CHAPTER 332: CHAPTER 254 SANSHIRO POND_2

"Everyone says goodbye with a smile."

Uesugi Sakura felt like something was wrong with him, always fearing she would suddenly leave him when reminiscing about the past, afraid that when he looked back in his old age, he would find that it was just a lonely journey.

Then, looking at the empty house, all that remained were the sorrows in his heart.

He feared time passed too quickly and he hadn’t had a chance to spend time with her properly.

Three years flew by in the blink of an eye...

He was reluctant to see her grow up...

"Hanabi, can we... hold hands?"

"Of course we can." The girl extended her hand, smiling brightly.

Palm to palm, fingers tightly interlocked, her presence seemed to be held completely in the palm, still soft and delicate.

Stepping out of the edge of the Hongo Campus, there was a bridge connecting to the Yayoi Campus.

Climbing up the moss-covered stone steps in silence.

With fingers linked, Hanamaru Hanabi could feel his strong grip, sensing his emotions at that moment.

"Sakura-kun... seems a bit uneasy..."

"Hanabi... would you believe me if I said I am a very vulnerable person?"

"I believe."

In response to her matter-of-fact reply, Uesugi Sakura smiled, "What if I lie to you?"

"Sakura-kun... wouldn’t lie to Hanabi... that’s Sakura-kun’s promise to Hanabi."

"A promise is a fragile thing too."

"Hanabi will try hard to keep it."

"I really lied to you."

"Hanabi will still try hard to keep it. If Sakura-kun doesn’t keep the promise to watch the fireworks festival together every year, Hanabi will still go every year, bringing with me the gifts and photos Sakura-kun gave me."

"I would deceive you and secretly find another girlfriend."

"You won’t."

Arriving at the Yayoi Campus, shortly after, they saw the statues of Hachiko and Dr. Ueno Hidesaburo.

Uesugi Sakura stopped in front of the statue, seeing Hachiko’s happy expression welcoming the doctor home.

"I suddenly left, right?"

"You won’t."

Uesugi Sakura turned his head to look at her face, "Are you so sure? What if I suddenly had a car accident tomorrow and died from an unforeseeable force—"

Hanamaru Hanabi raised her fingers to his lips, the fragrance from the girl’s body filled the air, "Sakura-kun isn’t allowed to say this, we haven’t gotten married yet, haven’t had children, haven’t lived together until old age."

The girl’s eyes were still so sincere in her own amethyst-colored eyes.

Swallowing his emotions, Uesugi Sakura wanted to open his mouth but didn’t know how to express his liking, "Sorry... I might have suddenly become strange..."

Unexpectedly, she smiled and said:

"Hanabi knows Sakura-kun’s situation, he has always been a reassuring older brother since childhood, occasionally becoming very vulnerable, very lonely... Hanabi understands Sakura-kun wants someone to care about him... about his feelings, about his loneliness, Hanabi is willing to stay with him if Sakura-kun agrees, Hanabi won’t leave for the whole day today."

"Hanabi’s feet haven’t fully healed, can’t walk too fast, but will still try to stay by his side."

Uesugi Sakura suddenly wanted to say to her face-to-face that in this and the last life, the one he couldn’t do without the most was her, Hanabi.

Suppressing the feelings surging in his chest, he turned to look at the Akita dog happily interacting with the doctor on the statue, "Do you know what happened to Hachiko in the end?"

Hanamaru Hanabi followed his gaze:

"After waiting for nine years at Shibuya Station... it passed away..."

Uesugi Sakura saw the briefcase lying by Ueno’s feet and the happily bounding Akita Hachiko:

"It somehow knew its owner might no longer be in the world, yet it still silently waited at the place where it used to greet the doctor every day. I think until its last breath, it still wanted to keep waiting."

Uesugi Sakura looked back at the girl:

"If Hanabi hadn’t been able to return with me back then, I would have waited here just the same."

"Hanabi... would be the same."

Uesugi Sakura smiled, feeling her beauty in his heart was eternally as pure and bright as a lily greeted by the first rays of the sun.

"Let’s go, while there’s still some time for a walk, let’s go to Sanshiro Pond, a dating spot at Tokyo University."

"Okay."

Sanshiro Pond was a small pond, surrounded by woods, a place where one could forget being in Tokyo.

