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

So Uesugi Kai also made sure to unlock the door quietly. He put his luggage in the entryway, went upstairs to his bedroom, changed into a set of clean pajamas, pulled up the covers, and lay down on the bed.

Back on this bed, the temperature finally rose a bit.

Uesugi Kai gazed at the photo on the bedside table for a moment, then softly spoke to the radiant smiling face of Hanabi Hanabi in the picture:

"Good night".

......

......

The only sound in the air was the sound of rain.

He waited for a while before turning around blankly, collapsing onto the bed, and closing his eyes.

I feel so heavy every day.

......

Around six o'clock, Uesugi Kai woke up.

He got up quickly, went to the toilet to wash up, changed his clothes, and after everything was done, he sat on the edge of the bed for a long time.

dong dong...

knocking.

Aiyi peeked out from under the door: "Brother is back after all!"

"Good morning."

"Yes, good morning, brother."

Looking at Ai's little face, Uesugi Kai asked her, "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Does your brother make breakfast?"

"I think I did alright. I've been trying to learn, although I'm not as good as your Hanabi-neechan."

“Brother…” Ai’s hands gripped the door. She noticed that Uesugi Kai’s mental state was not very good.

"I'll go make it for you." Uesugi Kai stood up, supporting himself on his knees, and walked down to the kitchen.

He tried to keep breakfast simple, frying a few eggs, heating up some bread and bacon, and finally adding hot milk to complete the breakfast.

The two little girls, Ai-yi and Qian-ai-yi, sat opposite each other, while Uesugi Kai sat alone on one side, with the seat next to him empty.

"Eat quickly, I'll go with you to the parent-teacher conference at school today."

Qian Aiyi had just picked up her chopsticks and hadn't even had a chance to eat when she cautiously asked Shangshan Kai:

"Is my brother still not in a good mood...?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Eat first." Uesugi Kai said, picking up his chopsticks. He had just put a piece of bacon in his mouth when he stopped.

It tastes awful, it's too salty.

He tried other things; the fried eggs and cake were fine, but the bacon was too salty.

"Sorry... I must have put in too much. Don't eat the bacon yet, I'll take it and make another batch."

"Let me do it," Qian Aiyi said, stopping Uesugi Kai's actions and taking the initiative to go to the kitchen to make some more bacon.

The technique is not simply to fry it, but to sandwich it with lettuce. To make it delicious, you need to control the heat and the seasoning. The lettuce should not be too tough or undercooked.

When the bacon is served again, just take a couple of slices of bread and eat it; it's incredibly delicious.

Kai Uesugi even tasted a hint of the flavor from when Hanabi used to cook.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. Qian Aiyi learns to cook from her every day, so the taste seems like a given.

Kai Uesugi likes it very much.

But tasting something somewhat similar made me realize even more that I hadn't been good enough to her before.

She used to cook for herself every day with a smile, and you could always see her busy in the kitchen at night. It's the same after she got married.

He would hug her and tease her while she cooked. She would sometimes scold him and sometimes lean on him, but she was always shy, like a timid little kitten.

Now, that kitten won't be around anymore...

“This looks much better…” Uesugi Kai tried to recall the scene when she said those words. It was one morning when Hanabi was tidying up his clothes. Just as she was about to button up the last button, she suddenly looked up and stared at him, her hands on his open shirt, her eyes shining brightly.

"what happened?"

"N-nothing..." Hanabi Hanabi fastened the buttons on his shirt and buried her face slightly.

To Uesugi Kai, her voice sounded soft and sweet, like that of a young girl.

###Side Story: Horizon 4###

Kai Uesugi stood there for a long time, gazing at the brand-new building in front of him.

But isn't that how the world is?

New things replace old things, new events fill old memories, making people forget the beauty of the past and how they were moved.

Hanabi Hanabi's smile remained in my memory; her soft voice and the joy she showed when she received a gift were also veiled by a layer called memory.

