CHAPTER 699: CHAPTER 427: THE REUNION DATE_2

"I won’t tickle you, you stop." Uesugi Sakura stopped in his tracks.

Hanamaru Hanabi tentatively moved her head twice, before finally peeking out from behind the tree trunk to look at him.

Then Uesugi Sakura, taking advantage of her unpreparedness, quickly reached out and caught the girl’s arm as she hurriedly tried to escape.

"Ah! Sakura-kun, you’re cheating again!" Hanamaru Hanabi panicked as she struggled.

"Hm? How did I cheat?"

"Sakura-kun clearly—" Hanamaru Hanabi suddenly froze, then looked at Uesugi Sakura, "Oh yeah, Sakura-kun didn’t tickle me, just caught me."

"Why do you seem so clueless?"

Hanamaru Hanabi smiled at him while holding half-eaten cheese stick.

"Silly wife."

Hanamaru Hanabi laughed again.

"The sillier, the cuter, right?"

She suddenly hugged Uesugi Sakura, looked up in his arms and said, "I like Sakura-kun the most..."

The two stood under the shade of a tree, and Uesugi Sakura gently stroked her hair,"We only walked around the park a bit, and you became so well-behaved?"

"Mm... Hanabi had been looking forward to this date for a long time..."

"Well then... we’ve almost explored this park, how about after you’re done eating, we go shopping?"

"Okay!"

She agreed quickly, lively and happy.

...

The girl on a date truly behaved like a little girl, wanting to drag Uesugi Sakura to look at anything novel she spotted on the street.

Accompanying them is the mission of the boys on the date.

Those on their first date often appear very nervous in front of the girl, letting her take over talking and leading the activities.

When asked if a gift looks good, they just nod and say it looks nice, everything looks nice on you.

Once it turns into this, the girl will find the date very boring.

Uesugi Sakura is also someone like that sometimes, but with Hanamaru Hanabi, their dates have never been called boring by her.

"Does it look nice?"

"Yes, looks nice."

"Then let’s buy it." Hanamaru Hanabi glanced at the monkey handbag in her hand.

"Buy? Let’s skip that. Buy this instead." Uesugi Sakura picked up a black lace garter from a plastic box, "This one."

"That doesn’t look like a hairband, it’s a bit too large." Hanamaru Hanabi examined it and said.

She wasn’t sure about it, but Uesugi Sakura knew, he stretched the black band apart with both hands and said:

"It’s a garter, an ornament for the thigh."

"An accessory you wear on your leg?"

"Yeah, didn’t you have something similar on your ankle yesterday? Except it was a butterfly, and this is a garter."

"That... wasn’t bought by Hanabi..."

"Was it... the other you who bought it?" Uesugi Sakura asked.

"Yeah..."

"Do you know why? Like why you wanted to buy this kind of thing."

"I don’t know..." Hanamaru Hanabi shook her head, "Maybe she thought it looked nice..."

Uesugi Sakura was a bit curious, "Is she not coming out today?"

"No, I told her, this morning I’m going on a date with Sakura-kun."

"How about the cafe in the afternoon?"

"I would be sleeping then... but don’t worry Sakura-kun, I still have memory, I can feel it... it’s just sometimes she’ll do things Hanabi wouldn’t do."

Uesugi Sakura understood that the things done by Dark Hanabi were actually the things Hanabi desired deep inside but didn’t dare to do.

Of course, due to her personality, she would sometimes act impetuously.

"I suddenly have a great idea."

"What idea?"

"Hanabi-chan, didn’t you want to be a maid? How about we buy a maid outfit to wear at home?"

"No," Hanamaru Hanabi used a soft voice to refuse, "I wore it once at the convention last time, and showed it to Sakura-kun..."

Dark Hanabi said yesterday afternoon that she wanted to wear a maid outfit and work with him at the café.

Doesn’t this mean... that deep down, Hanabi-chan actually wants to wear a maid outfit for him to see?

It’s just that she’s too shy to wear it for him.

Yes, that must be it.

The key now is, how to let Hanabi-chan break through her shyness and wear the maid outfit for him at home.

Can this goal be achieved during today’s date?

Uesugi Sakura was not sure.

