CHAPTER 695: CHAPTER 425: HAVING YOU... IS REALLY NICE......_2

"Sure, after all, everyone knows you now."

Hanamaru Hanabi’s farewell was brief, she waved to everyone and then smiled, bowed slightly, saying that they were leaving.

Everyone responded to the girl with smiles.

Manager Yanagi gave her the leftover cookies from the store, Towa Rina told her to visit often, and the twin sisters, Tashiro Yuuri and Yuno, gave her a maid-style bow.

After finishing up these things, she carried a small bag of cookies to the door, where she found Uesugi Sakura waiting for her.

"Alright, Sakura-kun, let’s go home!"

The word "home" she called out with joy, filled with a sense that made one feel her heart was leaping with happiness.

Perhaps because of the days spent apart, she seemed much happier, even just staying with him.

Uesugi Sakura looked at her cute little face and smiled at her with relief.

...

When they arrived downstairs, Uesugi Sakura took out the key from his pocket to unlock the pink bicycle and pushed it out.

The night street was still brightly lit with people continuously coming and going, bustling and lively.

Uesugi Sakura rode the bike while Hanamaru Hanabi sat sideways behind him, experiencing the cold wind of October together on the same bicycle.

"Is it a bit cold?"

"A little, let’s take a warm bath when we get home."

"Oh~" Uesugi Sakura, while watching the road, smiled calmly at the girl behind him, "Can I join you for the bath?"

"Sure, but!" Hanamaru Hanabi smiled sweetly, "Sakura-kun, don’t do anything naughty!"

"What if I do?"

"Then Hanabi will ignore you!"

"Ignore me? That might—"

Before Uesugi Sakura could finish speaking, a cookie suddenly appeared under his nose, fed to him by Hanamaru Hanabi from behind, reaching under his arm.

"Sakura-kun, try it too, Manager Yanagi’s craftsmanship is really good."

Uesugi Sakura lowered his head to bite the cookie she was feeding him, and as he held it in his mouth, he turned the bicycle around the corner, feeling the refreshing breeze of the night.

But...

"I... mmm mmm...."

"What is Sakura-kun saying?" Hanamaru Hanabi, sitting on the back seat of the bicycle, enduring the bumps along the way, looked at his back.

She tilted her head and realized that Uesugi Sakura had a whole cookie in his mouth.

She quickly apologized, "Sorry, Hanabi forgot that Sakura-kun was riding the bike and couldn’t finish it in one bite."

She hurried to reach over, pinching the cookie from his mouth with her slender fingers.

Uesugi Sakura finally relieved, bit off a third of the cookie and put it in his mouth, chewed for a while, swallowed it, and said to the girl behind him:

"Almost choked me."

"Sorry, sorry... Want more, Sakura-kun?"

"Of course, why wouldn’t I eat it? My wife feeds me." Uesugi Sakura said this and then took the cookie she handed to him into his mouth again.

Upon hearing him call her his wife, Hanamaru Hanabi giggled sweetly, placing the bag of cookies she was holding into her hand.

In the cool breeze swirling around, she hugged his back:

"Hanabi still feels... it’s nice to have Sakura-kun by my side..."

"Did you miss me particularly these few days because I was away?" Uesugi Sakura asked in front.

"Mm..." Hanamaru Hanabi placed her cheeks against his back, feeling the warmth coming from it, closing her eyes to savor his body heat, "Really, really missed Sakura-kun..."

Just hearing her soft and weak voice, Uesugi Sakura felt a wave of warmth rising in his heart.

This warmth enveloped him, making him soften his voice to the girl holding him tightly from behind:

"I miss you too. Actually, it’s only been the sixth day... not even a week..."

As they reached the riverside, Uesugi Sakura looked at the rows of streetlights on both sides of the distant road, some memories inopportunely surged, making him feel like he’d been transported years into the past.

"I never had any big dreams, just wanted to eat enough. Never cared much for having anyone to look after me, just thought, I’d get through life by eating enough, no marriage, just living a simple life till the end... Like that, no pressure, no burden, a simple passing of life is also a kind of happiness.

