Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 133: Career and emotional lines must advance together.

Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Career and emotional lines must advance together.

The competition results are in, and we successfully advanced to the next round.

The next round will be the semifinals against Tokyo No. 10 High School.

A week of rigorous training has allowed everyone to digest and apply the knowledge taught by Ogasawara Shikyo and Fan Shi.

This week has been exhausting.

Once accuracy reaches Lv8, it’s tough to improve proficiency further.

So Uesugi still has to rely on himself to compensate for any mistakes.

Now, he’s lying sprawled out on the bed, flipping through his phone aimlessly.

His shoulders and arms are quite sore.

If only little Hanabi could help massage his shoulders.

Using her feet would work too.

Uesugi Sakura got up from the bed, dragging a chair over to sit by the window.

He opened the blinds to find a gentle drizzle outside.

Gray clouds covered the entire Tokyo sky.

The raindrops quietly falling at the window and splashing onto his face carried a hint of natural coolness.

Uesugi leaned against the window with his hands and head, looking towards the Hanamaru household next door, at the window where little Hanabi was blocked by the curtains.

She used to stand here and smile at me often...

The sound of the rain washed away the mental fatigue from training.

He couldn’t help but recall her evasive eyes that night.

Was she really angry?

Yes, it was probably because I overstepped my boundaries.

Uesugi Sakura began to regret all those gestures he had made towards her.

He stood up from the leaning position and pulled out his phone again.

"I’m sorry, little Hanabi, please forgive me, please reply just once."

After clicking send, he really believed he was a scumbag, toying with the emotions of a young girl.

After what happened, he wanted forgiveness with just an apology.

This message, like the dozens sent before it, disappeared without a trace.

"It’s useless..."

Uesugi Sakura leaned against the window again, holding the phone against the frame of the blinds with his left hand, his pupils dilating and contracting as he stared intently at the phone screen, praying for a reply.

The sound from Line, symbolizing a glimmer of hope.

"Sakura-kun...come over, my parents aren’t home."

At the Hanamaru house.

He didn’t rush to use the key given to him by Mrs. Hanamaru to open the door. Instead, he pressed the doorbell and stood at the doorway with an umbrella, waiting.

"Please come in..."

The message came via Line on his phone.

As soon as the door opened, there stood Hanamaru Hanabi at the entrance, wearing that shark T-shirt.

Below, she was only wearing a pair of blue shorts, revealing her snow-white, bare thighs.

"Sakura-kun..."

She pursed her soft lips.

Uesugi put away the umbrella and the first thing he said as he stepped into the entrance was, "I’m sorry."

"Sakura-kun...no need to apologize, Hanabi isn’t angry..."

Hanamaru Hanabi took out a painting from behind her and handed it to him with both hands.

"Here..."

The same gentle voice.

As Uesugi put away the umbrella and took the painting, Hanamaru Hanabi softly explained, "This is the painting I promised Sakura-kun...I’m sorry... Hanabi recently competed in a competition, I only finished this painting yesterday."

The content of the painting was something Uesugi immediately recognized—it was from last year’s fireworks festival, where amidst the dazzling fireworks and bustling neon lights, she had turned back to smile at him.

The girl lowered her head, clenching the corner of her clothes with a small hand.

"That day, Hanabi had a great time. Although back then, Sakura-kun was still Sakura-nii, Hanabi understood, Sakura-kun didn’t dislike Hanabi."

"Sakura-kun said, Hanabi should paint her own self, but Hanabi isn’t confident in herself."

"Hanabi is so useless, always crying since she was a child, always bullied."

"Everyone dislikes Hanabi... She doesn’t like talking or smiling. Everyone says Hanabi is gloomy and can’t even speak clearly."

"No one wants to be with Hanabi."

Uesugi Sakura recalled then, how she would huddle in a corner.

"Only Sakura-kun... was willing to get close to Hanabi..."

Hanamaru Hanabi looked up, her bright eyes still gleaming.

"Hanabi knows Sakura-nii sees her as a little sister, like her father, someone who protected and helped her grow, but one day Hanabi suddenly realized she had fallen for him."

The girl’s soft voice enunciated:

"’If only Sakura-nii could always be with Hanabi, that would be wonderful.’

"Hanabi doesn’t know what is special about herself, doesn’t know what she has that could make Sakura-nii like her, and she lacks the confidence to directly tell Sakura-nii."

"But it was alright, as Hanabi found out Sakura-nii’s feelings for her that day."

"Hanabi secretly kissed him at night, the way he looked at her, it wasn’t as if he was looking at a sister."

The girl looked at the painting in his hands.

"So...Hanabi drew herself as she saw in her heart—inferior, cowardly, unremarkable, annoying...but she’d show Sakura-kun a very beautiful smile."

Hanamaru Hanabi’s youthful face showed the same bright smile as in the painting.

"Hanabi wasn’t angry, in fact, Hanabi needs to apologize for secretly kissing Sakura-nii that day."

"So...Sakura-kun, please accept this gift."

"I understand."

Uesugi Sakura listened patiently to every word she said, placed the painting on a nearby cabinet, and then looked up to ask her:

"Hanabi, why haven’t you been replying to my messages lately?"

"I didn’t mean to..."

"That’s good."

Uesugi Sakura stepped forward and held her in a hug.

The weight of the girl’s petite body was secure in his arms.

"Sakura-kun..."

Hanamaru Hanabi looked up to his handsome face above her.

"Do you like Sakura-kun?"

"I do..." she replied softly.

The rain drummed on the windows outside.

Uesugi Sakura sat in front of her.

Their eyes met, and silence followed.

A peculiar sensation slowly spread, igniting the air around them.

Just sitting on the bed brought a strange warmth.

The heart, just below the throat, started to speed up, thumping rapidly.

"Let’s kiss."

"Okay..."

Scalding blood seemed to pump straight to the brain, making the whole body feel dizzy.

...

Silence.

"Sakura-kun, don’t kiss my neck...it’ll leave marks..."

"It’s okay."

...

"By the way, how does little Hanabi know about this kind of thing?"

"TV shows..."

"They really are misleading."

...

"It’s ticklish..."

"Does little Hanabi want to know what scent she has?" Uesugi Sakura didn’t stop.

"Wha...what..." the girl’s breath had become hot and deep.

"A fragrant girl scent, with a hint of the fresh aroma of lilies."

Raindrops on a lotus leaf, when they gather enough, slide off separately.

"Do you want to get married?" Uesugi Sakura asked, sitting at the girl’s bedside.

"Hanabi..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s beautiful eyes, a vibrant purple, began to evade his gaze again, filled with bashful warmth, not daring to look at him.

The wide neckline of the shark T-shirt revealed a pale clavicle, tinged with a faint flush.

"Do you remember the ring Aunt bought?"

"Does Sakura-kun want to wear it?"

"Even though we’re too young to marry, wearing a ring is still fine."

"Are you going to wear it to school too?"

"Yes."

"Will Dad be mad..."

"Uncle can beat me up if he wants."

...