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

"Hanabi-chan, what's wrong?"

"Mom..." Hanabi Hanabi whispered, her face flushed.

"Mom...?" Noriko Uesugi looked around to make sure she was being called. "Hanabi-chan is calling me...Mom?"

"Um..."

Hanabi Hanamaru occasionally glanced up and saw her mother hiding behind her, secretly laughing.

Noriko Uesugi found the child incredibly cute: "Why is Hanabi-chan calling me 'Mom'?"

"Mom said...that way...Hanabi can become...my brother's wife..."

Hanamaru Hanabi's soft, sweet voice grew softer and softer, becoming increasingly shy.

Noriko Uesugi couldn't help but laugh, finding the little girl even more adorable.

Kai Uesugi, standing to the side, was utterly dumbfounded. Why would a six-year-old girl want to be his wife?

Who would marry a little girl?

He will not marry her in the future.

There's no way around it; our mental ages are too different.

Never mind, I'll continue reading.

Noriko Uesugi knew that it was Mieko who was encouraging her daughter to do this. This best friend was also incredibly irresponsible for joking about her own daughter.

However, if Hanabi were to become her daughter-in-law, she would definitely be willing.

Fireworks is such a worry-free kid.

Everyone says that it will be hard for men to find wives in the future, so it's good that my son has one in advance.

The children from both families will be going to school together from now on, so there will be plenty of time to build a relationship.

“Ah-Zhao”.

Upon hearing her mother's voice, Uesugi Kai put down her book.

Mrs. Uesugi led Hanabi Hanabi to him and said, "You can stay home with Hanabi-chan today; you don't need to go out."

Kai Uesugi glanced at the timid Hanabi Hanabi, then frowned and asked his mother, "What about my new book?"

“I’ll bring it back for you. Look, the snow outside has suddenly gotten heavier, so it’s not convenient to take you out. Most importantly, Hanabi-chan is hard to walk, so you’ll stay here and take care of her today.”

Trouble.

Kai Uesugi hates working with little girls; the little girls in kindergarten always want to play house with him.

I really... can't appreciate it.

When they get tired of playing, they usually complain of being hungry. When they are hungry, they can only eat a couple of bites of food before running off to play again.

Can I refuse?

"Aren't you going to stay here with Hanabi-chan?"

Uesugi Kai thought that Hanabi Hanamaru was still a child and wouldn't care about these things, so he didn't shy away from it and nodded, saying, "I don't want to."

Hanabi Hanamaru saw Kai Uesugi nod and lowered her head in grievance. Gradually, her eyes became a little moist. Then, the feeling of being disliked by her brother intensified, and tears welled up in her eyes. She raised her round little hand wrapped in a cotton coat to wipe away her tears.

"Hanabi-chan, don't be sad, your brother was just joking with you," Mrs. Uesugi quickly comforted her, and then, holding her shoulder, ordered her son, "You stay home and keep Hanabi company."

"..."

......

"Kai, take good care of Hanabi-chan~"

"Don't make her cry anymore."

After saying these two sentences, the two mothers left the house in the wind and snow.

Now, only the two of them are left in the house.

Looking at the little girl sitting on the sofa with her eyes still red, Uesugi Kai really didn't know how to get along with her.

###Bonus Chapter: Memories in the Snow###

I wouldn't say I dislike them.

After all, she's the girl next door.

Kai Uesugi really liked her eyes; they were sparkling and very bright.

"I don't dislike you."

Hanabi Hanabi simply nodded sullenly after he said that, and Uesugi Kai didn't know whether she accepted his statement.

She had just stopped crying, her eyes still red, her small hand holding the pen tip, circling around the ugly shark on the page.

She seemed to want to try something, but dared not put pen to paper.

After several attempts, I gave up.

He simply held the book and examined the shark.

Uesugi Kai felt that she was just like him, a quiet person who didn't like to play around.

When she was in kindergarten, she was always bullied by one of her classmates, and he even hit her with a ball and made her cry.

In Uesugi Kai's eyes, these were just children playing around, but the teacher wasn't there, and no one her age was willing to go up and comfort her. Seeing that the little girl was indeed pitiful, he went over and chatted with her for a while.

......

This happened a long time ago. Uesugi Kai remembers that Hanabi had just moved here not long ago.

Now, she just enjoys being alone.

A little girl followed behind him, but Uesugi Kai didn't know how to play with her, so he didn't pay much attention to her.

She was very well-behaved and didn't bother me. She just sat next to me and would watch her little legs swinging up and down to pass the time if she was bored.

......

Kai Uesugi couldn't quite remember what happened after that snowy day, but she vaguely remembered that she started teaching her to draw in order to stop her from crying. Unfortunately, her own drawing skills were terrible, and she ended up covering the pages of the book with all sorts of strange things.

Even though it wasn't exactly graffiti, she looked at it with great pleasure, even raising her still slightly red eyes to force a fairly sweet smile at Uesugi Kai.

When Uesugi Kai saw her bright, violet eyes, he realized something about her—something that set her apart from her peers.

......

The two ladies returned shortly afterward. They brushed the snow off themselves, took a box of takoyaki from their handbags, and handed it to Hanamaru Hanabi with a smile.

"I brought this for you specially, here you go."

Uesugi Kai didn't know how she viewed him, but the moment she got the takoyaki, she ran to him and said in a weak, small voice, "Brother, let's eat together..."

It's important to know that most little girls of this age don't understand sharing. Without much of a concept, they will always save the best food for themselves first.

That's just how children are; there's no right or wrong in it.

But the little girl in front of me is still the same as before; every time, she gives me the things she likes.

Kai Uesugi was curious about what kind of person she was in Kai's eyes that made her want to do this.

......

One day, after the heavy snow had stopped, Uesugi Kai had just finished breakfast when Mrs. Hanamaru brought Hanabi Hanabi to his house.

"Kai, Hanabi-chan is here to play with you again."

Upon seeing Hanabi Hanabi's timid appearance at the entrance, and at the request of her two mothers, Uesugi Kai had no choice but to take her to play in the snow in their yard.

While the adults chatted and enjoyed the warmth inside, he sat on a wooden plank extending from the living room, watching the snow falling from the sky.

Despite saying he was taking the little girl out to play, Uesugi Kai still didn't know how to interact with her.

All I could do was watch as she used her gloved little hands to mold one tiny figure after another.

Two of the snowmen were sculpted very tall.

Kai Uesugi asked her who she had sculpted, and she pointed to the little figures and said that they were her father and Uncle Uesugi.

There are two little people with long hair.

"Are these my aunt and me?"

"Um......"

Hanabi Hanamaru then sculpted a small snowman, about the size of a palm, but Kai Uesugi couldn't make out any features of it.

"Who is this?"

"It's my brother..."

"Oh, is that me?"

"Um..."

Kai Uesugi propped his chin on his hand and patiently watched her for a long time, but she still couldn't see her sculpt the sixth little figure.

She had already arranged the other five little figures in a row.

"One more is needed?"

"No, it doesn't matter..."

"Wait, why isn't Hanabi-chan in here?"

Hanabi Hanamaru first lowered her face, then slowly raised her arm and pointed to a small figure placed far away. The figure's body was incomplete and it was placed far away, with only its eyes looking in this direction.

Snowflakes drifted past her eyes. Uesugi Kai looked up and saw a small figure quietly sitting on the edge of the vast white snowfield.

The snowman's eyes were empty, but when it looked at the five little people, its pupils held a hopeful look.

"Is this Hanabi...?"

"Um..."

Why is it placed so far away?

Hanabi Hanamaru simply kept her face down and did not answer.