Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 189 - 173: Qixi Festival, and Love_2

Chapter 189: Chapter 173: Qixi Festival, and Love_2

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Little Hanabi has always been a quiet and gentle girl.

She would quietly sit by your side while you work, observing your focused expression with curious eyes.

But if she gets shy, her little hands would fidget between her thighs, burying her head, her cheeks turning red, trying her best to avoid the other’s gaze.

"For a photo, we don’t have to kiss, do we?"

Uesugi Sakura was selecting the photo style inside the photo booth, finally opting for a simple and fresh standard couple’s kiss.

At this moment, she had just finished her previously bought milk chocolate ice cream.

Hanamaru Hanabi was too embarrassed to look at the picture of the couple in a passionate kiss, her face reddening as she turned away, pressing her lips together.

Uesugi Sakura wrapped her arm around the exposed snowy shoulders of her dress, gently pulling the shy girl closer to herself bit by bit:

"No one else will see it but us."

With warmth and a sweet scent embraced, the girl’s delicate fragrance lingered.

Forehead to forehead, Uesugi Sakura approached her closed little face, her slightly pursed cherry lips, drawing near slowly.

A prompt sound, and the photo booth captured that near-arrival moment.

Time seemed to freeze at that instant.

The deep affection was mutual, the closer they got, the more they wanted to plunge their whole being into each other’s heart.

...

Biting softly on the twist, it was soft and tender, filled with the taste of milk chocolate.

Uesugi Sakura released her lively lips but, seeing Hanabi’s tender, lingering manner through her blurred vision, couldn’t resist leaning in again for a bite.

"Sakura-kun..."

Hugging her slim waist, it was only after a long while that they parted. The girl’s tiny hand still rested on his chest, while Hanamaru Hanabi looked at him with sparkling eyes, her heart brimming with sweetness from the kiss.

She couldn’t help resting her cheek against his chest, listening to the heartbeat that put her at ease, feeling the comforting warmth.

Her small hands hugged tighter.

"Hanabi... really likes Sakura-kun..."

"Really like?"

The weak and soft voice, like when she came to him sadly as a child.

"Will always, forever like."

Hanamaru Hanabi closed her eyes, leaning into his embrace, listening to his heartbeat:

"Sakura-kun... has given Hanabi so much, Hanabi... once wished that Sakura-kun would hold her... and say he liked her..."

In the slightly illuminated and enclosed space, the girl’s petite body exuded warmth and softness in his embrace.

"And now?"

"Hanabi... just wants Sakura-kun to hold her like this forever..."

Her desire had always been so small.

Uesugi Sakura thought if he let her down in the future, she might bury that unspeakable pain deeply within her heart, forcing herself to face him with the same cheerful smile.

And at night, she would secretly curl up in her blanket, near tears.

"Sakura-kun... want to hear Hanabi sing?"

"Your voice is so soft, it might be hard to hear."

Hanamaru Hanabi opened her eyes, resting her little head on his chest looking up at him, her eyes clear and bright without any impurity, still carrying the innocence of youth.

"So... only Sakura-kun can hear the song Hanabi sings..."

"’Fireworks’ or ’Hanabi’?"

Hanamaru Hanabi knew Uesugi Sakura was teasing her name, showing a pretty smile: "Is Sakura-kun wanting to hear these two songs again?"

In the past, during the fireworks festival, she had sung for him, which was when she secretly kissed him.

"Just sing ’Hanabi’," Uesugi Sakura said as he looked at her little upturned face in his arms, "I always feel like you came out of that song."

She flashed a bright smile at the glowing screen of the machine where they were about to touch, as a voice as delicate as leaves rustling in a breeze filled the space around them.

...

Her voice was immature and naive, yet unexpectedly pleasant.

Her rhythm followed the beat of his heart, lively and natural.

Whispering softly in his arms, filled with tenderness, care, and cuteness.

Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help thinking about how, without little Hanabi, his life would have been.

Even if he could go on, it would lack this sky-like brilliance and this heartwarming smile.

——————

Meiji Shrine is located in Tokyo’s Shibuya District, surrounded by over 100,000 trees that make the place soar with giant trees and the sound of birds chirping along the path of green stones.

Since it’s close to Shinjuku’s commercial street, the Uesugi Family is not far from here.

Though memories blur with time, Uesugi Sakura still remembers his parents holding him as they came here to pray.

Being one of the top three shrines in the country for visitor numbers each year, naturally, weddings held at the shrine have also become something people aspire to.

Around a thousand weddings are held here annually, meaning two to three couples get married here every day, tying their bonds.

Thus, visiting Meiji Shrine and witnessing a wedding is an indispensable activity.

The irises swayed in the summer breeze for warding off evil, intermixed with the rustling sound of broadleaf trees, pouring into the ears.

Uesugi Shio sat on a bench under a tree, her fingers scrolling the glowing screen of her phone.

Suddenly a slap landed on her long crossed legs.

With a "slap!" a few overlapping handprints added to the fair leg.

She slowly moved her hand to her face, her vacant blue eyes focusing on the small patch of crimson in her palm.

Finally, she lazily said, "The 56th one."

"Huh."

Next to her, Mrs. Uesugi sighed, taking out mosquito repellent from her bag and sprayed around the bench again.

"How come Hanabi-chan and Sakura haven’t arrived yet?"

Mrs. Hanamaru fanned herself with a round fan, smiling: "Maybe they’ve checked into some couple hotel?"

Mrs. Uesugi: "An entire afternoon? Probably not."

Mrs. Hanamaru: "Those two kids, Nobuko, have you seen them apart? They’ve been getting closer lately."

Mrs. Uesugi sighed: "Just as long as nothing happens."

Feeling uneasy, she turned to Uesugi Shio, who was browsing her phone: "Shio, I’m going to have to rely on you again."

Uesugi Shio raised her head slightly, the light blue ear-dye not as obvious as during the day: "Auntie, don’t worry, based on my recent observations, they haven’t reached that step."

Mrs. Uesugi: "No? Haven’t they been together at night lately?"

Uesugi Shio: "That’s true, but I’ve secretly asked Hanabi, though she faltered, there really wasn’t."

Mrs. Hanamaru showed her motherly smile: "Little Hanabi is the least able to lie, but if she falters, it might also mean she’s too shy to say."

Mrs. Uesugi: "So there might be, huh?"

"Just a possibility."

Mrs. Hanamaru gently patted her belly, fanning herself as she spoke softly: "It’s actually fine if it happens earlier, Hanabi and Sakura can take a year off, wait till the child is born to discuss further."

As friends for nearly twenty years, Uesugi Nobuko understood her meaning, smiling lightly: "Planning for your child and the grandchild to grow up together?"

Mrs. Hanamaru kept a smile: "They wouldn’t have much time for parenting anyway, with schoolwork; luckily, I have time to help raise them together."

Uesugi Shio couldn’t help turning her head, saying, "Doesn’t this... feel awkward?"

Mrs. Hanamaru looked at her slightly protruding belly: "What’s awkward about it? Whether it’s Hanabi’s or this kid, they’re all just newborn babies, raising them is all that matters."

At this moment, seeing the three under the big leaf tree, Uesugi Sakura and Hanamaru Hanabi approached through the crowd.

"Sorry for being late."

"S-Sorry..." Hanamaru Hanabi said with a flushed face.

"It’s fine, it’s fine."

Mrs. Hanamaru waved at them with a smile, saying, "Being a little late is okay, what’s important is substantial work."

Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t grasp her mother’s words: "Mom...what are you talking about?"

Uesugi Sakura, with Intelligence almost reaching 9, extracted a bit of information from her mother-in-law’s caring smile.

The mother-in-law seemed like she was urging him.