Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 266 - 216: Leaving

Chapter 266: Chapter 216: Leaving

Thud thud...

"Father." Uesugi Shio knocked on the shadowed door of the Uesugi Family.

"..."

After a long silence, the sound of a wine bottle being set down came from inside the house.

"You go today, I’ll go tomorrow."

Uesugi Shio’s hand froze mid-air, murmuring softly: "Still unwilling to go together..."

——————————

After the rain, the sky was a clear blue.

Droplets of dew hung from the lush pine needles.

Here, the green stretched as far as the eye could see, the path was damp, and the people of the Uesugi Family strolled leisurely through Sakuragai Mountain.

The grandfather had also returned home this morning, leading the way briskly in the front.

"Jiro... hasn’t come, has he?" the grandmother of the Uesugi asked, looking up.

"Whether that boy comes or not doesn’t matter, he may as well just stay as he is, it doesn’t matter at all!"

Uesugi Grandfather was very disappointed with him due to the recent incident, and his words carried an air of frustration.

Playing cards, and he managed to bring a dozen inexplicable and very dangerous people to the house.

It’s simply unreasonable.

———A guy who just wastes away every day.

Uesugi Sakura and Hanamaru Hanabi walked side by side at the back.

"Grandfather seems very angry..." The girl’s summer white dress fluttered in the cool breeze, she tilted her little head and said.

"Aren’t you angry, Hanabi? If those people were brought by Uncle." Uesugi Sakura asked her.

Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t really understand the whole situation, only the gist of it.

"Even so... Uncle probably didn’t mean it, right?" she whispered softly.

Uesugi Sakura observed Uesugi Shio up ahead, who was supporting their grandmother; their cousin had been speaking less these past few days.

"It’s true it wasn’t intentional, but Sister Shio feels bad about what her father caused."

"But no one blames her..."

"It’s not everyone blaming her, it’s her blaming herself."

"Sister Shio... is very nice..."

Hanamaru Hanabi remembered Uesugi Shio taking care of her when she was little.

Always smiling with encouragement, often writing letters to guide her.

But ever since Shio’s mother passed away, she seldom sensed that gentle smile in her letters.

Hanamaru Hanabi gazed at Uesugi Sakura’s profile for a while.

"What?" he turned and asked.

"Nothing... nothing..." The girl lowered her head and stepped over the mossy stones on the mountain path.

On the mountain path, the ground was muddy, the verdant valley was serene, and the chirping of insects and birds echoed together.

Luxuriant weeds covered the stream flowing down from the mountain, and when glancing around, only the soft gurgling could be heard, the hidden trickle invisible amidst the woods.

The group continued forward.

They passed through a small pavilion, walked past rows of stone lanterns, and the view opened up as the surrounding green grass receded, replaced by clusters of resplendent vermilion spider lilies.

Their red color lit up the view.

That deep red, so intense, like burning blood, lit up the path ahead as a "Path of Flames."

"They’re blooming much better this year." The Uesugi grandmother stopped to admire this sea of flowers.

Hanamaru Hanabi also paused on the green stone, holding her wind-tossed hair, her eyes reflecting a sea of vivid red.

"Red spider lily." Uesugi Sakura glanced over, "I remember there weren’t any before."

"Planted two years ago," the Uesugi grandmother said gently, "There were only a few wild clumps here before."

"This brilliant red is truly astonishing," said Mrs. Hanamaru and Mrs. Uesugi standing together.

"They’re thriving well, Grandma, have you thought of transplanting some back home?" Uesugi Sakura said, then crouched down, gazing at the bright red umbellate flowers.

"It’s not me wanting to transplant them, but you, Sakura," the Uesugi grandmother chuckled, then followed Grandfather, continuing to walk forward.

"They’d make good garden flowers."

Uesugi Sakura didn’t hurry to catch up but instead picked a red spider lily, holding it by the green stem, and approached little Hanabi.

Under her clear gaze, he tucked it into her hair.

The breeze brushed past, swaying the girl’s white skirt amidst the fiery red sea of flowers.

Her soft short hair, strands falling on both sides, also danced in the wind.

Ethereal, beautiful, fresh.

Admiring her face, Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help but smile gently.

"Sakura-kun..."

"What is it?"

"If, if Hanabi leaves for a long time... will Sakura-kun... miss her?"

"Why ask this all of a sudden?" Uesugi Sakura crouched down again, plucked another flower, and held it in his hand.

"Just... wanted to ask..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s pale, jade-like hands were clustered together.

Uesugi Sakura stood up, seeing Uesugi Shio in the distance supporting their grandmother, their backs slow-moving, there was an indescribable feeling.

"I would miss her, very much so. To me, isn’t Hanabi the world?"

Hanamaru Hanabi lowered her head: "Sakura-kun is so excellent, really... he’d still do well without Hanabi."

Uesugi Sakura never thought himself excellent, and he adorned the freshly picked red spider lily into the girl’s short hair again.

On her forehead, the flower cluster swayed gently.

The girl standing on the green stone was adorned with a delicate charm.

"My efforts are only to make little Hanabi’s future better."

"Sakura-kun!"

Amidst the fiery sea of spider lilies, the girl lifted her head, her white dress, floral ornament, and the breeze... all accentuated her beauty.

"Hanabi... might really need to leave..."

Uesugi Sakura was stunned, looking at the dreamlike yet real white-dressed girl before him.

"Why...?"

——————————

The cemetery, the day before Obon, still had many people returning from the city to the town, paying respects to their ancestors.

Before the cold solitary stone figures, were an array of fresh flowers of various kinds.