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

The wind, noisy and whistling, swept across the receding figure in the afterglow.

------

Kai Uesugi arrived at the study session a little later than usual.

Haneda Nozomi, dressed in a business suit, was instructing Kiyohara Hitomi in the back row. When she saw Uesugi come in so late, she didn't say much.

"Give."

"Thank you, Kai-kun."

Hanabi Hanabi nodded her thanks as she accepted the milk from Kai Uesugi.

"Not one for me?" Ayaka Rie asked, leaning towards Uesugi Kai as she saw Hanabi holding a carton of milk in her hands.

"No."

"The class monitor?" Ayaka Rie asked again.

"No." Uesugi Kai sipped the same milk.

Jiu Shi Li Xiang glanced at them, found nothing amiss, and continued to bury herself in her studies.

"Only firework sauce?"

“Obviously,” Uesugi Kai replied without turning his head.

"The sour and sour smell of love."

Rie Ayaka muttered resentfully, "Hanabi-chan hasn't been going out with me lately."

Hanabi Hanamaru, who was drinking milk, lowered her head in embarrassment upon hearing this, as she had spent the entire weekend with him.

Kai Uesugi always felt that the only thing a best friend is someone who gets jealous and follows his lead.

“You can follow behind us.”

"?"

"Are you just following behind to watch you two show off your love?" Ayaka Rie deliberately lowered her voice so that no one else could hear.

"Then you can go find one yourself."

“Tch,” Ayaka Rie paused for a moment, then suddenly became very disdainful, “If you don’t like men, there aren’t many good ones.”

"We cannot generalize from a single instance."

Kai Uesugi stared at the deflated box in his hand. "There are still more good people than bad in this world."

Rie Ayaka turned around, her face not looking too good, and said in a low voice, "My mother believed the kind of good person you described back then."

Uesugi Kai had excellent hearing, so he was able to hear her barely audible voice.

"Rie-chan..." Hanabi Hanamaru put down the milk she was holding and looked at her with concern.

"fine."

Rie Ayaka raised her head again, returning to normal. "Things from the past are just a little uncomfortable to think about occasionally."

"So, you've been targeting me all along?" Uesugi Kai asked.

"That's not called targeting, that's called protection."

Ayaka Rie's expression was normal. "You, Uesugi, hang out with Goto every day. Who knows what you two need so many girls' contact information for? And who knows if you're the kind of scum who would deceive a girl as gullible as Hanabi?"

###Chapter Ninety-Eight: The First Step###

Kai Uesugi: "I reiterate, I'm just standing here doing nothing, fulfilling my promise to make Doji a tool."

“I know,” Ayaka Rie said, engrossed in her writing, “haven’t you noticed that my attitude towards you has improved recently?”

“I didn’t notice much,” Uesugi Kai said.

Rie Ayaka did not answer him.

"What are you talking about?" Haneda Nozomi walked to the podium, put down the book in her hand, and asked with a smile.

"We were talking about how to get along with the opposite sex."

"Oh?"

Twenty-six-year-old single Haneda Nozomi seemed quite interested. "Want to date?"

Ayaka Rie remained silent, meaning she absolutely did not want to.

Hanamaru Hanabi quietly drank her milk.

The young female teacher's gaze shifted back and forth between Uesugi Kai and Hanamaru Hanabi, and she smiled:

"I remember that Uesugi-san and Hanamaru-san are childhood friends, right?"

"Although we weren't born in the same delivery room, we're childhood sweethearts." Uesugi Kai placed the empty box on the corner of the table, picked up a pen, glanced at the question casually, and wrote an "A".

Haneda Nozomi glanced at the correct option and continued, "I'm actually quite curious, you two are so familiar with each other, you should be very close, so why aren't you dating?"

"certainly--"

Just as Uesugi Kai was about to speak, he suddenly remembered his father-in-law's inexplicable request and changed his mind, saying, "I'll say yes to Hanabi if she confesses her feelings to me."

Hanabi Hanabi held the milk carton in her little hands and stared blankly at him.

Haneda Nozomi also noticed Hanabi's expression and teased Uesugi, "Let the girl confess to you first?"

