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

"Don't worry," Hanamaru Yuuki hurried towards the entrance, waving to Mrs. Hanamaru who was following behind, "I've always done it this way."

Her father's hurried figure disappeared into the living room. Hana Maru stared at the corridor leading to the entrance for a long time, then turned back to look at the half-cup of steaming morning tea in front of her and the fried rice that she hadn't had time to touch.

She thought of her father, who was always so kind and gentle to her, and of his unconditional care for her since she was a child.

She herself... abandoned the trust of her father, who had taken such good care of her, because of a dream.

A painful sense of guilt kept accumulating and fermenting in my heart.

"sorry......"

She lowered her head, looked at the empty chair in front of her, and apologized softly in disappointment.

------

It was still that same early morning, the morning light bathing the alleyway in springtime.

Kai Uesugi had just left home after his mother's smiling farewell, and was about to call Hanabi to go to school.

He was carrying a schoolbag, and a faint red mark remained on his handsome right cheek.

Although I don't know why slapping myself didn't have any effect, at least it ended that strange dream that was both a beautiful dream and a nightmare.

As he walked toward the neighboring Hanamaru's house, he suddenly looked at his palm and then clenched his fist between his five fingers.

"No, no, no."

Kai Uesugi quickly shook his head, putting aside all his random thoughts, and stepped into the Hanamaru family's courtyard.

Two white lilies, as white as jewels, still bloom at the entrance, their delicate fragrance perfectly complementing the morning air, making the surrounding dawn even fresher and brighter.

I'm in a really good mood today.

Before he could even ring the doorbell, Hanabi Hanamaru, dressed in a sailor uniform, opened the door from the inside, carrying a shoulder bag in both hands, and stepped out.

"Fireworks?"

She, who should be smiling brightly every day, was feeling very down at this moment.

Because of what?

"Kai-kun..."

Hanabi Hanamaru didn't look up at him, but instead lowered her head and slowly closed the door behind her.

Uesugi Kai stepped forward and asked, "What happened?"

###Chapter 79 What should I do if Hanabi dislikes me?###

Hanabi Hanamaru looked up at Kai Uesugi's slightly flushed profile and froze in surprise:

"Kai...Kai-kun, your face?"

"Huh? This?" Uesugi Kai laughed, wanting to cheer her up. "It's just a strange dream I had, to help me wake up in the morning."

Hanabi Hanabi opened her violet eyes, her suspicions confirmed, and tentatively asked in a low voice, "Kai-kun...did you dream about being with Hanabi...this morning?"

“Yeah,” Uesugi Kai answered instinctively, but then quickly realized, “Huh!? How did Hanabi know?”

He noticed Hanabi's little eyes staring blankly at the faint red mark on his face.

Could it be that this isn't a dream, but something that actually happened?

I really love fireworks...

However, this idea was quickly rejected by Kai Uesugi.

The fact that Hanamaru Hiroki isn't causing me any trouble is the best proof of that.

But what's with that inexplicable sense of realism?

Did the game crash and trigger a rollback?

As the male and female protagonists and parties involved, I and Hanabi retain some memories after the time-lapse, which are then displayed in my dreams.

Could it be that I really did something wrong, was punished, and then had my account rolled back by the system?

"Hanabi, you had that dream too?" Uesugi Kai asked.

Hanabi Hanamaru nodded slightly, seemingly quite unhappy about the matter.

Kai Uesugi noticed her change in mood and his heart skipped a beat.

Could it be... that she knew about the little things I did to her back then?

Is that why I wasn't very happy when I saw myself this morning?

"Hanabi...you know everything?" Uesugi Kai asked nervously, realizing he was actually worried about being disliked by her.

"Um......"

Hanabi Hanabi responded absentmindedly, still thinking about how to properly apologize to her father.

"Do you care a lot?" Uesugi Kai pressed.

"Fireworks... I care about them a lot..."

"That dream... even Hanabi knew about it?" Uesugi Kai didn't believe it.

"Fireworks, everyone knows that."

For a second, Uesugi Kai's heart stopped. She truly knew that she was truly disliked.

He stood there, looking at the gentle yet somewhat unhappy little face in front of him, and his feelings became complicated.

It was just a dream, so why did it feel like I had really done something wrong?

But Hanabi was indeed unhappy, keeping her head down and unwilling to say much.

