CHAPTER 726: CHAPTER 440 LIFE BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE_2

"It’s useless, it’s useless," Uesugi Sakura said with a mischievous smile, inching closer to the girl curled up at the head of the bed.

Exposing her shoulders, she used both hands and feet to throw stuffed animals at him, while also kicking at him with her feet.

With a "slap," Uesugi Sakura caught the girl’s swiftly moving ankle as he made a slurping sound of delight:

"A girl as fair and soft as you, must be very tasty."

"You can’t do this! You big pervert!"

Uesugi Sakura’s act as a pretender was quite the act, making Hanamaru Hanabi kick him even harder with her feet.

Her foot even landed on his face.

Of course, in the end, the perverted Uesugi Sakura won the game, grabbing the girl’s foot and relentlessly tickling her.

Hanamaru Hanabi was the most ticklish, gasping for mercy.

After this round of play, both of them were sweaty.

"How about we take another shower?" Uesugi Sakura suggested to the exhausted Hanamaru Hanabi, "Together?"

Hanamaru Hanabi picked up the big shark that had fallen off the bed and hugged it to her chest, pouting, and said:

"No funny business."

"Alright, no funny business," Uesugi Sakura replied with a smile, though he thought to himself, ’Once we get to the bathroom together, won’t I do as I please?’

"Pinky promise." Hanamaru Hanabi, hugging the shark, extended her other hand with her pinky outstretched.

"This... isn’t it bad to pinky promise? What if Hanabi suddenly feels like it once in the bathroom?"

This comment made Hanamaru Hanabi, with her thin skin, blush and shyly say, "I won’t, I absolutely won’t..."

"Can’t we not pinky promise?" Uesugi Sakura scooted over, getting closer to the seated girl.

"Not pinky promising means Sakura wants to do something bad, no way, no way, it’s unacceptable!"

"Why not?"

"Just because... just because it’s not okay..."

"Are you—" Uesugi Sakura elongated his words, "afraid I’m weak? Come on, I’m strong now, want to see my abs?"

As he spoke, he was about to lift his shirt.

"I don’t want to see!"

After a long standoff, in the end, Hanamaru Hanabi won, and the eager Uesugi Sakura didn’t manage to earn the right to shower together.

Uesugi Sakura sat alone on the edge of the bed, gazing out at the conspicuous Tokyo Tower through the window.

Under the night sky, that bustling landmark seemed lonely at this moment.

With a sigh, Uesugi Sakura said:

"Hey, not today then."

After showering, the two laughed and played around on the bed again. After the joy, Uesugi Sakura recalled the story Hanabi told him on the way home.

"By the way, what happened to Kanji and Rika after that?"

"They... in the end, they couldn’t be together..."

"Why? Didn’t you say they deeply loved each other?"

"No, Hanabi only said Akana Rika loved Kanji very much and bravely confessed to him."

"Kanji didn’t accept?"

Hanamaru Hanabi nodded as she looked at Uesugi Sakura:

"At that time, Kanji had another woman on his mind, so he didn’t accept Akana Rika’s confession, but Akana Rika still loved him very much, treating Kanji every day with a smile and lovingly calling him ’Maru’."

Uesugi Sakura: "Let me guess, Akana Rika decided not to bother Kanji anymore because she couldn’t compete with that woman?"

"A bit similar," Hanamaru Hanabi said, "Kanji liked a girl named Rimie, but Rimie liked another man, Kenichi. Many things happened in between. Akana Rika and Kanji had a relationship for a while, but when Rimie and Kenichi were forced to part, in her heartbreak, the only one there to comfort her was Kanji."

Uesugi Sakura: "So you’re saying, while Kanji was dating Rika, he couldn’t shake off his feelings for Rimie, who had her emotions forcibly removed?"

"Yes."

"That surely makes him a jerk, dating one girl while being unable to forget another. How did Rika see him?"

"Rika still liked him, even though he broke promises repeatedly due to Rimie’s affairs. Even though there were misunderstandings, Rika was heartbroken by his repeated failures to keep promises."

"So they must have separated, right?"

"Yeah... In the end, Rika left Kanji. Nagao Kanji returned to his hometown in Ehime Prefecture to find Akana Rika. Due to various reasons, he had to break up with this girl who treated him every day with a smile and affectionately called him ’Maru’."

"And then?"

"Then... three years later, Kanji and Rimie got married, and on the way home, they ran into Akana Rika, who still wore her sweet smile and affectionately called out ’Maru’ to him."

Uesugi Sakura was silent for a while: "Akana Rika must have been very sad."

"Mhmm... very sad, Hanabi might not have explained it well, but if Sakura just takes a look, you’ll see what a wonderful girl Akana Rika is, her smile can leave people from many countries longing."

"I see. Can you watch it with me, Hanabi?"

"Sakura, you want to watch it with Hanabi?"

"Of course."

"Then, it’s a promise."

"Alright, let’s seal it with a pinky swear."

"Sakura, are you going to sleep?"

"Yeah, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sakura."

...

The next day, Friday, was also the last day of October, and starting tomorrow, November would officially begin.

The weather had turned much colder; it was uncertain whether it would snow.

When Uesugi Sakura woke up, the whole house had the heating on.

Compared to the chilly winds outside, inside the house was so warm it made one’s head sweat.