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

"Hmm... She's a bit mischievous, but also a good child and a good older sister. Kai-kun, do you still remember Nobuzuki?"

"That very polite cousin?"

"Yes, since childhood, Shinjuku has respected his older sister very much... because Yuuki-chan was always at the forefront when it came to fighting or studying. She was very capable. Yuuki-chan is a very responsible girl."

Hanabi Hanabi smiled as she recalled the past when she mentioned this.

"Does Kai-kun know why Shingetsu wants to learn kendo?"

"Because they come from a family of police officers?"

"No, Cousin Shingetsu was actually very weak when he was little. He didn't like learning kendo at all and was easily bullied... It was all because of his sister who protected him... The reason it all started is kind of funny. Once, Cousin Shingetsu was chasing his sister and fell down. He cried, and then Yuuki helped him up... Kai-kun, guess what he said?"

"Making a fuss and looking for your mother?"

"No, he kept saying, 'I'm sorry, sister, I'm sorry, sister...' He was crying so pitifully," Hanamaru Hanabi shook her head with a smile. "Yuki-chan, I remember she was holding her 3-year-old brother Nobuyuki in her arms and comforting him, speaking to him in such a gentle voice, telling him not to cry, not to cry, saying that her sister would have to rely on him to protect her in the future."

"Then, after a while, Xinyue indeed stopped crying..."

As Hanabi Hanamaru spoke, she seemed to recall those times and couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"Hanabi thinks that Shin'tsuki's later transformation from disliking kendo to diligently studying it was probably because he was recalling this scene from his childhood."

"How did Hanabi know?" Uesugi Kai asked curiously. Logically speaking, Shinzuki should admire Yuuki a lot, so why would Yuuki say those things to him before?

"Hanabi was right there. Dad took Hanabi to visit my aunt, and we played together. I think we went to buy something to eat. Yuuki ran so fast, Nobuyuki and I couldn't catch up with her."

“These childhood memories are quite interesting.” Uesugi Kai scooped up another spoonful of rice and fed it to Hanabi with braised pork.

"Isn't this kind of feeling interesting?"

“That’s true,” Uesugi Kai nodded in agreement. “Sometimes, I also wish I had a brother or sister, preferably a younger sister. If she cries, I can hold her and comfort her, watching her tiny little self in my arms.”

"So, Kai-kun, aren't you now interested in Hana-yu?" Hana-yu smiled.

"Haha, they're all too young, really too young. If they were two or three years old and could call me 'brother,' it would be so much more interesting for me to take care of them."

"What about Ai Yi and Qian Ai Yi?"

"Aiyi and Qian Aiyi, I really want to take care of them like that... But Hanabi-chan knows that they are both very strong, they don't like to cry, and they prefer to silently bear things alone... It is their environment that has made them strong, and they are also growing up. It's not appropriate for me to get so close. At most, I can only hug them."

“That’s true... It seems Kai-kun knows how to behave properly…” Hanabi Hanabi smiled at him.

"Look at what you're saying! Haven't I always been very sensible since I was a child?"

Hanabi Hanabi said sullenly, "Then why did Kai-kun make Hanabi angry?"

"Hanabi-chan, being sensible doesn't mean you won't make mistakes... Even I make mistakes sometimes. I love you and care about you. The feelings you give me have always been there."

"I still remember the smile on your face when you accepted my confession, the happy yet shy smile on your face during our date, the dreamy and longing look on your face when we watched the fireworks together... I know you wished time could stand still at the moment the fireworks exploded..."

Hanabi Hanamaru listened to his gentle voice and thought of many things. Meeting his gaze, she picked up where he left off: "Because she loved holding Kai's hand back then, feeling his warmth, and then witnessing together the light of a firework blooming in the night sky."

Kai Uesugi met her gaze and smiled, "I was so silly at the fireworks festival a long time ago, I didn't understand why you gave me candied apples."

Hanamaru Hanabi whispered:

"Because back then, Kai-kun was just a complete idiot who only knew how to study and read books, a total idiot!"

"Actually, I'm not stupid, I just couldn't understand my silly little sister's feelings."

"He's just an idiot..."

"Idiot, Hanabi-chan always calls me an idiot. Hanabi-chan... Kai-kun being called that all the time must really hurt inside..."

Kai Uesugi lowered his head and slowly placed the lunchbox on the small table next to him.

Then, when Hanabi showed concern and asked him what was wrong, he pounced on her and pinned her down on the bed.

"Let you call me an idiot!"

"Kai-kun!" Hanabi Hanamaru laughed loudly, "What are you doing... Hahaha, it itches~ It itches so much~ Don't tickle me."

"Hmph," Uesugi Kai kicked off his slippers and knelt on the bed, relentlessly tickling the girl beneath him. "Take this! Take this! Take this!"

"Kai-kun~! Kai-kun~~ Haha, Kai-kun, don't be so... childish~~ Hahaha." Hanabi Hanamaru quickly burst into laughter, unable to catch her breath.

"I'm going to be childish, because Hanabi keeps calling me an idiot, keeps calling me an idiot, keeps calling me an idiot!"

"Haha~ Kai-kun~~~ Hahaha......"

"Sigh~~" Uesugi Kai suddenly let out a long sigh, then looked firmly at the pink-pajamas of the girl beneath him, whose pajamas were in disarray. "Hanabi-chan, you know, if someone is called an idiot for a long time, then they will mistakenly believe that they really are an idiot."