For a moment, the two people facing each other were speechless.

"Let's go to school first," Uesugi Kai said, extending her hand in an attempt to change the subject.

"Ah."

Hanabi Hanamaru nodded in agreement, clutching her shoulder bag in front of her skirt with both hands. Her steps were still those of the quiet Hanabi, but she didn't grab his outstretched hand; she simply followed beside him.

She kept her head bowed quietly.

Kai Uesugi's outstretched hand remained suspended in mid-air, all alone.

His heart ached as well, and he felt that the distance between him and her had become much greater.

It seems... I really am disliked.

In reality, I only touched her soft body a few more times in my dream.

The two lilies under the eaves of Hanamaru's house were pure white and spotless. Even though they had been in bloom for a week, they were still full of pure and understated vitality.

The white lily symbolizes the purity of mutual affection, and a shared dream perfectly confirms this from a wondrous perspective.

But Hanabi didn't seem to like the little movements she made in her dreams.

On this morning, the once warm and cozy journey to school that belonged only to the two of them suddenly became silent.

------

At noon, Kai Uesugi and Takahiro Tsubokawa were in the library.

Ignoring the coffee laid out in front of him, Tsubokawa adjusted his glasses and asked Uesugi Kai, who was sitting directly opposite him, with curiosity:

"So, what brings the nearly invincible Uesugi here?"

"Hanabi has been having some trouble lately," Uesugi Kai said, getting straight to the point.

"Recently?" Takahiro Tsubokawa's gaze turned strange. "To say recently is actually just about last night, right? Her yandere side came out?"

“Yes.” A cup of casually brewed instant coffee sat in front of Uesugi Kai.

"What did you do?" The rising steam caused a white fog to form on Takahiro Tsubokawa's glasses.

"Logically speaking, I didn't do anything, and I really didn't do anything, but it really did happen." Uesugi Kai was struggling with whether or not he should tell Tsubokawa about having the same dream, because he was afraid that even if he did, Tsubokawa wouldn't believe him.

"What do you mean?" Takahiro Tsubokawa clearly failed to grasp the deeper, more complex emotions behind Kai Uesugi's words.

Too much explanation was useless, so Uesugi Kai simply went all out and said it as if it had already happened.

"I secretly touched Hanabi while she was sleeping last night." Of course, the story needs to be embellished.

"Oh~~"

Takahiro Tsubokawa tilted his head slightly and let out a sigh. He hadn't expected to hear such explosive news from Uesugi.

"As expected, our Uesugi is a normal man after all. I understand, I understand."

"Where did you touch?" Takahiro Tsubokawa pressed.

"Face."

“Face? What?” Takahiro Tsubokawa was greatly disappointed. “I was wondering why Uesugi would talk to me about something like this. It turns out he was just secretly touching his face.”

"Is it really necessary to go out of your way to avoid Goto and drag me to the library for such a trivial matter?" Takahiro Tsubokawa looked around; the quiet library was perfect for a midday nap.

"This is different."

"What's different? What's wrong with touching your face?" Tsubokawa didn't understand why Uesugi Kai was making such a fuss over such a serious look.

“Touching my face is nothing,” Uesugi Kai said seriously, “but the timing of touching my face was a little inappropriate. You know I can’t say more about that.”

Kai Uesugi sat up straight.

"Psychological self-protection mechanisms are the body's spontaneous defensive behaviors. Illnesses arising from this mechanism often—"

Seeing that Uesugi Kai was about to continue his long-winded speech, Tsubokawa Takahiro quickly stopped him:

"Stop, stop, don't tell me the reasons, just tell me the result."

Since last night, he's had this feeling that Uesugi Kai is lying to him, but when he thinks about it carefully, he inexplicably wants to believe him, which is really strange.

"Hanabi seems to have started to dislike me. I'm thinking about how to win her back." Uesugi Kai liked his directness, which saved him the trouble of organizing his thoughts and continuing to try to deceive her.

"Hanamaru-kun hates you?" Tsubokawa Takahiro shrank back. "Then you're doomed."

"How did it all end up like this?" Uesugi Kai asked, frowning.

Tsubokawa Takahiro looked at him suspiciously, as if asking, "Is this for real?": "Hanamaru-san has a potential yandere personality. If she hates you, wouldn't you die without knowing why? Imprisonment, drugging, murder—anything is possible. You'd better be careful."