CHAPTER 723: CHAPTER 439 TOKYO LOVE STORY_2

"Pleasant cooperation," Manager Yanagi said, holding the documents as she was about to leave the front desk, then suddenly turned around and added, "Ah, and I’ll try to fix the bookshelf next to the front desk in the coming days. Cat trees and other things are also in the works. Please look forward to it."

Uesugi Sakura nodded, "Alright."

At the end of the workday, Manager Yanagi gathered everyone working at the shop to talk about this matter together.

The bookshelf didn’t matter much; Towa Rina was only interested in a raise and the cats.

"Question!" Towa Rina excitedly raised her hand.

Manager Yanagi, leaning against the bar, looked at her, "Please go ahead."

"Cats! What breed of cats do we need?"

Manager Yanagi replied, "That’s not something we’ve considered for now."

Towa Rina kept raising her hand excitedly, "Then! Then! Can I go choose the cats?"

Manager Yanagi smiled at her and said, "Well, I’ve already contacted a friend to ask for help with that."

"Manager! Manager!"

Towa Rina didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to choose the cats, using a pleading tone, "Since the cats will be in the coffee shop, they must be kittens, right? I get it! I know about this! Please let me choose! I’ll even pay myself!"

Due to Towa Rina’s enthusiasm, as a caring manager, Yanagi changed her mind about refusing her.

"Alright, in that case, I’ll leave it to you, but you don’t need to pay yourself. Once you’ve chosen the kittens, just remember to give me the receipt for buying them."

Manager Yanagi glanced at the clock behind the bar. It was already 7 PM.

With a clap of hands, she announced to everyone in front of her:

"Thank you for your hard work. Today’s work is done. Please rest well."

...

Outside the coffee shop, Uesugi Sakura asked Hanamaru Hanabi to stand behind him as he went to retrieve his parked bicycle.

Hanamaru Hanabi quietly waited by his side, holding a sea blue handbag in her hands. Watching Uesugi Sakura squat down to unlock the bicycle, she said:

"It seems like everyone was really happy today."

"Yeah," Uesugi Sakura replied as he found the lock’s position and inserted the key into the lock to turn it, "After all, the coffee shop has set better goals, and everyone will have things to do going forward. I also plan to come by the shop to help out."

"Goals..." Hanamaru Hanabi lowered her eyes, softly repeating the word in her mind. A couple of seconds later, she looked at Uesugi Sakura, who was now standing up with the bicycle, and asked, "Sakura-kun, your previous goal was to get into Tokyo University, and now that you have achieved that goal, do you have a new one?"

"A new goal?" Uesugi Sakura thought as he pushed the bike forward.

"Yes, a new goal."

Uesugi Sakura gripped the bike’s handlebars with both hands and smiled at the girl in front of him as he asked:

"What was Hanabi-chan’s previous goal?"

"Hanabi’s previous goal... it naturally was..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s soft voice trailed off halfway through, and she grew bashful, slightly lowering her face, with only her lively eyes eagerly trying to gaze at him.

"Well, what about now?" Uesugi Sakura, understanding her meaning, laughed.

"Now it’s still the same, but it’s changed a bit from pursuing... to maintaining." Hanamaru Hanabi’s voice grew smaller and her face drew even lower.

Not noticing much, Uesugi Sakura suddenly stood in front of her with the bike and whispered in her ear:

"I’m just like Hanabi-chan."

"The same?" Hanamaru Hanabi looked up.

"Of course the same. I look forward to every day and every second spent with you. I will cherish and care for you as if every time we meet is our last."

"Mmm... mmm..." Hanamaru Hanabi became more and more flustered upon hearing his simple love words, her cheeks flushed, "Did you know, Sakura-kun? In a TV drama, there’s a girl I really like."

"What drama?" Uesugi Sakura asked.

"Akana Rika, the heroine from the TV drama ’Tokyo Love Story.’ I really like her, have you seen it, Sakura-kun?" Whenever Hanamaru Hanabi cast her gaze with those eyes of hers, her crystal-clear amethyst eyes seemed to sparkle with vibrant hues.

"Hmm..." Uesugi Sakura thought for a moment, "Heard of it, never watched it. It’s a pretty old drama, isn’t it?"

"Yes, it’s been a long time." Hanamaru Hanabi answered softly.

"What was it about?" Uesugi Sakura felt she wanted to share something with him, so he listened carefully.

Following his pace with the bike, Hanamaru Hanabi walked out of the parking corner onto the busy commercial street.

Here, amidst the bustling lights, the girl spoke as they walked:

"The male protagonist, Nagao Kanji, who came from Ehime Prefecture to Tokyo, met his sweet-smiling female colleague Akana Rika at the airport, a girl whose eyes turned into crescent moons when she smiled."

"From Ehime, huh? That’s pretty much like my dad’s generation." Uesugi Sakura remembered he should be considered a Tokyo native, while his father and the others came out of Ehime Prefecture to develop.

Hanamaru Hanabi continued: "At the airport, Akana Rika greeted Nagao Kanji with a sweet smile. Kanji, a shy young man from the countryside, was filled with cautious expectations for Tokyo along with a sense of uncertain future drifting. Rika, having returned from overseas, had never met someone as unique as him before, so naturally, she was curious about him."

"And Rika, she was very beautiful, like a little sun, always using her radiant smile to infect the people around her. At the company, she would help regardless of her gender, willingly helping men carry boxes, responding to others with the most enthusiastic character."