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

Or was the mother repeating it twice on purpose, with a special meaning?

Hana-Maru Hana-bi felt a little flustered. She was afraid that her mother would discover her secret. Her eyes kept darting around, and she secretly glanced at the sofa.

I found two pillows, one on each side.

She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that at least Kai-kun remembered to tidy up yesterday.

"Health... is a good thing."

"Yes, that's definitely a good thing."

Mrs. Hanamaru looked at her daughter and said, "Never mind, come with me, I have something to say to you."

"what?"

"These are private words, things a mother only tells her daughters, understand?"

Hanabi Hanabi nodded, seemingly understanding, "I see..."

Mrs. Hanamaru pulled her daughter to the sofa and whispered in her ear for more than ten minutes. During this time, Hanamaru Hanabi's face became increasingly red, burning hot as if she could roast an egg.

"Do you understand?"

"Um....."

"What you do in private is your own business, but the most important thing is not to give anything away. Your mother won't say anything if she sees it, and although outsiders won't intentionally think in that direction, you know in your heart that you will feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, right?"

"Um......"

Hanabi Hanamaru sat obediently beside him, nodding her head the whole time.

"Do you understand?"

"Understood......"

What time did you go to sleep last night?

"..."

"Tell me, and Mom won't eat you."

Hanabi Hanamaru's two fingers twisted together on the cuffs of her Shark Shark pajamas. Her face grew increasingly red, and she lowered her head further, saying in a barely audible voice, "5:30..."

"How many?"

"5:30..." Hanabi Hanamaru's voice was a little louder, but still very soft.

However, Mrs. Hanamaru could hear it.

She took a closer look at her petite daughter in front of her.

"So, you came out here just to use the restroom? And you're going back to sleep later?"

"Hmm..." Hanamaru Hanabi responded softly.

“No wonder Xiao Kai hasn’t gotten up yet.” Mrs. Hanamaru looked at her daughter’s extremely shy expression and covered her mouth with a smile. “Alright, what’s there to be shy about? What’s the point of this? It just shows that you’re young and healthy, although staying up late is definitely not good.”

Mrs. Hanamaru increasingly realized that she couldn't suppress her smile.

"However, this is indeed the case for young couples who have just had a fight. Because they are still a bit angry with each other, they keep humiliating each other. After a while, neither of them is willing to back down."

"Mom...that's not true..."

"Okay, if not, then not. By the way, have you two made up?"

"No... Hanabi hasn't officially forgiven Kai-kun yet..."

"That will be soon," Mrs. Hanamaru said with a smile. "Anyway, it's pretty much the same."

"That's not right! A formal forgiveness is very important."

"Yes, Hanabi-chan is right."

###Chapter 518 They've made up, but not completely, so we must move on###

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

They've made up, but not completely; that's what Uesugi Kai has been feeling these past few days.

Since that night, although Hanabi-chan has started to acknowledge me when we're out, she still basically doesn't talk to me.

When we meet at school, it's just "good morning," "good afternoon," and so on... If we bump into each other while washing our hands, she'll at most give me a shy, almost averted look, and then...

Then, without saying anything, he left.

How infuriating! She was the girl who made me experience the terror of women that night, yet in the end, it's like I bullied her.

She's still staying at Hanamaru's house these past few days. Mrs. Hanamaru, of course, doesn't mind. She explains to Yuuki Hanamaru that Hanabi simply wants to come back and stay for a few days.

Although Hanamaru Yuuki could tell that the young couple seemed to have had a fight, he didn't confront them about it and went to and from get off work as usual, just like any other day.

The father-in-law is certainly happy that his daughter is coming back to live with him, but deep down he's probably disappointed in himself.

"Ugh..."

Why are you sighing?

In the dance studio, Murata, dressed in a modified yukata for the year-end festival, looked at Uesugi Kai.

Kai Uesugi's face seemed less energetic than it had been a few days ago: "Tell me, am I not charming enough?"

Murata stared at him with disgust, shaking his head repeatedly.

