CHAPTER 452: CHAPTER 318: I HOPE YOU WON’T LEAVE BECAUSE OF THIS_2

He lifted little Aei from his stomach and placed her to the side, then sat up to call Hanabi.

"Brother, I called Sister Hanabi," Chiaei said, standing by the bed, speaking to him.

While listening to the ringtone waiting to be connected, Uesugi Sakura asked her, "What did Sister Hanabi say?"

"No one answered..."

Just as Chiaei said, no one answered on his end either.

Uesugi Sakura scrolled through the contacts in his phone and called Kitagawa Sakisa.

After a series of ringing tones, the call was connected.

"Uesugi? What’s up? I’m about to take a bath, so make it quick," Sakisa said.

"Aren’t you at school?"

"Huh? It’s so late, I don’t have any homework. Who stays at school late?"

"What about Hanabi?"

Kitagawa Sakisa’s tone in the phone was confused, "Didn’t Hanabi go back early?"

Uesugi Sakura sensed something was off in the conversation, "Why didn’t you go together today?"

"She said she wanted to go back early and make you dinner. As soon as today’s watercolor assignment was done, she left. We stayed in the classroom for remedial lessons, only came home just now!"

"Around what time?"

"Very early, around 3 o’clock."

PM...

But even by 7 PM, Hanabi wasn’t home.

Kitagawa Sakisa heard the silence on the other end of the call, then asked, "You called because Hanabi hasn’t come home yet, right?"

"Yeah."

A sudden ringing cut in, Uesugi Sakura looked towards Chiaei following the sound.

She was holding the phone screen up towards herself, the contact name read Sister Hanabi.

Kitagawa Sakisa was still asking, "Hey, Uesugi, why aren’t you speaking? Hanabi still hasn’t come back?"

"It’s fine now, thanks for your concern. We’ve contacted Hanabi."

"Oh, then... should I hang up?"

"Yeah, sure."

Hanging up the phone, Uesugi Sakura took the phone Chiaei handed over.

"Sakura-kun."

Uesugi Sakura recognized her unique soft voice, which indicated she wasn’t in any trouble, "Are you okay?"

"I’m okay..."

"Why didn’t you answer Chiaei’s call just now?"

"...I just got on the train... My uncle... he invited Hanabi to have dinner... and meet someone..."

Uncle?

Uesugi Sakura somewhat understood the situation, "Did he cause you any trouble?"

"No, he just said a few things to Hanabi."

"Did he try to make you break off the engagement or something like that?" Uesugi Sakura guessed a bit.

"Hmm..."

"Did you meet the other person?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call, Uesugi Sakura could even hear the sound of the train moving.

"It was Sekine..."

"Isn’t that the person who gave you gifts before?"

"Hmm..."

Uesugi Sakura stood up, looked at the darkening sky outside the window, and smiled, "Come back quickly, I bought you a cake."

Perhaps smiles are contagious, her voice over the phone sounded much brighter, "The spicy cake from the Mori family’s store?... Okay, Sakura-kun, Hanabi will be back soon."

"Waiting for you."

"Mm!"

"Is there still cake left?"

Once Uesugi Sakura put down the phone, he realized Aei had at some point stood by his side, shaking his hand.

"Too much cake isn’t good for kids."

Aei used a child’s voice to act cute, "Sister Hanabi eats more than Aei."

Uesugi Sakura imagined that in future, his little sister-in-law and his own younger sister might also plead with him like this for food, he was ready:

"Do you want the spicy cake?"

At the mention of "spicy", Aei shook her head incessantly, no, no.

The last time, being made to cry by Hanabi’s spicy sauce clearly left a psychological shadow on her.

"Aei, eat less cake." As her older sister, Chiaei still had to maintain some image, standing with hands on hips.

Aei made a face, "Sister is lying, obviously sister ate the most cake that brother brought back just now."

Chiaei froze for a moment, "I... I only ate half!"

Aei: "You ate half plus one more strawberry!"

Chiaei: "A strawberry doesn’t count as cake."

Aei: "Strawberry cake, the strawberry is also part of the cake."

"No it doesn’t count."

"Does too count."

...

When Hanamaru Hanabi returned, this little home truly warmed up.

