My love index is at its maximum.

Just then, Kuriyama Sakura leaned over and whispered in his ear, "But it's not too bad, after all, you're a gentle scoundrel."

Tazaki Tsukasa thought for a moment, just about to resort to some shamelessness.

"Cough cough~"

Hoshino Hanami's cough could be heard from outside the car window.

Kuriyama Sakura pushed him away instantly and looked ahead: "Hanami-nee, he's trying to do something to me while you're not here."

"I'll avenge you tonight!" Hoshino Hanami cracked her knuckles.

"It's not illegal, is it..."

Seeing Tsukasa Tazaki's aggrieved expression, the two beautiful girls, one big and one small, laughed happily.

The G-Wagon restarted and drove along the road into the nursing home.

Everywhere you look, there are shops, restaurants, bookstores, and other amenities, as well as entertainment venues like tennis courts, basketball courts, and video arcades. The entire sanatorium looks like a tourist town.

There were few people on the road, only a row of vending machines standing alone in the snow.

"arrive."

Hoshino Hanami parked her car in front of an open space in the forest.

There are trees on both sides, and fifteen or sixteen small houses of different styles are scattered in the woods.

Tsukasa Tazaki got off the train carrying his luggage. The ground was covered in snow, and he had to walk on tiptoe to avoid slipping and falling. It was only past noon, but the sun had already disappeared, and the shadows of bare trees could be seen in the western sky.

Hoshino Hanami stood in front of the villa's entrance and rang the doorbell; the sound was dry and lifeless.

An elderly, thin woman with her hair tied up came out of the house. As soon as she saw Kuriyama Sakura get out of the car, she immediately bowed at the entrance and said, "Ms. Kuriyama, it's been a long time."

"Ah."

Kuriyama Sakura nodded indifferently, her attitude neither warm nor cold.

In the gloomy and dim weather, the woman did not even look at Takashi Tazaki, nor did she complain about the arrival of the three. She did not even mention the cold weather, but simply said quietly and gently, "Please come this way," and led the three into the house.

"This is Dr. Kobayashi, Kosakura's former attending physician," Hoshino Hanami quietly introduced to Tazaki Tsukasa.

Upon entering the main door, there is a spacious living room with a fireplace on the left side of the long, narrow room. Around the fireplace are sofas and chairs, and further in is the kitchen, next to which is a wooden dining table, and on the right is a small kitchen counter.

"No one has moved in here since Ms. Kuriyama was discharged from the hospital."

Dr. Kobayashi opened the window to let air into the house.

"Are there very few patients here?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked curiously.

"This place places great emphasis on privacy and is not open to the public, so there aren't many patients," Dr. Kobayashi said, then glanced at Kuriyama Sakura and said with a smile, "More importantly, this villa has already been bought by the Kuriyama family."

Tazaki Tsukasa sighed with a touch of melancholy, "It's so good to be rich!"

"Nonsense." Kuriyama Sakura couldn't stand him anymore and stomped on his foot.

"You guys rest first, I'll go prepare some lunch."

With that, Dr. Kobayashi lit a fire in the fireplace and then left the villa.

"I'm going to change my clothes." Hoshino Hanami carried her luggage and headed upstairs.

Kuriyama Sakura led Tazaki Tsukasa on a tour of the entire building. To the right of the entrance hall was a Japanese-style room and a Western-style room with two beds, one of which was the servants' room.

The study on the second floor has a large desk, and there are two other bedrooms, each with a large wardrobe and a double bed. Next to the pillows on the beds are small tables and reading lamps.

The house has a trapezoidal roof with a balcony extending outwards, offering views of the distant mountains and forests. Two cloth lounge chairs are placed there, perfect for a relaxing midday nap.

Because no one had lived there for a long time, the balcony floor was dirty and covered in dust, and the snow that had blown in had formed thick icicles along the railing.

"Did you used to paint here?"

"Will do."

What to draw?

"What else can you paint besides mountains?"

"That's right, six-year-old Sakura probably doesn't know how to draw pretty boys or anything like that."

"……foolish!"

The two returned to the living room, where the fireplace was lit, and the flames brought warmth to the room.

The chandelier on the ceiling casts a bright, charming yellow light downwards.

After a while, Dr. Kobayashi came in carrying a shopping bag containing some fresh ingredients and rice. After saying "Contact me if you need anything," she left the house again.

"We're supposed to cook for ourselves?" Tsukasa Tazaki put his feet up in front of the fireplace to warm them.

“This is how it is here.” Kuriyama Sakura warmed her hands in front of the glowing fireplace, as if recalling something, and said, “Cooking a proper meal to feed myself is also part of the recovery process.”

"So you can cook?" Tsukasa Tazaki looked at her as if he had discovered a new continent.

Kuriyama Sakura shrugged: "I just cook whatever comes to mind every time and make do with what I have."

"No wonder he lived here for six years..."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, if you study cooking properly, maybe in two years you can... Hey, don't pull my ear!"

Tsukasa Tazaki raised his hands in surrender.

