Chapter 99 Decisive Choices

Chapter 99: Chapter 99 Decisive ChoicesVarious passersby strolled along the streets, with neon lights illuminating the Shinjuku District, creating a night as bright as day. On the street, a cold wind blew, and beneath this not-so-lush beech tree, Uesugi Sakura watched her little nose looking forlorn, gently placing a hand on her delicate shoulder, slowly embracing her fragile body. Letting her head rest on his shoulder, breathing in the fragrance emanating from her hair and neck, he closed his eyes and whispered to her: "Little Hanabi is very cute, her crying makes one want to protect her, she eats quietly, and whenever she listens to stories, she sits obediently on the stool, patiently listening to every sentence, every word." The gentle, slow-spoken words softly brought Hanamaru Hanabi back to that past time. "But, no one really likes that Hanabi... Through the folds of the sailor uniform in his hand, Uesugi Sakura could clearly feel the girl nestled in his embrace, with her tenderness, her warmth, unchanged since childhood. He held her like before, comforting her when she cried. "Little Hanabi is very well-behaved and cute, every time she sees beautiful flowers, she’ll pull Sakura-kun over to look at them, whether in the park, along the embankment, or by the roadside. Sakura-kun has always liked her, liked the way she quietly follows behind him, liked her smile when she eats, liked the way she hides in the corner wiping tears." Hanamaru Hanabi slowly opened her lively eyes, looking up at his familiar face. Twelve years can change many things, but in her heart, his warmth when comforting her has remained unchanged. In her gentle gaze, it was all his face. Hanabi... also likes Sakura-kun... The bustling street lights shimmered and danced across their bodies, Hanamaru Hanabi raised her head, and as she closed her eyes, she quickly kissed his cheek. The warmth on his cheek disappeared in an instant, but Uesugi Sakura could still distinctly feel the softness of the girl’s cherry lips. He opened his eyes, smiling at her shy and evasive demeanor: "Hanabi, did you just kiss me?" "Mm..." Hanamaru Hanabi lowered her head again, anxiously picking up the croquette she left on the bench, quietly eating. Uesugi Sakura chuckled, not disturbing her, and picked up his own croquette. Through the 0.025-millimeter plastic bag, the residual warmth passed through the oil-proof paper bag reaching his palm; he took a bite of the crispiness, quietly observing the many passersby in front of them. The two of them just sat under the bench of the beech tree, quietly eating the golden croquettes in their hands. —————— The next day, as he lazily passed the first class of the morning, Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help but yawn. "Ha~" "What did you do yesterday?" Tsubokawa Takahiro asked Uesugi Sakura in front of him, while playing a game. His yawning was loud enough for half the classroom to hear. Ignoring the glances from the others, Uesugi Sakura glanced at Hanamaru Hanabi, who was sleeping on the desk, and then told Tsubokawa: "I was a bit tired last night." Tsubokawa Takahiro raised an eyebrow, looked at Uesugi Sakura, and continued playing his game: "Forget it; the more I hear, the more jealous I get, so I won’t listen." Tsubokawa didn’t listen, and Uesugi didn’t say much; he’s not the type to constantly flaunt his affection. "Boom, boom, bomb!" A very cute girl’s voice, speaking in Chinese. Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help but ask: "What are you playing?" "Genshin Impact," Tsubokawa Takahiro responded casually, the little girl in a red dress on his screen running around a snowy area. "Why is it in Chinese?" "It’s a Chinese game; of course, I had to try it in Chinese. Surprisingly good," Tsubokawa Takahiro’s fingers continuously slid across the screen, "though I don’t understand it." He added another sentence. "The game’s ads are everywhere in Akihabara, and the illustrations looked pretty good, so I downloaded it for a try." Uesugi Sakura squinted his eyes, half due to tiredness: "Did you spend money?" Tsubokawa Takahiro was quite surprised: "How did you know!?" Uesugi Sakura didn’t explain and continued to ask: "How much?" "Not much," Tsubokawa Takahiro was trying hard to recall, "I just managed to draw all the characters from the gacha pool about seven times each." Yes, all the characters drawn seven times. Uesugi Sakura remained silent, though he didn’t know what level that implied, but it was evident Tsubokawa was hooked. "By the way," Tsubokawa Takahiro asked him, "do you want to play it? We can team up together." "Forget it." He thought his small savings wouldn’t be ready for it yet. The short class break ended quickly, Uesugi Sakura propped his head up with his left hand near the window, listening to the English teacher talk about Martin’s story, utterly bored. Ever since his Intelligence reached 8, even listening to lectures lazily gets him through as well as before. Find something to do? Might as well take a nap. Last night, his father-in-law found time to come home and took him out for training after walking through many streets, so he was truly tired now. All he could think about was kesa-giri, men, do, and the sound of the bamboo swords striking. Yet despite learning Sword Dao for so long, it never came into play. Is there no plot where someone provokes me, and then I take them down with one move? Uesugi Sakura passed through to noon in this state of extreme boredom. "Sakura-kun... Where are we going..." Hanamaru Hanabi asked, holding her bento box, walking beside Uesugi Sakura, her leather shoes stepping lightly beneath her black knee-high socks. The sunlit corridor, speckled with the greenish freshness of light shining through the leaves. "To the geography classroom," Uesugi Sakura said. "But the geography classroom isn’t in the club building," Hanamaru Hanabi said. "The abandoned one." "Why are we going there..." "To eat together." Hanamaru Hanabi stopped walking, her soft pleated skirt swaying forward. She shook her head and said: "Sakura-kun doesn’t need to feed Hanabi. Hanabi can eat by herself." "...." It wasn’t that Uesugi Sakura wanted to feed her; he mainly thought eating in the cafeteria was too conspicuous, particularly with that so-called father-in-law’s advice. Maybe just be decisive and make the relationship public—let the classmates know if they will. "Let’s go, to the cafeteria." He decided. Hanamaru Hanabi had no choice but to turn and follow Uesugi Sakura, glancing at him walking in the sun, saying softly: "Hanabi thinks that today, Sakura-kun doesn’t seem very well..." Mentioning not feeling well, Uesugi Sakura couldn’t help but yawn again: "I had insomnia again last night, didn’t sleep well." Just after saying that, a tender little hand suddenly grabbed his. "What’s wrong?" Uesugi Sakura looked back at her slightly reddened cheeks. "Let’s go to the geography classroom..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s voice grew quieter. "Why are we going there again?" A brief silence. "Hanabi... will accompany Sakura-kun to sleep..." Accompany me to sleep? Uesugi Sakura was stunned for a second, then reversed his grip on the small hand holding his, turning back.