Chapter 187 - 172: Qixi Festival, and Before the Qixi Festival_2

Words : 1445 Updated : Oct 6th, 2025

Chapter 187: Chapter 172: Qixi Festival, and Before the Qixi Festival_2"Tomorrow is the Tanabata festival. Do you want a gift?" "Sakura... no need to buy anything for Hanabi..." Hanamaru Hanabi paused for a moment, thinking that today’s chocolates haven’t been made yet. "Is Hanabi still angry?" "Angry about what...?" "From when I saw you changing clothes." Hanamaru Hanabi’s violet eyes fixated on the yellow corn in the bowl, her cheeks turning slightly red. Then she softly whispered: "You rascal..." It sounded like dislike, but also seemed shy. Uesugi Sakura leaned closer to her face and said: "Actually... it probably wasn’t a big deal, right?" After all, he could already hold her while sleeping at night. Cool water flowed over his hands, as slices of green cucumber floated up and down in the stream. "Hanabi... was seen completely by Sakura..." Hanamaru Hanabi stumbled over her words, her voice filled with utter embarrassment. Uesugi Sakura: "You have a great figure, very slender, very fair." Once he said that, Hanamaru Hanabi was reminded of the situation then, her mind went into turmoil, and her voice became incredibly shy: "Sakura, Sakura... you jerk!" "Is it such a big deal? It’s not like I haven’t seen it when we were kids." "It’s different." Hanamaru Hanabi tried to avoid his gaze as he leaned closer, her mind fully replaying the scene of him observing her. "At, at that time, Sakura was still like a big brother, giving Hanabi a bath was very normal." He couldn’t understand, why was it okay when they were young but not now? It was probably just a small excuse Hanabi gave herself. That’s how Uesugi Sakura felt. "Let’s not talk about this, after dinner, what dessert do you want? I can go buy it for you now." "In the evening... let’s not have dessert, it would make me gain weight." Hanamaru Hanabi suddenly hesitated a bit again, "For dessert after dinner, just some chili will do." Dessert equals chili. She truly was the little Hanabi who always carried chili powder with her. Mashed potato salad was quickly prepared, served with previously made garlic-flavored pork, and miso soup. The family ate together in the living room. With chopsticks, Mrs. Hanamaru picked up a piece of rice and suddenly paused in mid-air, smiling as she said: "Are we disturbing your private world here?" "Not at all." In front of the two ladies, Uesugi Sakura continuously ate several bites of the mashed potato salad, flavored with milk. Hanamaru Hanabi snuck a glance at him. When they were alone, he usually asked if he could feed her. "Oh? Is that so?" Recently, Mrs. Hanamaru has been looking at Uesugi Sakura with a very kind gaze, fully aware of his nightly sneaking into Hanabi’s room. But it was strange, they never heard odd sounds from the adjacent room. During casual chats with Uesugi Nobuko, she mentioned the two were very... intimate, concerned things might escalate. After all, they were too young. And as her mother, Uesugi Nobuko couldn’t nag about these things constantly without annoying them. She could only occasionally ask Uesugi Shio to remind them —after all, she was the elder sister used to overseeing them since childhood. "Let’s go to the Divine Palace to see a wedding tomorrow," Mrs. Hanamaru suddenly said. "Weren’t we going on Saturday?" Uesugi Nobuko held her bowl and chopsticks. "It’s the Tanabata festival, surely someone would get married." Uesugi Sakura: "I have classes tomorrow." "Little Sakura doesn’t want to go?" Mrs. Hanamaru chuckled, very gently. The stranger this warmth was, the more Uesugi Sakura felt the pressure: "I’d love to go!" "Then it’s decided." "Will there be a wedding at night? Isn’t it better in the afternoon?" Mrs. Hanamaru pulled out her phone and laughed, saying, "Seven o’clock on Tanabata is more popular." Outside the house, gentle rain pattered against the leaves and flowers. The day before Tanabata, the rain on July 6th is called the "washing car rain." It’s said to be the water used to cleanse the cow cart Orihime and Hikoboshi ride, falling from the Milky Way. —————— The next day, Tanabata. The story of the cowherd and the weaver girl is also widely known in Japan. Chocolates usually given on Valentine’s Day are often exchanged today by girls professing their affections. At noon in the library, Uesugi Sakura was helping Hanamaru Hanabi with her studies. Hanamaru Hanabi, hands behind her back, watched him intently, and secretly took out a delicately packaged box from her shark-ornamented bag. She then quietly placed it before his eyes. "Sakura, here..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s tiny voice was soft and sweet. Seeing the pink box that suddenly appeared, Uesugi Sakura calmly put down his pen and said: "Today, only little Hanabi would give me chocolates." "Sakura... you’re not happy?" Hanamaru Hanabi detected the hint of displeasure in his tone. "Hmm." Uesugi Sakura nodded, deliberately pushing the chocolates to the side: "On past Valentine’s or Tanabata days, I’ve received quite a few." Watching as the chocolates she painstakingly made were pushed far away, Hanamaru Hanabi lowered her head, intertwining her small hands, her voice tiny: "But... Sakura said he only liked the ones Hanabi made..." He hadn’t come over last night or called her to wake up this morning, and she went to school alone. Thinking back over the past few days, she constantly called him a rascal, saying how she disliked him. ’Sakura... could it be he doesn’t like Hanabi anymore...’ She feared greatly, spinning the ring on her ring finger anxiously. "You used to only give me obligation chocolates." Uesugi Sakura saw her looking a bit down, chuckled inside but maintained a deliberately cold tone. Actually, the chocolates Hanamaru Hanabi gave were meant to be "obligation," but were always homemade "real ones." She merely lacked the courage to admit it when asked, always claiming they were store-bought. She feared rejection. Uesugi Sakura’s chilly demeanor left Hanamaru Hanabi inexplicably flustered. She hurriedly said: "This, this year is different! Hanabi really put effort into making them, all hand-made by me..." "So you mean you were always lying to me before?" Uesugi Sakura turned his voice down, an almost disdainful tone. "Hanabi, Hanabi didn’t... didn’t mean to..." Feeling rejected, Hanamaru Hanabi’s nerves tangled, words slipping and slipping. "Not... not purposely deceiving Sakura..." "Just, just...." Uesugi Sakura kept his voice cold: "Just what?" "Hanabi just... didn’t dare tell Sakura..." "Why not just say it directly?" Uesugi Sakura smiled, presenting a box before her. The downward-bent Hanamaru Hanabi, seeing the brown box illuminate her line of sight, looked up to see his grin. A hint of panic still swirled in her heart: "Sakura... you weren’t mad?" "Mad at what?" "Hanabi kept calling Sakura a rascal lately..." "Isn’t that an affectionate nickname?" Uesugi Sakura placed the chocolates he’d made in her unsteady hands, "I made these, accept them." "Sakura... wasn’t angry?" Hanamaru Hanabi looked up at him again, confirming while holding tight to the box he’d given. "I’ve never given you chocolates before, how could I possibly be upset with you?" "Okay..." Hanamaru Hanabi nodded softly, her lips curling, "Thank you, Sakura..." This was the first time he gave her chocolates. Uesugi Sakura took another black box from his bag and simultaneously handed it to her, saying: "If you eat, eat this one, I bought it separately this morning. "The one you hold had a minor accident during last night’s making, the taste..." He didn’t finish his sentence. "Hanabi doesn’t mind..." Hanamaru Hanabi clutched the earlier box even tighter, cherishing it, fearing he might take it back. "Even if it tastes horrible you don’t mind?" Uesugi Sakura was quite curious about this point, "Everyone else’s chocolates are sweet, mine is bitter beyond words." "As long as it’s from Sakura... Hanabi doesn’t mind..." Uesugi Sakura chuckled, seeing her actions: "Is there a need to hold it so tightly?" "Sakura... the first time you gave me... it can’t be taken back..." Hanamaru Hanabi said, with a determined light twinkling in her violet eyes, "Hanabi will treasure it forever." "So you won’t eat it? Chocolate can’t be kept that long either." "I’ll eat it... but the box will be saved..." "Are you eating it now?" Hanamaru Hanabi looked at him: "Sakura... why are you asking this?" "I’ll feed you." A cute face, a petite sailor suit, a white collarbone, and a slender figure. No matter how long, she’d always wear an embarrassingly shy look which made hearts race. "Okay..." The chocolate-color box was opened and laid on the thick geography textbook. Uesugi Sakura put down his hand and asked, "How is it? Is it too bad?" "Can’t... can’t bite through it..." "..."

Chapter 187 - 172: Qixi Festival, and Before the Qixi Festival_2

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