My love index is at its maximum.

On the last day of the year, I had a video call with Shiori Ninomiya. The girl from Hokkaido was in a vegetable greenhouse, and I was showing her all kinds of vegetables and fruits grown in winter, such as tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, daikon radishes, and so on.

After hanging up the phone, Kuriyama Sakura quickly packed her luggage and rushed to Tokyo Station, where she bought a Shinkansen ticket to Kyoto. While waiting for the train to depart, she ate hot coffee and a sandwich instead of breakfast.

The journey to Kyoto for the New Year was sunny and bright.

She drifted off to sleep around the time she could see Mount Fuji from the window.

We arrived at Kyoto Station around noon.

Following Hoshino Hanami's instructions, Sakura's family, who had been waiting at the entrance, quickly found Miss Kuriyama at the exit.

She's actually very easy to spot. Wearing a white turtleneck sweater and a floral maxi skirt, she stands out in a crowd like an elegant daffodil, making her hard to miss.

Leaving Kyoto Station, we headed north along the Kamo River through Kyoto city.

The further north you go, the lower the houses become on both sides of the street, and fields and wastelands begin to come into view, with rows of plastic greenhouses for growing vegetables.

The black plastic greenhouse, with its roof reflecting the winter sun, looked dazzling.

"Are we almost there?" she asked.

"Just around the bend on the mountain road ahead, and you'll arrive," the driver replied respectfully.

As they spoke, the car climbed a winding, steep slope, and at the end of the road, a doorway appeared. Two imposing pillars stood at the entrance, and the surrounding wall was a low stone wall with a drainage ditch dug below it, resembling a moat.

Traditional Japanese-style architecture.

Someone got out of the car and opened the door. Kuriyama Sakura closed her book, bent down, and got out of the car.

"Where's Hanami-nee?" she asked.

"In the main hall, I'll take Miss Kuriyama there now."

"Has Tsukasa Tazaki arrived?"

"Young Master Tazaki is here too, and he's being scolded along with the young lady."

"Getting scolded?" Kuriyama Sakura smiled with interest. "Let me go see quickly."

Led by the maid, she walked through the front hall and into the interior.

The house is mostly surrounded by mixed trees, except for the west side which faces the valley, offering a wide view. There aren't many buildings, but they are all built in an antique style, spacious and large, with a large Japanese garden in the center featuring stone lanterns and a pond, and two plum trees in the corner that are about to bloom.

Arriving at a wooden house with a veranda on the front, Kuriyama Sakura noticed wind chimes and teru teru bozu (a type of Japanese doll) hanging under the eaves.

When the wind blows, the wind chimes tinkle and ring, their sound crisp and melodious.

“I like this place.” She squinted and took a deep breath.

The air is much cleaner and more refreshing than in Tokyo.

"Woof woof~"

The sound of a dog barking came from inside the house.

Kuriyama Sakura took off her shoes at the entrance and entered the house wearing only her socks.

This is a spacious Japanese-style room decorated in a simple and elegant style. As soon as you enter, you see Tsukasa Tazaki and Hanami Hoshino kneeling on the wooden floor in the middle, their shoulders touching and their heads bowed, looking like they are being scolded.

At the tea table next to him, Hoshino Takeo drank his tea with a worried expression, glancing at his eldest daughter with heartache every now and then.

Kuriyama Sakura suppressed a laugh and stopped to watch the show from the doorway.

"Waaah~" came the pitiful voice of silly Deer, "Grandma, please help me teach those two a lesson, otherwise, Deer won't feel any love in this house!"

"Okay, okay~"

Grandma Hoshino patted her little head gently, then looked at the two kneeling on the ground with a serious expression, holding a stick in her hand: "Do you two know what you did wrong?"

"understood."

Tsukasa Tazaki and Hanami Hoshino answered at the same time.

Should they be punished?

"Should."

Grandma Hoshino was very satisfied with their attitude of admitting their mistakes, and raised her stick, ready to give them a couple of slaps.

"Woof woof~"

Even smarter than the silly deer, "Navy" blocked Grandma's way, wagging his tail and reaching out his paws to snatch the stick. His wide-open eyes seemed to be saying, "Give me some face."

Grandma Hoshino also hesitated.

One of them is her eldest granddaughter, who is usually very sensible, and the other is her obedient grandson-in-law. She couldn't bear to hit either of them.

But I need to give my granddaughter an explanation, what should I do...?

Right there, Hoshino Takeo saw his mother's hesitation and thought she was softening her heart, so he walked over with a smile and said, "Mom, calm down. They already know they were wrong, so let them off this time."

“…Oh, right, and this too.”

Grandma Hoshino looked at her son, her eyes instantly turning stern: "You, come here and kneel down!"

"Clam?"

Hoshino Takeo knelt on the ground with a bewildered expression.

"Tell me, you're such a grown man, what have you been doing all this time since you got home?"

"...fishing, fishing."

