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

"So, now you can put down your hostility towards me, right? I'm not the scum you think I am."

Could it be... that I really missed out on him before?

Rie Ayaka seemed very conflicted about this. After struggling for a long time and being extremely unwilling, she finally spoke to Kai Uesugi after her face turned red:

"Well... alright! I... I'll reluctantly believe you! But... but I have one last question!"

"Go ahead."

Uesugi Kai glanced at her; her stuttering made her look like a haughty tsundere.

Ayaka Rie coughed twice, paused for a few seconds, and then continued to ask, "Hanabi wasn't wearing any clothes inside just now, did you look inside?"

“…” Uesugi Kai’s heart skipped a beat.

"Rie-chan..." Hanabi Hanamaru was a little shy and quickly tugged at her skirt, but she was actually curious about this as well.

"No."

This time, Kai Uesugi has a clear conscience.

Hanamaru Hanabi understood.

"And what about before?"

Rie Ayaka pressed on, "Hanabi must have had similar situations before, judging from what she just said, you were there quite a few times."

Kai Uesugi paused, glancing at Hanabi Hanamaru, whose coat was already zipped up.

Rie Ayaka eagerly awaited Kai Uesugi's reply.

After considering whether to lie or not, Uesugi Kai gave his answer within two seconds, nodding in reply:

Yes...there is.

Kai Uesugi admitted that it did happen once.

In the past, when the two of them spent summer weekends alone, Hanabi liked to wear that T-shirt, and when I saw her collarbone, I would subconsciously look down at it.

Beneath the loose lapel, on the slightly somber chest, I saw... something I shouldn't have seen...

It wasn't that he didn't want to control it, but rather that his teenage body genuinely carried the stirrings of a young man.

The most beautiful things of a naive young girl are revealed before her eyes, and that tingling, numbing sensation stirs a heartstring that should not be touched.

And she was completely unguarded, and he even had the wishful thinking that he wouldn't be discovered if he secretly took a peek.

This series of things combined allowed him to sneak back a little and find a good angle.

Fireworks, of course, were completely unaware of it and had never noticed it before.

Therefore, after he looked away, a sense of guilt lingered in his heart, after all... Hanabi was only 14 years old at that time...

Ayaka Rie narrowed her eyes, her attitude changing from before to a questioning tone: "You were looking inside?"

"Yes."

"on purpose?"

“…” Uesugi Kai paused for a second, then said, “Yes.”

"Uesugi-kun..." Hanabi Hanamaru didn't dare to look up at him, biting her lip, her hands tightly clutching her clothes, her cheeks flushed with extreme embarrassment.

Ayaka Rie's expression suddenly turned serious:

"To do such a thing to a girl who is not yet an adult, taking advantage of the trust that Hanabi had as her childhood friend."

"Aren't you scum?"

"I guess so." Uesugi Kai wasn't sure if it counted that way.

###Chapter 58 Uesugi Kai's Complete Defeat to the Girl###

Weekends should be spent leisurely, like the fluffy white clouds in the sky.

But for some reason, the atmosphere has become a bit strange.

As Rie Ayaka's figure slowly disappeared around the corner outside the door, Kai Uesugi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Despite explaining so many misunderstandings, in the end, she still sees me as half a scumbag.

17:35:26

The afternoon passed uneventfully; he taught, they learned, and there wasn't much conversation.

However, what Uesugi Kai could sense was that Ayaka Rie's attitude towards him had softened considerably, and she was no longer as confrontational as before.

She probably thought he was the one who did the things he helped Goto with.

As a result, he always had that domineering demeanor.

"Uesugi-kun...do you really hate Riei-chan?" Hanabi Hanamaru asked from the entrance hall.

"I wouldn't say I hate her, I just don't understand why she has this kind of personality."

"Uesugi-kun..." Hanabi Hanamaru seemed to hesitate, "Does Uesugi-kun want to hear it?"

"Her affairs? Didn't you say we shouldn't talk about them casually?"