She was cooking with freshly bought ingredients in the kitchen, while Uesugi Sakura embraced her from behind.

The girl’s waist was slender, tightly held, there was an impulse to lift her up.

Perhaps feeling his closeness, Hanamaru Hanabi’s face blushed slightly, and her chopping motions came to a halt, "Sakura-kun... Hanabi is cooking..."

"I know, but I just want to hug you." Uesugi Sakura bent down slightly, rested his head on her small shoulder, turning his face sideways, allowing the fragrance from her neck to fill his nostrils.

"Mm... then Sakura-kun don’t hold too tight, so Hanabi can still cook." Hanamaru Hanabi’s voice grew smaller because of his embrace.

This was certainly not a problem, but she indeed smelled wonderful.

Looking at her blushing face, it made him want to give a gentle nibble.

When she resumed chopping, he couldn’t resist placing his hands on her waist, observing the distance.

So slender, yet there was a delightful tactile feel when his hands rested upon it.

"A bit thin."

"Being a little thin... is good..." Hanamaru Hanabi couldn’t focus on chopping because of his actions, and her face looked like she caught a fever.

"If Hanabi’s too thin, Aunt will think I haven’t taken good care of you."

"But... Sakura-kun once said Hanabi was getting chubby... even the belly had some fat."

"That was just to urge you to go for morning runs, not exercising isn’t good, later your small body might not be able to bear children, but I do like your petite body just the way it is."

Uesugi Sakura sidled closer to her cheek, he could feel the heated warmth emanating from her blush:

"Would you like to take a bath together tonight?"

Upon hearing "bath", Hanamaru Hanabi’s embarrassment deepened, her voice softened to nearly inaudible: "Sakura-kun must promise no funny business..."

"Don’t worry, I’ll just help wash your back today." Uesugi Sakura took the opportunity to touch her cheek lightly for a moment.

Because of his proximity and the encircling arms, Hanamaru Hanabi felt the fluttering of a deer in her chest.

"Mm..."

...

Knowing there was a promise of bathing, everyone at dinner seemed absent-minded, Aei even asked several times if Sister Hanabi had caught a cold.

Such matters certainly couldn’t be explained to a child.

Fortunately, this house had two bathrooms, theirs was on the second floor.

Uesugi Sakura stood at the bedroom door waiting for Hanabi to change clothes, roughly five minutes later, the door finally opened.

She had tied up her hair, with a pink towel wrapped around her chest, the lines of her upper collarbone were delicate and graceful.

The girl stood in front of him for a moment, holding one side of the towel on her chest with her right hand, judging by her expression, she was very embarrassed.

Though it wasn’t the first time helping her wash her back, it always took coaxing to get her to agree.

But it was also because of this; a shy girl is always cute.

Uesugi Sakura took the initiative to take her hand, leading her to the bathroom.

He prefilled the bathroom with dense steam, hoping she would relax more and not be as shy.

Hanamaru Hanabi sat on a small stool, with her fair legs drawn together, her back to him.

Uesugi Sakura turned on the shower, tested the water temperature with his hands, and said to her back:

"The towel should come down."

Hanamaru Hanabi clutched the edge of the towel a bit tighter, her face blushing bashfully lowered:

"Can... it not come off...?"

"That’s silly, if you don’t take off the towel, how can I help you wash?"

Her silhouette was misty, he could vaguely see her curling up a bit, Uesugi Sakura chuckled and reached over from behind, one hand joined hers to hold the towel’s edge, while the other guided her small hand to slowly let go.

Once she started to let go of resistance, Uesugi Sakura gently removed the towel wrapped around her body from behind.

The pink towel slid along her smooth skin to her thighs, revealing her beautiful and shy snowy back.

With mist and haze, the enchanting lines cascading down her snow-white back had a dreamlike allure.

"Sakura-kun... you’re not peeking, are you...?" Hanamaru Hanabi cautiously guarded her chest, eyes only dared to press shut.

"I’m not."

Uesugi Sakura showered her back, and once the white back was glistening with droplets, he let the body wash flow smoothly down with her elegant waistline.

"Hanabi, rest assured, I won’t let you leave my side."