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

"So... Kai-kun disappeared just now because he went to find materials to make flower wreaths?"

“Yeah,” Uesugi Kai said with a smile, sitting down on an empty seat on the bench next to her, gazing at the snow-covered landscape where the sea met the city below. “What else could I have done… except that on my way back, my mom and your mom cornered me between two pine trees and gave me a lecture, telling me not to lay a hand on you…”

Kai Uesugi turned to look at the girl beside him.

"To be honest, I've never been scolded by two mothers like this before in my life."

"Kai-kun, are you feeling unwell?" Hanabi asked, looking at the wreath in her hand.

"No, it's just that I find it a bit novel." Uesugi Kai covered his mouth with his right fist and coughed lightly twice, as if to make a formal declaration. "So... if Hanabi has any complaints, feel free to tell me, I can take it all."

Hanamaru Hanayu saw the cute little toy in her older sister's hand, immediately threw her own toy on the ground, and slowly climbed onto Hanamaru Hanabi's lap. Her small, violet eyes reflected the bluebell wreath, and she called out in a childish voice:

"Flower~Flower~~"

"I can't give this to you."

Hanabi Hanabi patted Hanabi Hana's head and then handed the flower wreath back to Kai Uesugi.

"You...don't like it?" Uesugi Kai looked surprised when she saw the flower wreath on her leg.

"Who said I don't like it?" Hanamaru Hanabi picked up Hana and let her sit on her skirt.

"Then what will you do?"

"Eeya eeya".

When Uesugi Kokoro saw that her little playmate was gone, she crawled along the wooden bench to the other side towards Hanabi Hanabi, who picked her up as well.

"Of course, I have to take care of the two little ones," Hanabi Hanabi said to him, holding one of them on each side.

"Where's the wreath?"

"I need Kai-kun to help Hanabi put it on."

Kai Uesugi saw her smile and smiled too.

"Okay, I'll help you put it on."

......

The process of wearing the flower wreath is very ordinary; in other words, it lacks any sense of ceremony.

She simply lowered her head slightly, and Uesugi Kai gently placed the flower wreath on her head.

Although it was very ordinary and mundane, Uesugi Kai felt a strange emotion welling up inside him as he watched her holding her two younger sisters in front of him.

In a daze, he saw himself from a long, long time ago.

"Actually... I never thought before that I would one day put a flower wreath that I made myself on a girl's head."

"Is that so?" Hanabi Hanabi's gaze, which had been shifting upwards, returned to him.

"Of course, even though we're sitting here calmly now, every time I speak, I get a response from you. Seeing you by my side makes me feel...exceptionally happy and warm."

Hearing his words, Hanabi Hanabi became unhappy, pouting slightly: "Since Kai-kun cares so much about Hanabi, why don't you take out your phone and check?"

"cell phone?"

Somewhat confused, Uesugi Kai removed one glove and then took his cell phone out of his pocket.

He swiped open the screen, and the first thing he saw was a voicemail message signed "Little Fireworks' Wife".

And then, more than a dozen missed calls followed.

He suddenly realized that his phone was still on silent today.

I missed sixteen of her calls last night, and today... I forgot to answer again...

Regardless, this is a dereliction of duty.

He swallowed hard, a little afraid to look at his wife, afraid to see her lovely smiling face. He reached out and tapped the voicemail, and the screen immediately changed.

Once the playback screen appeared, Hanamaru Hanabi's voice immediately popped up.

It's the kind of insult she'd only utter when she puffed out her cheeks and was all angry—a kind of insult that she'd call someone an idiot.

"Fireworks...actually—"

Hanabi Hanabi looked at his slowly raised face: "Kai-kun, are you trying to say that you didn't do it on purpose?"

Kai Uesugi: "......"

"Actually, whether it was intentional or not is no longer important. In this situation, it's comparable to keeping a date with a girl but standing her up! Leaving her standing alone on the street, constantly looking and looking, waiting for the person who will come to keep the appointment, but... all she gets are passersby walking past her."

Hanabi Hanamaru paused for a moment, then continued:

"Do you think Hanabi should be angry?"

"should......"

"Should we say that Kai-kun is irresponsible, forgetting about Hanabi in the blink of an eye?"

"It should also be..."

Hanabi Hanamaru's expression suddenly became as calm as still water. She turned her head, her face meeting the gentle breeze blowing from afar. Not only the white scarf around her neck, but also the beautiful floral wreath on her head swayed slightly in the cold wind.

"So, in that case, Kai-kun never really cared about Hanabi... If she left, Kai-kun would probably only be sad for a day or two, and then forget about her in the blink of an eye..."

The girl's profile was beautiful and colorful, her eyes sparkling like a blue-purple butterfly fluttering in the snow.

