Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard
Chapter 276 - 221: No One’s Heart Remains Unchanged_2

Chapter 276: Chapter 221: No One’s Heart Remains Unchanged_2

The lower part of the blade was parried, causing the tip to sway uncertainly.

"Killing Skill! Seizing the initiative, destroying and blocking the opponent’s swordsmanship techniques."

Sakihara Yishin stepped forward first, assuming a quick attack stance, and Uesugi Sakura reacted swiftly.

But this was a seme (probe), striking first when Uesugi Sakura responded to his attack.

Seeing through the intent, anticipating the opportunity to attack, he raised his sword to strike.

"Killing Intent! Pitting force against force, never yielding an inch!"

Uesugi Sakura attempted to use the Jigen Style initiation taught by his father-in-law, but that fully-powered kasaya cut was mimicked quite well.

The sound of wooden swords clashing echoed through the air.

Both withdrew their stances after the clash.

"If last time you were a divine gift of absolute sword skills, now you’re just an exceptionally talented Sword Dao genius."

Uncle Sakihara wasn’t foolish; he could tell the difference in strength between now and before.

The defense was still good; Uncle didn’t manage to breach his defense once.

But in terms of offense... it was lacking a great deal.

"Can you tell me why?"

"State... sometimes good, sometimes bad."

When a world’s richest person suddenly becomes a disheveled beggar asking for money at the door, saying: My wealth, sometimes good, sometimes bad.

Can this be believed?

"Forget it, it’s completely wrong to apply logic to a genius like you, who doesn’t seem human."

When he alone flattened over a dozen people, Uncle Sakihara had already given up thinking, "I’ll ask just one more thing."

"Mm, speak." Uesugi Sakura sat back on a low stool to rest.

"Which one is your regular strength?"

"Now, I guess."

"So can I understand that your earlier state was like a Bankai?"

Bankai is something from "Bleach," and Uesugi Sakura roughly knew it meant unlocking power.

"That thing’s from anime; how could it exist in reality?"

Gripping the wooden sword, Uncle Sakihara widened his eyes, "Then how do you explain your attacks? Before, you could defeat opponents in one move."

"Actually, what defeated them before wasn’t sword skills." Uesugi Sakura said.

"Then what was it?"

"Personal talent," Uesugi Sakura said, "Isn’t there a place on the neck that regulates blood pressure? Just tap there lightly, and the person faints. Tapping the neck is a simple thing, right?"

"How is that possible?"

"Uncle, you can search online."

Uncle Sakihara immediately took out his several-year-old phone.

Uesugi Sakura added a sentence: "To clarify, that’s just the principle. I don’t know if others can do it, but I certainly can."

Meaning there is a factual basis; believe it or not, it’s up to you.

Uesugi Sakura didn’t want to argue about his strength with Uncle anymore.

Cousin understood well, knowing he was talented and extremely skilled, which was completely enough.

There’s no need to exhaust oneself explaining what’s real.

"It’s really there!"

Then, as if discovering a new world, Uncle Sakihara prepared to follow instructions, intending to strike his neck with the wooden sword.

But then he saw a large red warning on his phone:

[Forcefully striking the carotid sinus can easily cause cervical vertebra and medulla injuries, leading to brain contusion, cerebral hemorrhage, concussion, deep coma, brain hernia, paralysis, death, etc. Avoid trying lightly!]

The feeling of a strike could truly be fatal.

Uncle Sakihara touched his neck, no wonder it still slightly ached when he woke up that day.

But seeing his pupil silently eat an orange and stare blankly, he refrained from saying anything.

People are always in pursuit of something, and in this regard, he deeply understood.

——————————

In the afternoon after lunch, Uesugi Sakura found an opportunity to make a video call to Hanabi.

In the dark wait of the phone screen, it connected.

Her image was quite blurry, like a torn mosaic filter, and the sound was choppy.

But one could vaguely identify she was by a lakeside, surrounded by red maples.

She was still wearing the small beret he had given her and shouted his name into the phone camera.

But after one shout, the network lagged, and the call disconnected.

The sound and image stopped abruptly.

Uesugi Sakura leaned against a pillar under the eaves, waited for a long time, and finally got a message from little Hanabi.

[Sorry, Sakura-kun, the network here isn’t great, but I’m outside painting, and there are so many swans in front of the lake.]

There was an apologetic emoji after the message.

[Is Hanabi happy there?]

Uesugi Sakura hesitated after typing this and then deleted it, replacing it with:

[It’s okay, you go ahead, if possible, take a photo of the painting tonight and show me.]

After clicking send, Uesugi Sakura’s hands helplessly dropped, and the falling rain outside seemed to grow colder.

"Sakura."

Uesugi Sakura turned his head, "Mom."

Uesugi Nobuko smiled, "Texting little Hanabi again?"

"Mm."

"How does it feel being apart?"

"Very...unusual, I guess."

"Naturally, you’ve never argued since childhood, never been apart. When someone you’ve been with day and night leaves, you just stare blankly at her things."

Uesugi Nobuko’s voice seemed to take on a tinge of melancholy.

"When your grandmother left, I was like this too; even seeing someone with a similar back on the street made me speak out, often getting mistaken for being crazy."

After speaking, she laughed again.

Uesugi Sakura rarely saw his usually strong-willed mother showing this demeanor.

"Mom, do you have a good answer to the question Aunt asked me before?"

"[What is love]?" Uesugi Nobuko said, "Of course, this is something you must ponder yourself. Your father didn’t give up even after being rejected by me sixteen times."

"Some might mock him, while others might admire him. Everyone has different views, but at least I saw your father’s sincerity."

"The relationship between you and Hanabi is nearly thirteen years. How familiar you are with each other doesn’t need me to say much, but Sakura, there are times when you can’t fully understand each other.

"You need to think carefully about how to better handle your current relationship."

...

And once again, he was left alone watching the rain.

Uesugi Sakura understood his mother was guiding him to think more positively.

But since there wasn’t anything he was particularly eager to strive for, what was there to distract himself?

Having been accustomed to being alone, the feeling of her presence became special.

He walked back to his room.

Pushed open the sliding door.

If she were still there, she would be kneeling at the coffee table painting and would softly smile at him as he entered, saying, "Sakura-kun, finished with Sword Dao practice?"

But now, there was nothing, just emptiness, and the cold rain outside the window.

Only the unmade bedding from the morning and the plate of mandarins his grandmother brought the night before, left untouched.

Uesugi Sakura lay back on the bed, hugged the large shark plushie Hanabi liked so much.

The fragrance of lilies on its white belly still lingered from her.

The more he inhaled it, the more he missed her.

He simply... couldn’t bear her absence...

Let alone enduring the upcoming years of time.

Used to her scent, her voice, her fragility, used to the timid little girl who once called him Brother Sakura.

The twelve-year bond was suddenly stretched far away, pulled to distant England.

A hollow seemed to have opened in his heart, with only the thread on the edge, pulling painfully.

The overcast clouds above the mansion, the rain for several days, seemed to continuously soak his chest.

Uesugi Sakura stretched his arms, held the big shark plushie above his head, and murmured to it:

"Should I... go and bring her back?"