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Kai Uesugi said. “This era advocates gender equality, and it’s clearly unequal that only men can make declarations of love.”

“Equality means not being able to find a partner.” The young woman, Haneda Nozomi, smiled unabashedly.

"Besides the fact that the person in question is exceptionally talented," Uesugi Kai casually glanced at the question and wrote down a problem, "why doesn't Haneda-sensei find a boyfriend?"

"Nothing suitable," Haneda Nozomi replied seriously, then thought for a moment, "Actually, the teacher has been thinking about this recently. Uesugi-kun, could you give me some advice?"

Does this count as being humble enough to ask questions?

Kai Uesugi suddenly had this idea.

"I'm sorry, teacher, I only know how to reject girls, I don't know how to pursue them."

"Oh?"

Haneda Nozomi looked him up and down, "Has Uesugi-kun never been in a relationship?"

"We talked about it."

Kai Uesugi didn't hide anything, "But my approach was too simplistic and has no reference value."

"Back in junior high?" Haneda Nozomi asked, then said, "You can share this as an experience with your teacher."

"Confess directly."

Hanabi Hanabi, who was engrossed in her homework but had no interest in doing it, pursed her lips.

The topics of the study session became increasingly off-topic, and the other students listened to the casual conversation between the teacher and students while doing their homework.

Haneda Nozomi smiled, her professional attire giving her the image of a successful woman: "Indeed, Uesugi-san has every right to do so."

Uesugi Kai was puzzled: "Logically speaking, a female teacher as beautiful as Ms. Haneda shouldn't have no suitors."

"Sigh," Haneda Nozomi sighed, "Well, how should I put it, I tried dating once when I was in Tokyo University, but... it didn't work out..."

His words always carried a faint hint of sadness.

------

Today's study session was uneventful, except for doing practice questions.

Walking through the brightly lit city, Hanabi Hanabi and Kai Uesugi wait for their croquettes under two gently swaying lanterns.

"Kai-kun...why can't Mr. Haneda find a partner?"

The two croquettes in the fryer were sizzling as they were about to come together, but were mercilessly separated by a small spatula.

"Why would Hanabi be interested in this?" Uesugi Kai smiled, gazing at her profile under the bright lights.

Hanabi Hanamaru turned her head, her silhouette illuminated by the dazzling neon lights: "Because Kai-kun and Haneda-sensei have been chatting, Hanabi can't concentrate on her homework."

After taking the two croquettes from the vendor, Uesugi Kai paid and then said to Hanabi Hanabi:

"It's a very simple thing."

"It's simple?" Hanabi Hanamaru was drawn to the croquette in his hand.

"Because Haneda-sensei is just too amazing as a woman." When Uesugi Kai turned around, he noticed that Hanamaru Hanabi's little head followed his movements.

"Too... amazing?" Hanabi Hanamaru, who really wanted to eat a croquette, obviously hadn't thought about the question seriously.

Kai Uesugi noticed this, smiled, and continued walking forward without rushing to give her the croquette.

Hanabi Hanabi quickly put on her little leather shoes and followed him.

The two sat down on a bench under a beech tree, with a black bow case placed beside them.

"If your partner is too different from you, you will naturally feel inferior. It's a very simple thing."

"Thank you, Kai-kun."

Hanabi Hanabi nodded, reaching out to take the golden croquette from Kai Uesugi's hand.

Kai Uesugi dodged her small hand and said with a smile, "I'll feed you."

"You can eat the fireworks yourself..."

"This is different."

As they were talking, Uesugi Kai had already placed a croquette in front of her mouth.

The aroma of potatoes and meat mingling together fills the air, and the wisps of steam tantalize the taste buds—an irresistible temptation.

Hanabi Hanamaru couldn't help but swallow hard, stealing a glance at Kai Uesugi, who was all smiles.

In the end, the little mouth gently bit into that soft, chewy, and crispy texture.

"Is it good?" Uesugi Kai asked with a smile.

"It's delicious..." Hanabi Hanamaru replied somewhat shyly, which reminded her of the past.

This is how he fed her when she was in kindergarten.