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

"of course."

Hanabi Hanabi glanced at Kai Uesugi beside her, her eyes... happy, joyful, curious—all of these, but not entirely; it was the kind of emotion that showed a faint sense of anticipation deep in her heart.

As Uesugi Kai continued eating her vegetable salad, she wondered whether to give her a necklace or a spicy cake.

After breakfast, with the fireworks display tonight in mind, Hanabi left early for the shrine.

After she left, Uesugi Kai looked at the two little girls in the living room.

"Qian Aiyi, what kind of gift do you think Hanabi-neechan would like?"

"Didn't brother already make up his mind?"

Aiyi suddenly interrupted loudly, "Ah! Aiyi knew that brother hadn't made up his mind yet!"

Kai Uesugi: "I felt that the previous one was inappropriate, and I'm asking now to get your opinions."

"I'm lying, I haven't thought it through! If you do this, Hanabi-neechan will be sad."

"It's true. I was thinking of giving you a necklace, but then I felt that wouldn't be very thoughtful."

Aiyi swung her legs on the sofa and pouted. Judging from her expression, she believed it.

Kai Uesugi then asked, "What do you think of the idea of ​​giving me a necklace?"

Qian Aiyi: "That's great."

Ai Yi: "No good."

Qian Aiyi looked at her younger sister: "That's great, Hanabi-neechan will be happy."

Ai said, "Of course Hanabi-neechan will be happy, because it was given to her by her brother."

"Then why is it bad?"

"Because my brother is not satisfied."

Giving a necklace is a good idea, but it's not very original.

Kai Uesugi still remembers the first time she gave a gift, and how conflicted she felt.

Do you know any handicrafts?

Yes, I will.

Kai Uesugi learned handicrafts when she was in elementary school, but she has almost forgotten them all.

Aiyi and Qian Aiyi should still remember.

“Then teach me, let’s make the gift together today.”

Qian Aiyi asked, "What is brother going to do?"

"Hmm... I'll keep it a secret for now."

--------

The staff room of Sawa Shrine's office.

"Hanabi-chan, what's in here?"

"It's a gift."

The girl in the shrine maiden's outfit laughed as she held the box: "Is this for your fiancé?"

Hanabi Hanamaru nodded somewhat shyly, "Mm."

"No wonder you left so early yesterday afternoon." Marina, holding the small box, looked at her. "What's inside?"

"I can't say right now."

The girl named Marina smiled and put the box back in her cabinet, saying with a laugh, "Ah, I understand, it's a secret now, right?"

Another girl peeked out from the other side, smiling: "Is that the handsome guy from last time? Hanabi-chan's fiancé is so handsome."

"I already have a fiancé."

"Yeah, yeah, it's so romantic! I come here to see Hanabi-chan all the time."

"You always bring cake over, right? Hanabi-chan likes cake?"

Hanabi Hanabi nodded absentmindedly.

The priestesses chuckled secretly.

Approach path, bluestone, streetlights, shrine.

The shrine maidens danced to the sound of bells inside the Kagura Palace.

It was afternoon, but the sun had not yet completely set.

Uesugi Kai brought Ai and Chi Ai to the vicinity of the Sumida River. Due to the fireworks festival, the area was already bustling with activity early on, with passersby in yukatas and food stalls and vendors along the roadside.

There was an uncle selling candied apples that looked pretty good, so Uesugi Kai bought three and gave two to the two little girls.

"Thank you."

"Ugh, I can't bite it."

“Apple candy is licked,” Uesugi Kai said, eating a candy that was half the size of his face.

These bright red, shiny apple candies have a sweet and sour taste when you bite into them; legend has it that they taste like love.

It's actually the same principle as candied hawthorn, except that the fruit is coated with a layer of red sugar.

Just one of those costs 1500 yen!

An apple, even the cheaper ones, costs less than 100 yen.

In the past, Uesugi Kai would have been a little stingy, secretly praising the boss for being a shrewd businessman!

Now, it doesn't matter anymore.

The Sumida River is a typical large river within Tokyo's urban area. Behind the cherry blossom trees on both banks are the city and buildings. Senso-ji Temple is located near the Sumida River, and the Tokyo Skytree, a landmark building, can be clearly seen from the riverbank.

Kai Uesugi was taking a walk along the shore with her two younger sisters. Ai seemed very happy and wanted to look at everything.

"Haven't you been here before?"

"No~" Aiyi looked at the goldfish in the small pond at the roadside stall, "Mom won't let Aiyi and her sister come out to play."

"Really?" Uesugi Kai stopped eating the apple candy and turned to look at Chii beside him. He thought that the mother didn't care about them at all, so she shouldn't restrict them in this kind of thing.

"Hmm..." Qian Aiyi looked at her sister's back.

Aiyi is back, bringing with her the little goldfish she just caught.

"Brother, look!"

"That's great." Uesugi Kai ruffled her hair.

"Don't touch my head, or I won't grow tall!"

"Who told you that? I'm going to beat him up."

Little Aiyi giggled, "It was Sister Firework who said it."

Little fireworks?

"That's it."

Kai Uesugi remembered that he used to pat her head a lot, and she seemed to really enjoy it.

"Does Aiyi miss her mother?"

"think."

"So Aiyi is still willing to live with her brother from now on?"

"Although I want to... but Mom is so far away. Aunt Noriko and Aunt Mieko are both very kind to Ai and my sister. They even give us clothes to wear. Hanabi's cooking is also very delicious, really, really delicious."

After saying all that, Ai Yi changed the subject and pulled Qian Ai Yi to go catch another goldfish.

Ai is very cute, and Uesugi Kai even looks a bit like Hanabi when she was a child, only a bit more mischievous.

Qian Aiyi is more sensible, with a very small beauty mark under her left eye, giving her an intellectual beauty. However, she is still a child, and her face has not yet fully developed.

Kai Uesugi has decided to take care of them as they grow up. Their father sends them 30 yen every month, so they don't have to worry about money. What they lack most is a home.

Now that I'm getting married to Hanabi, and I'll have two more younger sisters in the family, this is great.

The two of them have grown up—along with their younger sister and Hanabi's younger sister...

Four little ones...

Although it wasn't entirely his and Hanabi's responsibility, there was always a sense of weighty and long-term commitment.

"How about we rent a couple of yukatas? You probably haven't worn them before."

"Okay."

The house only had fireworks, not the right size for the two of them.

The idea is good.

But this is a fireworks display in downtown Tokyo.

There is one drawback here—too many people.

Too many to list.

The shop renting yukatas was obviously doing exceptionally well that day, with the queue stretching so long that police were needed to maintain order.

Kai Uesugi glanced at the still-bright sky, listened to the noisy conversations of passersby, and turned to ask the two little girls:

"What do we do now?"

"Let's go to another one, brother, you're so stupid."

However, even elementary school students can think of the same questions, and other tourists can also think of them.

The venue was still packed.

"What do we do now?"

"Let's go to another one, brother, you're so stupid."

After trying three different yukata shops and even walking back a bit, I finally found one with a slightly shorter queue.