"Uesugi, Uesugi, I've never seen anyone as shameless as you! You married the most beautiful girl in our entire art department, and you're still not satisfied, saying you're not charming enough! Do you need to build a harem to show off your unique charm?"

"No, one wife is enough."

"Sigh, don't you even know who your wife is... You might not know Uesugi, but in the otaku community, Hanamaru-sensei, as a beautiful girl illustrator, is already among the top tier in the industry in terms of both popularity and fan appeal!"

Murata's expression was exaggerated, as if he were one of the vast number of otaku.

“Is that so? That’s not exactly good news,” Uesugi Kai said.

"What?"

"Shouldn't you know this already? Ugh, let's not talk about this anymore. I can't control what other people do, just don't mention it in front of me."

"Alright then." Murata hadn't really wanted to bring this up.

Kai Uesugi changed the subject: "Our year-end performance won't be until New Year's Eve, right?"

“Hmm,” Murata nodded. “What’s wrong? Are you in a hurry? Sigh, there’s no use in being in a hurry. This dance needs a lot of time to rehearse, and the progress needs to be in sync with everyone else.”

Kai Uesugi couldn't understand why they couldn't practice in advance.

That makes sense, even after living here for almost twenty years, there are still some things he can't get used to.

For example, the hierarchical senior-junior relationship in the Japanese workplace, and the senior-junior relationship in clubs.

Sigh, if he hadn't really disliked the archery club at Tokyo University, he wouldn't have gone months without visiting it!

It's still more comfortable staying in the archery club at Shingoku High School.

There were no rules, and everyone was friendly. People could shoot as many arrows as they wanted, completely at ease.

I wonder how those senior students are doing in the archery world now.

"Hmm, you're not going to practice?"

"It's been four hours, that's long enough."

“No, that’s not right at all,” Murata questioned.

"What's wrong?"

"Uesugi, didn't you always practice until 10 o'clock every night before leaving?" Murata deliberately showed a disappointed expression. "You've become lazy."

"Hey! Don't give me that. I only think about venting my emotions by dancing when I have nothing else to do."

"Then why are you thinking of quitting now?" Murata asked. "Don't you need to vent anymore?"

"Naturally, it's because I've been in a better mood these past few days. When you're in a better mood, you won't think about torturing yourself, understand?" Uesugi Kai smiled and held up one finger. "Oh, right, there's one more thing."

"what?"

"My birthday is April 30st."

"Huh? Why are you telling me this? Are you inviting me to your birthday party?" Murata found him a bit strange. "But it's almost mid-December, and you're only telling me now. It's too late for me to prepare a gift for you."

"I never expected that someone as stingy as you would actually think of giving me a gift."

"Don't get me wrong, I'll just bring you a rice ball at most."

"Haha, you can come empty-handed!"

Kai Uesugi walked out of the dance studio with his hands in his coat pockets, laughing.

"That guy," Murata muttered, watching the spot where his figure disappeared, "I wonder what he's been so happy about these past few days..."

......

A gentle winter wind blows, and fallen leaves drift away.

Although this winter seems to be colder than usual, Uesugi Kai feels that the wind on campus is not as cold as it was a few days ago.

Perhaps it was because I had angered Hanabi a few days ago, and that strange feeling of loneliness caused my mood to turn cold as well.

He's been feeling much better these past few days.

Suddenly I'm craving the oden I had that night again.

Kai Uesugi glanced at the silver watch on his wrist and realized it was only noon, so he went for a walk by the pond in the back garden of Tokyo University of the Arts.

On the edge of the pond, the ducks were still inside the wooden house of the female goose, while the male goose wandered aimlessly in the center of the pond, its webbed feet gliding through the water, followed by a long string of red carp.

Uesugi Kai stood by the river, his arms resting on the wooden railing of the bridge, gazing at the surface of the pond.

He was curious as to why the carp in the water were following the black swan.

What can I get in return?

Unfortunately, he wasn't a biology major and knew nothing about the habits of swimming fish, so it would be easy for him to improvise a haiku.

"Hey! Isn't that Uesugi?"

Upon hearing the voice, Uesugi Kai knew that it was Kitagawa-sama who had arrived.