My love index is at its maximum.

Tsukasa Tazaki waited anxiously.

As a result, Kuriyama Sakura washed her hands, picked up her cup of tea, and went straight to the empty seat between Hoshino Hanami and Grandma Hoshino, and plopped down.

Meanwhile, at the tea table in the middle, someone else was now serving tea.

?

What about mine?

Tazaki Tsukasa sat there, stunned, with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Kuriyama Sakura didn't look at him, but she could guess the look of astonishment on his face.

He felt a little smug.

To avoid laughing, she finished her tea and then pretended to admire it as she picked up the teacup.

A black ceramic tea bowl, with a pattern of tender shoots painted in black glaze on the white glaze of the front.

Grandma Hoshino noticed that she was staring at it, and asked with a smile, "Sakurami has eaten these thorny shoots before, hasn't she?"

"not yet."

Kuriyama Sakura responded and put down her teacup.

“There used to be a lot of them in the mountains outside Kyoto.” Grandma Hoshino’s eyes narrowed with wrinkles as she reminisced. “When Hanami was little, she had a very sweet tooth. Her mother would often go up the mountain to pick them, coat them in flour, and fry them in oil. If Sakura goes to Kyoto, Grandma will also go and pick some to make for you.”

“Okay.” Kuriyama Sakura nodded and said with a smile, “I remember Hanami-nee mentioned that she composed many tanka and haiku when she was picking wild thorns on the mountain.”

Tazaki Tsukasa's eyes lit up as he looked down at Hoshino Hanami, who was nestled against his chest: "Is that so? Tell me quickly."

"Hmm... let me think." Hoshino Hanami closed her eyes, lost in thought, a sakura mochi she had just stuffed into her mouth.

While she was thinking, Tsukasa Tazaki stared intently at her chubby cheeks, finding the foodie increasingly adorable.

“If wildflowers bloom every day…” she said, her eyes still closed. “What came next? Let me think… how could I possibly miss it so much?”

“Yes, that’s it.” Hoshino Hanami opened her eyes, her eyes sparkling. “If wildflowers bloomed every day, how could I miss them so much? Amazing, isn’t it? My sister can compose haiku at the age of ten.”

"Big sister is the best!" Tsukasa Tazaki was only thinking about praising her and didn't care whether the haiku, which was more like a doggerel, was good or not.

"Of course!"

Hoshino Hanami's proud demeanor is just like that of a wildflower swaying in the wind.

"Any more? Sister, please recite a few more for Lu Jian to hear."

The younger sister clapped her hands and urged her on, completely disregarding whether she was intelligent enough to understand what her older sister was saying.

Hoshino Hanami glanced at her younger sister and smiled gently, "I'll read you a poem that your mother left for you."

"Uh-huh!"

“Every evening when I come up to Lanshan, I hear the calls of deer; but tonight I don’t hear them, they must be sleeping peacefully.”

"Mommy..." Hoshino Shikami murmured, her little head drooping listlessly. "My little deer is asleep, why isn't Mommy home yet?"

Kuriyama Sakura sighed softly, feeling a deep empathy for her.

“Speaking of Sakura, I still feel warm inside.” Grandma Hoshino gently patted her granddaughter’s back. “Back then, she was a high school teacher in our town, and Takeo was one of her students.”

Tazaki Tsukasa chuckled and whispered in Hoshino Hanami's ear, "No wonder you would make a move on a little boy like me, teacher. It turns out your mother-in-law did the same thing."

Hoshino Hanami reached out and grabbed his ear, displeased, "Listen to Grandma properly, don't interrupt."

"After they got married, Sakura became a teacher and Takeo went into business, and they lived a pretty good life for a while." Grandma Hoshino looked at the two of them and said gently, "During the economic crisis in the 90s, Takeo's business failed and he owed more than ten million yen. Coincidentally, Hanami was born at that time, and the family's life became difficult as a result."

"And then?" Hoshino Shikami asked, looking up at him.

Grandma reached out and touched the tears in her granddaughter's eyes: "Later, your father decided to leave our hometown and come to Tokyo to try his luck."

"Why did you come to Tokyo?" the granddaughter asked. "Being a teacher pays well, and we can pay off the more than ten million yen debt slowly."

"Because your sister and your mother both have big appetites. At that time, the family could barely afford to feed the two of them."

Hoshino Hanami chuckled and buried her face in her boyfriend's neck, a little embarrassed.

Tsukasa Tazaki put his arm around her waist and listened quietly.

"When the couple first proposed leaving Kyoto, they faced unanimous opposition from Sakura's family. Takeo was very hesitant at the time and even considered divorce, wanting to take on all the debts himself so that Sakura and Hana could have a better life. In the end, it was Sakura who scolded Takeo, which made him give up that idea. After that, the family went to Tokyo to work hard, which is why you have the life you have now."

"Thank goodness we didn't get divorced..." Hoshino Shikami patted her chest, saying with lingering fear, "If we had gotten divorced, there would be no Shikami here."

Kuriyama Sakura asked curiously, "What did Auntie and Uncle say back then?"

