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

As Hanabi Hanamaru spoke, a sweet smile appeared on her lips.

"No matter how you interpret this scene, it evokes a feeling of happiness in my mind."

She said it so calmly, so calmly, that it made people want to think deeply about what she said.

Kai Uesugi didn't know what to say, so he simply picked up a drink from the side, poured a glass of milk, and placed it in front of her, as a response to her words.

“Kai-kun, a girl’s feelings for someone come from the bottom of her heart. If Rika has liked you for a long time but hasn’t shown it in front of you, she must be holding something back.”

Hanamaru Hanabi's eyes reflected the fiery red sparks inside the grill.

"Hanabi understands this feeling. Sometimes, seeing someone you like happy is more beautiful than being happy yourself."

Uesugi Kai calmed down; he felt that these words didn't sound like something Kurohana would say.

From the moment she appeared before him, from the moment her deepest thoughts as Hanabi surfaced... she consistently displayed a strong desire for control.

—She wants Kai-kun to be with her, she wants Kai-kun to hold her, she wants Kai-kun to love her properly.

Now... has that intense desire for control faded?

Has that feeling faded too?

Uesugi Kai didn't know what he was feeling, but he knew clearly that he was starting to miss Hanabi, whom he had previously tried to tightly control...

Because that was her expression of love—concrete, intense, and clear.

"Hanabi..."

Hanabi Hanabi turned to look at him. The girl heard the unease in his voice and smiled slightly: "Kai-kun, there's no need to worry. Hanabi didn't say she wanted me to back out. It's one thing for Rimi to like Kai-kun, but it's another thing for Kai-kun to belong to Hanabi. Don't worry, Hanabi's love for Kai-kun will never fade."

"I see." Uesugi Kai breathed a sigh of relief.

On the other side, Akane Rina smiled and said to the two of them, "Why are you two so far away from us? Come a little closer."

"it is good."

After Hanabi Hanabi moved a little further away, Kai Uesugi also moved to a different spot.

"Also, would you like some beer?"

She shook the wine bottle in her hand, which had a thin neck and a thick body.

Kai Uesugi glanced at her and refused Erina Akane, saying, "No, Hana and I are both minors."

"Oh, I see. I thought you were already married, Uesugi, and well past 20." Erina Akane shook her head with a hint of disappointment, placed the bottle in front of her, sat down, and stared at it, saying, "What a pity. Alcohol is a good thing, a necessity for forgetting troubles. If there's anything that can make Japanese people a little happier and more positive in today's society, drinking is the answer!"

After finishing her sentence, Akane Rina opened a bottle of wine and poured it, then asked Totsuka Katsura, who was sitting opposite her:

"What about you? Do you want some?"

“I’m also a minor.” Totsuka Katsura glanced at the bottle of liquor she was holding, smiled, and shook her head in refusal.

"Where's Rika?" Akane asked in disappointment, then picked another person to ask.

"I am also... a minor."

"what?"

Akane Rina's gaze finally fell on the Tashiro sisters sitting beside her and diagonally opposite her.

Tashiro Yuri and Tashiro Yuno both shook their heads: "Underage."

"What!?"

Erina Akane let out a frustrated and desperate sigh. She looked at the people in front of her, then at the sake bottle in her hand. "They're all underage! In the end, I'm the only one drinking?"

Totsuka Katsura said with a smile, "Why don't you skip the drinks and have some juice and cola with us instead?"

"That won't do." Akane Rina hugged the bottle tightly. "We have to drink. We came here to eat barbecue, that's why we're here to drink."

"Cola is fine too."

"Phew~ No way, that's for kids. I'm not a kid, I turned 18 last year. If I'd known you were all minors, I would have called the manager. She can drink five bottles without even turning red."

"Alright, alright, everyone eat!"

Erina Akane has a cheerful personality, and the atmosphere at the barbecue party quickly became lively under her leadership.

After finishing a bottle of sake, she ordered an extra-large beer.

She took a bite of beef, then, holding a large beer mug in one hand, she tilted her head back, tilted her head back, and gulped it down into her stomach. A clear line of beer slid down her chin, and then, her cheeks flushed, she slammed the mug down heavily on the table with a long sigh.

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"Phew, that feels so good."

"Wow... amazing."

Totsuka Katsura was shocked by the bold way he drank; it was a scene that could only be seen in manga.

Akane Rina picked up a large glass of beer, holding the saucer in her right hand and suspending it in the middle of the table.

"Come on, everyone, let's have a toast!"

"Okay, cheers!" Totsuka Katsura was in a good mood today and was the first to respond.

"cheers!"

"cheers."

"cheers!"

The charcoal grilling heated up the small space, and combined with the warm lighting inside the shop, everything became lively.

"drink!"

After everyone clinked glasses, Erina Akane tilted her head back again and gulped down a whole glass of beer. With a series of gurgling swallows, she finished another glass of beer, bigger than a person's head.