"If it's Uesugi-kun, then there's no problem."

It's that kind of talk again.

Kai Uesugi turned to look at her, and a pair of bright, clear, violet eyes appeared before him.

She has always looked at me with such trust.

"Hanabi."

“Does Uesugi-kun want to hear this? Riei-chan is actually a very nice person,” Hanabi Hanabi said to herself, meeting his gaze. “She’s always taken good care of Hanabi. Her personality is because of her father. Riei-chan only has a mother. Riei-chan said her father is…”

"Hanabi."

"Uesugi-kun?"

Hanabi Hanamaru noticed that Kai Uesugi was looking at her so gently.

Looking at her lovely, rosy-cheeked face, and at her clear eyes that sparkled with a hint of confusion, Uesugi Kai calmly said:

“I never blamed Ayaka. She hated me so much before, probably because she thought of me as someone like Murakoshi. She didn’t want that kind of person to get close to you, and she didn’t want that kind of person to hurt you.”

"Uesugi-kun...did you know?" Hanabi asked, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Uesugi-kun, I haven't been able to explain things clearly to Riei-chan."

"Fool."

Kai Uesugi extended his index finger and gently stroked the rim of her rosy nose.

"Don't apologize to me."

Hanabi Hanamaru was unusually sensitive to this action, and lowered her head shyly, waiting quietly.

Kai Uesugi smiled casually: "How can Hanabi alone explain Ayaka's strong personality?"

"You're too trusting of others, and I'm your childhood friend. No matter what you think, you'll speak up for me, right?"

"Whether I'm a scumbag or not, whether I'm sincere or not."

“In Ayaka’s eyes, you are just an innocent girl who has been deceived by me, this ‘scumbag’.”

"She's so protective of you, that's why she hates me so much."

"Uesugi-kun...do you understand?"

Hanabi Hanabi asked uncertainly, "Do you want to hear more about Riei-chan?"

“No need,” Uesugi Kai said, looking at the door that had been blown open by the wind. “She comes from a single-parent family, right? It’s probably not a pleasant story. I know there’s a reason for her personality, and that’s enough.”

"Alright, it's getting late, I should go home. See you tomorrow, Hanabi."

"Um....."

Hanabi Hanabi's reply was barely audible.

Kai Uesugi glanced at the girl in front of him and stepped down from the entrance.

However, just as he took a step, he was stopped by a soft, delicate little hand.

"Fireworks?" Uesugi Kai turned to look at her.

"Uesugi-kun, could you spend more time with Hanabi?"

"Isn't spending a whole day with me enough?" Uesugi Kai smiled.

"Because...Because Riei-chan is here too...Hanabi...Hanabi wants to spend some time alone with Uesugi-kun..."

Hanabi Hanamaru stammered as she held his right hand tightly, her voice pleading and timid.

"Hanabi, aren't you angry about what I did to you before? Even though Ayaka-san saw right through me."

"No...no..."

Hanabi Hanamaru's heart was pounding with anxiety. "Uesugi-kun...maybe...he must have seen it by accident, no, no, it's not Uesugi-kun's fault..."

Trust without reason.

Kai Uesugi didn't want her to think that way: "I told you, it was on purpose."

"Uesugi-kun...it didn't mean to..."

"I did it on purpose, Fireworks."

Hanabi Hanabi lowered her head and said in a weak voice, "It must be...it must be that Uesugi-kun is mistaken. Hanabi was wearing clothes that day, so Uesugi-kun couldn't have seen it..."

Are you still deceiving yourself?

Kai Uesugi smiled and shook his head, placing his hands on Hanabi's soft shoulders and shaking her forcefully until she looked up into his eyes.

"Hanabi!"

"Uesugi-kun!?"

Hanabi Hanabi's entire body stiffened under the force of his hands.

Meeting her somewhat frightened gaze, he said earnestly and solemnly:

"I did it on purpose! Fireworks! I secretly looked at your breasts that day, they were so white! So soft! I really liked them!"