The wind blew around him, and the rain pattered on the umbrella. This gust of cold air reminded Uesugi Kai of a question she would often ask when she was in a bad mood, leaning against him.

"Kai-kun... will you forget about the fireworks...?"

Kai Uesugi touched the silver watch on his wrist and recalled the dream he had been having recently... A girl stood in a dreamlike wheat field, the wheat rustling in the wind. She looked up at the bright moon in the sky, her hair swaying gently with her white dress. The moonlight shone down, and no matter how hard she ran, the girl could only leave an unreachable silhouette on the fluorescent horizon.

The school's preparatory bell rang, and Uesugi Kai could only pull herself out of her reverie.

Upon arriving at the teaching building, Uesugi Kai first found Ai sharing snacks with her classmates.

"Aiyi".

Several girls were quite surprised to see him. They greeted him in unison, and then whispered to Ai Yi from behind, "Your dad looks so young!"

Actually, it's the older brother!

But Xiao Aiyi didn't say that; instead, she let the misunderstanding continue.

When the little girls saw that Ai Yi had such a handsome and young father, they all looked at her with envy.

Is this considered a form of comparison among elementary school students?

Kai Uesugi also remembers some things. When he was in elementary school, his classmates would often talk about their parents' professions. They would talk about them openly, saying how impressive they were, and they were proud of it.

After the girls left, Uesugi Kai asked Ai:

Aren't you afraid of parent-teacher conferences?

"Oh, why be afraid?"

"Qian Aiyi told me that your exam results have been very poor lately."

"Will my brother spank Ai-yi?"

"Spanking is out of the question."

"Then there's nothing to worry about!"

Xiao Ai suddenly smiled in front of him, and that smile... Uesugi Kai thought it was somewhat like fireworks.

“Brother, you should be happier,” Ai said, putting her hands behind her back, swaying her skirt and looking up at him. “Sister Hanabi also told Ai that she should make her brother happier in the future.”

"...When did Hanabi-neechan tell you that?"

"Oh, it happened while I was resting at the hospital."

Kai Uesugi fell silent. She had known the future all along, but at that time she was in a very happy state.

"Take me to see the teacher first."

Parent-teacher meetings here are all one-on-one meetings, with two teachers communicating with each parent individually to talk about what the child is doing at school, how many close friends they have, and how their mood and personality have been lately.

Kai Uesugi met Ai's homeroom teacher, a slightly chubby female teacher.

She was also her and Hanabi's homeroom teacher when they were young.

She was very surprised to see Uesugi.

"You're the one who accompanied Aiyi this year."

"Um......"

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Kai was somewhat reluctant to admit it.

"Where's Hanabi-chan? I was a little surprised when she came last year. I didn't expect she was pregnant, haha. Although it wasn't very obvious, I could still tell."

When Chiri Imanishi saw this former classmate of hers, she couldn't help but smile.

She remembered that a few years ago, he and Hanabi had come to the school to celebrate Children's Day together.

These two children, who grew up together, must be very happy now, having gone from marriage to having children.

Kai Uesugi didn't know how to answer.

With a cracking sound.

A cup suddenly shattered on the classroom floor.

Chiri Imanishi turned around and found that Ai had run off to get water and accidentally broke a glass.

She rushed over and asked, "Are you alright?"

"It's okay."

Ms. Jinxi patted her head and said with a smile, "Be careful next time."

Kai Uesugi remembered that this somewhat chubby teacher used to be just as gentle and kind.

"Let the teacher talk to your brother about your recent behavior first."

The parent-teacher meeting had begun, and Aiyi peeked out from the classroom door, trying to peek.

As Uesugi Kai listened to Imanishi-sensei's rambling, she told stories of Ai's usual antics at school, such as how she hid a boy's homework while leaving traces so that the boy would think another boy had taken it, and the two boys almost got into a fight in the classroom because of it.

Ai, who was peeking out from the doorway, noticed Uesugi Kai glancing at her and quickly pulled her head back inside.

Apart from this incident, Ai Yi performed very well at school, except for her grades.