“I know that.” Hoshino Hanami raised her face. “Back then, I hid in my room and secretly watched them. I still remember every word my mother said clearly.”

Tsukasa Tazaki urged, "Tell me quickly."

"it is good."

Hoshino Hanami sat up straight, mimicking her mother's expression when facing her father, and said to Tazaki Tsukasa in the same tone, "I love you, that's why I married you, and I don't regret it at all. I won't easily give up on what I've set my mind on, no matter how hard or tiring the future may be. As long as we still use the same shampoo, the same bowls and chopsticks, the same cups, and even put our underwear and shirts in the washing machine together, isn't that enough happiness?"

Tsukasa Tazaki gently stroked her cheek: "Why did you stop talking? What's next?"

Hoshino Hanami blinked, her eyes, as clear as autumn water, filled with unspeakable affection.

Are you sure you want to know what's next?

Tsukasa Tazaki nodded.

Da Ke'ai lightly punched his nose: "Next, my mom beat up my dad, and then the whole family packed their things and went to Tokyo overnight."

"Haha..." Hoshino Shikami jumped up excitedly, waving her arms and legs, and said, "Sister, quickly beat him up for Shikami to see!"

"Hana-nee, I want to see it too."

Kuriyama Sakura, always eager for a good show, couldn't resist stirring things up.

Tazaki Tsukasa glared angrily at the two of them, put his hands on his head, and said weakly, "Go easy on me."

The shadows of the leaves were faintly projected onto the paper sliding door of the tea room. Hoshino Hanami clenched her fist and knocked on it several times.

It was less of a beating and more of a playful fight.

Tazaki Tsukasa seized the opportunity, grabbed her hands from behind, and held them firmly.

Amidst laughter, Hoshino Hanami's clear eyes subtly reflected a soft light, and a few strands of her coiled, jet-black hair fell loosely, which he bit into.

Chapter 145 Coke tastes better.

At 10 p.m., Grandma Hoshino yawned.

Hoshino Hanami helped her back to the backyard to rest. Seeing that this was an opportunity to be alone with her older sister, the younger sister patted her bottom and followed.

Tsukasa Tazaki stretched and leaned against the window to rest.

A few moths flew into the room, flitting around the chandelier. Looking up outside, tiny moths were also scattered on the lanterns hanging in the corridor, vaguely appearing in the dim candlelight.

He closed the paper window to prevent more moths from flying in.

Under the warm glow of the lights, the women were still excitedly gossiping.

"Whew, that feels so good!"

Kuriyama Sakura opened the paper sliding window she had just closed and plopped down on the windowsill. It was still raining outside, but there was no wind, so the rain was falling straight down from the sky.

Tsukasa Tazaki glanced at her sideways.

The lantern's faint light fell, subtly illuminating the lines of her ears, their beautiful, smooth curves.

Frogs were croaking around the wall. Tsukasa Tazaki listened carefully to their calls and realized that there were not just one or two, but four or five of them, and they were croaking for a long time.

"...Tazaki."

Kuriyama Sakura's two dark pupils slowly moved to the far end of her eye sockets, staring at Tazaki Tsukasa on her left.

"What is it?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked with his eyes.

"I quite like this family."

"Are you talking to me?" This time he spoke.

Kuriyama Sakura looked away, not wanting to answer that pointless question.

“If you’re talking to me, then I have to correct you,” Tsukasa Tazaki laughed. “Not ‘this family,’ but ‘your family,’ get it?”

"..." Kuriyama Sakura rolled her eyes at him, then sighed softly as if she couldn't do anything about him.

A tiny flying insect landed on her pale neck inside her lining and remained motionless, as if it had fallen off accidentally after dying.

"Kuriyama-san."

She glanced back, and Tazaki Tsukasa hesitated for a moment before pointing to her neck: "You have something here?"

Kuriyama Sakura instinctively reached out and touched it, then her whole body jolted. After seeing what was in her hand, her face instantly turned red, her expression a mixture of anger and fear, and even her eyes welled up with tears.

"I told you to open the window..."

Kuriyama Sakura glared at him fiercely, then left the window and returned to the tea table.

Tazaki swallowed the word "serves him right" and reached out to close the window. A woman with blonde hair walked past the window in the corridor, and a moth fell from the lantern and landed on her blonde hair.

In a daze, he reached out and flicked away the moth that had landed on his golden hair.

The woman gradually walked away.

Under the deep darkness of the courtyard at night, the blooming oleanders looked cold and aloof.

He closed the window, shut his eyes, and leaned against the wall, the words of Kana Shimamoto echoing in his ears.

You wandered around her like a ghost.

You watched her grow up from a little girl.

You know Yui Kichikawa better than anyone else.

Is it because you know her so well that you subconsciously brushed the moth off Yui's hair?

Tazaki Tsukasa opened his eyes and looked at Kuriyama Sakura, who was lying on the tea table.

He only had a superficial understanding of this minister, so in this situation he could only offer a reminder and let her handle it herself.

This is quite rational...

He chuckled self-deprecatingly and prepared to go for a walk to stretch his muscles.