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

She seemed perfectly normal and appeared not to have heard their conversation.

Akane Rina kept giving Totsuka Katsura a meaningful look.

After dawdling for an unknown amount of time, just as Hanamaru Hanabi finished putting her things away and was about to leave the kitchen, Totsuka Katsura called out to her:

"Um... Hanamaru-san..."

"Hmm?" Hanabi Hanabi turned around, her voice calm and cold. "What is it?"

"I... actually wanted to ask you a question."

"Tell me about it." Hanabi Hanamaru crossed her arms, her violet eyes much dimmer than they had been that morning.

"You won't be angry if I ask you this question, will you?" Totsuka Katsura felt his scalp tingling, but Akane Rina, who had walked behind Hanamaru Hanabi, kept giving him winks and urging him on.

"That depends on the issue. If it involves privacy, it's understandable for a girl to be angry."

"this..."

Totsuka Katsura felt even more frightened. The reason he was willing to believe that Hanamaru Hanabi and Hanamaru Hanayu were twin sisters was because their temperaments were completely different.

Hanabi Hanamaru is approachable and has a particularly gentle and friendly demeanor.

Hanamaru Hanayu basically ignores outsiders, only showing smiles and concern to Uesugi Kai.

"If there's nothing else, I'll head out now."

"Wait a moment!"

"Then please tell me your problem."

The more Totsuka Katsura felt she procrastinated, the more embarrassed she became to ask, so she had no choice but to press on: "It's Akae-san who wants to know what kind of person Uesugi is in your mind. She's conducting an evaluation survey!"

Even without exhaling, Totsuka Katsura instantly felt much more relaxed.

"Evaluation survey?"

"It's like... evaluations of friends and colleagues, which she needs for her research in university."

After saying that, Totsuka Katsura was glad that she could find such an excuse.

Hanabi Hanabi glanced back at Erina Akane, who was slinking out of the kitchen, then turned back to him and asked, "Why didn't she come to ask me herself?"

"Senior, she... haha, is actually a little afraid of you, Hanamaru-san."

"Fear?"

"Well... well... let's not delve into that, Hanamaru-san," Totsuka Katsurachi tried to make her gestures sound relaxed. "Actually, I'd also like to know what kind of person Uesugi is in Hanamaru-san's heart, after all, he was my classmate in university, haha, hahaha..."

Hei Huahuo already knew what the two were planning.

The reason they took me and Kai to see that movie about infidelity last time was because of this.

She understood.

But... it seems really fun to let them keep misunderstanding each other, so she never revealed her true identity and continued to work here using her younger sister's identity.

"What kind of person is he?" Hanabi Hanamaru's face seemed to be recalling something, or perhaps smiling. "My brother-in-law is very handsome. He works out every day, and he has really nice abs. It must have been the day before yesterday, when he took me to a couple's place in Shibuya—"

Hanabi Hanamaru suddenly panicked and immediately covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I misspoke."

She looked flustered, but she was secretly delighted, wanting to see their reaction.

The rest of the story... refers to a love hotel, right?

It's over, it's really over.

Hanamaru Hanayu and her brother-in-law, Uesugi Kai, really have some inexplicable relationship... Totsuka Katsura's worldview has been shattered.

###Chapter 488 Another Firework About to Disappear and Melt###

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

As soon as Uesugi came out of the classroom, he ran to the school's bicycle parking area.

I hopped on my bicycle and quickly rode to the vicinity of yesterday's family restaurant.

When he parked his car, he took out his phone to ask Hanabi where she was. After sending the message, he immediately went into the restaurant.

Uesugi searched for the waitress who had poured him a Coke yesterday inside the restaurant.

"Excuse me, did the rather thin girl who worked here yesterday afternoon come here today?"

"Relatively thin..."

"It's the one with the rabbit jewelry on her hand."

"Ah...it should be Nanbu, right? She's still a high school student, it should be during class time now, she'll only come here to work in the afternoon."

"Do you know which school she attends?"

"You are..."

"Me? I'm her friend. Her parents said she's missing, and I'm here to help look for her." Uesugi made up a reason on the spot, not caring whether it was reasonable or not.

Seeing that he was in a hurry, the waiter didn't think much of it and immediately told him:

"It should be Hamamatsu Kita Private High School... I'm not very familiar with Nanbu, so I'm not too sure."

"Okay, thanks."

Uesugi quickly left the restaurant and used his phone to find the location of "Hamamatsu Kita Private High School".

As he opened the map tool to prepare for navigation, Hanamaru Hanabi replied to him with a message that popped up from the top of his phone.

Uesugi quickly clicked to view it.

"Would you like to come over?"

Uesugi stood beside his bicycle, tapping his phone screen to reply:

【Hanabi-chan, don't do anything stupid.】

Uesugi rode his bicycle, and Hanabi Hanabi's reply quickly popped up in the window.

【Kimi, kumi, kumi, you really care about Hanabi... I'm so happy... so happy...】

Upon seeing this message, Uesugi felt a chill run down his spine.

Is Hanabi-chan turning into a yandere?

That doesn't make sense; I didn't do anything to provoke her.

On the contrary, I've been very happy lately.

Although I might feel a little jealous occasionally, it's within the normal range.

Could it be...

Is this another firework...?

The fireworks that appeared in my dream before.

Uesugi was a little anxious. He rode his bicycle along the sidewalk, and while doing so, he freed one hand to send another message to Hanabi Hanabi:

Are you fireworks?

Hanamaru Hanabi's reply arrived in less than three seconds.

【...】

【...】

【...】

【...】

......

Ellipses popped up rapidly from the chat box.

One message after another, the phone continuously emitted pop-up notification sounds indicating that messages were being received.

Uesugi was sweating profusely from looking at the screen.

Then, the news abruptly stopped.

【Kimi...Kimi...Kimi...Hanabi knows...Hanabi knows, it must be that woman from yesterday who contacted you again...She said bad things about Hanabi...She said Hanabi is bad...Hanabi knows...Kimi wants to believe Hanabi...Kimi must believe Hanabi...Kimi...Kimi must believe Hanabi...Yes, yes, it's all, it's all that woman's fault...She shouldn't have asked for your contact information...It's all her fault, it's all her fault......】

"Please wait a moment... Soon... Hanabi and you will be able to be happily together..."

After reading the following message, Uesugi quickly put his phone away.

Don't do anything stupid...

————————

"Mmm...mmm..."

The top floor of a high-rise building.

Nanbu Arisa only knows that she has been kidnapped, but she doesn't know why or what the kidnapper's purpose is.

I inexplicably fainted as soon as I left home in the morning. When I woke up again, I found myself with my hands and feet tied, my mouth and nose covered, and my eyes blocked by strips of cloth. Only a little sunlight leaked out through the gaps in the knitted fabric.

He was probably tied to a chair.

She tried to make a sound, but could only produce muffled whimpering sounds.

She realized she seemed to be very high up, because she could feel strong gusts of wind behind her.

Her kidnappers tried several times to push her toward the edge of the rooftop.

She could clearly feel a sense of depth, the kind of feeling one gets when looking down from a high-rise building.

Now that she had been pulled back from the edge, Nanbu Arisa's tense emotions finally eased, and she took deep breaths of air from the outside world through the gaps in the cloth.

She is terrified.

"Who...who are you...?"

"You're a bad person," that was all the voice said.

Finally, someone spoke, and Arisa Nanbu recognized the voice.