"Fishing, fishing, all you ever think about is fishing. If you had skipped fishing today and driven to pick up Tazaki yourself, would this have happened?"

"Clam?"

Grandma Hoshino, with a cold face, said in a lecturing tone, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"……wrong?"

Hoshino Takeo thought to himself that he must have been picked up from a trash can.

"Hands out!"

"..."

"Clap~"

The sound of slapping palms rang out, and "Navy" wagged its tail and circled around the president a few times, giving the impression that it was more like watching a joke than preparing for a rescue.

Hoshino Takeo felt very wronged.

Why is it that this dog never stands on my side?

"Thank you for your hard work, Father-in-law." Tazaki Tsukasa lowered his voice to comfort him. As he turned his gaze, he inadvertently saw a familiar figure at the door. He stared at that figure and smiled happily.

The slender minister stood leaning against the door, her white, finely knitted sweater slightly loose, the overly long sleeves completely covering her hands, and her collarbone peeking out from the neckline. Her black ponytail, tied in a bun, hung down to her chest, concealing the neckline of her sweater, and her long skirt almost touched her ankles.

This outfit is elegant and delicate, too beautiful.

"Hello, Kuriyama-kun!"

Tsukasa Tazaki greeted him with a smile.

Hearing the noise, Hoshino Shikami, who was crying in her grandmother's arms, immediately jumped up, ran to the door, and hugged Kuriyama Sakura tightly: "Waaah~ Sakura, you have to be the judge for Shikami! Those two drove off and dumped Shikami at a highway rest stop! Waaah, Sakura, take Shikami with you! Shikami doesn't want them anymore..."

Her pitiful, tearful voice had a hint of childishness, soft and sweet, which was very pleasant to hear. Kuriyama Sakura was stunned for a moment, and her little heart softened almost instantly.

"Sakura," Hoshino Hanami greeted with a smile, "come quickly to your older sister's side."

"Hana-nee, this is wrong of you!" Kuriyama Sakura led Hoshino Shikami to sit down next to her and said seriously, "Shikami is still a child. How much psychological trauma will you leave her like this? Apologize quickly."

"Yes, yes, quickly apologize to Lu Jian!"

Hoshino Shikami raised her little face and looked at her older sister with a cute but fierce expression.

"Big sister really knows she was wrong~" Hoshino Hanami reached out and hugged her younger sister's shoulders: "Please forgive your big sister, okay? I'll never do it again."

"We can't leave Shikami alone!" Hoshino Shikami sniffed.

"Yes, yes, I'll never leave Shikami alone again." Hoshino Hanami smiled gently, affectionately stroking her younger sister's hair. "Will you take Shikami with you wherever you go?"

"Even if I get married, I'll still bring Kashimi with me!"

"must."

"You must spend the New Year with Shikami, not Tazaki!"

"no problem."

"And you also need to tell Tazaki to listen to Shikami..."

"Tazaki," Hoshino Hanami looked at Tazaki Tsukasa and gestured with her chin, "Did you hear what Shikami said?"

"Mmm-hmm." Tsukasa Tazaki nodded vigorously.

Seeing that he had stopped crying instantly, Hoshino Shika turned to Tazaki Tsukasa and grinned triumphantly: "Tazaki Tsukasa, you're finished!"

This sentence sounds familiar; it seems he said it to Yui Kichikawa.

On the other side of the floor, watching the two sisters reconcile and their bodies pressed together without any gap, Hoshino Takeo couldn't stop smiling.

His greatest pride in life is not creating a club that spans Shinjuku and Shibuya, but raising his two precious daughters.

"Sakura," Grandma Hoshino said, taking Sakura's hand and gently patting the back of it. "You should stay a few more days this time. How about you go back with Hanami and the others after they return to Tokyo?"

“No problem.” Kuriyama Sakura smiled obediently.

Tazaki Tsukasa leaned closer: "Grandma, why don't you take her in as your goddaughter?"

"Great idea!" Hoshino Hanami clapped excitedly, as if he had paid someone to do it. "From today onwards, Sakura is my little sister, and no one can bully her!"

Kuriyama Sakura rolled her eyes at Tazaki Tsukasa.

The next second, Tsukasa Tazaki immediately grinned at her and said, "Kuriyama-san, call me brother-in-law and let me hear it?"

“…Silly!” Kuriyama Sakura looked away as if she couldn’t stand him anymore. She happened to see Hoshino Takeo, whose knees had gone numb from kneeling, moving his body. She thought this middle-aged man was quite easy to get along with, so she smiled and greeted him, “Thank you for your hard work, Uncle.”

"It's not hard work at all." Hoshino Takeo rubbed his knees and said cheerfully, "I don't mind sacrificing a lot for this family."

"Woof woof~"

The "navy" lying next to him looked up and barked twice, as if to say, "I've been working myself to the bone for this family."

Grandma Hoshino glared at her son: "Aren't you going to make some tea?"

"Alright." Hoshino Takeo nimbly got up.