Kai Uesugi stared at Hanabi Hanabi for a long time, watching her delicate face gradually turn cold.

She suddenly turned around, revealing a beautiful, yet deeply sorrowful, smile:

"Kai-kun, Hanabi... is leaving now."

"Now...?" Uesugi Kai thought she had misheard and almost cried out, but the girl's voice was undeniably calm.

"Well, now... since Kai-kun doesn't need Hanabi anymore... and doesn't care about Hanabi anymore... then Hanabi really has no meaning to exist. After all... everything about Hanabi was given to her by Kai-kun, whether it's her dreams or her life."

Hanabi Hanamaru's eyes reflected the distant snow-covered city, the endless coastline, and the blue, curved horizon.

Is he really... leaving?!

Kai Uesugi saw relief in her eyes, and, feeling anxious, quickly stepped forward and grabbed her hand.

"Hanabi...Hanabi! Hanabi!" Uesugi Kai kept shaking her hand and calling her name.

Hanabi Hanamaru seemed not to hear, slowly closing her eyes and raising her neck slightly as if welcoming the cold wind blowing through the forest.

Then, she—

Suddenly, she turned her head, opened her violet eyes, and smiled happily at Kai Uesugi:

"Checkmate!"

"What?!" Uesugi Kai's face was filled with astonishment.

"What? What?" Hanabi giggled, her face breaking into a smile as bright as cherry blossoms. "Hanabi's still here, Kai-kun, aren't you happy?"

"..."

"..."

Time passed slowly, and Hanamaru Hanabi tilted her head left and right for a long time before she realized that he had come back to his senses.

"So, you didn't leave?"

"Of course, fireworks can't possibly disappear over something so trivial."

"But what you just did..."

"It seems so," Hanabi Hanabi smiled. "But although leaving was an act, my anger was real. Kai-kun didn't answer Hanabi's calls again, he just didn't answer them!"

Uesugi Kai was speechless for a moment, "My fault, my fault..."

"Have you repented?" Hanamaru Hanabi put her younger sisters aside to play with their toys.

"I have repented, I have truly repented this time."

That's good.

Hanabi Hanabi smiled softly, then reached out and hugged his neck, breathing warm air on him as she looked at the snowy sky behind him, and said in her most genuine voice, weakly:

"How could Hanabi abandon Kai-kun... She always remembered her promise to Kai-kun, whether it was on a date, at their wedding, or in ordinary daily life... She only had one request for Kai-kun in this life: as long as Kai-kun still remembered her in his heart, that was enough, completely enough..."

The girl whispered softly in his ear, her arms around his neck tightening even more...

Leaning against her slender shoulder, Uesugi Kai could intimately feel the physical contact between her and her body, and sense the heartwarming words that followed.

Hanabi Hanabi released him and looked at him with her eyes: "Kai-kun, do you feel that the atmosphere isn't quite right, or that what Hanabi said wasn't warm enough? Kai-kun might feel that way, but what Hanabi said is true, absolutely true."

“I understand.” Uesugi Kai nodded.

"I understand!"

Hanabi Hanamaru smiled, her hands supporting the flower crown on her head, looking very happy. "Shall we go for lunch now? Or should we stay here and take some pictures with Hanabi first?"

"Shall I take some photos for you?" Uesugi Kai also laughed.

"Alright! But what about Xin and Huayu?"

"It's okay, let them play on the chairs for a while. We won't be taking pictures for long, and we won't go far. The scenery is quite nice, with mountains, trees, and snow... Mom and the others have found a restaurant and should be here soon."

"Well!"

The girl happily agreed again.

Above the distant mountain peaks, in the cloudless sky, everything is a vast expanse of white.

The falling snowflakes accentuated the girl's lovely appearance, and the outlines of the scenery seen through the lens seemed to pale in comparison to her smiling face.

Nothing else seemed to catch the eye: the wooden bench, the snow-covered pine forest, the distant mountains... Snowflakes, like downy feathers, kept fluttering past the girl's face, as if blurring across it. But upon closer inspection, her smiling face, amidst the snowflakes, suddenly became crystal clear.

He was lost in thought as he watched, while the girl's expression remained as gentle as ever.

Kai Uesugi looked at her in the photo, wearing a white scarf and a bluebell wreath, and pressed the shutter button.

A snap.

Soon, the girl came running over, grabbed Uesugi Kai's hand, and hurriedly said, "Hanabi, let Hanabi see first."

Uesugi Kai lowered his hand, letting her little head rub against him incessantly.

"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with the photos I took."

"Who said that?" Hanamaru Hanabi held his phone, flipping through the photos he had just taken of her.