CHAPTER 428: CHAPTER 307: LOVE AND PHILOSOPHY

"Ai."

Hearing Aei’s silly voice, Uesugi Sakura smiled and patted her head.

"Does brother also pat Firework sister’s head like this?" Aei swung her little feet on the chair, ready to go to school today, wearing the Shirooka Elementary School uniform.

"I do pat her head like this." Uesugi Sakura helped pass a bottle of milk from the table for her to drink.

"It seems adults really like to pat heads like this." Aei took the milk with both hands and sipped it slowly.

"It’s a way to praise cuteness." Uesugi Sakura stared at his beautiful fried egg in the bowl, lost in thoughts about his feelings for Hanabi.

The sisters finished breakfast quickly, Uesugi Sakura and Hanamaru Hanabi barely ate half, as they carried their little backpacks, put on their hats, and were about to leave.

"Do you want me and Firework sister to walk you over?"

"Hehe, brother and Firework sister can have some loving time while we’re not around." Aei said with a cheeky tone at the door, the little girl’s voice carried a playful hint.

Of course, "love love" means romance, which can be understood as affection.

"Brother, Firework sister, Aei and I are leaving first." Compared to her sister, Chiaei was more sensible.

"Alright, take care on the road."

"Take care on the road."

After watching the big and small figures disappear around the corner, Uesugi Sakura looked at Hanamaru Hanabi beside him.

"..."

"..."

"I’m sorry."

"Sakura-kun..." Hanamaru Hanabi also met his gaze.

"Although I’ve said sorry to you many times, Hanabi, and you do so much for me every day — breakfast, dinner, clothes, chores — but I... it seems I haven’t really learned to love you."

After a brief silence, Hanamaru Hanabi looked up and said, "Aren’t these things something Sakura-kun would also help Hanabi with?"

Uesugi Sakura took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, allowing his state of mind to calm down a bit: "Hanabi always thinks of me very well, yet sometimes I overlook the details and always feel sorry for you."

"It’s alright... Sakura-kun... it’s alright... Hanabi doesn’t mind these things..."

Hanabi doesn’t mind, he knew well, what bothered him was that he felt he owed her.

To say "you don’t mind but I care" now would be too melodramatic, so Uesugi Sakura could only think about how he could understand her.

He smiled and asked:

"In a few months we will be getting married, are you really willing to spend a lifetime with someone like me, Hanabi?"

"Willing... of course willing..." Hanamaru Hanabi clasped her small hands together, gently turning the engagement ring on her ring finger.

The brilliant diamond was still as dazzling as a few years ago, when he could put on the promise of a lifetime, it was the happiest moment so far.

Uesugi Sakura heard her unhesitating answer and felt deep and sincere love.

In front of his eyes, her cute and vivid appearance will always flicker with a hazy glow in his sight.

Tearful eyes, a smile, her face, the exquisite contour of Hanamaru Hanabi’s face was long ingrained in his heart, her movements, expressions, voice, scent... each aspect resonating with his soul.

The seventeen-year-old girl, loving him so earnestly for over a decade...

"Sakura-kun...?" Hanamaru Hanabi saw him looking at her all the while as his eyes gradually turned red.

Words fermented in his mouth, and after a while, he smiled and said:

"Nothing... I just thought of how pure and beautiful you will be in a wedding dress, walking with light steps, emerging from the sea of lilies, stopping in front of me... On that day, your cute face will certainly reveal a smile as radiant as fireworks with happiness for me."

As he said these words, Hanamaru Hanabi quietly stepped forward, hugging him, resting her face against his chest.

Uesugi Sakura paused for a second, then slowly wrapped his arms around her petite body.

Holding her longer only intensified the sweetness surging within his heart, forcing a smile down towards her face.

"Sakura-kun... how long have you known Hanabi?" Hanamaru Hanabi closed her eyes.

"We met at three, got engaged at fifteen, marry at eighteen, and have walked fifteen years together so far."

"Is it long...?"

"Very short."

"Actually... we’re not married yet."

"Almost."

"Is it long...?"

"Very short."

The familiar feeling and warmth on his chest transported her back to the past, back to being the little girl calling him big brother Sakura and hiding in his embrace.

Gradually, Hanamaru Hanabi stopped talking and just hugged him, her face serene and cozy against his chest.

"Sakura-kun... Hanabi will always like you... you must also always believe..."

.....

After breakfast, it was time for them to leave the house to head to their respective universities.

"I actually miss you a lot at school too."

"If Sakura-kun misses Hanabi, you can always chat with Hanabi on Line anytime."

Standing on the stone slab in front of the door, Uesugi Sakura found himself, inexplicably guided by some emotion, not wanting her to be too far away.

What love feels like, it could only be felt with her.

Every time he saw her beautiful figure standing in the front, blurring her background, instantly, her delicate face seemed to possess a cuteness that could drown the entire world.

The skirt’s hem, round shoes, round hat, engagement ring... all shimmering with a miraculous brilliance due to her presence.

"Would you like to go out and play on the weekend? It’s almost July." Uesugi Sakura didn’t know how he could repay her affection, so he could only try to invite her out to have some fun.

"Sure."

"I haven’t even said where we’ll go yet." Uesugi Sakura walked with her to the street.

"The park, zoo, seaside, countryside, forests, anywhere is fine."