CHAPTER 372: CHAPTER 276: THE ACTIVE CHILDREN’S DAY_2

"Ah, it’s finished."

Aei held up the drawing again and showed it to her sister and Uesugi Sakura across from her. "Take a look, how is it?"

In the drawing, the four of them were sitting together having lunch, but it seemed there were some modifications — with the addition of the sun, a grassy field, and a sakura tree.

You could see it was an outdoor picnic.

In front of them were sandwiches and apples, the sun shining on their faces, all four smiling, with cherry blossoms blooming on the grass and sprinkling a few pink dots in the sky.

Both he, Hanabi, Aei, and Chiaei were smiling.

Chiaei clapped her hands in praise of her sister’s drawing, perhaps in her eyes, this sunlit life was what she yearned for deep down...

"The drawing is beautiful!" Chiaei was a bit surprised she could draw so well.

"No, no," Aei shook her head at her sister, "You should tell Hanabi it was her who helped me draw it."

Uesugi Sakura chimed in: "So, Aei, how did you thank Hanabi?"

"Oh right, I haven’t said thank you yet," Aei, lying in Hanamaru Hanabi’s embrace, tilted her head and asked her, "Is there anything Hanabi wants? The old sly fox can give it to you."

"Aei, no need—"

Hanamaru Hanabi was just about to refuse, but Uesugi Sakura answered for her:

"Hanabi likes sharks, she really wants that shark doll in your classroom, but her bowling skills aren’t great."

"Hmm... I know, my brother wants to use me to woo Hanabi, but that’s fine,"

After pondering, Aei crawled out of Hanabi’s embrace, stood in front of the table, "Today’s goal is to help Hanabi get the big shark! Brother, prepare to have your neck washed and ready."

Uesugi Sakura: "...."

Chiaei: "Aei!"

...

In the afternoon, Children’s Day.

It turned out, Aei’s skills were on par with Hanabi; even with the children’s version of classroom bowling, they couldn’t hit a strike.

Knocking down all the pins would give a score card of one point, and they needed five points to get that shark, meaning five strikes in bowling.

But aside from Uesugi, no one could knock them all down.

Even a few other brothers and sisters from Tokyo University couldn’t do it.

The reason was naturally a design flaw; the pins were standard size, but the ball’s dimensions were reduced in weight and size for the children’s benefit.

Standard balls are already hard to knock all down, and with smaller balls and larger pins...

Some weaker kids even got their ball stuck between the pins....

Chiaei said there’s no way to score in bowling, but they could play other games in other classes, just needing a total of five points.

"No need to trouble yourself, you can use your points to exchange for some snacks."

Aei: "No way, I promised to make brother wash his neck and be ready."

Was this really meant as a threat?

Uesugi Sakura had nothing left to say about Aei’s words, the well-meaning act seemed odd to him.

Watching the sisters vanish hand in hand around the school hallway corner, Uesugi Sakura felt an immediate sense of relief wash over him.

"Aei’s really cute." Hanamaru Hanabi said in a weak voice beside him.

"I think Chiaei is a bit better."

"Of course, Chiaei-chan is great too; she really shows her sisterly side."

Uesugi Sakura smiled: "I think Hanabi shows a great sisterly side in front of the kids too, although privately she can be like a kid herself."

"Sakura, you’re lying again, clearly—"

Hanamaru Hanabi stopped mid-sentence, prompting Uesugi Sakura to smile and ask:

"Clearly what?"

The girl’s face blushed with a pink hue, as if recalling something.

Upon seeing her expression, Uesugi Sakura understood immediately:

"Hanabi wants to say I clearly didn’t treat you like a kid since I helped you every night?"

"Sakura!" Hanamaru Hanabi’s voice suddenly turned soft and quiet, her face flushed, "Why do you always bring that up...."

"Hmm, certain girls’ bodies are just dishonest, but still their mouths won’t admit it, you should know—Hanabi, Hanabi! Don’t run away!"

It wasn’t until reaching the fence near the field that Uesugi Sakura caught up to her.

This was a small corner, with a house corner bricked with a wall.

Uesugi Sakura remembered this place; back in their day, the wall was short, and climbing over led to a narrow spot crammed with a few trees.

There were no barriers inside, leaning on the wall, one could see the Kanda River flowing around the school.

The trees remained, and there was Hanamaru Hanabi looking up at them.

Uesugi Sakura had seen her silhouette countless times, each time appearing remarkably beautiful.

A white dress, a slender figure, shoulder-length hair swaying with the wind.

The place remained their childhood haunt.

Yet they had grown up, unable to return to the past.

"In the past... Sakura would climb over the wall here...."

"Hmm... and you’d be crying inside...."

"Does Sakura still remember why?"

"Homework, you left it at home and were afraid the teacher would scold you, calling it an excuse to hide, you hid here and cried, not going to class."

"Hanabi remembers... Teacher Imanishi sent Sakura to find me."

"The result of finding you was Teacher Imanishi finding us both."

"Hmm... Sakura came to find Hanabi... but Hanabi made him skip class with me..."

"You cried so much, how could I not accompany you, otherwise your dad would certainly ask who bullied you that night."

"But Sakura never listened to Hanabi, even though Hanabi said no korokke, despite the riverside being so dangerous, he still wanted to go out that way..."

"Only dangerous for you, leaning against the wall seemed narrow, but it was just right for children to pass through."

Walking beside her, Uesugi Sakura gazed into her face, smiling: "Remember how tasty the korokke was that day? I bought it back and watched you eat while crying harder."

Hanamaru Hanabi watched his smiling face and also smiled: "I cried because Hanabi felt Uesugi truly cared for her."

She turned her head again to look at the wall, her voice gentle, beyond it lay the Kanda River traversing through Tokyo:

"Sakura, every girl has a prince in her heart. Sakura was willing to skip class with Hanabi back then, watching her cry, helping her sneak out of school, guiding her along the risky riverbank, buying korokke for her, this sentiment... was something young Hanabi couldn’t repay either way..."

The wind blew, and the leaves above rustled.

Even the clearest memories were veiled with a layer of untouchable gray.

Silently observing her lively, adorable face, Uesugi Sakura never felt her presence as real, this collective school memory might be the basis of their emotions.

Time’s polishing over the past ten-plus years had also contributed to his current feeling of fullness.

His first time in love, yet he felt no one could replace her.

If Hanabi were to rush away years on, losing color from the world, maybe the beam in the room would be his only refuge.

A lonely room filled only with relics of the past cherished moments, memories tasted perfectly lead to interminable voids.

Touching the things she interacted with, the more splendid the memory, the lower his mood dipped.

Because everything has passed, it’s all gone.

Sakura suddenly understood the thoughts of lovers who choose to end it all by the sea.

They simply wished to avert inevitable loss and thus, abandoned early...

To forever freeze love in the most beautiful moment, together in each other’s eyes, in deep love... descending into eternal slumber.

"Sakura."

Her gentle voice called him awake, her smiling face warming and healing.

"Do you want to have korokke when we get home tonight?"

"Anything is fine, as long as it’s made by you."

"What if it tastes bad?"

"Even if it tastes bad, it’s still made by you. Don’t be fooled by Aei not liking her sister’s cooking; if her sister makes a serving, she’s the first to gobble it up. I’m the same way; the key isn’t how the food tastes, but how the person cooking it makes it taste. Aei relies on her sister a lot, and I... rely on you a lot too."