The night at Dogo Onsen Street is bustling and lively.
Even through the glass window, you can hear the enthusiastic cheers from outside.
Hanamaru Hanabi and Uesugi Sakura have both donned the yukatas provided by the onsen shop, quietly enjoying the sumptuous sushi spread before them.
Uesugi Sakura picks up his chopsticks and places a piece of tuna sushi into Hanabi’s bowl.
At times , Hanamaru Hanabi would usually thank him, but today, for some reason, she just lowers her face, looking like a shy girl.
Why? Uesugi Sakura probably has some idea.
The little interactions between the two are clearly seen by the two women sitting opposite them.
Mrs. Hanamaru, with a smile in her eyes, suddenly says with a smile, "Sakura, do you understand what love is?"
Uesugi Sakura shifts his gaze from Hanamaru Hanabi’s little face to his mother-in-law’s smiling face, her subtly glowing ocher eyes even more radiant than Hanamaru Hanabi’s.
He is about to speak when Mrs. Hanamaru interrupts him with a laugh:
"Don’t answer yet, think it over before you respond."
Uesugi Sakura doesn’t understand the sudden question, but from her eyes, he can see there’s more to her words.
Mrs. Hanamaru, wearing a loose yukata, her hair just blown dry into a loose state, hanging over her shoulders.
She picks up a piece of roe sushi, chews it, and says slowly to Uesugi Sakura,
"Sometimes you may not understand what the other person is thinking, right?"
Just after saying this, Mrs. Hanamaru chuckles twice and interrupts Uesugi Sakura’s thoughts as she waves him over:
"Eat up, eat up, this place is called Roe House, by the taste preferences of me and Nobuko when exploring shops, it’s quite good."
"Mom, haven’t you eaten a lot already?" Hanamaru Hanabi reminds her.
Mrs. Hanamaru, with her slightly protruding belly, laughs, showing no restraint typical of a pregnant woman:
"For some reason, I felt like eating more today."
"By the way, Meiko, have you decided on your child’s name yet?" Mrs. Uesugi interjects to ask.
"There’s still more than half a year, no rush."
Mrs. Hanamaru seems to always be wearing a cheerful smile, looking very youthful, constantly inviting the sushi on the table with her chopsticks, "Nobuko, aren’t you planning to have another one too?"
Mrs. Uesugi, unfazed by her friend’s teasing, even has the mood to joke: "What, do you want me to have another one to keep pestering your little cabbage?"
"Hahaha," Mrs. Hanamaru hides her face as she laughs, "It’s not certain yet who’s pestering whom, maybe I can turn the tables."
No, my dear mother-in-law, there’s no chance for that.
Uesugi Sakura, feeding Hanamaru Hanabi, silently retorts in his heart.
After filling their bellies with sushi, they take a leisurely stroll around the tourist street centered around Dogo Onsen.
Drinking juice together, eating cheese cakes together, gazing at each other, gently wiping off the dirt at each other’s lips.
A date between couples is just this simple.
At the gift shop, Uesugi Sakura ties a cartoon chili hair tie into Hanamaru Hanabi’s side locks, making the girl with already short hair and a tender little face look even cuter.
Looking at her radiant gaze facing him, his heart can’t help but race.
Just the thought of this girl soon leaving him makes him feel a sudden emptiness.
If she is no longer by his side, what direction is there worth striving for in a self that already doesn’t want to make an effort?
"Is it not pretty?" Under the bright lights of the gift shop, Hanamaru Hanabi asks, seeing him in a daze.
"No, it’s very pretty." Uesugi Sakura tries hard to smile at the girl.
"If Sakura-kun doesn’t like it, we can always change it anytime."
"I think it’s quite nice."
As Uesugi Sakura pays the store, he keeps recalling Mrs. Hanamaru’s words in his mind.
Even the motion of Hanamaru Hanabi tugging at his sleeve goes unnoticed.
Outside, it suddenly becomes noisy, thunderous cheers, and earth-shattering drum and music sounds immediately follow.
Everyone around automatically looks towards the same place, their pupils reflecting that magnificent and breathtaking float.
Finally coming back to his senses, Uesugi Sakura says to the always quietly looking up at his girl,
"Seems like a float, shall we go out and have a look?"
No matter when, Hanamaru Hanabi always has one answer to his invitation:
Sparkling lights intertwine, during the grand float parade, the castle-style Edo-style streets are beautiful and profound under the night sky.
August 16, weather: rainy
Uesugi Sakura sits on the veranda of the mansion, listening to the light rain, and looks alone at the garden’s greenery that has been freshly tended, feeling a chill in his heart.
The eerie red spider lilies, beaten by the rain, continuously sway without their leaves.
——The flower does not meet the leaf, and the leaf does not meet the flower.
This longing that can never touch one another, the flower language is——"sad memories."
"Here you are." Casually dressed, Uesugi Shio sits next to Uesugi Sakura.
"Were you looking for me, Shio?" Uesugi Sakura asks ordinarily, his gaze on the green moss on the stones beneath his dangling legs.
"Not really." Uesugi Shio replies without much energy.
"Is uncle still playing cards?"
"He’s just like that," Uesugi Shio unwraps a lollipop but doesn’t eat it right away, "and will always be like that."
The rain seems to have gotten heavier, pouring down on grandmother’s Wealth Tree filled with lush green leaves.