The narrow path along the pond was entirely composed of stones emerging from the water, covered in moss, making it easy to slip into the pond if one wasn’t careful.

So walking here, holding hands was very likely, taking care of each other, and bringing them closer.

"Come, give me your hand." Uesugi Sakura stood on the stone ahead, reaching out to the girl carefully watching her step.

Hanamaru Hanabi directly took his hand, the touch of the girl’s soft and delicate hand spread in his hand once again, seemingly warming even his heart.

"Sakura-kun, it’s so steep here." Under his guidance, the girl carefully stepped over stones half-submerged in water.

She put most of her weight into his hand, this feeling of being relied upon was uniquely reassuring.

"Do you know Sanshiro?" Uesugi Sakura saw the floating leaves on the pond.

A hundred years ago, Natsume Soseki also stopped to watch in this place.

"Sanshiro?"

"Sanshiro is a character created by Natsume Soseki, a countryside graduate who came to Tokyo to study at university. He traveled from Kyushu Kumamoto, where he had nothing, by train to Tokyo, stepping into this world completely different from his previous understanding. The novelty overwhelmed his spirit, filling him with confusion and indecisiveness, not knowing what to do in vibrant Tokyo."

Uesugi Sakura led Hanamaru Hanabi further on, a few chestnut trees stood by the pond, with oval leaves tumbling from the branches.

"Drifting aimlessly by the pond, he met Risaki Miyako, she was beautiful, holding a round fan in her hands, dressed in a kimono, graceful and lovely. Such a charming silhouette with Tokyo University’s pond, buildings, and trees were etched together in Sanshiro’s heart confounded for so long at that moment."

"Compared to the rustic girls from his hometown, he had no resistance to a woman like Miyako."

Hanamaru Hanabi continued listening to him talk.

"His bewildered heart became even more bewildered, staggering through university life."

"Like everyone, he had emotions and desires. At their second meeting, Sanshiro realized he was attracted to her. Her figure, smile, posture, and words immeasurably beautified in Sanshiro’s eyes, magnifying and hollowing out his heart."

"Miyako also slightly liked him, but she had her own considerations, sometimes affectionate, sometimes distant, neither accepting nor rejecting, often calling him a ’lost lamb.’

"Sanshiro didn’t want to be a lost lamb, he wanted to pursue Miyako in the bustling world, wanted to adapt to this world, and Miyako also occasionally sent intriguing signals to Sanshiro."

"What happened later?" Hanamaru Hanabi asked as they both sat on a shabby little wooden bench by the pond.

"Unfortunately, from the moment Sanshiro left his hometown, he was faced with a completely unfamiliar world, yearning for and yet dreading this new glamorous world."

"His classmates and friends were far more quick-witted and eloquent than him. He knew he was a lost lamb, yet because of his inferiority and timidity, he dared not take that step, and in the end, Miyako married someone she didn’t love—a wealthy man."

"So if Sanshiro had taken that step, could he have been with Miyako?" Hanamaru Hanabi’s eyes shone.

Between the trees, sparrows were chirping, and the goldfish in Sanshiro Pond were always swimming, making sounds.

"No."

Uesugi Sakura smiled at her, "As I said before, Miyako had her own calculations. She liked Sanshiro, but she was also someone with a yearning for the new world."

"She had only known Sanshiro for half a year, would go to balls with Professor Nonomiya from Tokyo University, a world-famous scientist, behind his back, and would deliberately flirt with Nonomiya to hint at Sanshiro."

"But Nonomiya was engrossed in his research, without any interest in anything else."

"She liked Sanshiro, her deep innermost desires were romantic, yet she also hoped for a good and comfortable life. She was brilliant, knowledgeable, and skilled in music, but she couldn’t live the life she wanted by her own strength."

"Do you know why?"

"Discrimination against women." Uesugi Sakura quickly answered for himself.

Hanamaru Hanabi listened intently.

"There’s an interesting phenomenon in Tokyo University, the girls don’t say they are students there."

"During mixers, they claim to study next to Tokyo University, while the boys openly admit they are students at Tokyo University."

"What are they afraid of? They’re worried that being too excellent, women being more excellent than men, will make the men lose face."

Hanamaru Hanabi whispered, "So... what about Sakura-kun...?"

"Me?" Uesugi Sakura smiled at her, "I’m waiting for you to support me."