Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard

"Fell asleep..."

...

They said ten minutes.

But actually, she slept for twenty minutes. It took Uesugi Sakura multiple attempts to shake her awake.

She was still wearing her sleepwear without underwear, with one shoulder loosely exposed.

Geez... Uesugi Sakura admired his own self-control for not taking advantage while she was asleep earlier.

He only stole a couple of glances from her collarbone.

"Sakura-kun... Um~~" Hanamaru Hanabi stretched lazily, "What time is it...?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"A few minutes to eight." Uesugi Sakura glanced at the dial on his wristwatch.

"Then Hanabi needs to hurry and make breakfast..."

"Ah, let’s skip it and go straight to school; I’ll help you change clothes."

"Change clothes? Changing clothes isn’t right."

Hanamaru Hanabi instantly lost all sleepiness, hugged her chest with both hands, and pouted at him.

Wasn’t it allowed to touch freely a moment ago?

Uesugi Sakura didn’t insist, "Alright then, hurry up. I’ll go outside to tidy up; we’ll head out together afterward."

"Okay." Hanamaru Hanabi nodded, watching his back leave the bedroom.

The girl lowered her head, looked at the bulging shark in front of her, and reached out to lift it, muttering:

"Did I gain weight...?"

...

"Doesn’t Tokyo suddenly feel so warm?"

"Yes, Hokkaido is snowing, and it’s still November here."

Stepping out from the 711 convenience store near home, Uesugi Sakura and Hanamaru Hanabi walked side by side on the street with freshly bought rice balls.

"Sakura-kun, Hanabi can’t finish eating."

Uesugi Sakura glanced at the half-eaten rice ball in her hand and asked in confusion, "Is your appetite small today?"

"I’ve already eaten a lot," Hanamaru Hanabi looked at him with sparkling eyes, "Hanabi needs to go on a diet recently."

"Diet... Diet...?"

Uesugi Sakura doubted whether she misspoke since she ate a huge amount like a strong man just the other day.

Now, after eating half a rice ball, she’s saying she needs to diet...

"Hanabi-chan." Uesugi Sakura took the seaweed rice ball she had eaten.

"Hmm?" Hanamaru Hanabi tilted her little head in front of him.

"Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Yes, Sakura-kun fed Hanabi porridge... Because I remember, that’s why I need to diet. I ate so much sushi the day before..."

Hanamaru Hanabi squeezed her belly with both hands.

"Hanabi is afraid her belly will get chubby again."

Uesugi Sakura: "Isn’t that nice?"

"No," Hanamaru Hanabi stared at him, "Hanabi’s belly isn’t just for Sakura-kun to touch!"

"Speaking of which, I haven’t touched your belly lately."

"You haven’t touched it yet!" Hanamaru Hanabi got angry, "Sakura-kun always likes to hold Hanabi’s waist—"

At this point, the girl covered her mouth directly.

Then she simply turned to the side, her cheeks flushed, unable to say a word.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing, it’s nothing..."

Uesugi Sakura saw her shy, trying-to-hide demeanor and finally recognized her identity.

It’s little Hanabi...

Only little Hanabi would shy away from such topics; Black Hanabi was different... Bold, in other words, open.

Sigh, who is really the weaker one here?

...

Time since then, a week passed.

The month officially turned to December, as the two returned from their trip, living through everyday school life.

Oil painting, oil painting, oil painting... Besides oil painting, there’s sketching.

Uesugi Sakura often stared at his paint-covered, colorful hands in the studio, lost in thought.

The teacher looked at his work, sighed, and shook his head repeatedly.

Damn, thinking that he is a Tokyo University student, double champion in Sword Dao and Kyudo nationally, yet... Has no talent for painting, can this stuff really be that hard to learn?

Perhaps the snowy scenery of the Hokkaido trip left too deep an impression on him.

Uesugi Sakura always wanted to paint snow scenes, but as he stared at the unfinished "Otaru snow" in front of him,

he felt something was off.

Maybe, as Kitagawa Sakisa mockingly said, Picasso would be more suitable as his teacher.

"Uesugi, Uesugi."

Uesugi Sakura heard the voice and turned his head.

He was surprised to find Kitagawa Sakisa, the young lady, tapping his shoulder with a brush handle.

"What’s up?"

Kitagawa Sakisa didn’t answer immediately but pulled up a stool to sit in front of him, her face displaying a mischievous smile.

Uesugi Sakura glanced at her, dipped his cleaned brush into some paint, and continued to work on the oil painting in front of him:

"If there’s something, spit it out."

"Uesugi, do you know what species you are at Tokyo Art University?"

Uesugi Sakura furrowed his brows.

Species?

"What do you mean by that?"

"Don’t worry; I’m not insulting you. What I mean is—you’re a rare species."

"Rare species? What are you trying to say?"

"Ahem, of course, I have a request for you, which is why I’m here. In our painting department, there are only five boys, three of whom are weak and can’t even beat me. And one doesn’t even have a man’s aura! So... our hopes rest on you."

Kitagawa Sakisa clasped her hands together, "Please!"

Uesugi Sakura hadn’t expected the usually snobby Kitagawa Sakisa to lower herself and plead for his help.

"So you... or rather, you all need a guy like me?"

"That’s right! You’re the only dependable one in our painting department."

"What for?"

Kitagawa Sakisa looked at him for a moment and then said, "For dancing."

...

Tokyo Art University, Art Hall.

Usually, this place belongs to the neighboring music department. Walking on the shiny floor, listening to the echoing orchestral music from the hallway, Uesugi Sakura didn’t expect Kitagawa Sakisa would bring him here.

"Wait a moment; I’ll introduce you to the club president."

"Is Hanabi here too?"

"Yes, she’s attending too. You didn’t know?"

"I really didn’t know."

Uesugi Sakura recalled how he had consulted Hanabi a few days ago, accidentally annoyed her to the point of anger, and she hadn’t initiated any conversation with him for several days after that.

And for the past few days, the teacher had given him strict orders, a must-pass assessment, so he locked himself in the art research room for a complete week.

In summary, he hadn’t been clear on external news all week, having only oil painting on his mind and hadn’t even started the second volume’s first Chapter of "The Love of Hanabi."

Kitagawa Sakisa nodded: "Right, you’ve been catching up on your basics all day, so it’s understandable you wouldn’t know."

The two continued walking forward in the hallway.

"So, exactly what dance am I participating in, Winter Festival?"

"Not this one, you know YOSAKOI?"

"What does it mean, nightfall?"

"Night Dance."

"I still don’t know about that."

"It’s a dance that uses sound-making Mizutama, dancing while making sound with them."

Mizutama...

Uesugi Sakura hadn’t known what it was before, but once he saw it, he recognized it immediately.

Isn’t that just Japanese castanets?

"Got it?"

"Got it." Uesugi Sakura nodded, then asked, "You want to dance this? Isn’t this the kind of dance the older generation does?"

"Who says that? Young people dance it too!" Kitagawa Sakisa said, "Anyway, you’ve already agreed to participate, so you can’t back out now! Our dance club and Hanabi are having a year-end event at Waseda, and you’re the male representative from our school!"

Uesugi Sakura stopped: "I only came because you said Hanabi is attending."

Kitagawa Sakisa suddenly fell silent.

"You didn’t... trick me, did you?"

"Who’s tricking you! If you participate, Hanabi is certain to come as well!" Kitagawa Sakisa crossed her arms and arrogantly turned her face away.