced at the location information Hanabi had sent him. "The officers from the Ota Ward Police Station may be looking for you to ask questions soon. Please be prepared."

After saying that, she turned and left without waiting for his stunned reaction.

The sun shines brightly again today, and the shadows of the trees sway gently as the leaves move.

As Uesugi Kai walked along the road, he pondered his next move.

Based on what he has learned in the past two weeks, Sekine Sagara is not directly involved in this matter, but he is definitely connected to it.

His father-in-law told him something two weeks ago.

The executives of the securities company that caused Sasakawa Hotel's continuous losses had a junior high school classmate who happened to share the same name as Sekine Sagara's father, Sekine Aizawa.

It was precisely because of the incorrect information provided by that securities company that Hanamaru Sasakawa made the wrong judgment.

The hotel was losing money day after day, and the sudden fire was the final straw that broke the camel's back for the Sasakawa Hotel.

Coincidentally, the Sekine family's company had just undergone a hotel system reform in recent years, and the Sekine family was in urgent need of expansion. They had intended to acquire well-known hotels, but due to lack of funds, they had never succeeded.

While Uesugi Kai was hospitalized, Hanamaru Hiroki was investigating these matters, and he only made progress two weeks ago.

Kai Uesugi could even conjure up a business plan in his mind for the Sekine family to seize the Sasakawa Hotel.

However, there is no conclusive evidence yet, so it is too early to draw conclusions.

But for Uesugi Kai, Sekine Sagara was no longer going to appear before him; he should think about how to prevent his family from going bankrupt.

Buzzing.....

My phone vibrated.

Kai Uesugi stood in the shade of a tree, looking at the message Hanabi Hanabi had sent him on the screen.

Kai-kun, Hanabi is at the restaurant.

He smiled and quickly tapped the screen to reply.

Yes, I'll be there soon.

###Feel sorry###

Actually, this plot point is just a prelude...

The main plot that follows is that Uesugi Kai discovers something suspicious about the Sekine family through Yuri, and then tells his father-in-law.

After careful consideration, Hanamaru Hiroki sent his men to investigate again, but they discovered many more mysteries.

As for Kai Uesugi, he had also been secretly helping to investigate the sudden hotel fire without his father-in-law's knowledge.

He believes this is related to the Sekine family, who have a partnership with the hotel.

He can transform into a cat and, together with his father-in-law's subordinates, meticulously investigates various incidents, eventually discovering a woman named Hasegawa.