"What do you think, Aunt?"
Facing Uesugi Sakura’s counter-question, Uesugi Tomoko raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled, "Ah Sakura, you’re always so secretive."
Uesugi Tomoko smiled without saying a word and turned to continue leading the way.
The wheels of Uesugi Sakura’s suitcase bumped into the tiny wooden crevices of the veranda, making a continuous clatter.
"Sakura and Hanabi staying in one room?" After turning a corner, Uesugi Tomoko asked.
Before answering, Uesugi Sakura glanced especially at Hanamaru Hanabi, who was swaying in a white dress, her face pink and tender.
She was also looking at him, but quickly blushed and looked down again.
Uesugi Sakura nodded to his aunt, "Yeah, one room."
Japanese houses are meticulous in detail, with each corner of the low pine garden adorned with sand and stones.
"Then you two take the largest guest room," Aunt Uesugi Tomoko added with a smile, "It’s well soundproofed."
Hanamaru Hanabi, pure as she is, didn’t catch the implied meaning, so she didn’t react.
Uesugi understood completely that it was a subtle innuendo.
And he wondered: What should one do when the elders are all like spontaneous drivers suddenly speeding?
This question lingered until the afternoon.
In the scorching summer, outside the bright living room, there was the garden Uesugi’s grandmother often tended to.
The green irises grew around the clear little pond, gracefully swaying with the sea breeze that wandered in from the Seto Inland Sea.
This area of Katsugaoka, because it’s backed by mountains, has a relatively high terrain.
Looking out from this bright guest room, you could see a panoramic view of the sea and sky merging.
A leisurely summer day, living with the scent of the sea and citrus, couldn’t be better.
Switching to a light, breathable T-shirt, little Hanabi showcased her youthful curves coolly and comfortably.
The most captivating was the big, bulging shark on her chest.
With Uesugi Sakura’s keen eye, the shark indeed seemed to have grown quite a bit.
After organizing the clothes from the suitcase into the wardrobe, Hanamaru Hanabi took out her iPad, covered with little shark and chili stickers, and sat on the tatami mat, turning on the air conditioner to start working.
Shortly after, Uesugi Sakura opened the door to bring her some tangerines.
He placed the plate on the Japanese-style tea table.
Then he took a look at Hanamaru Hanabi’s drawing tablet.
Uesugi Sakura sat beside her, leaning in to ask, "What are you drawing?"
Every time he got close, he could only smell the light lily scent on her.
"Yayoko-chan," Hanamaru Hanabi said cutely.
Uesugi Sakura took a closer look at the screen she had just zoomed in on, recognizing the character:
"Isn’t this the white-haired little loli from before who was stomping on the watermelon?"
Last time she stomped on a watermelon, this time it’s whacking a watermelon with a wooden sword.
Looks white-haired loli named Yayoko-chan likes watermelons.
"So why are you drawing this again?"
Uesugi Sakura noticed last time she was wearing white stockings to stomp, this time it’s barefoot on the sand.
Why does the focus always end up on the feet?
He didn’t know himself.
"Seems like it’s an event..." Hanamaru Hanabi said, "They said to draw another summer swimsuit of Yayoko-chan."
"Seems like it." Hanamaru Hanabi drew Yayoko-chan’s feet on the sand, making them plump and cute.
"How much for this one?" Uesugi Sakura fed her a piece of tangerine.
"20,000 yen." Hanamaru Hanabi took a bite of the juicy tangerine, her mouth filled with happiness spilling over her heart.
Seems like a lot more than last time.
Uesugi Sakura sat beside her, feeding this dreamily cute yet timid girl piece by piece with the tangerine.
After feeding the tangerine, he sat quietly for a while.
"Uh-huh," Hanabi responded, focused on her drawing.
"I want to touch your chest."
Such an abrupt statement froze the time in the room instantly.
The moment was stiff, with only the cold wind of the air conditioner swaying up and down.
Hanamaru Hanabi’s delicate face turned beet red in an instant, her girlish posture halted with her stylus pen, deeply bowing her head, shyly speaking in a weak voice:
Uesugi Sakura brought his face closer, lightly smelling the whimpering she made out of shyness.
Getting so close, Hanamaru Hanabi tightly shut her eyes and turned her head away; her face, neck, down to the collarbone, displaying lines as if beautifully sketched.
"Not shy?" Uesugi Sakura asked.
For someone who used to be shy even about holding hands, this was without saying.
But Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t respond to his question.
Uesugi Sakura sat back on his cushion.
With her eyes closed tightly, Hanamaru Hanabi’s heart fluttering for a long time hadn’t felt the morning’s tactile sensation again.
She peered open her eyes stealthily, like a cautious little kitty testing if food was edible.
After several attempts, she finally confirmed that he hadn’t approached her again and slightly relaxed her tense heart.
"It feels like Hanabi is just going along with everything I say today." Uesugi remarked, adjusting his posture.
Hanamaru Hanabi glanced a few times at his face, "Hanabi... doesn’t want to leave Sakura-kun..."
"Why have you been saying that lately?"
"Because..." Hanamaru Hanabi mumbled unclearly, "Because if a girl doesn’t let a boy get close... she will quickly be disliked... even the pervy stuff... has to be fulfilled..."
A question mark slowly formed on Uesugi Sakura’s face.
Where did she learn this, such a distorted concept?
The internet, it must be the internet.
"Has little Hanabi been watching something odd lately? Like, pervy videos?"
Hanamaru Hanabi shook her head like a rattle, "No..."
"Let me see your phone for a second."
"No, I can’t give..." Hanamaru Hanabi moved back, hiding her hands behind her back.
Hanamaru Hanabi shook her head again, seeing him approach, she wanted to quickly get up to escape.
But how could a delicate girl escape from Sakura’s Accuracy Lv10?
With a 99% accuracy rate, no mosquito could flap its wings near him.
Uesugi Sakura grabbed her foot, pulling her and the cushion back towards him before she could stand up.
Hanamaru Hanabi’s legs were flailing around.
"Sakura-kun, stop! Don’t tickle!"
"I haven’t even moved." Uesugi Sakura said with a helpless expression, just trying to prevent her from running away.
"Even so, you can’t look at Hanabi’s phone." Lying on the cushion, Hanamaru Hanabi clutched her phone to her chest.
Uesugi Sakura guessed she didn’t want him to see something particularly embarrassing.
"I just want to understand how Hanabi thinks that statement was correct."
"Isn’t it correct...?" Hanamaru Hanabi asked shyly.
"No." Uesugi Sakura let go of her foot.
"But... Sakura-kun really likes to touch..."
Uesugi Sakura admitted that he, once a nice guy, had fallen to become not-so-nice, but still held onto the most precious conscience: not to lead her astray.
He had to remember, she’s still a 15-year-old kid.
"Did I ever hate you when you refused?"
"Did I ever bully you when you resisted?"
Hanamaru Hanabi’s sparkling purple eyes kept looking at him, her weak voice saying: