CHAPTER 416: CHAPTER 300 THE TIME IN THE NIGHT_2

The next day, returning to school from home, little Hanabi’s gaze towards Uesugi Sakura became evasive, and her face even more bashful.

For things like menstrual periods, a young girl should ask her mother.

But the sisters didn’t have the option of parents in their lives, so they often had to rely on themselves.

Now Aei could only ask her brother Uesugi Sakura for help on behalf of her sister. He felt it was inappropriate for him to explain, "Aei, you should tell sister Hanabi about the bleeding."

"Why? Isn’t it fine to ask brother?"

"It’s not fine, I don’t bleed."

"Sister Hanabi bleeds?"

"Yeah, she does, so you should ask Chiaei to talk to her."

Aei seemed to have realized something and stood up from the bed, "It’s unfair!"

"What’s unfair?"

"Why don’t boys bleed?"

"...telling me won’t help you."

Compared to boys, girls do have more troublesome matters; Uesugi Sakura was more considerate of Hanamaru Hanabi during those special days, helping her by rubbing her tummy and such.

"This is determined by gender, I can’t change into a girl," Uesugi Sakura said helplessly.

Aei lay back down on the shark, swaying her legs up and down, "Will Aei bleed too?"

"That’s for sure."

"It seems like it will hurt a lot." Aei recalled Chiaei panicking while describing it to her.

"Not necessarily."

"Girls are such trouble."

How come Uesugi Sakura found himself helping Aei solve physiological problems, he shook his head internally, then said to Aei who was lying on the bed: "I’ll go shower first, after sister Hanabi washes the dishes, she’ll take you to shower together."

"But Aei wants all four of us to shower together."

"No way." Uesugi Sakura knew this was her showing dependence on her brother, wanting to do everything together, just like Hanabi used to be.

"Alright then, good night, brother."

"Yeah, good night, remember to shower before sleeping."

Uesugi Sakura glanced at Aei’s sleepy eyelids and closed the door for her.

He walked to the living room, where Hanamaru Hanabi and Chiaei were chatting while washing dishes. Noticing he was unneeded, he went to the bathroom to run hot water, preparing for a hot bath.

The bathtub was large enough to fit two people, which was one of the reasons Uesugi Sakura chose to rent this apartment.

He stripped off his clothes and submerged himself into the steam-filled bathtub, as if all the fatigue of the day had dissipated into the hot water.

Uesugi Sakura spread his arms on the bathtub and leaned his head back, closing his eyes to fully enjoy the pleasure brought on by the hot water.

The bathroom door was unlocked.

It wasn’t that he deliberately didn’t lock it, but he simply had no habit of doing so, since it was usually just him and Hanabi here.

His body, well, it wouldn’t matter much if little Hanabi saw it.

But with three girls in the house now, could there be any accidental intrusions?

"Oh, sorry!"

With a creak, Uesugi Sakura, who was leaning back with his head up, heard Chiaei’s voice.

"I... I was just going to the toilet... I noticed the light was on and wasn’t going to push the door...

She had instinctively touched it, not expecting it to be unlocked.

This was just like a plot straight out of a light novel.

The bathroom was fogged up and Uesugi Sakura was soaking in the tub, so actually nothing could be seen.

Chiaei was just aware that someone was in the bathroom, becoming a bit flustered.

"It’s alright, I’ll step out later. You and sister Hanabi can bring Aei in to wash up, I’ll have the hot water ready for you. If you need to use the toilet, there’s also one on the second floor."

Hearing his voice, Chiaei calmed down a bit, "Thank you, brother..."

"It’s okay."

Chiaei reached for the door latch to close the door, hesitated for a second, then asked, "Brother, is it true you’ll go shopping with us?"

"Of course." Uesugi Sakura didn’t look at Chiaei standing at the door, but he remembered the oversized elementary school uniforms the sisters had.

"Aei definitely didn’t say thank you to brother... but she’s really happy."

Uesugi Sakura knew, even though Aei didn’t say it, her rush to tell Hanamaru Hanabi was enough to show her feelings.

"Aei is a childish little sister, I hope brother doesn’t mind some of her behavior." Perhaps because she was at the bathroom door, Chiaei blushed even more, revealing a very cute expression.

Uesugi Sakura didn’t know her expression, because of the steam, he couldn’t see anything, he could only talk with her through the mist, "I don’t mind, on the contrary, I actually think Aei has a very cute side."

They were strong in ways that could make one feel heartache.

For example, earlier, Aei ate a spicy sauce, even when it was too much for her mouth, she endured it, not letting herself cry.

She probably didn’t want to worry her sister, it was already a habit, after the spiciness faded, she even smiled and wiped her tears away.

The two little girls were really well-behaved.

Aei knew how to subtly show concern for her sister in front of Uesugi Sakura.

Chiaei would also express concern for her sister in front of him, fearing that Aei’s occasional inexplicable words might give a bad impression.

Even though they were only about eleven or twelve years old, the age when they still competed for attention from their parents, they had already learned to help each other.

When family discord occurs, sibling relationships ironically become better, Uesugi Sakura thought of this quote for no particular reason.

The only gift their parents gave them was probably each other, the sisters.

After finishing his bath, Uesugi Sakura put on his clothes, refilled the hot water, and left the bathroom for them.

He went upstairs alone, leaned against the bed, and read a book under the lamp.

But as he read, the book lost its interest.

Because he could always hear their playful noises.

Uesugi Sakura had good hearing, able to catch the surprised words Aei said in the bathroom.

She had been surprised like that last time.

With Aei’s personality, she would absolutely be curious,

While little Hanabi would definitely be shy and not agree.

If there was anything troubling, it was that tonight he could only sleep alone hugging the shark.

Early the next morning, the sound of birds chirping and cars could be faintly heard from afar.

The four of them finished freshening up and headed out, on their way to the subway station.

Father’s Day was coming up, and Hanamaru Hanabi planned to give a gift to her father-in-law.

Helping Aei buy clothes and getting something for Father’s Day, although Uesugi Sakura still had savings, he ultimately had no income.

Only Hanabi was still working part-time.

"Should I find a part-time job?"

"What’s Sakura-kun saying?" Hanamaru Hanabi, who was walking in front, leading Aei and Chiaei, heard his self-talk. Today she wore a white shirt, had a red bow at her collar, and still wore a pleated skirt, only liking skirts.

Ever since she had once been seen in her panties by Uesugi Sakura, bloomers were a must.

"Ah, I was thinking whether I should find a job, I’m mostly free, only reading books, but reading can’t provide real experiences, lacks the feel, and of course, the main reason is no income."

Walking beside him, Hanamaru Hanabi asked, "Sakura-kun... didn’t you recently say you were going to participate in a Sword Dao competition?"

"Oh, that’s in July during the summer break. Although my master often calls me to train, I don’t see the necessity in going."

"Why not?"

"Of course, because I don’t need it."

"Sakura-kun hasn’t practiced Sword Dao with dad in a long time either."

"That’s because I’m skilled enough, my father-in-law thinks I’m ready to go out on my own."

The conversation circled back to Uesugi Sakura wanting to find a stable job.

"What does Sakura-kun want to do?"

"It’s really hard to say, it’s about buying a bigger house, but now I have no clue how to earn money."

Hanamaru Hanabi’s income was uncertain, the light novel she was in charge of illustrating hadn’t been ready for publication, the author was perfecting the story, and Hanabi was busy illustrating.

In the morning while washing up, Aei ran to tell him that last night Hanabi was busy drawing for a long time, and when she woke up in the night, sister Hanabi was still drawing.

Uesugi Sakura now understood why he had to sleep alone last night, Hanabi didn’t want him to see her working late into the night.