"Ha~" Akane Rina's face turned even redder.

In this situation, Rimi Kohashi couldn't help but say, "Rina-nee... you don't need to drink so much... everyone else is drinking cola and orange juice or something like that."

"Phew~ You guys don't know how happy I am!"

Yuri Tashiro: "Even if you're happy, you shouldn't drink like that."

Erina Akane exhaled, turned her head and found that her glass was empty again, so she turned around and called out to the outside of the curtain, "Refill it!"

The waiter was very efficient. Upon hearing that the guests in the back room needed something, he immediately filled a bottle of beer, walked out from behind the bar, carrying a large beer glass in both hands, and came to the small room. He then lifted the wave-patterned curtain and entered.

At her sister's prompting, Tashiro Yuno stood up and blocked the waitress, asking her to replace her beer with a plate of beef.

"no!"

Seeing that the wine was almost gone, Erina Akane turned around and called out, one hand on the back of the chair, looking at the wine glass in the waitress's hand, and said somewhat absentmindedly, "Another glass, please."

"Guest." The waitress looked left and right, somewhat embarrassed, unsure of whom to listen to.

Rimi Kohashi: "Rina-nee!"

Erina Akane turned around again, half-hanging her head, and held up one finger, smiling at her as she said, "One more cup, one more cup, just one cup."

"No."

"Just one cup, just one cup!"

Left with no other option, Rimi Kohashi turned to Kai Uesugi and Hanabi Hanamaru for help: "Kiwai-kun and Hanabi-chan, please try to persuade Rina-nee as well."

Kai Uesugi glanced at her and noticed that Erina Akane's face was indeed very red.

Those large wine glasses were enormous; one glass probably held about a liter.

I just downed two cups, and if you add the bottle of sake I drank earlier, how much have I actually drunk?

Kai Uesugi advised, "Rina-nee, you shouldn't drink it."

“Uesugi…Uesugi-san? Hmm…Uesugi-san said so…Well…” Akane looked at the empty wine glass, then at Uesugi Kai, and smiled with narrowed eyes, “Half a glass, you can drink half a glass, hehe.”

Since she's already said that, what else can Uesugi Kai do?

"Alright, only half a cup."

"Okay! Half a glass it is!"

The waitress went out and placed a new small beer in front of Akane Rina.

The beer here is all freshly brewed in the shop, a large glass (one liter) costs 500 yen.

With only half a glass of beer left, Akane Rina drank slowly this time, only taking a tiny sip after each bite of grilled meat.

Taking a bite of the fragrant, fatty beef and a sip of sake, Erina Akane couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah~ that feels so good..."

Looking at her flushed face from drinking, Totsuka Keichi saw that this was the first time he had ever seen her so unrestrained. Before, at the store, her impression of him was just that of a very energetic female senior who was a little older than him.

"Rina-nee-san has a really high alcohol tolerance?"

“Hmm… I’m not a heavy drinker,” Akane Rina said, placing her glass on the table. “It’s just that I’m in a good mood. The store manager’s business is finally on track starting today.”

Uesugi Kai, with his keen senses, discerned the hidden meaning in their words:

"Manager, what difficulties have you encountered before?"

"Difficult... well, not really difficult..." Akane Rina stared at the grilled steak in front of her, her eyes half-closed in a daze. "Manager, actually, she's my aunt..."

"Aunt?" Everyone was surprised to hear this identity.

"Well...we're related by generation, but ever since the shop owner's parents both passed away, our two families have had very little contact. Then, because of something—" Akane Rina paused here, then suddenly laughed, "Never mind...I won't say more! A young girl meets a woman who has lost her husband and comes to Tokyo alone to start a business! For the dream of her loved one! Anyway...just know that it's a very inspiring story!"

"I...I won't say anymore, I won't say anymore...Let's all cheer up, everything is moving towards a better tomorrow!"

“However,” Akane Rina raised her glass with both hands toward Uesugi Kai, “I want to thank Uesugi-san more. It used to be so tiring for me to stand on the street handing out flyers, but now… hehehe, I can sleep in the shop every day.”

Kai Uesugi was suddenly kicked under the table by Hanabi Hanamaru, and then he picked up his cup as well.

Erina Akane held her wine glass and clinked it against Kai Uesugi's juice glass.

Thank you.

Uesugi Kai didn't know what to say at this moment, so she simply replied, "It's nothing."

"Haha," Erina Akane finished the rest of her beer in one gulp, sat back down, and laughed. Now she seemed genuinely drunk, leaning back in her chair and swaying her head. "Uesugi-san is really a good person, but when it comes to handling family relationships—ah!? Yuri, what are you doing?"

Yuri Tashiro suddenly stood up from the side, grabbed her arm, and apologized to everyone:

"Sorry, Rina should go to the bathroom now. Every time she gets drunk, she doesn't know whether she should pee or not."

"I didn't!!" Akane Rina retorted vehemently.