CHAPTER 462: CHAPTER 324 THE SECRET HE HID

July 22nd, the sky just barely lightens.

Uesugi Sakura sits on the bed, recalling last night’s dream.

In the dream, he was a stray cat, wandering the streets every day, curling up in corners to avoid the chill.

In the bustling streets, searching for food in the dark, narrow alleys, walking aimlessly in the city with an empty stomach day after day.

When he finally had no strength left, he found a flowerbed and lay on the soil, struggling for breath.

The night sky was filled with dazzling stars.

His weak gaze passed through the sparse branches of the flowerbed, observing the various people passing by, while the many brilliant neon lights of the city, like flowering trees lit with fairy lights, only served to make the cat in the flowerbed feel even more lonely.

There were many restaurants on the street, he could smell the food, and he had tried to approach them.

But as soon as he got close, he would be viciously kicked by leather shoes, and people would shout at him in words he couldn’t understand.

He endured the pain, stood up again, and with great effort kept walking on the crowded streets, despite not having found food for days.

Going to those places that smelled good would only lead to getting hurt...

He understood this and also understood that he was an object of human rejection.

Now, just waiting to die in the flowerbed was fine.

He closed his eyes, as his weak breathing accompanied the gradual fading of sensation.

The rest of the dream became somewhat blurry, but Uesugi Sakura only remembered that when he was starving, Hanabi picked him up and brought him home.

Since then, he became the cat of a beautiful young girl.

Being a beautiful girl’s cat seemed pretty good, no worries about food or drink, and he could snuggle up to her with the advantage of his species.

Hanamaru Hanabi pushed the door open, peeking her head through the crack.

Her arrival interrupted Uesugi Sakura’s random thoughts.

"Sakura-kun, time for breakfast."

"No rush, come over here first," Uesugi Sakura beckoned to her.

Hanamaru Hanabi walked over, still wearing her nighttime pajamas; she hadn’t changed when making breakfast.

"What is it...?"

When she got close, Uesugi Sakura directly grabbed her hand, pulled her towards him, and whispered with a smile in front of her:

"What style of clothes are you planning to wear today?"

Their faces were close, and Hanamaru Hanabi originally thought he was going to do something strange to her face.

"Ah... I, I haven’t decided yet..."

"How about a mini skirt?"

"Wearing a mini skirt means wearing safety shorts..."

"Too hot?"

"Mm..."

"Just wear thinner safety shorts." Uesugi Sakura looked at Hanamaru Hanabi sitting in front of him.

This time of year was summer, so in summer... she wouldn’t wear black or white stockings much.

Summer stockings had to be at least under 10D, but 10D was too thin and see-through.

The effect of black or white stockings wasn’t great, so wearing flesh-colored ones was better, exposing her fair legs.

Uesugi Sakura wanted to help her wear stockings, but recently there hadn’t been many opportunities.

At night... maybe try getting her to wear them; as soon as she’d put on white stockings, her little feet would totally look like cute creamy ice cream.

Hanamaru Hanabi didn’t know what he was thinking, but she accepted his suggestion about wearing a mini skirt:

"Then, which skirt does Sakura-kun think looks nice?"

Uesugi Sakura snapped back from thoughts of creamy ice cream and pondered for a moment before saying, "The sky blue pleated skirt you wore the other day was really nice, it looked refreshing."

Talking about nice clothes, Hanamaru Hanabi wasn’t as embarrassed and took out skirts from the wardrobe for him to see.

As for Hanabi’s wardrobe...

No pants, not one pair other than bloomers.

All skirts, all year round.

"Why do you always wear blue or white in summer?" Uesugi Sakura asked, watching her pick out a skirt from the bed.

"Cool colors and neutral tones, if the sun is very bright, wouldn’t you feel comfortable seeing sea blue, Sakura-kun?"

"Hmm," Uesugi Sakura thought for a minute, then replied, "That’s true."

Hanamaru Hanabi, wavering among the pile of clothes, finally listened to his suggestion: a sky blue pleated skirt paired with a short-sleeved white blouse, with bows tied at the collar and behind her hair.

Her skirt swayed slightly as she moved gently in front of him, giving off a fresh lily scent.

Sometimes just being around her brought a sense of youthful beauty, feeling a hint of happiness.

"Brother! Sister Hanabi! Breakfast is ready!"

"Aei is calling." Hearing the knocking, Uesugi Sakura looked at Hanamaru Hanabi, who was already dressed.

"Even though just now it was Hanabi who was calling Sakura-kun for breakfast."

"You can’t blame me entirely, Hanabi likes to look good herself," Uesugi Sakura smiled.

After breakfast, he saw off the two little girls as they left for school.

Walking together, their backs no longer carried that lonely feeling of before.

This was a good thing.

At least the two little guys had gotten past their previous troubles.

Their father would send them money each month, but their mother was nowhere to be found.

Their mother’s lack of presence despite the daughters being gone for so long pointed to her irresponsibility.

Perhaps, she had long forgotten she had two daughters.

Uesugi Sakura contemplated whether to take the opportunity to obtain guardianship of the two little girls.

Given their current lack of supervision, and possibly some connections in the Hanamaru family, transferring guardianship to their mother or mother-in-law shouldn’t be too difficult.

This issue needed further inquiry.

After breakfast, Uesugi Sakura helped Hanabi wash the dishes; as the clanking ended, it was time for the two of them to head out.