Bathed in the glow of the fireplace, Kuriyama Sakura slightly lifted her beautiful head, and her fair, round little ears looked even more adorable through her dark hair.

"I'll pull yours too!"

Tsukasa Tazaki couldn't resist reaching out and grabbing her earlobe.

The room was quite warm. Kuriyama Sakura's soft, cherry-colored lips twitched slightly, as if she wanted him to turn back, but for some reason she didn't say it.

Is this tacit approval?

Tsukasa Tazaki wasn't quite sure.

However, Kuriyama Sakura did not scold or reprimand him, which undoubtedly allowed his little thoughts to run rampant again.

"Kuriyama-kun, I suddenly remembered something." Tsukasa Tazaki suddenly crawled over and pressed his upper body against hers.

His eyes shone, and a gentle smile appeared on his lips.

"W-What is it?" Kuriyama Sakura felt her heart race.

"It seems like it's been two months since I last hugged you," he said nostalgically, then extended a finger towards Kuriyama Sakura's cheek. "How do you feel?"

Kuriyama Sakura swallowed hard, turned her face away, and shook off his hand.

Perhaps it was because of the fireplace light, but Kuriyama Sakura's face was flushed, making her look more charming, alluring, and even more alluring than usual, and making people's hearts flutter.

Tsukasa Tazaki looked at her with an overly obvious, purposeful gaze: "We'll be staying here for a while."

"Are you implying something to me?" Kuriyama Sakura finally couldn't help but turn around, glaring at him with a mix of shyness and fierceness. Her cute little tiger teeth were tightly biting her lower lip, as if warning, "I'll bite you."

"How fierce!" A barely noticeable but quite charming smile appeared on Tsukasa Tazaki's lips.

Kuriyama Sakura blurted out instinctively, "I really will bite you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized how shameful those words were, and her eyes quickly welled up with tears.

"Bite it." Tsukasa Tazaki leaned closer and gently rubbed her head with one hand.

“…Don’t be too presumptuous,” Kuriyama Sakura muttered.

Being touched on the head felt like when I was little, when an unfamiliar aunt stroked my head or I was picked up and kissed on the cheek—a strange feeling mixed with shyness and pride.

Tsukasa Tazaki's expression was gentle.

He reached out his hand to Kuriyama Sakura, and their fingers intertwined.

Chapter 329 A Night for Three

In the living room that evening, two beautiful girls, one older and one younger, were chatting quietly under the bright yellow light.

While Tsukasa Tazaki was preparing food in the kitchen, washing some apples and grapes, he overheard Hanami Hoshino talking about her upcoming plans.

"Let's stay here for a while and see what happens. Anyway, all the daily necessities we need are available here. There are bookstores, audio-visual stores, and various sports facilities. There are also self-service stores. If you need to buy something special, you can ask the staff who come into the city to buy it for you."

Kuriyama Sakura nodded silently.

"Is it not allowed to come and go freely here?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked, carrying washed fruit as he stepped out from behind the kitchen counter.

On the counter, there's a cutting board with sliced ​​cucumbers and salt sprinkled on it, ready for making potato salad.

“In principle, it’s not possible, except in special circumstances, such as seeing a doctor.” Hoshino Hanami, wearing a white silk nightgown, had her beautiful legs crossed. “In this sanatorium, you need to follow the doctor’s instructions completely.”

"That sounds horrible." Tsukasa Tazaki put down the fruit, went back to the kitchen to finish the rest of the work, washed and put away the cutting board and knife, and brought out the cucumber and potato salad.

"Come sit here." Hoshino Hanami patted the middle of the sofa.

Tsukasa Tazaki plopped down on his bottom.

Hoshino Hanami leaned closer, letting Tazaki Tsukasa put his arm around her shoulder. Then she rested her head on his shoulder, her nose touching his neck, and said half-jokingly, "Aren't you happy with the three-person world that your older sister created for you?"

"Thank you, sister." Tazaki Tsukasa hugged her entire upper body.

The next second, Hoshino Hanami grabbed his waist and twisted it hard: "If you dare to bully Sakura in front of your sister, you'll stay here for the rest of your life!"

"Ouch! That hurts!"

Seeing Tazaki Tsukasa's face contorted in pain, Kuriyama Sakura couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

Hoshino Hanami pinched him for a while before letting go, then leaned against him and picked up a bunch of grapes, eating them one by one.

"Don't let the juice get everywhere." Tazaki Tsukasa took a tissue and wiped her mouth, then tilted his head to look at Kuriyama Sakura: "You haven't been out of touch with the outside world for six years, have you?"

"No……"

Kuriyama Sakura sighed and rubbed her hands on her knees.

"Although I receive special treatment because of my status and don't need to follow a schedule like other patients, my overall life is still pretty much the same. Sometimes I tidy up the yard with everyone, sometimes I attend group psychology classes, and sometimes I go out to pick wild vegetables."

"You have no idea how surprised I was when I first saw Sakura."

Hoshino Hanami put a grape in her mouth, and then put two more into Tazaki Tsukasa's mouth.

Biting into a grape releases juice that saturates every taste bud, sweetening your very soul.