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

"I heard from Mieko that you two have already bought your engagement rings?"

Upon hearing this, Hanabi Hanabi blushed, and Kai Uesugi even put down the tea he had just put in his mouth.

"Yes...yes."

In fact, he couldn't understand why his aunt and his mother would do something so abrupt.

When I asked her a couple of days ago in the early morning, Noriko Uesugi only said that she and Mieko Hanamaru saw a VA jewelry store while shopping and suddenly decided to go in together.

When they came out, there were two more valuable red boxes.

She joked that it was only a matter of time, and that it was fine if she didn't want to wear it now.

So until now, he and Hanamaru Hanabi have kept those two things at home.

Hanabi Hanamaru was too embarrassed to bring up the topic. She hadn't even had a proper relationship for more than two days, yet her two mothers had already arranged an engagement ring for her.

This kind of thing seems extremely abrupt no matter how you look at it.

Seeing their reactions, Hanamaru Yuuki knew that this was a good thing arranged by his two best friends, Mieko and Noriko.

They're still kids, still in high school, so buying them early won't do them any good.

It's impossible for them to each wear it to school.

"Fine, fine, I'll buy it then," Hanamaru Yuuki sighed inwardly again. "It was my mistake to let Hanabi be in contact with you every day since she was little."

###Chapter Sixty-Eight: True Nature Begins to Reveal It###

The next day, Thursday morning.

As usual, on their way to school, Uesugi Kai and Hanamaru Hanabi were already walking on the road leading to Shingoku High School, surrounded by groups of high school students in their school uniforms.

Some couples who happened to meet were already chatting and laughing as they began their new day of conversation.

"Hey, do you think this photo I took last night is pretty?"

The photo on the phone shows a stretch of coastline in Odaiba Seaside Park, where a young girl is looking up at the camera and making the universally recognized peace sign.

The girl is quite pretty, it's just the photography skills and the people in the photos...

A boy wearing a high school uniform with a stand-up collar looked left and right between the photo and the girl.

Even at the very end, he still couldn't reach a conclusion, and cautiously tentatively asked, "Looks...good...?"

soon.

"Beautiful! Beautiful! It's really beautiful!"

The boy is very honest, just like Kai Uesugi, who tries even harder to be honest.

With familiar steps and rhythm, Uesugi Kai and Hanamaru Hanabi walked past the annoying couple who were flirting early in the morning.

Hanabi Hanamaru glanced furtively at the two people behind her, then turned to look at Kai Uesugi, who was much taller than her, and whispered:

"Kai-kun".

"What's wrong?" Uesugi Kai turned to look at her.

Hanabi Hanabi whispered, "Hanabi... has something she wants to give Kai-kun today..."

What is it?

Before Uesugi Kai could even ask the question, he saw Hanamaru Hanabi take a square box out of her shoulder bag.

She handed it out with her own hands:

"Give......"

The box is perfectly straight; you can tell what it contains just by looking at it.

"convenient?"

Kai Uesugi took the rather heavy bento from Hanabi Hanamaru's hand and subconsciously asked, "Did Aunt Mieko make me an extra one again today?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Uesugi Kai immediately felt that he had insulted his recently acquired 8-point IQ.

"You made the fireworks?"

"Um..."

Hanabi gave a soft reply, then lowered her head again. "Hanabi knows that making bento for Kai-kun isn't very original; everyone's done it before. But Hanabi can't think of anything good tonight. Kai... Kai-kun, just don't mind what I make..."

Hearing her weak voice, Uesugi Kai suddenly felt that there was nothing in this world that was unforgivable.

Of course, this kind of thing doesn't need to be forgiven at all.

“Nothing new is needed, the sentiment is enough,” Uesugi Kai said with a smile. He really wanted to touch Hanabi Hanamaru, who was looking down. “Kai-kun is very grateful to Hanabi for this sentiment.”

"Kai-kun...do you like it?"

The two did not stop and continued walking.

After a moment of contemplation, Uesugi Kai said, "Rather than saying I like it, I would say I find it difficult to respond to Hanabi's gift."

"Kai-kun, there's no need to think so much."