"But only after meeting someone who really loves me, did I realize all those things I didn’t care about, like living alone forever, were false. I was just avoiding, hiding, deep down I hoped for someone to love me, but I was afraid I couldn’t find someone, so I wrapped myself up, labeling myself as ’happy alone.’"

"Hanabi-chan, now I understand, now I understand... It’s because of you that I have hope for a happy life. When this happiness came into my life, I tasted its sweetness, and only when it was threatening to leave did I realize how painful it would be to lose it."

Uesugi Sakura gazed into the distant horizon, slowing his speech.

"So, let’s never part in the future, okay?"

Listening to Uesugi Sakura’s long string of soft words, Hanamaru Hanabi, sitting on the back seat of the bike, lowered her face and weakly said:

"I’m sorry, Sakura-kun..."

"It’s okay, I never blamed you... If anything, these days apart also helped me see some things clearly about myself."

Uesugi Sakura was filled with emotions; if not for Hanabi... he would just be a soulless eater.

The dream of going to Tokyo University he had since childhood was also just to get into civil service, not working too hard, leading to an easy life.

Now, with Hanabi, a home, a desire to protect these things.

Uesugi Sakura finally understood a sense of responsibility, a happiness emerging from protecting her smile.

With her, he had hope, a life no longer destined to end lonely.

"Let’s talk about something happy."

"What does Sakura-kun want to hear?"

"Like... did you have your period this month, are you expecting our baby?"

Hanamaru Hanabi immediately became shy, "Well... it came at the start of the month... To know if there’s a baby, we’ll have to wait until next month..."

"Do you want to carry my child, Hanabi?"

"I do... Of course, I do... In that case... Sakura-kun will surely be very happy too..."

Uesugi Sakura laughed at her adorable words, "What if the baby is naughty?"

"Hanabi... Hanabi will teach him well, so he becomes as clever as his father, as awesome as his father!"

Hanamaru Hanabi’s voice held a girlish charm, yet seemed to have a touch of maternal tenderness.

Uesugi Sakura was entranced as he listened.

"I’m not really awesome..."

"Sakura-kun says he’s not awesome... Then Hanabi has nothing awesome too..."

"I won’t allow you to speak of yourself like that, Hanabi is a very awesome girl."

"Hanabi thinks so too! Sakura-kun is also awesome!"

With that, the two couldn’t help but laugh together.

The bicycle turned the last corner towards home.

The night sky was dotted with stars, the celestial blue of the starry sky making one feel infinitely broad-minded.

Hanamaru Hanabi sat behind him, swaying her little feet under her skirt on the back seat as they bumped along, humming a pleasant tune.

"Why are you suddenly humming a song?"

"Because, thinking that tomorrow Sakura-kun is taking Hanabi on a date."

"A date? Really?" Uesugi Sakura asked doubtfully, then she pinched his waist, which hurt a lot!

Uesugi Sakura grimacing, "Don’t, don’t do that... your husband is riding a bicycle."

"Who told Sakura-kun to forget..." Hanamaru Hanabi pouted, "It was Sakura-kun who promised to take Hanabi on a date... Sakura-kun... You wouldn’t have been deliberately coaxing Hanabi like a child, right?"

She said this, getting a little upset, and went back to pinching him.

Uesugi Sakura immediately interrupted her action: "Speaking of—!"

"What is it?"

"Earlier Hanabi apologized to me."

"Mm..." Hanamaru Hanabi withdrew her hand, lowered her face, "Yes..."

"So... Sakura-kun also wants a reward from Hanabi-chan..."

As they neared their building, Uesugi Sakura pushed the bicycle the remaining way, Hanamaru Hanabi following behind, still holding onto the small bag of cookies.

"What reward?" Seeing him suddenly turn around, Hanamaru Hanabi had a bad feeling.

Uesugi Sakura laughed, leaned in to her ear, and nibbled it, making her shrink her neck, then whispered with warm breath: "After the bath... let’s go to the living room, I really like Hanabi-chan’s standing split position."

Hanamaru Hanabi knew what he meant and, blushing, with her eyes full of tender reproach, quietly scolded him:

"Naughty Sakura-kun!"