"Kai-kun, Kai-kun wouldn't think that way, would he?" Hanabi finally caught her breath, her firm chest heaving with each breath, her face flushed again, her cherry-colored navel half-exposed, and an alluring fragrance emanating from her body that only a young girl possesses.

"Why wouldn't I be? In order for me to become smart, Hanabi has to say he's smart from today onwards, understand?"

"Hmph~ Kai-kun is too childish."

"What?" Uesugi Kai placed a hand under her armpit. It has to be said that Hanamaru Hanabi's skin is very soft. Whether it is the skin on her arms or the skin next to her chest, it is soft, smooth and comfortable.

And her second fear was being tickled here.

"No! No! Kai-kun—get away!" Hanabi Hanamaru quickly closed her eyes and pushed him away with her hands.

"Hmm~~" Uesugi Kai squinted his eyes and hooked four fingers of his hand into her armpit.

"Haha~ Yada~~ Kai-kun, da-me, it itches there~~ Haha~" Hanamaru Hanabi flirted, trying to break free from his grasp, and even tried to pry his arm open with her other hand.

But before she could pry one arm open, Uesugi Kai's other hand slipped into her other armpit.

Jumping back and forth like this, no matter which direction Hanamaru Hanabi twisted, it didn't feel right. Removing either of his hands from either side didn't feel right either. She could only shrink her collarbone and shoulders, laughing so hard she could barely speak.

"Was I wrong?" Uesugi Kai smiled and grabbed one of her feet.

"Wrong! Wrong! Really wrong!!"

"Alright, let Little Firework go this time."

After Hanabi Hanabi got up, she didn't apologize. Instead, she immediately hugged her shark, shrank back towards the headboard, blushed, and called him "big bad guy!"

"Alright, looks like you're not going to learn your lesson! Then I'll have to teach Hanabi what it means to back down! Take this!" Uesugi Kai laughed and pounced on her.

"Ugh! Kai-kun, don't come any closer!"

Hanabi Hanamaru smiled and used the shark to cover her face. When she realized he was getting close, she used her hands and feet to stop him from tickling her.

"Don't kick my nose with your toes!"

"I want it! Kai-kun, get out of here!"

Kai Uesugi was kicked in the face by her feet time and time again, but instead of feeling pain, he was even happier and pounced on the delicate girl again.

"Kai-kun is a bad guy!"

"What? Hanabi was the one who started it, so why is she turning around and accusing me?"

"You're a bad guy, hahaha~ no no~ bad Kai-kun."

......

Outside the tightly closed bedroom door.

Hanamaru Yuuki listened to the commotion inside and smiled. She thought to herself that her older sister and brother-in-law must be having a great time and must find this kind of playful antics very amusing.

Thinking this, she unconsciously pressed her ear closer to the doorway, her hand on the door with her fingers spread wide.

The sounds of their brains kept coming from inside; the older sister was calling her brother-in-law a bad guy, while he kept tickling her... They laughed and played around with each other...

Hanamaru Yuuki smiled sweetly along with the couple's laughter.

But as she was laughing, she suddenly realized that she was all alone beside her. When she turned around, all she saw was an empty living room and bedroom.

No one is empty.

Hanamaru Yuuki's ever-present energetic smile gradually faded. She clenched her right fist and placed it over her heart, glancing at the bedroom door, lost in thought, her mind filled with countless emotions.

She suddenly realized she wanted to find that feeling too... that loving, playful, and happy feeling with the person she liked.

The warmth and sweetness of having someone hold you, stroke your head while you sleep, and smile at you after you've had a long day.

"Love...?"

She murmured softly, glancing again at the closed bedroom door.

--------

It was evening. Uesugi Kai, who had been writing a novel all afternoon, came out of the bedroom. In the living room, Hanamaru Yuuki's finished lunchbox was on the coffee table. The TV was off, and she was not in sight.

"not here?"

Kai Uesugi peered left and right, but couldn't find any sign of Yuuki.

Yuuki wouldn't just leave without saying goodbye, would she? Would she do something drastic again?

With this in mind, he searched high and low at home.

There was no bedroom where she slept, no bathroom, no shower, and no balcony.

Kai Uesugi started to panic after searching the entire house without finding her. He took out his phone and called Yuuki Hanamaru, thinking she might have gone out to buy something or something.

But I still can't get in touch with them.

He made three or four more calls, but no one answered.

Increasingly anxious, Uesugi Kai hurried back to the bedroom and called out to Hanabi Hanabu, who was sitting on the bed drawing illustrations, "Hanabi, get up!"

"What's wrong?" Hanamaru Hanabi asked, noticing his sudden anxious expression.

"Yuki is missing."

"Yuki is missing?" Hanabi Hanamaru asked, her face full of confusion.

“Okay,” Uesugi Kai nodded to her, and went to the closet to get his change of clothes. “I’ve searched the whole house but I can’t find her. I can’t reach her by phone either. Let’s go out and look for her.”

Upon hearing this, Hanabi Hanamaru quickly closed the laptop and got up to go to the bedside.

"What clothes should Hanabi wear?" Kai Uesugi asked, looking through her wardrobe.

"Get a windbreaker, and bring your own stockings and skirt."

"Row."

The two quickly changed from their loungewear into formal attire, closed the door, and went downstairs.

Winter dusk is a hazy gray, the sky is a dull black, and even the snowflakes falling from the sky only shine when illuminated by the streetlights.

Hanabi Hanamaru had a towel wrapped around her neck and was wearing a thick, red, warm windbreaker.