The girl's gaze was tender, her small face, as if painted with a brush, glowed with the faint light of dawn, and she spoke almost inaudibly...

"As long as Kai-kun is happy... that's enough... Hanabi is very happy."

Kai Uesugi was slightly taken aback; under the influence of those words, the bento box in his hand felt incredibly heavy.

Sometimes, he really didn't know how to respond to Hanabi's unconditional devotion.

Does someone like her really exist?

At least, that's the case for now.

Her sincere feelings truly flowed in her beating heart, warming and arousing.

Uesugi Kai's eyes were fixed on the school gate ahead, where disciplinary committee members were conducting inspections. He didn't slow his pace.

"Let's keep going."

"Ah."

He didn't even say a simple "thank you" because he felt that his words lacked any support and were just an empty thank you.

After carefully placing the bento box Hanabi gave him into his schoolbag, Uesugi Kai led her into the school campus.

......

Since the two were still secretly dating, their behavior at school was quite normal.

Aside from Ayaka Rie discovering something amiss because she knows Hanamaru Hanabi too well, their daily lives are proceeding smoothly.

Noon, after lunch.

Leaning back in his classroom chair, Uesugi Kai picked up the Manyoshu, which he hadn't finished reading yet.

"Thor moves slightly, piercing the clouds and raining down; will you stay?"

"Thunder God made a slight move; though it's not zero, I will keep my sister and those who remain."

These two lines of poetry also appeared in "The Garden of Words".

The general meaning is:

In the gloomy sky with faint rumbling thunder, I long for the arrival of wind and rain, hoping it will keep you here.

Even though I didn't get to see the wind and rain in the gloomy sky with faint rumbling thunder, I will still stay in this place.

The first sentence expresses anticipation, while the second sentence expresses waiting.

The poem is full of imagery, but just one glance is not enough to fully grasp the author's feelings when he wrote it.

This is probably why many people are not interested in poetry.

If you can't understand it, forcing yourself to study will make you extremely irritable, and eventually you'll become like strangers.

at this time,

Takahiro Tsubokawa returned to his seat, giving Kai Uesugi a mischievous grin.

Uesugi Kai glanced at him, noticed someone was missing, and asked:

"Didn't you go to see him? That Goto guy?"

"Goto has been caught!" Takahiro Tsubokawa suddenly exclaimed happily.

"What?" Uesugi Kai couldn't understand.

Takahiro Tsubokawa immediately said, "I was caught dating two girlfriends at the same time!"

"Two?" Uesugi Kai asked in surprise. "Didn't he say he was just going to chat on LINE? How did he end up doing such scumbag things? Is he trying to learn from Murakoshi-kun?"

Now, it's estimated that Rie Ayaka's dislike for him will intensify to another level.

"Who knows him?" Takahiro Tsubokawa seemed unusually excited about his friend's dramatic outburst. "Didn't you notice that he suddenly started eating with us in the cafeteria today?"

“What’s so sudden?” Uesugi Kai closed the Manyoshu in his hand, his tone calm. “It’s just that we didn’t get together for the first three days of this week, and besides, he left quickly after he finished eating.”

"NONONO!"

Takahiro Tsubokawa waved his outstretched index finger. "It was because he didn't come for three days in a row that I discovered some clues on the last day."

Uesugi Kai listened patiently and continued, "Yesterday, Goto went to the back garden, the day before yesterday he went to the rooftop, Monday he went to the cafeteria, and today, guess where he is?"

“There’s nothing in the front courtyard, he doesn’t like going to the library, and the central courtyard and club building are too crowded. Goto isn’t that stupid. The only relatively quiet place in the school is around the archery club area,” Uesugi Kai thought for a moment, “He went to the grove behind the archery club?”

"You got it right!" Takahiro Tsubokawa struck a pose. "As expected of Uesugi."

"Alright," Uesugi Kai looked at him speechlessly, "Stop doing these pointless things and tell me exactly what happened."

###Chapter Sixty-Nine: As a friend, Uesugi decides to lend a hand###

Do you know what Goto's girlfriend's name is?

"do not know."

Uesugi Kai silently placed the Manyoshu in his hand into the drawer.

"Actually, I don't know either,"