"Hanabi-chan."

"Hm?"

"Do you think I’m good?"

"Mm-hmm..."

"What do you want to eat, I’ll take you there."

"Ice cream!"

"Why are you still like a little kid, look, it’s already autumn, it’s October—"

"I want Sakura-kun to feed me!" Hanamaru Hanabi said, hugging his arm and smiling in his embrace.

As she snuggled in his arms, Uesugi Sakura felt a sweet itch in his heart, wanting to spoil her, not minding the cold October weather or the possibility of getting cold by eating ice cream.

Uesugi Sakura remembered there was a new ice cream shop on this shopping street, remembered because it sold spicy flavors Hanabi-chan liked, so he specially circled a few shops with her.

When she discovered that this ice cream shop sells spicy swirls, her eyes practically sparkled.

Uesugi Sakura ordered a spicy one at the counter and a non-spicy one for himself, and then they sat inside the shop.

Hanamaru Hanabi obediently sat across from him, hands on her knees, looking adorable.

She didn’t speak but stared wide-eyed at Uesugi Sakura, constantly motioning to him.

Helplessly, Uesugi Sakura picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful of spicy ice cream swirl, and reached out to feed it into her eager little mouth.

A blissful smile quickly appeared on the girl’s face.

Relaxed, with a silly grin on her face.

"Hee hee."

"Silly wife."

"No, not...silly." she mumbled as she ate, not sure what she was muttering about.

"Silly wife." Uesugi Sakura muttered, scooping another spoonful to feed her.

"Mm..." Hanamaru Hanabi suddenly pursed her lips, closed her eyes, looking very pained.

Silly wife, truly a silly wife, to manage to bite her tongue while eating ice cream.

Though she was a silly wife, seeing her in pain still made Uesugi Sakura feel heartache.

Without this silly wife, there would be nothing for him to feel heartache over.

"Are you okay?" Uesugi Sakura put down the cup and asked with concern.

"It hurts..."

"Do you want me to... uh, blow on it?"

Hanamaru Hanabi burst into laughter, speaking with her swollen tongue, "I bit my tongue... how could Sakura-kun blow on it...?"

"Are you teasing me?"

"No! I really bit it."

"Then stick out your mouth, and I’ll blow to make it better."

"No way! Sakura-kun is trying to take advantage of Hanabi again."

"Don’t think I’m so bad, hey!"

"Meanie! Big meanie!"

Her swollen tongue subsided quickly, which was a pity, and Uesugi Sakura found it quite cute.

"Was today’s date a bit simple... only a half-day... couldn’t take you to see too many places."

"Sakura-kun... no need to say that, Hanabi is already satisfied... If it were... if it were the past... Hanabi would be happy just to have Sakura brother talk to me for a bit each day, now..."

Hanamaru Hanabi stared at the spoon quietly resting in the ice cream cup.

"Now... Hanabi wants Sakura brother to spend lots and lots of time with her to feel happy... Hanabi is really greedy..."

Her voice was soft and calm, but Uesugi Sakura felt a strange and uncomfortable emotion listening to it in his heart.

He remembered what she said when she just left home, comparing the feeling of marriage and holding hands in love.

Yes, when just in love, holding her hand once brought immense joy, but now, it takes more from her to achieve that same level of happiness.

Humans really are greedy.

"It’s okay... greed is a good thing."

"Is it really good?"

"Yes, because it means your affection for me isn’t just superficial, but you want to understand me more, because you like me, so you want to understand, because you like me, so you want to be greedy—all this comes from your affection for me. Don’t worry, little Hanabi, as long as you learn to cherish, being a bit more greedy is not a problem."

"After all, I also want to spend every day with you, like you a little more, understand you a bit more until I know every hair on your body, cherish you dearly."

"....."

"So..."

Uesugi Sakura didn’t catch the words.

"So... Hanabi could never argue with Sakura from when I was young... but being able to go on a date with Sakura-kun, and as a couple... is really wonderful..."

"Um, since Sakura-kun is so nice, can Hanabi-chan promise me one thing?"

"Sure."

"Wear the maid outfit for me."

Hanamaru Hanabi cutely tilted her head at him, blinking her eyes.